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Ink and watercolor in small Moleskine watercolor sketchbook
My mom’s visit started with a cat attack and ended with a bomb threat at the airport (which extended her stay an extra day). My sister picked her up at the airport and as they walked in her door, Marcy started to tell my mom not to touch her grouchy, unpredictable cat. She was a moment too late: mom reached out to pet him and Bob the Cat sunk his claws into her hand. Next stop was a visit to the hospital where the nurse there washed her finger and put a band-aid on it and gave my mom a tetanus shot. After that she proudly showed off her band-aid and told the story to anyone who would listen.
Today, my poor sister again did airport duty, since she lives near the airport. When they arrived at the airport it was shut down due to a bomb scare. Marcy brought Mom back home, where she decided to stay another night. Now she’ll have lots of exciting stories to tell when she gets home.
In between, we attended the 90th birthday party(pictured above) of my great aunt in a country club. There were about 75 people people who came to show their love and respect to this feisty, vivacious 90 year old. It was nice seeing my cousins for the first time in years and their grown kids and their 2 year old twin boys and all the lovely old ladies dressed to the teeth for this special day. I drew this surreptitiously at the table while people were making speeches about my aunt. The perspective is a little confusing as the man on the left was at my table and the ladies behind him were at the next table.
Reading this was probably about as interesting as watching someone else’s vacation slides. I’ve got lots of exciting art stuff to share too, but most of my energy the past week has been devoted to family. Now it’s back to regularly scheduled programming: painting!

17 replies on “Cat Attack, Bomb Threat & Happy Birthday”
I like your bright intense colors… and I understand you when you talk about some familiar relationships and sanity!
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Loved your post and sketch. Family relationships are interesting, especially when you realize the same things are happening in families everywhere. The humor is in the “been-there-done-that”.
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A lovely sketch. The man at the table looks content! x
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Oh Jana, this is such a fun sketch. I love that you gave the background such a rich yellow really setting off the lady in the red hat. Good use of your time.
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Laughing Out Loud!!!! I feel your pain, and remember well similar events with my Mother – you are Good Daughters and there is a great sketch here!!
How Well I Agree ” Sketching “every day matters” is so good for the heart and soul (and
sanity!). “
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this is great!!! I’ll be boring everyone with my travel pictures soon enough!!!! I’ll check back in about a month to see what wonderful creations come about!
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This is wonderful!! I love your bold use of color.
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I loved the story! And the sketch is wonderful, with so many interesting figures and such saturated color!
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Surreptitious drawings! How fun and you captured the feel of the occasion.
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OH JANA! What a time!!! Your drawings make the events end with a smile, though!
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This is so cheerful and happy (and most definitely not boring). I really like the bright, clear colors and quick lines.
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I find it’s the everday things that interest me more – we all take photos on holiday and special events but if we took a few of what we do everyday and the environment we spend our daily lives in, it would be absolutely fascinating! Sorry to hear the visit didn’t go too smoothly. I’m sure you appreciate your own time even more now! 😉
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Strangely, I’ve tried a couple of days ago to leave a comment on your previous post and it disappeared. Tried just now and it’s gone again. Not that it was very interesting 😉 but just thought I’d let you know.
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This is a really lively sketch. Nice one, Jana! (And my auntie truend 86 today ~ it’s weird: she has this new lease on life since her husband of 65 years died earlier in the year 🙂 )
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Hi Jan! Yes we did get the stories on the other end here. Before and after her trip there.
I don’t paint, but I enjoy your paintings and the stories behind them.
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Great painting! And story, too. I understand the relationship with family angle, too. Most everyone does, I think. I really love the colors you used for this. So bright and bold.
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I just Told Everyone I know About Your site
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