"Blushing a Bit..."

Cynthia at Muse Swings blogspot bestowed a

"Blog In Bloom Award"

(which she created herself)

to several blogging buddies who she felt had "wonderful blogs

that just bloom with art, originality, creativity, beauty, humor, fun

and bring joy to those who read them. "

WOWZA!

I am so in awe of her prolific creativity

that it blows me away to receive this...

Thanks Cynthia!

Again, Cynthia , at Muse Swings blogspot,
who has an awesome, imaginative, and joyful blog of her own,
has bestowed this wonderful Premio Dardos Award to my blog.
"This award is given for recognition of cultural,
ethical, literary, and personal values
transmitted in the form of creative and original writing..."
I am touched and honored by this Cynthia...
Thank You. :)

In honour of this beautiful season,

Lavinia at Bird Bath Chronicles blogspot, created a brand new award.

And it's name says it all.

To the recipients of this award...

feel free to pass it on to blogs that you yourself have 'fallen' for,

before this glorious season is over.....

Thanks Muse Swings for passing it along to me.

Now,

I pass it along to all my regular blog followers...

and also

to those who pop in for a peek every now and then.

Thanks so much for your support.

Pick up your award and pass it along...before Autumn passes us by...

Winter is just a bit over a month away!

"I would never have thought that blogging

would be this exhiliarating and uplifting to me as an artist...

Learning everyday about the world around me

and

about the wonderfully artistic people in that world gives me

great joy and strengthens my wings."

~Me :)

"My 200th Post...!!!"

200!

These posts have come and gone so quickly and magically...

like nothing I have ever known before.

You...each of You...have made an artistic dream come true!

You,

have shared the beauty of your little corner of the world

through your art,

and your writing, your humor and your travels...

taking me along, in your back pocket, every step of the way...

popping in every now and again

for a visit, a chat, or a quick 'Howdy do!"

...sometimes even staying a bit for a "cuppa"

and

the sharing of a brand new artistic adventure!

You...each and every one...You

are the energy which keeps

my fingers dancing across the keyboard

and

my pen wildly flourishing though my sketchbooks.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Your encouragement, advice, and

inspiration

have ignited my artistic world!

“The true harvest of my life is intangible -
a little star dust caught,
a portion of the rainbow I have clutched.”
~Henry David Thoreau

"Alas..."

...I feel "faint of heart"...as these 3 pages are my final contribution of art

in Nina Johansson's Maruman "Multitudes"...

and bit "verklempt", as well,

that this will be my "official signing off " post...

as my portion of the Maruman_X international sketchbook exchange

has hereby come to a close.

The sound you now hear is my breath exhaling in a big looooong sigh.

(Lower lip extended in a bit of a pitiful pout as well...)

What an artistic journey and spiritual joy this project has been.

The project developed from of the mind of Anita Davies...

Anita, your creative idea rocked!

I found it quite interesting and, surprisingly, a bit more challenging,

to be the last artist to fill spaces in Nina's book.

Because of the way the composition of pages filtered through our rotation

there were 11 blank sides left for me to design...

I was blessed with one extra!

But...

on the other hand it was fairly "cut and dry"

as to where my art would need to fit in-in order to complete the book...

simply put...

my creative wings had to learn to fly in "limited airspace!" LOL :)

The pages above were pages 38-40...the last three of Nina's book.

I designed them to provide a transitional, open ended view

of the ancient desert of my home in Arizona

to

the modern metropolis of Nina's home in Sweden...

symbolically marking the not an ending...but a new beginning.

...the native Arizona petroglyphs included as

being possibly the first "sketchbook" exchange ever! LOL :)

As always...

more art and information about the last two sketchbooks to be completed

can be found at the Maruman_X blogspot.

"The little dissatisfaction which every artist feels

at the completion of a work

forms

the germ of a new work."
~Berthold Auerbach

"A Montage..."

...of more of my artful musings in Nina's Johansson's marvelous Maruman

"Multitude"!

This is my artwork on pages 17-20 of Nina's book.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

My artwork on pages 5-8, posted earlier, can been seen here.

You can also

check out the Maruman_X blogspot for more "goodies"

and any recent updates.

There will still be much more to see and enjoy.

Two books remain to be completed before being sent home to

Anita Davies in England

and

Jennifer Lawson in Bali.

