Summer school and natural treasures ...

  Since Mandy moved out last fall, I've been spending a lot of my time taking classes at night, it's been good medicine for someone going through the empty nest thing.

     Twenty-one years with the hustle and bustle of a house full of people depending on you for nearly everything and then suddenly, with one divorce and three kids growing up and heading out on their own, you are surrounded by silence and lot's of time on your hands. Maybe someday soon I'll start dating again or something but for now ... busy is good!

     Bob, my Photoshop instructor has chosen to spend the summer helping a friend build a log cabin in Alaska instead of staying here where he belongs, hanging out with us on Thursday nights going over artsy photo and graphic instruction for thirty something bucks a week. Hmmm ...  who would have figured he would choose a breathtaking view of mountain and lake in Alaska over us?

    

     That leaves me with just one class on Wednesday nights, it's a realistic drawing and painting class, love it. My friend Karen the clown decided to take this one with me, imagine the instructors face when we pulled out the white masks and makeup paints shown above as medium of choice!

     Oh, one of the best parts of the class is hanging out with Karen, with her husband out on the road all week (truck driver) she does not have to hurry home at 9:00 when class is over. We've been go out for a late dinner, great conversation and even a laugh or two on Wednesday nights. 

     

     We are starting from the beginning with charcoal and white pastel, learning shapes, shading, direction of light, shadows, vanishing points, perspective and such. Above are my renderings from the first 3 classes and yes ... I can see that they are not perfect and still need a little work but hey ... even the masters had to start somewhere, right?

     Yay it's Friday ... my one day weekend starts tomorrow. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate one day weekends? Oh well, it does keep me busy I suppose.

     This weekend I will begin collecting a chest full of natural treasures from my tropical local as a barter of sorts with a friend in exchange for a very special treasure in return. I do have a few things in mind to include in the collection, but any additional ideas would be welcome. Hmmm ... natural ... tropical ... treasures ...