Challenge 116 - something green

This little whimsical plastic toy sits on the dashboard of my car. It was a toy I had when my nephews now in their twenties were babies. I boxed all the toys up when all the kids were grown but decided to keep the little green elephant out and put him on my dashboard. He or she makes me happy when I see it.
The little drawing is one of the first I did in my first traveling sketchbook. I was so eager to start the book that when I came out of the art shop I began drawing in the car straight away. I was waiting for my mother to come back from the hairdressers. That's what I love about the traveling sketchbook it has such great memories of my travels.
I have enjoyed the green challenge with EDM as there has been so many different interpretations of the green theme.
Lots of love from Susan

Trolley challenge

I found this trolley in the street so I didn't have to draw it in the supermarket. It is a typical trolley used in Melbourne, Australia. It was a challenge to draw all the details. I didn't fit the wheels in on the page!!!
i use a trolley every week to get groceries and I have to put a dollar in a slot to get it and I get the dollar back when i return it. It gets people to return their trolleys rather than leaving them in the parking lot.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 37 - keys

The keys were really satisfying to draw getting all the shapes to match up. I don't have a lot of keys - just the house and car keys and keys to my mother's place. I used to have work keys before I retired. I am amazed at how many keys some people have. I often want to ask what they are all for.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Fence challenge

I live in a suburb of the city of Melbourne in Australia. Almost all of the houses, units and apartments are surrounded by fences of all types - high, low, brick, paling, picket, cement, new or old.
The front fences adjoin a cement path and small areas of grass with trees that are called nature strips.
The perspective in my drawing is a bit skewed. I will make another attempt in the future.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 11 - eyeglasses

These glasses looked really simple to draw but I got the angle wrong on one of the arms.
I started wearing glasses in my late 40s. I tried to avoid wearing them until the words got blurry. I am at the point where I need to wear them more often to read labels and small writing.
I often think of people who can't afford glasses and not being able to read or see properly. I am grateful for my glasses.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Embroidery 2

This is my second little embroidery. I am finding them delightful to do. My embroideries used to take me months to do. It's nice to finish something within the day.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 70 ...something I'm afraid of

I did this from a picture as there is no way I could do the drawing from a live spider. These huntsmen are very common where I live lin Australia. I have had them in the house usually high up near the ceiling. I have also had them inside my car when I was driving and on the outside.....very scary for someone like me who doesn't like these sorts of spiders. Tiny spiders and daddy long legs are OK.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Little embroidery

I used to do a lot of embroidery particularly cross stitch but haven't lately. I miss it so the other day I got out little pieces of fabric and did some embroidery with beading. I've done three and this is one of them. I'll post the others in the future. It was such a delight to be doing it. I am hoping to do a few more of these little embroideries in the future. I always did my embroidery for a reason -- a watch band, purse, wallet, clothing, etc. it was fun to do it for no good reason other than delight. My brother asked me what it was for. I just said because.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Detail

I am working through a how to draw book that suggested drawing a corner of the room. I drew the cabinet in the lounge. The cabinet is one of the first pieces of furniture I commissioned for my first home. It is made of Tasmanian Oak and has stained glass doors at the top. It is full of all my treasures and favourite glass ware. I have other furniture to match and I have had it now for over 25 years. I want to grow old with the furniture. I don't want to update it.
I really enjoyed doing the drawing because it was one of my first detailed drawings and I am very happy with the result. It was done in pencil but I had to enhance it on the computer so it could be seen on the blog.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Out and about sketchbook

I'm still trying to get the hang of having a sketchbook I carry around with me. I read the EDMers comments about their sketch books and get ideas of how and what to draw. Today I was sitting in the cinema waiting for the movie and I thought there was only seats and nothing else to draw so I thought I'd do the seats. I learnt a lot. I realised I need to pay really good attention to the repetitious details and to see the variations. It was really hard to do and very surprising. I was also surprised to arrive at my leg in the picture. It has taught me to be more open to possibilities in my drawing and practise.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 8 - watch

Before I retired I almost always wore a watch particularly at work where I always needed to know the time for desk shifts and work commitments and breaks as a librarian. Now I'm retired I rarely wear a watch and love the freedom of being able to take as long as I like to do things. I don't live a scheduled lifestyle a lot of the time and enjoy the flexibility. When I do need a watch I wear this filagree watch which i love. It needs a new watchband and I haven't a clue what sort to buy...maybe another white one. I have loved all the watches I have had over the years. My old work watch I gave to a watch maker.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 109 - clock

Got the perspective wrong on this one. I was drawing the clock on an angle and yet I drew the bottom as a straight line which I shouldn't have. I love learning from my work and progress.
This clock was a retirement present for my grand father when he left work. There is a little plaque on the front that was polished so much by my grandmother the writing has worn down. The clock has traveled from my grand mothers in England to my mothers in Australia and then she gave it to me. My mum gave me a letter with the clock with the history of the clock on it. It is a lovely story of it's journey which I will pass on in the future.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 108 - light globe

I was going to ask EDMers if I should have redrawn the lines to make the globe more symmetrical. I have read art books that recommend redrawing the lines whereas I've just left them wrong. Symmetrical drawings are challenging.
The interesting thing about this style of globe is that here in Australia it is going to be phased out in the next 3 years and the more energy saving globes will become legally required. Imagine a whole country changing it's light globes!!!! A town here in Victoria changed their light globes as a test to see how it would go.
A couple of EDMers have drawn the more energy saving globes.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 32 - something metallic

