Buttnekkiddoodles

Top image is the drawing I did back in August for the trade show poster. Pitt Artist Pens, Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils, and gouache on paper. Above left is aphoto of my ledger books and sketchbooks at my trade show demonstration table. Ducked into the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art during lunch for a quick look about.

Had to work 2 lonnnnnnnng days at the U of O Duck Store Tools of the Trade show in Eugene, Oregon which didn’t leave much time to scour about and draw so mostly limited to brief sketches. The hour and a half spent doing laundry late one night was the longest I had to just sit and draw. Drawings on the ivory paper we done with Pitt Artist Pens on Clairefontane paper in a Rhodia Web notebook.

I want to give a shout out to all the good folks at the U of O Duck Store in Oregon for all they did to support Doug Mooney and myself and especially to their crazed ring leader The Boodle’s Poodle herself, Rachel Witt and her Number One dude ridin’ shotgun, Mr. Dangerous, Christopher Smith, for commissioning the poster from me and for just being a tornado of inspired madness.

That’s my wheel man Doug Mooney puttin’ some wear and tear on the auto via the scenic route. Doug, my gal Jennifer, and I were hurrying and scurrying from a demo at Dots and Doodles in Astoria to a demo at in Portland. We were half an hour late. My sincere apologies to the good folks at Columbia Art & Drafting. Drawn with Pitt Brush Pens in a Bee Paper Super Deluxe sketch book at 65+ miles per hour.

After giving an afternoon demo at Central Art in downtown Medford, I checked in to a motel and went strolling for to take in the views. I’m often asked about the responses I get from people  who see me drawing in public. There is quite a bit of curiosity, especially from children, and I’m generally open to sharing a glance at what I do. So when a fellow, who introduced himself as Dave, in an Oklahoma Univ. baseball cap, out walking his dog, asked if he could see what I was drawing I said sure. He was quite enthusiastic as I showed him several pages and described how I liked to draw from life and document my travels.

Our conversation seemed to evolve into personal histories fairly quickly and he explained that he had recently been “released” and had landed a good job as a machinist, had a good lady and was working to get back on his feet but was looking to move back to the Southwest. After describing my itinerant life style and being that I was parked on a bench a parking lot from the Greyhound bus stop, Dave asked how I was fixed for food and did I need a meal. I greatly appreciated his gestured and assured him I was all good in that respect. He said if I had some time in the area there were great places to hike and explore and named several spots to check out. We bid each other well and away he went.

Damn. I love Chicago but couldn’t we have at least one of these things within easy driving range? Drawn from top of the water tower in Seattle’s Volunteer Park in a Rhodia sketchbook with Pitt Pens.

Jennifer flippin’ thru a book in the top floor reading room of Seattle’s spectacular Main Library designed by Rem Koolhaus. Gray day or sunny, the light’s fantastic in this structure. I needed to spend all day on 2-3 drawings to really capture the airy grandeur of this building.

S P E D    D O W N   T O   P O R T L A N D

 

Shot down to Astoria where I demoed to a lively crowd at Dots and Doodles. Things got to moving rather hurriedly  at that point. Quick glimpse of a tanker on the Columbia drawn from the backseat of Doug’s car as we raced to make an afternoon demo in Portland. The next day I got shaved smooth as a baby’s butt by surfer/blade smith Elijah Mack.

 

 

Pulled into Spokane after a 10 hour bus ride from Bozeman. I left at 3 AM which meant I got to see western Montana as the sun came up a bit before we neared Missoula. Awe inspiring countryside. The Tamarack or Western Larch trees were super dramatic as their needles had turned golden yellow shortly before they were to fall off. They only grow west of the Continental Divide which made for a glorious welcome to crossing the Great Divide.

Hit Spokane and found my way to a sweet little cafe, The Alpine Bistro and Bakery Company, where I recharged with a rustic soup and sandwich. They make huge sweet rolls and I tore into a mammoth cinnamon bun with cream cheese icing the following morning before giving a demo at Spokane Art Supply that afternoon.

   

 

16 hours via bus to Big Sky country. Not big on comfort so sleep didn’t happen but very entertaining. Hit Theodore National Monument about daybreak when our handlebar moustachioed driver, Richard, a colorful man in gray stetson, cowboy boots, smart looking vest and hand crafted utility belt, started giving us a thorough spiel about the park’s history, the area geography, the distinctions of the Bison and Buffalo, area tribes and the lowdown on the Yellowstone river. “Undammed and untamed, the Yellowstone is the longest undammed river in America”. North Dakota’s Badlands were quite the early morning beauty also.

  

Before heading off to Fargo I stopped by the Occupy Chicago demonstration near the Federal Reserve and the Chicago Board of Trade as I made my way to Union Station. There I managed a quick sketch of a bandanna clad dude workin’ up a fever on a makeshift drum kit. I spoke briefly to a few people without being able to locate any organizers or as referred to, supervisors. One fellow was a machinist who had difficulty keeping employed so was heading back to college in pursuit of the next phase in his evolving work life. He couldn’t find anyone at O.C. who had much info about the movement or it’s intentions. Another fellow, who seemed a bit street worn, wouldn’t answer any questions, kept standing in my way and telling me to draw him until I told him to scram. At that point he seemed to decide to actually engage me and said he had lost his job as a security personnel and was frustrated with the leadership at OC because they never wanted to hear anything he had to say. He said it had been his opinion that trying to occupy Grant Park overnight was a bad idea because they would be in clear violation of an easily enforceable curfew. Something the mayor acted on. I had a train to catch and strode off as the police were telling the demonstrators that they had to move.

       

Kim Bromley whipped out this doodle of me on his business card. At Kim’s invitation I gave a presentation to his drawing class at NDSU.    While I was demonstrating before Minnesota State Univ. Morehead art students by drawing professor Trygve Olson, Trygve was busy drawing me. T.O. possesses an agile and camera quick gestural style. I wasn’t making things easy on him by constantly hopping off the stool to point out features about him that drew my eye. Check out his work, political cartoons, sketches and super fresh watercolors at TrygveOlson.com

   

Had to catch a 1:45 AM bus out of town to Bozeman and having already checked out that morning, I looked to find places to hang  after my last demo that afternoon at MSUM, all the while dragging around a portfolio of drawings and a 50 lb suitcase stuffed with clothes, sketchbooks and drawing supplies. Ate a leisurely meal at a Mexican restaurant downtown. Closed the joint. Went to a coffee shop a couple doors down where I ran into one of the students who had attended my demo at MSUM earlier that day. Had a swell time talking and looking over his drawings. Closed that joint. Hauled my ass and gear over to The Side Street Grille and Pub. Enjoyed a beer and the goings on there. Lively Metal and Rig Rock atmosphere.

Fargo looked to be thrivin’. 3.5% unemployment in North Dakota! Word was the pay in the oil fields was $100 K and Mikey D’s was paying $16-$18/hr at stores servicing the man-camps up in the oil fields.