Winter Solstice at the IMA

Last evening my daughter and I decided to attend the Winter Solstice event to see what it's like.

First we stopped to enjoy the ice carvers.

We went into the gift shop and heard Christmas music emanating from the greenhouse, and discovered this violinist and flautist there, along with a small but appreciative audience.

After warming up, we braved the cold again and got some hot chocolate (with a hint of hazelnut flavor...mmmmm!) and brownies. There were some winter animals available for petting: A reindeer, an owl, and a bunny. The reindeer was so loved that I could not get a good camera shot.

After warming up at the fire pit, we followed the luminary path over to the Lilly House.

Inside we watched a harpist make beautiful music. We were not allowed to use flash photography inside the house, so these images are a bit blurry.

After our Lilly House tour, we took a few more shots outside before leaving for home.

Blurry shot because we didn't want to use flash.

What a nice mother/daughter date!

Our New Driveway

We just got a new driveway poured!!!  May sound dull to some, but to us, it's a big deal!!  We have been waiting a long time to get this accomplished, and we are very excited at how much it has improved our property.  My dad used to be a general contractor in my hometown, and my uncle had a concrete company.  I grew up seeing big construction projects come together.  So it's been fun for me seeing my fixer-upper house evolve over the years at the hands of my talented do-it-yourselfer husband.  (However, the driveway was poured by Tate Concrete)  Here is a little slideshow...


Next year, hopefully, we can landscape around it.

Cogsworth

My nephew and godson, Noah, played Cogsworth in his school play, "Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr."  We saw his performance last week at South Decatur Elementary.  He did a great job!!!  He is seen here having a conversation with Lumiere.

We had a backstage pass and got to hobnob with the top Nob.  Here you can see him out of his boxy clock costume.  No, that's not a real mustache.  ;)   He still has clock hands drawn on his face.  But you can still see what a good looking guy he is.  I got his autograph on my playbill.  And NO, I'm not going to sell it, so don't even ask me! 

Afterward, we went to his house and hung out with him and family to celebrate Noah's 12th birthday.  Now, I need to explain that Noah has chickens and so we try to bombard him with chicken-themed gifts.  One was a T-shirt that says, "I don't have a short attention span, I just...Oh look a chicken!!"  He laughed out loud at that one, so I guess he liked it.  Noah's mom said that it was a very appropriate shirt!  I wonder what she means?

Okay, so here is a pic of the other gift, which allows me to unabashedly show off my latest little artwork (which is the underlying theme of my blog anyway).  It's a chicken bank, which originally was blank white and intended to be decorated, so I couldn't resist doing that for Noah.  Here are the pics.  I'm not sure which he liked more, the bank or the cold, hard cash that was lovingly placed in it.

Thanks to Noah, Alli, Trent, Lori, Mitch, and Joan for a fun afternoon.  And thanks for the farm eggs!!  That will always keep us coming back for more!!

An Amazing Guy

I was working on this drawing last night.  I've been reading Tom Richmond's tutorials on caricature, and trying to apply his technique.  Tom is an amazingly talented illustrator for MAD Magazine.  If you like looking at funny caricatures, you should check out his blog.  He cracks me up!  http://www.tomrichmond.com/caricatures.php

Happy Easter

 
Christ is Risen! 
I missed church today, because it was my weekend to work.  But Christ was with us in the NICU today, as He is every day.
Here's hoping you all had a wonderful Easter holiday!
This is a sketch I did of a detail from Guercino's painting Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, c. 1621.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_and_the_woman_taken_in_adultery

Jake's Fun Day

My son Jake kicked off a rockin' Spring Break with a surgical procedure to fix his paralyzed vocal cord, which has plagued him since his old NICU days.  His surgeon, Dr. Stacey Halum, MD, a laryngologist and Director of the IU Clinic for Voice, Swallowing and Airway Disorders, performed the procedure.  This was actually a trial run with collagen injections to the affected cord.  If he gets a good result, he can return for another procedure that involves placement of a more permanent implant.  He is looking forward to being able to yell to his ultimate frizbee teammates.  I wonder if he will still sing first tenor?  This week he is supposed to rest his voice so it can heal, so today he has been typing and texting to communicate.

It's All Too Much

By the way, I can't promise my sketches will be lovely or even relevant. They're just sketches.