Dangles

I mentioned Joanne Fink earlier.  She has done some fun videos on You Tube showing her dangles, a linear doodling that can keep one busy for a long time.  For a stiff and tight doodler, these dangles are a perfect diversion. Loving this!

Doodling and tangles

Joanne Fink wrote a book.... Zenspirations.    Within the pages are ideas for simple doodle pictures with zentangle type designs incorporated into them. She teaches a simple alphabet also.

A nice adventure for my drawing and lettering endeavor.  May the journey continue!

Perception....Judgement

Rain and snow pelt the windows obscuring the view

Some days one just cannot see clearly.  How we figure out which days those are befuddles me.

How will we ever know that what we see may not be reality? 

Shall we just assume we can never judge rightly? 

        Makes sense to me!

Northern Arizona in the winter

We spent a month ...March.... near Cottonwood, AZ.  We were very surprised when the cold front came moving in from the north and west.

For two days we were pelted with rain, and then snow. Since we were in the Verde Valley, the altitude was not high enough for a great amount of snow, but the Mingus Mountains around us were nicely dusted.

A couple days later, the blue skies and bright sun returned. The birds were delighted with the moisture and were VERY noisy the first day the sun returned.

Having just a teasing taste of winter works for us!!

Do that which you cannot do......

Susannah Conway spoke in her blog about how hard it is to allow yourself to be a beginner.  

Van Gogh said that we must do that which we cannot do in order to learn to do it. 

I received both these messages this winter, so I have to draw the conclusion that I am meant to get out of my comfort zone and move onto things I would like to learn to do, rather than sticking to the known.

My friend, Jane, has teased me greatly about choosing retreat classes that teach what I already know how to do.  "Get out of your box, Marcy!"

To be a beginner, to not do reasonably well is VERY difficult and frustrating for me....ask the Donald!!

I guess it is time. Soooooo, My lettering needs a ton or work and my drawing skills are nil. These are the areas I have chosen for my next endeavors.

We shall see where these exercises lead me.  Now, how about you???  Do something today that you think you cannot do!!

Painted pages plus a photo....not everyone can draw

I keep trying, but have not yet proven the adage that everyone can draw. One of the iPad photo apps allows one to change a photo into a pencil sketch.  This one is a tree that lives in the great state of Texas. The sketch has been gone over with colored pencils and voila!  I have my own drawing....well, sorta.

Maybe with just a bit more practice and effort I will be able to do this on my own, but in the meantime I can have a great time with my pencils.

The backgrounds shown are acrylic paint scraped and sprayed and manipulated.

Purging...good for the soul, hard on the body

The talk about purging went on long enough.  I finally got to really working hard on clearing out the mess in the studio last week.  The photos on the left side of this collage are the Before.

Looking at the room since finishing, I can hardly remember the mess that greeted me daily. However, the muscle pain from all movements foreign to my decrepit body are reminding me each second that I have overextended myself. No one ever informed me that cleaning required training!

The getting up and down to empty and re-label drawers, the moving of piles of STUFF, the rearranging of the furniture.....all the unusual (to me) movement has required buying stock in the Ibuprofen companies!

In this second collage, the photos on the top are the Before, and those on the bottom the After.

Now there are 5 standing work stations with the drawers below each holding supplies for each specific area.

There is still a lot of fine tuning happening, but so far all seems to be working much more efficiently than before.

More importantly, I do not get sick to my stomach when walking into the room!

All the drawers are labeled and actually hold what the label indicates...well, most of them.

Here is all the stuff....good stuff....that will be going to friends.  Once again, I will have happy friends and that makes me very happy indeed.

One box will be mailed to Leighanna when I get her address....metal stuff.  Michael deMeng's rusty thing from AZ will be handed to him at Art Unraveled.  Many things will go to local people or their relatives.

The rest will be driven over to the local Goodwill Store.

Time for a nap!  Have a great week everyone!!  Go to the studio and make art.