Portrait of Leona

Back to doing portraits for Julia Kay's Portrait Party but now I am at my desk as opposed to an airline seat. I am slowly adjusting to the time change and the heat has finally subsided so it's time to get out and paint beautiful summer in Maine.

A long journey home

I left hot humid Bali and arrived in hot humid Maine. 95° and no AC here so it has been impossible to blog or post. Today it has cooled down to the high 80's and a bit of a sea breeze off the harbor so it seems quite lovely and finally I am able to post from my travels.

From Bali to Singapore is a short 2 1/2 hour flight and then at midnight they put us on an 11 hour flight to Frankfurt where we get off with all our belongings, walk around a corner, go through security again and then re-board the same plane for a 7 hour flight to JFK. Then I still have to get to Maine. Door to door is 34+ hours...

They served us dinner at 1:30 am. One of my choices was Khor Moo Yang—grilled pork neck...so I asked for soup and got the above cup of noodles which I sketched as it cooled down.

I took printouts of some of the folks involved in Julia Kay's Portrait Party to work on if I had the energy to draw. Sometimes I just read and try to sleep, but I had 11 hours to kill . So, somewhere between Singapore and Frankfurt I did some portraits.

By this time I had put the watercolors away and just sketched.

This one was done on the Frankfurt to JFK leg.

Saying goodbye to Bali

The rooster who wakes me up every morning at 5 AM.

The neighbors down the street with the temples in their compound.

"Old crooked tail" a wild cat that I can't catch for the "snip snip".

I catch Howard drinking out of the pool even though she has a fresh water dish nearby.

Saying goodbye to Howard, my sweet Bali cat.

Capturing moving Legong dancer

I took a life drawing workshop from a dutch artist, Noella Roos, who lives here in Bali. We worked large—3' x 4', on the floor, with charcoal. It was challenging for me because I never use charcoal and never work this large. The model continued to dance as we attempted to captured the initial "S" shape of her body—shoulders, spine and hips and then work from there. An afternoon of crawling around on the floor with charcoal—what a mess!

Exploring Bali

It took a while for my mysterious Bali virus to work it's way through my system. I was finally feeling better when good friends and family came to visit from the USA. We've had a full house so we have been busy exploring beautiful Bali.

Some of us took a thee day tour with our friend Astika, a Balinese manku (priest) who knows all the ins and outs of Bali.

Sketching the local villagers when we stopped along the way.

We spent a night at a sweet hotel in the tiny seaside town Amed on the east coast of the island. These two Running Ducks, Ollie and Punky are clearly in charge. They run around the open-air dining room quacking for food, then run over to the infinity pool for a drink or a swim. Quack.

View overlooking Lake Buyan at the top of the mountains. As we climbed the steep winding roads newly harvested cloves and coffee were drying on large mats in front of all the houses. The cool dry air was thick with the wonderful smell of cloves.

Sunset ceremony at Pura Tanah Lot

Astika is a manku (priest) for the beautiful scared temple Tanah Lot on the west coast of Bali. The little temple sits a top an outcrop of rock in the surf that can only be accessed at low tide. It is supposedly guarded by sea snakes and thankfully I did not see any when we crossed through the water in our sarongs and flip-flops. Because we were Astika and his family we were allowed to have our ceremony at the top which is not open to the public.

Sketching the temple from the land while waiting for low tide. I had a pretty good audience while I did this little drawing.

Our friends Ben and Sarah after the ceremony which involves meditative prayer, holy water, incense, rice and offerings of flowers. After each prayer a flower is tossed to the alter and one goes in your hair.

Astika, his wife Made, an elder manku, Ben, Sarah and I after the ceremony. That's me second from the left.

Last light before we headed back down to cross through the surf to the mainland.

A very special day in Bali.

