Patrone

1. One that supports, protects, or champions someone or something, such as an institution, event, or cause; a sponsor or benefactor: a patron of the arts. 

2. A customer, especially a regular customer.

I refer to my Patrone here frequently, but it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I'm referring to my spouse, my life partner, with whom I've been for the past 20+ years, and who is my greatest fan and champion, and bends over backwards to support my efforts by planning trips and suggesting workshops in interesting places. 

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary. We were supposed to go to Coast Rica to celebrate it, but times being what they are...another time for when we celebrate arriving to the other side of this terrible pandemic. 

Mindfulness, Calamityware, and my favorite tea.

I've spent the last month or so in my own self-imposed Mindfulness Meditation immersion program, via programs at the Mindful Center in Albuquerque. Mindful movement, Mindful eating, Mindfulness-based Stress reduction, etc.

Can I just take a moment to tell you about my favorite tea?

The Republic of Tea makes this green tea with linden flowers and honey in it. I put a few drops of coconut stevia in it and it is DEVINE.  So, I wanted to celebrate this wonderful elixir with a sketch using my Hurion drawing pad and Sketchbook.  

Today, I fiddled with the fade-out on the shadow behind the cup using the "airbrush" feature. I think there's too much on the side of the cup, however.  

And yes, that's a sketch of a Calamityware Mug a friend gave me. #shamelesspromotion

I used to be a whiz at Photoshop, but they've changed so much about it I can't keep up. It's also ridiculously expensive and hogs the resources on my 9-year-old Mac Mini.  I'm still able to do teletherapy on this little Apple miracle box, and all I've had to do over the past 9 years is add more memory, around 2015 or so.  Still, I am eyeballing a new mac mini, just because I suspect that some of my teletherapy glitches have been caused by my aging mac.  

Anyway. This tea is so good that when I make some I usually sit outside and contemplate it, savoring each sip.  Today I decided to draw it. 

Now, having said that, I want to change some settings in the drawing tablet so that it's not quite as responsive.  I have trouble with my hand being a bit unsteady at times. 

...

essential quarantine would make a good name for a rock band.

here it is, 2020. i'm now self-employed, and have more time to devote to art. i took a watercolor class earlier this year and i suck. so. bad. at that. i'm signed up for art history this summer at the local community college.

since we are essentially quarantined, my therapy practice has shifted to secure teletherapy online. in between sessions, i draw, or walk around my backyard (which opens up to open space and wilderness) or snack. (oops)

i'm ashamed to admit that i purchased a Hurion drawing tablet about 2 or 3 years ago and haven't touched it. at the same time, i installed SketchBook on my Mac mini (purchased in 2012, upgraded the memory in 2016)

this morning, took them out for the first time.  since i'm a little focused on food, here's my first effort:

Zazen No. 1

i call this zazen #1 because it's the beginning of a series of mundane objects i render whilst Himself is in the other room, participating in zazen via Zoom.  

i very much enjoyed doing this. i think this would be an excellent tool for planning paintings, allowing me to compare values and hues for effect. i had purchased a buttload of Copic sketch markers, so i'll be selling those on ebay, because i didn't care for using them.

The second one, below, was used more with different brushes within the Sketchbook app.  I think this will be handy for planning paintings.

Zazen No. 2

I'm looking for ways to be minimalist, and much of that revolves around digital applications, I think. I can at least, for now, use this for sketching indoors.

happy. quarantine.

i haven't been doing much with art since beginning my private practice in January. i've been making phone calls (oh, so many phone calls) to get approved by insurance companies...

...well, this is an art blog. so.

i discovered, or rediscovered, last week that there is a bi-weekly life drawing session at the art league, and showed up about 2 hours into it.  i made many spots on my schedule so that i could do this every friday morning. just me, some other artsy types, and a model.

the first session, on march 6, i squeezed into one of the few spaces left and managed to knock this out:

the next week i went to las cruces for my birthday, to play golf.

the next week, i was notified not after that the sessions were canceled until fall. so, no more figure drawing sessions at the league for now. Boo.