Cracks In The Concrete

6.17.10

2010-06-17T13:36:00.001-07:00

This is just a random montage of stuff done over a week or so. I did find out that they really frown upon you using the nail studio's nail polish to paint in your Moleskine. Upside: more time in the big comfy chair with my feet in the foot massager/whirlpool thing. (I suspect they put me back there early to keep me contained, far away from the Wall O' Polish.)

6.15.10

2010-06-15T18:04:00.001-07:00

I have a thing for old signs, particularly ones from the 50s and 60s. I just found out that this style is called "Googie". The first time I read that, I misread it because what I saw was "Google". (Maybe I need new contacts???)

As usual, when I really like something, I tend to obsess just a little bit. This post contains 6 examples. For a little while, in my fevered obsession, I thought, "I could do an entire Moleskine of just these signs." Fortunately, that manic thought passed and while I suspect I will still draw some of them, rest assured that when you stop by to visit again, it won't be to view an never-ending parade of Googie bowling signs.

Spirit of the Gulf

2010-06-13T14:00:00.001-07:00

This is my contribution to The Spirit of the Gulf challenge created by Suzanne McDermott. She challenged artists to "make a drawing, painting or other piece of creative work with love and gratitude for the beautiful life of whatever you're depicting".

This is my oldest son when he was about 3 years old. He was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and grew up on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. This drawing is based on a photo I took of him at Redington Beach, Florida at sunset.

The scope of the damage is mind-boggling and I don't think we've seen even a fraction of how bad it's going to be. My heart breaks for all the lives impacted, both wildlife and people.

If you're reading this, you're invited to participate. Click on the link above to go to Suzanne's blog for more detailed rules.

6.11.10

2010-06-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

This is one that I like and don't like at the same time.

I like it because I love the colors. I like it because I think the bell peppers turned out awesome. I like the wonky lettering.

I don't like it because I was lazy with the lettuces and if you're lazy with your lettuces, at the end of the day, what have you got? Lazy lettuces, that's what.

But, since there is a blank space at the bottom of the page, I may try it again, this time without the lazy lettuces. Or rather, I will not be lazy with my lettuces and I will take the time to sketch out and define the edges more so that it does not look like Muppet death.

6.9.10

2010-06-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

This is a copy of a picture from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry and illustrated by Richard Howard.

When I start thinking that my drawings are too simple or too plain, illustrations like this one help remind me that simple is ok. I mean, what else would you put in? I think that quite possibly, one more thing would have been too much. (Granted, it was a very small planet.)

What reminds you that the art you are creating is fine, just as it is?

6.8.10

2010-06-08T12:43:00.001-07:00

EDM #37: Draw some keys

My husband, the Redneck to my Roadchick, has an addiction. I didn't know about this addiction until AFTER we were married. It's so shameful, I hesitate to mention it here. (No I don't - who do I think I'm kidding? Of COURSE I'm going to talk about it!)

His name is Redneck, and he's an E-bay/Craigslist addict.

Fortunately, he's not buying Rolls-Royces or oceanfront property in Tuscon so the amount of money is minimal.

He bought this because of the Chevrolet (vintage) key chain. I snagged it for the keys. They're much more interesting than the keys on my ring. I'd like to open up that safety deposit box . . . bet there's a million dollars in it.

6.7.10

2010-06-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, hasn't it? It's been a helluva a spring for me - I feel as though I've been sick for months. Wait! I HAVE been sick for months. Anyway, enough about me. I'm feeling better now and although I haven't been posting, I have been drawing.

I didn't try out the whole riding in the HOV lane thing although I think I would've had a case for a passenger.

4.15.10

2010-04-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is the Trump Tower of nests. I don't see any eggs yet and I'm not sure if the birds are still considering this as their home. I did see one of them hopping around with MORE grass, but it may have just turned into a really unhealthy obsession with them instead of a place to raise a family.

On the front porch, inside the spider plant, we found this:

Not sure who is living there, but the nest has a little woven roof extending over the top. The eggs have little red speckles. If anyone knows, let me know! I don't want to bother the mama too much. The only reason I took that picture at all was that she was not home at the time.

