Be Joyful

I am feeling joyful and hopeful today.


Happy weekend to everyone!

Cream of Wheat and Spiced Chai, with gouache

A favorite from childhood, (I think it's the warmth and the memories - comfort) Cream of Wheat. I know it's a rather simple food - very simple and very inexpensive actually, but when I was a little girl I remember when I felt bad or just needed something quick and nourishing, Mama would fix me Cream of Wheat. I hadn't tried since those days, but I had the urge to return to it a few days ago. I saw it on the shelf and brought it home, this time the whole grain version. I made it for "brunch" today - a little fancier than Mama used to do it...

I added a tiny dash of nutmeg, a large dash of cinnamon, a little tiny splash of vanilla flavoring while it simmered and then as it cooled I stirred in a pinch and a half of brown sugar.  Mmmmm.   That along with a cup of Tazo spiced chai hot tea with milk and sugar and I am warm and filled. My still sick daughter is asleep on the couch after taking a Nyquil (yes it is daytime, but it was all I had in the house) and so hopefully that and the chicken noodle soup I made yesterday along with a lot of love, will have her feeling better by tomorrow.  My special friend is also bringing over some Mucinex - he is way too good to me.

So I have been happily painting my favorite mug, or one of the many favorite mugs I have.  I used a 4" x 6" piece of Stonehenge paper and my Pelikan gouache set, which I just adore.  It's the 24 pan set and I highly recommend it. You can see it here.
 1
The initial "drawing" with a liner brush then more color added below
 2
Layers of more color and definition, and then time to stop before I ruin it...the hardest part
 3, finish

An Autumn Haiku for You

SEPTEMBER

 

Morning breaks clear blue

Fog hangs low over mountains

Cool, crisp autumn air

Nature Sketching

Sketching at Chestnut Falls on New River Trail with my new friend, Tucker.

Living Now!

This post describes my life of late - Living! Now! I've been living so much life with so much exuberance that I'm left with no time to blog about my life or art. 

 I will try and post more tonight about all the trips, short hikes, walks and drives filled with beautiful scenery. Amazing how much of nature I've soaked in this spring and summer! Today's a new day, blogging friends. Today is a new day. I live now! Won't you join me and we'll have a cup of tea or coffee, sit back and enjoy the ride...

Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's!   ~~Psalm 103: 1-5

Art quilt

My new project... Made from a stained cocktail napkin purchased at auction. Backing is fiber for wrapping furniture from my sister's new couch. Bird is scrap fabric from a friend who quilts. Painting of background - Inktense with gloss medium.

EDM # 2 - Draw a Lamp

Journal Play in Canson Mixed Media Journal

Sometimes you've just got to play, throw caution to the wind and play!




New Canson XL Mixed Media Sketchbook - designated art/play journal.

I've decided to play in every page of this journal - layering, smushing paint around, collaging, writing, drawing, whatever strikes me at the moment. I love the look of drawing with the ink dropper. I must admit to, at one point, having just the look I wanted; and then squeezing the dropper and splotching huge ink blots all over my page --

but all was not lost! That is the joy of layering and collaging and mixed media - I just gessoed, glued ephemera, painted and drew over all the terrible blotches. It was therapeutic in the sense that I felt as if I couldn't make a mistake too big to fix. If only life were like that :-)

I'm so inspired lately by all my blooms - zinnias, coneflowers, black-eyed susans. I love summer if for no other reason.

Sunday Morning Nature Photos

 

  

Photos taken of a flower arrangement on my front porch table yesterday morning. I was able to get very, very close to this butterfly and he was so busy he didn’t seem to notice. And the bee – I didn’t get quite as close, but used the zoom a little more carefully.

 

EDM # 15

EDM # 15 - Draw a tree, leaves or branches

This is the dogwood tree looking out my office window. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen with watercolor - applied with my new Pentel Aquash brush - which I like so much better than the Niji waterbrush.

EDM # 9 - organized chaos - the theme of my life

Draw a bit of "organized chaos" - I used the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, which I highly recommend you run out and buy, to capture a moment in the life of my ever-evolving messy desk. A clean workspace indicates an empty mind or so I've heard. My desk at work is never clean. I leave it just like it is at the end of the day, and that way I know just where to pick up where I left off the next morning :-)

Just like my bed... which is # 5 I think on the EDM list.. maybe I'll draw it next... I'd much rather draw it than make it!