"Spend time every day listening to what your muse is trying to tell you."
~Saint Bartholomew

"Sharing..."

...a bit of plein air magic painted by Mother Nature last night.

"When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon,

my soul expands in worship of the Creator."
~Mahatma Gandhi

"I Think It's Safe..."

...to now post a "full page reveal" of 4 of the 10 pages
I completed in Nina Johansson's little Maruman entitled
"Multitude."

Word arrived that
"She" arrived safely home in Sweden and into Nina's hands

sometime early last week.

Whew! I always get so worried about transoceanic postal travel! LOL :)
(Click on images to enlarge.)

I admit am suffering from APPD..."artistic post partem depression"...

I just don't want my part of this exchange to end!
I promise that I will post

the remaining 6 full page reveals of my work in the next few days.
Stay tuned...LOL :)

If you like, you can always check the Maruman_X blogspot for updates

as well as detailed views of each artist's book. :)

Enjoy!

"Brown Baggin' It..."

...and just fiddling...diddling...and doodling around! :)

First off...I must comment that

I LOVE the artwork and designs found on Trader Joe's grocery bags...

The work is funky, clever, and it definitely has personality.

BUT,

because I was in a bit of a rambunctious, rascally mood,

I decided

to add few zentanglely zippity-doodads of my own....just for fun.

Yippee! :)

"Someday when I am old,

I will look back at this moment as the happiest time

of my life."

~My Trader Joe's grocery bag

To the 'Fly Boys'..."

...and the soldiers, the sailors, the Coast Guard, and the Marines

(My dad's flight notes above...the plane he flew below)

of generations past... ...and generations present.
You are honored here today, this Veterans Day 2008,

for your bravery and selflessness.

And, you are thanked...for all you have done...and continue to do.

May your have peace in your hearts

and

know that your efforts make a difference in our lives.

God bless!

Daily...over our home in Surprise, Arizona
we see the young F-16 pilots based at Luke Air Force Base, just south of us,
winging their way through the dry desert air, piercing the sky
through sunlight and clouds,
honing their skills and making themselves combat "ready"
for eventual deployment to areas of crisis and conflict world wide.
Every time they fly over we look skyward, take a gulp, and feel so proud of them.
There is certain power and beauty
in the flawless precision of their formations
and aerobatic maneuvers.
Yet,
my wish for them is for a future world
where their skills are no longer needed for war.

My drawing today honors the "Beauty of Flight"
and
celebrates the 50th year anniversary of the design of the peace sign
by
Gary Holtom...February 21, 1958

"If we are to reach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin
with the children."
~Gandhi

"My soul is in the sky." ~William Shakespeare

B/W PHOTO CREDIT: NATS
COLOR PHOTO CREDITS: USAF

"Inside the Fruit..."

...Of a Night Blooming Cereus!

This is the first year our cereus has been so productive.

Currently there are 17 pieces of fruit...

(...plus the one on my drawing table which I dissected

specially for the Cactus Monday cause. LOL)
We have had a few tiny pieces of fruit in the past

but

once the birds get wind of the pending feast

everything is picked clean!

This year is indeed different...the fruit is larger, there is more of it,

and nothing appears to be feasting on it.

I wonder what's up???

In doing some research

I ran across a night blooming cereus with red fruit called Pitaya or

Dragon fruit (cool pics here)

which is edible..and supposedly tastes similar to kiwi.

I wonder...

Will mine mature, get larger and eventually turn red?

Hmmm...

Guess there will be

NO snacking for the time being...:)

Have a fruitful Cactus Monday All! :)

"One is wise to cultivate the tree that bears fruit in our soul."
~Henry David Thoreau

"Nuts!..."

Friday,

while shopping for fresh veggies

and dark chocolate covered macadamia nuts

at Sprouts Farmers Market,

a delightful display of bins bountiful with unshelled nuts

caught my eye and reminded me of

holidays past.

I never really enjoyed nuts as a kid...actually, I refused to eat them

and detested it when they were hidden

in chocolate chip cookies!

I remember the "grown ups"...usually the men...

cracking open all varieties and sizes of these shelled "things" using

the special silver nut crackers and picks

mother would bring out only during the holidays.

It became quite a festive yearly ritual.

My drawing here today celebrates memories of the past

and

"Welcomes in" the seasonal festivities of the coming weeks.

