We had lunch a few years back in a cafe one morning in Paris on a street called Rue Cler. It was raining and I took a number of photos trying to capture the reflection of colors off the cobble stone pavement.
Rue Cler in the Rain
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Tag Archives: art
St. Etienne du Mont, Paris, France
This was sketched from a photo that I took a few years back when we visited Paris. I was looking for the University of Paris, which is next door to this church. John Calvin and Ignatius of Loyola were both students at the university at the about the same time. I stumbled upon this beautiful building as I rounded the corner. There has been a chapel on this site since the 6th century. Parts of this building date back to 1328. Blaise Pascal is buried here. To learn more, visit this Wikipedia article. In this sketch I goofed on the perspective and put the eye level line in the wrong place. I will keep practicing.
Sketching While Waiting
I enjoy sketching while waiting for someone or something to happen. In the top sketch I was waiting for my granddaughters to visit Minnie Mouse at Disneyland. I was intrigued by the line of strollers. On another day I was at the San Jose Airport where I got to listen and sketch a traveler playing the piano in the lobby. Then on a trip to Campus by the Sea, I saw a lady in a big floppy yellow hat. Drawing created a memory and helped me observe something interesting close at hand.
Green Street, Pasadena
For ten years I had an office two blocks from this set of shops. On my afternoon walks to the Post Office, this was a favorite route past these buildings. Located on the corner of Madison and Green streets in Pasadena, the avenue is shaded by old and large ficus trees. The buildings housed an art gallery, interior design studio, and landscape design studio.
Morro Bay
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.
Infrared Self Portrait
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.
Waiting in the ER on Ash Wednesday
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!
Arcade Lane Sketch
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.
Urban Sketching-Pasadena City Hall
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
Jeremiah 4
“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.