"Artful Gifts..."

...from across the pond

awaited me on my return from Tucson!

...From dear Soulbrush in London...

3 whimsical soul-filled African themed ATC cards

made for our trade...(click images to enlarge...check out the stamp!)

(Soul...yours will be flying from the desert soon!)

...and from Marianne in the Netherlands...

(a.k.a. "Queen of Mandalas")

two beautiful cards from her Etsy shop which I won

in a lucky draw by Felix...

...a very sweet note...an ATC card for our trade...

and a joyful mandala-filled bookmark!

Aren't I a lucky girl??? LOL :)

"Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness."
~Richard Bach

"Plant Your Heart..."

in a good place...this Earth Day...

and this Earth Night...2009.

"I only went out for a walk

and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,

for going out,

I found, was really going in."

~John Muir, 1913

"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth

are never alone or weary of life."
~Rachel Carson

"The earth is what we all have in common."
~Wendell Barry

"Bloomin' at Jerry Bob's..."

...for breakfast in Tucson...

a beehive of local activity and huge portions!

The place was blooming with color and all sorts of interesting

people and things to draw

while waiting...

outdoors for a table...and indoors for our food. LOL :)

Painted once we returned home.

Happy "Blooming Tuesday" all...Yes, I've succumbed to the
lure of yet another little bloggy group. LOL :)
Blame it all on Teri C...
she's always blooming with great ideas!
(After all she suggested this breakfast place and started the group!)

"Bloom where you are planted."
~Proverb

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast."
~John Gunther

"Buried Treasure..."

(Click on image to enlarge.)

...discovered at sunset Thursday

on the grounds of the San Xavier del Bac mission church

on the Tohono O'odham reservation...

just south of Tucson.

These blossoms...no kidding...

were are large as my hand...with all fingers spread out wide!

She was stunning...

simply stunning...in every way!

I now must find out the name of this exotic beauty...

Anyone have any ideas?

(She reminds me of an Argentine Giant...

but it's the amazing coral blossoms that are throwing me for a loop!

In the meantime...

have a great Cactus Monday all!

Hopefully, this day will

surprise you with a hidden treasure of your very own! :)

"Learning is a treasure

that will follow its owner everywhere."
~Chinese Proverb

"The Tucson Connection..."

a fanciful...absolutely not to scale...

map of our travel adventures during our little spring getaway...

a mere 150 or so miles from home.

(Details with all the good stuff to follow!)

"A good map

is both a useful tool and

a magic carpet to far away places."

~Author Unknown

"Back Home..."

...Exhausted...Elated...and on Email overload...LOL :)

Whew!

(A lot happens when one is unplugged!)

So

a little something soothing and serene for today...

...another "China Bloom"

...from my ATC series...#2 of 6.

"You must be a Lotus,

unfolding its petals when the sun rises in the sky,

unaffected by the slush where it is born

or

even the water which

sustains it!"

~Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Indian Spiritual leader

"Taking a Break..."

...a mini Spring Break...packed to the brim with sketching...

drawing...

painting...photography...

wonderous sights and new vistas!

And to top it all off...

all that without computer access!

I am already in withdrawl mode...LOL :)

I'll be back in bloggy land Saturday.

Thanks

for popping in! :)

"If you come home as happy as you leave,

you have had a good vacation."

~Author Unknown

"Her Blooms are A-Poppin!"

WooHOO! From My House...

...to Yours!

C'mon...join in on the experience...

Why not "pop in"on a friend today...just for the fun of it!?

Have a Happy Cactus Monday!

"The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"May Blessings..."

...joyful peace...and....a full happy heart...

be yours-

not only on this Easter day....but on all the days of your life.

(Art originally posted, last year... here.)

"On Easter Day

the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer."

~Douglas Horton

"I Slept In..."

...this morning...

while the desert skies were moody and overcast

and my yard

was kissed with precious sprinkles of rain.

"I love sleep.

My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?"
~Ernest Hemingway

All Coiled Up..."

