Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"Lots of Loving Wishes..."

...from the bottom of my heart
all wrapped up in
lots of summertime joy and
crowned with a couple of cactus flower blooms
to wish my dad
a super Happy Birthday #88!

"To laugh often and much,
to win the respect of intelligent people
and
the affection of children...
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and
endure the betrayal of false friends...
To appreciate beauty...
To find the best in others...
To leave the world a bit better-
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch,
or a redeemed social condition...
To know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!"
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thanks dad, for showing me the way...

Monday, June 21, 2010

"Desert Forecast..."

Daytime highs this week will be seasonable
and
will range from 103-109 degrees
Fahrenheit...
which is still tolerable outside...
cuz
it's a "dry heat"...LOL :)
...and the night time temps will also remain
seasonable
cooling to the mid to high 70's
range.
This is good...I dread July and August...:(
So...
My forecast for all you
(northern hemisphere) readers today
is a
Happy "First Day of Summer-Cactus Monday"!
Now let's all sing along...
cuz...
"It's summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime
sum sum summertime...
Summertime, summertime sum sum summertime..
Summerti...iiiiii...ime!"
~Sherm Feller & Tom Jameson
"The Jamies", 1958

Pssst...Happy 1st day of Winter for all of you
south of the Equator...:)
(Sorry, no song...)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

"Happy Father's Day, Dad..."




...With love, from the four of us!

"Blessed indeed is the man
who hears many gentle voices call him father!"
~Lydia M. Child, 1836

Saturday, June 19, 2010

"Six Word Saturday..."

"Flower rockets explode...lighting inky skies."

See other "Six Word Saturdays" here...:)

Friday, June 18, 2010

"Illusions..."


A "Batik Effect" zentangle...
masked, painted, inked and flipped!

Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
~
Oscar Wilde

Thursday, June 17, 2010

"A Month's Worth of Mail Art!!! "

...from Janet in Texas...
...a geisha chasing butterflies...
...from Maricela in Mexico...
...a glorious bird with berries and a magical unicorn...
...another geisha from Teng in Thailand...
(I am collecting geisha cards...in case you wondered...)
from Carolyn in Wisconsin...
...some beautiful spirea and blooming clover...
(Psst...the card on the left is wood burned and painted!)
...from Erika in Canada...
...my most favorite of all flowers-the columbine...
...from Carey in California...
..another origami piece...so intricate and lovely...
... from Nancy in Oregon...
...a shimmering mountain landscape with trees...
...another delicate geisha from Janet in Texas...
...and lastly two absolutely magnificent birds...
"Mesange" and "Merle Noir"
...from Lucie in Canada.
This past month seems to have flown by...
and
being gone a couple of weeks
really had all my mail art stacking up. :)
I hope you can find a calm moment or two this week
when you can come back
with a nice refreshing beverage...
get comfortable...
and browse a bit in these artist's galleries. :)
Gosh, their work is so lovely and intriguing.
I am so grateful
for each and every card and each and every
artistic friendship I make.
Enjoy!
(Click on any image to enlarge for detail looks...)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

"A Bougainvillea Blossom..."

...stylized and "funkified" a bit...
and freshly plucked from the fantasy garden
blooming
deep inside my Muse's imagination.
Have a happy, healthy, and funky Blooming Tuesday!

"Half the interest of a garden
is the constant exercise of the imagination."
~Mrs. C.W. Earle,
Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897

Monday, June 14, 2010

"Just Remembering..."

...how Scott's mom, Lillian, always had
pots and pots of pinkish-coral colored geraniums
on the front porch...from Mother's day
all throughout the
summer and well into the fall.
These are posted here this day for Lillian
in joyful celebration...
as today would have been her
90th birthday.
Just remembering...with love and a smile...:)

“May you never forget what is worth
remembering,
nor
ever remember
what is best forgotten.”
~Irish Blessing

Saturday, June 12, 2010

"(A Very Late) Six Word Saturday..."

...Ice skates...Peacock feathers...
...Double joy!!!

See other Six Word Saturdays here...:)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

"Six Years Ago Today..."

...we closed on our house here in Arizona.
This little illo of her
was drawn from a photo reference as an EDM challenge
(Challenge #165 "Draw the Front of Your House")
a couple of years ago
but
I thought a repost today would be fitting. :)
And, yes...
the house was totally finished when we closed..
and, no...
it is not purple IRL !!!...:)

A house is made of walls and beams;
a home
is built with love and dreams.”
~Author Unknown

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

"Love this Site..."

...it's Sandra's blog "Life Imitates Doodles"
and it is filled to the brim with
oodles and oodles
of artsey
patterns, tangles, and links to all kinds
of doodling fun things...:)
Don't diddle around...
doodle on over there for a delightful time!
;)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

"Now Blooming..."

in my back, side, and front yards...

...she is called "Mexican Bird of Paradise"...

...and she will continue to grow and bloom all summer...
...and get this big by September!!!
And...here she is again...but so very much smaller
appearing as part of my spread
in our fabulous Maruman Sketchbook exchange
which was started two years ago
this week!
What an 17,566 mile adventure we had!
Mmmmm...:)
Check on this Maruman link to see all of our work!
Have a colorful
and bright blooming Tuesday...:)

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

Monday, June 7, 2010

"Sonoran Moonlight..."

...painted first on some Ampersand Claybord
which has a really unique surface
and then
etched out for details
using simple scratchboard tools.
(Size 4"X 6")
Really intriguing and fun to make!
Maybe...give it a try!!! :)
For sure...have a Happy Cactus Monday!
May tonight's moon etch some magical memories
for you, too!

“Moonlight is sculpture.”
~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Sunday, June 6, 2010

"Seeking Relief..."

...Temperatures to peak over 110 degrees today.
This has now become our new
home
especially...after sundown...:)
Ahhhhh! Sweet, refreshingly cool water!

“It is wise to bring some water,
when one goes out to look for water.”
~Arab Proverb

Saturday, June 5, 2010

"Six Word Saturday..."

Thought patterns interwoven in my brain.

(See other Six Word Saturdays here.)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

"An Art Filled Wish..."

...for those who are searching for...and craving
balance,
wide open soulful breathing space,
serenity and peace,
simplicity,
and
energy to ignite the fire to do what one loves.
May you find it all! :)

“I go to nature
to be soothed and healed,
and to have my senses put in order
once again.”
~John Burroughs
(American Essayist and Naturalist, 1837-1921)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

"Another Season Begins..."

“In June
as many as a dozen species
may burst their buds on a single day.
No man can heed all of these anniversaries;
no man can ignore all of them.”
~Aldo Leopold

Happy Birthday Scott!