Tag Archives: art

Tooth of the Lion

dandelion sketch

"Coming Soon to a Garden Near You", mixed media sketch by Kerry McFall

Much-maligned, nutritious, and gorgeous, the weeds are beginning to smile up from the soggy lawns in Corvallis.  Dandelions are the brightest: petals like a yellow mane, toothy points on the leaves, and I love that little cushion right in the middle of the blossom.  I spent many hours dissecting dandelions as a little girl, sitting cross-legged on my grandmother’s lawn caught up in the sweet scent, amazed by the “milk” that appeared on the stems after picking… and the minute my mother saw my sticky hands, I spent many minutes scrubbing away the dandelion goo.  Simple pleasures.

My New Favorite Color

sketch of lichen

"Windfall Lichen", mixed media by Kerry McFall

The heavy snows last week brought a good-size limb hurtling into the back yard from the neighbor’s giant fir.  When I went to see the damage, I had to pull the sharp end out of the mushy ground, where it looked like it had been driven in by a pile driver… yikes.  The moral: don’t stand under trees during heavy snowfall.

I counted at least five different types of lichen, and one type of moss, growing on the limb.  Such gorgeous colors when you look closely!  And serendipity had a hand in the palette because I had just found my new favorite color among the colored pencils in the OSU Bookstore art department on the same day: Pale Sage by Prismacolor.  Perfect!

Interested in a print, or an embellished fabric print?  Buy Now!

Lions of Another Sort

"Sea Lions", mixed media by Kerry McFall

With thanks to the Oregon Coast Aquarium photograph archives, here is a sketch of the sea lions that appeared as tiny dots in the ocean in my previous post.  Sea Lions are strange and fascinating creatures, perhaps the ultimate “walking fish”!

Lions

Lion sketches

"Studies for Full Bellies", mixed media, copyright 2012 by Kerry McFall

It struck me as ironic today that I was sketching lions who live in Botswana, where high summer is about to take over, while watching snowflakes drift past my windows…  The above is a photoshop combination of two studies I did this afternoon of my favorite lion photo from our safari last month.

The two lionesses were young adults, and had clearly just gorged themselves, probably on an old bull buffalo that we had come across about an hour before… poor old guy.  Their bellies were “tight as ticks”, as my grandma used to say, and although they were clearly interested in something in the distance, they were too full to move.  Beautiful creatures, unscarred, oblivious to us in our “jeep”.  From what I could gather, if you stay sitting down in a wheeled vehicle, they don’t notice you – vehicles aren’t edible as a rule, and they simply don’t give a rip about any predators since they are at the top of the food chain.  If you stand up, though, anything on legs just might look like prey.  Yikes.  This could be crucial, given that the jeeps were essentially just like the Disney Indiana Jones ride vehicles, same non-existent shock absorbers, nothing resembling windows or doors, but sans seatbelts.  So we stayed sitting down.

I’d like to do a larger painting of these ladies at some point in the not too distant future.  But first I need to study lions a little more –  I was surprised to discover for instance as I did the eyes that lions do not have pupils like cats.  Lions’ pupils are just round like people pupils, not almond shaped like a housecat.  Who knew?  It doesn’t take much of an arch to an “eyebrow” or a slant to an eyelid to make them look absolutely evil.  But their big puffy ears are like teddy bear ears.  And their chins are fuzzy… and in this case, slightly blood-stained.  Eww.

sketch of jar of peaches

"Summer in a Jar", mixed media by Kerry McFall

A Christmas/New Year’s gift from my friend Tracy couldn’t have hit the mark any closer of what I need to cheer me up – summer in a jar!  There is nothing to compare with the taste of home-preserved peaches.  When you hear the lid pop, the rich smell of August and the warmth of sunshine drifts up and pushes away the cold of January (ice is on the beaver ponds near my office… brrr).  You can almost imagine the peach fuzz on your cheek if you lean close enough.  When someone gives you a gift of a golden jar, you can revel in the knowledge that they care about you enough to struggle for hours over a hot stove with slippery skins and gooey pits and sticky kitchen floors… Thank you, Tracy!

Taking A Breather

sketch of roses
“Mannheim Roses” by Kerry McFall

Today we decided to just “stay home” here in Lambeth and try to catch up with laundry, haircuts, and postings.

We stayed several days in Mannheim with our friends Marika and Vollker.  During that time we transformed their dining table into an art studio, with Ben (6) and Karla (4) and me having a grand time doing colored pencil works in spite of the language barrier.  Karla got fairly annoyed with me and Griff now and then – I mean, really, grown up people not knowing how to speak properly!  She forgave Griff though when he demonstrated that tickling is a Universal Language.  Although the art focused a lot on lions (which required a lot of roaring to get the message across as to just how scary they should look) and mice, I did find time to do one just for me of the roses.  Everywhere you look over here there are fresh flowers for sale – and very cheap.

