Soft Toy and Iron

Sometimes the items on a Scavenger Hunt list just seem to go together for a little still life arrangement.  This makes it easy to combine several items into one sketch.  I don't think these items go together but they fit for this sketch.  I worked from top down and evidently started the leaning left thing and got the bottom of the Dutch oven too long and too flat.  Sad, I know.

For Scavenger Hunt From Life Number 4
Number 8  soft toy - from Gene
Number 9  can - HEB pepper can, you don't see many metal spice cans anymore
Number 10  favorite artistic tool - the Micron 02 at least for the day
Number 11  made of iron - a Dutch oven that belonged to my mother-in-law Frances

These were sketched in the big book with a Sharpie Pen.

Maybe I could correct it by puting a black table underneath....

Correcting in Photoshop looks like this.  That would help a little.  Maybe I will do that.  I could use a Brush or Chisel pen.  I will check that out.  Especially since it is the last sketch in the big coffee table book. (More about that later.)

I feel so sorry for the families in Kentucky and midwest with the horrible storms.  We know too well that it will take years for the communities to recover.  We often think of "things" we don't have anymore and see things that survived the fire like the Dutch oven in the sketch.  It was in the kitchen stove oven in the fire, I think.  You can read posts on my blog starting here.  https://jocastilloartblog.blogspot.com/search?q=bastrop+fire

Thankfully we only lost things.  My heart breaks for the families that lost their loved ones, too.

Stephanie Strange Sculpture

Stephanie Strange, Bastrop Artist, has a new piece of sculpture installed in a new library in Austin.  Maybe you can check out the opening.  Stephanie shares studio space across the street from my studio/gallery in Bastrop.  Congratulations to Stephanie.
 

You are invited for the Grand Opening of the new Twin Oaks Branch, 1800 S. Fifth Street, on Saturday, August 21 at 10:00 a.m. for a building dedication ceremony, the unveiling of the hanging sculpture titled Black Well by local artist Stephanie Strange, live music by the swinging Academy of Jazz Players, and abundant food and drink from local South Austin vendors. Bring the young ones out to enjoy a magic act and face painting f...un!

The new Twin Oaks Branch, located at the corner of South Fifth Street and West Mary Street, was built to replace the former Twin Oaks Branch which was located in a lease space since its inception in 1956. Since 1992, the Branch had been in a 5,360 square foot storefront space in the Twin Oaks Shopping Center located near the intersection of South Congress Avenue and Oltorf Street. In the 1998 City of Austin General Obligation Bond Election voters approved the funding to build a permanent 10,000 square foot branch to serve this area of the city. The new Twin Oaks Branch will operate as a “library for the future”, patterned after a popular new design model for community libraries which incorporates many features found in upscale bookstores.

This new and sustainable Branch, designed by Hatch + Ulland Owen Architects and built by Jamail & Smith Construction, is equipped with a rainwater harvesting system as well as a day lighting control system that dims electric lamps when the building has sufficient daylight for reading and other activities. It also features a 25.2 kW solar energy system that is expected to generate some 32,760 kWh annually (power sufficient for about three standard sized homes). Additionally, reused bricks salvaged during the demolition of the old South Austin Post Office building which formerly stood on the site were used for construction. The building also includes 15 huge timber trusses made of reclaimed Douglas Fir which saved about 30 large trees.

Bring the whole family out to see these green building concepts, enjoy some refreshments, and browse the stacks of your new neighborhood library! The new Twin Oaks Grand opening is free and open to the public. For more information please call 512-974-7400 or visit www.cityofaustin.org/library.