Breakdown

My uneventful drive to Kairouan became eventful when my car stopped on the autoroute (freeway). It all turned into an adventure when I got to ride in a tow truck, whose driver deposited my car at the local mechanic's shop. While waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I sketched my surroundings to record the moment.

The University of Kairouan

The road to Kairouan is torturous and the landscape becomes drier and drier as one drives south and west. I helped with some academic work at the University of Kairouan, spending the better part of a day there. 

I was thankful to get back to my corner of the world where it's greener.

Another Suffering Student

It's a tough choice, the beach or exams.

And then out and about, driving in Tunis. Temperatures are rising...

Airport Sketching

The summer has been busy with lots of trips to the airport. 

However, it is a sad airport, rather morose, with few tourists daring to venture forth.

Break Away

We tried to break away from the everyday routine and squeeze in a couple of days at the beach before the grandkids arrived. Wouldn't you know, it was windy and even rained a few drops. Nice dinner in a restaurant, all the same, and the palm trees in the wind were spectacular.

Parts & Pieces

Some days when I go out I only catch bits and pieces of this or that in my small journal. An architectural detail, people waiting for the bus or in the bus, different views of the low mountains.

Playing with pretty colors...

Out & About, 11

The "take-a-line-for-a-walk" got rather carried away, looking a bit like fire.

Suffering Students

Exams are pretty much wrapped up. The "suffering students" theme can be put to rest for the summer.


I'm rather fond of my still life of a flower pot, truck and cement factory building. Odd combination... 

Doodling

Having spent some time visiting in a hospital last week, I needed a small stitching project to tote along.

Women will start talking to me when I'm stitching, especially if they do some kind of handwork at home. What I don't understand is how people sit around for hours in waiting rooms doing nothing...

This is just playing with beautiful colors of leftover bits from a journal page. Just couldn't throw them out, so I'm stitching them down with a running stitch, leaving the raw edges. Doodling.

Out & About, 10

While visiting a family member in a hospital, I sketched the view from the fourth floor. I tried drawing in a spiral manner, which was interesting. I started with the left side of the building on the right and built upon that.

Another day, while sitting in the car, I sketched several different aspects of one view within frames.














Ballpoint pen with Prismacolor added later. I find it interesting to see the evolution of this journal. The drawings are becoming more and more complex, it would seem--I have no control over this..

Out & About, 9

There are always interesting subjects in the bus. Some poor guy wore his polyester suit on a hot day. 

I added to my theme of students taking exams, otherwise known as "suffering students."

Heat Wave

Because of a sudden and severe heat wave (over 105° F. when it should be 70°), we decided to take a taxi to Tunis for business (the on-going battle against our neighbour's two illegal industrial refrigeration buildings). The taxi driver was a good subject. You can see me in the rear-view mirror. 

The cumquats will be few this year. The heat wave cooked most of them on the tree. I've never seen that before.

From the Passenger Seat

Truly, I have not forsaken my stitching, but it's very slow going on the Pomegranate Tree. Yet, I manage to squeeze in the small sketches. Someday a crossover will start appearing; one medium will talk to the other. In the meantime, this is my husband's arm when we went to Tunis. Like all other big cities of the world, it has big modern buildings.

More Mountains

The more I sketch the mountains when I'm out and about doing errands, the more I appreciate them. The smallness of the framed sketch (more like a thumbnail sketch) is quickly executed in a moving vehicle...and maybe I'm getting a bit faster.

Out & About, 8

Because I conquered motion sickness with drawing, I was able to capture the low mountains between Nabeul and Tunis from the passenger seat. Along with vehicles and a worker.