January Treasures

I pick up little treasures everywhere, especially on my walks and hikes. This January was ripe with good walking, and I gathered a nice collection. I keep these in a little envelope at the back of my pocket sketchbooks or in a bag that contains my "always with me" snack (it is a great reason to snack - by the way - to empty the bag :) Some of these I draw on site (while working on that snack), some come with me home, and I draw them when I have a moment. Some days it takes a few hours to find time to draw these, and some of these I found a couple of weeks later - little time capsules of the color and texture tucked in a pocket. I added little sketches and notes from photos and memory to some of these. 

Sketchbook #115: Trip to Europe - Vienna and around

One of the great things we did on this trip was to get some real guided tours. Very few of them actually were in English but we enjoyed both printed and audio translations and a rare brief English-language intervention from the guide. But in Vienna, we hit a jackpot and got a really great guide. We spoke the same language and it was especially interesting because of all the hidden places we were shown, layers of history she tied for us together and special corners, stairs, walls, and tips about food and drinks.