Flamingo

I had a lot of fun painting this guy and learning a little bit about flamingos.

Waiting by Ha Jin

This book was a National Book Award winner, and I honestly don't understand why.  I didn't care for the writing style, which I thought was awkward, and I didn't really care about any of the characters.

The story was set in China from 1963 to the 1980's.  Lin Kong was a doctor in an arranged marriage to a woman he didn't love.  He believes he has fallen in love with a nurse who works in the same hospital where he works.  He attempts to convince his wife to grant him a divorce every year for 17 years, and every year she agrees, then changes her mind when they appear in court.  But after 18 years, as an army officer, Lin can divorce his wife without her consent.

The best comment I've read about the book was by Scout on Amazon:  "Waiting" is an excellent title for this novel. I kept waiting for it to be over!!! 

I rate this book 2 out of 5.  This is my second book for the New Author Challenge.

Eventide

I enjoyed painting the sunset for my class - An Imaginary Visit to the Beach - so much that I wanted to paint it again in my regular journal. I'll write about it on the facing page.

Eventide

I loved painting this page. I had fallen behind in class, so I completed this page and the Beach Bugs page on the same day. They are on facing pages, so my comment refers to enjoying the sunset after spending (an imaginary) day painting crabs at the beach.

Beach Bugs

This lesson was intended to get us out of our comfort zone, and it certainly worked for me. But I really enjoyed doing this.

We are painting from photographs provided by Laure Ferlita, but if we were painting these guys on location, we wouldn't have much time. So this lesson was all about capturing a likeness of the crabs based on coloring and suggested anatomy.

Each crab was to be sketched and painted in 15 minutes or less, and I was able to complete my entire page in 45 minutes (except for the writing, which could be done after the crabs were gone).

It certainly isn't my best painting, but I was very pleased to finish it within the time frame. I also painted the shadows without sketching them in pencil first, which I almost never do.

Rabbit Day 7

I'm down to 16 minutes now. A long way from finished, but I actually got farther along with this one in 16 minutes than with yesterday's in 18 minutes, so I guess that's progress.

Rabbit Day 6

We learned shading today. But 18 minutes isn't enough time for me to draw and shade my rabbit; this is as far as I got.

Because I was frustrated in not getting even close to finishing her, I drew her again in another journal without setting the timer. I think I spent 30-40 minutes on her.

Brown Pelican

Lesson 2 from my Imaginary Visit to the Beach class from Laure Ferlita. This one was much more challenging than lesson 1, but I really enjoyed painting it. And Laure always has good feedback for improvement.

Rabbit Day 5

Yesterday was the first day I skipped. I've been drawing at night; I did this one in the morning and may try to do another one tonight to "catch up."

Rabbit Day 4

I'm down to 18 minutes now.

Rabbit Day 3

New Author Challenge 2010

I've just decided to join the New Author Challenge 2010.  My goal is to read 15 books by new-to-me authors.  It's hosted by Literary Escapism, and you can read about the challenge here.  I'm counting the book I finished a few days ago as my first for the challenge - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent.  And the book I'm reading now, Waiting by Ha Jin, will be my second for this challenge.

Rabbit Day 2

Second day of sketching my crocheted rabbit. Still at 20 minutes.

Starfish

I've started another class with Laure Ferlita - An Imaginary Visit to the Beach - just what I need this winter! It snowed a good part of the day today, although most of it melted by the end of the day.

Edited - I added a title to my page and replaced the scan with the new one.

Peony In Love by Lisa See

I was very disappointed in this book.  I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by the same author.  I almost stopped reading it several times.  But when I read in the Author's Note that many of the events in the book were based in fact, I decided to finish it.  It was set in 17th century China after the fall of the Ming dynasty and Manchu invaders established the Qing dynasty.  I usually enjoy reading about other cultures and time periods, but I couldn't relate to the story at all.  Especially the main character, who became lovesick after meeting a man for a brief time 3 evenings in a row and then starved herself to death.  While it seemed improbable, evidently many young girls did exactly that in 17th century China.  We think of anorexia as a modern aberration, but evidently not.

Drawing Class - Rabbit Day 1

I started a drawing class yesterday, and I think I'm really going to like it. The only down side is that it is an hour and 15 minutes from my house, it starts at 9:00 am, and I am not a morning person. But I made it to class on time and loved it.

One of the exercises we were given to do at home was to choose an object to draw, set the timer for 20 minutes, and draw it; then stop when the timer goes off. We are to repeat the exercise 3 days in a row, and on day 4 we are to set the timer for 18 minutes. Throughout the 4 week class, we will continue decreasing the time by 2 minutes every 4th day until we are down to 6 minutes.

