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

Fresh Greens

There's plenty of green all around. The yard is full of trees leafing out, particularly the grapefruits with bright shiny leaves, the apricot that just finished blooming, the mulberries and mesquite are starting to cast shade (and catkins! Ah-choo!).
From every window I peer, I see green! I am blessed to have such a residence, as most homes in the desert are surrounded by various shades of beige or perhaps, block walls.
And of course, EVERY one is Irish this week! My own heritage is heavily influenced by the English isles, but my children can claim their paternal great-grandfather emigrated from the Emerald Isle and other ancestors that resided in Ireland for a time.
In that vein, the various challenges have themes of green. Break out the crayons and markers!

Last week, the IAST had a shamrock string. I have a pot of shamrocks, indoors, natch, and the leaves are quite angular and oh, so petite. It just helps to explain this one:

Colored Pencils

This other one was drawn first with watercolor crayons. The waxy surface was tough to make marks with my Sharpie. The more water I added, the less trouble I had.

It's a learning curve of sorts, isn't it?

Then I wanted to see if I could get Sharpie marks to run and blur. They're alcohol-based, so alcohol must do the trick, right? I finally got real action with 97% isopropyl:

Then I played with some water-based markers. I should have known the colour combination would yield mostly browns, but I was trying to use colors of my shamrocks (they're magenta on the underside of the leaves). This is for this week's Diva and I call it, "Losing my Marbles," as I've been having "fun" with my health insurance:

Note: I still have some marbles left!

These itty-bitties are for the EIM. I'd love to visit Tahiti and live in a tiki hut over the aqua water, been to Nevis, which was delightful and still undeveloped when I was there, we'd like to have our own Florida Key and Gil has been known to fly an ultra-light plane and that would have to be our mode of transport.
Cue Wagner's, "Ride of the Valkeries."
While drawing the deserted island, I was reminded of Yosemite Sam, "I HATE coconuts!"
Alas, there's a Four Seasons hotel there now.

And last, but not least, my offering for next week's Two by Two, "Zodiac." The twinchie challenge marks it's first birthday this week! YAY! I'm grateful to have the opportunity to create and publish that blog and for meeting participants from all over the globe.
My birthday is in September, I'm a Libra. I was always kind of annoyed that I wasn't associated with one of the cool animals or creatures, but rather the only inanimate object of the Constellations. I've come to terms with that and for it being an "Air"sign. I thought hard about this and I love the billowing thunderheads in summer. They form out of nothing, create drama in the skies and nourishing rain when the mood suits. My "air" drawn with watercolor pencils:

Thanks for stopping by and looking! The hand is healing nicely, BTW.
Perhaps stop by the 2 x 2 and create something different there?! It's a birthday party!

This Fish is a Gold Mine!

Here are some variations on "Goldfish," for the TwobyTwo art blog. I didn't want to do just one and I had the luxury of trying different media. Indeed, I want to tackle each word this year from various perspectives. We'll see how successful THAT is!

I like the look of watercolor but have no formal training in it and my results can best be described as elementary. This one was done with Staedtler watercolor pencils:

He looks quite mean, doesn't he? You should see my other attempts, but I'm not showing them. This guy should be happy he's the best of the bunch.

Then there's a pencil sketch. While he already outgrew his fishbowl, I used it to contain the composition, unlike the first guy's blank canvas:

I really wanted to try to draw a koi in a fish pond, but he looked more like a drowned rat getting gobbled up by lily pads that resembled Pac Man, so forget about seeing THAT.
To try to just get to know some colored pencil colors, I downloaded a coloring page of Cleo from Disney's "Pinocchio."

The colors are all wrong, the yellow in the scan is too dark. I have no delusions that I own the copyright to that image, since Pinocchio came out in 1940 and Disney's lawyers are everywhere. I colored it, I'll take the blame.
This one is a photocollage of several digital images. As I was playing in Photoshop, I wanted to create a sense of movement, which is why some of it is blurry. It was intentional! Do you think it worked out?

