Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Summer fun


It's summer in Kansas and the cicadas are buzzing. The scenes by the highway are lush and green with a few dead and dried limbs in the trees. I know the physical reality of this wilderness would is hot and itchy, but the view brings something else to mind -- restfulness, escape, the feeling of walking blissfully through the landscape, smelling the vegetation and the sun-soaked earth, and being completely at peace.

I see similar "spots" regularly when I'm on the highway, but they're usually gone before I can snap a picture (especially if I'm driving :)) I do occasionally stop the car for a special moment, like this vulture...



...but mostly I just take pictures when I'm a passenger in the carpool, and hope they spark something in me later, like the landscape above, which inspired the sketch below.


Although I was frustrated in the making of this sketch, I've gone back to it several times in the last few days. There's something kind of wild and messy about it that I like. I think I'll base a quilt on it soon, just need to get more fabric in the right colors, I think.

The clouds in Kansas in the summer are brilliant.



And so are the kitties...


Love and inspiration,
Suzie