Friday, December 31, 2010

"Happy New Year..."

May your 2011
be fueled with artistic inspiration and energy
and
may it be decorated
with healthy, bountiful days.
May
your breaths be pure and long and deep
and may they
fill your spirit with the exhilarating
"Ahhh's" and "Mmmm's"
of sweet serenity.
May your eyes endlessly feast on
magical moments and miracles of nature...
and
may they sparkle in joy and wonder.
May your heart
nestle softly in smiles and happy memories
and may it
be blanketed in the warmth and coziness
of friendship and love.
These are my wishes for each of you...
from my heart
to yours.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

"Pens, Patterns..."

...and playful practice. :)
Several pieces positioned upon another page
in my Artful Musings Journal
drawn entirely lead free
diving straight in with ink...
and
not a single preconceived thought
in my head...:)
Fun!
Click on image...to enlarge...;)
(BTW... Arizona had BIG SNOWS
in the "high country"...Flagstaff...last night...(2+ feet)!
Closer to home...
the tops of the mountains surrounding the valley
to the north
are snow packed...and soooo gorgeous!
In addition...we even had
a few flurries which danced by and amused us
here in the desert today!
Hmmm...
palm trees, cacti and snow flurries...
who would have ever thought?

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

We each wish you a day packed to the brim
with joy filled smiles...warm hugs...
lots of smooches...
and the happiest of memories. :)
Fly high and enjoy!
Much love from
Dad,
Peg and Scott,
Jack, Sharon, Vanessa, Lauren, Steve, and Myles
Mark and Katie,
Susan, David, Joya, and Jillian!
"Our birthdays
are feathers in the broad wing of time."
~Jean Paul Richter

Monday, December 20, 2010

"Tiny Tidbits..."







...abundant enough
to delight each of the senses...
decorated our wonder-filled day of magical
family memories.
Our festive Arizona holiday season was
officially
kicked off with a bang
"Chuparosa Christmas" style
yesterday.
Life is, indeed, certainly good!

“You never know when you're making a memory.”
~Rickie Lee Jones
American Singer and Song Writer

Thursday, December 16, 2010

"Feathers and Boughs..."

...are combined together in my Zen Journal to create
a twist on the old familiar wintry
snowflake.
This was started at the Grand Canyon
in November...
and just completed last night...
almost a month later!
Good Grief!
:)
And, of course...
(with the aid of Microsoft Digital Editor)
I had to flip her to enhance her more traditional
frosty flakiness.
I just couldn't help it!

They say that every snowflake is different.
If that were true,
how could the world go on?
How could we ever get up off our knees?
How could we ever
recover from the wonder of it?”
~
Jeanette Winterson

Saturday, December 11, 2010

"Jump Starting My Muse..."

...some seasonal scratches and sketches
in my artful musings journal
while watching less than wonderful
repeat programming
on television.
Now, tonight...well...that's another
story...
"White Christmas" is on!
YAY!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

"Just A Few Flakes..."



...to celebrate the magic of the first winter snowfall
today
back "home" in Sycamore, Illinois.
(I just saw the Facebook photos of JGL's backyard...
it is a wonderland! )
Ahhh...
those first gentle snowfalls...this is a time
I really miss the Midwest...:)
However,
interestingly enough...
a serendipitous southwest snow encounter
occurred as
my brother and sister and their families
drove up to the high elevation
of "rim country"
here in Arizona to cut down Christmas trees
today!
They found gorgeous deep snow, beautiful trees,
and 50 degree temperatures.
(And...I just know...
the little ones were in "snow angel" heaven!)
Me?
I chose to stay down here in the west valley...
at a balmy 75 degrees,
no snowfall...
(just a few (watercolored) flakes...)
fresh rosemary in the air...a chair on the patio...
a copy of Eat Pray Love in hand...
the sound of Gambrel quail chatting away.
Mmm...:)
No matter where
friends and loved ones were today
it certainly seems like
a lovely, magical Saturday was had by all...:)

“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.”
~Francis Bacon, Sr

Friday, December 3, 2010

"She's at it again..."



