I Want to Play - Zentangle

I miss having time for art, and I have these new shoes (see yesterday's post) and I really want to decorate the toes on them. But I don't want something crappy, and I know that if I just dive in without thought, the shoes will look horrible. So I started doing some on-line research - into Zentangle.

This piece combines several different tangles into a lovely whole. 

Zentangle is a method of drawing that is often mistakenly referred to as doodling. Tangles (you don't 'zentangle', you 'tangle' when working on this art) begin with light penciled abstract open shapes called 'strings' and then switch to permanent black ink fine point markers like Sakura Micron pens. Color is rarely used in a tangle.

One of the keys of Zentangle is that no secondary
tools are used - no guides, no rulers. But because
of the way the patterns build, complex patterns like
this can be created free-hand. 

Tangles build from a center point, growing evenly from the center, turning and twisting. Instead of trying to hit odd angles, you turn your media so that you can draw easily, meditatively. Traditionally, tangles are drawn onto tiles - fine grade paper measuring 3.5 inches square. They can take as little as 15 minutes to draw, or become very complex, taking much more time.

The key to a successful tangle is the progression
of the pattern. Here, the dots lead to the chevrons which
lead to the diamonds which lead to the embellishments. 

I want to put some tangles on the tips of my shoes. And I want to play with tangles because, when you look at the world around us, patterns are everywhere. From the earliest days of art and crafts, makers used pattern. Continuing to work in that vein just seems right to me.

Tangles are combined. Each section of this lovely star and
the background is a separate tangle. When you break each
element down into how they are made, the complexity becomes
more attainable and understandable. 

So as we enter another scorching day, I'll pack my Micron pens, grab one of my moleskin sketch books and some references and instructions on how to do tangles, and I'll start playing a bit after I finish my workout. One less digital jigsaw puzzle and one more tangle seems like a good compromise to me. Have a weekend of joy.

Unusual Materials

Last night's "Project Runway" challenge was their 'unusual materials' challenge, and no, I'm not going to tell you who won or who lost, just that (as usual) some of the designs were really horrid and others were fabulous. I didn't agree with who they pegged as worst and safe, so I didn't agree with who they sent home, but it's a competition. Eventually everyone except the three top designers will be sent home and only one of those final three will actually win.

My DH owns a Milwaukee Tools power drill, but it's
similar to this Black and Decker. I don't go half-way
when I need a drill. I use the one that could drill through
a thick board. 

Back to the subject at hand. Unusual materials. We've all had times when we used something unusual for a purpose it was never intended. As one example, I have used an ice pick to drill holes into leather belts for extending or pulling in a belt buckle to a new location. I have also used a power drill for that same purpose. Neither tool is actually meant to be used this way, they were handy and they did the job.

A kiss can be a medical miracle if given by the right person. 

Aren't relationships sometimes like that? A child falls and skins his/her knee. Often times the caregiver will not only clean and bandage the bleeding skin, but afterward will "kiss it and make it better". An unusual healing medication, but one that I remember as having been very effective in my own life.

The toes on my new Converse slip-on shoes are just crying out for
decoration. I may regret it, but I'm going to throw some
waterproof pens into my handbag and see if I have any spare time
to play later on today. 

Have you ever used something in a non-traditional way to cook with? To clean with? To make art with? On an art thought - I have a new pair of slip-on Converse shoes in a nice dusty grey. The toes on these shoes are just begging for decoration. Hmmm ... maybe time to grab a waterproof pen and start drawing... Have a great Friday!

Once Again Addicted...An Olympics Post

I'm an Olympics geek. I really love watching them. My DH is just as bad (maybe even worse) and so when the Olympics are being broadcast, our TVs are on to watch them. It is a lot of fun. So yesterday, while finally having the opportunity to catch up on doing my laundry, I watched Team Skating, hockey, lots of cross country skiing and speed skating, snow boarding and ski jumping, and occasional glimpses of world powers or royalty.

