Seeing Spots

This is one of my favorite times of year. The skies are (mostly) clear, the trees have leafed out creating dense shade and/or are working hard on creating next year's harvest of fruit. The pool is almost ready for the first swim of the season.
Pollen is flying everywhere. Everything is some shade of yellow.
And just when I started working on my most creative project of the whole calendar, I caught the flu bug. I thought I was in the clear, but noooooo! So, I sent off the appropriate forms to get extensions on filing all those tax papers. Yes, I waited until the last possible moment, as always.
[Dear Mr. IRS, Please note: I take it as my responsibility to pay my fair share of the tax burden and as such, do not get "creative," if that's what you're thinking. But do tell, what, exactly, does the Paperwork Reduction Act actually "do?" because I'm not seeing it!].
Thus, I'm glad I started working on some of these challenges--am I alone in disliking the word "challenges" to describe the art prompts? There must be a better word--last week or maybe two ago.
Over at EIM, the word is ladybug. I like seeing ladybugs as they are known to consume aphids, which attack my roses and some other plants. I can count how many I see each year; I'm up to "one."
My take on the theme:

I didn't follow the Diva to the letter of the law, but rather loosely painted watercolours with some splatter and splotches. Done with Sakura Koi paints and after that dried, my trusty Sharpie:

Then we get to the TwobyTwo. The keyword is..."key." I didn't take it too literally. If you've stopped by over the past couple months, you may have read about my son and his autism. He is a very fortunate and high functioning young man. What we're trying to do is help him negotiate this new part of his identity (his reaction to the official diagnosis was, "But I don't FEEL different!") as well as put together the pieces of his puzzle that will help him achieve his definition of success in this world.
It's also happens to be Autism Awareness Month and the logo for the biggest organization working on autism is a blue puzzle piece.
What that means to me is that I'm doing a LOT of reading, everything from biographies of autistics, scientific and medical treatises (is that the plural of the word?) and cookbooks.
And playing with puzzle pieces.

So there you have my contributions this week. Only fair, the IRS has theirs.
Thanks for visiting, have a brilliant day! Be sure to check out the creativity to be found at the other artist blogs and how they interpret these "challenges."

Life...Happens

I'm sorry I haven't been very communicative lately. It's been very...interesting in our sphere lately.

I really don't wish "interesting" on anybody. 

The year started off with Gil's mom passing and without much further ado, his father quickly followed. They had lived to be 90, but sickness and frailty had become their common visitors. We didn't see them often as they were 2300 miles away, but we were able to see his dad before he died. 

I think they had been married for almost 70 years. 

The task now is to clear out not one, but two homes stocked to the rafters with the accumulation of all that togetherness. Be still my hoarder heart!

There will be fewer "work" days and more travel in our future. 

Closer to home, my son is being examined for being autistic, or more correctly where on the spectrum of Autistic Spectrum Disorder does he place? He's highly-functioning; he's articulate, he's friendly, he holds a job, he's 26 years-old. We're working with individuals to see if there are state-funded programs that can help TJ. We'll find out later today if he's eligible. (Even if he isn't, there has been the offer to steer us toward other resources, so it's all good). It's been hours of interviews, evaluations and enough paperwork to fell a forest, not to mention the literature I've been consuming on the matter. 

It's been hard to focus. 

But, perhaps, just maybe...

This little bitty came about from the TwobyTwo prompt of "peppermint." Just the word conjures little candies with red stripes (my favorites are pink with cinnamon, too) or refreshing mojitos (it's been perfect weather for frosty recreational beverages, or FRBs in our house). 

This is not what I call refreshing nor perfect, but you know how the sub-conscience sneaks in and around, right? It's supposed to be swirly with red stripes. And why is the only word that can be read say, "purple?" Made with an encyclopedia entry for peppermint and torn paper painted with nail polish:

Even though it's nothing like I expected, I like it. I liked the process and the result even if it's nothing like "peppermint!"

