Erik Weems Blog - Graphic Design and Artwork

No, not my living room. It's the upper floor at the Renwick Gallery in DC. Some of my wife's cousins are on the walls.

Stand here for the 16th street bus. Metro center right below.

The Eastern Box Turtle: It has an incredible range, well past the Mississippi River and as far north as northern Michigan - - that means it can endure some pretty icey conditions. Can live to over a hundred years. This fellow was found in my back yard. Considering there are 6 outdoor cats patrolling the premises, that makes for a fairly sneaky turtle.

This plant does well with shade and regular water. Virginia heat will knock it out but a bit of water and it springs back really fast.

Old city hall building in Richmond (architect Elijah E. Myers.) Built in 1894 or so, in the (then) popular German style. Probably my first choice for an office rental in Richmond. (I like the gigantic clock.) Style is very similar to the old "War Dept" building next to the White House in Washington DC.

Received info about the coming May 29-30 event at Henricus Historical Park 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.$7 Adults, $5 Children (ages 3-12) 251 Henricus Park Road, Chester, VA 23836,(804) 748-1613 Updated my site about Chesterfield VA with new info about the Henricus Historical park near Richmond .

Found in the back yard

A bit more detail on ink drawing (posted two days ago), coloring by photoshop

Ink drawing with photoshop colors

Added a PDF of the 1981 4-page "Welcome Aboard" handout used aboard the USS McKean. See the website on the DD-784 USS McKean right here .

A Pharaoh tower in Washington DC? No, just the Washington Monument.

Though called a weed (it has a very strong appetite and gobbles up space from other plants) honeysuckle makes for a nice wall of vegetation for keeping out 'civilization.' Notice in this picture the poor bee has got some wing damage, but seemed to otherwise fly strongly as any of the other dozens of bees I saw today.

Fund Raiser for my niece Sarah Weems - - she is selected as a student ambassador to Europe for this summer. She'll travel about Switzerland, Germany, France and meet various functionaries of those countries. Every penny raised is toward handling the heavy finances for such a trip. Complete info at brother Steven's blog site:

It's a nice looking bridge, fords over the river at a height that seems to be more than necessary - - I suspect it's to keep the grade even to make it easier on the train engine, maybe? Nice clear waters beneath - - gets muddy fast, though, with some rain either around Richmond or up the river in the north/west mountain area.

Bright and sunny in Richmond today. Was supposed to be thunderstorms and rain... Richmond City is the land of a million (perhaps billion) red bricks.

The USS Enterprise and a Seakhawk Helicopter. This the 'original' version of the atomic powered USS Enterprise before they rebuilt that square tower you can see on the deck. Looks like an aircraft control tower for an airfield, doesn't it? The beautiful Mrs. D. Weems (my mother) put together a large plastic model of the Enterprise for me when I was about 5 or 6 years old, and really not capable of handling glue and making model kits. I can still see the lines of aircraft on the flight deck. Just looking at it was exciting.

Looks down on the pedestrians and cars going east or west on 14th street.

I have written an "appreciation" of artist Frank Frazetta who died May 10, 2010,

Ollie's Trolley place on 11th and E in Washington DC. Kind of pricey, but in line with the costs of visiting tourist locales in the DC area. Condiments of Ollie's Trolley: Across the way from the restaurant was a large crowd of people emptying out of the Warner Theater after seeing "Church Girl." UPDATE: This place vaguely reminds me of "Royal Burger" (or maybe "Royal Coffee Shop") which used to exist in DC. They had a "Hamburger Royal" and a "Cheeseburger Royal" along with various other lunchplate sandwiches. It was a place with a long lunch counter like what you rarely see anymore except in old diners. Usually Americans are pretty good about getting in line to order and take care of business, but in this place there wasn't the right physical geography for that, so people would simply crowd around the counter like a mob three-or-four deep and the main guy behind the counter would pick you out with a pointed finger to ask fo...

On the mall for Mother's Day, excorted the lovely Mrs. W to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and Technology. Mall was sunny with only an occasional cloud or two. Strangely cooler than usual for May, though.

Too bad such beautiful stuff doesn't jive (much) with this modern world. Seems like only in the tattoo trade does hand-written stuff have dominance.

Rambuctious:

Watercolor on pocket sketchbook, ink

Growing in our front yard. Not sure what this is actually called.