I made this above sketch of the Morro Bay Estuary in 2008. The following four sketches were done over Easter break. They include Morro Rock, a sketch of the PG&E cooling towers, fishing boats, and Starbucks in San Luis Obispo.
We attended a Science Awards Ceremony for Pasadena Unified School District that was hosted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory last night. Since there was no place for me to sit in the meeting room, I wandered to the JPL Museum next door. One exhibit was an infrared camera used on numerous satellites to measure temperature of objects in space. The sketch at left is me. At right is a child playing on a padded bench in front of the camera. Blue is cool and red is warm. The experience was a new way to see.
We cared for our two oldest grandchildren this weekend. On Saturday our grandson had a baseball game in Claremont. While my wife watched him play ball, I kept an eye on our granddaughter while she played on the equipment with other children who also found the baseball game boring.
I visited Villa Maria Del Mar retreat house in Santa Cruz. The last time I was there I sketched what I saw looking north from the property. This time I stood in the same spot and looked south. The lovely beach house is next door to the retreat house.
We spent 8 hours waiting in the emergency room last night. (My wife was not feeling well but is fine now). The ER is the great equalizer. The homeless, the poor, the wealthy, the young, and the elderly each take a number and wait together. To pass the time,I sketched whoever sat across from me throughout the evening. The men that sat opposite from me were there with a sick wife, girl friend, or child.
The experience also had symbolic value. We waited with the frail, homeless, and sick at the beginning of Lent for someone to help us, to heal us, and to save us. We were conscious of our helplessness. We lacked power to calm our fears and help ourselves. We needed a doctor. Come Lord Jesus!
Across the street from Vroman’s Book Store on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena is a group of small shops in a building called Arcade Lane. The Spanish Mediterranean brick structure was built in 1927. It houses a couple of restaurants, beauty salon, book store, tea shop, antique shop, and gift shop.
I was captivated by the entrance. It hints at something inviting, interesting, from another time and place. The stone patio and tree shaded courtyard on the other side of this entrance offers a cool respite on hot summer days.
The bike rack near where I was sketching provided me a second focal point as I waited for my wife who was shopping in Vroman’s.
About once per month I meet with some friends from the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Palo Alto for a retreat day. Yesterday we met at Villa Maria Del Mar Retreat Center in Santa Cruz. The retreat house is right on the beach and it was a wet stormy day with high surf. 
Surfers found it to be perfect weather. I sketched these from under a tree on the Villa Maria Del Mar property. I watched the thunderous waves crash against the rocks and send up plumes of white spray and foam while the ground beneath my feet shook. Such restless power!
Sketching is fun. I have found a new inspirational website that I really like called Urban Sketchers. Each day people in cities around the world post sketches that they have made of their city. So I thought that I would give it a try. The Pasadena City Hall is located at 100 North Garfield Avenue. City Hall was designed by John Bakewell & Arthur Brown who were influenced by the early Renaissance style of 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. Construction was completed on December 27, 1927. The blue building in the foreground is All Saints Episcopal Church
I could easily become a plant-talking, tree-hugger. I grew up in a small farming community and spent my summers in high school and college caring for my neighbor’s vineyards and orchards. I love to visit gardens and work with plants. I dream of owning a plant nursery someday. But I also enjoy helping individuals listen for God’s voice and bond more closely with Father, Son, and Spirit.
I have noticed that in the Bible, plants such as trees, bushes, vines, grasses, or wheat are frequently used to illustrate some truth about human beings and our relationship with God. Plants like humans germinate, sprout, grow, develop, bear fruit, have root systems, benefit the world in a variety of ways, become diseased, and die.
It is also intriguing to observe the interaction between plants and Biblical characters—Adam and Eve and the trees of knowledge and life; Moses and the burning bush; Elijah and the broom tree; Jonah and the unpredictable plant; Jesus and the vine; the disciples and the fig tree.
I have been reflecting upon the passage from Jeremiah 17:7-8.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It has no worries in the year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
I decided to create a papier-mâché sculpture of the verse which is shown in the photo above. The photos below show the process I used to create the finished piece.
Step One-I cut a base from plywood, bolted a trunk to the base and then formed wire for the branches and roots. Though roots are normally hidden, I wanted to expose them. In the verse, roots are what connect to the water. In an earlier verse in Jeremiah, God is said to be like a fountain head of refreshing water and the roots are what connect to the eternal source of life.
Step Two- I then cut strips of newspaper and glued that onto the wire and trunk and let it dry.
Step Three– I then painted the entire piece with white gesso, which sealed the papier-mache and covered up all the holes.
Step Four– I then used acrylic paint to paint the base, roots, trunk, and limbs. I wanted the tree trunk to reflect a sense of age, weathered wisdom, and stability. Afterwards I added the leaves cut from thin brass sheet. My initial idea was to make the leave look like grape leaves and tie this passage to the one in John 15. (I am the vine and you are the branches.) But grape leaves proved too complicated to cut. They ended up looking like hearts, which I thought was a good accident. In the Book of Revelation the leaves from the tree of life were to be used for the healing of nations. They also shine like the leaves of the burning bush in the book of Exodus. I like the illusions. I later added fruit taken from an old Christmas decoration.
“Oh my anguish my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster, the whole land lies in ruins. Jeremiah 4:19-20
I was intrigued by the word disaster. It is made up of two words= dis (without) + aster (star). The idea of the word from Latin and Greek is “without your lucky star.” Israel and Judah had abandoned Yahweh and now they had to face the world without the one watching over them. They had to face calamity named Babylon and her ruthless armies.