Anselm Kiefer @ The National Gallery of Art

Here's one I've been tinkering with for a looooooong time. In September, Nicole and I went to Washington, D.C. for my cousin Erin's wedding. We took an extra day and visited the National Gallery of Art on the Mall. It was something I'd really wanted to share with Nicole and it was an incredible experience. We spent most of our time in the East Building which contains the contemporary collection (20th Century). Nicole was particularly drawn to this massive mural by Anselm Kiefer. I took a picture and began this sketch after the fact (October sometime?). I've been poking at it ever since...trying to capture some of the rich textures in the original, experimenting with different cross-hatching techniques, various pens and pencils...It still doesn't feel quite finished but I'm going to put it to bed as is.

Butterfly Conservatory

Last Weekend Nicole and I went to Niagara Falls. The weather was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. The fall foliage was at its peak and the views of the falls were truly spectacular. We even had dinner atop the Minolta tower. We were the last table to leave and had the whole restaurant to ourselves for a private viewing of one of the last fireworks displays of the season. Saturday we had lunch at the Secret Garden restaurant and spent the afternoon at the Butterfly Conservatory just north of downtown. What an amazing place! Thousands of stunningly beautiful butterflies dance around you in a lush tropical paradise. It was absolutely beautiful. Here's a drawing I did from one of the many photographs I took there.

Nicole Writing

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Originally uploaded by Tim Clary.

I'm attempting to upload to the blog from Flickr...if it works this should be a sketch of Nicole from last year.

Surgery!

So, my girlfriend, Nicole, went in for a minor knee surgery today (is there such a thing as MINOR knee surgery?) and I did a couple sketches. One of her right before they wheeled her into surgery and one of all the books I got for my birthday (July 24th - you can still send gifts!).

By the way, Nicole is home and doing just fine.