One day I might be crazy enough to attempt the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile Swim. For now, I'm content to have completed the 1 mile Chesapeake Bay Challenge race yesterday morning. This is kind of huge for me, since I really only learned how to swim a little over a year ago, and this was my first open-water event. There were around 400 swimmers total, with the first finishing in 28 minutes, and the last around an hour and a half. I came in at 1:01:07. I've only been to the pool a couple of times since October, so I was just thrilled not to have drowned while being overtaken by the 100 or so people that started after me.
The 1 mile race took place near the finish line for the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile Swim, which runs between the bridge spans from Sandy Point to Hemmingway's. Around 600 people participated in the 4.4 mile this year, with the first place finisher coming in at 1:30:26...just two seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
BUT, this is supposed to be about art, so let's take a look at this year's design for the events. It's a tattoo. Visually, I like it well enough, as a tattoo - but not as a design for a Chesapeake Bay swim that benefits the March of Dimes. I would've preferred a theme that said "I just completed an amazing physical challenge in the Chesapeake Bay, for a worthy cause," rather than this one, that says to me, "I love Japanese biker bars & mermaids built like Popeye." What's with the prison tattoo font for Bay Swim? Having said that, I still would've bought one, if the design had somewhere included the 1 mile race and not just the 4.4 swim. Temporary tattoos for $2ea would've been a great idea, and I was surprised not to find any. I think marketing really missed the mark on this one.
Naturally, I made a beeline for the clay aisle at Michael's. I picked out some oven-bake clay, and quickly decided a full 3D figure was just nuts to attempt. Instead, I grabbed a couple of small mirrors, and came up with this lil guy. I was trying to copy the eyes & nose of the green & blue guy in the 2nd pic below, and didn't quite make it. Still, he's kinda fun. 
Last night, I tried to make a puffer Soapfish like pic 3 above...will post that soon!
Sometimes, I like to take a peek back in time, to see how my portfolio has come along over the years. There's not much in it really. I have a dusty old file of drawings that once occupied me for hours at a time...not with deep thoughts, mind you. I spent my formative years filling a sketchbook with pages and pages of my favorite Far Side characters, hand-drawn, then traced with a sharpie. Then there's a file of 80s metal band logos, recreated with markers, construction paper and glue stick, followed by a few portraits, and a stab at airbrushing. Experimentation with different media yielded a clay bullfrog, some stained glass, and quite a bit of jewelry. Someday I might scan a few of my favorites, but here are a couple. 
One day I might be crazy enough to attempt the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4 mile Swim. For now, I'm content to have completed the 1 mile Chesapeake Bay Challenge race yesterday morning. This is kind of huge for me, since I really only learned how to swim a little over a year ago, and this was my first open-water event. There were around 400 swimmers total, with the first finishing in 28 minutes, and the last around an hour and a half. I came in at 1:01:07. I've only been to the pool a couple of times since October, so I was just thrilled not to have drowned while being overtaken by the 100 or so people that started after me. 
Now THAT was a sunset! I've always loved thunderstorms. There's nothing quite like the awesome wonder of nature to remind me what an amazingly creative artist God is. These days, we're all about creating multimedia experiences for customers, with the latest software and newest technology, all in an effort to get someone to buy something. But even the fanciest bells & whistles pale in comparison to the creation around us. What else can inspire us and leave us awestruck like nature, the ultimate multimedia experience for all five senses. And it's here for us to just enjoy, for free. Pretty amazing.
BAYakkers (pronounced Bay Yakkers) is a kayak club my friend Jen and I started last year. Now that we're out of hibernation, we'll be planning some fun trips for the summer. The slideshow (at right) is from a trip along the Little Magothy River. We use the Just Yakkin Blog to highlight our misadventures, in the hopes of attracting like-minded yakkers to come share the fun. So far, it's worked.
