Monday, January 31, 2011

"Making Moonshine..."

...in pint sized packages...
just perfect for
popping into a pretty purse or a pant pocket
or
a plastic protective ATC page...
ready for a Muse to imbibe for the sheer pleasure
of it.
Each vintage has been packaged under its own
private label...signed by the designer
and
has been sent directly from the manufacturer to
the "Light of the Moon" swap
at Illustrated ATCs. :)
"Full Moon White Tank Mountains"
"Saguaro Sentry"

"Midnight Arroyo Magic"

...and lastly,
"Through the Mesquite...Painted Desert".
So...
why not sit back and relax,
sip in some of this prickly desert warmth,
and celebrate in style this last
Cactus Monday
of the month of January.
(BTW...
If you are in the mood...
a larger portion of desert heat can be requested
by simply clicking on each image.)

"Here's looking at you, kid!!"
~Rick ( Humphrey Bogart)
Casablanca...1942

Sunday, January 30, 2011

"As Promised..."

...my cards (above) traded
in the 3 Part Rainbow Swap at Illustrated ATCs...
...and my returns, sent in three separate mailings,
the final of which was received
last week...:)
YAY!
Click on images to enlarge...:)

Friday, January 28, 2011

"El Arbol De La Vida..."

..."a tree of life"...
inspired by old world Mexican ceramic folk art
and drawn and colored with a
"Waterblossoms" twist
in my trusty old black spiral sketchbook.
Psst...
my Muse had such great fun with this one...
that she keeps begging me
to make some more...hint hint...wink wink! :)
Click here
to read about the interesting history
of this beautiful art form.
(You can also click on the image above to enlarge...)

"There is always Music amongst the trees
in the Garden,
but our hearts must be very quiet
to hear it."
~Minnie Aumonier

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"For All Who Battle Demons..."

...whether they be a physical,
mental, spiritual, emotional, financial or any
other menacing type of force...
this
"Tree of Life: Hope"
is posted here today in honor of several
special individuals
in my life
who are enduring painful physical struggles.
Several are engaged in
hand to hand combat with cancer.
This is posted also
as a reminder to each of us
that
whenever things in our lives turn in a downward spiral
we are not alone.
There is a whole battalion of family,
and of loved ones,
and armies of friends, acquaintances,
and
ordinary everyday people...some of whom
we might not even know...
but
all of whom are people who
genuinely care and stand at the ready
like a mighty tree
offering shelter in a dark frightening forest.
These are the people who will pray for us
and
who will champion our cause
and
who will bolster our spirits
with wishes of
strength and hope...for body, mind, soul, and heart.
I am one of those.
Grab on to one of our branches
and feel fortified, comforted, and soothed.
We are here for one another.
We are each others
best support and softest place to fall.
We have deep roots in faith and hope and love
It is our gift to you.
(For LEG and family ♥)

"Lord save us all from...
a hope tree
that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms."
~Mark Twain

"Hope
is that thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tune without the words
and never stops...
at all."
~Emily Dickinson

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"Oooo...Look at What I Found..."

...blooming
in my local U.S. Postal office today!
They are the newly released
Chinese Lunar New Year "forever" postage stamps
which
are celebrating the year of the rabbit....:)
They are absolutely scrumdilly-icious!
Hmmm...
why make it a really special Blooming Tuesday
and
pick up a bunch for yourself?

“Be like a postage stamp.
Stick to one thing until you get there.”
~ Josh Billings
American Humorist, 1818-1885

Monday, January 24, 2011

"A Cactus Inspired Heart..."

..."Au natural" :)
...and then digitally flipped.
This is one of the 16 artist trading cards I made
and traded last week
during
the Illustrated ATCs Art A-Thon weekend.
My returns
have now started to filter in...YAY!
I will post them all as a group in a blog entry,
hopefully,
by the end of this month.
For now...
Happy Cactus Monday all!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

"A New Series..."

...for the brand new tree swap over
Introducing first, "Tree of Life...Abundance"...
second, "Tree of Life...Challenge"...
following with "Tree of Life...Spirits Ablaze"...
and, lastly, ending with
"Tree(s) of Life...Bare Bone Reality".
Each has been drawn, painted,
signed, sealed,
posted today, and hopefully delivered to Canada
on time before their February 1st
swap deadline.
Whew!
Where in the world has January gone???

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

"Round Three...Jella's Moly..."

