Snow, Illustration Friday

Since it's only been a little over three months since the last post here, it seemed like a good day to take a break from all the red and green laid out before my eyes and do a little something new to participate in Illustration Friday's latest challenge.
Snow? Not too far a stretch of the imagination for me, as I shiver in shorts, holding out for that last glimpse of sunshine for the day. As unseasonably warm as it has seemed for the past few months, the crisp air is suggesting a shift in wardrobe choices will be necessary...Brrr!
Wishing everybody a peaceful holiday season, wherever you might be. Please remember those who are hurting or dealing with difficult circumstances. A little kindness goes a long way, it doesn't cost anything in most instances, and is always appreciated by its recipients!
Merry Christmas!

 

Identical, Illustration Friday

Well here it is, already several days past the Labor Day holiday weekend and the unofficial beginning of fall, ha ha ha! I know I should be getting all giddy about the autumn holidays and Christmas looming, but for those of us who live in a warmer climates (and ask any kid who's just returned to a new school year)- these days are still practically identical to some of the best of summer's. I just know there are a few more beach days, yet.
Along the strand just north of the Oceanside pier, two rows of tiny beach cottages face the Pacific Ocean. Built in the late 1920's and named "Roberts Cottages" for their early owners, Harry and Virginia Roberts, they've undoubtedly witnessed the passing of many seasons and the ebb and flow of both the tides and tourists who vacation at the shore.
Hello, September! I see those leaves starting to change to golden green! A few more weeks' worth of summer, that's all I ask...

Teacher, Illustration Friday

Many years ago, I thought I might like to be a teacher. Instead, I enrolled in this "crash" course, a non- elective, where recesses are brief and there's no graduation date in sight. Welcome back, live and learn, students. We're back in session...Again.

Freeze, Illustration Friday

Like everybody else, I spent a good part of the past two weeks spellbound by the TV as the world's top athletes gathered for the Olympic games in London. Of course, all this "activity" during summer's heat has invited much indulging in frosty confections, like popsicles, smoothies and my fave, ice cream. I think I've perfected the technique of timing my intake, savoring each frozen gulp or bite, so I can honestly say I've never really experienced the dreaded ice cream headache, It's just one of the skills that go with the territory, that's all, and not soon to be featured in any Olympic event.
This week's IF theme being "Freeze," I thought it was safe and appropriate to put my little deer out on a warm summer night, frozen in a slightly different way, and only for the moment as the headlights pass.

Thanks to all the nice people of London and the UK for graciously hosting the summer games!

Lonely, Illustration Friday

What good is one without the other?
One half of a pair, a flip without a flop or simply a flop?
This is not the end of the road for this very well worn and comfortable slipper! Just isolated it to stand by its lonely self for Illustration Friday.

Carry, Illustration Friday

It's summer. Instead of going on about heavy loads and other burdens to bear, I will give it all a rest and simply let this little sparrow carry his happy tune!

Suspend, Illustration Friday

Returning from a temporary but suspended animation, blog and weather-wise, only to discover that summer is now in full session. The monsoonal influence has invited the higher temps along with a little humidity, and as a result, we get skies that inspire watercolor sketches or mimicking little ripples along the shore. As much as I'd love to lazily drift along with these clouds, there is a growing list of things that need tending to. All right, who's ready for the beach? ;o)

Shiny, Illustration Friday

When hope is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it sometimes floats forth and opens.” ~ Anne Lamott


Just waiting for the sunny days of summer to get here and patiently dealing with the "June Gloom," that continues to tease us with cloudy skies along the coastal areas. Still, the warmer days suggest summer is almost here and soon there will be many more opportunities to walk along the shore, tempted by glittery sand, shells, sparkly seaglass, and other shiny treasures at the water's edge.
But just like the cocktail hour, it's always beach weather somewhere- and it's always summer on the inside, right?

Hurry! Illustration Friday

Here's another quickie for Illustration Friday- not that there was a big hurry to post it, but it did get up here on a Wednesday, for a change of pace.
Watching a young Rufous Hummingbird busily zipping in and out of the flowers, I decided to stop dilly - dallying and start painting. If only my brushes worked as quickly as this little one's wings!

