Happy Friday! A little watercolor painting of a coral today -- I really enjoy drawing sea life and I've been doing a lot of it lately. Speaking of enjoying things, last week while driving into downtown to run an errand early on a Saturday morning, I saw a man swaying his arms to and fro in exaggerated movements as he walked. The traffic light turned red, and I had the chance to observe this youngish man who looked decidedly un-homeless. Medium-build, glasses, sweatshirt and jeans. And massive, ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Some prep sketches for the book. I've been loving this handmade paper for its texture and I've been having a blast with all my watercolor/gouache paints. It's nose to the grindstone time (but in a good way), friends, so I best keep it short today. ********************************** K: You know, Mama...you're actually really, really funny even though most people would think you're totally boring if they just looked at you. Me: ...thank you? ********************************** Happy ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! Whew, this week was a bust: my total creative output was one pair of mittens. That painting above is from eons ago - I just shamelessly dig through my old stuff whenever I don't have anything fresh. Oh well, there have been a few pleasantly surprising turn of events because of my flu/bronchitis/whatever-this-is. - I've been using this contraption with menthol inserts, and the price of indignity rewarded me with amazing skin. It's like getting a steam facial every day, so I'm ... Read more
Dancing Sparrows
This watercolor painting I did was inspired by a Japanese folktale. The story is about an old man married to a less-than-nice woman, and how she maliciously hurts his pet sparrow one day (cuts out its tongue!), causing the sparrow to fly away. When the old man goes in search for the bird, he discovers that the sparrow -- despite its tonguelessness -- can talk, and has a family in the woods that entertain the old man with food, drink and dancing. There is a moral about greed and ... Read more
Happy Friday + Randomness
Happy Friday! Wow, the comments from the giveaway are giving me a serious case of wanderlust - so many beautiful, tantalizing descriptions and locales! They are also bringing back visceral memories of all the places I've traveled -- I was quite the adventuress in my youth. I inherited the traveling bug from my parents and they've carted me and my brothers around the globe several times over; and my mom's been traveling to Seattle to visit multiple times a year for the last seven years. I ... Read more