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Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Happy Spring...



You can tell that it's getting warmer and sunnier - things are sprouting, growing and even blooming (My arugula overwintered. It's now blooming. Arugula blossoms are some of my very favorite - they taste like sweet, young arugula leaves). The garden catalogs and books are back out. Revising the various flower, herb and veggie plots on paper - and then actually out in the dirt. Making lists of the seeds and starts I need to aquire. Recruited a couple of friends to help fill the back of a pick-up full of horse manure tonight (my family's favorite chore!) It got too dark and drizzly to unload the truck, so they have a reprieve until tomorrow. Then the beds will all get a top-dressing. The strawberry bed has been cleaned out. The early weeds all eliminated. Moved some plants around as I continue to revise the position of the various beds. Put the quince and high-bush cranberry in the ground. As I was standing and resting for a minute, I was quickly surrounded by a pair of nuthatches, a townsend warbler and a handful of chestnut backed chickadees (I was standing a couple of feet from my various bird feeders. Apparently, if you are still, they think you another tree and don't mind you watching them eat. I wouldn't have been surprised if one had landed on my head as they were fluttering around). I'm sore, but happy!

Since time is being spent outside, less is happening in my poor studio. (See the piles of neglect. It doesn't help that my desk window overlooks all my gardens in the backyard):



I have been sketching, however. I'm getting close to a self-promo that I'm happy with. I'll post some sketches when I get a minute.

My night drawing class finished last week. We mutually decided that 11 weeks was not enough time to cover all we'd like to cover - and I will try to add a couple more follow-up sessions next fall. I'm enjoying these classes so much, that would not be a hardship at all. New sessions start up again next week. I'm trying to make the most of the 'time off' this week!

2 comments:

Gretel said...

I think we could happily swop studios and not really notice the difference...actually, I think most children's illustrators could, most seem to consist of a happy organised jumble of ref books, kid's books, toys, Interesting Things and of course, the desk lamp. Oh yes, and no curtains of course!

Julie Olson said...

Thanks for your comment on my site. I love this picture b/c this is just how studios seem to get. I'm still working on building mine in the basement (too bad it's not upstairs). But I work alot at night anyway so that doesn't matter really. Good luck with the self promo!