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!