2011, hello.

I am so terribly sorry for ignoring this blog. I actually have been painting or sketching or journaling most days. Not all great, but I also have been trying to let go of those good and bad judgments and just create to free my mind. I have been in quite a state, personally, so art for art's sake is incredibly liberating. I actually led a workshop on the creative journal on January 22nd, and it was an incredibly powerful experience. The participants were grieving women, a grieving father, two grieving grandmothers (one of which was my mom) and my beautiful twin sister. (I'm not just saying she is beautiful because she is my twin.) I am really excited to find opportunities to lead more women in this process.

Anyway, I have been doing a lot of illustrations with watercolor. I finally uploaded some of those works, and so here are a smattering:

I just did this one today for my friend Janel of her sister, brother in law and niece and nephew dogs.

This one is for my sister's sister in law's daughter. Cheebus, that sounded complicated. I realized that I hadn't given her a gift for Christmas. I did an illustration for her room for her baby shower, and thought I would paint something for her now that she is 19 months, or so.  No, she doesn't have a cat, but I like drawing little girls with cats. Sue me.

This is one I painted the other day when I was feeling down of me and the children. I saw a painting on Etsy that I loved of a woman with a striped dress and a boy, and I wanted to paint myself with the children, so I kind of combined the two. Is that stealing? I don't know. I don't mean to steal, beautiful Etsy painter.

I miss Art Every Day Month and the whole ritual of painting a painting everyday. Did I mention that that month of painting, I did not open ONE tube of paint? I used all my dried paint and rearticulated it. I thought I should mention that. Anyway, I have been writing a children's book in my head. Well, actually, it is a story I tell my daughter some nights when she asks for it, and I have wanted to illustrate it. And I have another half-assed, uh, I mean, half-written. I am going to try to illustrate them this year. We'll see how that goes considering I have the attention span of a gnat on six espressos. I also miss all of you. I see knitting has welcomed in the new year, and I love love love it, though I can't knit. I just like seeing knitting. Bye.

Creative Every Day 2010

Art Everyday Montage at OneTrueMedia.com

For Art EveryDay Month hosted by the lovely Leah, I chose a word each day that encapsulated my mood or day. I then painted a 5" x 5" watercolor, which is now a book. I also finished and completed NaNoWriMo, which is why all the writing paintings at the end of the month. Here is my month in watercolor. Enjoy.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

day twenty-four #aedm2010

One day, I may have a normal looking watercolor picture here. I have so much to do, I can't quite believe I am blogging this right now, but five minutes won't destroy everything, will it? I may look happy here, but paintings are deceiving. I need a butler monkey. Even if he couldn't bake, still, we would have a monkey.

day twenty-three #aedm2010

 

It is all fun and games until I pull out my thrift store Schlitz Beer T-Shirt which has been found in more pools of sick than a frat house during homecoming weekend. Actually, not really. That is what I imagined happened in the past life of this t-shirt. I bought it as a painting/ironic hipster t-shirt and it ended up being the shirt I wear when I am feeling queasy and/or puking my guts out. In the moment, when I catch my reflection in the mirror after puking up the contents of my stomach, it seems like I am having more fun than your run of the mill Norovirus.

I'm not. 

Actually, I don't seem to have the actual puking bug/norovirus. I had a massive internal "cleanse" yesterday after dinner, upchucking my entire dinner and mid-afternoon snack, and then nervously, in absolute stillness, I stayed on the bed, mere steps from our toilet, wondering when I was going to puke again. I never did, in fact, but you know how the twenty-four hour bug or rather, the threat of the twenty-four hour bug, does that to you. It messes with you. It makes you wonder if you need to cancel every activity. "Is Thanksgiving even going to happen?" you bemoan. You warn every person that may call. "Don't come over. We have the ebola." The first person pukes and then you wait. When is it coming? When is it happening again? Should I cancel the weekend plans or wait? And then, when you think you are clear, it shamelessly rips through your house like your family is a trailer park and it is a summer tornado. Trucks are overturned. Laundry is strewn about the furniture. Towels line the bedsides and floors making a path to the john and back. It isn't pretty. A week is mysteriously wiped off your calendar. Last norovirus that plagued our house was the day my husband got home from surgery, and my daughter kept mysteriously declaring that she couldn't yawn, and then would spew in a way that rivaled the Exorcist. I am still scarred.

Oh, dude. My husband just got home from work to help me in case I hurl again. Notice, I am blogging, and I have painted a picture. And I am going to ask if he minds if I catch up on some NaNoWriMo word counts, and sip on some warm liquids that may or may not be called coffee. I seem really sick, no?

I also think you should notice that I used the correct form of the adjective describing myself as experiencing nausea. Not nauseous, which is something that causes others to experience nausea, but nauseated the experience of nausea. Though if I did draw a wee puddle of puke on the floor next to me, I might be nauseous to you, but as it is, I kept it as nauseated. See, even in my most delirious, nauseated moments, I am still a grammar asshole. Yay. 

day twenty-two #aedm2010

 

At the end of this month, I am going to somehow figure out how to properly photograph watercolor and do them all at the same time. Today, my husband arrived home at work around 7:30a, and my daughter and son and I were curled on the couch watching Ponyo, which is a strange and beautiful animated movie. Basically, a perfect movie in my opinion. And when Ponyo describes her mother, the Goddess of the Sea, she says, "She's big and beautiful, but she can be very scary!" And Sosuke says, "Just like my mother." And Beatrice said to the television, "Just like my mommy too."  And I said, "Am I scary?" She said, "No, not scary. Just beautiful." I just feel very loved and important today. Now, off to catch up on my word count. Harumph.

days twenty and twenty-one #aedm2010

Things have been little busy around the ranch. Yesterday, I felt the pull to write a ton because of Thanksgiving, and my husband being off work, and then I had laundry, market day, the kids crying, cleaning, and all the other little things I have to do, like mail and burning cds, and crap. I just felt stretched, and had to do a quick sketch.



The baby said "Mama" last night for the first time. It is his first meaningful utterance. And now he won't stop saying it. He is getting so big. I am amazed at him. So cute and lovely. I feel very blessed today.