4.14.10

2010-04-14T10:59:00.001-07:00

Until I moved to Tennessee, I had never seen a flowering tree live and in person. (I also had never seen a daffodil, tulip, iris, etc. live and in person either but that has nothing to do with the drawing you see above.) Although I am not a particularly "flowery" person, I have to admit to going a little bit crazy and girlish about everything that's blooming right now. I drew this a little over a week ago - cut off the end of a branch and took it out back to the deck to draw.

We have a pair of birds - possibly starlings - who are setting up housekeeping in our gas grill on the deck. After I finished drawing, I left the little branch on their front porch to be incorporated into what is very possibly the largest songbird nest in known existence. They are building the Trump Tower of nests. It's enormous. It fills the ENTIRE grill. It's entirely possible we are going to have a Duggar-sized bird family out there if they manage to fill that nest with eggs.

4.8.10

2010-04-08T15:58:00.001-07:00

We went for a pre-Easter Chinese dinner last weekend and the chopsticks wrapper always make me laugh. I have yet to figure out what "glonus" history is, but I always enjoy my nice Chinese food with chopsticks.

Actually I have no room to make jokes. Heaven only knows what my poor attempt at copying Chinese writing actually says.

4.2.10

2010-04-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Just a few scattered images of "A Week In The Life. . . "

Easter is Sunday and it is also the holiday that I play hostess to my family for the big dinner. Today is going to be spent cleaning and going to the grocery store. Tomorrow will be spent cleaning and going to the grocery store. Sunday will be spent cooking and cleaning and taking frequent trips outside to take a deep breath and consider the impact that committing a homicide would have on my life.

Since I suspect there is going to be radio silence for a few days, I'm also going to share something I just finished and shipped off:

(The theme was 'Women In Water')

This is the LAST spread that I had to complete for the Moleskine exchange. I'm kind of sad to see it end, but relieved at the same time.

And now, I have to go clean something and make out a grocery list - as soon as I figure out what it is that we're going to eat for the Easter Feasties.

Enjoy your weekend!

3.31.10

2010-03-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

Everyday Matters Challenge # 143:
Draw an herb or spice

3.29.10

2010-03-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

It was a perfectly hideous weekend. The weather was lovely. Perfect allergy weather. Ugh. Anyway, I am working on a few things, but in the meantime, after much (ha!) arm-twisting, here are the "Now" tags.

Just to show that I do have a sense of humor, twisted though it might be, I will tell you that on a few of the tags, I was able to make the "Then" and "Now" relate. For example, on the tag with the iron, the flipside is the golf green. (Iron/iron - get it? Ha! I crack myself up!) And, from that old classic Charlie commercial, the "Now" side is a stack of cash and the "Then" side is a pan of bacon. (I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan. Again. Ha!)

Easily amused, that's me.

3.26.10

2010-03-26T06:38:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, just as a challenge, I will try to see how much detail I can put into a very small image. These were used in the Moleskine Exchange I'm participating in - a look back at women's roles "Then" with a corresponding view of "Now" on the opposite side of the tag. The size of each sketch is probably less than an inch square.

I like the way the "Then" set turned out more than I like the "Now" ones but with sufficient arm twisting (or a continued spell of not hooking up the scanner) I may be pursuaded (or forced) to share the other side of the tags.

3.24.10

2010-03-24T07:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a "I love springtime in Tennessee" day - gorgeous and sunny and warm. This is how I spent a little time after I got home from work, just hanging out on the deck and soaking it all in.

3.23.10

2010-03-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last week felt hectic to me. I think a lot of it was because of Daylight Savings Time kicking in. It always takes me days to get adjusted to the Spring forward part - the Fall back is easy! Extra sleep!

I don't actually have a full week showing because I threw in a couple EDM challenges and in all honesty, Thursday and Friday were so crazy that I never got around to them. And now I can't remember what I was so busy doing. It seemed dreadfully important at the time though. (Doesn't it always?)

3.22.10

2010-03-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

This is what kept me occupied over the weekend (and also what I was too lazy to scan yesterday morning).

The weather in Nashville has been absolutely maddening - sunny and 70 one day, cold and raining (with threats of snow) the next. In otherwords, perfectly normal for here in Spring.

Since the weather was so changeable, I did the watercolor from a photo I took earlier. And because I always love to see where people work, I'm including a photo of my workspace/studio.

