Soaked, Illustration Friday

Guilty of being thirsty! I've never taken sand to the beach, or coals to Newcastle, but I've been soaked for buying bottled water, even when there's a tap! But in my defense, I do recycle those bottles...
And on a serious note-
It was difficult to play along with this week's challenge, when citizens in parts of our country are dealing with the devastation of severe weather and flooding. My heart goes out to all who've been affected.

Safari, Beginner, IF

Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how...

When school lets out in a few weeks and even as the gas prices soar,
I hope the kids still manage to go on beach safaris.

Loading up the friends and boards, cruisin' PCH, summer mischief always beckons.
It's part of the southern California culture, you know?

And then...
Since Blogger locked the doors to the playhouse late last week, my last minute efforts were put on hold. Never mind. And don't think that the irony of posting my beginners, as the topic was ending, wasn't appreciated here!
While crouching among the flowers and pulling weeds, the inspiration for "Beginner" struck me. Just had to wait to post both topics.
Better late than never, I say.

Lesson, Illustration Friday

I've tried to keep the good lessons I've learned close to heart and let the rest of it go. But the track record isn't exactly perfect, if you catch my drift! Experience tells me that I have much more to learn, and that's about all I can say on the subject for now...hee hee!

Welcome to my new visitors! Thanks to all who came by last week to comment. You're a kind and friendly bunch! I hope to see you again here, and of course I'll be heading over to your blogs, too. Hope it's been a good week!

Bicycle "Two-fer", Illustration Friday

How did I get so lucky while playing hooky from IF? Last week's "Journey" took me away from posting something on topic. I woke today to find the challenge for the week is "Bicycle," and as luck would have it, I could pull something out of the archives to cover both! On Friday, even!
This adventurous little boy, with the help of a magical bird went on a journey to transform himself into a bird. Here, he rides a bicycle to convince his friend that even under all the feathers, he is indeed a boy.
Happy Easter to all of you blogging "Peeps!" May you continue to find much inspiration in the celebration of springtime and its symbolic messages of renewal and growth!

Bottled, Illustration Friday

Some things idle in storage for years, but I know I'll use them for something, some day. The oval shapes in the background were made by inking the bottoms of small lotion bottles, which were then printed on a piece of paper. My simple watercolor of the two bottles was then scanned and placed in a second layer.
If I'd thrown those little bottles away, they probably would have eventually been recycled into something else, but today I had fun printing them and using them for to create my submission for Illustration Friday!
Okay, I hear you snoring back there...What else might be bottled or contained , waiting to be released or recharged? There's no time like the spring to open up, let the light in and find out!

Duet, Illustration Friday

Pigs in a blanket, sawing logs.
It seemed like a good excuse to paint pigs this week for Illustration Friday, not because I was unusually hungry or tired!
Do you know the words to this tune? These two piggies perform a nightly duet, which goes something like this, "Zzzz, zzzz, zzzz..."

Toy, Illustration Friday

We welcome our newest little one into our family.
Little Skyler arrived late last night, and I understand he's already staking out his place on the sand!
This is a composite of the pair of paintings that were painted in honor of his arrival. I hope they'll make him smile and coo almost as much as his favorite toys!