A Little Bit of Art...and Many Thanks

First let me say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who commented and emailed on my birthday. I truly appreciate every one of your messages. I've had so many that I'm way behind in answering them. It's been the same way IRL. Yesterday I had lunch with two friends from my journal class and I think that wraps up my super busy week. It has been non-stop all week long. Every day I had something to do and that meant no studio time. I'm missing that.

I did manage one journal page that I can share with you for a little bit of art...

Some of the newer people in the journal class asked for a simple, guided instruction for a journal page. I saw something similar to this on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect. I used crayons to color in some circles, then drew around them with a pen, added some black circles in-between, and then wrote over the rest of the page. To make it really simple I chose song lyrics...Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. The words don't apply to my life but it worked for this piece.

Sadly, most of the newer people didn't "get it" at all. They used coins and other circular objects to make "perfect" circles and completely missed the spontaneity of the page. I'll have to keep working on getting them to see that part of journaling.

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This is the only other thing I have to share. It's a photo my daughter took at the Encore Art Show. She recently sent it over to me. 

This photo was taken outside, at night, on the patio of the Palmdale Playhouse so the lighting was terrible. This is me with the Mayor of Palmdale, James C. Ledford, who is serving his eleventh term in office. Mayor Ledford is very supportive of the arts and also of Legacy Commons. And he's a very nice man! He was there for the entire evening and talked with everyone. 

The Big 71...

I don't live anywhere near this highway; it's the Chino Valley Highway... but it is significant to me today, the 264th day of the year. It represents my age as of 7:37 AM (Illinois time)...

This is the year I was born...seems ancient, doesn't it?? If you'd like to know about what the world was like 71 years ago, back in the Dark Ages, you can click here to read a little bit about it. No cell phones, no laptops...people actually had to talk to each other!!  The really good thing about my birth date is that it's also International Day of Peace.

This is me at 10 days old...

and this is me as of yesterday...

Big difference!!

Encore Art Show

Thursday evening was the art reception for Encore at the Palmdale Playhouse and was I ever amazed. It was wall-to-wall people! So many people that you could barely move up and down the area to view the art. Luckily my piece was hanging right at the front...second one on the wall.

Once again all the overhead spotlights wash out my hair and face. It makes my hair just disappear! The good thing is I sold my painting!

After seeing all the entries I knew I didn't have a chance at winning. This is the first place winner...

It was incredible! The detail was just mind boggling. I can see why it won first place and I agree with the judges.

This is the second place winner. It's pretty amazing, too.

This is the third place winner.

This is a charcoal drawing done by my friend, Juanita.

I really like this piece.

This painting was done by a young woman in a wheelchair.

And this is a digital photo.

In person it has a real impact.

We had such a good time and there were so many more wonderful pieces of art. I saw some people from the art shows at Legacy Commons and met some new people, too. My daughter came up for the show and that was nice. There was so much food, wine, soft drinks, etc...here is some of the food...

It was a fun evening and we enjoyed every minute of it. To close things off here's a photo of me and some of my friends, or as HB calls them, "my posse"...

Now I need to get busy and make some more art!!

You're Invited...

This won't do much for most of you but I thought I'd share it anyway.

I don't think there's anyone who reads my blog that lives near me.

This is the announcement of the big celebration...

20 years for The Palmdale Playhouse

and this tells about the Encore art show.

This is where I'll be tomorrow night.

This is my painting that will be on display

from 9/11 - 11/2 this year.

I showed it earlier but here it is again.

A New Bohemian Girl...#10

The studio didn't get as much cleaning as I planned! I got side-tracked (that never happens!) with a new drawing...one of my Bohemian Girls. This is #10...

I think I got carried away with this one! She has a lot going on!

This is my favorite part of the drawing...

all the strands on the left side with beads in between.

I worked on her one evening and a bit the next morning. 

Once I get going they come together fairly fast.

I started calling these girls "Bohemian Girls" at the very beginning but now I'm not so sure that name fits. Any suggestions what I could call this series?? I'm terrible at thinking of titles and names for things. If you come up with a name/title for these girls that I like, and I decide to use it, I'll send you a print of any one of my girls from this series.

Blissful Thinking...

image from Pinterest

My friend, Kate, did a post about what is your bliss. It got me thinking so here are a few of the things I would include on my list:

Curling up with a good book.
Spending time in the studio, just playing.
Sitting quietly on the couch, drawing doodles.
Having my morning "coffee" on the back patio.
And listening to the birds sing.
Having a fire in the fireplace when it's cold and rainy outside.
I also love the smell of wood fires in the fall.
Seeing a beautiful blue sky with white, puffy clouds.
Enjoying a bowl of ice cream in the evening.
Seeing people respond to a smile.
The fresh smell after a rain.
When one of my cats curls up beside me and purrs.
Smelling the jasmine in the back yard.
Having people respond to my art.
Spending hours and hours in a book store or library.

These are just some of the things I'd put on my list. What brings you bliss? Care to share?

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Today HB is helping me put a very simple frame on a painting...my painting "In the Garden of Fun" was accepted for an upcoming art show!! So many fun things are happening, so there's even more to add to my bliss list.

What Have I Been Up To??

I've been busy this past week. It seems as if I have something I have to do (or want to do) every day of the week. Plus I always have so many projects going on. I get bored if I do the same thing all the time. So here's a sample of a few of the WIPs I've got going right now...

Drawing a new BohoGirl...

Doing some crochet...

don't you love those colors!

A drop-stitch scarf from scrap yarn...

I'm a beginner knitter so don't look too close!

Some background papers...

Let's go into my studio and see what's happening...

don't mind all the stuff stacked everywhere on the floor!

Oops! I forgot to clean up my studio before you got here!

I only have this little patch of space left on my work table.

I guess you know what I'll be doing today!!

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My journal class is Monday and that will mark one year since I started it. The only time we haven't had a class is when a holiday lands on Monday. I have several people who have been there from the beginning and some new people who have joined in along the way. I keep expanding the things I'm teaching them. I think it's getting to be more of a mixed media class which is fine with me. I let everyone guide me as to what they're interested in learning and I go from there.

Now I'm off to do something with that messy studio!! 

Have a good weekend...

Going With the Flow...

Here in the US today is a holiday...it's Labor Day and the "official" end of summer. Unfortunately the weather doesn't know that around here! I hope wherever you are you're enjoying the day.

I've just been drawing. I did a bit of painting a couple of days ago but nothing is finished yet. So here's what I do have to share with you...

Flora

9"x 12"

 I'm never going for any particular thing when I draw these. I just make a line and start adding things to it. I started this drawing with a long "S" line right down the middle of the page. I'm sure you can see it if you look. Start at the tip of that "petal" at the top middle and follow the line of circles down. It connects to the center where another line of circles curves down towards the middle bottom. That was my starting point. This one wanted to be some kind of flower after I got started with it, hence the name Flora. I think I could draw these in my sleep! I never think too much when I'm dong them. I just let my pen go where it wants to go. Do you find that happening when you draw or paint?