...her brush dipped in a cottony white palette
painting delicate strokes
across a crystallized cerulean blue
Arizona canvas.
Ahhh...
such is December in desert
as
viewed from my very own backyard.

See more Skywatch Friday photos
from around the world

Thursday, December 2, 2010

"Family Time...Well Spent"

We (Scott and I)
visited mom and dad for dinner on Sunday.
(Mom made her special chicken...YUM!)
And...
then went back again on Monday
to help decorate their tree
along with my sister and her 8 year old twins.
I took my sketchbook...
to the absolute delight of the twins
who
immediately filled in a page...:)


It really felt good to get back into the sketchbook
mode...I have let my sketching skills
go by the wayside this past year...
and
they are in desperate need of attention
and polish.
What better time than the holidays to
jump start a renewal program!
All my entries above were made "lead free"...
drawn in ink "straight in "while
either standing at the kitchen counter
or seated with book in my lap.
I just added watercolor
and the floral detailing on the twin's page tonight.
Ahhh...
what a delightful couple of days we all had.
it was such great fun to simply go
across the valley and be
"home again"...:)

“A man travels the world over in search
of what he needs,
and
returns home to find it.”
~ George Moore

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

"Farewell November..."



...and
a late Blooming Tuesday entry...
ala Tlaquepaque...Sedona, Arizona style.
(Yes...alas...'tis yet another beauty still awaiting
placement in my sketchbook!)
Hey...
where in the world did autumn go this year???

Thursday, November 25, 2010

"Happy Thanksgiving..."

...may your heart swell
with
boundless gratitude...
and sing a sweet song of love and joy!

"We can only be said to be alive
in those moments
when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
~Thornton Wilder

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

"More Sedona Love..."

...wishing you a Happy Blooming Tuesday...:)
Ahhhh!

Monday, November 22, 2010

"Red Rock Country..."


...meets Cactus Monday...:)
What a great week...lots of photos and art to share!
Soon...:)
Have a really great day!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"Round #2...Zen Moly_X..."

This is Lisa Rene's Moleskine.
She began her lovely book in a vertical format.
Above are Lisa's pages one and two...
...which flow flawlessly into her pages three and four.
It then became my task to join my art to hers.
(Note that on the bottom edge of Lisa's page four
that the curlicue to the left...
and yellow bit to the right are part of my art
which overlaps onto her original pages.)
:)
Here you can see more clearly how I chose
to join my art to Lisa's.
Lisa's page four is on the left...
My page five follows on the right.
Notice that the format
here will now transition from vertical
to horizontal...:)
A full view of my pages five and six...
...followed by my pages seven and eight.
If you look closely you can see how each page
is defined by the way the
Japanese style Moleskine pages are folded.
Above is another view of my pages 7 and 8 with
my design overlapping onto page 9...
where Cindy Michele will then join her art...:)
Here is an actual photo of my portion of Lisa's book
attached to Lisa's page four.
(Note the zig zag folds of the Moleskine.
They are really fun to work with...
but will become more difficult to photograph
as new artwork is added as there are
30 zig zag pages in all...60 if one uses both sides
of each page...front and back.)
Whew!
Here is a final photo of Lisa's entire book
thus far.
I included a quotation in my portion of Lisa's book.
It appears within the sun design.
It reads:
"Simply be aware of the oneness of things."
~Lao Tzu
Those words became my inspiration
for the zentangle art I included in Lisa's Moly.
Her book is now in the artistic hands of
Cindy Michele in Tennessee.
I can't wait until the arrival of the next Moly...
and,
if I have the rotation sequence correct in my head,
it will be Jella's from Belgium. YAY!
My Moly should be soon arriving in Oregon
to the studio of Sandra
A.K.A.
"Madame Zentangle Extraordinaire"!
As always...
please feel free to click on any of the photos above
to enlarge for better viewing...
it's well worth it! :)
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour
I wish you could see all this art
in real life...
it is zenfully amazing!