A slight setback—sangat sakit (very sick)

On Saturday afternoon, May 29th, before I was able to finish drawing and posting my Every Day in May challenge, I came down with a bug—chills and fever put me to bed and I slept for 14 hours. On Sunday, thinking I was better, I ventured out and then collapsed again that night with a high fever. On Monday, though I felt better, I went to the doctor (in a foreign country!!!) and was told I had a temperature of 38c. Being from the USA, I had no idea what the Fahrenheit equivalent was to that number, but I went home with something to reduce the fever and antibiotics for all the other bad stuff.

I am finally feeling better and the Every Day in May challenge completed.

Every Day in May—EDM #29, #30 and 31

EDM #29 Draw something architectural. while taking a hike one morning we passed by these Balinese temples deep in the woods/jungle in Bedugul Bali. There are ten of thousands of temples in Bali so it really is an everyday everywhere experience to see temples.

EDM #30 Draw a chair. In the dining room at the villa.

EDM # 31 Draw something you collect. I don't really collect anything. As a matter of fact, I am trying to downsize by getting rid of things. I do, however, have LOTS and LOTS of pens—crazy!

Every Day in May—EDM #27 and #28

EDM #28 Draw anything you like. I couldn't get inspired by any of the appliances around the villa so I did this "buah naga" "dragon fruit" that I had picked up at the market the other day.

EDM #27 Draw a book. I can't survive here without this Indonesian/English dictionary. Our villa is a busy place and I am usually running around communicating in my "pigeon pantomime English/Indonesian" with many of the people who are working on something around here. Like yesterday, I knew that buah-buahan is the noun for fruit but I had to look up "naga" which means "dragon" when Maria told me I was drawing a buah naga for EDM # 28. Because I spent the past few months in the USA my Indonesian has suffered—Saya lupa banyak (I forgot a lot).

"Getting Stoned with Savages" by J. Maarten Troost is a wonderful book about an expat who spends some time on Vanatu and Fiji drinking kava and researching cannibalism. Two things I have never done. However, I have a friend here in Bali, who is originally from Kalimantan and she can't say that her ancestors (maybe even gramps) weren't cannibals...

Being an expat is quite a different life...

Every Day in May—EDM #25 and #26

EDM #26 Draw a vegetable. In Bali there is this vegetable called kangkung or water spinach or "KingKong". It is anything that is green and leafy and seems to be served with everything. There are slight differences depending on the region it is grown. I'm not wild about the kungkung from Lombok—too chewy. Anyway, I love this stuff. It is cheap delicious and when sautéed wIth bumbu Bali, tomatoes and coconut milk served over nasi puti (rice), it is to die for!

EDM #25 Draw a glass. As good as the fruit is Bali the wine is that horrible...and expensive! They have started making their own, but where I grew up in Northern California, they would pour this swill down the drain. Wine is so expensive that it is $30+ for a bottle of imported not so great wine. So, I have developed a taste for a local rose mixed with sparkling water. We have named this drink a "Sparkling Jeni".

Every Day in May—EDM #23 and #24

EDM #23 Draw your foot. While dangling my feet over the pool to do this sketch, I realized that my feet have spent way too much time logging miles in my running shoes. One of the wonderful things about Bali is the $6 pedicure that comes with a reflexology foot massage. I'm going today!

EDM #24 Draw a piece of fruit. A fruit vendor at the local market here in Bali. All the fruit here is amazing, but mangos are the best. We cut them into bite size pieces and put them in the freezer. It is the best mango sorbet on the planet.

Every Day in May—EDM #21 and #22

Hello from Bali

EDM #22 Draw a piece of clothing—A sarong. I'm a bit behind on my challenges because of traveling. So as you can see by EDM #22 I am back in Bali. The sarong is a traditional clothing style in Indonesia for both men and women and many Balinese still wear the beautiful traditional cotton batik. With this heat it is a comfortable choice. I have several but don't wear them outside the villa for fear of it falling off. The drawing above is on the beach path which is lined with small shops selling sarongs in every color and print.

