the woman in the moon

Life shrinks or expands

in proportion to one's courage.

Anaïs Nin

I decided a while ago that i would blog less often

and paint more.

And guess what i discovered?

That blogging is what kept me painting more often.

Knowing that i would be posting something in the morning

inspired me to be creative at night.

I blog less now (about twice per week)

and instead of using the extra time to paint

(like i thought i would!)

i clean the house

or go for coffee

or read

and more often than not

i work.

That's just yucky.

;-)

So i'm back to posting more often,

every day or two.

Yay for me!

It just gives me the kick in the ass i need

to keep myself creating.

I did this one in my journal last night...

acrylics, markers and white pen.

I really have a thing for twirls, don't i?

colors are off and i don't usually fiddle much

with making adjustments,

but you get the idea.

The woman in the moon. 

:-)

and this is my little blue room,

after the painting last night.

more stuff

and still more stuff. :-)

i took this pic this morning, in natural light.

By the way, i got a lovely invitation a little while back

to be a featured artist on Jennibellie's fabulous blog.

For those of you interested in reading the little interview

just click here.

Jenny is a talented and kind artist and spends much of her time

making beautiful things and spreading the love by

sharing her artwork and her tutorial videos for everyone.

I just love anyone who's willing to share so much of themselves

with the world.

Thank you Jenny!

Wishing you all a wonderful week

filled with sunshine and lollipops. 

xoxo

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

pastels and Relay for Life

hello friends!

Not much art to show this week...

I'm in the crest of the wave

rather than on the wave itself lately.

But that's ok.

I'm still on the ocean.

:-)

I've had these dry pastels for about 20 years. 

Truth.

I've used them once or twice,

and didn't like the feel so much

so i just left them there.

But time changes things, doesn't it?

Like dreams we had years ago

that are no longer the same dreams,

or partners we chose

that no longer meet our needs

or the car we loved

that we no longer care for... ;-)

All of a sudden, when i found the box the other night,

they called to me again. ;-)

So this is what i attempted, on paper.

The face looks far too male -

or maybe it's the lack of hair...

but she's a cancer survivor,

so i wanted little hair.

i loved the pastels this time.

Love the feeling of rubbing my fingers in the chalk dust

and the rough look of dry pastels.

...yes, that's a halo. :-)

Anyone going through chemotherapy,

I've decided -

deserves a halo.

Don't you love the roughness?

It's funny how much we change

in terms of what we want to paint or draw as artists.

Years ago, i loved precision.

i loved making art that looked as much

like a photograph as possible.

Now - not so much.

There's nothing wrong with painting realistically.

It's just not where my heart is at this time.

Then i had this little piece of scrap watercolor paper

and did this little bunch of funky leaves.

The paper is only about 3" x 7"

but you don't need huge amounts of paper

to make a little bit of art, right?

i love making the little spirals...

meditative.

On another note, this past Friday night

my family and i went to the Relay for Life, in our home town.

The Relay is a yearly fundraising event

that focuses on cancer survivors

and those who have lost the battle.

I was never comfortable with calling it a "battle"...

it sounds like a fight within oneself,

and i'm not sure that's really what it is.

Anything we see as a battle

is already lost from the beginning.

The beauty and transformation comes,

i believe - in acceptance.

In surrender.

These are my lovely parents... from behind. :-)

Cancer survivors (in the yellow and white tshirts)

walk around the track and teams of people

who participated in the fundraising

walk for 24 hours...

from 7pm till 7am

in support of finding a cure for cancer.

Each little white bag you see on each side of the track

has a little tealight candle in it

and the name of a person chosen by those

who donated to the cause.

They are usually names

of lost loved ones.

At dusk, they light all the candles around the track

and they stay lit for the duration 

of the 24 hour walk...

it's beautiful.

One word describes what the Relay for Life is all about:

love.

wishing you all a wonderful week ahead

filled with good moments.

xoxo