More Noteable Notes-"Star Wars: the Notecard".

      There you have it... grabbed this from the customer and scanned it at the shop so I could keep a copy. It's such silly, random choice I'll not likely ever draw one again but I thought it turned out well. and that counts for something I suppose. It's such a fleeting unpredictable thing, trying to surmise what others will be drawn to.

      One of the lessons I have yet to learn is to create from my own passions instead of trying to create for an audience, a customer. It has always been the case that I make things on the request of someone else. Commissions, tourist oriented work for the folk and craft stores that operate nearby,..fun works for sets and props used in school plays. Murals in community buildings murals in the homes of family, friends and neighbors. I'm always asked because everyone who knows me knows I can..do or invent or illustrate just about anything.

      It seems though, as approach my 55th birthday, that I'm running out of time to develop a style and medium that are epitomally "me". We are advised always to make time for the things that matter. Life to this point has been very full. I have "taken time" to smell roses, watch birds, inhale the salt air and the east coast heaven that is my home. I have always taken time for my children, I devour, with a delicious depth of appreciation, every whiff of my new grand daughters "baby smell" and kiss every inch of her soft baby skin. All of these things are life giving and satisfying.  

      There is though that niggling whisper that taunts me, now and then, that to realize my full potential or at least "utilize" the gifts I have been given. A page left unwritten that I really need to write...Could that time be here?

"Places-I-Have-to-See-Before-I-D die"

 

   
        I realize this is a departure from my usual but an artist needs inspiration, right?? There are places I dream of visiting,  places that come straight to mind when someone muses "If you had a million dollars what would you do?" After I win that million, after I pay of my mortgage, renovate and finish this house and gift nice bundles of cash to my 4 children, I would kidnap my best friend Elaine and travel. For thirty-five years now, we have dreamed of travelling together but we've always been to poor or to busy to follow that dream.

      I have a running list that includes the Italian region of Tuscany, Santorini in Greece, Perthshire in Scotland because I have ancestry there, and there are castles to explore. Barbados is a place I must return to. I loved it there when in 2001 I traveled on a teaching trip with my husband. In 2003 my daughter took me to Luperon, in the Dominican Republic for my very first "All-Inclusive Resort" experience. It was amazing!
     
      Today I stumbled upon an awesome site. I have to add to my bucket list The Hilton Maldives' Rengali Island Spa and Resort. The above photo is their "Ithaa Undersea Restaurant." I stumbled upon this awesome spot this morning and it set my imagination on fire! How fun would it be to be sitting there having dinner (..obviously..Don't order seafood for the sake of the piscene peeping toms as I'm sure they'd be more than a little perturbed! )





Can you just imagine though?  What an amazing visual feast that would be ...and I do love sea creatures too. I love that in every aspect of the undersea world there is such amazing diversity in color shape, size and texture.In this paradise is beautiful over and under the sea! The resort itself is such an unusual design, pure architectural and aesthetic joy! Look at this undersea bedroom!!

      But, enough dreaming for today, I'm guessing if I just spend a moment perusing their reservation fees,  I'll get the reality check needed to inspire me to hit the studio hard. My wanderlust will have to wait, I need a little time to raise that million.

Notable Notes - Simplicity in Pen and Ink

       In my last post I mentioned being "nudged" to capitalize during the time I spend volunteering in a local crafters' co-op. At the time, my scanner was being a technological tick-off but now I've mastered the beast. Today I had a chance to scan all of the doodley little note cards that remain of the 35 or so that I've created so far. 

       
      You have to bear in mind that they are very simple compositions You can really only charge a minimum fee for a greeting card to keep it in a sellable range. With that in mind, I try to spend under an hour on each one. I draw them on archival quality cardstock so that if one seems to urge me to spend more time and carry it further, it can be matted and framed and sold as an artwork instead.

      I won't spend a lot of time writing tonight. I just want to scan and post a few in hopes that you may enjoy seeing them.Some are little seascapes. Some are flora and fauna of the seashore. Some are favored

  pets and other critters.
      The sky's the limit I suppose and I've already had orders for weddings birthdays and the like. As well, they feature the favorite themes of those for whom they are intended. The most random request was a "Star Wars" theme. ( Shoulda scanned that one, it wasn't half bad...) Anyway, here's a sample pack. Enjoy!! :)

AWOL - " A Hectic Hiatus"

      Sorry I've stayed away for so long.  I have such guilt!!! I love blogging, absolutely love it! Lately though its been too busy to formulate a cohesive thought. In the very beginning I expressed how life has surreptitiously gotten in the way of art,...and I knuckled under and admitted that I am solely to blame for allowing it to do so. I started to become really good at claiming my space and time. Well sir,..since Mid-July my best attempts, nor any power on heaven or earth could hold back the tide of "shit gone sideways". ( as my irrepressible eldest is wont to express )

      It's all really "cycle of life" stuff, inevitable and expected. We have children whose respective births span three decades. Although I suffer empty nest blues and pine for some, I still have one who lives at home and invites his teen-aged hungry friends to strip the pantry bare. The older 3 doubled their ranks with sweet life partners and are now home owners, parents and college students. One just went to sea, one just moved and one is finishing his degree. The youngest has a sweet gal pal who just headed back to school and he has just started a new job with a 5 am wake-up call from yours truly. Everybody is in "flux" at the same time   Add to this grandchildren, ( wonderful ) menopause, ( miserable ) middle age crazy husbands, ( exasperating and entertaining. ) and an aging mother only just beginning to need care. ( bewildering and bittersweet ) you've got a brain and a schedule filled with chaos. The scrambled brain isn't even the big deal,..the BIG deal is that my frickin' knees are toast so I don't have a leg to stand on, let alone run on at the dead smashing pace required at present.

      Silver linings still abound though.  I am always struck, at least several times a day, by how very lucky I am. My children are wonderful citizens of the world, all are in shining health. My husband is very hard working and so well respected. I have talents that are appreciated and kind people who watch to see what I will do next.

      I belong to an artists and crafters co-op and I volunteer on Thursdays. It is housed in one classroom of a retired school building. We've been given the shop space by Lisa, the proprietor of a successful printshop and a tempting and terrific cafe. Just yesterday I showed her the crow sketches from my last blog. Moments later she appeared with 7"x 10" cardstock and 5"x 10" envelopes and told me to plunk myself down at the craft store desk and increase my inventory. What a nice gift and just the motivation I needed to snap out of the fuzzy haze of the recent busy days and begin to create again. 

      I was fortunate enough to have my drawing supplies on hand and whipped up six pen and ink note cards. By days end we'd entered them into the inventory and half of them have already sold. This morning I had orders for more. When I sit to draw the next dozen or so, I will take time to scan them and share them with you. Til then, onward and upward!