Proof Positive

I just finished reading a book by Dana White titled, "How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind." It's a hilarious take on real-world cleaning strategies. (Spoiler alert: Do the dishes).
I'm sure you're thinking why would anyone as organized as I need to read about home management?
HA!
In reality I'm just a crazy old cat lady hoarder-in-training. I mean, I don't even have one cat yet! I'm not so old! But if there were need of any proof that I have the hoarder thing going on, here is my entry to the Every Inchie Monday this week:

This is a clipping of a child's sweater from the Fall 1999 issue of Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine. I'm not sure why I still have the periodical, my knitting skills are not very, well, skillful. One of these days I'll actually knit a sweater. Maybe. It won't be that one.

For the Diva challenge this week:

The objective, to use Hamadox in a sentence (Ah ha!). Here, I put a few tried and true tangles to work. I'm really enjoying drawing with Prismacolor colored pencils and I'm trying to keep notes of which colors I'm using for future reference. (Yeah, like keeping a knitting magazine that is soooo last century. But, you have to admit, it came in handy this week!).

My last entry is for the TwobyTwo, where the word is "news." I like reading and am grateful that I can access whatever it is I need to know on the Internet. Otherwise, the papers might pile up ad infinitum. It could get out of hand.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a brilliant day.
I have to go do the dishes now.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Since Life as we know it can be weird and coincidental, it really was no surprise that the EIM and the 2X2 had similar themes this week. For the TwobyTwo, the word was "Astronomy."

Since life gets really weird sometimes, I recently received some mail that fit perfectly. 

We're particularly fond of Pluto, even if it was downgraded from full planet status; it was at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff that Pluto's existence was first revealed in 1930. Last year, the New Horizon satellite took close-ups of Pluto before leaving the Solar System and the observatory was in celebration mode all year. (The plastic bead is meant to represent the satellite. Do you think that works? I'm not so sure and haven't committed to it yet!)

The stamp arrived on mail last week for a different celebration. According to my dad's calculations, I'm going to be 37. I could live with that!

Over at the EIM, the word is "Infinity." I had nowhere else to go with this one. I pasted Buzz on a photo of the M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. If you're a geek like me, APOD is one of my favorite blogs, care of NASA, from whence I found the galaxy photograph.

Over at the Diva, the challenge was to step back, relax and just do the tangle. I stepped into the zone slowly. I gathered some "real" art supplies for a change (Faber Castell Pitt Manga markers and Strathmore paper instead of my usual journal and Sharpies), as part of the intent of Zentangle is to honor the method as well as the materials; to place value on the process and the result.
To experience unmitigated JOY!

I said some prayers to Rick and Maria, the founders of all things Zentangle and to Laura, the Diva herself. You know? To instill a feeling of gratefulness. I added Jean next to my list as she was the first CZT I found on-line and how I found the Diva and the EIM. Naturally, I then prayed for Trillian, the leader of the EIM and the entire pack that tackles teenie artworks on a weekly basis. Then back to all the creatives I've met through Laura.

Oh! My heart is full to overflowing!

I poured a cuppa, cleared my desk and was instantly derailed by the antique cuckoo clock that was recently resurrected. The ticking drives me BATTY! (I won't start about the midnight cuckoos)! 

Deep breath. 

I asked the Universe for healing that comes with FOCUS. 

I drew the most complicated string I've ever done because that's the way it wanted to be and the tangles filled the spaces and the world slipped away for just ever so long. 

Then I reproduced that string and did it the old-fashioned way, for me anyway. Just me and my Sharpie (two, actually, as one was destined for the great Dustbin in the Sky).

I drew it in this orientation:

But, when I was done I rotated it and much prefer this direction:

I "do" this with "Knightsbridge"--checkerboard in Zentanglese-- often JFF*, but this was the first time I restrained myself from filling in EVERY. LAST. CORNER.

It had reached its "enough-ness." 

Since you were so kind to stop by, I've posted the string in all its glory on the G2H page. Should you decide to use it, show me your handiwork--I'd love to see it!-- and be so kind to link it back to the page where you found it. 

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have a brilliant day! 

* Just for Fun

Of Petunias and Mice and Things

I have a funny story about a boatload of purple petunias and ex-in-laws. I just never really found it funny.

