Layers and Fossils

According to a friend's facebook post, today is World Gratitude Day. I'm all over that idea. I will say it all day, everyday; having an attitude of gratitude makes all the difference in the way you view your life. I've actually had more than a few tough days in the last week. I had to remind myself how good my life really is more than once, and it really did put my problems into perspective. Another thing that calms me down and takes away those worries for a time is painting. Without a doubt I have found my Element. I can't imagine any prescription medication could calm me down any more effectively (BTW, I HIGHLY recommend the book The Element by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D for anyone who has kids, teaches kids, or just feels like they haven't found their niche yet)

The painting above was done for an online painting course I'm taking. A study in layers and abstracts. Well I think that pretty well describes us all. We are all studies in layers and abstraction. I have a hard time with a pure abstract so I added some fossils; ammonites and turritellid gastropods. I guess my thinking was that here are some of the most common marine fossils and still some stand out more than others. We all leave a distinct impression on this world. Here are the progress shots:

Daily ephemera

A seahorse, a hip chick and a couple of hippos

graphite, watercolor, and colored pencils in watercolor sketchbook

Mama's eyes are not quite so pink in real life...hey it happens to the best of us.

graphite, watercolor pencil, and colored pencil in moleskine

September Sketches

The three month stretch of over 100 degree weather finally broke and when it did it came with strong winds that stirred the tinderbox that it is Texas into wildfires all over the state. We wake every morning to the smell of wood smoke and wonder how close it is to home today. Reminds me of living in Northern California. Scary. Dry and scary and we are all praying non-stop for rain.

This bunny started life on my work calendar last month. I think I love him. Like most calendar sketches he got pasted into a sketchbook and doctored up a bit. I've been told by several people that I need to draw whatever it is that he is smelling or leaning toward. Glad I didn't. I could tell you what it is but what fun is that. Gather your own impressions. Besides I hate when people tell me what I should add or take away from my art.

Just like it says on the journalling. I need to organize the boring parts of my life. They remain unorganized. I remain unapologetic.

Lastly, a sketch of what I wish I would get up and DO instead of just think about, turned into an impossible to do list for the mere four hours between coming home from work and getting ready for bed. Depressing. I read something today that implied that we try to do so much, accomplish so much, make our lives look so perfect because we live in a culture driven by lies and shame. Interesting theory. Which prompted me to spend this evening on the sofa with a cup of tea and mail order catalogs just to repair any damage I may have done with my list-making yesterday. Balance. Life is all about balance.

camera

Birthday present from my love. For taking pictures of my work. I hope I can live up to the incredible gift of his faith in me.

Collage of a seahorse for an online painting class. Made of letters, painted over and cut into pieces. 

Supermodels and Fashion Shows

I guess I'm thinking ravens this week. This particular raven actually. I drew it twice, once on a piece of watercolor paper and once in my watercolor sketchbook at lunch yesterday. And seriously, I think if I drew it once more I could get it right. Slight flare-up of my latent OCD tendencies. 

Here is the second version. I didn't quite plan out the placement well but we're going to keep it real here.

Both drawings are prismacolor pen on a watercolor background. Not surprisingly, the pen I used, which was brand spanking new, is now out of ink. That's a lot on lines folks.

Here's another critter I'm jazzed about these days . A quick watercolor sketch in my watercolor sketchbook.  

Kind of a compromising pose, but I chose it to study the interesting characteristics of elk. They have light-colored butts. It's just a fact, folks. 

Hey, you know this and the raven have something in common. Both are throwing that over-the-shoulder, come hither look. Just like supermodels.

Lastly, a couple of sketches from last week (or is it the week before last?), in my clothes and closet moleskine. These were extremely fun although tedious and time-consuming. Love the idea of capturing a day in time. At least what I wore. I love clothes and tend to remember what everyone was wearing when recalling a story or special memory. Only makes sense to document it.  Expect to see more of these. Ballpoint pen & colored pencil in cream-colored moleskine 

Summertime, and the living is easy...

Well it has been easy the last ten days or so. One day left of my vacation and then it's back to the real world. Thought I'd show a couple of sketches from the last few days.

To the left a pair of new obsessions. Thanks to Pete Scully's blog, I now find hydrants fascinating. 

The above was a quick, and I mean quick sketch of my childhood bike. I am taking an online class and the assignment was to paint something from your childhood that made you happy in only 2 30 minute segments of time. I did the sketch to see how long it would take to get the mechanics right (or at least bike-like). The "finished" painting is posted below. Please note that 1 hour is not long to make a painting, especially for me. I can obsess about two square inches for days. This is working outside my comfort zone. And how.

This is a bicycle that my Grandad found at a garage sale, tossed it in the back of his old brown pick-up, sanded and spray painted blue. Blue paint rubbed off on my legs for three months, and it was really too big for me for a couple of years, but it was sturdy and fast and glorious. This is love. This is seeing a kid who wanted a bike (but got glasses instead because we could only afford things we needed) and making a wish come true. Love. On two wheels.

This painting is wobbly and amateurish and I want so badly to work it over, but I'm not going to. I'm sticking to the assignment. The effect is even stronger for me. When I say Illustrated Gratitude, this is what I mean. This illustrates the gratitude I have for those wonderful people in my life who gave me the happiest of childhoods. 

Hey get outside and check out the moon tonight, it is insanely gorgeous and while you're out there see if you can still remember how to catch fireflies.