Treasures.

New items in a new shop soon.

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a productive day although the odds were against such a day with sick kid, car towing and lost cat. It all works out in the end.

Artist for ONE day.

These are some logo ideas for an event with Westfield shopping center and Escondido Children's Museum that will take place in a month or so. The event will consist of children creating art on tiles that will eventually become a large mural. This is the beginning stages of the project but I think I have my starting point and certainly my favorite of these three. Do you have one? (I'd love to hear!)

 

Happy Memorial Day to you and may you find the day to be restful and free of everyday chaos!

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for fun work projects and the freedom to work on them even on a holiday.

Roller coaster... woo, hoo, hoo.

Big weekends always hold big fun and what better way to celebrate a young niece's birthday but at  Belmont Park There is an old wooden roller coaster (plus other fun rides), fair food, ice cream and the big bonus is... it is right on the ocean!

A ride on the roller coaster is a must do! The front row is the best seat to take some action shots (look in the upper right hand corner to see how high we were!)...

After the steep climb up, things start to go south...

But afterwards, the fright turned into smiles.

To ease an aching head, a giant cone of ice cream was the only remedy.

When things get too overwhelming, a walk across the boardwalk to see the sunset is a great way to calm the mind.

Upon return, the WaveHouse is a slight distraction.

And then, when it's time to go... one more ride is the only way to make a grand exit.

Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a nice evening with company.

Really GOOD kid novels.

The kid and I are reading a really cool book series called The Spiderwick Chronicles. We are on book three and much to my relief, the kid is captivated. He loves to read, so really lucky for that, but most of his book interests have been sports related or comic novels. I find these interesting too... so, HOORAY for me!

We like them so much that we watched the movie this afternoon. I hope it didn't kill book 4 and 5 for us.

 What's on your nightstand right now?

Surprise!

Mmmmm, I was going to post a cute little critter of some sort but I received a surprise in the post today that warmed my heart just so. This is from my blogger friend, Linda Woods (yes, the famous artist/author extraordinaire!) Thank you SO much Linda!

How about you? Do you like surprises in the mail?

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a super successful visit to the library. They had every book I wanted and that doesn't happen very often!

Creatin' away in the month of May.

Summer is almost upon us and I'm sitting here wondering where spring went? I know everybody laments about how quickly time flies but seriously... seriously... where has May gone? So, while I was wondering this, I made this pillow.

Last night was a birthday celebration for a special girl... my niece who is now 12. (She is front and center in this group.) Of course there will always be someone missing in these group photos but after almost two full years of SUPER sadness from missing my sister, this group is looking a little happier! That's nice to see.

In the midst of all this contemplating and the fright Blogger gave me, I began looking at my blog and the course it has taken and I think I miss some of my children's themed illustrations. A L O T. Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE quotes and inspiring art, truly that is the backbone of my creativity, but the little girl in me really misses cute little critters and child inspired drawings. Me thinks there may be a few more of them showing up soon... what do YOU think about that?

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for another day of hangin' with the kid. SO looking forward to summer!

Expect the unexpected!

w h e w ! ! ! !

I've been absent because Blogger wouldn't let me log on and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what the problem was. Well, after a little sleuthing, I discovered one of my "cookies" was bad. (Who'd ever think a cookie could be bad is beyond me!) Anyway, the problem is fixed and I must say I'm so pleased to have figured it out all by my little lonesome! I guess we really should expect miracles! : )

Happy 12th birthday, Delaney! Man o man, can't believe you are  T W E L V E !!!

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a little bit o' sunshine on the beach today and a twelve year old's birthday celebration to go to!

Mind and Matter.

Some of the best advice to give a graduate is...

... or really anyone I suppose. Think how many years of turmoil could be saved by this statement alone?

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an afternoon with a friend at the movies.

Secrets.

For some strange reason, I just can't seem to stop with these quotes. I hope you don't mind and just maybe one or two of them will touch your life as they are touching mine.

After attending another memorial service today, this quote has been bouncing around in my mind like a loose ping pong ball. Many of my forty four years have been spent in a place far, far away from letting go and only in the last four have I finally started to "get it." Especially the last year. I am finally "getting it." All we really need to do in life is let go of whatever we are grasping onto ever so tightly. And truthfully, the thing we hold onto the tightest is never really ours in the first place. Only when we do let go, the truth and freedom rush right in. That's the secret... you've known it all along. Easy, peasy, cover girl breezy.

Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a fun little league game to watch, a somber memorial service to reflect, and a 50 year old's birthday party to attend this evening to celebrate. Whew, what a day!

Be good to yourself.

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for sore muscles.

Inside info.

Totally convinced! How about you?

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a fresh, clean home.

Actively involved to happy!

What is it you really want? Are you making time for it?

For some, it's so easy to think about what we don't want, what is in our lives that is annoying, not working or keeping us from being happy. The real challenge is to stop running down that list. Make a new one... with only things that you really want. Write them down. Think about them every day and see what happens!

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an inquisitive child.

Distance traveled.

How far have you traveled today?

Random Musings:
I received a call from my dermatologist today, and since I've been awaiting news from a biopsy I had recently, I though how lucky for me they called and I didn't have to. Well, luck ran out after hello. Sigh. I must go back in and have more of my flesh cut out... again. Never fear though, my kind of skin cancer is super slow growing and not at all like melanoma! Whew! However, every six months I find something to be looked at and after numerous surgeries and scars, the distance traveled on this adventure has racked up some serious success... right? Yeah, if I were a road map that is. Smile.

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the puppy beast to spend the day at doggie day camp!

Super Sunday.

