River Brown

At the end of summer, when I was staying outside Ashland at my sister’s, I would walk the mile by mile square out in Valley View every morning after tea.  And when I got back to the house, I’d sketch with markers in a rectangular pad for 10 minutes or so.

At the Brown fest on Black Friday I was showing a girl friend my sketch book.  This one (non framed then) really caught her eye.  It spoke to her and I noted that.

During the Winter Break I decided to get the sketch framed, by real framers, so I choose the white wood that would be her style, and a very nice man assisted me with the right texture and shade of white mat.  With the midwest weather, it took weeks for the framing to be ready to pick up.

This weekend, not only did I have the picture, carefully wrapped in brown paper with that cardboard lined with foam that professionals us, but I also got my girl friend to come over on our way to get some dinner together.

I took her out to the kitchen to open her present.  I’d told her I had something for her.  She knew immediately that it was something framed, and remembered the sketch, of course.  She was so quiet and was feeling the mood of the picture, describing, reading what she saw in the contrast of the wire and the blossoms.

I thanked her for the gift of having me value my drawing.

The picture is just a part of how my love for taking pictures, sketching, cartooning, and designing is being refurbished.  Brought back to my attention.  Drawing…I’m engaged and energized.  Writing…well, sometimes.

I am completely excited about the possibility of trying out some illustrations for L1’s stories.  That makes my heart and mind light up, just thinking about it.

Funny how giving a friend a gift, gave me back something.