On our final day in Mannheim, we went to the Luisenpark, a huge open park right in the city with small boats that followed a track on the lake.  They were slow, which allowed ample time for spotting turtles sunning on the rocks at the shore, and for being grossed out by the immense carp that came to the side of the boat and opened mouths the size of dinner plates to beg for treats…eew.  And I got to see storks in action, which really was very exciting.  Their eyes are really as huge as they look in my previous sketch, which I did from a photo that I thought surely had been retouched.  Every high spot in the park had an active stork nest, and some of them were even down stalking through the tourists on the lawn.  After the boat ride, everyone else went wading while I found a spot to capture the boats and the ubiquitous TV tower.  The towers remind me of the Space Needle in Seattle, every town seems to have one, some even with a revolving restaurant.  Scenic yet intrusive…
sketch of park in Mannheim
“Luisenpark” by Kerry McFall

So that wraps up Mannheim, next post will be about our travels with Dieter in Koln.

 

 

Scripps: The Last First Day of School

sketch of Scripps College

Scripps College, watercolor, ink & colored pencil

Last Saturday we navigated what’s left of the California freeway system from Sacramento to Claremont in a car crammed to bursting with Corey’s posessions and our travel gear, Corey continually reminding me that holding on to the car door does not make a bit of difference as to whether or not the idiots in the next lane will stop careening along so crazily.  At one point it reached 113 degrees fahrenheit as we crept along in 7 lanes of traffic at 20 mph.  Evidently, a paper bag over my head and a bottle of wine are the only way for us to survive those freeways.

Griff and Corey unpacked her things and schlepped them upstairs to her room, while I spent a hot hour under a white tent on the lawn, my feet and ankles being nibbled by unseen insects, sketching the outside of her dorm and drinking in the scent of oranges ripening on the nearby trees.  The outside looks like a Mexican villa, the inside looks like Harry and Ron and Hermione should be arriving at any moment down the chimney of the Common Room.   A glorious place for what Corey termed her Last First Day of School as she begins her senior year.

 

First Leg: Coast Starlight to Sacramento

Sketch of train depot

Sacramento 6:30 a.m.

I am writing from Ingolstadt, Germany, safely arrived with our dear friends Ursula and Markus and Baby Simon.  But I want to record the journey in order, so stepping back a few days to put first things first. 

The first “leg” of our journey was Albany to Sacramento on the Amtrak Coast Starlight. I love train travel! We arrived at the Sacramento depot at 6:00 a.m., where we waited for Corey to pick us up. The architecture is elegant simplicity, curves and arches, marble and stones, with a huge mural from the WPA project era at one end. The fittings have endured – wooden benches, wrought iron chandeliers, cast iron door handles. Decoration celebrates every detail without being fussy. Why is it we can no longer put together such pleasing, enduring projects to keep artisans employed? Surely we can… Dear Congress – think WPA!

Even early as it was, the train coffee was strong, so I drank enough of it to be able to focus and sketch. I tried to convey the incongruity of the architecture as a backdrop for the garish plastic signage advertising the new do-it-yourself ticket machine, so out of place at such an early hour…

 

Seriously?

sketch of annoyed cat in suitcase

A DOG?!

Yesterday I found Sparky reclining in my husband’s suitcase. (He
packed early to do a “rehearsal week” to be sure he had everything he’ll
need.)  Disdain is the only word to describe her attitude. “Seriously? This whole travel thing just isn’t working out for me.  And leaving me with some strangers who have a DOG!?  I don’t think so.  By the way, while you’re up, could bring me a handful of those kitty treats… thanks.”

 

Eight – -no, 4! –Days and Counting

I posted this digital montage the other night when I was so
tired that I managed to delete all the text that went with it.  Now, six days later, I’ve finally got the presence of mind to type it into a text editor, then paste into the blog so I
don’t delete it with the stroke of a tired heavy thumb!  I made this several years ago, watercolor meets August berries via photoshop – it seemed appropriate since I haven’t had time to sketch much, given the frenzy of packing, and the last-minute details
of arranging a 4-month leave of absence from Life in Corvallis.

The names of fabulous museums and institutions of art education and galleries and artists and designers are swimming in my head – Tate, Ruskin, Battersea, Oxford, Victoria and Albert… ohmigosh!  I am really going!   People I work with look at me with disbelief for the most part – FOUR MONTHS? Relatives and close friends raise their eyebrows … some actually say it – how the hell can you afford this?  We rented our house to people who are willing (bless their hearts) to take care of the cats, we’ll be staying with friends or family (bless their hearts), and … it’s complicated.  We live simply and small, because we live for adventure and the people we love who live far away.   This is our chance – we are both healthy, we are both ready for change, the nest is empty.  Yes, the stock market is flaky, the dollar is sliding, London has been burning, travel is risky, they’ll probably confiscate my toenail scissors, but I’d rather die in a London riot than rot in Corvallis!

To quote Buzz Lightyear, To Infinity and Beyond!

graphic mixed media

Berry Baskets