EDM #21 Draw something antique or vintage. I sketched this quickly before leaving the USA on the afternoon of the 19th. It is a wonderful carving from somewhere in Central America that my grandmother brought home from one of her travels. I love it and have been dragging it around for years. Watercolors were packed so I used colored pencils.

Every Day in May—EDM #20 Draw something "Dad" in honor of father's day

This is my father, Jim Lawson. He turned 84 three days ago. On his birthday, all the people at the gym stopped exercising and sang happy birthday to him. One woman asked him what he used for wrinkle cream and he said the same thing he uses to brush his teeth—hmmmm.

I sketched this in March when I was visiting my parents in California. We were sitting outside in the sun after going to the gym. He looks pretty good!

This was a painting I did in a Charles Reid workshop I took last year. Charles likes using black and white photos as an exercise in his classes. I just happened to have this photo of my father in my art bag. It was taken when he was a senior in high school and on the football team at "Paly High" in Palo Alto, California. Following in the footsteps of his famous father, Stanford University's first All-American football player—Jim Lawson.

What a dude! Happy Birthday and Happy Father's Day.

Every Day in May—EDM #19

EDM#19—Draw something you made. I have a friend who always pulls out her latest sock knitting project when we are either sailing or just hanging around before going out for dinner. Such a great idea being so portable. Also smallish and doesn't take up too much room when traveling. So I gave it a try and here it is—one sock! I have never finished the other one. Someday...maybe...

I have a feeling I am not the only one who has suffered from the "One Sock Syndrome".

Every Day in May—EDM #18

EDM #18—Draw the view from a window in your house. My cats, Jazzy and Bobo have come home after two years in Arizona with my sister and her family. They will stay here with a cat sitter while I am in Indonesia for the next six weeks. This is the view from my living room window which I now share with two fat cats.

I have been so busy with this crazy "Every Day in May" challenge and packing to travel to Bali that I have put my portrait obsession on the back burner. Here is the first one I have done in a while for Julia Kay's Portrait Party.

Photo rreference here.

Every Day in May—EDM #16 and #17

EDM #17 Draw a musical instrument. Eric Clapton is one of my all time favorites. He is brilliant!

EDM #16 Draw your favorite tool. I had a hard time figuring out what might be my favorite tool. Clearly nothing in the kitchen or the yard. So here it is, my "cheapo" plastic watercolor palette. Can't live without it.

Every Day in May—EDM #14 and #15

EDM #15 Draw a tree. This beautiful tree is in the park near my home and is once again in full bloom. I actually did an oil painting of the same tree couple of years ago—and sold it! Here it is in watercolor for the 2010 Every Day in May challenge.

EDM #14 Draw what you see when you get up in the morning. We have a large skylight above the bed. It can be quite busy and noisy here in the morning with the seagulls flying about following fishing boats or looking for a good dumpster to raid.

Every Day in May—EDM #13

EDM #13—Draw your phone. Seemed pretty boring to me so I added my hand. That's it. I'm moving onto #14

Every Day in May—EDM #12

Here's last night's dinner for day # 12 of the Every Day in May/EDM challenges. Since Jerry is in Bali and I am still in the states, my dinners at home alone run more to the vegetarian, quick and easy and for the most part not cooked, like carrots and hummus. Yesterday, I couldn't resist some takeout from the Whole Foods macrobiotic side of the salad bar. Is was soooooooooooo good. Lots picking while drawing. Tonight I'm back to carrots and hummus.

Every Day in May—EDM #11 and another portrait

EDM #11—Draw your sunglasses. This is a quick sketch I did to make up for the crazy oil painting I did below for the day #11 challenge.

There was leftover oil paint on the palette and I never want to waste any paint. Painted from a photo of a cow that munches grass in a filed near our villa in Bali.

Sunglasses were my addition—does it seem a little crazy that I painted a cow wearing sunglasses? I think I may need a break!

Portrait of Inmasseranito for Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr.