Archives For eye

Big Ben at night: marker, colored pencil & ink doodle

Big Ben at night: marker, colored pencil & ink doodle

I adore London, especially at night.

We toured London by day, and a group of us went out at night:

June 25, 2014

“We took the tube to Westminster, saw Big Ben lit up at night, crossed the bridge to the London Eye in the cool night air. We walked down the Thames with lots of others, sharing our high of experiencing such a beautiful, rich city – a truly global city. We crossed the bridge and headed to Trafalgar Square, where we climbed the lions and laughed at the blue cockerel. We walked through Piccadilly Circus, then through Green Park, laughing and talking in the misty night. We saw Buckingham Palace, unlit at 10:30, and pulled our weary feet towards Victoria Station to the underground and back to bed.”

British Museum, ink doodles

British Museum, ink doodles

The next day we moved through history at the British Museum, beginning with ancient Assyrian statues, Egyptian faces, mummies and scarabs, and the Rosetta Stone.We moved through the Greeks and Romans to the Celts, to the Medieval church, pieces from ancient ships and the oldest surviving statue of a human figure – dating around 7200 bc! It looked like modern art… amazing.

Skipping over a day, to which I will return tomorrow, we spent another day in London as most of the group returned home. Westminster Abbey, the treasures at the British Library, the Tower of London, St. James Park, and losing our way somewhere in Brompton or Kensington, rounded out London with mist and flowers. So much iconic beauty. London is a fantastic city.

St. James Park, London, marker & ink doodle

St. James Park, London, marker & ink doodle

 

Achilles Heel

Mary Liz Ingram —  April 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

Achilles heel, meet Mary Liz’s eye.

An artist needs her eye. My eye’s have always been in good shape. I can draw tiny things, see tiny things.

Until my eye met paper. Paper got a little too up close and personal over a week ago.

With one fell swoop, I was down for the count.

I felt incapacitated.

I sat around with my eyes closed for two and a half days. I wasn’t sick, so I wasn’t tired and didn’t want to keep sleeping. I couldn’t watch TV, read, look at much at all. When I opened my eye, it felt like glass and razor blades were in there, so I kept it closed and found my “happy place.” A reposed into a zen-like state and tried to wait it out. Heal, eye, heal!!!

It was a strange forced experiment: What can you see with your eyes shut?

You can see a lot, actually.

Eyes Closed, ink doodle

Eyes Closed, ink doodle

I knew how to walk around my house without peeking. I could eat without missing my mouth. I could find my purse in the car, rummage in the right pocket, find my gum, unwrap it, put it in my mouth, and put the trash in the right spot without looking. I could brush my teeth, I could get dressed, I could fix my hair in a bun or pony tail without opening my eyes. I knew where we were on the roads driving to and from the eye doctor. If I categorized it, the stuff I could “see” was the “boring” stuff: the routine, the normal, the everyday. But it was amazing how accurate you can be without seeing.

After a few days, the pain was a bit better thanks to the eye doctor and lots of eye drops. That’s when I started wearing my sunglasses at night…and all the time. As I write, I’m still wearing my sunglasses.  This is for two reasons: #1 so the light doesn’t bother my eye, #2 so my odd looking eye doesn’t bother your eyes.

They look a little “mismatched,” we’ll say, due to my eyedrops. The upside is I get ready quicker since I don’t put on eye make up!

Wonky, ink doodle

Wonky, ink doodle

 

Sunglasses at Night, ink doodle

Sunglasses at Night, ink doodle

While the healing process has been dragging on and on and on, I know and have been told it will be fine. My vision is all blurry, but my right eye is working hard to help out it’s neighbor while he (or she?) recovers. Now that I’m getting better at just using the one eye – and I’m much better at “winking” than I used to be – I drew a few doodles from the photos I’d texted to my family, showing my “eye report” for the day. Hope they don’t freak you out 😉 (that’s my squinty eye smiley).

Luckily, my eye injury will not lead to my downfall like Achilles’ heel.

Just a temporary, semi shut-down.

Still, it’s amazing what destruction one tiny corner of paper can do!

I leave you with this important lesson: DON’T EVER PAPER CUT YOUR EYE!!!