Pickle 1999 - 2009

Journal - 30 December 2009
Originally uploaded by Sarah__M

Our 10-year-old English bull terrier, Pickle, died on Tuesday, 29th December 2009. She had heart problems and arthritis for much of her life, and a litany of other illnesses over the years. She was on about five different kinds of medication at the end. Until the last few months she loved going for walks so she could meet people. Food and people were her main interests, though she would occasionally get playful with a dropped glove or hat. She was my lap dog in the evenings in front of the television. The reference photo for this journal sketch was taken in October 2008 at our local park. I imagine she's in a place like that now, rolling in the grass and chasing after everyone she sees.

Journal Text (in case you can't read my writing):
"Our English bull terrier Pickle died yesterday, gently sent to sleep by her vet. Though she was often stubborn and frustrating (as bull terriers are) and her health was poor for most of her life, she was a beautiful dog who loved everyone and brought a smile to anyone who met her. I'll miss you, Pickle."

Rare Christmas Snow (though it will probably be gone by Christmas)

We don't have snow very often here in Berkshire in Southern England, but nature has been generous to us in the last week. We have had two big snowfalls with little or no melting in between. There has been a lot of snow in different parts of the UK, and of course it has caused travel chaos for a lot of people, but since we haven't had to do much driving we've just been enjoying it!

Click on any of the photos to see a larger view on my flickr page.

Our local park becomes a winter wonderland in the snow.






I've tried to make sure the bird feeders are replenished throughout the day and have tried to keep some ice-free water in the bird bath, but it hasn't been easy!

Different Strokes From Different Folks Challenge

This is my first time taking part in the Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge. The photo is of the Jefferson Memorial (Washington, D.C.) at night. The challenge is to paint the scene with your own interpretation. Here is my effort:


Click on the picture to see a larger version on Flickr. I used my new fountain pen (Lamy Safari) with Noodler's eternal black ink, followed by Winsor & Newton watercolours. I'm fairly pleased with the result aside from the streaky sky, and I would like the trees to be darker. I'm very happy with the Noodler's ink. I can paint over it after just a few moments and it seems pretty waterproof on all the papers I've tried it on so far.

Another new "toy" I've been playing with are a small set of Tombow brush pens in various shades of gray and black. Somewhere I saw someone using them for small value sketches, which I thought was a great idea. This was a quick value sketch for the above picture:

I'm not sure how much I'll use the Tombow pens but they are fun, and I think doing this type of sketch more often would be valuable for me.