sketch 18 of 365-face

oh christmas tree

Trees are among my favorite holiday things. I love all kinds of trees in every season, and I particularly love evergreens and twinkly lights during the holidays. I have a little "forest" of trees set up on my front porch this year to celebrate the season, and it inspired this sketch.

sketch 17 of 365 - face

won't you light my candle

For those who visit daily, you will know I did not post this on Thursday, but I did create the original sketch on Thursday, so I am going to try to back date the posting. I just ran out of time and steam yesterday and did not have a chance to color and post my sketch...

Sketch 16 of 365 - face

drummer girl

I discovered recently that I love drums -- particularly djembe drums and bongos that you play by hand. I love everything about them, from the craftsmanship and the feel of them beneath my hand, to the amazing sounds they make when held in different ways and beaten on different parts of their surface. Like a heartbeat, I feel it right at my core. It is an activity that keeps me very much in the present moment, and I think that is part of why it feels so satisfying. That, and the fact that it stimulates so many of the senses at once.

 I have no formal training in music of any kind, but that has never stopped me from beating my drum.

It reminds me of a quote I once read --
The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.

PS - Thank you Nate, for the drum. I have cherished it every day since you left it with me.

Sketch 15 of 365 - face

she paints

 

 

... and yet she does not walk, because she still has no legs!!! Thank you for your input. For now, I will not break my stride by giving her one. As I write this, my house is an artistic mess. I have walnut-ink stained shipping tags drying all over baking racks on the kitchen counters, and some holiday gifts and ornaments in the making at my art table.

 

I don't know why I wait until December is barreling down on me to finally get started with things, but I certainly know I am not alone in this pre-holiday frenzy, so perhaps that is a part of it. I ride this creative wave in the universe along with the rest of you!! I wish you all peaceful, artful days, even amidst the chaos!!

 

Sketch 14 of 365 - face

free

 

 

...An ironic title for a girl with no legs or feet, don't you think?

 

With two weeks of sketches behind me, I should push it to the next level and give her feet. But I am enjoying the process of drawing, and the thought of having to draw shoes takes away some of the joy, so I may continue with strategically cropped images for awhile.

 

 

 

Sketch 13 of 365 - face

Colorful scarves, cozy sweaters, and hot coffee. Some of the many blessings of winter. I am watching little flurries of snow outside my window as I type, while contemplating a second cup of pumpkin spice coffee, and starting the fireplace long before evening. The weekend has brought with it very chilly temperatures, and I have not yet adapted to the change of seasons.

Warm wishes to you, my friends!

girl with mug

Sketch 12 of 365 - face

While millions were out shopping yesterday, I stayed home and brought Christmas decorations down from the attic. I usually don't decorate much, but this year is ending on a pretty high note for me, so I am feeling festive. I have not accomplished much yet, but this sketch is in the spirit of Christmas preparation...

deck the halls

Sketch 11 of 365 - face

In spite of the fact that I loathe shopping on black Friday, and have not braved the crowds on this day in years, this sketch seemed appropriate.

I do love satchels!... and pocketbooks and purses and knapsacks... and bags of all kinds, really. and I have an orange pocketbook that bears a resemblance to this one..although a more realistic sketch would show me up to my elbows in its cavernous black interior, forever searching for my glasses, my cell phone, and my lipstick. It is a cute but cavernous hell hole, really.

Good luck to those of you who enjoy being in close company with strangers more than I. Please do your part for the economy. And in the wise words of Ellen... be kind to one another!! ...I can't, and that is why I am here.

Sketch 10 of 365 - face

Happy Thanksgiving my blogging friends -- especially Fran and Marilyn and Sherry, who visit so faithfully.

 

I am thankful for so much every day, but I will try to be even more conscious of all that I have today. Most especially, I am thankful for the people who share my life. They sustain me.

 

I will be bringing my Grammy Mac's (McElroy) recipe for rutabegas to our thanksgiving dinner. We call them turnips, by the way, but the supermarket tells me that we've been calling them by the wrong name my whole life. Even though I have enjoyed them for decades, I could not tell you what a rutabega actually tastes like. And this is why:

 

Grammy Mac's turnips

2 large rutabegas, peeled & chopped

1 pound bacon, crispy (and save all the pan drippings)

1 stick butter

salt & pepper to taste

 

Boil rutabegas until fork tender (like potatoes.) Mash up with butter, & drippings from one pound of cooked bacon. Break bacon into little bits & add whole pound to rutabegas. Add salt (if necessary) and pepper, to taste.

 

They are smoky and salty and delicious, and this is why I have no idea what a rutabega really tastes like. Grammy Mac hailed from Augusta, Georgia, and most of her recipes called for bacon grease, crisco, butter or all three. And I miss her, especially on holidays.

 

 

Love letters

 

Sketch 9 of 365- face

Okay, this is what results when I sketch while watching the American Music Awards (on DVR). In truth, I was just too lazy to pencil in a civilized hairdo, so the rest of her personna just followed suit.

 

Peace.

 

Sketch 8 of 365 - face

Harvest

 

 

Sketch 7 of 365- face

wish

 

 

I wish all of my readers (yes, all THREE of you :o) -- a wonderful Thanksgiving week, filled with family, friends, food and fun -- unless of course, you don't like your family, have no friends, are allergic to food and well, let's face it, if that's the case, fun is kind of a long shot.

