Stairwell up

Not sure what the fascination is with the stairs. Guess its the angles and the dark lines that emphasize them.

Here was the next drawing, with a different angle to the opening to the 2nd story. The lighting on the walls and especially in the opening is in such contrast to the dark railings,.
These drawings like most on this trip were done with a Zebra ball point pen- black ink and fine point.

Marcott lakes sketches and drawings.

 Marcott middle lake

It was not long after arriving in Minnesota that we made a trek down the hill to the lake. This was the view sitting on the only chair available. Done with a fine Zebra black ball point on 5 x 9 sketch paper, as are all these sketches and drawings from this trip. Seems like I filled about 50 pages in that sketch pad. This day the corner of the dock was under water; the next it was half under water, so the docks got pulled out.

Marcott east lake

There are 3 lakes in the Marcott chain. This is the south east one. looking toward the smaller middle lake.  You can barely see its north shore through the weeds on the right. The eagle hangout is just out of sight above the passage between these lakes-you can see it in the sketches below.  The fishing is good and the lake is quiet.

Birches on the way down...

We made several trips down the hill (or "hail" as a little girl from Georgia might say it!)   that week to the lakes below. This sketch was along the trail below the hill in the subdued lighting of the afternoon, while on a walk by myself.

Eagle sketches on the lake

There is a resident pair of bald eagles on the lakes below the house. This day I was in the rowboat alone while Andrew and his dad were fishing ahead of me. So there is a sketch of them in the middle of this page. The birds are all the same one. Not on the nest, after all it is fall, but in the high cottonwoods above the passage between 2 lakes. Good luck rolling your phone to get the lower sketch oriented properly. It shows the scale of this big bird in the tall tree.

Houses and more...

This is the kid's house. We are always pretty comfy here, with lots of things to do and food to eat.

One of the houses we went to look at with our son-in-law. It was up for auction.  There are 2 views here; on the right is the side view of the Colonial style porch, with an airplane flying overhead...

This baby grand was left in the house up for auction. Well, it actually did have a back leg, but I ran out of time- or patience!

The collection

There is a row of about 5 or 6 antique farm implements along the road in the kid's neighborhood. I have photos of them, but this is the first time I have taken the time to sketch some of them. I felt a bit uncomfortable getting too far onto this fella's property. "Whose woods these are I think I know..." was said by Robert Frost but I was not sure this landowner was distant nor willing to have folk poking around his stuff. But I had to get into a good position to get the crow while he was passing through the neighborhood.

Here was the 2nd sketch of the 2nd plow. I learned a lot about these ol' plows by doing these drawings. Things you do not learn when you snap a photo and forget it...

Here is the old rake. This is a classic, and with all the spokes and tines provides lots of interest.

All 3 were done in a 5 x 9 inch sketch pad.

Sketches from the trip to the North Shore

Sketches from I 35 from Minneapolis to Duluth, a section that we had never been on.

Sketches from Duluth to Split Rock with the tunnels where we had to stop for construction. 

    Here is a sketch done while waiting at the gas station on the way home from Duluth. It was well after dark, and that will usually make an interesting drawing.