"A Past Post Remembering..."

...those who gave their all this Memorial Day.

"Love your country and live with pride

And don't forget those who died.

America can't you see...

All gave some

and some gave all...

And some stood through for the red, white and blue

And some had to fall.

And if you ever think of me...

Think of all your liberties and recall

Some gave all..."

~BillyRay Cyrus

"By the Light of the Moon..."

...Sunset Jack left Illinois Saturday just after midnight for his

5:00 AM flight

back home to Arizona...

it was a "Hard Day's Night" for sure.

This weekend Jack will be doing nothing but resting

and

catching up on his blog friends...

It's good to be home!

(Past adventures of Sunset Jack can be found here.)

"It's been a

hard day's night,

and I've been working like a dog...

It's been

a hard day's night,

I should be sleeping like a log...

But

when I get home to you I find the things

that you do

Will make me feel

alright..."

~John Lennon and Paul McCartney

"A Heartfelt Tribute..."

...To those who serve unselfishly-

bringing light into darkest corners with a warm smile

or a tender touch...

To those who give lovingly from their hearts daily

to perfect strangers who have been

placed in their care...
To those who provide unceasingly

remarkable levels of dignity, respect, comfort, and support

to the terminally ill...

To each of the professionals and volunteers

of health care and hospice

systems worldwide

who bolster inner strength and peace in so many...

who serve from their hearts

and

love from their souls...

You are the best.

"Hanging By A Thread..."

...to a wispy world of limited wireless connections.

Guess that's part of the deal when

trying to "make do" when

travelling.

This heart was made on scratchboard...

carved with various tools

and then washed with some watercolor paint.

Very rough around the edges...
a perfect partner for a very piecemeal post.

Never realized how internet spoiled I am

back in AZ.

"Cottonwood Snowfall...!"

...down like, fluffy tufts of seed...they are nestled EVERYWHERE!!!

"The smallest seed of faith

is better than the largest fruit of happiness."

~Henry David Thoreau

"Meet Coral Sunset..."

...a perfectly petaled peony from the infamous Blumen Gardens

(a little slice of gardening paradise) right here

in Sycamore Illinois...:)

Happy Blooming Tuesday y'all!

"Bread feeds the body,

indeed...

but flowers feed also the soul."

~The Koran

"A Doubly Delightful Day..."

...my 700th blogpost and a Cactus Monday

all rolled up into one!

How sweet...and so superbly serendipitous!

Let the party begin!!!!

"Serendipity is putting a quarter in the gumball machine

and have three pieces come rattling out

instead of one-all red!"

~Peter H. Reynolds

"Balancing Act..."

“Toleration

is the greatest gift of the mind;

it requires the same effort of the brain

that it takes

to balance oneself on a bicycle.”
~Helen Keller

"Six Word Saturday..."

An African Violet..."Floral Zen" style...:)

See other six word Saturdays here...:)

"There Is Nothing Like..."

...cherry blossom time in Washington D.C.

I remember

when I was a little girl

my parents would take our whole family to

see my grandparents who lived in D.C.

We would travel the seemingly endless miles by car...

nonstop...

weaving in and out of tedious road detours

throughout Indiana and Ohio.

And then we would reach the "magical highway"...

the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

It was breathtaking...

complete with wide smooth driving lanes,

tunnels through the mountains,

and the wonderful Howard Johnson rest stops.

This is the always the spot in the trip where

my car sickness bouts would come to an official end.

It also meant

that quite "soon" we would finally reach

my grandma and grandpa's house...

a comfy bed to sleep in...

and all the

wonders of the Capitol city.

As majestic as all the formal marble monuments were...

it was

the simple and natural springtime display

of the lacy fluttery

Washington D.C tidal basin cherry blossoms

which holds the most special place

in my heart's memory.

Those blossoms were the inspiration for this card.

Someday I will return to D.C....

in the spring...

and take it all in...with childlike wonder...once again.

"TaDaaaa! Here They Are..."

...the three ATC cards I received from the

Louis Comfort Tiffany Window Panel ATC Swap

at

Illustrated ATCs.

From L-R:

"Riverbrooks" from Sandra In Oregon...

"Floral detail" from Cheryl in New Hampshire...

and

"Landscape with Irises" from Amy in Illinois.

What beautiful work in each piece!