The tangly woman at Tickled to Tangle is up to challenge #126. I haven't done one of those in a while and this one worked out better than okay. Thanks, Adele!

IAST 126
Phroz, 4Fun and Pop Clouds

As per usual I had one idea on how I wanted it to end up and it had its mind made up on how it wanted to go. Some of the geometry is off, but it's not a real distraction to none other than myself.

So that was soooooo last week. Now to work on THIS week!

It's....

We've been watching the DVDs of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the preeminent British comedy from the Seventies. I think we have made it through the fourth of sixteen tons. You know the beginning? Where the guy who looks like he has lived under a rock for twenty years goes through some sort of difficulty to just be able to say, "It's...."?
A very important line he has, to introduce the show. Then it's the full complement of collage images that include flowers popping out of heads and not just a couple naked ladies....

I think that's where my fascination with collage began--the vintage photographs, the sometimes silly juxtaposition of images. Everything is fair game.

The word of the week at the art challenge I host, the TwobyTwobyTuesday, is: "IS." I know it's a bit of a stretch, but there it is. It's a concept I've wanted to pursue for awhile, at least since Bill Clinton was in office and that whole mess with the blue dress. I try not to venture into the territory of "Mature Audiences ONLY," as my kids like to see what I'm up to. I'm not attempting censure on their part but while they are adults, they are still my children.
Yet, when I pulled out my collage goodies, I pulled together this cuteness:

Is
Magazines, dictionary definition and
Greeting card

My daughter LOVES sunflowers. I have many fridge magnets that I have made with sunflowers on them, but this one is specifically for her.

I put together this one starting with a tough challenge over at EIM. Every Monday can be challenging, but what do you do with this week's, "yogurt?" Well, for starters, you empty a container! Lately, my favorite is a Greek-style plain with honey and Grape Nuts, which is what I'll probably have for lunch. In my collage stash I found a Yoplait lid for Breast Cancer awareness. It promptly became an element in yet another fridge magnet!

I'm all for that, and I think it's a stitch that our football players are running around with pink accessories this month (those shoes!!!) to draw attention to the cause. But it's not the leading killer of women--coronary disease and accidents far outweigh cancer deaths. And it's not even the leading cause of cancer deaths--lung cancer is, all the way around.

I bring that up as a friend of ours recently went under the knife suspecting lymphoma and found he is in very good health and another who was the image of perfect health, was diagnosed with liver cancer just a month ago and died last night. We are saddened; we're to go to New Jersey to see him next week. Right now, we're still going....

Life is precious. Enjoy dessert NOW! One of my favorites: pound cake covered with dollops of Yoplait lemon yogurt and whipped cream with sliced strawberries on top. Mayoe I'll have THAT for lunch!

Meanwhile, see what all the lovely ladies are doing over at EIM and please check out the TwobyTwo. Everybody's welcome to join in the fun! It's....

Let Them eat Cake!

It's birthday week! Or, it's an excuse to do a lot of fun stuff. Either way, we both win! Last night I was treated to a trip to the gun range to improve my rusty skills and then dinner at our favorite Italian place. What fun!
I don't know what the rest of the week may bring, but I'm working  on my take on "CAKE!"
I've never shied away from having just cake for dinner, or breakfast, for that matter. Is anyone else amused by the women's magazines that advertise how to lose five-ten-fifteen pounds THIS WEEK plus a recipe for an awesome chocolate cake that weighs in at over 600 calories per slice? That's more than I normally consume for dinner, so why not skip the meat and potatoes and go straight to dessert?
We can always be good tomorrow. Or, the next day!

I've visited this concept before now:

But I wanted to do a glue and paste collage--this is more correctly termed an assemblage--to add to my collection of fridge magnets:

My Favorite Chinese Fortune

What's your favorite cake? (Mine has to be any that I don't make myself--which is ALL of them as I'm not the baker in the household!)
Check out what the other artists have whipped up for their response to cake, and perhaps join the fun!
I also tackled the EIM for the week, "Myth."
There are endless possibilities there--perhaps the Kokopelli of the ancient Arizona ancestors? You know what I mean--the ubiquitous flute players, the gods of fun and fertility. But to do that properly deserves some photographs. I'll have to revisit that concept another time.
Instead, I chose the Phoenix, the mythical bird that rises from the ashes. I saw a couple memes that suggest that the bird is more beautiful after the fire than before, and a relationship to the Irish adage, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger."

