Cathy's Place

Thursday, January 14, 2010

This is the second in our landscaping class. Unlike the way I was taught, the Chinese paint the foreground first with ink and then work back to the distance. They add color at the very end as a wash over the ink (so the ink must be dry or it will run). The characters on the bottom left mean "bamboo". This is a bamboo forest leading down to the river with bolders in the distance.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Mikado Rehearsal

I bravely auditioned for a non-speaking role in the Durham Savoyard's Spring production of the Mikado and was happy when they offered me the role I requested which is in the Royal Chorus. We sit up in boxes by the stage dressed in Victorian costumes and sing the chorus parts. I like it because it is 1/5th the rehearsal time, I don't have to memorize dance steps or lines, and I can wear my glasses. The first rehearsal was last Thursday evening and we just sang through the entire score. The leads are particularly wonderful and clearly were not sight-reading their songs as I was sight-reading the chorus parts. The musical director gave us each a CD with our music on it both our specific part alone and then the whole number. This should help tremendously. The next rehearsal for me is Sunday afternoon. The performances are March 18-21 at the Carolina Theatre in Durham.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Chinese Brush Painting Class

Went to my first class today at the NC Botanical Gardens. This class was the antithesis of the art lessons Patti and I had from Mrs. Maser in the early 1960's. Today, we all painted the same thing and the teacher used an overhead projector to show us how she drew the line then we were supposed to do it just like she did. These are ducks in some backwater with reeds. We used sumi ink and some watercolors. Then we all went out for lunch at the Chinese buffet on Franklin St. I must say I preferred Mrs. Maser style even though I never got along well with her. She let us pick our subject and then just let us have at it. She would come around individually and provide pointers.