February Faces

It was a fun exercise. One face a day for the month of February.

Every evening Tablet and I would sit on the couch in front of TV and sketch a face.

Out of 28 faces, these are the ones I think are keepers.

I’m toying with the idea of making them into dolls, maybe…..possibly……someday…….

My mom (sort of, lol) is in there. Her younger self, as I choose to remember her. Can you tell which one she is? 

Breaking News

We were watching the news.

The newscaster said ‘studies’ show, on average, women speak 20,000 words a day.

Men 1,000.

Husband turned to me and said………..

“Good thing you’re a man!”

Ummmm……

It’s a compliment.

Yeah, that’s it, it’s a compliment.

Hey, I’ll take ‘em where I can get ‘em!

What I Imagine the Ibis Think

Day in and day out it’s the same damn thing! 

Stick your beak in the dirt and hope you find something.  

You’d think, just once, the humans would take pity on us and put out a spread!

One Finger Salute

One of the funniest childhood memories I have is the first time I ever saw my mother give somebody the ‘finger’.

My parents were not what you would call ‘earthy’ people.

They were refined intellectuals.

Not given to outbursts of emotion, or uninhibited behavior.

She used to say s**t once in a while, in moments of extreme frustration, but flipping the bird at someone???

Totally out of character.

Picture it……..

Here is this petite, mannered, well groomed lady driving along in traffic, minding her own business when out of nowhere something set her off.

All I remember is her shouting at the man in the car going past us………

and her finger.

Her slim, well manicured (with dazzling Million Dollar Red nail polish) finger shooting out of the window at the speed of light!

It was hysterical!

I had never seen my mother lose it in such an undignified manner before.

I remember laughing so hard I couldn’t sit upright in the seat. 

.................... ..... /´¯/)
.................... ..,/¯ ..//
.................... ./... ./ /
............./´¯/' ...'/´¯ ¯`·¸
........../'/.../... ./... ..../¨¯\
........('(...´(... ....... ,~/'...')
.........\.......... ..... ..\/..../
..........''...\.... ..... . _.·´
............\....... ..... ..(
..............\..... ..... ...\

Mom Said There’d Be Days Like This!

Some days it’s nothing but left brained gibberish all day long.

Bookkeeping and paper work………sometimes it looks like a foreign language I do not speak……ugh!

Courage

I finally got the courage to tell DESKTOP I am in love with TABLET.

He took it very well.

Didn’t even hold his breath until he went blue screen.

I know DESKTOP and I will always have something special, and it may just be a passing fancy with TABLET.

Or maybe we will all live in ménage à trois bliss, happily ever after……..

Someday…….

Someday I will be a real artist.

Someday I will be satisfied with my work.

Someday I will have a one woman show.

Someday my art will hang on the walls of a gallery.

Someday I will have an ‘opening’ of my own.

Someday I will be recognized for the genius I am (I added that for comic relief!)

Someday I will have my art in multiple publications.

Someday I will write a deep and moving novel about my mother.

Someday I will have authored several children’s books.

Someday my style will be instantly recognizable as mine.

Someday my characters will be on all sorts of licensed items.

Someday……….

Hey, Mom always said if you reach for the stars you have a shot at the moon, so dream BIG!

Besides, they’re such lovely dreams, and they don’t cost anything.

Self Portrait Challenge

I’m doing a face a day in February. I think I’ve mentioned it before.

Mostly they stink, but that’s okay. It’s the doing that’s the important part.

So far I’ve done all cartoonish faces.

So I thought it might be interesting and a stretch to try and do a ‘sort of’ realistic self portrait.

The problem is….in order to sketch I need to wear my glasses, but in order to see myself in the mirror I can’t wear my glasses.

Catch 22!

But it did make for an interesting sketch! LOL

Argh…… age+gravity+concentration do NOT make for a pretty self portrait! Although, I’m sad to say, it does look like me L

I Think I Might Be Having an Affair

With my TABLET. 

(Ha! You thought something different didn’t you? Get your mind out of the gutter! LOL)

And my DESKTOP is getting suspicious!

DESKTOP accuses me of spending more time with TABLET than with him.
DESKTOP says I’ve been dressing better lately and says it must be for TABLET.

DESKTOP says I’m acting guilty.

DESKTOP says I’m becoming secretive and defensive about where I’ve been all day.

DESKTOP says I’ve been in unusually good spirits recently.

I keep telling DESKTOP, “TABLET and I are just good friends!”

(But in my heart of hearts I think DESKTOP might be right!)

What I’m Reading

The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity

I wasn’t sure about this one when I ordered it.

It was recommended somewhere (blog, FaceBook, I don’t remember.)

Anyway……the first half was pretty much things I’ve already learned but it’s always good to hear them reinforced.

I’m about halfway through and I have to say I like it more and more.

There are some killer lines that I’ve added to my collection of quotes.

So far my favorite is: “Terrify your inner critic!” (Do something outrageous!)

I terrify myself with some of the things I make, she must be downright panicked!

Great Day!

We live in a place that has some of the world’s best beaches but true to human nature we rarely go and spend time at any of them.

Until friends come to vacation and invite us to join them.

We sat on the beach enjoying nature.

The quite lapping of the waves on the sand.

The wonderful salty smell of the Gulf.

The cool damp breeze through our hair.

The warming rays of the sun on our skin.

Good friends, good conversation, beautiful surroundings!  

What more could you wish for?

It was a wonderful day.

Photo credit: Deanna Alexander Barra

For Sophia

Abigail:  Abby is Gaby’s little cousin. She is considered the ‘black sheep’ of the family because she always wants to stick out and be noticed!  Unlike her shy cousin she likes to be the center of attention. She doesn’t like conformity and shows her independence at every opportunity (and even in-between opportunities!)

