I had a friend pass away a couple of weeks ago. He was an excellent human being and ran one of my favorite coffee shops in Springfield, The Coffee Ethic. There is a memorial fund set up for his family and I told everyone on my Facebook friends list that if they donated $20 or more to the fund, I'd draw or paint them something coffee related for their generosity.
I've done quite a few this week, the Day of the Dead one being the most recent. It went to one of my more peculiar and fun-loving friends.
I had a busy weekend. Started things off by babysitting a smoker overnight at Rock'n Ribs BBQ Competition. We had a booth there for a second year. It was fun, ate a lot of samples. Didn't sleep well, though. There's a lot going on through the night.
Saturday, breakfast with the family at The Aviary after I broke down my camp stuff at Rock'n Ribs. The girls went out to work the office BBQ booth and I stuck around the house working on a couple of commissioned art pieces.
Those out of the way, I grilled burgers and corn on the cob and then the wife and kiddo and I hit up a movie, seeing Kung Fu Panda 3. I love those films. Great artwork in them.
Sunday, breakfast of eggs in a basket, toads in a hole, bacon and potatoes O'Brian. Afterwards, the kiddo and I took my hammock to a park and hung out for a bit. I also sketched some maple seed helicopters.
Then the girls went to the nursing home and I went down to Lake Springfield Park to goof around.
First, I sketched the boathouse down by the lake.
Then I busted out my stunt kite that I had rubber banded my GoPro Hero to. This turned out to be an awesome idea!
And finally, I went home and knocked out a dinner of sauerkraut, kielbasa and new potatoes with scratch-made cornbread. A great way to finish out a busy weekend.
Some pics from last Saturday at the Andy Dalton Shooting Range. I really don't do this enough. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. Something from my childhood that I need to implement more. In the pics, myself, my father-in-law John B. and my buddy Brian D. John left after a few rounds with his new .38.
With my wife and daughter planning a slumber party for Saturday evening, I asked that I be excused to head south a couple of hours to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's a town with a historic district unlike anything else in our region. The lay of the land, architecture, culture and character down there is flat out peculiar, but in a good way. There was so much I wanted to put to paper that I was literally paralyzed by choice and only got half of the drawing and painting in that I would have liked to have. Oh, well. I did get to hike around and look at a lot of interesting things.
Here are the sketches I did manage to get done.
The "Flatiron Flats" flatiron building at Spring and Center streets.
Grotto Spring
Eureka Springs Courthouse
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church
I had a good time down there. Saturday night I camped at the KOA. Rain was forecast, so I just slept in the car instead of pitching a tent in their designated camping areas. From experience, rain and flat, retention-walled off campsites usually end with me sleeping in a puddle. I got a lot of attention sketching on the street, with dozens of people looking over my shoulder or commenting on my work. I even had people taking pictures with me. It was odd, but flattering.
I ran into some friends on Saturday, one took this pic of me sketching the flatiron building.
I've really been having fun with the ink and paint pen on toned paper sketches that I've been doing lately. Here's a couple that I did this week. One, a sketch of an old GMC truck that we saw last summer in Ozark, Missouri and the second, my Norlund axe from an excursion to Cape Fair, Missouri to cut firewood last year, sometime.
Yesterday morning, my friend Jesse N. and I decided to explore some small creeks running into the James River above Springfield Lake. We saw lots of signs of beavers in the area, several blue herons, a large hawk, lots of songbirds and turkey vultures, as well as nesting Canada geese (which weren't very happy to see us). Overall, we paddled about 5.5 miles out and back. Some of it walking and dragging the boats through shallows. Being one of the nicest days of the year so far, it was absolutely perfect to be out.
And here are some highlights from the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival on Saturday. Also a very nice day to be outside. At one time, I counted nearly 40 kites aloft, some simple, others quite intricate and up to 30+ feet long.