When they were planning a visit, my ex informed me his mother really loved purple petunias. As we were spiffing up the place, I potted up tons of them to decorate the porch and the patios. She had no idea what they were, was not much impressed by the flowers or the effort and barely spent any time outside enjoying the gardens.

You may really like purple or petunias, but I fall squarely into the camp that finds purple overwhelming and petunias a lot of trouble.

And all that applies to certain people, too.

All of which came to mind when "petunia" popped up for the word at EIM:

This week, it's "Mice."

The word for the week at the 2 x 2 is "jewel." The toughest part of this black-on-black drawing  of a scarab beetle was making it all show up.

I kept the black paper out for the Diva this week, a focus on "Centre Square."

That's fluorescent gel pen with free-form squares.

And finally posting last week's:

That's coffee splotched on there.

I did last week's IAST, too:

The combination of "Fengle" and "Shattuck" naturally lent itself to a starfish and sealife. I was transported to Dunedin, Florida; a glorious trip to the Gulf Coast a few years ago and watching the sunset from the seashell strewn beach.

For this week, it was a hurricane for inspiration. While my relatives were battling what was left of Hermine, we had Newton. And aftershocks from an earthquake. And a fire. Nothing major,  mind you, but it was getting a little too exciting there for a bit.

Speaking of excitement, this was drawn while waiting in the ER with my daughter for test results. It appears she is the epitome of good health except for some stress-related symptoms. We think she'll be better when she stops eating In-and-Out burgers at 2 AM. (Or, as we found ourselves at Denny's afterwards for Grand Slam breakfasts in the wee hours. It was good. But we are tired).

 Lastly, as I had threatened previously, the finished poem to water for that 2 x 2:

There's a joke in our household about arroyos or desert streams. New River is so new they forgot the water! Arroyos are dry river beds until it rains (And then, watch out!). So, I just HAD to add the "just add water" part. Along with glitter, fabric paint and an antique rhinestone. I can't say if it's an improvement or not; I sure used a bunch of different materials.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoy what I share with you. Please take a moment to check out the other artists that tackle these challenges and perhaps? Try your hand at drawing, collage, zentangle or whatever intrigues you. Especially the TwobyTwobyTuesday! Next time it's "astronomy."

While you ponder the stars (or next year's total eclipse of the sun here in the States!), I wish you the "just right" amount of excitement and a brilliant day! c

Putting My Heart into It

I was kind of ahead of myself, again, last week while I was speaking of "rain" before the EIM this week. The week before last we had rain and have had none since. This is our rainy season; we should be getting rain.

Instead, this is what we're getting:

We're not even getting virga, also known as phantom rain--it doesn't even touch the ground!

I'm not so secretly praying for rain as we're tinder dry and forest fires are a reality. So far, so good.

Other than that, this is what I have to give to you, my world, this week:

It's a collage specifically for the Two by Two. And a personal statement and challenge to do what I must.
What is YOUR "must?"
Have a brilliant day!

It Takes a Village

I'm reading "Your Personal Renaissance," by Diane Dreher. Her suggestions sometimes veer into woo-woo territory, but it's on my to-do list to be a more centered, a more complete me. The current chapter is about adding creativity to my life and I'm kind of full-up right now. I'm at the "Big White Tents" surrounded by amazing artwork every day I'm there and I am a self-supporting artist.
But I do want to try to tackle the art challenges more thoroughly and in various forms and add more art to my life, not just the work-related stuff.

First up, EIM; the word for the week is, "village." I know the reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I peeked at some of the other ladies and their work. Cute little buildings in cute little villages. Uh, nope, not working for me.

READY?!

I just HAD to tackle it this way!

Next would be the Two by Two for the week. My response to the challenge was this collage piece:

I don't know how many solicitations I get every week to spend my money or for credit card applications. So I took some of those goodies the mailman brought and added a moth sticker, as in my wallet has not much more than moths floating out of it. (Nope, didn't win that massive lottery week before last, did you?).

