ARTzona 2014...

 Some artistic love IN...

and...some artistic love OUT...:)

Aaah!

Directly above are the

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) cards I traded at our ARTzona

artist retreat held last weekend in Mesa, Arizona.

40 artists

from all over the USA as well one gal from the United Kingdom

participated.

The cards at the very top are called "signature cards"

and they are given out

by each artist

as a way to get to know one another.

Notice the selection of hearts here...

I think this might

soon become a new collecting obsession

of mine.

I will definitely post the four pages of cards I received

in trade for my ATCs 

a later blogpost...:)

What a gloriously fun weekend

spent with some wonderfully talented artistic Muses...:)

 

"Often

the Muse will not respond

to direct and logical requests.

She must be lured in with the playful and gentle."

~Jill Badonsky

ARTzona Rocks!!!

Ahhhh...ARTzona!!!

I am still on an artistic high from my newest addiction. 

And,

thanks to each of you wonderful ladies...

my heart and my soul is bursting with artistic goodness.

What a wonder-filled weekend!

xoxoxo

 

"Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us."

~Roy Adzak

Happy NewYear's Eve...

...to each and every one.

"An optimist

stays up until midnight to see the new year in.

 A pessimist stays up to make sure

 the old year leaves."

~Bill Vaughan

No Rhyme..Nor Reason...

...Just a massive "End of the Year"

sketchbook blog "dump"...of unpublished (unblogged) drawings

taken from the pages of my

Red Hand.Book.

No holds are barred here.

Hence...you will see the good...

the bad...

and the ugly...

as well as the finished and the unfinished...

the colored and the "ink only"...

the single day and the multiple day...

waiting room...television watching...feel like drawing

doodles, and scribbles,

and 

just plain "pen dancing" events of my sketchbook life.

Each page was made "ink straight in"...

no lead sketches or markings or guidelines...

just raw pen markings

finding their way across my sketchbook pages....

which were usually balanced uncomfortably

on my lap.

No wonder there is a bit of wonkiness

to this collection...;)

Enjoy!

And, now...a collection of "drawing" quotations

to inspire your artistic Muse

and

help you jump start a new year of artistic

exploration and fun!

;)

"Drawing

is the artist's most direct and spontaneous expression,

a species of writing:

it reveals,

better than does painting, his true personality."

 ~Edgar Degas

"A drawing a day keeps the cobwebs away." 

~Robert Genn

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing."

~Vincent van Gogh

"Draw everywhere and all the time.

An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached."

~Irwin Greenberg

"When my daughter was about seven years old,

she asked me one day what I did

at work.

I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people

how to draw.

She stared back at me, incredulous,

and said,

'You mean they forget?' " 

~Howard Ikemoto

Happy "91st" Mom...!

Simple things...

a homemade luncheon...

carrot cake...a candle...some apple fritters...

a 73 degree sunny, bright December Arizona day...

quality time spent together

laughing...talking...remembering...sharing...

 the love of family...

What lovely birthday presents, indeed...;)

xoxoxo

"Your birthday

is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'you' to the world."

~Author Unknown

From the Memories...

...of a Christmas "Past"...

...to the hopes and dreams of a Christmas "Present"...

I wish for your day to be filled with all the joy your heart can hold...;)

xoxoxo

"Christmas is the day that holds all time together."

 ~Alexander Smith

"Oh, Tannenbaum!"..AZ style...

"Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree...
Your beauty green will teach me
that

hope and love will ever be

the way to joy and peace for me.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree

Your beauty green will teach me."

A Bit of a Holiday Kick-Off...

...spent with my family

celebrating the beginning of the Christmas season

 Arizona desert style...;)

"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!"

 ~Albert Einstein