Rainbow Squares

doodle, ink, sketch book

In the past week or two I’ve been writing a lot. It’s sort of funny since I’ve always thought of myself as more visual than verbal. However, as a result of all the ideas coming out of my head I’ve needed to burn off some energy. Exercise is good for this but also painting or drawing. Since I’ve had no ideas for drawing recently I went to my fall back, drawing squares. Below you will see the hundreds of squares that I drew and colored in. If you like to look at pretty colors this should be right up your alley.

The Small Things and God

doodle, ink, Meredith's poetry, sketch book

It’s the Small Things That Matter

In the end, it’s the small things that matter

They accumulate like sand on a big beach

Each grain, seemingly inconsequential on its own

but so important for the shape of the full form

You could make a ripple in the ocean with a grain of sand

It’s just like you could change the course of your life with a thought

They both are unseen with the naked eye

But if trained, you can see how one small change can lead in a whole new direction

It’s the small things that matter

Because in the end without the small things there is nothing big to look forward to

God

God is a foreign concept to me

Yet so close

I pray and I thank the concept

What is the concept?

What is God?

A man? A benevolent force? A creature from the New Testament if you’re christian

Someone or something responsible for everything

So not truly benevolent unless you believe that everything bad is a force called Satan

I don’t know

God is a foreign concept to me

I have not seen or touched it

I have not heard or tasted it

All I have felt is hope in my heart and bones

So I pray

I pray to stoke the fires of my joy, my like force, my optimism

I pray to something I don’t understand

And I wonder if I need to

Coffee

doodle, ink, Meredith's poetry, sketch book

I stare into my coffee in the morning

Black, then creamy brown

Milky, like a baby’s skin

And all I see is nothing

Not the day before me or the night behind me, but nothing

I sip and taste the slight bitterness and acidity

It heats my chest

It spreads

that warm nothing

A lazy morning feeling

languid and slow

I take a longer drink and then let the liquid settle

Enjoying the peace and quiet

A song comes on breaking the silence but not ending my quiet feeling

It makes me think of people I love and home

I feel safe

Another sip of coffee

My dog rubs against my leg

I thaw

I move

I wake up

I finish my coffee and start the day

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Permanent Record

sketch book

I started a new sketch book recently and decided that I needed to get back in the swing of drawing more often. So I’ve been going places that I can sit and draw. I started with one of my favorite coffee shops in Silver Spring, Zed’s Cafe. However I felt a bit conspicuous since it’s a small place. So I went to Union Station where there are more people and I could blend in more.

I did several sketches in Union Station and showed them to a friend of mine to see what she thought. Her response was “Why are you doing it with pens?”. She thought it would be better to do it with pencil so I could erase. Maybe I will use a more forgiving medium in the future but I like pen. If I work in pen I have to get everything down fast and overlap things and there’s a record of all my marks. I find that useful for generating confidence and having a good time with sketching.

Santa Fe all the Way

doodle, scrap book, sketch book, travel

Hey! Just got back from a great trip to Santa Fe. I saw the currents new media main exhibit, meow wolf, a band that I really like and was not expecting to see, and tried a number of coffee shops and bars with my friend Ben. Santa Fe was definitely worth the trip. I’ve only included a few images from my sketch book here, a photo of the concert my friend and I were at, and then some photos of installations from Meow Wolf. I’ve got to say that airports are great places to draw in. Enjoy!

I love DC

color pencil, sketch book

The Final Destination, Prague

scrap book, sketch book, travel

We get a ride from Dresden to Prague and then walk around.

Some love locks and the John Lennon wall

The Jewish Quarter

Mucha

You can see Mucha’s work in the background. He designed the whole building we were dining in.

Walking by Museum Kampa

David Cerny “Babies”

This sculpture really instilled in me how horrible it was to be behind the iron curtain…if the Berlin Wall hadn’t already. It’s also a great example of how sometimes art is more effective if it’s not beautiful, if it’s more gritty and ugly. The way the art is done gets to the heart of the matter really well. I put the information about the art next to in case you want to read about the content.

Up to Prague Castle

I was turned away at the entrance to Prague Castle’s catholic church. Apparently I was showing too much skin. However, after waiting maybe 15 minutes outside my Dad came out of the church and escorted me in.

Back in Mucha’s building

And then I went home.

Fin

The Last Ride

sketch book, travel, Uncategorized

The day after we arrived in Dresden we were driven out to the Swiss-Saxony National Park. It has some amazing rock formations. There was some rock climbing that I didn’t get to do but the views were amazing.

Once we reached Dresden it was the end of our bike tour. So our guides treated us all to dinner at a great seafood restaurant called Kastenmeiers. It was a great way to spend the night.

So Many Pickles

sketch book, travel

Our fearless leaders with the boat guide and two of the other cyclists.. I ate a lot of liver that night.

We biked through a town with cool sculptures on the way to a pickle factory. There is a story that goes with the statues but it was all in German so I can’t tell you what it was.

tasting the different pickles

And then we went back to the hotel.

On the way to Dresden

sketch book, travel

On our travels we stopped at Meissen, a porcelain manufacturer that started in 1710. It makes and paints all its porcelain by hand, using techniques from when it was founded. When we went to the factory it had a really cool exhibit of work by contemporary artists. The artists were from the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. I saw one expat’s work. It was a really great representation of different cultures with references with how they used to, and how they currently use porcelain. I wrote down some but not all of the artist’s names. If you want to look them up here they are:

Khaled Al-Saai, Rokneddin and Rokni Haerizadeh, Birgit Dieker, Xiao Hui Wang, Nja Mahdaoui, and Frank Michaelis