For the Diva, I picked up a string I drew four months ago but did nothing with. This is 100 as a string:

A tad too minimalist, but I think I'm channeling the precepts if not the efforts. I'm going to try re- doing "Nymph," using my Zentangle gift to the world. You can, too, by checking out this post.

In other news, we're almost done the dining room, except for the flooring which we haven't picked out yet. We're moving right along, having ordered up a gas stove and microwave. It's going to mean we're out of a dishwasher for a bit as we're doing a total rearrangement of the kitchen proper.

It's so wonderful to have a plumber in the family. Just so long as he's not a Village People plumber.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Be sure to check out what all those talented folks are doing at those other challenges. Feel free to poke around and try your hand, too, at making some art!

Have a brilliant day!

Life is a Circus

This is monsoon season. It's hot and steamy and I'm not used to it. Lived plenty of years near the shore with plenty of humidity, but it's not what the desert is usually like. Except for this time of year. This is what "siestas" are for--work early in the day or late at night and rest in the middle.
Otherwise, you have no energy.
Funny that the word of the week for  EIM is "energy."
The first thing that I thought of was the notation, "NRG." It litters my science notebooks from school, a shorthand of sorts from the seventies. From there my brain went to the Kreb's cycle, or how we generate energy on a sub-cellular level. I wasn't going to try to cram that diagram into a square-inch or even try to wrap my way-past-academia brain around it. (I'll leave that to my sister, the Professor--she gets paid to do that).
I have a bunch of other ideas, instead:

Solar Flare from pcmag.com, Turning water and sunlight into food and oxygen from science.jrank.org and
"IVY MIKE," the first successful hydrogen bomb, 1952 from CTBTO

No original work amongst the choices thus far, so I reached little further...

I've been reading about solar power. In Arizona we have a wealth of it (330 sunny days per year!); it's just a matter of turning it into usable power. It would be fabulous to live off-grid! However, the electric company has instituted a nasty surcharge on homes with solar panels and solar companies are not keen on mobile-home installations. Federal tax incentives have expired and the value of solar homes is less than comparable homes without it. I found this in the venerable Arizona Republic Saturday (Valley and State, p. 1F, "Rooftop Solar: Does it add Value to your Home?" by Ryan Randazzo and Catherine Reagor).
The accompanying photograph was a riot of patterns just waiting for me! (You just never know from whence inspiration may come!) Now we're getting somewhere!

Solar Roof Installation
Rachael Le Goubin/The Arizona Republic

Let's start with some zinchies!

Then move along to a bunch of twinchies!

SOLAR

Still have that SOLAR theme going on!
Then on to other ideas....

Lavender Fields
My first set of four Somethings
Found papers, 
Acrylic paint and beads

Based on an idea from
EIM and ICAD

And onto all the Zentangly choices I can muster:

TM3 No. 005

Singing in the Rain
DIVA 226

Fried Eggs
IAST 102

I was still trying to muster that "enoughness" idea from last week. It took everything I had to NOT fill in that white space for the "String Thing." In fact, in disclosure the Diva art is my second attempt. The first one was so absolutely crazy it was a real circus. I may post that over on Flickr, but this has been a week and I'm done for now!
Thanks so much for dropping by! I appreciate the company as much as I appreciate the individuals that put the effort into creating the various challenges and prompts to get the creative juices flowing.
Have a brilliant day!

Know Thyself

Some of you may have met me via other internet adventures, particularly the art challenge blog Every Inchie Monday or the Diva's Zentangle challenge or even Reduce Footprints, a true challenge to live a better life all around. But today you probably found me by way of the twinchie challenge, Two by Two by Tuesday, that I also host.
I've been having a real field day creating the bi-weekly art prompts. I like seeing the art hit my inbox. It's so uplifting. I don't like to think of it as a challenge, but rather as a much-needed deadline for creating. I'm a bit of a procrastinator, always pushing my calendar to
THE. VERY. LAST. MINUTE.
Sleeping Man has been reminding me that we have a trip coming up. Tahoe for a wedding. Driving in the convertible. It will be a blast, I'm sure. But it's a lot of miles and it's a teenie little car, so packing is going to be fun. NOT. We're the photographers, so there's ton of equipment going. And what will I wear? The trunk is just large enough for my shoe collection, let alone technology.
What this means is I'm actually working ahead.
HA! ME!?!
So, for the art prompt, "Favorite Things," here goes:

