Looking Back...

...in an attempt to clear the air...

to purge...

to tie up loose ends...to close the books...

to try to bind everything together.
Whew!

What we have here is
 one big "sketchbook dump"...
a plethora

of thoughts and illos and attempts to maintain my sanity.
You know...

I have been "here"...but, not really.

I feel badly about that.

This is only my 71st post of the year..

barely one quarter of what I have posted in years past.

The reason?
I haven't a clue...
other than the fact that this year
has certainly thrown a few curve balls my way.

Fortunately,

I have been able to turn to my Muse

for a wee bit of artistic therapy and spirit building.

Some of the pieces here will definitely

allude to that.

The above entry was blogged about here

and was drawn ink straight in...lead free...over a series of days.

Seeking a bit of bi-monthly resbit with my art tangling friends here.

My notes are hopefully self explanatory...just click on any image

to enlarge

for better viewing. :)

Sue's passing was bittersweet and difficult for all of us...

she was my sister-in-law.

She suffered for so long...was so young...and was loved by so many.

The trip back to Illinois left our hearts heavy.

I am blessed to have still have my parents with me...

we have had several close calls this year.

I am also blessed to be able

to let my soul breathe and grow through my art.

Waiting and being hopeful and calm have been a challenge.

Patience and the art of developing keen observation skills

have been my frequent companions.

I wonder what challenges will face me in 2013?

I surely hope I will be able to handle them

with a certain amount of

grace and hope and creativity.

Thank you,

each and every one of you,

for checking in on me...

and

even leaving a note

every once and a while.

I love that.:)

I plan to really BE HERE this next year...

I really do!

“The object of a new year

is not that we should have a new year.

It is that we should have

 a new soul.”

~G.K.Chesterton

"My Chemical Romance..."

...some "lyrics based" art I made in

Audrey's "My Chemical Romance" themed moleskine.

This is part of the 2012 G8 Moly exchange

over at

Illustrated ATCs.
Honestly,
I had never heard of the band before...
and
was a bit bummed out about this theme.
Plus...
the lyrics of their songs did not set well in my mind.
So, I asked
a couple of "younger generation" acquaintances
what they would suggest
I do.
With big smiles and "Ooooh COOL!" commentaries
they pointed me in the right direction.
The music is not half bad...really.
It was simply
the battling of the graphic lyrics and subject matter
with my Muse's artistic preferences
 that had me bamboozled.

The song lyrics I ended up choosing are from the band's hit

"Cemetery Drive".

The cemetery gate drawn here was

inspired by

the style of the east gate of the Elmwood Cemetery in

back in my hometown of

Sycamore, Illinois.
I went back to my roots...and drew what I knew.
Audrey's book has already been passed along

to the next artist and is

expected to return home to her in Quebec, Canada

early this fall.

This Moly exchange is packed with artistic challenge and fun....
and has absolutely opened my eyes
to many new things.

 It keeps that flighty Muse of mine in her toes...:)
Click on image to enlarge...:)

"This night walk the dead...in a solitary style
and crash the cemetery gates
in a dress
your husband hates."
~Cemetery Drive
My Chemical Romance

In Memoriam...

"Your time is limited,

so don't waste it living someone else's life.

Don't be trapped by dogma-

which is living with the results of other people's

thinking.

Don't let the noise of other's opinions

drown out your own inner voice.

And most important,

have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They

somehow already know

what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary."
~Steve Jobs

1955-2011

"Happy October..."

...my most favorite month of the year! :)

"There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir,

We must rise and follow her;

When from every hill of flame,

She calls and calls each vagabond by name.”
~William Bliss Carman

"Back To My Moleskine..."

...after spending an exhilarating, and also exhausting,

Labor Day weekend

making & swapping 25 artist trading cards

at Illustrated ATCs.

So...now I guess it's time that I had better

"SNAP" to...cuz my Muse is really a "DRAGGIN' ".

Get it? Snap...draggin'???)

