Happy Valentine's Day

I promised that I would share with you the card I made for Keith, and here it is, at left. It features Beckham and Jimmy Boo, watching the moon.


It didn't scan as well as I hoped, but you get the idea. It's been a bittersweet Valentine's, but I've always kind of liked bittersweet over sickly sweet, anyway. I regret that I haven't spent any time making handmade truffles, or baking some real chocolate brownies, like I would have liked. There just wasn't time this year, due to work and running around. I miss the Blogosphere a lot. I've been trying to stay in touch, but I feel out of the loop, really. I DID actually follow through on a project for Valentine's Day that I had seen and been inspired by on Lillian's lovely blog, Unstitched. Mine wasn't as pretty, but the memories that I wrote down for K made him happy as he reminisced with me... and the last envelope had a gift card in it for a ninety-minute massage at the center I work at! A full-priced one, too, so that when he schedules, he won't get bumped for another client, ha ha!


K has been consumed with family matters, obviously. That's where he needs to be right now. And yet, he brought me home some chocolate covered strawberries last night, and a bar of dark chocolate with hazelnut toffee.... mmmm..... :-) 


Ah well. My studio table is covered, once again making it difficult to work properly, although I recently did a deep cleaning of my room. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I forgot about the Sketchbook Project, and though my book is half-filled, I never sent it in for submission. I missed the date! This year has started out as The Year I Didn't... (fill in the blank.) I need to change that dynamic. 


Okay, it's a work day, so I have to go get ready for the Valentine's Day "Last Minute Rush" which will inevitably happen at a place like where I work. All the guys (and some girls) rushing in to buy gift certificates when they can't get onto the schedule for Couple's Massages. Yesterday was crazy already... and today will likely be more of the same!


Many thanks to those of you who pop by and comment (thus making me feel very happy and connected again) and to those who just check out my blog but don't comment, because it somehow makes the world feel a little nicer and a little smaller... I hope that you continue to visit me. I will continue to try and stay in touch when I can. Maybe share some photos or a thought I have. It's all the creativity I have these days, anyway: photography and musings.


Blessings to you... xox

Valentine's Day Cards

Day Dream Kitty

I like to make my own Valentine's Day cards for the people who are closest to me. This year my theme was "Love Cats" inspired by The Cure's 80's classic hit. Well, it was a hit with ME, even if it maybe wasn't a world wide hit. Ha ha. I've really been into 80's music lately, in a nostalgic sort of way. It's what I listened to in high school, and it brings me wayyyy back! 


I made my cards out of watercolor paper, with watercolor crayons and watercolor pencils, as well as drawing pencils.


I already sent two of the cards out without scanning them to share with you, which I'm sorry about. They turned out really well, as they were modeled after cats that I know.


The other card I made is for K, so I can't share it until after he gets it. (He reads my blog, so it would be a spoiler if I posted it now!) The card here I just mailed out to my good friend, Debbie. I have a couple more to make today...


I hope that everyone is doing well, and enjoying their lives. We have our ups and downs here, but are learning to really appreciate the ups as much as possible! We had a particularly nice evening out at the local pub, just talking and munching, and realizing how lucky we are to have each other. I'm grateful every day! 


xox

A Peek Into My Work Day

A day in my work week goes kind of like this... 


I get up in the morning, meditate for 20 minutes, make my coffee and then sit at my computer reading some blogs and sipping my morning cuppa. By the time I've gone through all my favorite blogs, it's time to grab Jimmy Boo and hang out on the back porch with him. It's become our routine, and we both enjoy it. My coffee comes with me if I haven't finished it yet. Beckham is typically sleeping or laying in a window watching the world go by. Since he doesn't allow me to hold him in my lap outside, he doesn't come out.


I might have some breakfast, then shower. It depends on whether or not I'm going in early or later. If later, I push breakfast into brunch, and then figure out what to bring for my dinner. Then I get ready for work and start off on my walk. You've heard about my walk, and know that I stop at least three times to take a photo of something along the way.

There are still lots of flowers blooming since we're pretty much still in the summer season. It's starting to turn, though... the air is cooling down, and some of the leaves are falling in shades of red, yellow and mixtures of red & green. But when you look up, you still see mainly green foliage up in the boughs of the trees. 


This walk has turned into a kind of mantra for me. I review all the things that I'm grateful for while I walk. It's a ritual that I don't want to give up, as it gives me some early morning clarity about my life and my choices. I try to be very present while I'm walking, and not get too lost in taking photos or following the tracks that my mind might try to take off on. It's very easy to get lost in mind-noise.

