28 ARTISTS & JOURNALISTS
their work and words, interviews, blogs, images, hints, tips, websites
and more...

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Taking advantage of unexpected opportunities

And what fun that is!  It's starting to get cold at night and we'd had several hard frosts.  Our outside "water feature" is just a big plastic planter filled with water and a fountain...and one lone goldfish, the last survivor of the 15 or so we put in in the first place.  (We named him Norman Bates...)

After one particularly nippy night, I noticed Norman was sort of floating diagonally near the bottom of the pool, and whereas I know fish hibernate over the winter and have a kind of natural antifreeze, I wasn't sure our planter wouldn't freeze solid.  He's hardy, but not THAT hardy.

So be bought an aquarium and a pump and moved him indoors...


The unexpected by-product was that I can SEE him now --much bigger than I thought--and he's fun to draw.  Lots of quick ink and watercolor sketches the first day...


More careful studies with pencil and watercolor on the second...he's fascinating!  (My cats think so too...but we have the lid taped down, so he's safe.)

This required reorganizing the whole living room, moving things around to accommodate a sturdy flat surface for the aquarium, but you know what?  It was worth it!  A whole new world to sketch...

It's great for a summer home, but going to be pretty chilly, SOON.


11 comments:

  1. Norman is cute it seems your kitty is quite fond of him too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Incredibly wonderful name! He's surf to
    Be an Internet sensation

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I need to get a fish! Dear Husband doesnt' love animals in the house and birds are too messy. But I could have an aquarium! Hmmmmmmmm............

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks all! I'm really glad we got him, it's so mesmerizing to watch. MaryO, they're quiet and they don't shed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. great Kate - trust you to fund happiness with a little half-frozen fish and your sketchbook! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love your sketches of Norman—great name. I loved the fish we had in Bali. So much fun to watch, feed and sketch.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nina, that's about right, isn't it! And Jennifer, they are SO interesting...my uncle used to have a huge aquarium when I was a kid. Norm's just a cheap goldfish in a 10-gallon aquarium, but he's FUN.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your Norman. Great sketches and fantastic color. Every doctors office I've ever been in have fish tanks. They say it calms people to watch. I do believe it is true.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharon, I think it would, but Norman is HYPER! Funny, eh??

      Delete
  9. Wonderful sketches! Makes me want to adopt Norman. ... I suppose I could get my own 50 cent fish and $30 aquarium. lol! What we don't do!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, Elva, he IS a tempting model. I was just thinking about drawing him with orange ink! Not that I have any...

    ReplyDelete

We'd love your feedback...please share your thoughts!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...