Faded, Illustration Friday

“'Tis the last rose of summer Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone” ~ Thomas Moore

Let's not rush things, all right? It's still spring and there's still plenty of color, but here in my neck o' the woods, things have become quite a bit drier and some of the succulents do look a little bit muted by comparison to the earlier explosion of poppies around my yard.
Felt like trying to pull a few prints to emulate some of this fading color for my last minute Illustration Friday post this evening. Breaking out the "decent" warm weather clothes that have seen several seasons, noticing how my "highlights" keep taking up more space in my once dark head of hair (when I can get out in the light to see more clearly), it's a wonder that I hadn't noticed that faded inspiration has been following me around for awhile...

Sight, Illustration Friday

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

This week's challenge left things wide open for interpretation. Though I'm curious to see what everybody else has done this week over at Illustration Friday, I'm imagining the word "sight" will mean a variety of things to anybody, depending on one's perspective. As luck would have it, I happened to see a little set of ears and an eye peering out from behind a cluster of succulents in my yard today. A mental note and a quick watercolor later, this is what I saw and decided to share with you, a last bit of spring as the season heads into the unofficial beginning of summer.
A safe Memorial Day weekend to all of you!

Kernel, Illustration Friday

“Nature has neither kernel nor shell; she is everything at once” ~ Goethe

Working solo can sometimes make a person feel as lonely as an old maid, so to keep myself amused, I like to pop in to Illustration Friday to leave my occasional bursts, creative puffs and stuff into the kettle. Thursdays, I've discovered, are usually good days to see what's cookin' with the others whose posts can be as buttery, sweet, salty or delicious as any late night snack.

P.S. Thought I'd throw an oldie in here for good measure- Classic Mushroom Tender corniness here, no more puns about "Colonels" or chicken recipes from Kentucky, cluck , cluck, cluck...

Hitched, Illustration Friday

Happy Mother's Day!

Jump, Illustration Friday

I've always loved to see how other artists post their sketches. Well, I especially love it on Thursday night, when I've been itching to do something for Illustration Friday all week, and never got around to doing anything.
Well, I actually did jump up after dinner to do this quickie.
Thanks to all of you who so faithfully returned to visit last week after my "blogcation." I'm slowly getting back to business here and looking forward to visiting regularly with you again... IOU!

Heights, Illustration Friday

Today I'm thinking back to a time in my life when I could hit the high notes, and the school music teacher still invited me to participate with the chorus. Another year later and my singing career was over; the voice was never going to reach those angelic heights again. I decided at that point I liked art classes better, anyway.
Whether this makes it to Illustration Friday tonight, depends on whether or not I can figure out how to get this post together with my pic and published. Where is everything? Darn that new Google interface! Everything looks different since the last time I was here, which reminds me of another story, and maybe one I'll just have to tell later. For the time being, I could use a little divine intervention like a small miracle, and if not, you might hear me singin' the blues.

Grounded, Illustration Friday

There was a time in my life when the thought of being grounded, as in being held against one's childish will, would have been sheer torture. Of course, the point of being restricted for some misdeed was actually an effort by our parents to keep us grounded, or balanced by the strong foundation provided by this tough love. At some point during my adult years, I eventually discovered that staying home really wasn't such a bad thing. (Could that ever be more true than the week after the holiday season has ended?)
Though any good Libra will tell you that there's always an occasion to celebrate, it was a little bit of a relief to finally return to my own home turf, a much needed rest with no social engagements except with the ones I'd been neglecting around the house. First visits would be with my barely living plants which had been struggling to survive on little water or care these past beautifully warm and dry weeks.
After spending a good part of two marathon days of this self imposed "torture" of hanging out in the backyard in shorts, my feet barely nestled in flip flops, the low winter sun bore down, almost challenging me to a sunburn. As the plants and dry soil in the pots gasped, I comfortably sipped on a cool glass of water. My hands in the dirt and my semi-sadistic gardening skills being exercised, I was feeling the smug satisfaction of having almost pushed these plants to the brink of the green waste facility, but not completely. Like all good parents whose child rearing skills were seemingly modeled by prison guards from the "Cool Hand Luke" school of discipline, there was a spark of conscience and eventually a limit to the amount of abuse I could inflict. Swooping back to rescue them with fresh potting soil, a sprinkling of bone meal and water, the growth cycle would be put back in balance. Besides, when spring finally comes around, they'll be stronger for the experience!

Highlight, Illustration Friday

For me, the highlight of the holidays was being able to spend time with family and friends. I was especially grateful for the opportunities to have shared these moments. It's been an exceptional season.
Looking forward to similar highlights in 2012! And no, my family and friends aren't olives- just aiming for a quick, graphic effect to submit to Illustration Friday this week! ;o)