The nutcracker I drew

is an antique from my husband's side of the family.

I really do enjoy eating nuts of all sorts now...

Maybe it's just because I finally "grew up" and my tastes changed

or, maybe...

it's because so many of them now come blanketed in

rich dark chocolate!

Hmmm...Just a thought! LOL:)

"Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't."

(1970's jingle written about Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars...)

~Leon Carr

"Lifelines..."

We each have them.

They carry love to our hearts and joy to our spirits.

They lie written on the very fiber of our physical selves...

telling real time stories of happy times, or tragic trials,

or of milestones

we thought we would never reach.

Sometimes, they lie buried deep inside our inner core...

waiting like precious jewels to be uncovered.

Sometime they flow freely out of us...generating the smile of a child,

reflecting in the eyes of a loved one,

bringing beauty through the touch of an artist's brush.

They become our story

and

age gracefully into our history.

Lifelines give us wings and allow us to fly.

Appreciating them, developing them, and sharing them

allows us to SOAR!

"Whatever is at the center of our life

will be the source of our security, guidance, wisdom, and power."

~Stephen Covey

"My First Time..."

OOOOOH! MY!

Did I ever have fun with this!

Ro Bruhn in Melbourne, Australia

posted on her blog

a photograph of this lovely little teapot in her garden.

The instant I saw it I fell in love!

By the way, a trip to Ro's blog is a total delight...

lots of visual treasures and journalling "goodies"...

including

some awesome jewelry!

Anyway...

I requested and was granted permission from Ro

to paint my impression of her photograph.

This was a first for me.

I tried to be loose and free...quick, yet deliberate

(which explains the "wonkiness" of the lid and handle)

and complete the piece just for

the sheer joy of painting.

Thanks, again Ro! I had such great time today.

"The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."

~Hanna Rion

"Hooking Up..."

"Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet."
~Paul Klee

"The News..."

...Encircles the world!

Greece...
Spain
United States of America!

"What you leave behind is not

what is engraved in stone monuments,

but

what is woven into the lives of others.”
~Pericles

"Change Has Come..."

Photo Credit: Associated Press

"This is our time,

to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids;

to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace;

to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth,

that,

out of many, we are one;

that while we breathe, we hope.

And

where we are met with cynicism and doubts

and those who tell us that we can't,

we will respond with that timeless creed

that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes, we can."

~Barack Obama November 4, 2008

President Elect United States of America

"As Emeril Would Say..."

"BAM!"

...and as I would say..."D@MN!"

(So much for any zen moments and fanciful artwork today.)

It all happened three blocks from home.

No one was injured.

We were at a complete stop.

BAM!

(D@MN!)

The fully loaded landscaping truck with the extended flatbed

decided to back up at the stop sign

after

not being able to get throught the intersection.

And they we were...smack dab behind him.

We saw it coming but could not shift into reverse fast enough.

BAM!

(D@MN!)

And..We just got the car back from the "check engine" episode.

BAM!

(D@MN!)

I know it could be worse.

But

D@MN!

I hate drawing cars!

"Just Breathe In..."

...and exhale...a rejuvenated aaaaaaahhhh..."

This is just what the soulful side of me needed today.

"Ten thousand flowers in spring

the moon in autumn,

a cool breeze in summer,

snow in winter.

If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,

this is the best season of your life."

~Wu-men

"Be Counted On..."

TO VOTE...

...no matter which political view point you prefer!

Happy Cactus Monday All!

"Spent the day..."

...sketchbook in hand...

at the 38th Annual Festival of the Arts

in Litchfield Park, Arizona.

The arts were definitely alive and well!

There were artisans galore...

wall to wall people milling about enjoying the day...

live musical performances...

wine tasting...

an indoor antique and book sale...

and food, food, and more food!

We found several artistic pieces for Christmas gifts

and

had the most delicious award winning barbeque sandwich

from "Sally's BBQ"

topped off with a paper cone

full of fresh, hot, honey roasted pecans.

MMM...mmm!

Saturday was simply a satisfying delightful day.

"The arts

are an even better barometer

of what is happening in our world

than the stock market or the debates in congress."
~Hendrik Willem Van Loon

"Giving Flight..."

...to a bit of imaginative fantasy

to

Celebrate the first day of

"Art Every Day" Month...November 2008!

"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me

than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
~Albert Einstein