"Happy Halloween..."

"From ghoulies and ghosties...and long leggety beasties

...and

things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord, deliver us!"

~Scottish saying

"The Promise of..."

Art...
of some kind...drawing, photography, painting, collage...

every day in November!
I am participating in...
"Art Every Day Month"

with Leah, it's her 6th year of doing this, at Creative Every Day
Click on the AEDM link here to join in on the fun!

"Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star."
~W. Clement Stone

"Become Inspired..."

...and VOTE!

"To make democracy work,

we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers.

One who does not vote

has

no right to complain."
~Louis L'Amour

"Well Hung..."

...from the ceiling

in the center of the Wildflower Bread Company

(click here for a quick link...it's a cool place! )

is a glorious chandelier bouquet of huge glass flowers

wrapped in copper.

This always reminds me of the work of the one and only

Dale Chihuly.

(BTW...there will be an exhibition of work by Chihuly

"The Nature of Glass" ( a really awesome link)

at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix

from November 22, 2008-May 31, 2009!!!

I am so excited about this...

as a group of us are planning a special sketch crawl

there in December....WOWZA, eh???!)

Okay...back to my story...

Since I did not have my sketchbook with me today

I managed to do a quick overall sketch

with a scratchy ball point pen

on the back of a store receipt I had in my wallet

scribbling in

all kinds of "codes" for color and shape and form

while slurping my potato cheese soup

and

nibbling away on a hunk of freshly baked nine-grain bread.

What a delicious mess!

The above images are the "fruits of my labor"...

I think that the one I "flipped" looks really "Chihuly-esque."

When you have only two pennies left in the world,

buy a loaf of bread with one,

and a lily with the other.

~Chinese Proverb

"Luck of the Draw #2..."

This was the exact view we were to have this morning

October 28, 2008

as we looked out of our hotel balcony window...

but

due to the need to replace 2 highly sensitive computer sensors

on our

German built American car...

(why are mechanical things so complicated these days?)

our plans to get away to

Sedona, Arizona have been put on hold.

This journal page was drawn in May of 2006

from the very room

we were to have this week.

I find that comfortingly funny.

I had to find something funny, now didn't I? LOL:)

"Laughter is the corrective force

which

prevents us from becoming cranks."

~Henri Bergson

"Candy and Jelly..."

...From a Prickly Pear cactus..."Out Wickenburg Way"!

According to Wikipedia...

"The fruit of prickly pears,

commonly called cactus figs, Indian fig or tuna,

is edible,

although it has to be peeled carefully to remove the small spines

on the outer skin before consumption...

Cactus figs are often used to make candies and jelly and a refreshing drink."

Click here to see some Prickly Pear goodies to purchase and eat!

Happy Cactus Monday All!

Fill yourself with all kinds of cactus treats today. :)

"It All Started..."

...as all good things do..with a song in my heart,

...and with a bag full of art goodies,
mostly still packed from our day trip to Yarnell...

(ABOVE PHOTO CREDIT: Desert Botanical Garden Website)
...And
the promise of a delightful gathering of blog friends
Saturday
for the Phoenix version of the 20th Worldwide Sketch Crawl!
The plan was to meet at the Desert Botanical Gardens
around 9:30 AM at the outdoor cafe.:)

All would be well! Such a fun day we would have!

Um...that is until...

...Friday night, when
an unexpected encounter with a "Check Engine" light stopped me cold...
and then
a fairly hefty Saturday morning caution from the dealership to
"Not Drive The Car"!
DRATS!
I was GROUNDED...without a plan "B"!
Wings clipped...I sat...bottom lip stickin' out...all pouty and all...
A big ole raincloud a hangin' over my head...
disappointed and GROUNDED...blah, blah, blah!
Geesch!
do I ever take a lot for granted!

"If you have time to whine and complain about something
then
you have the time to do something about it.'
~Anthony J. D'Angelo

"Let's Meet At.."

...at the annual Sycamore Pumpkin Festival!

Oh my gosh...for a lifetime, it seemed,

it was an October tradition my family to gather in Sycamore

for the weekend of Pumpkin Festival.

(The link above has all kinds of interesting info, if you have time.)

The arts and crafts fair would be on Saturday and Sunday...

And the big parade

...attracting over 100,000 visitors...

would culminate the festival on Sunday.

Anyone

who had moved away from home

would be back in town for the celebration.

There were carved pumpkins on the courthouse lawn,

pumpkin pie eating contests, carnival rides, vendors along the streets...

fireworks, family reunions, sloppy joes, caramel apples,

10K runs, politicians campaigning, leaves crunching,

antique shows, excited school kids,

painted faces,

a "down home" flavor everywhere you went.

The crispness of Fall was is the air...and life was totally good!

I miss autumn celebrations in the midwest

and

warming up by crackling fires at night...

