Over the years, I have come to relish my solitude. I simply enjoy my own company. Being around others, especially many others, is draining. I know this isn’t a normal thing for most humanity, after all, we are social creatures, or so the saying goes. I found the saying below so many years ago and I long since forgotten its source. Loneliness is being alone … Continue reading Loneliness is draining; solitude is invigorating

Christmas Day 2012 We only got a couple of inches of snow for Christmas this year, but it brought back memories of Christmas 2012. Do you have any special remembrances of past year’s Christmas snows? Continue reading Christmas Snow

This is a new thing at RJsCorner which is primarily about quotes from people usually smarter than us, that are meant to teach us a little about life outside our boxes. Most quotes are taken from a larger document and are drawn out by wordsmiths like me who see them as the perfect words to relay a much more profound message. In other wordsvthey draw … Continue reading Learning From Those Wiser Than Us

For the last month or so I have been trying to figure out a way to change the fabric of RJsCorner. I’m sure you have also seen it but more and more of my posts lately have been about my malaise about my future. I’m definitely tiring of the “Poor Me” syndrome, so there will be much less of that. I want to give you … Continue reading Introducing 801 Words – A New Project

I took this picture a few weeks ago when I was visiting the Finger Lakes region of New York. I kinda think it deserves an Arsty status, and the grapes were delicious. Continue reading Oh, The Finger Lakes…

Progress has been slow in this endeavor to learn how to sketch. Maybe I am too impatient to wait out being accomplished at it. Or perhaps I just don’t think I will, with the time left for me, ever be accomplished at this new thing. So, I am going to take a shortcut in getting to the expected end result I desire. I am quite … Continue reading Artsy Saturday – Learning To Sketch Lesson- An Update

I have visited more historic colonies than I can even count during my Search Of America, and almost every one has a version of a loom in it. Without even serving its function the loom itself has an artsy feel. My wife really loved weaved rugs, so we had more of them around the house than I could even count. I know, those types of … Continue reading Artsy Fartsy Saturday – The Ubiquitous Weaving Loom.

For this Sunday’s “Every Picture has a Story”, I chose the one above. It was taken towards the end of 1988. Except for my wife’s death last year, this was the most traumatic year of my life. When this picture was taken we were finishing up our 2nd year of marriage, and were attending a wedding of one of the countless nieces and nephews I … Continue reading EPS#4 – 1988, What A Year!

I chose this photo for Artsy Saturday because of its simplicity. It was taken at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in southern Illinois. It was just a simple storeroom but somehow attracted my attention. Continue reading Beauty In Simplicity

I know I am only at the very beginning of my sketching project here on RJsCorner, but I need a break. That feels like a cop-out but, I promise it isn’t. With the trip to the New England States beginning next week, I have been busy with all the planning required for it. From my 6,000-mile South & Southwest trip this Spring, I learned that … Continue reading It Feels Kinda Like a Cop-out But…

I have always been entranced by graffiti art. Some of it is so complex and beautiful. When I recently visited Switchyard Park in my hometown of Bloomington Indiana, it linked my memories of graffiti with some local history that means a lot to me. When I visited the park for the first time I discovered that a now derelict building was a critical part of … Continue reading Every Pic Tells A Story – Graffiti Art And Hoosier Cabinets

So far in my studies to become a sketcher I have learned about how to anatomically draw lines, shading, and other such things. Liron suggested that I should pick something around the household to practice on. That brought to mind something that I have been thinking about for some time. Why not take a photo from my 22,000 piece portfolio and trace it using what … Continue reading Artsy Fartsy – Sketching – Practicing Strokes

I used to have a round To-it, but I seem to have misplaced it. But, I do have a crystal ball, as shown above. It is part of my collection of glass orbs. I am simply fascinated by the art of glassblowing, so I have visited many such sites around the country. But, this particular ball came from Amazon. Of course, you know they have … Continue reading EPS#5 – A Round To_it & A Crystal Ball.

I have been busy lately with my trip planning and other such things and just haven’t had time to do a sketching lesson! Shame on me! I promise to get one done next week. So, how about just an artsy picture for today. This one was taken during my trip across the Gulf Coast States a few months ago. I have no idea what it … Continue reading Artsy Saturday – Just A Pic??

