I’m working on a new project for Jordan Creek Town Center — a fabulously wonderful shopping center/happening place in West Des Moines, Iowa. It’s a greeting card for new mothers at Mercy Medical Center’s new maternity facility. It’s a project right up my alley. I’m doing a variation of my “Hey Diddle Diddle” card that will include a whimsical view of a section of Jordan Creek. They sent me some great pictures to work with, but when I was working on the sketch, I struggled with the positioning, proportion and placement (oh my, that’s a hefty batch of illiteration) of the buildings. I had to go out there and get a better “feel” for the place. I don’t have a digitial camera. I don’t have a cell phone that takes pictures (wait a minute, I don’t have a cell phone). I’m not good at on-site sketching. So, I brought along our video camera.
It wasn’t until I was walking around videotaping that I realized it’s somewhat odd for people to tape buildings and locations — in this day and age, it can be down-right scarey for someone to be video-taping buildings. I felt very conspicuous and was sure security was going to pounce on me and throw me to the ground at any moment. Didn’t happen. I got out of there in one piece, and even managed to keep myself from going inside and doing some very unnecessary shopping.
Most of my time is spent conjuring up stuff that only exists inside my head, so it’s fun to dabble in real things from time to time. The next time around, I’ll have to wear some kind of “artist at work” badge, so no one thinks I’m up to no good. Or maybe a goatee and beret. Who’s that suspicious-looking woman in the goatee and beret with the video camera? Yea. That’ll do the trick.