IF: Pattern

This is an etching that I did when I was in college. I didn't really have time to make a drawing this week, but I thought this one really goes with pattern. There are so many beautiful patterns in nature. Nature is the master of art.

Okay, you can call me weird

I really have to live it up for dinner when Bill is out of town you know. Okay, you can call me weird, but I actually love Ramen noodles. (not many people admit to that!) The perfect dinner when I am busy. Here I am cooking dinner for tonight. hehe. I like how you can still tell what flavor it is even when you can't see the words. I will be reading blogs at dinner tonight. Hope you all are having a good night.

Rainy Sunday

Its been raining here for 2 weeks. We've had a lot of road flooding. Nothing really to do. I like rainy days. What better to do than paint or draw? Sleep in late and bake cookies. The dark swirling leaf in this photo is actually a graphite pencil my mother brought to me last year from her travels. It was done by an amazing San Francisco artist. I never want to use it because its so beautiful. You can go here to see others. Happy Rainy Sunday.

Illustration Friday: Infinite

There are an infinite number of creatures that come out in the forest at night.(you can click on it to see it bigger)

Squinting

I wake up every morning and pour my morning coffee. It makes me feel good and before I get ready to take my shower I always turn on the news for a few minutes. I always wish I didn't. I hear and see a lot of bad things. Overnight fires and shootings. People arguing. I start to get lost in all the bad news. It colors my days. I look around and I see bad things everywhere. Co-workers are buzzing about the news when I get to work. It seems to go on and on. Then I have to remind myself to squint. When I was in art classes in college, professors taught us to squint at an image to see all the values. I think its the same in life. Its not always easy to find a way to get through the day. I find I have to look around and look hard to find the beauty in every day. So I would say that sometimes you have to squint to find something beautiful. But its out there. Every day.

LOVE

This is a little hummingbird vine that grows all over one of my bushes in the summer. People around here call it hummingbird vine because it attracts the little cuties. After doing a little research, I see that is it actually called Cypress vine. I love its wispy, fern-like leaves.I absolutely LOVE hummingbirds. I hung a cute red feeder out this summer and finally a particular little hummingbird found it and comes to drink from it regularly. Speaking of LOVE, I bought this adorable terrarium at Blithe Gardens on Etsy. I am in LOVE with it! My very own little tiny forest!

Illustration Friday: Welcome

I have been playing around with my new paint, and here is my illustration friday entry.
Hope you are having a good week!

Life is sweet

waitin for fall

ho-hum...its still warm out there. Pretty much HOT. Looking forward to sweaters and boots and umbrellas and cooler days. Heres what I did last night and this morning. I waited something like 10 days to get some new paints and I was so excited about messing around with them. I got the slowest shipping available (my fault) and it was making me crazy tracking it. Anyway, I got them and I am more than happy with them.

Fall

The best things about fall:

Long walks in the forests of brilliant orange, red and yellow
Apples and spicy apple cider
Pumpkins and pumpkin bread
The smell of wood burning
The chill in the evening air and a warm fuzzy sweater
Warm, inviting lights in the window on rainy, grey days
Homemade chili with cheddar cheese on top
Big orange harvest moons
Popcorn and carmel apples and spooky movies on Halloween
Millions of stars in a black sky on a cold night

Favorite Creatures

This is one of my favorite little creatures. I love to watch them drink water. They hover over the water and suddenly dip down and very gently touch the water. So curious and playful.

Music for tonight: David Gray - Life in slow motion
playing now, "Ain't No Love"
He is a wonderful and fanciful musician. His beautiful songs are masterful and layered with lush, dreamy sounds.