Lunchtime Drawing Exercises

Attempting to catch up with redrawing the EDM Challenges along with Danny Gregory and the facebook group.

EDM # 3 Purses, wallets, bags. My purse/bag under my desk at work. The mother of a coworker made this quilted bag. The fabric is beautiful - bright oranges and magenta, pinks and reds. One of my favorite bags. And almost falling apart I've carried it so much.

EDM # 1 Draw a Shoe.  The heel of my trusty old New Balance walking shoes. I try and keep these here at work under my desk for break time exercising and walking around campus. One time around the Training Center where I work is equal to 1 mile. The only exercise I find I can stick with.

I'm drawing these challenges with my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen - my newfound favorite drawing instrument.

And my black "dress" shoes with jeans - this is about as dressed up as I get at work if I can get by with it. Comfort is key for me. This was my first of the day, quick "loosening up" sketch and so was a bit off - lots of drawing and redrawing of the lines - but I posted it anyway. No perfection sought after in these challenges, because aren't they meant to be practice exercises anyway...

Update - Moodling, Smooshing, Drawing, and Eating

Wednesday morning, July 4 (Independence Day for us Americans), I spent some time “moodling and smooshing” paint around. I think I get these words from Jennifer Edwards, at any rate she inspired this – just playing with watercolor for a bit. Wetting the paper and watching the color moodle and smoosh about…

Tonight, at a loss as to what to eat for dinner, I fixed myself a sandwich with a little touch of peanut butter, 1/2 a banana, and homemade (not by me) strawberry preserves… yummm… It’s been too hot here to actually cook and eat normally.  Mid 90’s and even hotter tomorrow. Not normal for these mountains and not natural anywhere if you ask me…

After my little snack, I set about doing the most important thing – drawing. I was inspired by Danny Gregory's recent challenge to revisit the EDM challenges starting at # 1.  Now I didn’t start at 1 because I’m a rebel I suppose or because I just like drawing my collection of cups and pitchers.  I might be more disciplined with sticking to the list tomorrow, but then again I might not.  At any rate – this post and the facebook group Every Day Matters has given me focus and gotten me drawing, and I am so very grateful for that – for Danny Gregory and the inspiration he gives to so many.

And of course I am going to use the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for these challenges until the ink runs out or the urge hits me to switch to something else. The important things --- DRAW!  Yes that is my new focus for the time being, and it feels so good!

Philosophical Contemplation

The Creative Life...


...ebbs and flows and twists and turns and spins and swirls. Ideas, styles, subjects, media… “What do I want to do today or this week or this year?” I ask myself.

Inspired first by this artist, book, or blog; and then another – so much information, so much to choose from; so many styles and subjects and ways to create. Whimsical? Realistic? Stylized? Expressionist? Impressionist? An endless array of supplies from which to choose; and always, a new book being written, a new technique to try, a new artist to be inspired by…

Where is the focus? How does one find focus? Who am I artistically and is it possible to do it all? – No. Emphatically, no. And yet I keep trying, adding to my stash of supplies, adding to my already overwhelming knowledge bank; and then, I long for simplification, direction, and the all-allusive focus. I crave organization and order. I want to finish something of value. I want to concentrate on one thing. My attention span seems to grow shorter and shorter. Overloaded with information and inspiration, I cannot process it all. It’s dizzying, overwhelming, and counter-productive at times. Stacks and stacks of magazines, piles and piles of books, infinite websites and blogs allowing one to communicate with everyone all over the world in the same day almost at the same moment.

And yet, I find myself taken in and allured by it on a daily basis. I cannot resist the temptation to spend and continue to search for that one thing that I might lack or that I haven’t tried. Today I’ve been tempted by Twinkling H2O’s, tomorrow it will be something else entirely...

And then there is the issue of time – if only I were as overloaded with time as I am with everything that could fill my time. I wonder if this is a timeless dilemma experienced by generations before me, or if it is more prevalent in this age of computers and instant gratification, instant access to boundless information. And I wonder how to manage it. How to rein it in and make it work. It’s a force as great as the wind that has downed trees and power lines lately. The creative life, the need to create, is a force so great that feeds on the endless inspiration and information that is out there and available at the touch of a button.

