World Wide Sketchcrawl #27

Today was World Wide SketchCrawl #27 where sketchers across the globe get together and sketch their little piece of the world. This sketchcrawl I didn't have to fly solo and drag poor Hubby along. I had the pleasure of the company of the intrepid Miz Dee, my new-found sketching buddy. Yippeeeee!!!!

We met at the Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, Arkansas. It is part of the Arkansas State Parks system and is dedicated to the history of oil, brine and bromine production in southern Arkansas. We didn't get to wander about on the grounds because it was drizzling rain. We both decided we weren't that intrepid.

First sketch was the circus carriage of the Goat Woman of Smackover.

All the journaling down the right-hand side of the page is the story of The Goat Woman copied from the museum's website. You can read that here.

Journaling:

Dee and I spent two hours sketching this. She's as much a detail addict as I am. That was way too long. After two hours we just quit and went in search of lunch.

Journaling:

Smackover, Arkansas is out in the middle of nowhere. We asked at the front desk if there was anywhere we could go for lunch. The only three places were truck stops with day-old fried chicken. We didn't think we could handle that so we made do with stuff from the snack rack in the gift shop. Vienna Sausage is a second cousin to fried bologna, but I was desperate.

I had hoped to get four sketches done today for the sketchcrawl, but it was 1:00 pm, I was fading fast, and I only had one sketch in the book. I took a few minutes to warm up on some speed sketching with the brush pen and sketched the remains of our meager lunch.

I have *got* to quit getting so zenned out on details. My brain is happy but my back screams that I've been sitting in one spot too long!

Journaling:

Miz Dee spied this old telephone in the Horseshoe Cafe exhibit that she wanted to draw. There were actually two phones but I opted for just one and other stuff on the shelves. There was a table and chairs in there so we settled in to draw.

Part of the exhibit was an audio tape of the sounds of a cafe: low murmuring voices, the clink and rattle of dishes being cleared from a table, and a guy coughing. Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough.

After a while I felt like I was sketching in a TB ward. The tape looped about every two to three minutes and the cough started to drive me nuts. "Get that man a Ricola!"

This is one of those instances where taking the time to sketch an event will permanently imprint it on my brain. Had I merely taken a photo and continued on, I wouldn't have experienced the dreadful repetitive TB cough. Yep, I'll remember that and this day for a long time.

The lighting in the museum was dark and moody and after squinting through the gloom for four hours my eyes were beginning to ache. My spirit was willing but my body wasn't able. It's hell getting old.

At 3:00 pm I closed the sketchbook and told Miz Dee I was done for the day.