Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Scribble Picnic - Grandfather Clock

Our Scribble Picnic theme this week is GRANDFATHER CLOCK and whenever I see or hear about a grandfather clock I'm reminded of the song we learned in grade school - "My Grandfather's Clock". How it "stopped, short, never to go again when the old man died".  My clock has stopped short also. I imagine it belonged to an old sea captain who couldn't bear to part with it after he retired and it didn't work anymore.  So he converted it into a cabinet to store some of his seafaring memories.  One can only wonder at what might be in that little chest.


I haven't done much in this toned tan sketch book, and I apologize that it doesn't photograph well, but I had it in my mind that I wanted to do this with white to make it look ghostlike, as if it were fading away.  Since I hadn't used it in so long I nearly drove myself crazy Monday morning trying to remember where I had put it. I had extended my weekend with a little bit of a mental health day and how ironic to be feeling so mentally challenged about it.  When I gave up and moved on to another project up in the stamp cave** I was sitting at the computer up there and just happened to look down into a tote next to the table and, yes, you guessed it, there was the sketchbook.  At that point though, I had used up so much time looking that I needed to put this on the backburner while I finished some cards and tags that my daughter-in-law asked me to make.  I'll be posting those soon.


The Grandfather Clock Song

by Henry Clay Work
"My grandfather's clock was too tall for the shelf
So it stood ninety years on the floor
It was taller by half than the old man himself
But it weighed not a pennyweight more


It was bought on the morn on the day that he was born
It was always his treasure and pride
But it stopped, short, never to go again
When the old man died



Ninety years without slumbering
Tic toc tic toc
His life's seconds numbering
Tic toc tic toc
It stopped, short, never to go again

When the old man died.

(There are more verses if you Google it.)

Thanks to this Scribble Picnic challenge, or rather the challenge I gave myself looking for this particular sketch book, I found some other interesting things I had tucked away which I'm looking forward to "playing with" soon.  

I'll be off now to visit the other Picnickers to see their Grandfather clocks.  You can join me by clicking here.  And just in case you want to join in next week, the theme is RABBIT. 

**I've kind of gotten used to using the phrase "stamp cave" even though it is less cavelike since all the improvements.  Maybe once I get it all organized I will think up a proper name......... if that ever happens!

Edited:  Thanks Michael for the enhanced photo.  Much better I think!

22 comments:

  1. the white on the tone paper makes a very effect, I like it, also the star at the top is quite nice, though why no clock hands? guess this is more of a chest than a clock, maybe? great take on the theme.

    have a lovely day.

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    1. Yes, it stopped working so the old sea captain made it into a storage cabinet.

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  2. I was not aware of the song, and now several other artists have share it. I was touch by it, and perhaps I'm too old to have learned it in school. Your ghost like clock with the treasures is such a creative way to express this theme. Love all the different takes.

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    1. I was pleasantly surprise to see the other references to the song myself. I doubt that you're too old, maybe just different parts of the country. Who knows. Glad you enjoyed it though.

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  3. Lorraine it does have a ghostly feel, thanks for sharing your story and lovely work you've done on this theme!

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  4. Haha, that is a lovely write up, Lorraine, and so glad you found waht you were looking for! It's truly wonderful piece too with a great story to it. I love how you chose to use the white for that ghost/fading affect. GREAT idea! Love it. Thakn you sooo much!

    BTw, I took your large image and brought it into photoshop to look at the "curves/levels" which allow me to see where it the tones are lacking from how the oringal more likely looked. So, I adjsuted those for you adn hope perhaps this is clsoer to your original? Feel free to use it here, if you want! :)
    Just copy and paste this URL link into a web browser and hit "enter" or "go":
    https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WpmdDhHIulY/WOWLfQaRnWI/AAAAAAAALDk/amxf9YCr37w5TW_jNwua_EE3cmossMwKQCLcB/s1600/P4044380.JPG

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    1. Well thank you very muchly sir! That looks so much better. Yes, this was a fun one and in my search I found some other things that I forgot about, which was a bonus.

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    2. And I should tell you that I came awfully close to putting an aquarium in instead of the clock face. Just couldn't figure it out. Nice to see that you did with yours.

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  5. What a lovely clock and, if mine ever stops working I'll make it into something more useful like this!

    I do recall that song Lorraine, not sure whether from my childhood days or later.

    Mary -

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    1. It's nice to see how this prompt brought together the memory of this song by so many.

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  6. Your drawing is wonderful. I always enjoying seeing art on toned paper, such a different feeling to it.

    I was just thinking that turning a clock into a cabinet would be a great idea. I need a cabinet just that size for my bathroom.

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    1. Thanks Tammie Lee. I have to do more in this book I think. It definitely has a different feel.

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  7. Lorraine,
    I love the "fading away" - the light browns - very effective. And making the clock into a shelf, interesting. I guess you could make the clock work by using new technology - without the pendulum. Crazy we had the same idea about the song.
    Blessings,
    Janis

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    1. It was cool to see the mention of the song by others. Some things you never forget. I worked with a teacher who used to repurpose old clocks with new clockworks. You're so right - that could work for this one.

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  8. A sea captain would have wanted a sturdy clock like this, and of course the starfish design made it unique for him! Too bad it stopped working, but a good idea to have him use it for storage. Great color choices.
    I did post a clock, but it's not much. Was a "bit distracted" while painting it! :-)

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  9. I wish that was a stamp! It's beautiful, Lorraine. The practical side of me wants to know how it's working without a pendulum - or is it an old clock refurbished into storage space, which would be very cool. Actually, we had a table which was the top of a grand piano - because it wasn't nearly as good a piano as our upright. The top and legs made a beautiful table in the drawing-room, and the wooden frame was a sturdy shelf in the garden shed.

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  10. What a great idea to convert it into a little storage space. It's perfect and a wonderful illustration! What did you use for the white on your clock? It's a wonderful piece!

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    1. Thanks Alexandra. I used a Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth Polycolor white pencil. It's a little less waxy than a Prismacolor, and easier for me to sharpen to a better point for sketching.

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  11. Such a fabulous recycle idea for a Grandfather Clock...nice work, Lorraine! The ghost-like effect worked well on the tan paper. I had to giggle because your time spent in hunting for the tan paper sketchbook only to spot it when you weren't actually looking for it actually happens to me a lot...with different items, of course. haha

    A few of us mentioned the Grandfather Clock song in our posts. Nice but sad song.


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    1. Thanks Serena. Isn't it crazy. I think sometimes I just have to step back and relax and it'll come to me. But then again, I have an awful lot of duplicates of things!

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  12. Remarkable! Its in fact amazing paragraph, I have got much clear idea about
    from this paragraph.

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