Repurposed Rental Truck and a story of my neighborhood

I wander the back-alleys of my Cedar Falls, Iowa neighborhood and find wonderful gems to draw, tucked behind people's houses. Here, a Penske rental truck made into a camper. Through the process of drawing, I come upon a story of place. Not just this driveway, this alley, but about the larger community where I live. Please, follow THIS LINK to the Urban Sketcher's Blog post.

Gate to Abandoned Orchard

Down a lane in the Cedar Heights neighborhood of my hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa is an abandoned orchard left from when this was farmland and not residential. This iron gate is a curious remnant of another time. Recently, the land changed hands. The scuttlebutt is that the new owner will be building multiple new homes.  When I got back from my recent trip to California, I sensed it was now or never if I wanted to capture this artifact in a drawing.

For most of the 2 hour time doing this, everything was quite delightful as I sat on my stool, set up across the road in the leaf mulch. Then at the very end,  I got swarmed by itty bitty bugs. They weren't biting, but they were all over me and my stuff (inside my crayon box! inside my gear bag! under my hat! under my shirt! between the pages of my sketchbook! EEEEK!) Needless to say, I hightailed it home. Later, my husband identified the critters as harmless spring tails. Before I was attacked I snapped this photo of my set-up.

Edge of Town

Graffiti by the River

I am working towards an exhibit of drawings of Cedar Falls, Iowa, my home for over 25 years.

As I draw Cedar Falls, I have discovered themes.  EDGE OF TOWN is one of them. Here is a drawing I did today, Thursday, September 13th. I sat under the highway bridge that crosses over the Cedar River above Washington Park. The further bridge is a bicycle/pedestrian bridge that leads to an extensive trail system within George Wyth State Park (all the trees and color beyond). The river is a wild place. This river front, city park is a wild place. It is only a few blocks from my old-town residential neighborhood. On walks, I routinely see fox, raccoon, bald eagles, and heron. All while semis rumble overhead on the highway.  I'd been attracted to drawing these two bridges for awhile. When I discovered the freshly applied graffiti at the base of the bridge pier the other day, I knew I had to act fast. The public works department is super vigilant about painting over graffiti. It usually doesn't last more than a couple weeks.

Here are two other drawings I did this summer that I feel speak to the EDGE OF TOWN theme:

Dead End at the Bean Field

Cornfield from North Cedar Neighborhood

Alleyways of Cedar Falls, Iowa

Back alleys bisect many blocks in my Cedar Fall, Iowa, old-town neighborhood. They're unpaved and un-curbed. I love walking down them and peeking into people's backyards. Even if homeowners keep the fronts of their property neat and tidy, the backs--as seen from the alleyways--are often scrappier. I find this interesting.  

One of these days, the garage on the left is going to fall over or be taken down. Meanwhile, I wanted to capture its twisting form. I drew this this evening after the temperature dropped below 100 degrees. It's a couple blocks from my house. I tested out my new stool for the first time, the one I'll be taking to the Urban Sketching Symposium next week.

Tilted Garage

I drew this next one the day before, looking from my backyard down the alleyway to the bi-colored brick Lincoln Elementary School, several blocks away. I was attracted to this scene initially by the curvy shape of the alley and the odd shaped patches of weeds that grow down the center.  Again, the heat was beastly; I waited until evening when the temperature dropped to the tolerable 95 degrees in the shade.

Unpaved Alleyway from 11th