Illustration Friday, taxes and the magic of Sharpies

Illustration Friday: SWIMMING.

you just know i'm gonna find a way to include dots in there, right?

I'm squeezing this one in again.

i seem to be on the tail end all the time... ;-)

(digital illustration)

a great little package i got in the mail yesterday...
Something i ordered from ETSY.
Organic Lip Bliss.

They kinda look like little cigars. (giggle)
I thought the packaging was adorable with the flying bird
and just wanted to share.

a little painting i did a while ago...

as a reminder of how boring life could be.

Tax time here in Canada.

Now THIS takes courage.

At least for me. Gathering receipts and invoices is like pulling teeth for me.

Hate it.

So i put some really good music on, some really good coffee on,

and i dive in.

This reminds me that no matter how much fun i have painting,

how much fun it is to write, and read, and go for meditative walks...

i don't live in la la land

and i still have bills to pay.

There are still lots of things about my day

that i really dislike. (ok, hate).

I've just managed to keep them at a minimum

and i make sure to pepper my day

with a lots of good stuff too.

I think we make choices all the time

about whether or not we let things weigh us down.

lord knows we all have reasons to be weighed down sometimes...

 (Sharpie and collage on paper)

this was fun to do last night...

 it actually made me forget about my yucky taxes. (giggle)

Can you tell i look forward to spring at this point?
xox

Linking this to Illustration Friday. 
Check out some of the cool illustrations there...

IF - wool

I'm squeezing this one in (!!) for Illustration Friday.

Word of the week: WOOL.

A digital illustration i did for a children's book about a sheep

who had different wool than the rest of the sheep

and he got himself a perm -

to make his wool more *poofy*.

Ended up being just a bit more *poofy* than expected.

:-)

Illustration Friday: OCEAN

Individually, we are one drop.

Together, we are an ocean.

- Ryunosuke Satoro

Illustration Friday:  OCEAN

I did this painting about 4 years ago, for a fundraiser.

It's called: Joel's wave.

It's the one painting I gave away with regret.

Maybe i'll have to paint myself another ocean soon... :-)

Linking this to Illustration Friday.

Check out some of the awesome art there.

i love creative people. xox

IF - snow

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

(squeezing this one in for Illustration Friday!)

(digital illustration)

shy, mini painting and power. Yes, power.

Scientists have found the gene for shyness.

They would have found it years ago,

but it was hiding behind a couple of other genes.

Jonathan Katz

I'm linking this to Illustration Friday.

Word of the week: shy

Check out some of the other fabulous illustrations there.

So much talent in this big ol' world...

Another mini acrylic painting on paper,

3" x 3"

From SHY to SKY...

(welcome to Sesame Street!) :-)

Wishing you all nothing but blue skies...

Especially those of you in the eastern U.S.

Sending warm thoughts your way

and hoping you're all reconnected

sooner than later.

xox

mini ghost, abstract flowers and hope

hello folks.

I'm linking this to Illustration Friday... 

word of the week: HAUNT. 

I used cardboard from the Halloween chip box.

Yay!! free cardboard!! ;-)

I had fun making this little guy...

i'm a big chicken when it comes to scary stuff,

so i'll stick with the fun ghosts, thank you very much.

And then a bit of acrylic painting on paper...

It always seems to come alive for me when i add the dots... ;-)

and the black and white...

this photo (above) was taken last night, in my room...

and this one was taken this morning, 
by the window, with natural light...

What a difference, huh?
Colors are so much closer to the real thing.

For those of you who have sent such kind messages of concern
about my mother - thank you.

She is still in the hospital but in good spirits.
It's been an adjustment for everyone, 
so we're taking things one day at a time.

Just like the alcoholics do.  ;-)

It's hard not to worry all the time,
but then i'd be digging my own grave
if i spent every waking hour obsessing about mom
and cancer
and illness
and death...

So rather than go against the tide of what is our current reality,
i remind myself that she is in good hands
and that she is exactly where she needs to be right now.

She is doing well, despite everything,
thanks to her remarkable outlook on life and death.
The first thing she said when i went in to her room the other day was:

"aren't the leaves in the trees beautiful?"

We could all learn something from such a grateful heart,
don't you think?

xox

IF - identical, and butterfly start

hi folks.

I'm linking this to Illustration Friday - the word this week: IDENTICAL.

A quiet Sunday at the easel... 

The beginning of a butterfly painting, a gift for someone
going through difficult times...

Painting insects is something i've never done before,
so i hope i render this butterfly as real as i want it to be.

The colors i used when i first began,
for the background and the outline of the butterfly.

Then i added purple and blue for the background...

I think it's gonna look good when i finish the background
and add the orange wings.

The canvas is 20" x 20", so a nice size.

These are not colors that i normally use much.
I do love them here though...

They feel like healing colors to me.

Do you ever work on a painting that just feels like it's eager to be born?

This is one of those paintings.

I'll post the finished piece when it's done.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by,

and don't forget to hug the ones you love.

xox

IF - space

I'm linking this to Illustration Friday

on a Saturday!

This is only my second entry

in the Illustration Friday weekly challenge.

This week's topic: SPACE.

dry pastels on paper...

and the little guy was done in watercolor

and black micron pens.

The colors are off (the white space around him is not really this white!)

 but you get the idea.

Weekly challenges like these are great

to help keep me on my toes.

I remember looking at Illustration Friday entries

not so long ago,

and thinking this:

I wish i was good enough to post on IF.

Not so many months later,

and here i am. :-)

I've learned that it has less to do with being good

and more to do with being brave.

Daring to participate.

Daring to share.

Getting past the fear of "not being good enough".

There are some fabulously talented illustrators there,

but i am no longer intimidated.

I am rather pretty happy

about sharing this space

with so many of them.

:-)