NOTE: If you click on each artist's name

you will be directed

to their personal galleries at iATC...

well worth your time!

Be sure to also click on the image above so you can

see the marvelous details

easily.

You can see my trades for the swap here. :)

Thanks, ladies!

"Ancient Petroglyphs..."

...with a contemporary, watercolor-batik style twist!

"Sky Visitors Dawn"...

...and..."Sky Visitors Dusk"...:)

Ummm...

Yes, I must admit I was glued to the television last night

watching the last new episode of "Lost"

(setting the tone for the 2 hour series finale event Sunday)

and the season finale of "V".

However,

as planned as it may seem...

might

this extraterrestrial posting merely be

an ''unplanned coincidence"...

from a

"sideways/parallel" universe...

or...

not???

Hmmmmmmmm...
:)

"We are all visitors to this time, this place.

We are just passing through.

Our purpose here is to observe, to learn,

to grow, to love...

and then we return home."

~Australian Aboriginal Proverb

"What a Twavelin' Wabbit..."

...and

that would be the infamous Sunset Jack, of course,

out "on the road"

wishing you a butterfly-filled Happy Blooming Tuesday!

(Click on images to enlarge...no cropping options

available for Jack

while away from his "studio"...Dwats! :)

"Ideas are like rabbits.

You get a couple...and learn how to handle them...

and

pretty soon you have a dozen."

~John Steinbeck

"Arroyo Gold..."

Hmmm...

What's "Arroyo Gold"???

Well... It's not a brand of tequila...

nor is it some street jargon for an illegal drug...:)

It is just the name

I gave

a sweet little cactus

drawn totally from my imagination

and

splashed by my Muse with some juicy watercolor.

She appears here simply to wish

everyone

Happy Cactus Monday! :)

Have a golden day!

"More gold

has been mined from the thoughts of men

than has been taken

from the earth."
~Napoleon Hill

(American author, 1883-1970)

"Some Sunday Thoughts..."

...along with some simple zen inspired art for you!

“Perhaps middle-age is,
or should be,
a period of shedding shells;
the shell of ambition,
the shell of material accumulations and possessions,
the shell of the ego.”
~Anne Morrow Lindbergh
(American writer and aviation pioneer, 1906-2001)

"Six Word Saturday..."

Tiny feet...vivid imaginations...

awaiting life...:)

See other Six Word Saturdays here...:)

"A Delightful Duo..."

First, yet another geisha from the "Geisha Queen" herself...

Janet in Texas...
And second, a masterful "OM"mantra card
made entirely in ball point pen
from Lisa in Arizona.
Lisa and I have made plans to do a Moly_X art trade...
(a.k.a. Moleskine Sketchbook Exchange)
Can't wait!
What fun it is to continue to receive
such tiny treasures
and trade talents with
kindred spirits from all over the world.
I am very thankful indeed!
(As always...click on any image to enlarge...)

"Care For A Cuppa...?"

This is my "Me Time" mug.

I use it when I am feeling in a really

100% "zen-good" mood.

It was made in an artists' co-op in Nepal...

and

I found it at the Ten Thousand Villages boutique

not far from where I live.

Artisans whose merchandise is sold in this store

are paid fair trade wages.

I think that is so cool.

Hence, this mug has super great karma.

I love the feel and heft of it.
In reality it is actually more pale, pale stone gray in color...

but somehow when I painted her

my silver blue Daniel Smith iridescent paint

kept jumping on my brush.

Go figure! :)

EDinMay...EDM #04..."Draw a Mug..."

"A Little Black Purse..."

...every girl needs one, right?

Mine is made of black tooled leather

with silver studs and a silver center button.

I bought it on a lark

while playing tourist up in Wickenburg, Arizona

at a western leather goods store.

It happens to be one of my fave "Go-To" pieces.

EDinMay...EDM #03..."Draw a Purse..."

BTW...

as of this posting, I am currently

9 days of sketching behind

the rest of "y'all" in completing

an EDM every day in May.

I feel like

I have been flung hard from my horse

and am now

tumbling deeply into the thorny ravine of "Need to Do's."

I still have one more drawing in my sketchbook

done and ready to share.

Sadly though,

as far as keeping up with the group

and the future EDM sketches... I will honestly attempt to

"catch as catch can..."(whatever that means!)

