Sketching my life away

I received a post card today from a woman named Honi C in New York.  She sent it to me as a result of seeing my name on the MMSA (Mail Me Some Art) listing.  This is an online board for exchanging mail art.  She unofficially welcomed me to the group of artists - not knowing, I guess, that I've been participating in their exchanges for well over a year.  I did, however, only sign up for the mail exchange this year.

No matter.  Her card gave me a reason to use a piece of watercolor paper I'd plopped my coffee filter on yesterday to create some stains.  I'll mail it to her tomorrow.

What a fun coffee break this was.

It lead to more sketching, in my sketchbook using walnut ink.

And, of course, I needed to use up the other piece of stained paper for another postcard.  Just getting ready for National Letter Writing Month in April.

I took the filter I'd used to make my afternoon cup of coffee and pressed it onto my sketchbook.  Once it dried, I tried my hand at just painting with no preliminary sketching.

Keeping the paper staining process going, I took a bag from a cup of green tea and placed it on a piece of watercolor paper.  The result was far lighter, not much stain at all.  

After dinner I had fun trying out some new indigo drawing ink on the green tea stain.

Ok, so I may not of sketched my life away - but I certainly did sketch most of the afternoon.

Creative Block Blahs

I'm in the midst of them.  It happens.  I have no idea how to finish this week's Documented Life challenge.  The challenge is to cover up the good stuff, the prompt is what lies beneath.  So I glued some good stuff down on the page, including a cute little valentine I got from my friend, Nancy.  Then I started covering up with paint, dyes, acrylics and white gesso.  I used molding past and created some texture.  Now everything is blue and purple, with some gold accent and I have no idea where to go from here.

I added more to the pages and then discovered I used the wrong prompt.  Should be Going Undercover.  My quote doesn't make sense in that context HOWEVER, I discovered an Irish writer I want to read more of - Robert Wilson Lynd and ms creativity returned for a bit this afternoon leaving me quite giddy.

My enlargement of the quote was sideways and I can't figure out how to turn it, so left it out.  The quote by Mr Lynd is:
"There are two sorts of curiosity - the momentary and the permanent.  The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of things.  The permanent is attracted by the amazing and consecutive life that flows on beneath the surface of things."

I've written it down numerous times.  I left out "ary" as in momentary, on the piece and think to myself, "well then, that's part of the odd appearance on the surface of things, isn't it."  Other than thinking it needs a bit of black, I'm thinking it's done.

40 Ruby Years

David and I have been married 40 years, today.  We met in San Diego.  I was the secretary at a HUD housing apartment.  David had recently arrived from Massachusetts, with plans to go back and get the woman with whom he was in a relationship.  He was hired to be the maintenance man.  We met, attended a company party together and launched into an affair.  My boss, the manager of the complex, thought our behavior was scandalous and predicted, when we both quit our jobs, that we would never last.

We moved to the San Francisco area, lived there for a year, moved further north to Douglas City.  The house we were renting burned down when we were in Las Vegas for my sister's wedding.  Ultimately we immigrated to Vancouver Island, Canada where our son, Andy, was born.  When David couldn't find work in Canada, we moved back to the US, this time to Washington State where David started working at Boeing.

We moved from Everett to Whidbey Island 33 years ago.  I am blessed to live in a beautiful part of the world, surrounded with people I love, am now retired and able to create art whenever I want.  My husband is my biggest supporter.  He loves me when I am my best and somehow, continues to love me when I am at my worst.  I am so lucky.

Yesterday David played golf.  I sketched and painted.  I gave him the results today.  The 40th anniversary is traditionally celebrated with a ruby gift.  We aren't very traditional - in fact, I have a cold, so our going out to dinner to celebrate will happen in the future.  Happy Anniversary, Dear David.

A Circus I Would Run Away to

Yesterday my husband and I went to see KURIOS, a production of Cirque du Soleil.  I'm trying to remember how many of their shows we've been to and I'm guessing about 6 of them.  This one was different and fabulous.  I loved it.

We went to the matinee and got there about 1/2 hour before the doors opened.  I'd brought my little sketchbook.  Hauled it out and sketched Le Grand Chapiteau.

I didn't capture the benches in front of the big tent, or the stancions, or the crowds.  You'll just have to use your imagination.  And now I'm imagining I'm running away to Montreal to join this circus.

Internet Frustrations

There are times when the internet frustrates me beyond belief.  I have a laptop, on which I am composing this blog.  I also have an iPad.  For the past 1/2 hour I've been trying to book flights to Sacramento for my annual trip to MARS.  Apparently, something is slowing down the interweb so that I cannot access the airline flight reservation page.  Either that, or something else is going on.  As I write this, I've fixed the internet.  Router just needed a reboot.

So, I'll just use this time to post a couple of sketches I've done.  Flowers.  The hellebore grows in my garden and is the only thing blooming this time of year.  Well, it and a viburnum bush that has tiny nondescript flowers.  This is my third sketch of the hellebore.  The first was done from a distance, the second in a vase, and this one when I took it out of the vase, cut off the end, and laid the flower on the table.

Then this morning, after exercising I stopped at the grocery store where a vast array of primroses was available for sale.  I purchased a blue one, brought it home and proceeded to sketch using walnut ink.  I LIKE walnut ink.

Words

I don't have many that I can formulate into coherent thoughts.  Here is sketch I also posted in the Sketchbookery class I'm taking from Mary Ann Moss.  I decided to sketch and paint a mug and tea strainer.  Then I decided I needed a cup of tea so I made Rooibos tea which then got me wondering about what that plant is.  More research and more painting.  I fell down the rabbit hole with this one.

Another Month, Another Post

So how can a month have gone by since I last posted something?  Easy... time flies when you are having fun.  And I'm having fun in my life.  I LOVE being retired.  The longer I'm at it, the better it is.  Not much to say, but boy have I been busy sketching and painting.  Creating spreads in my huge journal for the Documented Life Project, and doing tiny sketches in the little sketchbook my friend Suzanne gave me.  Here are some pics of what I've been doing.

 This was in my Documented Life Project journal.  My book group picks a tarot card every January to act as guidance for us during the year.  I picked the 3 of swords - a really painful card.  And you know what?  It suited me to pick it.  I was going through a LOT of empathetic pain for a couple of friends of mine at the time.  Fortunately, things are better for them, so the pain isn't bad anymore.

 I spent the day with my friend, Kelly, doing art.  I had a good time in her studio.