Sometimes...

I'm only going to propose ONE image for the EIM this week. It's a long convoluted trail, so I'll take you on the tour.
I was going to try Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey." I wanted to do something for BIG last week with the claymation from his video, but that didn't happen. Neither here. Then I went to the idea of "see no evil, hear no evil..." That wasn't working for me, either.
Then, lo! And behold! Mr. Gil started the day off singing the ever classic, "Auntie Grizelda" by the Monkees. He loves to sing the obscure and nonsensical. It's tough anytime, but particularly before I've had my coffee. I went looking for the very annoying, er, ah, charming video and I was surprised to find this instead:

Meet Auntie Grizelda from "The Lorax," the animated movie of the Dr. Suess classic. I guess she's a bit of an evil character; I've not seen the flick. See no evil, indeed.

(Life was rough enough when I knew about one Auntie Grizelda. Now I find there are TWO!)

All righty then...let's move along, shall we?

The Diva posted the challenge to use "Crux," by Henrike Bratz. I like grids, so I wanted to push it a little bit. I've also been trying out "Sketching Basics, One Point Perspective," by Ruzaimi Mat Rani. (He has a blog that illustrates his drawing, too). I thought this might be a good place to do some perspective work.
HA!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!

The Crux of the Matter

I better keep thinking to a minimum.
What it did do is cause me to really, really pay attention to what I was doing, which is quite the point, right?
It's the same reason why I like using black artist paper with a white gel pen. You really have to pay attention so you don't smear the paint AND you have to take it slowly to get the paint to flow. I chose this combination of art materials for the TwobyTwo:

Wood

The left-hand side is dominated by the tangle, "Wud," by Joni Feddersen while the right-hand is a depiction of the detail on an amphora found in Spain last week full of Roman-era coins. They go together for no other reason than I was still working on "stripes" for the LAST Diva challenge. Of course, now I can't find the image of the vase that I used for inspiration. Drats.

That's pretty much it for me today. From here, it's therapy for my wrist (having a little bit of challenge with the fracture they couldn't fix, dealing with the pesky insurance issues with that (Robin at United Healthcare, YOU are amazing!) and filing not just one, but TWO separate and completely different police reports (oh, we have been having SOOOO much fun here!). Sometimes....you just gotta Shock the Monkey.

The best news: we are healthy and happy. Not much else matters. Be sure to check out the glorious artwork to be found at these other blogs--you could spend HOURS comfortably with new-found friends across the globe. Have a brilliant day!

THIS is BIG!

I shall get this ball rolling by putting in my inchies for the week. At EIM, the word is "BIG." Putting "BIG" on an inchie is like saying "JUMBO shrimp," but needless to say, there were plenty of choices.

I had a tough time whittling it down to four this time around. We have a tree big enough to drive through, the Crab Nebula or an example of a supernova (the best of my ideas for working on the Big Bang Theory--the physics, not the television show), Cheech and Chong's album and a certain young lady who grew up to be a REALLY BIG deal and who recently celebrated a REALLY BIG birthday.

Last week's IAST was a tribute to the Queen's 90th birthday. I didn't get mine in on time, but I did it!

"90" as String by Adele Bruno

MA-XIII
With a Wiggle

I got in the groove for this week's. I'm not sure I got the instructions quite, but I'm pleased with the result. Especially with help from Margaret Bremner's tutorial on "Echoism." It's a must-read, I think, for getting into that pattern. Thank you, Margaret!

No Quibbling

The Diva was looking for Stripes this week. I'm sure I could have played it straight(er), but I didn't. What a surprise, huh?!

I've been trying to work the pattern, "Wud" as it falls into what I want to do for the current TwobyTwo. The first one is more in line than the second, where it looks more like fingerprints.
But, that's okay. Might be cause for investigation into a different idea...you never know where you might end up, right?

I am grateful for the women that put these challenges out there for all of us to tackle and for all of you who stop by, if even for just a moment. I particularly like when you leave a comment or two. Encouragement is truly welcome, as is practical critique that may help me improve or move into yet uncharted territory.

And I encourage you to follow some of the links to the various posts.
Especially to the TwobyTwo!