It was so comforting and fun for all of us to be together.

This post is dedicated to all friends, colleagues,

and former students,

who are in town this weekend for the celebration!

I will be thinking about you!

"The nice part about living in a small town

is that when you don't know what you're doing,

someone else does."

~Unknown

"They Say It's..."

"Where the Desert Breeze...Meets the Mountain Air."

...And that spot would be Yarnell, Arizona!

(If you have time click on the link...its a hoot!)

The area is studded with

"mammoth granite boulders

throughout verdant growth of Oak, Hackberry, and Chaparral,

as if strewn in casual disarray

by a giant and artistic hand."

I just love that part of the line. :)

Yarnell is where I spent my day yesterday...

with sketchbook in hand.

Thank you, each and every one,

for the lovely comments left for me while I was out celebrating! :)

I read them when we got back home from our adventure

as the sun was setting on a wonderful day.

They warmed my heart.

"If I could reach up and hold a star

for every time you've made me smile,

the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand."

~Unknown

"My Birthday Thoughts..."

"Begin doing what you want to do now.

We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment,

sparkling like a star in our hand...

and

melting like a snowflake..."

~Unknown

Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving."

~Kahil Gibran
I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star,
fragile as a flower,
a tiny sliver of one hour.
I dropped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know,
I held opportunity."
~Hazel Lee

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand...there is no art."
~Leonardo DaVinci

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and
creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Unknown

In gratitude and love, in joyful spirit and hope, I celebrate this day!
"WooHoo!"

~Me

"One Last Homage..."

...to the jubilant color of the glorious Colorado aspen.

Did you know that...

~Aspen trees can be found in every Western state except Hawaii!

~Trees from any one aspen grove are genetically identical.

and because of this

aspens are claimed to be the world's largest

and

perhaps oldest living organism!

~Individual trees are short-lived, but the root stocks of some groves

may date back to the last ice age!

"Delicious autumn!

My very soul is wedded to it,

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot

"The glittering golden aspen...

What a jewel in the autumnal wardrobe of Mother Nature!"

~Me :)

"A Little Peek..."

of my artwork in Nina Johansson's book "Multitudes.

(click on images to enlarge)

A bit of zen like freedom...

A bit of calligraphy and color play...

...and a bit of the ancient southwest desert...
a step back in time to one of the first art exchanges ever! LOL :)

An artistic array of marks, colors, styles, and charm
fills Nina's little Maruman
"Multitude."
I don't want to let her go...
as that will finalize of my portion of our Maruman exchange.
But professionalism calls...and Multitude flies again.
I now will wait like the rest of our faithful fans
until
the last three books cross the deep blues seas
and safely arrive home.

"Every end is a new beginning."

~Proverbs

"Some Virtual Travel..."

...to the mountains of Monterrey, Mexico

for a "look-see"

at some local artisans work,
a bit of some creatively potted "south of the border" cacti,
and
and "peek in" on my wonderful niece Lauren...
who identifies herself like this:
"Student, Artist, Accountant, Athlete...that's it!"
I just love the "artist" part! What a gal!

"Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves."
~Euripides (Greek playwright, c. 480-406 BC)

Happy Cactus Monday All!

Enjoy a great day of virtual travel...wherever it may take you!

Oooh!

Anyone want to meet later for a cerveza? LOL :)

"The Palette..."

...of a most colorful "Sweetest Day" 2008,

...the beautiful roses gifted me by my very own "Sweetie"!

Mmmm! XOXOXO :)

"In our life there is a single color,

as on an artist's palette,

which provides the meaning of life and art.

It is the color of love."
~Marc Chagall

"In the Distance..."

...are the Maroon Bells....

in Aspen, Colorado...definitely, "God's Country".

I have hiked here several times...

each time feeling like the day was spent in heaven.

I have buckets of photos recording their splendor.

This is my only painting of them...made in 2006

in one of my very first watercolor journals...

long before "Water Blossoms" was even a "twinkle in my eye."

My mind is indelibly seared with their awesome natural beauty...

even though great distance separates us.

"Somewhere we know

that without silence words lose their meaning,

that without listening speaking no longer heals,

that without distance closeness cannot cure."
~Henri Nouwen

Distance of the heart:

Missing those we love...their kiss, their smile, their touch...

Mental distance...

Trying to remember faces, and names, and everyday events...

Distance of times past:

Reminiscing about cozy family gatherings

or

the twinkling of a young child's eyes on Christmas morn...

Distance of Perception:

Wondering what is reality and what is fiction.

Distance...just all by itself...is it

the deal breaker of relationships

or

the thing that makes them grow fonder?

I often wonder.

"An Autumnal Array..."

...of natural beauty...bedazzled in jeweled tones.

"Where oils lumber...watercolours prance. "

~Doug Mays

"How I Felt...

