A Bridge of Madison County

Finally had time to finish what I started in Iowa last weekend...adding the color to my morning sketch.

While my wife and her sister spent time shopping near DesMoines, I spent last Saturday morning driving down some very dusty Iowa roads finding the various covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa. This one, the Roseman, is located in a hollow about 10 miles west of Winterset, Iowa. Apparently the bridge builders of Madison County all used the same set of bridge plans 'cause each one I found was pretty much like its siblings. In common too with the other bridges I found on my tour, this one, courtesy of a very dry summer, spanned a pretty much dry creek bed. Once I was done with my bridge quest I headed off to my wife's home town of Indianola, Iowa. The sketch from Indianola was posted earlier in the week.

Quarter of the Square - Nancy's Hometown

My wife and I are just back from a trip to visit my brother in Illinois and my wife's sister in Iowa.

This is a sketch of  a corner of Indianola, Iowa's town square. My wife grew up in Indianola. She lived but a few blocks from the square and my father-in-law fixed cars for years in his garage which was located just off the square. My wife also tells me her teen Friday nights were spent cruising round-and-round the square with her girl friends!

While I was working this sketch I noticed a guy taking pictures of me. Turned out he was from the local paper. I wound up being interviewed and having pictures taken of this sketch and other work in my sketch book. My wife thought the interview was quite cool. I thought...slow news day.

Rust Bucket

My wife and I were in Ludington, MI again over the weekend. Had a nice stay at a B&B there. This old truck has been a fixture in front of a downtown Ludington antique store for years (meaning I've walked by it a bunch).

I finally had time over the weekend to get the truck down on paper. I found out later it's a good thing. One of the people I was talking to when we were in Ludington told me the block in which the truck now resides is going to be torn down to make way for a new development.