Catalogs galore!

The snail mail box always seems to be extra full this time of year.  No matter how old I get, (or how many boxes I jump, as Tracey says), I never tire of kicking off the season with birthday wishes from friends and family far and near.  Then, just as even the belated birthday wishes begin to wane, the holiday cards start pouring in.  Whether people send long missives detailing all the highlights of the year or a simple holiday wish, it's always a thrill to hear that people are alive and kicking up their heels in anticipation of a merry season. 

But, I have to admit, I am one of those crazy people who love the plethora of catalogs that seem to multiply as the holidays approach.  Maybe it's because I would rather jello wrestle with rattlesnakes than head to a mall during the month of December (well, at any time, really, but during December is it's own brand of torture!).  I love flipping through the catalogs, getting ideas for just the right gadgety stocky stuffers that promise to arrive in plenty of time for Christmas, right up until Christmas eve.

I admit, I also manage to day dream about completely re-decorating all the rooms of my house over and over again to match the chic layouts found throughout the thousands of catalogs that all seem to carry roughly the same things.  Most of the time, I manage to refrain... although we do have cozy blankets and quilts (and multiple back-ups)  for every possible seat in the house!  No one will ever be cold here!

Some doodles from various catalogues that have arrived this year:

Linking to AEDM #21.

Falling leaves

 

Last autumn, I woke up one morning and it looked like the world had been lit on fire.  All the beautiful green leaves on the lush trees behind our house had turned bright, bright, bright shades of orange and yellow and red. 

 

This year, it seems like more of the leaves are turning from green to brown and then right off the trees.  But I'm holding out for one last surge before they're all gone. 

 In the meantime, I'm painting as many different varieties as possible as they change from one color and shape to another. 

 I think leaves must be like snow flakes.  No two are exactly the same!

Happy Autumn!

Linking to AEDM #12.  This is also EDM #34.

Dream state

My night time dreams-- when I manage to get enough sleep to actually fall into a dream state-- always end up being completely surreal.  People from various times and places in my life will come together in one place and form friendships and hang out at my parents house and come over for barbecues with our neighbors-- neighbors that we don't even know when we're awake. 

Sometimes, as my alarm is waking me up, I want to shut it down just so that I can stay in this surreal, imagined dream world and see where things go next.  As I wake up, I wish I could accurately capture it all, because I'm quite sure that it would make for a brilliant, harry potter-esque novel.... or maybe there's a reason why those dreams slip away so easily! 

Hope everyone else is having fun in their dreams!  Linking to Sunday Sketches and AEDM #11.

Raw ingredients

Hope everyone's got all the right raw ingredients for a fabulous weekend!

Wednesday Journal

Usually, I find that time flies, especially when I have more to do than I can possibly get done, which is basically how I live my life.  This week, however, despite being incredibly busy, time seems to be standing still, torturing me.  You'd think that I was a kid, expecting Santa down the chimney this weekend, but no dice.  I'm not quite sure why I'm so anxious for a weekend this week, but ready I am!  

In the meantime, here is a little snippet of doodles from my Wednesday journal page:

Three days in a row for Blogtoberfest-- woo hoo!

Happy Mother's Day

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

For some great inspiration, check out what else is happening at Sunday Sketches!

Lovin' the letters

Inspired by Joanne Sharpe's LetterLove class!  Lots of fun lettering and color.  My favorite things!

Linking to sweet Sophia's Sunday Sketches.  Please take a peek at what my brilliant artist friends have been up to this week!

Spring has sprung!

I'm just loving everything about this time of year, from the beautiful weather, to the amazing greenery to the colorful flowers and trees in full bloom.  Every time I walk out the door-- or just look out my window-- I'm in heaven!

Linking up to Sophia's Sunday Sketches!

Venice

I recently was going through some old vacation photos and reminiscing about some of my favorite cities.  Venice was definitely high on my list.  In a world where a commonality has been created across cities, both old and  young, with the installation of McDonald's on every street corner, Venice has an ancient feel that is less marred by modern day conveniences.  I hope to get back there soon.