...Jella's sign in pages...
...Jella's pages 1 and 2...
...Jella's pages 3 and 4...
...Lisa's pages 5, 6 and 7...
...my page 8
intertwined and spiralling in connection
with a few of Lisa's green swirls...
...Lisa's page 7 and my pages 8 and 9...
look closely and you can see the edges of each page...
...my pages 9, 10 and 11...
a happily nesting peacock in full zentangled glory...
...and finally my page 11 and my page 12...
where Cindy Michele
will connect with her sequence of designs.
Lastly, how about a peek at some
real life photos taken
just before Jella's book was shipped December 29th.
Jella's sign in pages (above)
followed by...
...Jella's four design pages linking to Lisa's...
...Lisa's design pages linking to mine...
...and my design pages
ready to be linked in the next round...:)
Voila!
Here is a view of the entire book thus far...
it is simply delightful.
And...
I am happy to say that
it is now officially all signed and sealed
and delivered...
(with a USPS confirmed delivery December 31, 2010)
to Cindy in Tennessee.
WooHoo!
(Click on any image to enlarge...)

"Great things are not done by impulse...
but by a series of small things
all brought together."
~Vincent Van Gogh

Sunday, January 9, 2011

"My Day With Dad...

...last Friday began predawn when Scott and I
left Surprise
and headed for mom and dad's
arriving
bright and early at 7:00 am.
Scott stayed with mom...taking down outside
Christmas lights
and running some errands
as
Dad and I then headed into Scottsdale
for a day of pre-admission
medical routines he had to undergo prior
to his surgery this Wednesday.
We spent a lot of time
in a lot of different waiting rooms.
We talked and waited...and laughed and waited...
and "people watched" and waited...
and
then...waited some more.
Dad dozed a bit and I drew a lot.
I even got asked at one point if I was an artist
or maybe an illustrator...
Hmmm, go figure.
I guess
it was the open sketchbook in my lap
that gave me away...LOL:)
It was a long day...and absolutely not the
most comfortable of circumstances
for my dad...
but I wouldn't trade our "together time" away for
a million dollars.
Spending time with my dad trumps all!
(This was drawn...lead free...in my Zen Journal...
healing mandala and all.
Click on image, if you like, to enlarge.)

Time is at once
the most valuable and the most perishable
of all our possessions.”
~
John Randolph

Friday, January 7, 2011

"The 3 Part...12 Card Rainbow Swap.."

...Hot Pink...
...Hostess Card...
...Red...
...Orange...
...Yellow...
...Green...
...Hostess Card...
...Blue...
...Indigo...
...Hostess Card...
...Purple...
...and lastly, the entire Rainbow...:)
What a beautiful page these made in my collection.
They have now individually flown
to collections
around the world...'tis truly bittersweet...
I miss you girls! :)

"Somewhere over the rainbow,
skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true."
~Lyman Frank Baum

Thursday, January 6, 2011

"First Impressions..."


...can run really HOT or extremely COLD.
Maybe
it's best to step back a bit and view things
from a distance...before imprinting
our brains with
with hasty conclusions.

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression
by saying something,
and sometimes one creates
as significant an impression by
remaining silent.”
~Dalai Lama

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

"It's Amusing Sometimes..."


...to think about
how one thing leads to another.
That is exactly what happened here.
This started out in November
with the tree...
and was leaning itself toward a snowflake design.
Then
I abandoned her for over a month.
Magically,
she somehow morphed her way last night into
another mandala
with intertwining natural accents.
I flipped it just for fun.
I am sure my Muse was most amused...:)
Tee Hee..:)

“The most potent muse of all is our
own inner child.”
~Stephen Nachmanovitch

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

"From the Inside Out..."

...a healing mandala.
Drawn in my Zen journal lead free...ink straight in...
while
balancing book, pens, and composition in my lap.
This is
a first in a new series for a new year...
and
just what the (art) doctor ordered...LOL...:)
Rx: let loose...
make mandalas as needed...repeat daily...
add music if desired.
Side effects:
shapes may not appear as they are in real life:
be alert to frequent bouts of
"wonkiness"...and audible sighs of "Ahhh!"!

Monday, January 3, 2011

"I Treated..."

...myself this past holiday
to the publishing of my blog over at Sharedbook.
I saw the idea on Lynn's blog here...
and the rest was history.
Above are pictured the volumes from 2008 and 2009.
Yes, I will be publishing my 2010
volumes soon!
Thanks Lynn for the great idea and the link.
I am very pleased with this product!
It is fun to note that
my first blog post ever was a cactus...
you can see it on the cover of Volume One
on the far right.
So, then, I think it is only fitting
and perfect to wish each and everyone today
a Happy Cactus Monday, too!
:)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

"Aspirations And Intentions..."


...see both sides...
take long deep breaths...celebrate daily...
share my journey...
make simple things special...expand my soul...
greet difficulties with patience...
feed all my senses...be inspirational...cherish...
make someone laugh till they cry...
embrace change...dance with delight...be in the moment...
weave lasting memories...
color outside the lines...make a difference...
say what I need to say...linger in beautiful places...
be remarkable...face fears...
love living...♥

Illustration Friday Prompt: Resolutions

"One resolution
I have made, and try always to keep,
is this:
To rise above the little things."
~John Burroughs

"Character
is the ability to carry out a good resolution
long after
the excitement of the moment
has passed."
~Cavett Robert