"Whew! I Have Decided..."

...that my Arizona lungs do not mix well with with this
soggy, supersaturated Midwest humidity.

Yesterday started off muggy...

I knew that immediately when I awakened

to find the outside windows

dripping wet

and fogged over. Geesch!

Then by 3:00 in the afternoon

the air temperature here in Sycamore, Illinois was

90 degrees...

the dewpoint was 81 degrees...

making the THI (Temperature Humidity Index)

feel like it was 108 degrees!

Say WHAAAAAT????? UGH!
We then ended the day
with a tornado warning and fast moving thunderstorms.

The temps have dropped a bit...but

it's still not time

to open the windows for fresh air.
All is now quiet...and somewhat settled

except

for the classical chatter of crickets

and

the drone of our faithful air conditioner.
Thanks,

but, NO THANKS!!!

This is not

what I expected of August in Illinois.

As of this writing

desert heat is by far more preferable to me.

My Muse decided to

drew her impression of my "sweltering lovliness"

as we were both held captive indoors...the entire day...

again!!!

Whewwwwwwww!!!

Just Sayin'! :)

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.”
~Mark Twain

"An Encore View..."

...to delight your Muse...reappearing here today as a bit of

Summer Sunday Zen.

“Nature has neither kernel nor shell;
she is everything at once.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Meet Serendipity..."

...another whimsical artist trading card from my

sensitive floral series.

When I started to draw her I had no idea or plan

of what she would look like.

Stroke after stroke...she simply appeared.

Such fun!

“Serendipity.

Look for something, find something else,

and realize that what you've found

is more suited to your needs

than what you thought you were looking for.”
~Lawrence Block

"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

"The Art of Waiting..."

...is the art of "cooling it."...the skill of dilly-dallying...

the choice of sticking around with a purpose.

The art of waiting

is the art of consciously pausing time

without knowing whatsoever what will happen next.

It is both the anticipation of a question and

the expectation of its answer.

It is a pregnant pause...

a lingering...

a wondering...a biding of time.

We can do this waiting, artfully, in silence...still and pensive...

or we can be more animated

and fidget...

or tap...or pace...or doodle...or wring our hands

with nervous energy.

We might just wait a minute...wait for hours...

or wait forever.

Sometimes we even "wait and see"...

or we wait

until we feel like we really can't wait one second longer!

We can hang around, hang out, hover over,

put on hold,

hold our horses...hold the phone...

hold on...

or, believe it or not,

often choose to hold absolutely everything!
Super humanly, we keep our shirt on, mark time, sit tight

while we simutaneously

lie in wait, lie low, and look forward to.

We might wait for...or wait on...

or wait until.

We might wait alone, or we can wait in a crowd...

or we might wait alone in a crowd.

We can wait at a bus stop...or wait for the mail...or wait by the phone.

We often wait until the second shoe falls...

or until the cows come home.

Some think they can wait until hell freezes over.

The art of waiting

can potentially paint away the painfulness of predicaments

and create a canvas of peace.

So...

may whatever it is you that might wait for today...

bring you

the answers you are looking for

or simply the

serenity you just might need.

“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension

waiting to be struck.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Sunday Summer Zen...Regrowth..."

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves;
otherwise we harden.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"It's Still So Flippin' HOT..."

...that I thought I would cool things down a bit with

a revisit of a digital flip...

flipped!

Now, how's that for double dippin' ! ;)

Stay cool my friends...

stay coooool!

“If you can't take the heat,
don't

tickle the dragon.”
~Anonymous

"The China Pattern..."

...on my bread plate

at the historic El Tovar Lodge

seductively enticed me to capture her in my Zen journal.

The El Tovar, opened in 1905, as a Harvey House

and

is picturesquely situated just a mere

twenty feet from south rim of the Grand Canyon.

The hotel is one of only a handful of Harvey House facilities

that are still in operation,

and

it is an wonderful example of

National Park Service Rustic architecture.

Our table, dressed in crisp white linens, was fireside.

(Ahhh...so romantic!)

Crystal glasses, white china, and silver flatware

sparkled in the sunlight.

It was like stepping back in time.

The room was quietly bustling with activity.

It was elegant, yet, familiar.

Lyrical sounds of various foreign languages

could be softly heard here and there.

Our table instantly became

a welcome, warm and cozy respite from

our hiking along the rim.

It was a

a place to linger...and imagine...and wonder...

about the stories of the travellers

who, decades before us,

sat in our very same places...and, like us,

came here to

enjoy the majesty and inspiration of the canyon beyond.

It was an amazing experience.

We wanted to stay and continue to soak it all in.

I just had to have something

to take back home with me as a remembrance.

Hence, this simple drawing.

She was drawn "ink straight in" (a bit wonky in places)

during our wonderful little lunch and,

by the date,

you can tell that it was made

last fall when we visited the Canyon.

I cannot believe it is just now that this piece

is seeing the light of day!

November seems like eons ago...

funny, how this drawing brings back memories

that feel like

they happened only yesterday!

Time certainly has her way with us!

"Faith is trust

in what the spirit learned
eons ago."
~B.H. Roberts

"Getting Emotional..."

Introducing..."Sensitive"...

card #1 in my new whimsical floral ATC series.

