San Francisco Columbus Street

Sometimes my sketchbook feels like an empty stage where I perform for no one but my own pleasure.

Columbus Street in San Francisco's North Beach, around the corner from Beach Blanket Babylon on Green Street. Started sketching the building and worked my way to the bottom of the page and saw my reflection in the coffeepot so I did another on the next page. Sort of an encore for myself.

Cuba

Reading Martin Cruz Smith's "Havana Bay" had me searching out this newspaper clipping. I now had a better feel for the image. My way of traveling on paper.

Grace's Garden

I miss having flowers. House repairs made it unrealistic to think of a garden this year. Glad I sketched flowers from a friend's garden in Rohnert Park. She was embarrassed I was doing the humble flowers, alyssium, stocks. Right now, even the wild morning glory climbing up my clothes line pole looks wonderful.

Fried Egg

My yoga instructor introduced some new stretch poses in this morning's body flow class. Twisted into the frog pose, I heard my body say "Call 911" and then I had an image of the fork stabbing a sunnyside up egg.

Ballpoint pen, watercolor, moleskine.

Bambooware

Ballpoint pen and watercolor. Self portrait. Slowly making my way through this moleskine. Painting things around the house.

Blue Canyon

Blue Canyon is between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, above snow line at 5,200 feet, a place difficult to live in during the cold season. Magazine collage interpretation of sky, hills and canyons.

Sushi and Mochi

Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Take out tuna sushi. Mochi rice cakes from Mikawaya.



We squeezed in a quick trip to Santee Alley a few blocks away at 9th and Santee. The alleyway is one block in the fashion district, formerly known as the garment district. Most of the fashions are trendy, disposable and forgettable but it's good for basic things like tops, camisoles, pants. Better quality fashions are available closer to the wholesale design marts which open to the public occassionally.

I made these sketches a few years ago. It had been a long time since my last visit and I wandered around looking for the alley, looked up and saw Jesus Saves on an old building. With the sun, noise and crowds, an hour is enough for me.

Dragons Fly

First page in my moleskine watercolor journal. Red ballpoint pen, Dr. Martin waterdcolor. The body of this dragonfly reminded me of a lobster shell.

La Vie

Three unrelated bits clipped from newspapers pasted down in a little black book, my morgue to tease the brain when I want a mood.

Movie ad for “La Vie en Rose.”
A woman’s short story about missing the father that left when she was a child, leaving behind this forever young face.
A city street from another time.

Practicing, practicing. Been trying to post this for a few weeks but keep adding more. Rough and not ready, here it is.

Ancient Faces

Still painting faces of ancient statues. Acrylic on 5x7 canvas panels, fast practice paintings. Worn stone surfaces, pits on the metal.

I have several sketches in my moleskine but still want to add a bit more detail before posting. Life gets a bit crazy sometimes and requires a lot of taming.