Monday, November 1, 2010

"Dia De Los Muertos..."

...meet Senorita Desert Rosita...:)
Happy
Cactus Monday
All!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

"No Tricks...Only Treats..."

...especially of the ATC variety. :)
(Click on photo to enlarge for detail...)
There is a major Art-athon taking place this weekend
These are several of the pumpkin themed cards
I made yesterday...
with more to add to the collection today.
I will post the cards I receive
at a later date.
Right now I am pretty much "pumpkined out"!
Happy, Happy Halloween
to those of you who celebrate it...
and a special Happy Pumpkin Festival weekend
to my good friends back in Sycamore.
Have the time of your life...
Miss you!

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin...
and have it all to myself...
than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
~Henry David Thoreau

Friday, October 29, 2010

"Skywatch Friday..."

A solitary wing...
found soaring over my head
in the western skies
near the White Tank Mountains in Arizona.

See other Skywatch Friday photos here.

“Don't wait for someone
to take you under their wing.
Find a good wing and climb up underneath it.”
~Frank C. Bucaro

Thursday, October 28, 2010

"Forever Stampin' Love..."

...in case you haven't seen these yet...
they are the new "Forever" stamp just issued days ago
and now currently
available at your local U.S. Postal office.
Whee... I love new stamps!!!
:)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

"A Soulful Mirror..."

"The eye
sees a thing more clearly in dreams
than the imagination awake."
~
Leonardo da Vinci

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

"Black and Orange Blossoms..."

...a Pumpkin Squash mandala...
...and a funky Halloween bloom...
both
decked out in their seasonal costumes
all ready for treats...no tricks...:)!
Happy Halloween week Blooming Tuesday All! :)

Monday, October 25, 2010

"A Pumpkinized Cactus..."

...perfect for kicking off Halloween Week...:)
Have a Happy Cactus Monday All!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

" 'Tis Day One..."

...for me
of yet another sensationally fabulous
"trip around the sun."
YAY! ♥ :)

"Because time itself is like a spiral,
something special happens
on your birthday each year:
The same energy
that God invested in you at birth
is present once again."
~Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Thursday, October 21, 2010

"Lisa's Labor of Love..."

...landed smack dab in my heart
late this summer.
After making a long distance postal trip
from Indiana to Arizona
this special gift was then forwarded
to Illinois where I was in August and September.
What a complete surprise!
You can only begin to imagine
the wonderful joy this little handmade treasure
brought...
the best part of which was a thank you call to Lisa.
What a special moment it was indeed
to be able hear her voice
and
to connect with her person to person.
We have all intertwined
our lives deeply...both personally and artistically
through this magical world of
blogging...
but it is until we actually meet...
either in person or over the phone that
some magic happens...on a most special level.
I treasure this beautiful journal
and
the thoughtfulness which brought it to my heart.
Every page I turn...every stroke I pen...
every memory I create in it
will be tied back to the skillful hands and
most generous and loving heart
of our dear Lisa.
So much to be thankful for...:)
"...a good friend is a connection to life-
a tie to the past,
a road to the future,
the key to sanity in a totally insane world.”
~Lois Wyse

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

"How About..."

...another autumnal heart?
This one is
draped in rich brown suede...(cowgirl style)
and is
all blinged out with a pair of
"flirty-girly"
copper colored cactus flowers.
She rises,
full of energy and curiosity,
in the rosy dawn of another beautiful
Arizona desert morning...:)
Hmmm...
What will this day bring???
Have a "Happy Blooming Tuesday" all! :)

“Slow buds the pink dawn
like a rose
from out night's gray and cloudy sheath;
softly and still it grows and grows,
petal by petal, leaf by leaf.”
~Susan Coolidge