Morning with Coffee and Tree Sketches

Orono Elm, 5.5 x 3.5" pen sketch in my Moleskine notebook

Imagined Tree, 9.5 x 6.5" pastel pencil sketch, study for a detail of a mural

These are from December when I was working on the Orono Elevator Mural. The ink sketch is a detail from one of the big, beautiful trees outside the window of the home. The pencil drawing is a study based on one branch of that tree. I used the structure of it for a tree in the landscape I was painting.

It's very rare for me to make art purely from my imagination. My mind has too many set patterns, too many limitations; the natural world does not, and always does surprising things I wouldn't do.

In other news, COFFEE. For about six months now, I have lived without an electric coffee pot. The one I had and loved has apparently got a broken switch, and will not turn on. Now I've gone low-tech and have been using an old-fashioned espresso pot that goes on the stove. Make espresso, mix in about a 1:1 ratio with hot milk: café au lait, and it is soooooo good. If you love coffee, I recommend it.