Found Sketch

Hey there. I was rooting around for something or other the other day and I came across an old sketchbook that I used to lug around when I lived in Maine. I was always finding something that needed to be rendered in charcoal. And I thought I was particularly clever because in addition to toting my sketchbook and charcoals, I brought these little colored pencils so I could add just the tiniest bit of color.

And much to my surprise and amid a zillion landscapes (seascapes to be more precise) and some particularly random character sketches, I drew a generic picture of a baseball player. I can very vividly recall the occasion that inspired me to draw this little guy. A bunch of the guys I worked with at the paper in Maine played ball and I went to one of their games, armed with a beach towel, jug of lemonade and my sketching supplies. This is a pitcher, on the mound, at about the time when he's reading the catcher's signs, before he enters the wind (or the stretch, depending on the circumstances). Well, and Spring Training is just around the corner, so I thought I'd post this tribute to Spring and, well, the greatest game on Earth.



And, hey now, I wanted to show off my sketching skills, too. I never considered myself to be that good at drawing.

Ocean view, Framed

I bought a trio of Maine prints in Boothbay Harbor, Maine a few summers ago, back when I used to live in Maine. I call them prints, but they were sold as postcards on high quality paper. I love the colors and the simplicity of the drawings. And the ideal Maine views are so wonderfully realistic. The colors recall a great gift Maine offers to the rest of the world, Maine Cottage. The super simple, elegant furniture is given a distinctly optimistic twist when painted in bright, bold hues. When I found these prints in a drawer, I remembered that I put them in the drawer long ago with the intention of framing them one day. And that day has now come!

Many of you know that I had a fairly ridiculous accident a few years ago. The timeframe of the accident coincided with the opening of an Ikea in Dallas (ok, halfway to Oklahoma in Frisco). My mother, long-suffering wheelchair pusher that she was for me, took me to Ikea, where we promptly discovered that maneuvering the entire place in a wheelchair was disastrous! Therefore, we left shortly after we arrived with nary a Swedish-designed bargain. Well, a few weeks ago, my mother and I travelled up the Tollway to that Ikea, for a triumphant return. This time, both of us sauntered through the store with great ease. And I bought generic frames for my Maine prints.

And adopting Maine Cottage style colors, I painted them up and mounted the postcards. And well, project complete. A few details: The Ikea frames are particularly suited for painting, having no wood treatment at all. This means that the first layer of paint will be sucked right into the wood, drying in just a few minutes. A second coat is a must! I actually gave my frames three coats, just to make sure the color was particularly vivid. I used a generic craft sealant with high gloss to give the frames a good shine. Other than that, the project is pretty self explanatory. I love the coastal views, even if the coast in question is thousands of miles away.

Jaunt into Postcard Collecting

I don't really know why I decided I wanted to start collecting postcards--people who know me know I'll go to some pretty extreme lengths to nab a free postcard if I think it is visually appealing. (Katie from Subtropical Paradise had to pull her car over during Mardi Gras traffic in the Garden District so I could steal one with a picture of a superhero called NolaMan? Is that right, Katie? Whatever it is, it was a lot of trouble to grab a little piece of paper!) So, I guess it's not surprising that I decided to expand into actually collectable postcards. I am leaning toward covering a wall in postcards. I've got the wall picked out and, well, I have enough postcards to cover at least three feet squared, but clearly I've got to collect a lot more before I can finish this project. That's why I'm hitting up a flea market tomorrow with my mom. The above postcard is so beautiful. I am not sure of its era, but I can tell you, it's definitely a farm from my part of Maine. And by my part of Maine, I mean the non-coastal region. It reminds me of Maple Syrup Sunday, when maple syrup farmers open their sugar shacks to the public and serve fresh, hot maple syrup on top of vanilla ice cream! Yum!

This card is the oldest in my nascent collection. You can't tell from the scanned image above, but this postcard is embossed with a fine filigree, meaning it is pleasing to the touch and the eyes. I couldn't resist this turkey, especially since my family is so into Thanksgiving. And if Thanksgiving is not "Our National Holy Day," it certainly is "Our Family's Holy Day." I don't need to recap the entire 1848 covered wagon, happy family circle, persimmon trees walk bit here, but I will say, I love Thanksgiving and I'm awfully glad to own this little piece of history. The turkey wearing a hat also recalls all those crazy pictures of politicians (say presidents, governors, etc.) pardoning a turkey in publicity stunts pre-holiday. Those pictures always involve turkeys in patriotic hats.

Yeah, so, what's the draw for this one? I will grant you that this is less interesting visually than the rest of my postcard collection, but I bought this postcard because it shows baby Dallas, back in the day. The back tells you quite an interesting collection of facts about Dallas: "Dallas is the Nation's largest inland cotton market -- practically one-half of the cotton crop of the Nation is produced within twelve hours ride. Dallas leads the world as an oil center -- more than 65 % of the oil of the United States is produced within easy overnight travel by rail." Well, none of that stuff is true anymore. But, hey, if it hadn't been true at the time this postcard was written, Dallas would never be the city it is today. I love this bridge. I *think* I have driven over this bridge a few times myself. The street lamps look familiar. Of course, I could be wrong. I'll have to ask my dad about this stuff... He always knows (even though he's not a Dallas native).

Above is another great Maine postcard, and below is a great Dallas postcard. Do you sense a theme? I decided I'd only buy postcards that have an emotional appeal for me personally. Of course, this goes against the advice of postcard collecting books (I read an article from one online, I'm not that into it), but that's the point to me. To collect things that make me happy, things that I can look at and have memories of. Thus, Dallas and Maine are two sources of memories. I never saw that Maine signpost, but I've been to a lot of those towns and worked with people from a few of them. And John Nealy Bryant's cabin is--aside from the JFK drive--the historical spot in downtown Dallas. So I wanted a postcard of that, too.

Yay! New Calendar Day!

My abacus calendar arrived from Maine! I had to celebrate and post a picture, because it makes me so happy to have a brand new collection of beautiful prints. And they remind me of my days Down East...
Sorry if all the hyperlinks are distracting. I just get carried away when I think about the Pine Tree State!