"Breakfast For The Cure..."

Dan and Susan Martin,

owners of Martin's Restaurant

in the Sun Village Center, Surprise Arizona,

organized and hosted their 3rd annual

Breakfast for the Cure

yesterday morning March 14th, 2011.

Each year their suppliers donate food and produce

and their loyal staff donate their time

and work only for tips.

All monies spent by patrons is

donated to the 3 day Susan G. Komen

Walk for the Cure.

Dan and Susan, as well as Susan's sister Peggy

(a breast cancer survivor)

have successfully completed the walk

these last few years and

they will walk again this August in Chicago.

Scott and I attended the breakfast again this year

and had a delightful

and yummy repast out on the patio

overlooking the pool.

The place was packed to the brim

with family, friends, and happy smiles.

(If you like you can see a previous year's drawing here.)

What a great way to spend a morning!

Click on image to enlarge...sketched plein air

then painted at home...:)

♥
“If you have much, give of

your wealth;

If you have little, give of your heart.”
~Arab Proverb

"A Joyful Post..."

Thanks for a wonderful afternoon yesterday Jan...:)

You are pure sunshine!

(Have a Happy Blooming Tuesday all!)

"Every friend is to the other a sun, and a sunflower also.

(S)he attracts and follows.

~Jean Paul Richter

German Novelist and humorist, 1763-1825

"A Tangerine Sentinel..."

...keeping solitary vigil over an imaginary desert

both day and night...

blooms only in the virtual reality of my blog this

late summer day.

Happy Cactus Monday all...:)

"It is the marriage of the soul with Nature that

makes the intellect fruitful,

and gives birth to imagination."

~Henry David Thoreau

"Catching up With IF..."

...Illustration Friday prompts that is...:)

Here is my intertpretation of the "Paisley" prompt...

(the original version and the digitally flipped one, too!)

from about a month ago.

Better late than never...as "they" say...:)

ILLLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Paisley

"Happy Earth Day 2010..."

...from my little corner of the planet...
...to yours...! :) ♥

Be earthwise and thankful this beautiful day!

"Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect."
~Chief Seattle, 1855

"In Celebration Of Life..."

Today, I HERALD

the coming of a long awaited Spring...

when thousands of thorny desert plants show

their fanciful frilly side.

It is that sorely needed...predictable, cyclical time of

soulful renewal and regeneration.

I herald its arrival...so near, so very near...

with a big smile in my heart...

and an artistic Muse whose pen is ready to dance.

♥

Today, I also HONOR

the incredible life force of Renee...

whose loving and beautiful spirit at last flies free...

renewed and regenerated and shining,

blooming in vibrant yellow...

swooping raven like...here and there

in that glorious and sacred place...

where the only things that now circle her head

are starry nights and golden light.

I honor her life

with a big smile in my soul...

and bits of stardust in my sketchbook.

XO

“Our Lord

has written the promise of resurrection,

not in books alone,

but in every leaf in springtime.”
~Martin Luther

1483-1546

"Two...For Two...Today..."

Why??? Well first,

in weekly celebration of Cactus Monday...

and

then secondly...(drum roll please)

to celebrate the

2nd year

blogiversary of my Waterblossoms Blog!

WooHOO!!!

(My Muse scampers about...barefooted...

and scantily dressed...

tossing flower petals into the air.)

You can check out my very 1st blog post

HERE if you like...It's even a CACTUS post...

and my first piece of mail art!! :)

Whew! It is so amazing how time flies!

Speaking of which...

I have been out of town for the past week...

...actually in Illinois...

where we

experienced a fairly decent-sized snowfall,

(first Midwest one I've witnessed in quite a while)

accompanied by

several nights of sub-zero wind chill temps,

and

even an EARTHQUAKE...

...the epicenter of which was 10 miles from

"Home!"

We were awakened in the middle of the night...

