Shryock Auditorium

I'm in Carbondale, Illinois. I'm going back to school to finish my degree. I got here last night and spent today arranging my living space. Tonight I took a little walk through the old quad at Southern Illinois University where the oldest buildings on campus stand. This is my view of the window at Shryock Auditorium. I really liked how the circle of lights are framed in the window. ...Also, its about 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside.

Rear Window

I took this view this afternoon from my childhood bedroom window.  This is my parents' backyard covering in several inches of snow.

Serenity

I really liked the shadows over the snow and the rocks exposed out of the white and the trees contrasting against it all on the way to the studio today. There's something a little poignant about it all. This was the only title I found appropriate.

Illinois: Day 1

This is University Hall at Lincoln College, where I attended for two years. I stopped by the college today after not having seen it in a few years. Not a whole lot has changed.

Starry Night

This is officially our 100th view!

Late last night I went outside to try to catch a glimpse of the Leonid Meteor Shower. Unfortunately, it got too cloudy before I was able to see any shooting stars, but I was able to catch a few shots before it got too overcast. This view looks directly East. The bright one in the middle is actually Mars.

Night lights

It was totally dark tonight when I left the studio. Luckily we have a string of lights that leads us down the path back to the house. This shot is looking back toward the studio through the trees.

Still Life

I haven't posted anything from the greenhouse yet. Yes, we have a greenhouse too. Even though there's nothing happening in here this time of year, there's still a lot to discover.

Good moon rising

That would be the moon rising over the Catskills on the distance. The buildings under the moon are the Sullivan County Airport which is just over hill.

Apples

Now that all of the leaves are gone I'm noticing more things I was unaware of before. We have five or six apple trees in the back yard and right now they are full of ripe apples. I picked one at lunch today and it was great!

Wide open spaces

When I left the studio tonight I caught a glimpse of the moon coming up over the trees. I ran to grab my camera and took about twenty shots of it peeking around the side of the house. I didn't like any of those shots, so this is not one of them. This is the house taken from across the field. We have a very large sky here. (The moon was still rising behind me in this shot.)

Cemetery

A quiet way to end the Halloween weekend. Most of the gravestones in this cemetery a few mile from the house date to the mid 1800s.

Red!

We are so bad. Neither of us had a photo to post yesterday. That's ok, brand new pictures are here. We haven't seen any sun in a few days here, but there's still a bit of color left in the flora. The leaves on this Japanese maple tree seem to glow against the studio in the background.

Atumnal Explosion

This is the weekend. This is when any remaining deciduous greenery finally turned into its appropriate yellow or red or brown. This is on a backroad in a valley on the way to Middletown.

Cascade

About two miles from the house to the south is Mountain Lake. The stream that runs off of the lake trails between back yards through the settlement of Smallwood. This area of the stream can be seen from the road. Today was a wonderful day to find this.

Covered Bridge

I took a drive a little further up into the Catskills today. This is the covered bridge over the creek outside of Livingston Manor.

Dear Alabama

Dear Alabama,
I miss being able to wear shorts all the way through October. I miss warm winters and eating outside on bright days. I miss Sunday afternoons at Vulcan in January. I miss watching everyone get excited about snow and seeing 2-foot tall snowmen all over Homewood. And I miss that it all melts and the sun comes out in the early afternoon. I can't wait to visit you. I could really go for a weekend at the beach right now. Wish I was there.

Love,
Tony

P.S. Tell Nancy she can still come visit. I promise its not as cold as it looks.

View From Above

On Saturday I went with some of my friends on a little hike to the top of a hill just south of Liberty. Besides the view, I thought this road peeking out in the trees was especially scenic.

Today

Just the view out of my window today at lunch.

This furry creature was crawling along a wooden table outside the studio. Can you tell which end is the front end?

Late Afternoon

Here's a little bit of sunshine for those of you who have been stuck in the rain all week. I was outside drawing this afternoon and caught this angle of the flowers catching some afternoon sun.