The Back Porch - A Front View

Just one more sketch from my Florida trip. 

I'm kind of obsessed with that mixture of orange and dusty turquoise that they use on the building and sign.

Whenever we visit Destin, there seem to be a few places we always visit. We must go to Banana Bars and we must eat at The Back Porch. A trip across the street to the Candymaker to pick up some freshly made salt water taffy and pralines is also mandatory.

The Back Porch sits right next to the ocean. Usually, the window along the beach side are open to catch the breezes and the ceiling fans stir up just enough air to keep it comfortable. Chloe loves the crab claws and the fact that the meal is served on a frisbee. We love the setting and the red snapper.

 

 

The Back Porch - Destin, Florida

Every time we go to Florida, we eat at a place called The Back Porch. It sits right against the beach and during nice weather they fling the shutters open next to the tables. They have fried crab claws (my daughter's favorite), and various fish sandwiches. I used to always just get the fish and chip platter, but this time tried the grilled red snapper. Pro tip: Get the grilled red snapper. 

Flashback Friday: On Clothespins and Not Over-thinking

At some point in 2013 I doodled those blue flowers along the edge of the page. I had every intention to go back and draw something to go with them when I came up with "a great idea". Fast forward a year without touching this sketchbook. In 2014 I found myself with a bit of time and wanted to get back to drawing. Unsurprisingly enough, the way to get back into drawing is to sit your ass down and draw*.

Really most creative pursuits, and actually now that I think about it, most pursuits in general, require you to just put in the time. It's very easy to put off doing anything until you're ready, or good enough, or have the best ideas, or tools. The thing is, without just showing up and putting in time with whatever you have on hand, you will never develop skills and most importantly will never actually spend time doing what you love. 

So sometimes that means drawing clothespins because they are the closest things at hand. Sometimes they end up on a page with blue flowers because if you wait for the "great idea" to come you'll waste a year doing nothing.

So here's to flowers, and clothespins and not over-thinking.

*I think I have a bright future in making motivational signs.

Red Snapper

On vacation, once I realized that I would be spending the afternoons in my bedroom, I got smart and grabbed a few things at the beach to sketch later. One day my daughter brought home a seashell, another day it was a piece of seaweed.*

At no point did either my daughter or myself bring home the red snapper - although that would have been a great story for my family to tell friends about later. Maybe my nephews would fondly remember the time their quirky Aunt Kate lugged home a dead fish and dragged it up to her bedroom.

*The seaweed would dry up into a little poky mess once out of the water for a while. As soon as you dropped it in water, it would slowly soften and then puff back up to its' original state. This is a fun trick to show to a six year old.

Flashback Friday: Irish Cream Cremosa

Here is my only other sketch from 2013 - a plastic cup. Please everyone, calm down. I know the wild thrill of seeing a plastic cup illustration could be overwhelming - deep breaths will help you center yourself. 

This sketch actually is pretty exciting for me - but more for the associations I have with it than with the actual drawing. It was the first time in many many moons that I was out in the world by myself. It felt incredibly luxurious to sit in a coffee shop and have a drink. I also remember checking my watch every two minutes to make sure I wouldn't be late to pick my daughter up. Such is parenthood.

While sketching it was entertaining to eavesdrop on the conversations going on in the coffee house. There was a college-aged couple that I would guess were out on some sort of date. He was talking about Montreal and how different the politics are here. She talked about going to San Francisco or New York after graduation - and how in ten years there will be jobs when all the old people retire - and how her generation will change everything.

I tried this drink at Aimee's Coffee House today while Chloe was in ballet class. It's made up of half and half, soda water, and Torani Irish Cream syrup. It was decent - you just have to be prepared for the soda water to give it a little bite. 

Palm Husk

A few weeks ago we went on a family reunion/vacation to Destin, Florida. By we, I mean my daughter and I. My husband just started a new job and needed to stay home.* This made it a bit of a rough but still fun trip for her (and her mama too). It helped a bit when she would take some downtime from all the excitement by going to our room with just the two of us. While there I sat and sketched a bit to pass the time.

This palm was right outside of our window. It had a bunch of vines growing in the husk** just below the leaves. The really interesting thing was that the vine wasn't attached to the ground.

*Boo. Boo I say. Hooray for his new job but seriously - boo.

**I'm sure that there is a scientifically correct term for this area. I do not know this term. I am going to make a bold statement here that even if it isn't called a husk - it should be. It's just very husk-y.

Flashback Friday: Run from The Bullfrog

Here is what was apparently the only sketch I did in 2011 - or at least the only one I did in my sketchbook. That seems crazy to me - until I remember that I had a three year old at the time. 

Chloe has taken to making up words. The other day she was running through the house yelling, "Va Baa." I asked her if she had made up that word.

 "Yeah," with a smile. 

"What does that word mean?" 

"It means run from the bullfrog." Right. 

Paraphernalia of A Ruptured Eardrum

Today I thought I would share the sketchbook page that I pulled the illustrations from for my last post.

The main text from this sketchbook page is also there but doesn't include the little asides around the drawings.

Antibiotics for ears - Waiting for them to sit is "cold and boring"

Silicone earplugs - "fun to take out"

Syringe to measure amoxicillin

Amoxicillin - "tastes like bubblegum" 

 

 

Flashback Friday: Pumpkins and Gourds

Here is the final Flashback Friday from 2010, a picture of some pumpkins and gourds. I actually remember drawing this - pulling the pumpkins from the black wire rack where they were displayed and setting them on the table. I also remember feeling terribly out of practice as I really wasn't drawing much at the time. 