I don't mean to disappoint...I'm just facing the facts.

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do..."

~Mindy McCready

"In the Pink..."

...I'm feeling in the pink. :)

Well,

let's say I'm in the light pink...

not anywhere near even half as powerfully pink as these

bougainvillea beauties...

but definitely I am no longer in the

yucky gray zone.

Thanks for all your well wishes...

It was a looong five days.

:)

"Feeling Bleh..."

...with a vicious attack of the stomach flu bug.

Blogging not very high on my to do list...

Hopefully, soon.!

"Shedding Some Light..."

...on the subject. :)

This little lamp

stands only about a foot tall

and was one of the first purchases

we made when we moved to Arizona.

We had no furniture or TV

but

we had this little lamp!

It originally lit our front hall table

(once we purchased one)

but she now resides on the kitchen bar counter

and serves

as a sweet bit of a night light.

Every Day in May ♥ EDM #02: "Draw A Lamp"

"An apt quotation

is like a lamp which flings its light

over the whole sentence."

~Letitia Landon

"More Mail Art...YAY!"

...some swirly pink sand dunes and clouds

from Pam in Oregon...

...some funky cool modern art from Joss in the U.K....
...Pandora and her mysterious Grecian urn
from Erin in California...

...a suprise package

from Bonnie in Pennsylvania...

a wooden charm with my own artwork on it!

...a "Chasing Butterflies" geisha from Janet in Texas...

...the sweetest little violet fairy

from Renske in the Netherlands...

... and lastly, from Carey in California...

an teeny oragami crane on a hand painted background.

What treats galore!

If you haven't already checked out these artists

and their work

pop in on them if time allows.

You will find some wonderful artfilled delights!
Thanks to all!

"Foot Loose and Fancy Free..."

Since moving to Arizona several years ago...

I hardly wear shoes any longer.

Now, my closet is filled with sandals

of all shapes and sizes...

and a huge variety of flip flops.

This pair of HotFlops is totally outrageous

and is great fun to wear whenever

I want to feel like

Chiquita Banana...:)

Liz Steel (aka Borromini Bear)

proposed the idea

to do the EDM challenges 1-31 for "Everyday in May".

Since I have really been feeling the urge to

go back to my roots lately...

(illustrated watercolor journaling )

I felt this might just be what the art doctor ordered

to set me back on the right path.

I hope you pop back in every now and again

and

enjoy my adventure this month...:)

"Turning Gray..."

...and then snowy white...

while

fiddling around a bit with tonal values in my

2010 Zen Journal....(and Microsoft Editor.)

Hmmm...

That actually reminds me...

I think I may need to make a salon appointment

later this week. :)

“Gray hairs

are signs of wisdom if you hold your tongue.

Speak...

and they are but hairs,

as

in the young.”
~Rabindranath Tagore

Indian Poet, Playwright and Essayist,

Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913,

1861-1941

"Sending Zen-Filled..."

...Calla lillies, Butterflies, Cacti, and Sparkles

in the form of a

Happy Birthday Zendala

to my younger brother Jack...

as he celebrates his "something-something" birthday

this first Cactus Monday

in May!

(Me, Mom, Jack...on his 1st Birthday)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!

We LOVE You!

XO♥:)

“And in the end,

it's not the years in your life that count.

It's the life in your years.”
~Abraham Lincoln

"Happy May...!"

"The air is like a butterfly

With frail blue wings.

The happy earth looks at the sky

And sings."

~Joyce Kilmer, Spring

"Six Word Saturday..."

"Drug Bust...

Art addictions start early! "

This stash (x's 2)

was recovered as part of some Christmas goodies

smuggled into Surprise, Arizona

in 2009

by the infamous and notorious "Eleanor the Elf".

Eleanor's addictive gifts

are on children's most wanted list

internationally.

The contraband is secretly brought into the country

direct from the North Pole...

so the street value of the items is

ranked in the upper reaches of one's imagination.

Beware of the addiction to similar items

in your own cupboards

and drawers...

they are known to cause spontaneous 'Art Attacks."

Also, be on the lookout

for various male counterparts to Eleanor.

Allegedly, they go by the names of

Jerry (Artarama),

Dick (Blick),

Daniel (Smith),

and Michael.

See other "Six Word Saturdays" HERE.