This might seem like a strange picture to base a story on, but it has a lot of memories for me. A couple of weeks before our 32nd wedding anniversary in 2018, my wife proclaimed that she wanted to go see Punxsy Phil. In case you forgot he is the groundhog that determines whether we have an early Spring. It had been a couple of … Continue reading EPS#4 – Going To See Punxsy

Let’s set up a common format for these sketching posts here on Artsy Saturday-Sketching. Just giving you the lessons I covered during the week would be, well, BORING. So, I want to spice it up a bit with some artful meandering stories of whatever pops into my mind while composing each weekly post. Also, I have decided to skip the numbering of the posts. If … Continue reading Artsy Saturday – Baby Steps

For this Artsy Saturday let’s step back and look at the broader view of things. Artsy Saturday is a part of the trilogy of new projects I am starting at RJsCorner. The banner above shows the other two. For the most part, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays are now dedicated to becoming a better artist, storyteller, and thinker. Part of my “Never Stop Learning” mantra is … Continue reading About Artsy Saturdays (and other such things)

The Story – Calming The Savage Beast My late wife was a picture puzzle addict from the get go. Over our 35-year marriage, there was almost no time that there wasn’t picture puzzle pieces strewn across her “puzzle table”. Yes, she had a table specifically in her hobby room for that purpose. Frequently during those 35 years she tried to convince me to take up … Continue reading EPS #2 – Every Picture Has a Story… A Picture In Pieces

The title of this post sounds kind of mysterious, doesn’t it? But it has a lot to do in the practice of sketching. Let’s talk about that first, then some exercises. This week I got through the 39 pages of the book. The first part was about the mental side of sketching. Liron, the author, assured me that I can learn to be a passable … Continue reading Artsy#4 – Sketching Is A Mind Game…

Let’s face it, anything that is worth doing takes practice. If you want to learn how to play a guitar, as I did in my teen years, it takes hours and hours of practice. The more you practice, the better you get. It’s as simple as that. During those years, I became a folk song fanatic. I loved all the usual stars of the 1960s. … Continue reading Artsy Fartsy #3 – It’s ALL About Practice…

Ok, I got it wrong out of the gate. The novice that I am, I just assumed that a sketch was a drawing!🤪 So, I basically started out with the wrong book. (sorry Bob). While the book I first bought (Drawing for the absolute beginner) will be useful down the road, it proved to be not what I needed out of the gate. So, I … Continue reading Artsy Fartsy#2 A Sketch Is Not A Drawing

Let me start off this post with a cop out. I was expecting to give you my first “piece of art” sketch, but I just didn’t get around to it. I promise I will do better in the weeks ahead. There was just too much stuff happening in my life this week. But, that is one of the joys of my senior years, if something … Continue reading Artsy Fartsy #1 – Lots Of Tools…

Going forward, I am going to dedicate the weekends here at RJsCorner to showcase my artistic talents, especially in sketching. In my youth I was kinda proud of the sketchings that I made. For some reason, I never tried to develop that talent beyond the very rudimentary level, and now after all these years, even that level of skill has vanished. Starting today, I aim … Continue reading Introducing Artsy Fartsy Saturdays

For this Hodgepodge Saturday, I give you complications. Let’s face it, human beings are complicated creatures. If we just follow our own path, no two of us are alike. This picture says all that to me. It is also a good description of how my mind runs in a hundred different places at the same time. 😎 (click on the picture to see a larger … Continue reading Things Are Complicated…

With this post, I am introducing you to Avant Garde Saturday. I don’t know how long this theme will last, but given my portfolio of this kind of stuff, it might be a good while. The post for each Saturday in this series will only be an image with a caption below it. Maybe I can get you to appreciate what your mind’s eye can … Continue reading Avant Garden Saturday

I think I am finally at the point in my life that I am ready to put the concept of “Simplify” more fully into my daily life. All these years of collecting things with that word in them is finally culminating into action. Keep things simple That is where happiness comes from. Until recently, I have always looked to the future to try to discover … Continue reading Simplicity/Happiness Link…