3:59 am to be exact...

by the sound of horrendously severe rattling

and shaking

followed by an enormous boom

It sounded as if one of those huge snow plow trucks

barreled down our street...full speed ahead

and

ran smack dab into our house!

Seriously!!!

We thought it was a bomb blast

or even a gas line explosion

somewhere in town.

We were really mentally shook up!

It wasn't until my sister called from Arizona

later that morning to tell

us

that it was a 4.3 seismic event

(aka "EARTHQUAKE")

and that it

was the lead news story on the Today Show

and

also on the news headline marquee

in Times Square, New York City!

Shazammm!

Later, it was downgraded to a 3.8 event...

I know, all you California readers are saying

"Is that all???" LOL :)

Whew! It was certainly big time for me!

Who would have ever thought, eh?

Any way...

I promise to get back soon to my routine

and start visiting all your blogs...

popping in here and there,

to see what you have all been up to.

In the meantime,

I hope you find something wonderful

and non-scary

to shake up your day!

Have a really great one!

Thanks, too,

for TWO wonderful blogging years!

"Last Night..."

...Another Arizona sunset

painted my

heart.

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

"Wordless Wednesday...(#20)..."

"An Agave Heart..."

...and the sacred Heart Milagros ATC series continues...

See the entire collection here...:)

"In art

the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Really Wired..."

...all over my chest with sticky pads...electrodes attached...

...a gown "open to the front"...

waiting for my cardio stress echo to begin...

each resting heartbeat monitored

while

juggling my illustration watercolor journal in my lap,

...lines being drawn all funky and askew

with a pen running out of ink.

The sketch was made "lead free"...drawn in under 10 minutes...

and with no real pressure...right?! :)

It was then

painted at home..."barefoot, braless and blissful"...

with my BP back to normal...

on a gorgeous, but windy, sunny Arizona day

while

watching the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" Basketball coverage on TV

broadcasted from the Cardinal's Stadium

in Glendale Arizona.

Last, of course,

the image had to be "digitally" flipped here...

just to go along with the theme of my totally high tech digital exam...

and...

"just because" it's fun...(the exam...not so much!)

"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat

match the beat of the universe,

to match your nature with Nature."
~Joseph Campbell

"Mission accomplished...in a heartbeat!"

~Me :)

"Lost in Fantasy..."

...Inspired by...and drawn during

Wednesday night's episode of one of my favorite

TV programs...

"Lost" !!

And... it is also

G.I.V.E.A.W.A.Y...#3!!!

...a tag or a book mark...

...it measures 3"x 7"

and is

tied with a brown and turquoise

mandala patterned ribbon!

Leave a quick "Howdy Do" from your little corner of blogland

right here on this post...

Deadline is midnight Sunday February 22nd.

Join the fun if you like! :)

"Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves."
~Henry David Thoreau

"Fractured Art..."

Yep! That's my hand indeed...

In a split second...on a gorgeous Arizona day...I was on the ground...

right there on the asphalt

in the Super Target parking lot on Lake Pleasant Road.

Dang! I had no idea one could trip on sunshine!

Geesch!

My left hand caught the trauma of the event

and swelled up immediately.

After cleaning out the abrasion and getting ice to reduce the swelling

we headed straight for the ER.

The rest is journaled above...the sketches done while waiting

and the info added later at home.

From start to finish this escapade took 4 hours plus...

not my idea of a fun sketch crawl!

And...as I write this post...yes...it hurts...

local pharmacies were closed by the time I was released...

so I hope Tylenol arthritis does the trick

until we can get the "good stuff".

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."
~Kenji Miyazawa

"Sticks and stones may break my bones,

but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours."
~ Eric Idle

"It's Almost Time Again..."

...For a bit of plein air painting!!!

A cold front is coming into the state this weekend...

Temps are to drop to the mid 80's and really cool off at night.

It will be most welcomed

by both me and my outdoor sketching friends...

the tall and stately palms

of the Hassayampa River Preserve. :)

I wonder if they have missed me

since my last visit?