...nice and comfy...into a woven basket mandala...the first of three.

Pitt Pen...7"x 7" Bristol Board

"To be ignorant of what happened before you were born

is to be ever a child.

For what is man's lifetime

unless the memory of past events

is woven with those

of earlier times?"
~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Ancient Roman Lawyer, Writer, Scholar, Orator and Statesman

106 BC-43 BC

"Full Moonglow..."

...and Mother Nature will paint the Sonoran Desert tonight

gently dressing her

in a palette of silvery blue magic

so soft and serene.

I made my little painting here

by using a base wash

of Chinese White with dabs of iridescent blue

purple, green, and coral DS paint...

then added

lettering and a bit of "border zen" with a silver gel pen...

all to bling out

a small sheet of Strathmore black paper

ripped from my field journal.

Hmmm...

"Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby

Ain't nothing

like the real thing..."

~Marvin Gaye

:)

"Stepping Out..."

...of my artistic comfort zone

in an attempt to "urbanize" my art focus a bit.

It is also one of my 2009 art goals. :)

Well...

this little "piece" was left in the back seat of our car by an

auto tech who was working on it.

We didn't notice the gun

until we were clear across the valley at a shopping mall

and went to place our purchases

on the back seat.

(Here in Arizona car windows are darkly tinted

due to the intense sun...so seeing it

through the side windows

was next to impossible...obviously.)

Never even thought to look in the back seat

when the car was picked up...never even thought of that!

Sooooo...what the HECK

was a gun doing in our back seat in the first place???

Well...

we would soon find out...after a few phone calls.

And, of course, in the meantime

before we returned it...I felt it just had to be drawn.

However...

midway through my drawing,

my imagination got the better of me,

and

I felt compelled to google the gun.

I launched myself into "CSI trainee mode"...and found out that

this particular gun was luckily "only" a pellet gun

(and that the bag of white "pill like things" were not drugs, but pellets.)

The very surreal part of this though

was that the gun was

the same exact model style and specs

of the Walther P99 semi automatic pistol used by military

and law enforcement around the world.

On top of that, I found that

Walther also created several limited editions of the P99

including the MI-6 (James Bond)

a marketing tie-in with the new James Bond movies! Wowza!

So now...

my little artistic journey "into the urban jungle"

had instantly, by the click of a mouse,

became one that was

interlaced with espionage and

international intrigue.

My pen now hatched over my sketchbook pages

with a new energy and sense of adventure.

How artistically exhilarating!

And...yes,

to make a long story short...

heads rolled at the dealership and apologies were profuse.

"Move out of your comfort zone.

You can only grow if you are willing to feel

awkward and uncomfortable

when

you try something new."
~Brian Tracy

"The Final Two..."

cards (#5 and #6) in my ancient Chinese floral design

ATC card set

are now completed...

..all "dragon stamped" and everything!

"Nothing is so fatiguing

as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task."
~William James

"Eleanor, the "Art Elf"..."

...gifted my twin nieces

with their very first illustration journals

this past Christmas.

Since then...

both Jillian and Joya have been happily drawing all the wonderful

everyday things that matter

to an active six year old girl.

Their journals go with them everywhere!!!

This week was a biggie...

mom and dad's anniversary...

dad's birthday...

and even a crayon Cactus Monday piece by Aunt Peg!

Enjoy!

This last photo really recaps our happy night...

A fancy desert...

journals in hand...and crayons strewn about the table.

You have just gotta love it! :)

I wonder if "Eleanor" is watching! LOL :)

“Every child is an artist.

The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
~Pablo Picasso

"This Ancient Talisman..."

...was discovered deep within the Middle Kingdom tomb of

Queen Mar-Gara-Tiri...

the Egyptian Lotus Goddess...

guardian of Water Blossoms which grew profusely

in the ancient river civilizations

of the Near East.

The talisman itself is

in the design of the Udjat Eye...

