For the EM toy challenge, this tabletop rocking horse came from Russia (I think) and is painted with flowers. It’s not a real toy, but a representation of one. We used to have a ceramic "coffee grinder" in our house. It was pretty, but just a decorative object, not a real one. I don’t usually go in for such things. This horse is the only object in my house that falls into that category. Well, the flowers are like those in my little rocking chair from childhood, which I still have. Maybe I should have drawn that chair. Its flowers are half worn off. That rocker was used by me, then my sister. Now it’s sitting in my bedroom, a place for a small collection of cloth dolls.

Here’s another cup for the Everyday Matters challenge. I drew this first in ink, then painted over it in gouache. Then, more touch-ups in Photoshop. I left in a bit of the original background color (the ochre around the edges) just for interest. The cup is one of two given to me at Christmas by my friend Jane.

For the Everyday Matters weekly challenge, here’s a sketch of my bed. I resisted doing this because I usually don’t draw big things. It’s hard to get far enough away from the bed in my room to see the perspective, and I didn’t have a comfortable place to sit and ponder the proportions. But sometimes it’s good to just do it and learn from it. Even Van Gogh didn’t get the perspective right on his bed in Arles, so I can let myself off the hook a little about this drawing. Anyway, it’s a sketchbook page, not a finished drawing.

This is for the Everyday Matters cup drawing challenge. It’s a page from a sketchbook a few years old, I confess.