Today

With your long and tender hands you lifted it, careful not to break it. With your loving eyes you took your time to see how beautifully it was made, admiring all of its details.

I don't even know how long I had been watching the woman who had picked a flower from the trash can on the street.  Yesterday I had ignored her when she asked me for some small change, and I had recognized the bewildered look of someone who had escaped CAMH on Queen Street West. Today she caught my attention, and I saw the eyes and hands of an artist.

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Let me add that one man's idiot is another man's artist and that one man's day is another man's tomorrow.

Dr Sketchy

They are idiots, but I came to believe they are mostly harmless. Dr Sketchy organizes life drawing sessions, and to ensure a pleasant ambiance, the sessions take place in a local pub. To compensate for the fact that nude posing is not legally allowed there, they invite extraordinary models 'from burlesque entertainers to the transgendered to the just plain fabulous!' I had to look up 'burlesque' in my dictionary, still don't get it, but let's summarize it as 'interesting'.

Tonight our model was Dew Lily from Boylesque, posing as Easter Bunny with eggs, rider with crop, and toy boy in corsetry. What I learned from the experience is that it is much easier for me to sketch in pen, while before I went back to school I felt so much more comfortable with pencil. I really love pencilwork, so I really need to spend more time sketching in pencil.

Here are some of the longer 10-15 minute poses.

Pigeon

One of my neighbours drew my attention to a pigeon having a nest in the flower box on our balcony. There seem to be two eggs, and I hope to get a chance to shoot a picture of these while mommy is shopping...