As I near work, I allow my mind to switch over to work mode. And when I walk down into the lobby, I feel calmness and know that I am helping in this place, and that they want me there. I've connected with a lot of the employees and clients, and it's a place of positive energy. The scents and the lighting create a relaxing atmosphere that calms. The cleanliness is helpful in keeping that calm around me. My day has started. I answer phones, schedule clients, do laundry, clean, enter data on new clients into the system, and chat with coworkers while they wait on their clients. I also enjoy chatting with the clients. They all start out like normal people, then they get their massages and they practically float back into the lobby with messy hair, lines in their faces, and dreamy expressions. It's awesome!


I love the morning shift, as I get to leave at 3 pm, and walk home while the sun is still out. People here still greet each other in passing, for the most part. I like to notice the little bits of whimsy that people have added to their environment. You only have to pay a little attention to see things like this...

The imprint of a leaf in the concrete. There were several, but I share with you the best one that I saw. I wonder at who might have done this... a child? An adult? A man? A woman? When did they connect with their inner child and decide to dress up a boring slab of concrete with their tiny transgression? I love that they DID. The area where this leaf imprint lies is not near a private home. It's on the corner of public building, and there were several leaf prints, though this one was the best. They had to push pretty hard, you can tell. The displacement of the concrete shows that it had already started to harden, and thus was forced out in thicker waves when the print was made. Determined and naughty!


On my way home yesterday, when I took these photos, I decided to stop at a little antique store that's connected to an antique book store. I wanted to buy an ink well for painting with inks. There was a real ink well, but it was made for quills. I needed something I could use with my calligraphy pens, as that's the way I make my ink drawings. I found something that would work... a tiny little bottle.

I took it home for $3 and found that it worked perfectly! Much better than the $39 antique ink well would have worked. It suits me better, also. After I got home, did some dishes, and changed clothes, I started working on a new piece. As I had drawn Beckham the other night, I decided to draw Jimmy Boo. The photo I chose to work with has Jimmy drowsing on my table, with the sun hitting him and one eye half closed and the other fully closed. It was probably not the best photo to use. He turned out looking rather demonic, yet sleepy. He's the least demonic of my two cats, so this isn't an accurate representation of him. I'll share it, anyway.... I worked some watercolors over the ink drawing... It's okay. It's not the best. But I need the practice, and this was my first watercolor of a cat. The next one will be an improvement! So that was my typical day.

Jimmy Boo looking a bit weird.

Not bad as far as days go, right? Not bad at all.

Newest Ink Drawing

Ink drawing by me.

I made a portrait of Beckham today. At first, I sat there with a blank sheet of watercolor paper in front of me and a pot of India ink. Then, as I pondered the paper with a feeling of uninspired ennui, Beckham jumped up onto my desk and put his foot right in the pot of ink, upsetting the brief moment of quiet I was immersed in. Boredom was gone in a flash. I grabbed the pot of ink and set it back, grabbed his foot in my hand, and his whole body under my arm and ran into the bathroom. He was so nonplussed that he didn't even object. There was no time! I ran the water in the tub and shoved his forepaw into the stream of water and got as much of the ink off while it was still wet. My hand still has traces of ink and my desk will need to be refinished, but otherwise, no harm done.


The upshot was that I looked down at the paper, which now had blotches of black ink all over it and I knew what my subject was going to be! Beckham has a very naughty habit of wanting to lay anywhere that I choose to work, draw, write.... anything requiring attention. I love him so much, though. It's hard for me to get angry. In the end, I rarely cry over spilled ink. Besides, he keeps my creativity piqued. He's my big, black and white muse. I don't know what I'd do without him!

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 27

We're getting close to the end of the challenge! I didn't do Day 26, mainly because I don't like to draw things I don't like. So I ignored it and went straight to Day 27, which is "Someone You Love." Way more fun! 

Supposed to be Keith

The lighting is terrible, sorry! I drew it and photographed it after the sun went down. The likeness of him isn't too bad, I don't think. If you saw either of the last two videos I posted, you'll know what he looks likes. He=Keith. Ha ha! So you can tell me if I did an okay job or not. I think I made his face too long.


By the way, there's this new show coming out on FOX soon, and I'm soooo excited about it because Zooey Deschanel will be in it! It's called "New Girl". I loooove her.... she's so cute, and funny, and I love to listen to her sing. Plus, she's so funny! For reals. I love her. Her blog is funny, too, actually! You should check it out sometime. Especially the post about cats in outfits, as seen in Japan. Can't remember the name of the post, but there aren't really that many, as she's a busy person.


Can I just add, here, for the sake of clarity, that I only have a girl crush on Zooey, for years now, okay, but still. I don't LOVE her love her. I just think she's bitchin.