I have been attempting to quickly capture the essence of places/things in 15 minute sketches.  I'm hoping that it will help me to pick up details more quickly, but I'm afraid that right now, they continue to look a bit askew and cartoonish.  Hopefully, they will get better over time.

Don't forget to check out what's happening over at Paint Party Friday!

crying wolf

taking a break from all the faces of the past week to do a quick illustration for my nephew...

Delighted to be linking to the anniversary post over at Sunday Sketches.  Be sure to check out what everyone else has been up to...

Fruits

I have not been very good about scanning my doodles and drawings and getting them posted lately.  In the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the holidays, dealing with some family health issues, readying a property for rental and finishing out the school year with my daughter and the work year for my sweetie and I~ I have completely let my bloggy world go.  Fortunately, I have continued to doodle and draw into the evenings as a way to keep my sanity in the midst of the craziness. 

I love fruit-- almost all kinds of fruit.  I love the sweet, natural, juiciness of it. I love how it can be used as a snack on the go or as part of a meal.  I love that different kinds of fruit are evocative of the different seasons.  What kind of July 4th would it be without watermelon?  What would a springtime field trip be without the first cherries of the season?  Peaches, one of my favorites, although sadly they often signify the end of my beloved summer.   Crisp apples-- in all their wonderful varieties-- are delicious in so many ways and, while I eat them year round, they always seem particular apt during that first crisp, coolness of fall.  The cloying sweet mushiness of bananas makes them impossible for me to eat on their own, but 1/2 of one cut up is the perfect addition to a bowl of cereal.  Strawberries, ahh strawberies--  whether covered in chocolate, as part of a shortcake or dipped in champagne-- they are a truly decadent delight.

But there's something to be said for the pear.  It's not a pretty fruit.  Kind of lopsided and lumpy.  If you want to really put a dagger through the heart of  woman, tell her she's pear-shaped!  They tend to be most popular in the cold months (not my favorite time of year).  All in all, not all that appealing sounding.  This week, we bought our first pears of the season.  They were rock hard and I worried that they would end up sitting in the fruit bowl, ripening without our taking notice until, finally brown and mushy, we'd end up tossing them. 

Yesterday, I took one out and brought it to my drawing area.   I started sketching it and noticed it wasn't just green or just yellow.  It was both, in different places and depending on how it caught the light.  Along the bottom, there was a beautiful tinge of pinkish red.  The brown stem and a few small brown imperfections gave it some character.  Despite it lopsided wonkiness, it stood on its own.  When placed on its side, its bumpiness and imperfect planes helped it to stay in place.  After some very quick and rudimentary sketching, I pulled out my watercolors to try to capture some of its color.  When all was said and done, I'm not sure that I captured that pear very well at all. 

What I do know is that after drawing and painting for about ten minutes,  I took a bite.  The pear's sweet graininess was more delicious than I'd remembered.  With each bite, it seemed to get juicier.  It was a filling snack and provided me with the energy I needed to get through the rest of the afternoon.  I'm not sure I'll draw the rest of those pears before eating them, but I am appreciative of how much I noticed about them when I really took the time to look at and taste them!

Linking up with Sophia's Sunday Sketches.  If you have a few moments, take some time and look at what the other linkers have created this week. It will be worth your while!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Sunny Saturday

it's been a week of catching up and i have not done much more than some doodling while watching movies late in the evening.  very late last night (well, actually, in the wee hours of this morning),  i relaxed by drawing these friendly flowers. 

i've been in a friendly flower mood lately.  maybe i need to switch to something more wintry... or at least more autumnal.  it's getting chilly out there!

be sure to click on over to show and tell saturday to see what all those great artists are up to this week.

My Garden of Luuuuve...

Too many days and nights away from my sweetie this week and this gray day here in Atlanta is just making me more ready to head home.  Doodled through meetings today with thoughts of home...