When I moved to my new home 3 years ago my friend Flora gave me a shopping voucher to treat myself to a house warming gift. I was thrilled and it was so kind of her. I needed a new vegetable knife and I use this one every day. I met Flora when I worked at a library for 20 years. We have a wonderful friendship and she means so much to me. I hope Flora doesn't mind me mentioning her by name here on my blog.
Not sure how to progress with my drawing at the moment. I have so many challenges to catch up on I'm wondering whether to do them or to explore something else....my watercolor books. The challenges lead me into many surprising places and help me to discover things about my drawing. The comments from the EDMers are also extremely helpful. I think I will press on with all the challenges. It interests me why i don't choose to do some of them.
Lots of love from Susan

Challenge 94...a spoon

I have 2 of these spoons. My grandmother gave them to me. As she got older she slowly gave away her possessions to friends and family. She wanted to see her things go to people who would love them as much as she did. I use these spoons most days and always have fond thoughts of my grandmother. I used to visit her often for afternoon tea or an evening meal. Her unit was on a slope and if you looked out the windows you could see a pear tree as if the unit was in the tree it was so close. I used to call her home Pear tree cottage. I learnt so much about the joys and celebrations of life from my grandmother. She was always bright and cheerful and pleased to see me. She had a beautiful warm heart and loved being hospitable to friend and stranger. We are very different women and yet I have a photo of her and I together at her 90th birthday and we sat on our chairs in exactly the same pose. It was wonderful to see the genes passed on. I dedicate this to my beloved Rosa Hosken.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 54 - something I love

My mother collects small glass bottles and items of glass. Most of them are exquisite and all of them have stories of their discovery and purchase or the gift giver. This piece is unusual because mum doesn't normally buy something fun like aglass clown. I just love it. It sits on the table near where I sit when I visit. I often think of my mum dying one day and how will I cope and I get great comfort from the little clown and I hope it survives and can keep me company when mum has gone. It makes me happy and my mum makes me very happy too. They both have very light spirits full of immense joy. I learn a great deal on my visits to my mum.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge30 - chair

I did this drawing of a chair on Christmas Day 2006 not realising I was doing one of the challenges. I was at my brother's and my mother usually sits on this chair rather than the lounge chairs as she has shoulder problems and the chair helps her deal with them. I got a bit of the perspective wrong but otherwise was pleased with the result.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 107 - where I get my weekly paper

This was great fun. When I realised I'd have to go to my local newsagents to do a sketch I freaked out as I usually only sketch at home and then I thought what the heck noone will bother about me sketching in the newsagents. I did ask permission of the worker.
I was overwhelmed by the detail as most of the challenges for me so far have been single objects. I will ask the EDMers what they do about lots of detail. In the newsagents there was a wall full of cards and I didn't know how to translate that in the drawing. I noticed I was a lot looser in my drawing. The shapes weren't as tidy.
This was a great learning experience. I love where the challenges take me. When I first read about them I didn't think I was interested now I really look forward to the weekly challenge.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia
PS Apparently there has been a request to make a link that takes the EDMer to the post that is being mentioned rather than the whole blog. I'll see how I go with the instructions I've been given...hopefully you arrived here directly.

First time tagged

Apparently there is a game of tag with the Everydaymatters group. I've just been tagged!!!! I normally say I don't want to play games but I'm playing ...it must be a getting older thing. I have to name 6 weird things about myself....I can't think of 6 at the moment so I'll add more later....meanwhile....check out the picture....
1.whenever I hang out the washing the pegs have to match each other and if possible whatever is being hung up. So blue towel has 2 blue pegs...and a blue sheet has heaps of blue pegs.It started as a joke and now I love doing it. It's just a bit of nonsense in my life!
2. I have a spider in the kitchen window and instead of spraying him dead or putting him outside I let him / her build her web and live in the kitchen window. Haven't a clue why...normally I catch them and put them outside. I use a glass and a piece of cardboard to catch them.
3. When I go on my walks I have to go over train tracks. If a train goes by I always wave at the driver and he usually toots his horn and I just love it. Absolutely love it. Is this because I didn't have kids to play games with!!!
I'll list more when I think of them.
I don't dare tag anybody yet as I don't know any of you well enough so if someone who loves playing tag reads this consider yourself tagged.
I don't mind playing the game. It's a bit of nonsense I have time for....maybe that's one of the weird things about me.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia

Challenge 106 - sour

This is a bottle of vinegar my sister in law bought me. She also gave me some avocado oil to mix together for salads. I have had mental health problems where I forgot how to cook except really simple things like a can of soup. I have had to learn to cook again along with other skills. My sister in law was encouraging me to make a nice dressing for some simple salads. I am making great progress...nothing too gourmet but I can now manage a meal for a friend and can put together a simple meal most nights. So the vinegar has a special significance in the scheme of things.
I love the Everydaymatters challenges because they make me so aware of how significant so many things are in my simple life.
i have had a lot of joy since joining Everydaymatters.
Lots of love from Susan in Australia