@ Church

 I have not been able to post for a while now because of the computer industries practices.  What I mean to say is I own a all in one scanner, printer,copier.  All of the ones out there for sale now are like this.  The problem is they are built with all the circuitry going through the ink cartriges. That means that as soon as the ink runs out not only does the printer not work but neither does the scanner.  So there I am stuck not being able to post to my blog.  What I wouldn't give for a stand alone scanner to avoid this problem.  Had to spend money at the FedEx store to have a piece scanned for a publishing gig.  And it was a bad scan at that.  Anyway, on to other matters.           
     Both Juli and I are getting more involved in our church.  She is in the Bell choir and I sing in the other Choir.  Our church has two chapels.  The original,built back in the 1950's and the new one just a few years ago.  The Choir meets every Sunday morning before service in the old chapel.  It has the feel I grew up with for churchs.  And, of course, the accustics are great.  We practice for 1/2 an hour then head down to service.  The cross is wonderful piece to look at while we're there.
      We gather in the Gym and the pastor prays over us then we all file in.  Yes, 
       I wear a big robe.  But, as tall as I am there is about a foot of legs sticking out below it.  I am greatfull I stand in the back row.  I do get a few quick sketches in, but I stay attentive to the service.  I have the sermon notes to prove it.  LOL.  Last Sunday was the annual world communion.  The Choir always goes first so I was able to scribble out the one below.  Both the pastors conduct the ceremony.  And it took just a few minutes to get everyone in the service done.  Doing these quick sketches also help me stay attentive.  I am sometimes sleepy.  But, doing these help keep my mind sharp and alert.  When the pastor starts her sermon I have no problem following her.  I quess I am just wired visually.  Todays service she talked about developing healthy relationships.  How most of the time the conflicts in our lives come from our selfish desire for something we don't have. 
     Anyway, today we had our last class for membership in this church.  Next Sunday we will going through reconfirmation in the service.  Once done we will be members of the Aldersgate United Methodist church.  It's been a few years since we've been members anywhere. 

37th World Wide Sketchcrawl

 This is the first World Wide Sketchcrawl that I have been to and it was a lot of fun.  Of course, since I travel by bus I was up at 7am to catch the first bus by 8am(which never came).  I was forced to walk to the other route and catch that one.  It was well below 40 degrees when I left home.  So by the time I got to the bus stop I was freezing.  But, I still got downtown on time for my transfer.  I was the first to arrive at Village Gate Center to meet everyone else at the Dark Horse Coffee Shop.  By the time I got there I needed the coffee and something to eat.  Others were getting there as I was waiting for my order.  After getting what I needed I joined the group to help pull together tables.  At first we spent the time sharing our sketch books and supplies.  Two of those there had been to the Urban Sketchers International Symposium in Santo Domingo.  So they talked about everything they did there.  It was still cold out so we worked for an hour and a half in the shop. However, at some point someone suggested we head outside since it had warmed up.  It took a while to gather up all our stuff.  We setup across the street in the sun and did 

 another hour of work out there.  The top sketch was of the coordinator of this groups sketchcrawl.  She was Zoned out for a while drawing a funky looking bench.  I got the same bench below in the street scene of Goodman ave.  It also seemded to be the time of day for all the local residents to walk their dogs.  It was a steady stream of them back and forth.  At one point I stood up to look away from the sun to give my eyes a rest.  That is when I saw one man walking a tiny dog through a tunnel of trees.  I quickly threw down the sketch you see below.  Someone mentioned lunch and we all crossed back over to go to Selenas' Mexican

 Restaurant.  I was funny watching 6 people around the table talking and drawing instead of eating.  What a great way to loose weight.  Draw the food don't eat it.  Finally we decided to walk down to the Memorial Art Gallery(the local art museum).  We only had a few minutes there but I did concentrate on the buildings' tower.  Very intricate and this drawing doesn't do it justice.  Will have to go back and redo that at a later date.  We all broke up at that point and went our own way.  It was great getting to know new people and fellow artists.  The network circle keeps growing.