Looks like the freeze warning at home is going to make snuggling up with my sweetie and a cup of hot chocolate the perfect homecoming! 

Don't forget to check out what everyone is doing at Paint Party Friday!!

TGIF!

Atlanta

Traveling for business this week so even less time then usual to doodle.  Atlanta is a fun city, though.  Wish I had more time to explore this time...

Hope everyone's having a happy hump day!!

Weekend!

No matter how busy my weekends shape up to be, they are always the highlight of the week.  Staying up later, sleeping in, running errands, working on whatever projects strike my fancy and date nights with my sweetie.  Does it get any better than that? 

I tried to capture some of the excitement and vibrancy I feel on the weekends in this journal page. 

I will also be checking out what others are doing this weekend at Just Journals and at Show and Tell Saturday.  Be sure to check them out!!

Fall is here...

I have to say, I'm absolutely loving fall this year. In past years, I've dreaded it. I've viewed it as the death of my beloved summer and the onset of the winter blahs. This year, though, the cool, crisp temperatures are drawing me outside more than ever and the vibrant colors are practically a religious experience. I just can't seem to get enough. I may have a new favorite season.

I've been using my Doc Martin watercolors to try to capture some of the amazing colors out there...

head on over to paint party friday to see what others are painting this week.  

Art store finds

is there anything better than just meandering through your favorite art store, finding new things that you can't possibly live without?  i must admit, most of my friends can wander through clothes stores or shoe stores until they can barely stand.  i don't have the patience for that.  but put me in a good bookstore (preferably, with a hot cup of coffee in hand) or an art store, filled with all those heady, artsy smells, and I can easily while away an afternoon-- or even a full day!

this past weekend, as i was meandering through one of my favorite local art stores, i came upon these itsy bitsy, teeny weeny visual journals from strathmore in three different types:  90 lb watercolor, 100 lb bristol-vellum and 140 lb watercolor.  these tiny little gems are only 3.5" x 5" and were on sale for $2.50 each!  i have to say, i'm loving them.

i don't know what it is about me but i am having a very hard time working in what seems to be everyone's favorite sketchbook-- the ~8x5" moleskin.  while i love the idea of them, i find the size all wrong. it's as if it's not big enough to really spread out and get my doodle on and not small enough to force me to mentally restrict myself.  I end up feeling like i don't have enough room.  and the larger moleskin journals have paper that's just too thin for me to work on.

as counter-intuitive as it sounds, i rather like the teeny weeny 3x5 format of these little journals.  they seem to make me less inhibited, since how much can you really screw up on something the size of a small index card??  and at 2.50 for a whole 'pad' full of watercolor pages, i don't mind screwing up a little anyway.  as a result, i've had lots of fun just doodling to my heart's content and then playing with the bold colors of my dr. ph martin's watercolors. this one was done on the 90 lb. watercolor paper.

i also splurged on some pan pastels, which i've seen lori vleigen mention before in some of her lovely art. (i may need to stop looking at her posts-- she's far too inspiring!)  i bought a set of only 5 and have played with them a little but must admit i like the vibrancy of my watercolors better.  but, i think i might just need to experiment some more to figure out how to better blend with them. 

i do like the fact that you can erase them... and create some interesting effects that way!  definitely something i'll keep playing with! 

hope everyone's having a great week. happy hump day!

Autumn planting- Sunday Sketches

what beautiful autumn weather we've been having lately!  perfect, cool days, with a glorious breeze.  the leaves changing, creating a landscape so fabulous it looks painted on... and with that comes fall planting.  i absolutely love those first signs of spring, when the daffodils and tulips start peeking up through the soil made damp by traditional april showers... and in order to ensure we have plenty of those friendly little suckers sprouting come spring, it's bulb-planting time now!

this week, i found a fabulous group of folks who are artists across all types of media and have linked up with them at Sunday Sketches.