In the last couple of days, husband and I have been traveling. My fiercely independent mother-in-law, S., fell and broke her arm, and we helped with transportation and doctor appointments. There was a lot of waiting, and I did a lot of sketching.
I first sketched a toy truck that was in S. living room, the evening we arrived to her home in Anacortes. The next morning I sketched the view from the ferry parking lot where we waited for her to arrive from Friday Harbor. We went to get some breakfast for S. on our way to the doctor, and she got a mint tea and a ginger scone, which I dutifully sketched. I also sketched a view from my sister-in-law yard in Friday Harbor, our wait for the ferry back to Anacortes, and finally, S.’s sewing machine overlooking the garden, her two favorite creative tools that sadly will have to wait until she recovers from her broken arm.
Not the happiest of trips, but a surprisingly full, interesting, and contemplative time. It helped to have a smaller sketchbook that was easy to pull out and use without too much fuss, and also that it was an old and not precious book that didn’t intimidate me.