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???