Doodles and Thoughts...

Here is a little more doodling with the Inktense pencils. Sometimes, I just like to lay down colors to see where they might take me, and this is not any exception. What usually happens is I end up journaling on these bits. If I use a disposable technical pen (like the Micron), I will doodle a few lines and add a few word thoughts. I suppose some people would call this visual journaling, however these are not in book format...does that matter?

My apologies for not posting a lot these days, but it seems as if I am continuing my role as "glue" here. Are you ever the glue at your house? Do you find yourself doodling/journaling over other art from time to time?

I promise to work on more thoughtful posts very soon. Have a Beautiful Day!

Quite An Experience

Just 3 hours after I had taken the photographs of the deer in our yard yesterday, we had a series of severe storms which came through the area. On the first wind gust of the first storm, look what happened:


This is a red oak tree from our next door neighbor's back yard. This is a photo of our front yard. My son saw this tree fall from his bedroom window. Needless to say, he was a bit shaken by seeing this fall past his window. We had just come in the house, but at that point we gathered ourselves and went to the basement to weather out the storm.
This is where the tree fell across the fences and landscaping into the front yard.
I took this photo from our front porch, so you can see this tree in the yard. It barely missed our house.
The fire department came by for a visit and to tell me there was extensive damage throughout our large county. Our electricity was out (for a total of 14 hours) and they turned off the gas service to our neighbors house as there had been a great ground shift there when the tree fell.
This is our neighbor's house. Thankfully, this is the garage, so they can still reside there.
Isn't this interesting?
Look at where it is...

When my son and I were in the basement, this is what it looked like out the window there. It was raining very hard, so this downed tree looked quite strange out the window.

This morning when I went out, I found out this is really minor damage in our area. There are streets closed off because there are still trees across electrical lines and unstable buildings. We are lucky to have our electricity back on, because others in the area are not so lucky. The weather forecast calls for more storms today. Since it is to be close to 90 degrees F, I hope we can keep our electricity.

Today, I am feeling very grateful.

Friday...

Hello Everyone!

Thank you all for your kindness and patience over the last few days. I am still with my parents helping with my father's surgery recovery. He is home and doing well (sans getting used to some pain medication) and thanks you all for your kind word and thoughts for his health.

I am feeling bad about not making this an art post, however I am so driven by images and can't upload any from this dial up connection I am working with here. During all the waiting time, I have been doodling a little bit and have some new ideas for paintings. What art have you been working on over the last few days (I know, I know I need to make a blog visit to all of you)?

I probably will not get to much more this weekend, either. But that is the way it works sometimes with life, isn't it? I am eager to be making art again, though. So how about you? Will you be making art this weekend or will you be enjoying some beautiful outdoor time?

I look forward to hearing from each of you and will be posting again next week...it may be later on Monday, but I will post that day!

Until then, have a beautiful, creative weekend in whatever you choose to do.

Odd Monday

Today I am going to have to put off my origional post until tomorrow. I am painting...although not in my studio, but something different. At any rate, I do need to get going with it. I will talk about that and about client interaction tomorrow!

I send you all to your studios to have a beautifully, creative day!

Thankful for a Cold and Rainy Day

I woke up this morning to cold and rain. Oh yes, there is wind tossed in there as well. But Jonathan and I are snug and warm here each with our computers on our laps working away. Hopefully, later today the computer comes off my lap and I can get up into the studio to do a bit of work.

Cold, rainy and windy days can be comforting from time to time, however. I find it makes me get a lot more done than days which call me to be outdoors or to do other things. I suppose all in all, like life, it is a matter of balance. After a hot and humid summer, I am also grateful for the cold and look forward to the snow. Of course, I do not have to go out and get myself to an office away from home, either.

So I am off to get some things done inside today and start getting things in place for a lovely Thanksgiving. I am feeling very grateful, and I hope you are as well.

She's Back

Finally after months of trying to get settled after this move, I am working towards some reasonable form of life. I have found this transition from Europe to the US a difficult one. I never thought returning to my home country would be so difficult, but I am missing the people of England so much. I am slowly settling into our home here and very slowly getting the house into a place we can call home. Surprise of surprises, I was even able to make it into the studio recently. True enough, I only prepared some canvases, but I was in there enjoying myself.

During this transition, I have been thinking about how I am going to have to go back to some of my previous techniques for keeping my life sane and for keeping my creativity flowing. For me, that is a balance of things. I know my yoga is an important part and I have been doing that several times a week for a while now. I also find interacting with my young adult children keeps me fresh and ready to go. But one of the old techniques that worked so well for me before that I have just re-discovered is journaling.

Now journaling means a lot of things to a lot of people. I think it means what helps you process your ideas and thoughts. It helps with organization of perceptions and feelings. This happens in different ways for different people. Some people like to just write, some like to doodle, some use photography and others use a variety of techniques. Like me, there are people who do or have kept multiple journals at the same time. I know this will be effective for me again as I try to keep up with this new life.

I had let some of my coping techniques go when we were in England, because my day to day life there was like a journal. I wanted to soak it all up in a different way. It was great for me then, but now I do have to get back to what worked for me before. I think it will work again to keep me clear and open to all the possibilities my life has to offer.

What keeps you going? What is a part of your life that remains important to keep your creativity alive and processing? There are many factors which need to come together for me, is this true for you, too?