Sketchbook Project 2012

I don't know if you noticed the new button on the right side of my blog or not, but I'm participating in this year's Sketchbook Project. "It's like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks." The Art House Co Op, now out of Brooklyn, NY, started this project in 2011, which was very successful. Which is why they're doing it again this year! To read more about The Art House Co Op, go here. If you're interested in participating, also, just click on the link and on the right side of the page, you'll see the participate section. Just choose your theme, fill in the info, and pay the fee. They mail you the sketchbook to use. It's a minimal cost, and hey, your finished sketchbook travels the world, to places you may never go, and people get to look at your art up close and personal. Pretty cool, right? And at the end, the finished and well-traveled books will live at the Brooklyn Art Library in Williamsburg, NY.

Image source

I've already started on my book... rebound the cover, and I'm altering it (of course) to reflect my theme: A Path Through the Trees. I even worked on my first drawing in the book yesterday! So exciting! I changed most of the paper, too... I want to be able to do some watercolors, so I had to add some Arches softpress paper to it. I also added some Canson drawing papers. As long as you don't alter the size of the book, or the barcode, then you're alright to make changes. Maximum thickness is 1", and I made sure to keep it a bit under that, in case my book starts to get thicker. My journals always seem to expand because I'm always adding things to the pages... envelopes to keep things in, fold-outs, etc. 

Image source

If you have a creative bone or two in your body, then why don't you join me?? It'll be fun!!

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 25

The drawing challenge today was "scenery". I went to the cemetery, as I had planned to draw some trees, for another project, and the cemetery has the closest biggest trees around town. So my scenery was trees. But I was already drawing my favorite tree... so I did something different for the challenge.

I like when people describe shapes by using words, and have wanted to try it for a few days now. (It was on my mind.) I kind of like how it turned out! I might use the same process, but refining it a bit, for the Sketchbook 2012 Project that I'm doing. If you're artistic, you should do it, too! The books will end up as part of a permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library. However, it will tour the US before it ends up there! Your art can be viewed by thousands of people! Isn't that cool?


I just want to add that I'm still having trouble commenting on people's blogs, and replying to people on my own blog. I don't know what the deal is, but I've sent in a help form to Blogger. We'll see if it gets fixed. I'm reading your blogs, everyone.... I just can't comment on all of them! So weird.


Have a great day!! I'm loving this warm sunny weather we're getting now! It's gorgeous out!! xox

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 19

Okay, so I'm not very good at following the rules. We should be on Day 23, but my sister got here on the 19th, and I really wanted to do "something new". So I did a pen and pencil drawing of a mountain range I saw on the blog banner for E's Mount Aenos. I took some liberties, of course. But I've never done a pen and pencil drawing, so this was a first for me. (I've done exercises using just a pen, but not an entire drawing. I have done drawings with pencil only, obviously.) I enjoyed using the pen more than I thought I would. It always looks so painstaking, especially with larger areas to fill in, but it was actually kind of awesome! The pencil gives a nice, warm, mid-tone, and I felt like it worked for the subject matter. I had fun, and I stretched a bit, and I learned something! All in all, I feel like it was a worth-while rule-breaking experience! 

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 18

So... I've been doing the drawing challenge, but not liking the results (not finding them very inspiring) I haven't posted them. Plus, I didn't feel like being in front of the computer that much lately. But, I'm back!


Here's the challenge for the day... Just a doodle.

It's storming outside today, so I had to use a desk lamp to help light the page. That always results in a bright spot on the page, no matter how I move the light around. Sorry about that. Anyway, it's hopefully legible enough! I'm already missing glass blowing, in case you couldn't tell. I really hope to be able to take another class this year with Z. We'll see....!

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 12

This is pretty self-explanatory! I've wanted to learn glass-blowing for a very long time. It was on my secret bucket list. I didn't want to even admit to myself that I wanted to do it because I didn't think I'd ever get to! 

It's been a blast... almost literally! I have one more day of class next week. Then if I want to take another class, I'm going to have to get a job. Ha ha. 

p.s.
Um, okay... this was scheduled to post almost a week ago, and I just realized that it never posted. It was during the Blogger let-down. I mean, shut-down. So, here it is.

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 12

I don't remember what I originally wrote on this post, but I know I posted a drawing. So here it is, without further ado.

