Hey there, I hope your week is going well. Here are a few things I thought were cool this week:
1. Dino Just Delivered
I had a good mail day as a green T-Rex arrived from artist Jeffie Brewer - go check him out! Jeffie is a sculptor based out of East Texas and has been big creative inspiration to me for several years. I am excited to start my Jeffie Brewer collection with this dino and look forward to adding more - especially a bunny!
2. Day Trip
To really enjoy a sunny Texas winter day of 75° we took a quick day trip to Austin. We breakfasted at our favorite spot; Picnik and then checked out some of our favorite spots.
One of those spots is an outdoor restaurant area called the Fare Ground. It had been closed awhile due to Covid but recently opened up. There is great food but the best part has to be the outside area full of Live Oak trees and a turf hill for our boys to chase each other around on. The people watching there is spectacular.
Another one of my favorite things about Austin is the amount of “street art” and stickers slapped on so many urban surfaces like the back of these parking signs.
3. Experimental Drawing
I recently finished the book “Experimental Drawing” by Robert Kaupelis. I have read and skimmed this book several times before but I just like the author’s views and the language he uses to encourage drawing experimentally.
“One of the hallmarks of artists is that they begin to see everything in their environment as having potential use for either immediate or some future artistic endeavor”
The book is chock full of various experiments in drawing. One of his suggestions is to spend considerable time with Master’s drawings - “living with them” as he puts it. To really absorb them and to see what can be found in them and to even to introduce it to others.
I thought this would be a cool experiment, so I found a Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait and have had it sitting on my desk and staring at me for the week. I even have tried sketching it a few times. I think I will continue the practice keeping a weekly masterpiece around to learn from.
Alrighty, I think that is all for now… thanks for reading along. Take care!