Feenix
Color pencil and marker

No surprise, the symbol appears on the flag of the city. It's a very interesting emblem that deserves reprise. And all the crayons in the box. Have a brilliant day!

More Jewelry

In some ways I'm still working through last weeks EIM...you know how these things just carry over and spill into "normal" life? Last week it was necklace and I chose my favorite, then I started looking for more of my baubles for the TwobyTwos "Treasure." I have this treasure chest on a strand--there's a little bit of everything here:

Just missing some Diamonds!

But I wanted to have something a bit more philosophical and I chose to interpret Proverbs 3:15. I'm always playing with typefaces and I need to dig up my collection as the current offerings in Photoshop are pretty lame--they all look the same! But, for now:

She is Wisdom

It needs a little work, yet, but you get the idea? I like the rusty, crusty background, don't you?
I'll get back to the EIM and all the other things; just not today. Thanks for checking in!

A Little Spanish Lesson

While I'm letting the glue on my twinchies dry, I decided to work on my inchie for the week. At EIM the word of the day is, "Pavillion." Good thing I put my teenie brain to work yesterday to try to cram all that into an inch space!

My first thought was a gazebo kind of thing, and that's all fine and wonderful, if you live in say, New England. Here in the desert Southwest, a "ramada" (rah MAH dah) is more appropriate. It's still a shade structure and they can be elaborate man-made constructions of stone for outdoor kitchens or simply made of found logs--for the uprights and across the corners and skinnier sticks--called "latillas" (pronounced, "lah TEE yahz), lashed across the top. I have seen ocotillos (oh koh TEE yohz) used in museum installations, but I have none of those (YET!), so I chose some olive saplings. Unto themselves, the thirty year-old olives in our yard provide dense shade and an occasional olive (and in most neighborhoods, olives are illegal to plant as they are high in allergens, but ours is a laissez-faire kind of place).

All right, moving right along!
I've been working on some twinchies for the TwobyTwo. This week, it's "grass." I kept it fairly light-hearted:

Beads on Scrapbook Paper
Trying to make it look like little flowers

Beads on Styrofoam
with Acrylic Paints
(and still waiting for the glue to dry)

Digital Scrapbook Page
Elements from pixelscrapper.com

I could really enjoy digging my toes into some nice, cool grass, sipping a lemonade. But I guess I have to settle for sitting under the olive tree with a nice, cool margarita.
CHEERS!

Simply A-Maze-Ing

Over the weekend I worked on some challenge pieces. The first one was for last week's IAST 86. Adele Bruno created an egg-shaped string which I drew on a bar coaster. I drew some other lines which made it more global. I realized that a couple of the patterns for the challenge were more complex than I originally thought, so I tackled them with zinchies (En guard! Take that!). See the "Well" patterns below and perhaps you'll see what I mean.
Well, they look complicated.
Then I went back to my coaster and this is what happened to my Easter egg:

And that was BEFORE I put something cold and refreshing on the coaster. (Actually, I'm not going to be using it; I'll throw it back into the wild and see if anyone catches it).

The inchie for the week is "knitting." I've been trying to knit a scarf for my daughter for about a year. It's a lovely yarn and a simple enough pattern, but it requires circular needles and starting with only three stitches! Talk about twisted up! So, i went and knit an inch using a deep ocean blue:

Purl, Actually

My official response to the Two by Two challenge this time is mostly just the pattern, "Amaze." I hope to play with scissors and paste later and try a collage, but for now:

And here's a batch of Zinchies:

Go ahead, try those "Well" patterns and tell me how that worked out for you. Even better, try "Myko." Deceptively simple, it's simply devious. When you try more than one, it gets VERY interesting!

Thank you for stopping by and for all your kindnesses.