I'll just sum up what I think I said... basically, I wanted to learn to blow glass since I was a teen ager, having watched someone do it on a public television program. I never thought that I would learn, so it stayed on my secret bucket list, which I share with no one, because it's full of things I don't think I actually WILL do. Then my boyfriend bought the classes for me for my last birthday, and surprised me with it. I never told him I wanted to learn to blow glass! Pretty awesome. So with his help, I have finally learned glass blowing, and created some cool things out of molten glass. Pretty wonderful, in my opinion. :-)

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 10

You know, I actually like a fair number of candies... but the one that I can't resist, the one that I can't keep around because I'll eat them up too quickly is: Fruity Gummies. To be specific, grapefruit gummies. I don't know why. I like grapefruit, but I don't love it. I love other fruits... but grapefruit gummies have a balance of flavors. I just can't resist them! So that's what I tried to draw...

They just look like slices of grapefruit, sort of, with the general color of a ruby grapefruit's flesh-tones. They're coated with sugar, too, which I couldn't figure out how to show. Anyway, now that I've drawn them, I want some. So I'd better go for my walk, so I can burn some calories, so I can go to the store and buy and eat some grapefruit gummies. :-) The nice thing about the grocery store I go to is that they have bulk nuts and candies, and they sell grapefruit gummies by the pound! I can buy a nice sized bag of gummies for just a couple dollars! Mmmmm... grapefruit.....


On a side note, I tried to make one of Aran's recipes from Cannelle et Vanille... the Eton Mess. I added strawberries to the rhubarb mixture because I had a ton of strawberries that need to get eaten and I've always loved them with rhubarb. This dessert turned out delicious! Here's a picture of it:

It was simple to make, and is quite lovely to look at, too. It would be a nice, light dessert to serve when you have guests. The recipe makes enough for six servings. It's yumm-a-licious! 


I hope you're having a fabulous and creativity-filled day! (I'm going to go walking now, and maybe take a few photos along the way!)

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 9

I like a couple TV shows right now, but my favorite for the past several years is Bones. It's intelligent, intense, funny, emotional, suspenseful, and intriguing. It has also desensitized me to gruesome looking bodies. It takes a lot to gross me out now. Ha ha. The main idea of the show is that the human skeletal structure will reveal a person's life (and death) if you are a trained forensic anthropologist, who knows what to look for. So in the show, you frequently will see Dr. Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel) looking at human bones, searching for answers.


That's why I chose the most interesting of all human bones to represent the TV program for this challenge.

Before the television show was ever aired, I was reading Kathy Reich's books. She's the actual forensic anthropologist about whom the show was written. She's an author of many forensic thrillers, and for ages I was fascinated with forensics. (Still am.) Her books are filled with actual situations that she, as a leader in her field, had been in, and therefore has the real science behind it to describe how she made certain discoveries. It's truly fascinating!


The show uses real technology, real science, and realistic "corpses" to give the science a truthful background in the stories. They also do their best NOT to dumb-down the science, instead using the FBI agent as a reason for the scientists to describe things in laymen's terms. Also, Agent Booth is easy on the eyes, and is a very sympathetic character, which doesn't hurt! 

30 Day Drawing Challenge 8

Day 8's challenge was to draw our favorite animated character. My favorite was always Snoopy. I wasn't alive in the 50's, but my aunt & uncle had given me some old Peanuts books, so I saw the old Snoopy & gang, as well as what was in the newspapers at the time. I always felt like the old Snoopy was more doglike, and he became my favorite. So I gave it a shot, of drawing him old school-style, as well as one of his more "current" styles.

And as it's Mother's Day today, I wanted to also note that my mom had given me a Snoopy dog as one of my first stuffed animals, and he looked like Snoopy circa 1970's. I still have him, though he's in storage. He was white velveteen with black velveteen ears and under his ears was red satin lining. And when my sister was born, my mom gave me the Snoopy made like the 1960's style dog, which they were making in different colors at that time, and was stuffed like a beanie baby. He was  yellow with brown ears. He got his face eaten off by my old dog, Jake.

My 11th birthday, had a Snoopy cake...

My mom even had a Snoopy cake made for my 11th birthday. I was thrilled to get it, just so you know. I'm the one opening a card on the left, and interestingly, I'm still friends with all of these girls! (Um, women!) My sister is the little one at my elbow.

Found the picture! 

My mom always liked the Peanut's gang, so I grew up with their images in my room. I still love them to this day. Thanks, mom! Happy Mother's Day to you, and to all the mothers, caregivers, and nurturers out there! I hope you have a truly love-filled day!


xox

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 7

Day 7: Your favorite word. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to draw a rendition of what my favorite word would be, or just draw the lettering. I drew the lettering, because I really couldn't figure out a way to characterize this word. Here you go...

This word was first used in a letter in 1754 by Horace Walpole, according to Wiki. He pulled the word from a Persian story about The Three Princes of Serendip. They were "always going about making discoveries, by accident or sagacity..." 


