5″x6″, pencil, watercolour, pen & ink

Gary and I went to Ottawa this past summer to visit my parents in their new home and to visit my brother and sister in-law.  While we were there we went to the Museum of Civilization to see the Japan: Tradition . Innovation show.  I picked up a pair of Japanese socks, or Tabi, from the gift shop as a souvenir.

]]> http://olyf.com/sketches/japanese-socks/feed/ http://olyf.com/sketches/bettola-box/ http://olyf.com/sketches/bettola-box/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:01:57 +0000 Josie http://olyf.com/?p=536

5″ x 6 “, pencil, watercolour, pen & ink

This sketch is of box I was given for my leftover Italian dinner.  I believe La Bettola may mean “hole-in-the-wall” in Italian.

8″ x 5″, pencil & watercolour

One of the many “paint by number” trees that I saw in New York City.  So named by myself because their peeling, blotchy, coloured bark reminds me of the paint by number kits that my father used to buy for me to work on.

8″ x 5″, watercolour, pen & ink

Gary and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary this past May with a trip to New York City.  We stayed at the hip Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking district, which straddles The High Line Park.

We had a fantastic corner hotel room at the Standard Hotel with views of the Hudson River and the High Line Park.  The tub/shower area was glass-walled with views into the next room; no privacy there.  Luckily that wasn’t a problem for us.

This is a sketch of the tray of toiletries that the Standard Hotel had on offer: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bubble bath, cotton balls & cotton swaps, and honey body lotion – all organic.  I didn’t take any of it home with me; my bags were full of clothing purchases.

8″ x 5″, pencil, watercolour, pen & ink

Clothing tags from three tops and one dress purchased on a summer Saturday afternoon out.

8″ x 5″, pencil, watercolour and pen & ink

These sculptures were rescued from my parents house when Gary and I helped them pack for their big move out of town.  I had made them back as a student in my Mould Making and Foundry class at OCA.  The green sculpture on the left was the plaster cast for making the mould for the bronze cast on the right.

The first part of the process was to sculpt in clay.  From that the plaster cast was made, which was then used to create the cast which the molten bronze was poured in to and allowed to cool before cracking open with a large mallet.  Both sculptures measure about 11″ in height.  The bronze one must weigh about 8 pounds.

4 1/2″ x 6 “, pencil, watercolour and pen & ink

A while ago one of the project managers at work purchases a full carton of about 24 packets of candy cigarettes from the recently opened Dollar Store in our building.  There were about 6  or-so different designs.  At first we were all delighted with the throw-back treats until we actually ate a few.  They tasted like slightly chalky mints.  The idea of them was better than the actual candies.

]]> http://olyf.com/sketches/box-of-candy-cigarettes/feed/ http://olyf.com/sketches/usb-turntable/ http://olyf.com/sketches/usb-turntable/#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:41:50 +0000 Josie http://olyf.com/?p=491

8″ x 5″, water colour and pen & ink

My shiny, red, portable USB turntable.  I purchased it for listening to my vinyl albums and for digitally converting them so that I could listen to them on my MP3 player.

I actually purchased it last fall, and have yet to use it very much at all.  It’s funny how fast weekends go by when you spend your weekdays working like mad.

8.5″ x 11 “, pen & ink

I recently rediscovered a preliminary sketch of David Suzuki I had done from a few years ago when I was still working at the CBC.  The line drawing was for the development of one of the ideas I had for new Suzuki T-shirts.  This particular idea was never developed further.

It just happens to be David Suzuki’s 75th birthday on March 24, 2011.  So, I thought I would post this in his honour.

I may go back in to add washes of colour at some point, but for now I like the look of just the lines.

8.5″ x 12″, pencil, watercolour and pen & ink

In November my husband and I were with a couple of friends at, Smokeless Joe, one of my favourite bars.  I had my second ever Hatachino Nest Beer there.  As with the first bottle, the bartender kindly rinsed out my empty beer bottle and put it in a bag for me to take home.

November was the last time I had the chance to go out for a few drinks after work on a Friday night.  Since then it’s been a mad rush to just finish and make home.