I am the incredibly lucky recipient to receive this book, illustrated by the super fabulous Nate Padavick of studiosss.com. Thanks NATE! I love it!

 Happy weekend!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an afternoon at Legoland with friends and an early bedtime! (Keeping with the theme of living more and wanting less!)

Tiny gardens.

This is my new little garden I created today. I love me some succulents!

Finding Courage.

New things in the studio...

Oooo, shiny! Resin makes a nice top coat on wooden canvases!

Oh how I love orange...

Thoughts for today. (Well, really yesterday but Blogger was out of order due to maintenance issues.)

COURAGE 1. The ability to do something that frightens one 2. Strength in the face of pain or grief

I've been thinking about courage lately, mostly because I've been ruled by fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of trying new things, fear of something bad happening, you name it, I'm sure there is some fear of it inside of me. At different times in my life I've brushed that aside and just did it anyway, fear and all but sometimes I let the fear get in the way. A lot of times I let the fear get in the way. I'm tired though and sick of the fear so I've decided that this is one of those times where I am going to just do anyway. Do it afraid.

So then that got me thinking about the decision. How much of our lives are ruled by issues, feelings, emotions and could be brushed aside by the DECISION to stop? Stop allowing the issue, feeling or emotion to be the boss. For example: I've been agonizing over my lack of being creative. I've just gone through a long spell of feeling VERY uncreative and have only recently been feeling like painting and trying some new things. Sure, I waited a long time to feel the feelings but a tiny part of me said, "Enough is enough." Just create something, anything, and no one has to look at it. Get in the studio and clear out some clutter. Stop and be in the moment, feel the sadness or whatever emotion is crippling you and then step OUTSIDE the emotion and do an action. An action that will move towards being creative. So I did, one little step at a time. I'm still stepping lightly through some fear but my motivation is returning.

This brings me back to courage. It takes courage to try something new. It takes courage to allow yourself to feel your emotions but then take some sort of action. We ALL have that courage in us and it just needs to be recognized. WE ARE MORE THAN OUR FEAR!

How have you been courageous this week?

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a nice dinner out with friends last night and an interesting conversation about the challenges of middle school, high school and college. So humbled I feel.

Family gatherings.

These t-shirt designs are for a family reunion gathering this summer. I've never been on one (since my family is pretty small) I've never had this sort of t-shirt. BUT if I ever do go to one, I might like one such as these!

How about you? Have you ever been on a family reunion?

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a misbehavin' beast dog for it reminds me to stick to the rules as most things work better, dogs included.

The Game of Life...

For the graduating class at Dingeman Elementary... there is a whole plan in motion for movement and success! This is a sample of a graphic I've been creating for them...

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for interesting work, lovely friends and leisurely lunches!

I Heart NYC.

Here is a peek at some new art I've got in the works. Some of these are from photos I took while I was in NYC 2 1/2 years ago and I'm so pleased there is some way to bring them to life.

I have a very strong yearning to be in New York City, so much so that if I believed in living more than one life, I'd surely say I lived there in a previous one. I can't wait to go back!

How about you? Does a certain city call you?

Give Away Winner is Salli Swindell from manicexpresssive.blogspot.com! Girl, I need your address so I can send you a get well card!

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an afternoon to help my NINE year old niece celebrate her birthday!

Mother's Day 2011

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. (Even the ones with only furry kids!)

If you like these hand drawn flowers, they are from here ,keepdesigning.com and are a FREE download! Go get some for yourself! Yipee!

Places of interest.

Over at They Draw and Travel, an extension of They Draw and Cook, is a website of illustrated maps of different places around the world. I am trying to take a stab at this project, although I must say it is a challenging one and my illustrations are moving at a snail's pace! From the beginnings of my map, I saw these t-shirts appear. I'd love to wear one of these!

How about you? Do things appear when you are looking?

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for lunch with a very funny illustrator cohort, thanks Ned!
Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an early Little League game this AM with no "Snack Shack" duty!

Words of kindness for Mother's Day.

I've been having some orders for my personalized art for your favorite loved one lately and someone was thinking ahead for Mother's Day! What mom wouldn't love a piece of art with all those flattering, inspiring words?

Thought for the day:
"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness." -Seneca

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the dueling of the monster puppy against the desert tortoise as it sure keeps things interesting around here.
Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn new creative techniques.

Trying on the new.

Trying out some new things in the studio... this is the first step. I am working with some prints of some cupcake paintings (sold here) I created a while ago, some wood blocks, glue and some resin. I'll post more as it progresses.

What have you tried that is new lately?

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the painful realization of old behaviors sliding in. Luckily, the new ones are on guard!

Standing Still.

No explanation needed.

Monday's Gratitude:

I am so grateful for getting some more paintings started,go through some piles, and backing up my computer! Whoo-hoo!

Give Away for the month of May!

This is a printed Get Well card from RSVP, a lovely card making company that turns my art into greeting cards. We never plan on sending out Get Well cards so you never know when you will need one. The outside has metallic printing and how cute is the inside? Cards rarely have cute images in the inside. Would you like one of these? IF so, please leave a comment from now until next Sunday, Mother's Day and a name will be selected from the pile... maybe it will be yours?

Happy weekend to you!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a gathering last night to arrange my unmanageable photo mess into neat and orderly photo albums.

Forty Days

What was I thinking? It's been 7 hours and 36 minutes since my "Forty Days" of no processed food or sugar started and all I can think about are those #$@% little cake balls in my fridge. Sadly, out of those 7 hours and 36 minutes, I've been asleep for five of them.

Geez, it's gonna be a long day.