I feel

I am just like her these days...

super sensitive and frail...suffering from

oppressive humidity, heat, swarms of bugs, and other

inevitable Midwest summertime penances.

They are sucking the life

out of my energy...

and are holding me captive in my own home!

At the present time, mid morning, here in corn country,

it is 88 degrees with a sultry dew point

of 81...Amazon jungle levels...

making it feel like a soggy wet 105!!!

Personally, if I am going to be hot and uncomfortable...

I prefer the arid heat and the

dusty brown

powerful haboobs of the desert southwest...

to this rainforest-like mugginess.

Unlike me...

my Muse is having a great time...being held captive inside

she is drawing up a storm of her own!

“We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure
without
being more sensitive to pain.”
~Alan Watts

"Wall Art..."

..."Cactus Monday" style...

on display in the beautiful general reception area of the

Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Upbeat and hopeful...is this

artistic expression of comfort, joy, and wellness.

These are

my wishes for each of you this day. :)

Click on any image to enlarge...:)

“Hope is the dream of a soul awake.”
~French Proverb

Some More "Sunday Summer Zen"...

"The way is not in the sky.
The way
is in the heart.”

~Buddha

"From Start...To Finish..."

My Moleskine in the Zentangle Moly_X_ 11 exchange...:)

A blank book...full pens...and an inspired Muse
awaiting their rendezvous with destiny.

My sign in pages...

My pages 1 and 2...

followed by my pages 3 and 4...:)
The medallion lifts in three layers and reads:
If...
"A dot is a line that went for a walk..."
(~Paul Klee)
then...
"A zentangle
is a garden of lines blooming in the mind's eye..."
a magical place where your Muse can
dance, glide and flourish
with delight!"
(~Me)

Following then,
are Cindy Michele's pages 5 and 6...

and Cindy's pages 7 and 8.

Next,
are Sandra's pages 9 and 10...

and Sandra's pages 11 and 12...

which, in turn
are followed by Jella's pages 13 and 14...

and Jella's pages 15 and 16.

Everything is beautifully interwoven.

Rounding out my book
are Lisa Rene's pages 17 and 18...

and Lisa's pages 19 and 20.

I have not yet determined if I will add additional pages

to my book.

Sadly, for unforeseen and unknown reasons

my book, thus far, it the only one

which

has completed the exchange and has returned home.

This is truly bittersweet.
Of grave concern is the whereabouts

and completion levels

of Sandra, Jella, and Lisa's books.

They have not made it past the second rotation.

We each hope and pray that

Cindy is well and that the books will once again fly free.

We have tried endlessly to make contact and resolve this dilemma.
Until then,
My Muse and I hold Cindy's book in safekeeping.

I cherish my book to pieces...she is a special irreplaceable treasure.
To Cindy, Sandra, Jella, and Lisa...
I am deeply grateful for the staggering beauty of your
intertwined artistic expressions
and
the countless hours of time spent by each of you
while you danced and glided and flourished with your artistic Muses
in my Moly.
You gals are the best!

“Life is inherently risky.
There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs,
and that is the risk of doing
nothing.”
~Denis Waitley

"Happy Birthday..."

...to my brother Mark and my sister Susan...born on this day

exactly two years apart...:)

May each of your days be decorated with joy

and be packed to the brim

with special moments that make your heart smile.

Love you both...Lots!

"To the outside world
we all grow old...
But not to brothers and sisters.
We know each other as we always were.
We know each other's hearts.
We share private family jokes.
We remember family feuds and secrets,

family griefs and joys.
We live outside the touch of time."
~Clara Ortega

"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

"Finding Inspiration..."

...in the art and the architecture on the grounds of

Frank Lloyd Wright's

Taliesin West...in Scottsdale Arizona.

This art deco styled mandala was drawn "ink straight in"

and graces the pages of my Zen journal.

Hopefully, this summer I will be able to visit several

of the amazing homes he designed here

in the midwest...

and leave with a sketchbook filled with his spirit.

May you find beauty and inspiration where ever YOU look

today.

Happy Cactus Monday all...:)
(Click on images to enlarge if you like)

“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.
If you foolishly ignore beauty,
you will soon find yourself without it.
Your life will be impoverished.
But if you invest in beauty,
it will remain with you all the days of your life.”
~Frank Lloyd Wright

"Summer Sunday Zen..."

...a healing mandala...from my zen journal.

"A gem is not polished without rubbing...

nor a man perfected without

trials."

~Chinese Proverb

"A Bunch of Bees..."

...buzzin' by for a summertime blog encore.

Funny how many

Midwest bugs, bees, wasps, and other insect critters

I have forgotten about.

I think I am missing Arizona in this catagory...:)

"When the bee comes to your house,
let her have beer;
you may want to visit the bee's house some day."
~Congo Proverb

"A Funky Fly Trap..."

...with a smidge of zentangling for an edgy, exotic look...:)

Something different...for sure!

Have a funky and happy "Bloomin' Tuesday" all!

Celebrate

the unique world of art blossoming all around you.

"The artist is not a different kind of person...

but every person

is a different kind of artist."

~Eric Gill

"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

"Some Peace Filled Sunday Zen..."

...here at the farm...Lee County...Illinois...

where there are

more shades of lush green than one's Muse can imagine!

Ahhh!

“Better than a thousand hollow words,

is one word that brings

peace.”

~Buddha