Historians and Historic Plumbing

Our visit to the Architectural History Center this weekend was fun, but as the baby gets more engaged with the world I think I'm going to have to plan on sketching faster and faster. Here are the few doodles I did pull off...

 The comfiest chairs for nursing were in the room where the local history authors were showing off their wares. Really interesting to listen to them chatting about everything from the politics of historic preservation to strategies for self-publishing.

 This young man was entertaining himself with the computer tablet while his mom rocked the history table.

Highlight of the beautiful exhibition on old-growth wood in local architecture: "The Nilus," a fabulous 19th-century toilet. The lid and seat are rich dark wood, and the base is white porcelain with very intricate floral patterns in black linework. The butterfly and arching sheaf of wheat are some details of the pattern on the exterior...but I didn't have time to record more of the details. (There was art on the inside of the bowl too!)

A snapshot of the group assembling to head out towards delicious Robo Taco. We had probably around 14 people out for the event? Good fun, nice to welcome a few new faces to the crowd as well.

Hanging out at the Kennedy School

At least 15 people were at the Kennedy School sketchcrawl, so cool! We kind of took over a big table in the restaurant and I spent most of my time there chatting and sketching other sketchers...

But I also took a crack at that nifty iconic fireplace/chimney thing in the courtyard.

Tram and Streetcar

Aerial Tram and Streetcar from Saturday's sketchcrawl in the South Waterfront neighborhood. I'm not used to drawing shiny metal things! You can see a few tiny raindrops on the page. Autumn is on its way. * Dibujos del teleférico y el tranvía, dibujado en la adventura en el districto del South Waterfront el sábado pasado. ¡No estoy acostumbrada a dibujar tantas máquinas! Algunas gotas de lluvia mancharon el papel; ya viene el otoño.    

Passing The Time In Portland

On a drizzly Tuesday afternoon I cozied up in a coffee joint, with a friend, in SE Portland for some tea, pastries, and a little light sketching. I caught this girl lazily sipping her coffee (scavenger hunt item... score!) and paying me no mind, so it was easy to get a quick sketch of her. I've been really digging the light blue Pitt pen. I like how soft it looks and how it's a little moody.

Fountain pen, with Blue Pitt Pen in Moleskine Sketchbook

The next Saturday in stark contrast was a wonderfully warm morning and as usual, after my Saturday run (10 miles on this particular day) with Portland fit, my running buddy and I got our post run bagels and coffee on 23rd and Glisan. Just enjoying the sunshine and chilling. Fortunately we were posted up right next to this paint chipped old fire hydrant and I was able to check another scavenger hunt item off the list.

Fountain pen with assorted Pitt Pens in Moleskine Sketchbook