I've got a couple of ideas that I'm kicking around for drawings that are actually drawings and not my little daily doodle of my day, so we will have to see how those work out. I'm sure I'll put them up here even if I don't like them, just to show that I've been busy.

Hope you have a great week!

3.21.10

2010-03-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Since I am despicably lazy - too lazy to go upstairs to scan what I finished yesterday - I am showing you something I did for someone else in the Moleskine exchange I mentioned in my last post.

Because you have excellent powers of deduction, you will have already noticed that these two pictures have a Christmas theme.

There are times as I go through this exchange (which is nearly finished!) that for the life of me, I cannot think of anything to draw or paint and so, I come up with these compliations of stuff. There is something very satisfying about these pieces since I love those 3D-type books for children where you get to play with the pages and open little envelopes or find notes tucked in somewhere.

I'm a sucker for all the scrapbooking supplies available but this piece also has a few vintage Christmas seals as well as a few little images from a catalog. Inside the handmade envelope is a note to the recipient since I've tried to write a little something to each person as I finished their book.

If you haven't tried to do one of these, let me encourage you to give it a shot. If you can use a pair of scissors and a glue stick, really you have just about everything that you need. I'd love to see what you come up with!

3.18.10 In Which I Copy Tasha Tudor And Learn A Hard Lesson About Choosing A Medium

2010-03-18T07:05:00.001-07:00

I've been participating in a Moleskine exchange through an online knitting forum called Ravelry. (Knitters, if you are not a member, go join NOW!) A knitting forum seems like an odd place to find a Moleskine exchange but we're finishing up the third round and getting ready to start a fourth round. (Knitters: Artsy AND Craftsy!)

Anyway, the two pictures above are my attempts to copy that watercolorist extraordinaire, Tasha Tudor. My downstream partner mentioned she loved Tasha's artwork and so I tried to oblige. (I do love me some Tasha so that was a happy coincidence!) I'm actually pretty pleased with those two.

Now, the one below - not so much. But, it is my fault for going with colored pencil on that one rather than watercolor. I comfort myself that it is at least recognizable as 'Laura in Snow'.

My Moleskine came back home to me yesterday - a lovely St. Patrick's Day gift! My intro pages are below. On the left is a postcard from Nashville and in each Moleskine I did, a different one was included for the recipient.

Last night was filled with packing up my downstream partner's Moley with all her welcome home gifts and scanning the artwork from my newly-returned Moley so the other members of the group could see it, so not much time for any other artistic pursuits other than cooking and eating a fabulous St. Patrick's Day dinner. Hope yours was wonderful as well!

03.16.10

2010-03-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

(click on images to "biggify")

Just a quick idea of what the past two weeks of my life have been like. I've been trying to at least do a drawing about stuff that happens or is significant each day. There are a couple EDM challenges mixed in - when I'm at a loss for what else to do, I just randomly pick one and stick it in the mix as well.

These two pages (below) are something I did while watching TV . . . strangely addictive.

So, This Art Thing . . .

2010-03-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've always drawn pictures. I had a sketchbook that I drew in faithfully when I was about 9 years old. (Wish I still had it, but I suspect my mom threw it out during spring cleaning or fall cleaning or winter cleaning or yard sale time one year.)

I drew pictures until I didn't anymore.

What happened? I grew up. (I thought I did.) I got married. I moved 1700 miles away from everyone and everything I knew. I got pregnant and became a mom. I got tired and I got lost. I got a part-time job that turned into a full-time job that turned into a career for a few years until I decided to do something else. I got divorced and became a Single Mom. I got even more tired.

Every once in awhile, I'd pull out a sketchbook and do something. Some of it was ok but most of it was dreadful but I felt like at least I had done something. I spent waaaay too much money buying Art Supplies and I knew it but it was hard to pass up the colors. I always loved color.

So, where am I now? I'm married again, working full-time, and a new mom (again) - this time to a 12 year old boy that came with the new husband. The 12 year old keeps getting into my paints. I don't know how I feel about that. I did finally tell him to stay out of the enormous pad of watercolor paper that cost the earth.

And, eventually, scans of stuff that I've done. The new husband bought me a nice Canon Pixma something-or-other that scans and prints and does photo printing.

Thanks for stopping by!