What a world

What a world.  These two items came in the mail today. The National Geographic says that 25,000 elephants were killed last year. The Knit Picks catalog has pretty photos of yarn and yarn colors.

I've been meaning to research the elephant situation. I guess Nat Geo has done it for me.  I can't even bear to take the wrapper off.  I'll read it during a short trip we're taking to the coast for our 15th wedding anniversary which is today!

It's so distressing. I want to just look at the yarn catalog and enjoy myself.  But the title of the Nat Geo cover is so shocking, I can't think of anything else.

What can we do? I live in the NW corner of the United States of America.  We don't allow ivory imports. The Oregon Zoo has had a breeding program for 50 years. Packy, the patriarch, was born in April 1962, a couple of days before me.  The zoo is expanding the elephant area by six fold over the next couple of years to continue their research and so that their 6 or 10 elephants can be as happy as possible.  Meanwhile, elsewhere, slaughter is happening.

In art news, I did not complete a project in August. Work, unexpected company and an unexpected wedding intervened. I do sketch almost everyday, and bills are getting paid, so onward.

4 months and 50

A pleasant interlude via a neighbor's garden.

Art, job, taxes, money, love. I have a lot of love in my life, my job keeps me busy and will bring in money to pay the taxes. Art is always there but not always active.

I've been pondering the fact that if I choose to forgive my parents and other people in my past, then what I'm left with is that I'm in control of and responsible for my life.  Me, alone.  Sigh.  What a big responsibility.

As I look around at my messy office, studio, house, finances and realize it's all my own doing, I kind of want to hide under the covers and not come out.  The good news is that it's all fixable!

That's what I've been thinking about as I turn 50 and 1/3 years old next week.  I do have a goal to have some art made by the end of August.  Three weeks? We'll see!

Post Card Swap Part 3

Love this - and it came in a cool stitched envelope.

This one is a sketch book! How awesome is that? It arrived today on my birthday. I love it - so happy for the sweet gift.

PostCard Swap 2012 Part 2

The first one came in clear plastic and has stamps from Denmark, France and Cambodia on the front. It was sent from Maryland and the US stamp has a black marker through it as cancellation. (Cool for postal geeks).

I love the fish stamps and sense of depth.

Then we have minimalist art in blue - really lovely and intense color from Seattle.

Finally, a card that came sewn up in book pages from England! I love the heart with the writing through it - I want to steal that idea.

Fortunately, this batch seems to have been created using acrylic paint or other waterproof ink. I was munching on a scone and looked over to see Honey the dog drooling all over the pile of cards! I wiped them off and they look fine.

There are still a few more to show. I, ahem, need to get a little more organized first.

Post Card Swap 2012

These are a couple of the postcards I made for iHanna's PostCard swap. The weather didn't cooporate for the inkodye or cyanotypes I wanted to do, so I printed negatives of my dog Honey with the inkjet printer on watercolor paper. Brushed over the top was a combination of reflective and duochrome paints from Daniel Smith. They caused the inkjet ink to run a bit. I added washi tape, and hearts cut from a quotations book, also painted. On the back, more washi tape and a punched stamp with my doggie on it. They were sent out in envelopes since they wouldn't make it through the mail on their own. I sent them to people in the USA, Sweden, Italy and Australia.

Here are a couple that I received.

A beautiful sewn fabric card, a gorgeous little hand painted birdie on a metallic background, and a very involved stamped and painted card. Love them all!

More photos tomorrow.

Sketches, play and rest

The paint is flowing a bit more nowadays.  The first painting I tried to do of this fading poinsettia had everything wrong - overpainting, muddy, stiff.

Then I loosened up a bit and managed to bring in a bit of light with this sketch painting.

This next one was done free-hand with a size 36 round brush (BIG brush).

Using Charles Reid's "Painting Flowers in Watercolor" (I have a copy for my Kindle Fire - which is very exciting), I practiced some of his techniques.  He paints alla prima (get it down the first time). The rule is no re-stating of darks.  If you don't get it right the first time, too bad!

I used a lot of water and paint, so I didn't have a lot of control, but I had a lot of fun!

Daniel Smith paints on rough India-made paper. Khadi brand.


My progress on Martha Beck's A Wild New World so far.  Well, I've been trying to Play and Rest.  It's quite easy to play, rest, play, rest.  I don't seem to have any issues with this part of the plan.  However, of course, there are lots of other things to do during the day.  If the tax receipts need to be finished, does she mean mark up the bank statements with a fat, purple marker (tried it - it was fun for 5 minutes,) or does she mean just send it all out and have someone else deal with it?

Dishes?  OK, if I'm chilly, playing in the sudsy water can be a joy, but only for a short time, then it's drudgery.. 

Work, as in job work.  Hmm - how to make this one follow the rules?  I'll tell you one way - I slept Friday afternoon. I slept Saturday afternoon.  Sunday, I slept in later in the morning, and then passed out for about an hour around 7 pm. I didn't get any "work" done.  However, by Tuesday, I felt much less resistent to the work I had to do.  Last night, late, I was preparing for a meeting.  I took a 20 minute break, realized that I didn't need to pull an all nighter as long as I had an outline, finished and was in bed by 1 am.  Today the meeting went well.

So, I think 3 days of napping are a good pre-requisite to a few days of working!

I haven't researched the elephant situation, but it's still on my list.

Two great books

Oh, am I a big Martha Beck fan. When I read any of her self-improvement books, I feel such hope and joy, followed immediately by searing anger. White hot, searing anger. I'm not sure at what or whom, but probably at myself for not living the best life I can live. I've spent a lot of time being unhappy with parts of my life; really suffering in my twenties.

She tells us to play and rest, and forget everything else (well, not really. Actually, yes really.) It's a great prescription. I know it's the right way. I've been fighting against the answer my whole life, trying to conform and do what the rest of the people I know do. Even when I've gone off and worked for myself, I'm still trying to fit in.

The title of her latest book is

Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want

by Martha Beck. Available at your local bookstore and through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, on your Kindle and Nook.

Martha, among other things, is saving animals in Africa. Lately, I've been thinking about the decimation of the Elephants in southeast Asia. She gives me hope (although I can't believe we still have to worry about them.)

I've read this book completely through only once so far. I'll keep coming back to it this year and see how I progress with finding my way in a wild new world and reclaim my true nature to create the life I want. ;-)

The second book is an example of a person who followed his interests to create great things. Gabi Campanario is a journalist who was born in Spain and now lives in Seattle with his family. He liked to sketch and connect with other sketchers around the world, so he started the UrbanSketchers.org website.
That led to Urban Sketcher conferences (Portland, Lisbon - and next in the Dominican Republic), scholarships for the conferences and now a full-fledged, beautiful book.

It brings together works from many of the original artists on the site, and adds a lot of information on the drawings, work methods, materials and sketching on location. There is background on each artist, tips, and even a notation of the time it took to draw and paint the sketch. Lots to look at and enjoy.

The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Around The World
by Gabriel Campanario, also available at all of the usual places.