Saturday, September 24, 2011

drawing challenge / bike

Amsterdam.


St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Marblehead, Massachusetts.

New Orleans, Louisiana.





We dream of living in a bike friendly city.  When Zach and I visited Amsterdam on our honeymoon, we fell in love with the biking culture and talked about moving there.  The idea seemed so romantic at the time, people were friendly and spoke better English than we did, the city so diverse and welcoming, and we rode our rented bikes or walked everywhere.  Our dream has shifted to Portland, where we could easily get by with one car and get around mostly by bike.  There is so much to see and experience on a bike that you miss in a car.  It's so easy to stop and smell the roses, if you will.  Yesterday while out on a ride we were caught in a rain storm.  We didn't mind a bit.    Added benefits are improved physical health, quality of life, and lightening our carbon footprint.

I have in my mind a large banner size drawing of Marblehead for the blog.  Greta and I sat at the table last night, fulfilling our assignments for today.  I came up with a rough sketch for my banner, and you'll have to see Greta's on her blog.  She blows my drawings out of the water every time.  Here's mine.




Take a ride with my beautiful friends;



Patrice, The Netherlands
Ariane, Germany
Jasmin, Australia
Nadine, Belgium
Renilde, Belgium
Greta, USA

More bike love;

12 comments:

nadine paduart said...

bli****' hell, rachel....
and there's that bike of yours, so gratiously, englishly and joyfully gliding down that hill (just DELICIOUS banner-to-be)...
and there are all these wonderful, wonderful action pictures o' yours to go with it...!
i have to-tal-ly forgotten about biking myself! well, i've literally been on my bike, i just forgot about the challenge!

okay.
will have to think up something tonite... i wonder what will come of this, if anything... ;)))
n♥

Patrice A. said...

what a happy cycling post!
I love my bike
depend on it
and do everything with it
which
as you know
is quite common in the Netherlands

and, great banner Rachel!!
xx

sarapirat said...

i am with you on this one,
biking is such a great way of traveling through life!

Anonymous said...

When Your very Young You start off with a tricycle
and in Old Age You end up riding a tricycle .....

Ariane Reichardt said...

Hahah, great, Seaweed Pete!
And I love that picture of you today on a 'tricycle' with your lovelies in back looking at their biking and taking pictures dad... its a family-portrait!
Your banner is very lovely... each founded detail.
And now I know, what you mean... the same perspective of your #1 and my painting! (photographing of that point of view I was nearly to an accident...)

Isn't it marvellous that you are now on a place where you can bicycle? What a gift!

Thank you for the theme... it was really fun!

Love,
Ariane.

Patrice A. said...

Rachel!

if it is ok with you all
I would like to be the host
next week

jasmin said...

What a great theme! And so timely for my family this weekend.
I love all our drawing ventures. Even If I don't draw every time, I have said before that I think about the word all week and am really inspired in all sorts of directions.
'Metamorphose' inspired me to write a short film. 'Bird' made me get out my inks. 'Bike' has made me want to change my life! Get a new bike and buy our daily bread, park it at all my favourite beaches, picnic with gigi, matt and his twins.
I could go on.....
I did grow up riding a lot (freedom) and more people are buying bikes here. More than car sales last year apparently, surprisingly. My boyfriend's twins got new ones TODAY and I saw one that I am now officially in love with (sigh) and Matt (the boyfriend) is searching the net for a lush and tough new mountain bike...
And what could be better than visiting NYC and picking up a Dutchy one?


XXX

Patrice A. said...

may I invite you for BREAKFAST at my place?
.....

renilde said...

Wonderful theme dear Rachel, i am late with my reaction (busy weekend :)) but it is obvious there is a bike-love going on here. Your drawing shows us all the things you write about, great details, i wish you and your family lots and lots of wonderful biking trips, thanks and xx

Lil Muse Lily said...

i love riding my bike. aside from the crazy drivers, Miami is a bike friendly town. lots of cruisers here.

love the drawing.

Color Land said...

Beautiful drawing, love all the details and all the things you express in them, hope someday can visit Portland and why not.....spend some long time at an amazing state........

erleichda said...

i really like your bike drawing : )