...after the 3rd, and FINAL, Presidential debate tonight:

“I know that you believe you understand

what you think I said,

but

I'm not sure you realize

that what you heard

is

not what I meant.”
~Robert McCloskey

And on that note...I gift you with a bit of tranquility...

compliments of the state of Colorado

...my personal "nirvana".

I desperately feel the need to be in Colorado...

among the aspen

and on a road less travelled.

Photo Credits: Margaret Storer Roche

"And so Goldilocks..."

sat down in the Baby Bear's chair...and it was 'just right'..."

...and we all know what happened after that...LOL :)

"A house that does not have one worn, comfy chair in it is soulless."

~May Sarton

"An Official Play Date..."

...with my "inner child",

a few real bougainvillea leaves,

and

some luscious drippy watercolor paints! WooHoo!

“There is a garden in every childhood,

an enchanted place where colors are brighter,

the air softer,

and the morning more fragrant than ever again.”
~Elizabeth Lawrence

"I Am Just Stuck.."

...On Cacti! "

Day or Night...

Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring...

It just doesn't seem to matter.

"You know you're an Arizona native when you "hug" a cactus

only once in your lifetime."

~Nancy Dedera

Happy Cactus Monday All! :)

"Shimmy, Shimmy..."

...Aspen trees...you shake and quake, no doubt...

Shimmy, Shimmy, golden leaves...shake it all about!"

~Me...inspired by Little Anthony & the Imperials :)

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

“Today is life-the only life you are sure of.

Make the most of today. Get interested in something.

Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby.

Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you.

Live today with gusto.”
~Dale Carnegie

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”
~Indira Gandhi

"Well I said shake baby shake.

I said shake baby shake.

I said shake it baby shake it,

I said shake baby shake.

Come on over

Whole lot of shakin' goin' on ..."

~Jerry Lee Lewis

Happy Shakin' ...Every Day Counts!

"An Old Fashioned..."

...Midwest garden hideaway...

Blumen Gardens...in lovely Sycamore, Illinois.

Primitive, rustic, quirky, and artistic treasures

fill an old brick warehouse

and an enchanting garden shop to the brim.

Winding stone, brick, and gravel pathways

weave through luscious seasonal plant and flower displays

making the gardens a perfect neighborhood retreat.

Quaint and unique areas of the garden

make ideal spots for a wedding or an evening reception,

plein air painting or yoga classes,

and a rich variety of all sorts other special activities.

Architectural remnants and antique garden artifacts

have been lovingly revamped and recycled and renewed...

and used as display items

making the atmosphere feel nostalgic and even a bit zen like.

Whenever I visit the gardens my heart becomes light

and my spirit seems to float.

Click here

to learn about the gardens or to take your own personal garden journey. :)

"The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."

~Hanna Rion

"The Big Reveal..."

Of my COMPLETED Maruman sketchbook

"Journey"

I cannot wait until the rest of the Maruman sketchbooks
are completed and safely return home to their respective owners...
What joy and excitement they will bring!

Thank you Anita, and Nina, and Jennifer
for sharing your talent and your little corner of the world with me.
Personally...
this has just been the most wonderful,
liberating...
endearing and imaginative
artistic experience ever!

“Every production of an artist
should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”
~William Somerset Maugham

PHOTO#1...ARTISTS' CREDITS:
Pages 1-6...Margaret Storer-Roche (Me)...Arizona U.S.A.
Pages 6-15...Nina Johansson...Sweden
Pages 16-20...Jennifer Lawson...Maine, U.S.A

PHOTO #2...ARTISTS' CREDITS:
Pages 21-22...Margaret Storer-Roche
Pages 22-26...Jennifer Lawson
Pages 27-35...Anita Davies...U.K.
Pages 36-37...Signature stamp "petals" of all 4 Artists
Pages 38-40...Margaret Storer Roche :)

"Anita's Artistic Gift..."

...in my book Journey!

What a delight to at last open my own book

and find all this beauty inside!

Thank You Anita!
(Click on images to enlarge)

"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

P.S.

I was so secretly hoping that Anita would paint one of her famous

English roses in my book...and she did!

WooHoo!

She never disappoints!

"Berries and Leaves..."

...about to burst with splashes of autumnal glory.

These "gifts"

are brought to you courtesy of the one of the

"clump hawthorn" trees

in front of our house back in

Illinois. :)

"It's A Brand New Day..."

...and

I wanted each of you to know

my heart simply swells from the thoughts, hugs, comments, and prayers

you so kindly left on yesterday's post.

My Dad's cardiac procedure proved extremely informative

and

even though it was not able to provide

the"easy fix"

we were all hoping for...the future looks

to be positive and hopeful.

My sincerest thanks to each of you...from my whole family.

"Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.”

~Anonymous

Photo Credit: "Soaring Spirit" by Margaret Storer-Roche

Photographed in Clark, Colorado...Fall 2006