someone loves me and lhasa de sela

the little bit of painting that happened today...

acrylic on paper...

i was gonna call it
Someone loves me on a windy day.
:-)

...and a beautiful song by Lhasa de Sela,

who left this world far too soon.

Wishing you all a peaceful easy Sunday night.

xox

i am one with the world - but not with spam.

Excuse me while i kiss the sky.

Jimi Hendrix

no words are necessary, right?

 except maybe beauty

This is what i find at the end of the road
after a long early morning walk.

Some people have attained that guru state
where they feel "at one" with the universe all the time.

i haven't yet.

But in places like this...
i am one with the world.

 or when i'm painting funky oranges... ;-)

a 15 minute sketch done with colored pencils and markers.

i like the rough sketches now and then...

art doesn't need to be perfect.

Art usually expresses a feeling, or an emotion, or a thought,

so actually - it should be anything but perfect.

At least that's how i see it.

 then i did this in my little Moleskin book

micron pen, watercolor and colored pencils.
i found the photo on-line and just added text.

On another note...

i've been getting a shitload of Anonymous spam comments lately.

i hate to resort to the WORD VERIFICATION thing,

but i may finally set it up this week.

18 spam comments in my inbox on one day is too much.

If anyone out there knows of a way to get rid of them

without doing the Word Verification thing, please let me know.

By the time i trash the 10th comment,

let's just say i am not feeling very zen.

Wishing you all a beautiful Sunday and a great week

filled with health and happy things.

And maybe ice cream.

Or rainbow lollipops.

Or chocolate.

Yes. Definitely chocolate. 

xox

how to ease your heart and make you ok with the world again

We learn resignation not by our own suffering,

but by the suffering of others.

W. Somerset Maugham

Mom ended up in the hospital again these past days,

hence my absence.

I love making art and posting something here

at least every other day,

but sometimes, life happens,

and it's just not as important.

It's never easy to watch a loved one suffer,

and yet, such is life.

Good days and bad...

and when the heart is too unsettled to even think of making art,

i write.

i watch a movie.

I go for a walk near the ocean

and throw questions to the wind

without expecting any answers.

And when my heart is ready again,

i paint.

I draw.

I write some more.

I put my emotions to paper (or canvas)

and with each brush stroke,

or pen line...

the burden is lifted, little by little,

and although i still feel sad,

i feel more grounded and whole again.

It is my therapy.

Art does for me what religion does for others.

Sometimes, you just need to sit with the uncertainty.

(a quick sketch from the hospital...)

Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday.

I look forward to visiting many of your blogs

in the next few days.

Oh, and the good news?!

There is a cool front coming in

and the weather should be less humid and hot

for the next few days/weeks!!

HOOO-AH!!

;-)

when things don't go as planned...

Good morning friends!

i'm feeling a little less inspired these days,

probably due to the fact that it's a million degrees here...

a million + ten with humidity. ;-)

Actually, Danny Gregory posted something

a few days ago while he was in Dallas, Texas

and mentioned that it was 106 degrees there

and my first thought was:

holy crap, i would die. 

Well, ok that's a slight exaggeration -

but i would obviously spend lots of time indoors,

with air conditioning.

So i started this one last night,

with intentions of painting a sketch i had done a while ago

of a woman waiting for a train...

Just a bit of texture with acrylics and paper towel (and my fingertips!)

It's ok, but it's not the feeling I was looking for.

(I paint for a feeling more than for a look.)

Maybe it needed to be done on canvas?

Maybe it needed to be watercolor?

Maybe it's the colors?

Maybe it just needs to exist as a sketch?

Who knows...

But i do know that sometimes,

the image i have in my head

doesn't always match the image I end up with.

As an artist, it's frustrating, yes,

but i've learned to roll with the punches and just carry on.

For now, this is what it is...

It feels unfinished and i felt rushed while doing it,

fearing another kink in my neck... 

...and a little message to remind us all.

Maybe your "something incredible" is that your life is already blissful?

or that you can find time every day to do what you love...

or that you've always had what you really needed all along...

or that you really will be ok if you follow a different path...

...or that you can finally declare to the world

that you ARE an artist,

and for the first time ever,

this feels "at home" in your heart.

These are all humungous discoveries.

Anything that makes anyone a better person

is huge to me.

As important as the discovery of a new planet.

A new planet doesn't change my life much,

but a happy heart does.