I decided to draw a stuffed rabbit that I crocheted many many years ago - and here is my day 1 sketch. I did the whole sketch with a 2B pencil. We haven't learned shading yet - that comes next week. I'm fairly pleased with my first attempt. And I was able to finish it in the time allotted.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

This story is set in Massachusetts in the 1690's - during the Salem witch trials.  It centers around Thomas and Martha Carrier and their five children:  Richard, Andrew, Tom, Sarah, and Hannah.  Sarah is the narrator.  It tells a chilling story of superstition and fear, and is based on stories the author grew up hearing about her ancestor Martha Carrier.  I found the story particularly disturbing because it showed how easily a strong, non-conformist woman such as Martha Carrier could be convicted and hanged as a witch.  It was very well written and I rate it 5 out of 5.  This is my first book for the New Author Challenge 2010.

Geese

We had 53 geese on our pond today - more than we've ever had before. I'm sure it has something to do with the weather - it snowed all day yesterday. But still - it was impressive to say the least.

Art Hearts for Haiti 3

Laure Ferlita of Painted Thoughts is collecting hearts for a fund raiser for Haiti. This is one of my submissions. See here for more information.

Art Hearts for Haiti 2

Laure Ferlita of Painted Thoughts is collecting hearts for a fund raiser for Haiti. This is one of my submissions. See here for more information.

Art Hearts for Haiti 1

Laure Ferlita of Painted Thoughts is collecting hearts for a fund raiser for Haiti. This is one of my submissions. See here for more information.

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

This is my book club's current selection.  I stopped reading on page 114 (of 248).  I usually read the books for book club, but I really couldn't get through this one.  It is a poorly written evangelical Christian story, and I'm not a Christian.  I was surprised that a book like this was the selection for our book club.  It would be different if it was well written, or if the book club was sponsored by a church.  But my book club is sponsored by my local public library.  Doesn't that imply that it is open to anyone, of any faith (or lack thereof)?

I haven't decided yet whether I'll go to the meeting when the book is discussed; if other members like the book, I might say something that someone would find offensive, and I wouldn't want that.  But I am curious what others thought of it.  Of course, I also realize that someone reading this entry might take offense.  I'm sorry if that's the case.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

My son gave me this book for Christmas.  He knows that I like retelling of ancient myths and Margaret Atwood, so this book was a natural for me.  The subtitle is The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus.  Penelope remained the faithful wife while Odysseus fought the Trojan War for 10 years and then took another 10 years to return home.  During those 20 years, she maintained their kingdom, raised their wayward son, and kept over 100 suitors at bay.  When Odysseus finally returns home, he kills the suitors and 12 of Penelope's maids.  The narrator is Penelope, alternating with the maids who form a chanting and singing Chorus.  It was a very enjoyable read, and I rate it 4 out of 5.

Art Hearts for Haiti

Laure of Painted Thoughts Blog is collecting hearts on Artist Trading Cards.  I think it's a wonderful idea, so I'm going to participate by painting a heart and sending it to her.  You can read more about it here and here and here.  I don't know what my heart will look like yet, but I'll work on it tomorrow.  I do know that it will be watercolor, and probably have some lettering too.  I'll post it when I finish it.

Tangelo

I hadn't done much in my journal in 2 weeks, so it felt good to finally paint something. I realized I was a little out of practice!

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.

Serena, from Savvy Verse and Wit, just reviewed the book Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.  Not only that, but she's giving away 2 copies of the book here.  It sounds like a great book; I've already read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and loved it, and Peony in Love is on my To Be Read list (both are also by Lisa See).  I reviewed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan here.  Serena also interviewed Lisa See, which you can read here.  It's a really good interview.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

I read this book several years ago, but it was the current month's selection for my book club, and it was a really good book, so I decided to read it again so that I could discuss it intelligently.

Kabuo Miyamoto, a commercial fisherman, is on trial for the first degree murder of Carl Heine, another fisherman.  the story unfolds slowly and deliberately and is primarily about prejudice and racism.  There are many parts to the story:  a childhood romance between Kabuo's wife Hatsue and Ishmael Chambers, the owner of the local newspaper; the internment of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; the cheating of the Miyamoto family by Carl Heine's mother during World War II, which might be a motive for murder.  It was very well written.  I rate it 5 out of 5.

Birthday

Since it was my birthday yesterday, I decided to sketch a couple of my presents from my DH.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

This is the first book in a new series by the author of the Thursday Next Series (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten).   Detective Inspector Jack Spratt is head of Reading's Nursery Crime Division.  He is investigating the murder of Humpty Dumpty with his new Detective Sergeant Mary Mary.  It is a witty and enjoyable read, but not as good as the earlier series.  I rate this book 3 out of 5.

New Years Day

Page reads:

"Roz Stendahl blogged about her New Year's Day Ritual on Dec 31 2008 and referred to it in today's post: "A very wise artist friend told me years ago that she tried to do a little bit of everything she loved on New Year's Day. This set her intention for doing those things repeatedly throughout the year. . . . It works much better for me than resolutions (there are no recriminations or regrets)." This sounded like a really good ritual, so I decided to do it myself. Of course, it was probably noon before I read this . . . we slept in late after hosting our annual New Year's Eve party last night. But I still accomplished a lot - and it feels great. Here ---
are some of the things I did today. THANKS ROZ!"

As always, you can click on the pictures to see them larger.