29 Faces Challenge

I read about the 29 Faces Challenge over at my friend alarmcatstudio’s blog.

It sounded interesting so I decided to do it. 

Not to participate publicly, just for myself.

I decided it was a good way to discipline myself for a month to keep learning and getting comfortable with my Samsung tablet and the Apps I’ve downloaded.

I’ve been doing them mostly in Sketchbook Pro.

I’m still not comfortable, or in any way proficient, but I sit on the couch at night in front of the TV and giggle like crazy.

So far this one is the only one I’m willing to share.

I don’t know what it is but she cracks me up!

If I saw her in a crowd I’d definitely strike up a conversation! 

Disaster Preparedness

What kind of twisted upbringing did I have that taught me the most important item to have in my pantry for disaster preparedness is toilette tissue!?

Not food or water but TP?

For some reason when I have a sufficient supply (read: enough for a platoon) of TP I feel secure and content.

If I start to run low I feel anxious.

No bread or milk in the house? No problem!  I can find other things to eat.

But run low on TP and I get panicky!

Perhaps it’s time for analysis.

(And what demented part of my brain needs me to chronicle it here?)

I DID IT!

I promised myself, for my birthday, I’d either get a tattoo or streak my hair pink.

Husband and the boys talked me out of the tattoo.

(Also, I’m a wimp!)

So hair it is! (Hahahahaha! A pun! My father would be so proud! LOL)

Big Game Hunting

Channeling Shakespeare

To promote or not to promote

That is the question.

Whether ‘tis nobler in the minds of artists

To shove their art down the throats of captive Facebook friends

And flood the web with endless Pinterest posts

Or suffer the slings and arrows of lesser sales

And by doing so,

To die a figurative death

To die, to sleep, perchance to dream

Of fame and fortune

For when we shuffle off this mortal coil

Have we left our mark?

Have we made this place better for our being here with our art?

Aye, there’s the rub…….

GODDAMNSONOFABITCH

I usually reserve that particular expletive for when I stub my toe, but I felt the need to employ it this evening in a totally different situation.

I’ve been practicing with my Samsung tablet using the Sketchbook Pro App, trying to get a handle on this whole ‘digital’ thing.

I was putting the finishing touches on a sketch when I must have inadvertently brushed the ‘home’ button on the toolbar and BAM the program closed without so much as a ‘how do you do’ or asking me if I wanted to save it first!

“GODDAMNSONOFABITCH!!!!!!”

I spent over an hour working on that damn sketch!

It wasn’t a masterpiece but it was pretty good (and of course it’s going to take on epic qualities now that it’s gone and I can’t be proven otherwise! {Think: the one that got away fish story!} LOL)

So I had to have a little self talk to work myself out of the major pout I was about to have.

Me: “GODDAMNSONOFABITCH!!!!!!”

Self: “What?”

Me: “I just lost the whole sketch!”

Self: “Did you save it at any time during the hour you were working on it? Like an intelligent person would do?”

Me: “No.” (Hanging her head in shame because she knows better.)

Self: “Aw, that’s too bad……and stupid! LOL”

Me: “What a waste of time THAT was!”

Self: “Well now, lets’ think about that. Did you have a good time in that hour?”

Me: “Yes.”

Self: “We’re you learning more about the program as you were using it?”

Me: “Yes.”

Self: “Wasn’t that one of the objectives of the exercise?”

Me: “Yes.”

Self: “So it wasn’t a waste of time after all. You learned more about the program, you learned you have to save periodically so as not to lose something you like, and you passed a pleasant hour of your day doing what you like to do. I don’t see that as a waste of time. I see that as a very good use of time.”

Me: “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I REALLY liked that sketch!”

Self: “If you did it once you can do it again, AND spend another pleasant hour doing what you like to do!”

Me: “Sometimes you can be such a know it all!”

(Coming soon, to a blog near you….a digital sketch…….maybe……)

Lazy Day…

The house is clean, the pantry is stocked, the refrigerator is full, and the laundry is done.

Now I get to sit in my nice new clean studio and do whatever I darn well please!

Once Again I Am Reminded…..

Of why I HATE to clean.

After three days of spring cleaning, where I literally moved EVERY PIECE OF DAMN FURNITURE IN THE HOUSE TO CLEAN BEHIND IT (with the exception of the entertainment center because it’s too big) and crawled around on my hands and knees and vacuumed under, around and behind everything. And dusted every tschotske I own. And then vacuumed AGAIN because I’m anal that way.

I now feel every second of my PINXTY years.

I ache in places I didn’t even know were PLACES!

And I’m now literally flat on my back, because obviously, my joints don’t understand the concept of spring cleaning!

I may never be able to straighten up again!

But the house looks AWESOME!

Tell me, am I the only one NOT aging gracefully?    :^)

LOOK, I'm in Print!

I may not be IN the magazine, but I’m getting closer!

(What? It counts!!) LOL

This is my newest favorite magazine! And not because I have an ‘inchie’ on the back cover!
(They even got my name right, all lower case letters, the way I sign myself!)

I thought I wrote about it before but I can’t find the post.

So if I’m repeating myself, forgive me.

It’s a new magazine called ‘Featuring’ based in the Netherlands and it’s sooooooo yummy!

Not your usual artsy fartsy (read: snobbish) magazine and not the run of the mill ‘crafty’ magazine.

Wonderful articles, luscious photography and no advertising!

This is the third issue and I highly recommend that you go here and order all three! Right now!

(I am a non paid enthusiast just trying to spread the word because I don’t want to see it go away!)

Postscript: I just found out that you can pay $10 to have your art featured on the Inchie page. For truth in reporting I just want to say I didn’t pay, I was ‘invited” by the amazing and generous editor Marit Barentsen!