And speaking of happy hearts...

my breakfast of champions.

:-)

Find something that makes your heart happy today,

and do it.

And if you can,

share it with the world.

Especially if it's art.

:-)

the girl in the ocean...

hello lovely people...

eyes, eyes, and more eyes. ;-)

a few things on the go this week...

see what happens when i slow down with the blogging?

It's actually hard for me sometimes

not to post ever day. :-)

So here we go!

a painting i began recently - for a friend.

Still at the very early stages.

And this little baby i did last night.

This was so much fun to do.

I had forgotten how much i loved illustrating

I'm not sure whether the little girl is playing in the waves,

floating,

or drowning.

;-)

It's like that feeling

of just keeping our head above the water sometimes.

I bought this nice, thick, smooth white paper

supposedly for dry medium only.

yeah, whatever.

Dry, shmy.

I'll paint on toilet paper if i have to
so anything goes.
:-)

 i just knew i would add

acrylics or watercolor to this one.

i've never worked with COPIC markers, 

but i'm guessing they would've worked well

for something like this.

The paper absorbed the liquid acrylics

better than i thought it would

and it was thick enough

not to buckle the paper much at all.

a few colors and added white bubbles,

and there you have it.

i ended up doing her hair with brush markers

and i don't like it so much,

but it's done, so no regrets. 

Next time, i'll know better. 

Forgiven.

:-)

the little curious fish...

caught up in the waves of excitement. ;-)

I wanted her face a little softer than the rest

so i used colored crayons.

The coloring was so smooth on this paper...

i can't wait to do another one.

Maybe i'll do a little series?

Little girls at the beach.

By the way, i'm looking at doing a giveaway soon...

(YAY!!)

I'm not sure how it all works

to make sure it's a legitimate winner

but i'll be letting you know when it all comes together.

i may end up doing something like this illustration

The winner would get an original from moi,

hopefully to be hung on their own wall,

to make them smile when they see it,

and not sold at an auction somewhere in Minnesota

for like a gazillion dollars.

giggle.

A girl can dream, right?

Thank you all so much for visiting and commenting here...

It really makes my heart happy.

xoxo

ocean angel

Silence is a source of great strength. 

Lao Tzu

This morning's little sketch...

today feels melancholic to me.

A melancholic Monday.

I went for an early morning walk on the beach this morning,

and when i came back, i wrote this

in my little journal.

Life is ebb and flow.

It's about learning

when to hold on

and when to let go.

Like the turning of the tides

it comes and goes

in constant transformation.

There are days

where i have the strength

of an ox

and days where i am like

a butterfly in the wind.

On days when i am called

to have strength of steel

i go within

and imagine myself

as the ocean

capable of swallowing shores

and soothing spirits.

My heart pulses

and i become rhythm.

Back and forth,

the ticking of a clock

the breathing in and out

the breaking of waves on the shore

the singing of birds

the leaves in the wind

the footsteps in the sand

the blood in my veins...

i become one with the ocean

and there,

i find my voice.

I hope you all find some time today

to connect with what's important to you

and find your own voice.

xoxo

moon woman

Do you ever feel so connected to everything

that you could just reach out 

and touch the moon?

This started out as a watercolor

but i changed my mind rather quickly

and decided it needed bolder colors.

Especially for the moon and stars...

I had sketched this quickly

after a long evening walk

during the last full moon,

knowing that it would eventually

make it to my journal.

...there's just something about the moon

and a star filled sky,

isn't there?

A bit of added outline & detail

and yes, dots.

:-)

I don't have long flowing hair,

and her boobs are far more perfect than mine ;-)

and yet - I am a woman.

I am she

and she is me

and on this night

we both reached out

and touched the moon.

Van Gogh

I went for a nice walk last night in the cold winter air

and as i looked at the beautiful moon

and the starlit sky,

i thought of this quote by Van Gogh...

I agree with Vincent.

The sight of stars makes me dream too. 

You would think after so many years

of seeing the moon up there in the sky

i would have grown accustomed to it.

But I am still in awe.

As soon as i step out the door for my walk in the evenings,

I look up towards the moon & the stars

and it still reassures me

the same way it did 

when i was 13 years old.

So here's what i painted last night,

after my cold winter walk,

in honour of Vincent Van Gogh,

and his deep appreciation for the skies...

*****

And your smile for the day. 

:-)

I think we can all relate to this one.