Day 11 of 21 Creative Excercise Challenge

What a beautiful day today! After work, I decided to be a tourist in my own town in downtown Baltimore, and do some sketching. I was meeting with a client at 7 nearby so I had some time to kill.

At first I did this quick sketch of the pride of Baltimore, with an ink pen and a scrap of paper:
She was so far in the distance, I couldn't make out what was going on with the details. I think I'll attempt this one again closer up.

After that, I decided to walk over to Barnes and Noble to get myself a latte and a brand new sketchbook and pencil.


Along the way, I remembered how I wanted to go to the Baltimore Aquarium for one very special reason. Years ago, my Father had worked on new construction of the dolphin wing of the aquarium. He was so proud of the work he did. When I was a small child, he took me to the site, pointed at the portholes in the design of the building and said, "Look Cindy, I cut those portholes out!" I know that was his pride and joy of his beautiful craftsmanship, and it was a very special memory for me. Last April, my dear Dad passed away suddenly from lung cancer. It was devastating. He was only 58. I miss him so much.

Dad's Portholes

I found myself a cozy bench and planted myself in it. Hard Rock Cafe was just next door, and they were cranking some tunes as I sketched in my new sketchbook. They played the Beatles, which always stops me dead in my tracks and makes me think of my Dad. I can hear him singing the song to me, as he always did. I started to well up with tears! But it was happy tears, of good memories. God I miss him so much.

Dinner with my client was amazing! He took me to this French creole' restaurant called Louisiana nearby in Fells Point. The food and atmosphere were absolutely perfect. I must go back!!! Upon returning home, my Hubby knows I head straight to my studio and hop on my computer. He picked me one of the first blooms on my rosebush out back, and put it in this lovely shot glass on my desk. How sweet!