How does one keep from being swept away by the force of creativity? How does one focus? How does one rein in the power and subdue it enough to create something of value, to finish a project, to know what one’s art is about? To know what it is one is trying to express.

Think about the word “express”. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines the word as follows:

“express”verb

Definition of EXPRESS

transitive verb

1
a : DELINEATE, DEPICT b : to represent in words : STATE c : to give or convey a true impression of : SHOW, REFLECT d : to make known the opinions or feelings of (oneself) e : to give expression to the artistic or creative impulses or abilities of (oneself) f : to represent by a sign or symbol : SYMBOLIZE

2
a : to force out (as the juice of a fruit) by pressure b : to subject to pressure so as to extract something

3
: to send by express

4
: to cause (a gene) to manifest its effects in the phenotype; also : to manifest or produce (a character, molecule, or effect) by a genetic process

— ex•press•er noun

— ex•press•ible \-ə-bəl\ adjective

“To give expression to the artistic or creative impulses or abilities of oneself,” sometimes feels like a forcing out or extraction. Sometimes the need is so great that it feels like pressure is being applied. My very living and breathing seems to be in artistic, creative impulses. But oh, how I love life as a creative person. To be otherwise for me would be to not exist at all. Alive with passion and enthusiasm for color and line. That is to be truly alive.

So, in conclusion, I suppose the expression is the focus. The creative passion is the focus; no matter what technique, subject, style, or media one uses. The focus is to express that creative and artistic impulse. The impulse to create is the crux of the whole matter, and may that passion and enthusiasm never cease to pulsate in my heart and soul!

Playing Around with Colored Pencils

Inspired by Bob Stevens, an artist I met this past weekend; the beautiful landscapes in and around Boone; and artist and fellow blogger, Ann Nemcosky -  I was inspired to play around a bit with colored pencils.

I hope to do more. This is a 5" x 7", which is a manageable size for my short attention span :-)

Meeting the Artist and Shopping at Cheap Joe’s

 

This weekend I visited Cheap Joe’s where I met live and in person the beautiful and talented Ann Nemcosky. What a privilege and blessing to meet Ann, and also her charming husband, “the Professor”, and her beautiful and very polite and friendly daughter, “the Kiddo”.  Wow! What a weekend!!!!

Here we are enjoying posing in front of artwork in the gallery at Cheap Joe’s.

and after our meeting – which in itself was more than worth the trip. I bought tons of art supplies – yes! more!

But I will say that I bought the things that I’m most passionate about – Kilimanjaro and Arches watercolor paper; not 1 but 2 Aquabee Super Deluxe 9” x  9” Sketchbooks – my all time favorite sketchbook and truly as it boasts on the front “the only sketchbook you will ever need”; Pitt Big Brush Pens in all my favorite colors – something I’ve wanted for a very long time; a few more Prismacolor colored pencils, as one can never have enough; some Golden Fleece brushes; the Pentel Aquash waterbrush; some linoleum cuts to try making my own stamps – something I’ve wanted to do for a while; and just for fun, some Sparkle gelly roll pens.

Frivolous spending! So much fun and so very exciting.

Caran d' Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons in Visual Journal

Color! Sometimes you just need to play with colors. I have rediscovered how wonderful these crayons are after not having used them in a while. Stay tuned for more color play...

So Many Projects and Ideas…So Little Time

Have you ever felt like you had so many projects and ideas up in the air all at once, so many things going on creatively, that you couldn’t even construct a blog post that makes sense. Well that is what has me blocked and procrastinating here in blog land. 

I’ll give you just a sampling of all the things I’m working on or have been working on recently, Works in Progress if you will:

First – Freestyle Embroidery and painting on Fabric

Making Fabric Books for collage, painting in later:

And lastly, lots of sketching and watercolor-ing

I’m having a great spring/summer. Taking lots of nature sketching excursions and I will have more to share later. So much is happening in this creative, art-filled world of mine that I can hardly keep up with the blogging. I am loving every minute!  Please stay tuned

Hope your summer is art-filled too!