From the drawing:

On Sunday we went to Schaake's pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins and take Chloe to ride the wagons. Every year it seems to get bigger with pumpkin slingshots, mazes, chickens, pigs, cows, and food. At 2 1/2 Chloe isn't too interested in anything but riding in the wagons.

Limestone Pizza

The same night that the Free State Festival was happening, we went out to eat to celebrate Morgan's new job. They serve great Neapolitan style pizza (the best style of pizza, in case you were wondering*). The back part of the restaurant is open and customers can see into the kitchen. There is a beautiful stone  wood-fired oven. My eye, though,  is always drawn to the Lego mini-figures that are lined up along the top of a partial wall.  The first time I went there was just one. I'm noticing an expanding collection. 

And now from the actual drawing:

To celebrate Morgan's new job, we went to Limestone pizza. Morgan hadn't been there yet. We splurged and got some fries and a couple of pizzas and Morgan had a beer. The Spud pizza with rosemary, potatoes, bacon, and creme fraiche was glorious. The whole evening was fun, but surreal, with the festival, it being just the two of us for the night, and the reality of a new job and opportunities washing over us.

*Suck it, deep dish.

Flash Back Friday - Interstate Sign

This is a highly appropriate sketch for this week's flashback Friday as we just got back from a road trip to New York for a wedding. It involved lots of driving and not much downtime so I feel like if you replace the fall color on the trees with green, it would pretty much sum up my past week. 

This actually comes from 2010. 

Flashback Friday - June's Dunes

Growing up, when we went on vacations we went to a town on the panhandle of Florida called Destin. Back when we first started going it wasn't a huge place. It has beautiful white sand beaches and water an emerald and blue color that doesn't look real. Every trip down there, it was always a special treat to have breakfast at June's Dunes. It was a little house right on the water. There were picnic benches lining the wall next to open windows to catch the ocean breezes. Every morning, like clockwork, dolphins would go swimming past while you ate your waffles. It was a pretty great place.

Destin, like all good things, was eventually discovered by many more people. It's quite a different place now than when I grew up. A few years back June's was sold. There are some high rises in the area now - but there is also a public beach access with a plaque honoring June. 

My parents asked me to make a drawing of June's Dunes - by that time it was already gone - but luckily we had a picture. 

Saturday Night Out - Free State Festival

I live in a town that always seems to have something going on. Last weekend there was a lot happening  for the Free State Film Festival. My husband and I went out on Saturday and I took my sketchbook along.

From the sketch

On Saturday Morgan and I went downtown to get dinner. While we waited for our table we found a stage set up in front of the bank for the Free State Festival. While we waited a band was playing. After dinner a dance troupe performed. They had on black outfits with flannel shirts that reminded us of the 90s. We stayed to watch the final act which was the Topeka High drum line. They were impressive, especially for a bunch of high school kids. The best was when they performed "Jump On It".

Apparently later on they were closing off the street for some kind of art/music performance. Then, at midnight, there was going to be a showing of The Wizard of Oz set to the Dark Side of the Moon and Radiohead. Guess we're getting older - we went home, got into pajamas and watched Netflix instead.

Flash Back Friday - Peppermint and Graham Crackers

Another flashback from 2010. Apparently I have a thing for drawing tea bags when I have a headache. Keeping a sketchbook - just a journey of self discovery I tell ya. 

Courageous

Inspired by the events of yesterday's post, I made a little sketch of my daughter.  When she saw it, she stopped, got a funny look on her face and asked if it was her. Then she went back to singing the Do Re Mi song from the Sound of Music.

Here's the sketchbook page I pulled the illustrations from for yesterday's post.
 

Flashback Friday (on Saturday) Walking Stick

Another old one from 2010. That particular year we had a ton of the walking stick bugs in our backyard. Now that I think about it, I haven't really seen any this year...

Spotted this on an outdoor cushion in the backyard. At first I thought it was just a stick stuck to the cushion and was about to take a broom to it until I saw it move in a way unnatural to a stick. It was at least five inches long.

Flash Back Friday - Corolla, North Carolina

In starting up sketching more regularly, I noticed that there are bits of my sketchbook that haven't made it to blogland yet. I'm going to try to add one (or a few) every Friday to get caught up. This week we are traveling back to 2010.

First up, a summer trip to Corolla, North Carolina. A trip notable for the fact that it was a three day road trip to get there with a toddler who had potty trained herself exactly two weeks before the trip. It actually went remarkably well. No sketches of that - but there are these. I'll type out the text under them to make sure it's readable. 

The key to watching sand crabs is to get low. They don't notice you when you're belly down on the sand. However, once you see how many there really are on the beach you may find yourself wiggling your toes to excess just to let them know you're there.

There are smooth shells and sticks between the steps from the house and fine sand next to the shore. Once you see water lines in the sand, flip-flops are abandoned quickly.

When I was sketching this yesterday, I got wrapped up in doing the top of the house when I started to hear thunder. I looked up to see a massive thunderstorm rolling in. 

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

On a 100 degree day we decided to visit the lighthouse. There were still a surprising number of people there - mostly New York, New Jersey accents - but a few southern ones as well. I think a woman with a southern accent took my picture. 

Peony Kinshi

I actually remember drawing this last Spring. Grandma was watching my daughter and I remember it feeling so luxurious to have the time to sit and draw. When I draw, and then later look at those drawings, it almost has the same power as scent as a memory trigger for me.

Dent De Lion

Chloe's Backpack

Here's a sketch I did of Chloe's little backpack. I find that now that I'm a parent, I'm making little notes and sketches everywhere of the funny things she does and says. Most of the time it's just a quick note written in my cheap planner. Occasionally, it ends up being one of these full blown illustrations.

I find it amazing looking back at this stuff at how much of it I would have already forgotten had I not written it down somewhere.