...and is noted to be one of the most powerful of all talismans in

Ancient Egypt.

The Udjat, once brilliant in color, adorned a fragment of finely woven linen.

This potent charm was used to protect its owner from sickness

and

to provide eternal life in the afterworld.

The linen fragment itself was

found placed within a translucent alabaster carved vessel

which was sealed with a golden cartouche

and bound with

finely woven and intricately plaited papyrus reed fibers.

The reeds were tied with delicate knots

bejeweled in amulets of lapis lazuli, carnelian, and turquoise.

Miniature scrolls written in hieroglyphs

were also found within the alabaster vessel.

They indicated that

Ptah, the Egyptian deity protecting ancient artisans,

had befriended Mar-Gara-Tiri

and became her Muse

showering her with good juju.

It is believed, by many Egyptologists, that vessels like these

were used for watercolor painting

and that the colors painted on the cloth

designated the color palette used by the artist-owner

of the vessel.

Such vessels and their magical contents were buried with female owners

to provide colorful serenity

throughout their journey in the afterlife.

It has been said that whoever gazes upon such an artifact as this will be

inspired in the ways of the ancient artistic ones.

They will be surrounded with a lifetime of

good karma...where Every Day Matters...,

and

that the art produced by each viewer

from that day forward

will have

magical and joyful properties.

"So let it be written...So let it be done."

~Rameses II (Yul Brenner)

The Ten Commandments-1956

Illustration Friday Challenge: Talisman

"Sun Shield..."

...#5 in my Sunlight ATC series.

“For an impenetrable shield, stand inside yourself”
~Henry David Thoreau

"A Dancing Sundala..."

...#4 in my Sunlight ATC series. :)

"A friend is someone who dances with you in the sunlight,

And walks with you in the shadows."

~Author Unknown

"Saving the Ta-Tas..."

...at breakfast Monday morning.

Our favorite little "local hangout" for breakfast,
burger basket lunch specials,
scrumptious "homemade from scratch" desserts,
and their infamous Friday night fish fry is
"Martin's"
a family owned and operated business...
located in Sun Village right here in Surprise, Arizona.
Last Monday, a day they are normally closed...
Martin's hosted their first ever
"Breakfast for the Cure."
Food was generously donated by suppliers for the event...
and the wait staff and kitchen staff
not only worked on their day off...but worked only for tips.
The atmosphere was exuberant and joyful...and celebratory!
The place was packed...and decorated in pink...
and even though wait time was bit longer than usual
everyone had a smile on their face
and a glow to their spirit...:)
The positive energy level that day was beyond supersonic!
(I even got a bit weepy it was so exhilarating.)
Susan , the owner and one fabulous baker, and her sister Peggy
partake in the 3-day breast cancer
"Walk for the Cure" yearly.
Proceeds from the breakfast,
as well as generous bids made on each and every one
of the numerous silent auction items,
made the day a stand out!
I get the "happy chills"
thinking about the power of small community coming
together for a worthy cause and making such a
powerful impact.
Days like this are "what it is all about"!

This piece was sketched with a borrowed ballpoint
on the back of a pink silent auction flyer
...taken down from the wall...
(It didn't even cross my mind to bring my sketchbook...really!)
first...on my lap...no backing board...while waiting for our table...
and then continued
while drinking coffee awaiting our food.
I used colored pencil at home to refine details
and improve the readability of my
jiggly lap lettering and lines.
A copy will be given of the drawing and this post
to both Susan and Peggy
sometime today...
as I definitely foresee a vision of a burger basket
on the lunchtime horizon!

Why not help save the "Ta-Tas" Worldwide!???!!!
Click here or here for information. :)

"You give but little
when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."
~Kahlil Gibran

"An Oldie...

...But a Goodie"...

originally posted last year...

for Earth Day 2008...
...and making her comeback today...by special request...
to wish each of you a Happy April!
And that's No Foolin! :)

"April comes like an idiot, babbling and stewing flowers."
~Edna St. Vincent Millay