Friday, May 22, 2009

Buzz! Snap!

Yesterday afternoon I was all set up to do a quick sketch of the petunias I have in a planter box on the deck. I bravely started in with my watercolor pencils, no blocking in with graphite first, with the intent of seeing how loosely I could sketch these flowers. I needed a break from the control of the previous piece! But then a wasp with an attitude started buzzing around my head. I swished it away and continued drawing but the darn thing kept coming back. So I got up from my spot to wait for it to move on and it kept coming after me! That's when I made a quick dash inside. So this sketch was done even more quickly than I originally intended.
This sketch is for Everyday Matters #223, draw your favorite sound. Now there are many sounds that I just love. The sound of Kiddo's laughter, especially that uninhibited laugh she has when playing with our dogs. The sound of the peepers in the spring. The honking of geese or the sound our Corgie makes when she says 'waawooo' and it sounds like 'hello'. Wind chimes. And music, of course. But I really like the sound of snapping beans. That sound takes me back to when I was about 6 or 7, and on my grandmother's back porch, where we'd sit and she would let me help her snap the beans she had picked from her garden. Beans destined for a Sunday supper.

9 comments:

winna said...

I am crazy about your favorite sound drawing---

Carolina said...

Nice work with the watercolor pencils.
I also like your snapping beans, and all the history around them.

Lynn said...

Great story about the green beans. Don't you love it when the EDM challenge reminds you of a personal story? It becomes so much more meaningful then.

alissa said...

Wonderful - and great simp;le drawing that captures the snap as well

Mary Timme said...

I loved the story too, and I think the petunias look great!

Teresa said...

Re: the persistent wasp... so how does it feel to be irresistible? :-)

Love your bean painting... I get the same feeling about shelling garden peas... I remember sitting on my back step as young girl shelling (and eating) the little peas while just enjoying the outdoors. Food sure does bring back powerful memories, doesn't it?

kazumiwannabe said...

Hard to choose a sound! Love your final choice and drawing, it's great!

Jennifer Rose said...

its always interesting what sounds trigger memories :) I never snapped beans, but shucked a lot of corn when I was a kid. I can remember everyone sitting around talking, swearing when they couldn't get the husk off the corn :p, and then everyone sitting down to eat the corn when done :)

you petunias look really nice, very soft looking :D better to retreat from the wasp then risk getting stung!

Timaree said...

Bugs can really bug you! We've had little gnats of some sort. I took a nice walk and they buzzed around my ears the whole 2 1/2 miles. We don't usually have them so I really noticed them. Wasps are around occasionally but don't bother us much. When they do, my husband goes nuts as he was attacked by a swarm of them when he was a little boy. Ah, memories - some aren't so good like this one but then there are always the good ones like yours about the beans! Snap! It's not only a good sound but a relaxing, contemplative type of activity with the wholesomeness of preparing food to eat. Food for the soul and for the body. No wonder you remembered it.

Your drawings are great. Petunias are a soft flower so the softness of your painting works really well for them just as the crispness of your beans works with them. Great touch to have one of the beans snapped already.

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