Cup 052

This pewter cup was a thrift store find, but it was so beat up and bent that drawing it accurately means that it looks a bit off...

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I managed to just let myself get lost in studying it, observing it, and figuring out a way to draw it, just respond to it.

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Egg 051

DAY 50

I posted new collage 12x12 pieces on the other blog site www.12x12x100.blogspot.com as a way to celebrate the 50 day mark. And I've got photos of the St. Cloud exhibition where I have displayed the first of the 12x12 pieces, two rows of 12 of course.

See a slideshow of the exhibit on Flickr. The light in the gallery was low, and I didn't want to use flash on all the shots, so the photos are a bit grainy - sorry. But you get the idea.

Wrestlers

Day 50. Half way there. I wanted to do something big to mark the middle, the half way point.

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So I bit off more than I could chew. I was a good tourist on my first trip to Europe, and when in Rome, I purchased this widely reproduced souvenir sculpture of The Wrestlers.

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That would have been back in 1991? I was living in Athens, Ohio working for the Department of Residence Life so I had the summers off.

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That spring I had gone to a conference in San Francisco and met Ignazio who invited me to come and see him in Switzerland if I planned my trip to Europe. I thought - why not?

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We ended up traveling together staying with his friends part of the time with stops in Zurich, Basil, Paris, Leon, Rome, Venice, and Milan - 3 weeks in all. He speaks Swiss German, French, English and Italian so I had a built in translator.

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Italy is really HOT in August.

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If memory serves me properly, I purchased this souvenir on my way to the Sistine Chapel.

Wing Nut 049

RICARD 048

Everyone in my household is sick, hacking and coughing, so I attended the Coalition Gallery opening reception by myself tonight. The show, LINEAR THINKING, is really great.

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And I was greeted at the door with a check from a sale of a painting from my show.

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I decided to take myself out for a nice meal at a favorite restaurant, Le Bouchon.

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The seafood gratin was just right; rich and a bit creamy but not at all overpowering the seafood. And it was the perfect accompaniment for the main course, the halibut prepared with a very light and simple flavor with sauteed vegetables and wild rice. It was one of those dishes that has such subtle flavors - was it a light vinegar, lemon juice, or herb infused oil that made the entree sing? The Sauvignon Blanc was just the right choice to pair with it.

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So prior to all this, I was realizing that the day was slipping away and I had yet to do my drawing. On the way to the restaurant I was looking for a scrap of cardboard or paper to draw on. Luckily I still had a pencil in my coat pocket even though I had been warned about the dangers of carrying around a pencil in a pocket.

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When I sat down at the bar and was digging through my pockets, the bar tender asked if I needed a piece of paper. So I said, actually, what I would really like is a piece of cardboard like you find backing a note pad, or sketch pad. He instantly reached around and handed me a small piece of cardboard that must have been waiting for me to come in. Ask and you shall receive.

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He also generously let me position the small pitcher of picks, and added a story about it. Jean Claude Poilevey, the owner of the restaurant, brought it and other decor for the restaurant from his mother's country house in France.

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Thanks Mike!

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It was a beautiful evening - the wait staff and I chatted, I enjoyed flawless food, and I ended up with a wonderful drawing (I added the white high lights when I got home).

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Butter Knives 047