• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me
Bex Hall > ICAD

ICAD

When the prompt reminds you of something else

July 14, 2021

A loose connection, but it works

Loch Ness

In and around the lake

Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there…

Along the drifting cloud 

The eagle searching down on the land…

I’ll be the roundabout 

Lead singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe of the band Yes wrote this song near the end of a tour when they were traveling in Scotland. They were in the back of a van…when the song came together. Awed by the scenery, lyrics like “mountains come out of the sky…” were written.

Anderson says “Roundabout” is a “happy song” and describes it as a “Scottish jig.”*

Today’s prompt initially had me on track to draw the concrete roadway they call a roundabout but I couldn’t figure how to accurately portray an extremely frightened driver navigating through a morass of vehicles swerving and changing lanes. In a circle.

Too much work. Then I heard a song from the soundtrack of my youth echo through my mind. Yes. Literally. That will do. When I learned the song had been born around Loch Ness in Scotland, I imagined what they may have seen as they drove the countryside, creating their magic.

A watercolor landscape with some Micron pen strokes happened for today’s #roundabout prompt. 44/61

*from the Songfacts website.

Filed Under: Art Projects Tagged With: ICAD, icad process notes

I tried again. I still don’t like it.

July 13, 2021

Creating mandalas are not my thing.

Mandala

For many people, creating a mandala is therapeutic or soothing, so I’ve heard. Every time I make one, my stress level goes up. Every imperfect circle and misshapen whatamacallit only serves to irritate me.

I think it’s because I put too much pressure on the end result being perfect. 

It may have something to do with my approach and mindset. And expectations. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Ya think?” and you would be right. 😊

For most anything else I create, I don’t have this struggle, so why this subject?

Something to sit with and ponder.

43/61

Filed Under: Art Projects Tagged With: ICAD, process notes

Hi-Yo Silver, away!

July 12, 2021

A different take on today’s ICAD prompt

The Lone Ranger’s horse, Silver

For today’s prompt, I thought of the Lone Ranger’s horse.

Hi-Yo Silver, away!

Micron pen sketch. 42/61

Filed Under: Art Projects Tagged With: ICAD

Message in a bottle found after 26 years

July 11, 2021

Two-liter travels 115 river miles

Message in a bottle

On June 25, 1987, two young friends wrote a letter each and placed them in a two liter bottle. They tossed it into a swollen Blackberry Creek near their homes, with the hope to hear from whomever found their messages.

They had no idea it would take 26 years before their wishes were fulfilled.

In 2013, my neighbor and his grandson found the bottle during a trash cleanup on the bank of the Ohio River and were surprised to find the letters still legible.

They posted photos on Facebook and it wasn’t long before the internet worked its magic and a connection was made between sender and finder. 

It’s been speculated the bottle traveled from their stream in McCarr, KY into the Tug River, to the confluence with the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River at Louisa, KY where the Big Sandy delivered it into the Ohio River where it was found on the bank in Franklin Furnace, OH for a total of about 115 river miles. 

This is a quick sketch of the photo my neighbor shared.  41/61

Filed Under: Art Projects Tagged With: adventures, ICAD

I drove a 310 but it wasn’t to Yuma

July 10, 2021

It was actually 10:30 a.m. in N. Judson, Indiana

Guest Engineer on the 310

At the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, I fulfilled a lifelong wish to drive a train in their Guest Engineer program.

My absolute favorite part of the experience was pulling the cord to make the whistle blow. 😊

39/61 Micron pen sketch and Koi watercolors.

Guest Engineer on the 310
N. Judson, Indiana
Railroad lantern
Hoosier Valley RR Museum
Tourism poster Starke County, Indiana
Look up.
Vintage sign at the HVRM.
Hobo Sign
The 310 coming down the track.

For train enthusiasts: The No. 310 was built in 1947 and is powered by a McIntosh & Seymour 539 series engine rated at 660 horsepower. It was built for the Erie and became Erie Lackawanna No. 310 in 1960. The engine was donated by Silcott Railway and arrived at the museum in 1997. It underwent an extensive overhaul and is currently operational.

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is dedicated to preserving the railroad history of North Judson and seeks to keep the town’s railroad heritage alive via display and operation of vintage railroad equipment atop the history rails that bend their way around the museum. You can visit The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum for details.

Filed Under: Art Projects, Miscellany Tagged With: adventures, ICAD

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About Bex

 

Bex Hall

Her writing has appeared in various online and print publications, most recently in Kerning, a literary magazine, and in the Stories of Hope Collection in Transplant Living. Her artwork has appeared and sold through the Grayson Gallery. She blogs here about creative life and creates in Studio BE overlooking the Ohio River. Her work in progress is a memoir about the secret life of objects.

Notes

  • The 100 Day Project

    50 short stories in 100 days.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Secondary Sidebar

Notes

  • Creative practice goals:

    Show up every day behind the pen, the brush, or the lens and share my work.

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Gratitude, grief, and getting through
  • I’d like to ask a favor
  • No selvedge on my fabric heart
  • Answers lead to more questions
  • You can’t always get what you want

Inspiration & Craft

Quotes on Creativity

Recommended Books

Art & Writing Supplies

Galleries

Photo Gallery

Connect on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me