I found this project very emotional. You see, during my fiftieth year on this planet, I had several surgical procedures. I knew my anesthesiologist by first name, that kind of thing. One of the surgeries didn't go so well and I've been living with pain ever since. That year, my friend Barbara gave me a little necklace with a pendant that read, "Strength." That same year she was in a car accident that has left her in pain, too, and she thought I could use a boost. I wore it for exactly one year, took it off on the day my divorce was finalized, quit the painkillers cold turkey and put the charm with some other little tokens that I have carried with me everywhere.
Until now.

Strength
Ledger paper, stamp, fabric, fortune, pendant, shell,
puzzle piece with pearl

I put them all together in a collage for this particular challenge. It's actually too big to meet the criteria, so my official response is a "brown paper package tied up in string," as you can see.

Brown Paper Package
tied up with String

Have you been humming the music from the "Sound of Music?" Me, too!
The other four collages that you see there are ones I have worked on as I've been doing the twinchie challenges. While I have all these materials out, I  might as well make more, right? Actually, I tend to make them in sets of three. I put these together about the same time:

Counting the Days
Ephemera, calendar, paper,
Zentangles with found objects

Just the one, "Strength," is exceptionally unique and deeply personal. And I'm fairly certain I'm not sticking it on the refrigerator with the others (for one thing, I'm running out of space!) I don't need a reminder of the pain as that doesn't go away, but I am emboldened by how far I've come in five years: we have a house--with no mortgage!, we have each other; we are blessed.
Have a brilliant, sunny day! c

Fire!

This is a subject I've played with before, based on a prompt at "Every Inchie Monday." You can see how far off-base I got the last time here.
This time, however, I got kind of political/outspoken--like THAT never happens!--and for the TwobyTwo challenge, "wildfire" was the word of the day, today. I may have scared some people off by my commentary, but I hope that's not the case.
I chose the particular prompt because it hits very close to home.

These are my official responses to the 2x2:

Forest Fire
Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) on Canson pastel paper
Sampson, Meringue and CO2

On Account of Fire
Collage of Ephemera
Accounting ledger, Magazines, Dictionary and Pastel paper

I've seen some of the work that has come in for this challenge and it thrills me to see the artwork in my inbox. Please take the time to check out the art created for the Two by Two by Tuesday challenge and perhaps? consider participating, too!
I'll be getting to all the other drawings and all that I've been working on....I have to scan a bunch of "stuff" first! Have a brilliant day!

Teenie Venus

One of my favorite paintings of the Renaissance period is Boticelli's Venus de Milo. She's beautiful and the colors are fantastic. I also have a love-hate-love relationship with Leonardo diVinci. I love him for the mind he had to wrap around geometry and some of his inventions. So I knew I just had to work this out somehow. The resulting digital collage has a layer of mica built in to add even more age to the images that make it look more like stone than paper, paint and canvas. Because, stone is ageless.

Yes, I did some editing of Vetruvius Man; I didn't want to be accused of some pornographic message but I also didn't want to have to put pants on him, although that could be a humorous take on the imagery. Perhaps I need to revisit this concept?!

Fridge Magnets

This is not a new idea, certainly. I've helped out the Sonoran Arts League with their "mini-masterpiece" fundraising that artists make on two-inch canvas. These are just on foam board, so they're lighter and well, easier to work with.

The first one was to just stretch those Zen-tangly muscles. The other was prompted by a) Every Inchie Monday's suggestion for "orange," even though it's two inches square, b) a collage suggestion to use single-source materials and c) some leftovers from another project. It's a bit off-the edge and intended to be tongue-in-cheek. (If you dissect the cooking instructions for those round waffles, that's what you get!)

I like the simplicity of scale. I like having new magnets for my new house! You can never have enough fridge magnets!