The online dictionary's first definition is: 1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.


This is something that I find happens quite often in my art play. I love when it happens, too, because quite often, it teaches me something that I wouldn't have learned on my own. Accidents can quite often lead to happy things! 

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 6

Day 6 is to draw your favorite book character... so I chose Raven Blaise a.k.a. "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley. I've read this book probably six times, ever since my best friend gave it to me to read. Eustacia and I have been reading vampire stories since we were teens. Long before the Twilight series came out, by the way! Back when you really had to dig to find anything good about vamps. Anne Rice was the main staple back then. Then about three years ago, E gives me Sunshine. (I love the way Robin McKinley writes...) Sunshine is a baker in a cafe who gets kidnapped by vampires, and finds herself thrown into a dark situation, having to draw upon powers that she had forgotten she had. The dark figure behind/beside her is a vampire named Constantine. The symbols of her power in the story are a tree and doe. As it's the first time I've ever drawn a doe, I am showing you a close-up of it... I feel pretty proud about how the doe turned out!

My first attempt at drawing the doe looked more like a cat, which is about right since I draw more cats than other animals these days. So after some helpful critiquing from my boyfriend, I tried again. I think I got her right the second time! She's a fierce little doe, which is how I pictured her in the book, too. This challenge has been a lot of fun! I still have the rest of the month, and a laundry list of things to draw! I really feel like it's been making me access parts of my brain that I haven't touched in ages! Weird and cool!


I hope you're enjoying following along. 


xox

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 5

Day 5: A drawing of my best friend, who is Eustacia. I had to work off of a photo, since she lives in California. I chose a picture of her that I took when we were camping in Yosemite. We have this awesome spot by the river that we like to hang out at when it's hot and we want to swim in cold, clear water. There's a rock in the background where people like to jump off. (Not me, I'm chicken.)


We typically haul our chairs, food, coolers, and selves over to this idyllic spot under poplars and pines, which lies next to a lazy part of the Merced River. It's lovely.

I want to apologize to Eustacia, also, because she's much prettier than my drawing shows. Anyway, I hope you can tell that I love her to death, and think the world of her. She always wears her sun hat when we go camping, and her feet in the river. In this picture, she was sitting on an inner tube in the water, facing up the beachy embankment, looking at me when I took this photo. Good times!


Be sure to take a look at the other drawings on Allison's blog!

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 4

Day 4 of the challenge is to draw your favorite place. Well, I wanted to paint it instead, so I got out my watercolors for this one. Also, I tried to make my own watercolor using pigment, gum arabic and water. The color of the ocean is painted using this handmade pigment.

I think I need to add some more gum arabic to get it a little more adherent, and to make it more transparent... it looks a bit muddled, don't you think? I had to lift out areas of it with a paper towel. To be fair to my painting, it looks better in real life than in my photo of it. Anyway, it was a fun process, and I'd like to make more of my own paints in this way. The problem is that pigment is a bit more expensive than a tube of watercolor or acrylic. So I have only two pigments at the moment. I had another three jars of earthen clays, but I can't find them yet. They're somewhere...... 


Check out Allison's blog to see the work of the other participants! It's cool that there are a few other people doing the challenge, and they're not girls! As far as I could tell, most bloggers were women, but it looks like there are some guys out there... very cool! I like what they've drawn, too... check it out! 

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 3

Today the drawing challenge was "Favorite Food"... I have so many that I based my choice on "what's the most fun to draw?" And I came up with sushi... which apparently other people like to draw, too! Because it's fun!

Sorry the lighting was so terrible. I tried to fix it, but it was dark out when I finished, and I didn't want a big bright spot on the paper. So it's the best I could do. Check out the other blogger pictures here.

30 Day Drawing Challenge Day 2

Well, folks, I'm off to a bad start! I totally lost the weekend, as I had a bit too much fun. I didn't even know what day of the month it was until today! Argh! 

So I missed the self-portrait, but onto the next.... "Favorite Animal." For me, it is now cats. Specifically, my cats. I did a pencil drawing of my cat, Jimmy Boo.

It's not super detailed, but hey, I did it in about five minutes. Yikes! As I said, I had a bit too much fun this weekend! I'll do better for the next one, as I'm now back on schedule. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, as well! (But not so as you'd forget what day of the month it is...)

I'm putting together a little video of the Chili Fest, which, ironically, has no footage of us eating chili. It was good, though! There was much eating, drinking, socializing and dancing done! It was a lovely day out, too, so you can imagine it was all spent outdoors. I love nice weather! 

What did you all do this weekend? Anything fun or just relaxing? Either is good!

xox