The Other Side of Somewhere

A Patch of Blue

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you've certainly read about my desire to draw and my struggle doing that.  Part of it is lack of confidence, part of it is lack of practice.  Still another part of it is the question of what to draw. 

The last part has to do with what inspires me (and this applies not only to drawing, but to all of my creative work).  It occured to me recently that I rarely pull inspiration from the voluminous reading I do, and the characters in films that get under my skin and stick there.   

With this in mind, I've been playing around, experimenting, making messes.  Without purposely thinking about it, I ended up making a piece based on a movie I haven't been able to shake, called A Patch of Blue (1965) starring Sidney Poitier, Shirley Winters, and Elizabeth Hartman.  It is the story of a blind girl, trapped in a tiny apartment with her abusive and exploitative mother, stringing beads for a living, who one day meets a kind man of color who takes the time and interest to show her how to enjoy things (like pineapple juice and music) and navigate in a sighted world. 

It is a deeply moving film.  Poking around a bit to find out more about the cast, I was saddened to know that the woman who plays the blind girl in the film, Elizabeth Hartman, is - tragically - no longer with us.  I was just flattened by the whole thing - the film, the story, and the cast.

So, here is my little collaged drawing to commemorate A Patch of Blue.  The 5" x 7" canvas board includes a layer of writing with india ink, gesso, pencil, oil pastel, and acrylic glazes.  The figure isn't meant to be a realistic or representative portrait (obviously!).  In fact, I'd like the figure to be even more abstract. 

I can work on that with the next drawing and the next book or movie on my inspiration list.

I Love My Sewing Machine and Clark Gable

Oh happy day! 

I picked up my sewing machine from the service shop today!  I haven't been without it for very long at all, but ever since seeing Hanna's hearts, I've been itching to sit down and play.  And now I can!

You might recall the initial scope of my "marking time" project involved a fabric component.  I planned on making a quilt square each week to yield 52 quilt squares by the time Mr. P. returns home, that I would then make into a quilt. 

Well.

I tend to Plan Big (ahem).  The fabric component has not materialized (hee hee, no pun intended) as of yet.  The idea of making fabric collaged squares each week bores me because I'm already making collages every day with my ATC/ACEO project.  I still want to make the quilt but I'm not sure if it needs to be a weekly project or ...?  I'm stumped for ideas.  At least I have my machine back so when I figure it out I can get right to work.

Today's ACEO (#77 if you're following along) is not a card at all, but a miniature quilt.  It's all fabric layers and batting.  I love holding it in my hands.

The other day I remarked to some friends that I have reached the point in The Lifecycle of a Deployment where I've dusted off my alternate life.  This sounds more exciting than it actually is.  One element of my alternate life is watching a lot of old movies and this month is a great month to tune in to TCM because they are screening Oscar winners for each decade on designated days of the week.  *swoon* 

Monday I saw It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert and the infamous scene where he - gasp! - takes off his shirt on screen, which was considered racy at the time of the film's debut in 1934.  What a clever and smart movie!  Tonight is The Quiet Man (which I've never seen), and Roman Holiday (Audrey Hepburn! Gregory Peck!).  And next Friday, my absolute most favorite movie in the entire world ever: The Goodbye Girl with Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss (I have it on DVD but it's still fun to see it on TV).  Oh go check out the classic-movie-goodness for yourself ... the schedule is amazing!

'Tis the Season...

... for movies.  One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Bishop's Wife starring David Niven, Loretta Young, and - swoon - Cary Grant.  Cary Grant as an angel, no less!  This movie is not to be missed!  Fortunately, you have two viewing opportunities this holiday season.  Turner Classic Movies airs the movie on Sunday, December 16th at 2:00 p.m. (EST) and again on Christmas Eve at 8:00 p.m. (EST). 

If you are familiar with Judy Garland's haunting rendition of the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (in which the original lyrics are sung "we'll have to muddle through somehow" instead of the cheerier "hang a shining star upon the highest bow") you can see her sing it in the film Meet Me in St. Louis.  While this is not solely a Christmas movie (the story covers an entire year in the life of a St. Louis family, from 1903 - 1904, culminating in the World's Fair in St. Louis), Judy singing this song makes it the perfect movie for Christmas.  And lucky us, Turner Classic Movies is airing this on Sunday, December 16th at 8:00 p.m. (EST).  Or, maybe (ahem) you already have the DVD.

