Paper and Threads

Almost 2 1/2 years ago I took a weekend book binding class to learn how to make a cased-in watercolor sketchbook.  Before that I was recycling old books, using their covers and sewing in watercolor paper signatures.  But I wanted to learn how a full watercolor journal was made by a skilled bookbinder. 

The book we made in class is bigger than any I used previously and too big for me to use as my daily sketchbook.  So I decided to dedicate it to paintings of my apartment.   But somehow the project became too precious.  I added only one page in 2009 and one page in 2010 and I constantly put off using it because I don't want to spoil it.  I need help and an attitude readjustment. 

Here are my two pages:

Our living room fireplace 

An antique golden oak draftsman's table  - now used for storage of supplies

Posted by Shirley at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

 I lived in a 3rd floor garret apartment in a private home (1965-1969) when I was a poor medical student in Philadelphia.  The neighborhood was delightful, the house was on a bus route connecting to school, and the price was right.  I made this sketch from an artist's pen sketch on a notecard, so I'm not sure about the details.  The floor plan comes from my memory.  Oh how I wish I had taken more photos when I moved from place to place!  I lived here between college and Chicago - so it is out of sequence in the "My Homes" category on my blog.

Posted by Shirley at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

We moved to San Antonio Texas from LaJolla California and while my husband worked at the Army Institute for Surgical Research, I joined the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center.  We initially intended to move on at the end of 3 years, but instead my husband joined me on the faculty and we raised all 3 children there before returning to New York City.  We had a Texas ranch house built in the 1950s, with wonderful shade trees and lots of space for our family.  This sketch was made from a photo taken during the winter - and our live oak tree still has leaves.  When we moved to Texas I learned for the first time that live oak trees drop their leaves in the spring instead of the fall.  We lived in this house for 18 happy years. 

Posted by Shirley at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This is the next entry for my "Our Homes" series of sketches.  I really wish that I had taken more photos of our houses, but this is something that I never considered while we were living there. 

After several years in Chicago we moved to La Jolla, California to finish our training.   I was pregnant with our first child and lived in a little cottage overlooking the ocean during the next 4 years.  The house was small, but we had a fabulous brick patio built into the mountain behind us.  The weather was so nice most of the year that it became the family playroom for our sons.  All 3 of our children were born there (my daughter 14 days before moving day) and then we moved to yet another part of the country - Texas. 

Posted by Shirley at 1:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

My husband and I were married midway through medical school, but lived in Philadelphia and Chicago until we graduated.  Then I joined him for post-grad training at the University of Chicago and we moved into our very first "adult" apartment together.  It was a lovely modern apartment in one of two buildings that sat on a landscaped island in the middle of E 55th Street.  Friends used to call it carbon monoxide island because the two lanes of traffic on E55th Street separated to go around the apartment complex.

 I have only a few photos from our years there - one taken during a snowstorm when the buildings were silhouettes and the other taken of just one corner of the building showing the architecture.  I'm not pleased with my page composition, but know how I will position these images when I work more on this series.

Posted by Shirley at 7:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)