Hehheheh hahahah! :)

Yeah...I know...that was totally lame...:)

“Through humor,

you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers.

And once you find laughter,

no matter how painful your situation might be,

you can survive it.”
~Bill Cosby

"Some Subtle, Soft..."

...Summer-Sunday Zen.

These branches are part of a much larger imaginary

"Tree of Life"

which magically sprouted in my Muse's mind

the beginning of this month.

I think she may have had a bit of an autumnal

breath or two in her spirit as well.

I know I most certainly do...
I am totally ready!

"I like trees because
they seem more resigned to the way they have to live
than other things do."
~Willa Cather, 1913

"An Ivy Geranium..."

...a perfect bit of a virtual house warming gift

for my dear friend Jan.

Can't wait to see your new place and hear all your stories!

Soon...it must be soon! :)

"The ornaments of your house
will be the guests who frequent it."
~Author Unknown

"Nothing Beats..."

...a golden full moon piercing the darkness

of a late summer's night.

She glows in my eyes and dances in my heart...

quite enchanting, indeed! :)

“When I admire the wonder of a sunset
or the beauty of the moon,
my soul expands in worship of the Creator.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

"Botanical Bits..."

in my large moleskine sketchbook.

This summer,

inspired by the rich floral beauty of July in the midwest,

I have been practicing "drawing large"

in my "big girl" moleskine.

It is so freeing to sit and illustrate this way,

especially,

after all the ATC work with which I have involved myself

recently.

These illos are actually the groundwork for

a floral project I have envisioned in a beautifully hand made

Japanese fold sketchbook

I won from the multi-talented Caroline Soer

so many moons ago.

I am very exhilarated by this project.

Soon I will make my first inked mark in that

beautiful little book

and be off and running!

Stay tuned...:)

Happy Blooming Tuesday!

“The picture of a flower in a botanical book

is information;

its mission ends with our knowledge.

But in pure art it is a personal communication.

And therefore

until it finds its harmony in the depth of our personality

it misses the mark. ."

~Rabindranath Tagore

"Thistles and Spikes..."

This bit of a botanical illo began
in the upper left quadrant of my moleskine page

as a migraine doodle
fraught with pain

and...in time...

bloomed into something quite soothingly

unexpected.

Happy Blooming Tuesday...:)

“All my life
I have tried to pluck a thistle
and plant a flower
wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.”
~Abraham Lincoln

"Happy Fourth of July!..."

A happy little Cotyledon Secunda...drawn this morning

in my large moleskine

and quickly uploaded this afternoon.

(I am still getting used to scanning on the road...the colors IRL

are much more vibrant and celebratory.)

BTW...

Happy Cactus Monday, too!

"Everything that is really great and inspiring

is created by an individual who can

labor in freedom."

~Albert Einstein

"IF: HIERARCHY..."

...the evolution of cosmic star stuff into cellular life...

drawn here in my Moly with my Pitt pen.

Tell me what you see. :)

"The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures,

the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations-

each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy,

bound together by cosmic harmony."
~Ruth Bernhard

"Nope...Not Feeling..."

...any of the "MOLY LOVE" here...

Nope...not even a teeny bit!

I have used the mini moleskine for ink drawings

and

it seemed to be just fine...

even took some watercolor fairly well...

So, naturally,

I was sooo excited to crack open my new sketchbook sized Moleskine...

Until I began to paint in it...

What a reality check!

Where did all my deep colors go???

I am not giving up quite yet...But I thought I'd ask you all...

Does any one have any secret hints

about how to apply and/or control the color?

For sure...I know

I went way too wet and the colors soaked through to the backsides

of both pages...

as I was

trying to break through the coating the pages seemed to have...

Any suggestions are deeply appreciated.

What a way to start a new book, Eh???!!!

Nope...

I'm not feeling the love here at all!

"You can't always get what you want,

but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need."
~The Rolling Stones

"We'll see!"

~Me