... for baking.  I continue spending a lot of time in the kitchen, which I'm wont to do this time of year.  Every year I find myself captivated by the sacks of cranberries that appear in the produce section.  Whole cranberries are kind of a mystery to me.  For aesthetic reasons, I love their shape and variety of color (from white to pink to red to claret - a sack of cranberries is a visual feast).  I happen to love cranberry juice, but whole cranberries are - wow - super tart.  Still, I have this weird fascination with cooking and baking with them.  Last night I made Cranberry Upside Down Cake.  I varied the recipe from the original by using orange zest instead of chopped up rind and I omitted the red currant jelly as I didn't have any on hand.  I also used only 12 ounces of berries instead of the entire pound called for.  The cake was delicious, especially with a little whipped cream to cut the tartness.  Next time I make this I will cut further back on the cranberries to get a better sweet/tart balance.

...for song. Really enjoying Joan Osborne's new Christmas tunes, especially "What Do Bad Girls Get", which goes "Good girls get toys for Christmas but Santa, what do bad girls get?"  Bad girls apparently are ones who flirt, tease, and cry (but they have very good reasons).  Another cool song I discovered today is "All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue" by a (new-to-me group) Over the Rhine.  While I love classic holiday tunes, I love these new songs that provide a different take on the holiday season.

I continue work on my day/week/month project (sometimes referred to as Operation Marking Time).  I hit a snag with the weekly component of this project but the snag revealed a new and unexpected direction for that part of my project.  I hope to pull it together and share it with you after the holidays.  In the meantime, you can see my daily atcs (artist trading cards) over here.

Enchanted Monday

Mr. P. and I headed out to the movies this afternoon to see Enchanted (guess who picked that one?).  Mr. P. deemed the movie "corny" and yes, it was, but in a good way.  I grew up on Disney princess movies and so seeing them spoofed down to very specific details was amusing.  Corniness aside, the movie somehow manages to capture what we all love about fairy tales, and the film strikes a happy balance between "happily ever after" and "cold hard reality".  The actress who plays the princess is lovely and Patrick Dempsey (who I still remember from the movie Can't Buy Me Love and not Grey's Anatomy which I've never seen) is truly dreamy.  In a year that saw a slew of political movies (yawn), this was a nice, light treat of a movie.

Time is winding down to Mr. P.'s departure on Wednesday.  It will be a relief to finally be underway - anticipation is not my strength.  Thursday will be Day One of Operation Marking Time, my little way of counting the days until his return by completing art projects for various increments of time (as follows):

Each day I will make one artist trading card (ATC) which will yield approximately 365 trading cards.

Each Sunday (the end of each week) I will make one quilt square which will yield approximately 52 quilt squares which I will sew into a quilt once he returns home.

At the end of each month I will create a soldered charm which will yield 12 charms for a bracelet.

I'm doing this to have something tangible to hold in my hands at the end of this, something that will help me SEE time.  I'm doing this to keep myself engaged in my creative loves and to make a large quantity of stuff.  The goal here isn't good art.  Particularly with the ATCs I'll be doing daily, the purpose is to finish one thing every day no matter how great (or not) it is.  The goal is to ground myself in each day, week, and month and to see that time is indeed passing.  (Psssst ... I hope it goes by fast).

Nancy Drew

As part of a busy Sunday (and an effort to distract me from a doctor's appointment tomorrow), my husband took me to see the new Nancy Drew movie.  We were the only two people in the theater without a 'tween in tow and Mr. P was only one of three men in the entire theater.  Hee hee! 

While I always preferred Trixie to Nancy, I could not resist seeing this movie.  Emma Roberts (that would be Julia's niece) was charming in Aquamarine, another movie I adore, and she is a worthy Nancy Drew.  The movie was cute, charming, and clever.  Some of it was predictable, but much of it was refreshing (Nancy, for example, does not rely on many electronic gadgets to assist in solving her case). 

I loved the message (not crammed down your throat, just a lovely truth that floated above the surface) that it's impossible to squelch your authentic nature.  Nancy's dad asks her repeatedly to stop sleuthing and she initially agrees, trying to do "normal" things; "things teenagers are supposed to do", but solving mysteries is who Nancy is and she can't hold back for long.

I was charmed by the whole thing ... Nancy's clothing is amazing ... knee socks and penny loafers and tweed-ish skirts ... all tailored and (as Nancy reveals) sewn by hand from an old pattern ... headbands have never looked so chic!  Everything about Nancy Drew (down to her little roadster car and the perfectly frosted cupcake in her school lunch) was impeccable.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd love to see a sequel!

Now, maybe someone will give Trixie her own movie.