The Sketchbook Project - Central Oregon

It seems like more than 2 weeks since I last posted and I'm pushing myself to get at least one post written this weekend. This is Central Oregon, high desert country that's surrounded by mountains and topped with blue sky, a land of lakes and rivers, fields of crops, and wildlife of all kinds.  My intention for next week is to finish this Sketchbook Project.

  

My visits with family and old friends was SO good. While in Dallas my cousins and I went to the Dallas Aboretom and were amazed by the unique uses of squash and pumpkins in the Storybook Pumpkin Village. It was an orange colored vacation.

Everywhere I turned there was orange... trees, pumpkins, and the orange shirts of tens of thousands of Oklahoma State Cowboys. It was a blast to go back for homecoming and visit with college friends. We stayed with my friend from long ago and talked a bit of old times but mostly about who we are today.

In Arkansas we ate barbeque at my favorite place and in my home town we went to Pop's Pond and got in some target practice...

                                           

It was nice to see that I can still hit my target with my dad's old 22.

Quick sketch done at the local airport while my brother worked on his Ultralight, the one that broke a wheel off during an unscheduled landing.

And yes, I did do some sketching here and there. But I find it hard to make art when I'm with people; I need solitude to concentrate on drawing and I preferred to talk with those I love rather than mess with art making. I have plenty of time for that but never enough time for faraway family. However, I took lots of photos to remind me of happy times.

Jim entering his shed

Pondering the Possibilities

When I was a child in a small town in Arkansas my phone number was 255. That's it. Three little numbers. Then it became 3255, and eventually 501-6__-3255. Progress, I guess. Now I look for those numbers and photograph them when I find them. I also photograph other numbers that are the same as phone numbers or house numbers of the homes in which I've lived.  7770. 2420. 1073. 643. Like that. Someday I'll use them in a journal that's all about HOME.

I'll get to see my home in Arkansas next week when I visit my brother. Family no longer lives there but it's like a pilgramage for me when I return to my home town, a time for remembering the people and events that shaped my life and to give thanks to God for them.  Do you ever do that? Or is it only me because I'm so far away and returning happens infrequently.

If there are numbers on the house I'll take a picture.

We recently spent a couple of days at the beach and hit the weather just right. I set up a card table on the deck and worked in the sun on my journal.

Below is an industrial building in Portland that the owners have painted with consideration to their across the street neighbors. The colors give me ideas for a painting or a collage.

I'll be traveling for the next couple of weeks and will probably ignore blogging. If you've subscribed you'll know when I'm back. My intention as I travel is to capture lots of pictures of houses and trees because I want to focus on those subjects for awile in my journals, paintings, sketchbooks, and daily collages. Maybe telling you about it will make me accountable.

Travel Journal - October 2010

Cover

8x10

I'm building a new journal for an upcoming trip back to my old stompin' grounds. I used Teesha Moore's directions for her 16 page journal which is constructed from 2 sheets of Fabriano Artistico 140# watercolor paper, torn in thirds and sewn together. 
The size of the journal is just right for my carry-on luggage and the format allows me to work however I want, though I have no definite plans. I've created some borders on most of the pages, added a few pictures to make it personal and I'm ready to go. Once I've completed this journal I intend to make a short video of it to show you how it looks completed.
Here are a couple of the ready-to-go pages:

The yellow flap folds back to give me blue pages to work on. I'll probably add more colors to this spread before I leave.

I've added pictures of my grandkids in the book so I can show off to family and friends along the way. This is Amy when she was 6 or 7, half her liftime ago.