 

I plan to continue posting sketches during this time. I am assembling a digital porfolio, of sorts, with plans in the works for some prints and greeting cards after the new year. More to come!

Sketch 6 of 365 - face

I give you my heart on my sleeve

 

Sketch 5 of 365 - face

I am experiencing a lightness of being these days. I was not aware that I was carrying around so much worry and baggage, but I definitely was. And now I am not. And I think that is why I am able to draw again. In spite of the chilly weather, this drawing has a spring-like feel, which reflects my mood. Light and springy, new beginnings.

 

I want to make a life, and not just a living, doing what I really, really love (no, not wine taster, the other thing I love -- and no not that either. the OTHER thing I love). This. Drawing, coloring, writing -- hopefully inspiring, entertaining.

 

 

Sketch 4 of 365 - face

 





 

tree hugger

Sketch 3 of 365 - face

Today's sketch and Photoshop alteration...I am enjoying the theme of faces right now. I'm not sure how long I will stick to this theme, but as long as my pencil is willing, I am. I have always loved drawing girls. I posted yesterday's sketch on my Facebook page, and several friends commented that it was a self-portrait (sans wine glass). It was not my intention, but I can see it in the eyes, I guess. Another friend reminded me that we used to make forelorn looking paperdolls all the time. I had forgotten that, but it demystified the urge to draw girls. It's something I've done since I was a girl. I grew up surrounded by sisters, aunts, and girl cousins, so it's what I know.

So when I began this self-challenge, I blamed technology for frittering away a good deal of time I could be using to make art, and I mentioned Pinterest among those time-wasters -- but I really should have mentioned Facebook as the least productive and most destructive for me...because I really don't consider Pinterest a waste of time. In fact, I think is an amazing tool for creative inspiration in every aspect of my life. That may be me rationalizing, but for now, I defend Pinterest vehemently. Digital vision boards, people!!!! (right?)

...And for some Facebook may also be all good, but not the way I use it -- to check out photos of acquaintances I have barely known in 20 years, and read their inane to do lists -- and post my own photos and my own inane comments. Not all good, I am here to confess. I debate whether to sign off of FB permanently all the time, but I am just too nosy. (and it has reconnected me with a handful of very good, old friends.)

And I am not saying that I am going to stop. What I am doing is calling myself to account for the fact that if I have time to engage in activities that are so useless to any of my real goals and yield nothing productive, then I ALSO have time to make art. And so...

Sketch 2 of 365 - face

Thank you to two of my most faithful blog visitors for your encouraging words. It has been a long time, and I cannot say that I have spent it all well. Although I am a huge fan of technology... iPhones and iPods and Pinterest, and Words with Friends (to name just a few) I have found myself spending far too much time as an observer of others' creations and not enough on my own... so here's day two. I thought it would be more interesting to share the original sketch and then the Photoshop version.

So fun to put pencil to paper again. Like an old friend, it is a comfortable way to spend some time...

Sketch 1 of 365 - face

After not posting for months, I am trying to post a piece of original art every day, for a year, starting today. I should probably not set myself up like that -promising a year... so maybe I'll just say, for the rest of this year :-) ...we'll see...I need some kind of kick in the pants, artistically speaking, so here goes.

I sketched this at my desk at work today, then took a photo of it, then altered it in Photoshop.

I'm baaaack!

I cannot promise that I'll stay, but I have missed my blog as a vehicle for expression and creativity, and I've missed all of you out there who visit, and whom I visited online, so here I am. It has been a busy year -- aren't they all? for all of us? Just refinanced my house after four years of financial turmoil following my divorce, and it is like the weight of the world has finally been lifted. Aaaaah.

Imagining your best life,  the law of attraction, blah, blah, blah.

If you haven’t heard of the law of attraction, you’ve clearly been living under a very large rock. But if you’re now reading this, then you are probably not under a rock anymore since I am guessing it would be dark and difficult to read under a very large rock. Not to mention extremely uncomfortable.

Anyway, my biggest hurdle in recent years in visualizing and attracting my best life has been knowing what exactly my best life would be – seeing, specifically, in my mind’s eye, my perfect life. Most experts on the subject advise us to be specific, and that’s where I always get bogged down in too many choices and details, which would explain why I have felt like I was in a sort of holding pattern for a long time.

Just a few years ago, I knew exactly what I wanted. Or didn’t want any longer. And once I set my mind to the task of shedding what didn’t work anymore, it was gone. Almost that quickly. And this week was another example. So I know this stuff works, which is why I want so much to decide what I want -- but it' the deciding that always mucks me up. Sooo many choices!!! -- Of course, as we get older life weed out some choice for us - I am clearly never going to be a ballerina -- actually, youth probably wouldn't have helped me with that one either -- but still, there are soo many things I have yet to do in this life, and I need to pick something!!

So today I had a sort of epiphany. In trying to imagine my best life, I was thinking too big. I was trying to imagine the whole package at once -- home, partner, job, vacation, car, financial situation -- to name a few – but all at once, and I would get stuck on so many details that my perfect life would short circuit and I would be left with so many questions about what I wanted that I could not form a clear vision.

Even though I have big dreams, I am going to dream small! I will focus my energy on one small dream at a time...

Meanwhile,  I really do still have to get ready for work. It may not be my next dream job but it's a really good one that I am very grateful to have!!