Congratulations to Poland's Kamil Stoch who won gold in the normal hill
ski jumping competition yesterday. He flew! It was really beautiful. He was
carried around the staging area on the shoulders of the silver and bronze
medal winners. Great job by all!

It's always fun when a nation's powers are there to support their athletes. But there's a serious difference between Vladimir Putin clapping in his controlled manner for Russia as their 15-year-old female individual skater nailed it in their attempt to win their Team Skating Gold Medal vs the King and Queen of the Netherlands wearing orange and supporting their speed skaters by spending long days at the track. Does Putin actually have emotion? His very faint smiles never reach his eyes. The man is like a dead fish - rather frightening and certainly not someone I'd be inviting over to share a cup of tea. The King and Queen, however, are sitting on benches, laid back, cheering and supporting, and yeah - probably very well liked by their people because they come across as very honest and caring.

Dutch King Wilem-Alexander, left, Queen Maxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte
celebrate as Sven Kramer sets a new 5000-meter speed skating record, winning
another gold for the Netherlands. 

But audience aside, the point of the Olympics is really the athletes and they are having a wonderful time. They are performing in their chosen sports and events and the joy I'm seeing on their faces, even those who are not anywhere close to winning medals, is making these Games well worth watching. I've also really loved watching the easy interaction and support between athletes who are from different nations and competing against each other. They understand that it is a competition, that each of them will have good days and bad, and that their similarities far outweigh their differences. Now, if we could just teach our politicians that little lesson.

Not much gets Putin to smile. I looked through pictures of him congratulating
the Russian team and the US team, getting hugs and shaking hands, and never
did I see a real smile, only a slight upturn of his mouth. Would it kill the guy to
actually be enthusiastic? 

My Sunday was relaxing while doing five loads of laundry. I began working on an illustration I'm doing for B2MeM, watched the Olympics and read my current e-book. I really needed a kicked-back day and I got one. I hope your Monday is totally fab and that you return to your homes after work today, happy with what you accomplished today. Smile at someone today and help make their day easier and happier.

Ostara and Day's Planning

Good Ostara to all of my friends and readers. Those of you not familiar with the Celtic name - Happy Spring Equinox. Yes, Spring is finally here and when I look out of my window I see growing/budding plants, birds flying together in pairs, and I see bunnies hopping across my front lawn. NOT!!!!! No, I see snowpiles of more than four feet high, grey skies, and ice patches everywhere with a temperature that will be lucky to hit 20 F (-6.66 C) for a HIGH today. Ostara? Well, it's a nice astronomical mark but my personal Spring is still a month or two away.

Good Ostara to all of you.

Today, after coloring one last pic for CB's story, I'll begin the pencil and charcoal work on her final original piece. I'm really looking forward to playing with drawing again - it's been too long since I've set up my easel. I have a ton of errands to do all over town today also, and have to remember to drop by Target to pick up some essentials plus (after all, I'll already be there...) the video of The Hobbit. DH said we could go ahead and get this but no additional copies until the combined set of all three in Director's Cut become available. I can live with that and it's at a good price for the full combined version.

I use a portable tabletop easel similar to this (not quite
as nice, though) and it's wonderfully useful.

Next week will be the final episode of this season's Face Off and I like all three of the final contestants. I won't put spoilers here, but it will be a hard-fought finale and any of the three could end up winning it all. The designs that have been constructed through the season have been mind-blowing and some of the painting skills of these artists - I want to just learn airbrushing techniques from them. Truly amazing talent.

The Face Off logo splash-screen features the hostess being
transformed into an avian of some type. Beautiful coloring.

I'm continuing to focus on artwork because I haven't found any writing that has jogged me lately. Yes, B2ME is ongoing, but I am not enamored with the format that is being used this year. But on the original fiction front, I'm pretty happy. Dragonthology is doing well as an e-edition (available as a NookBook and e-pub on March 31st) but even more exciting, it has now been issued in print now and is available at major book retailers including Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I received my author's copy in the mail a few days ago and it's a lot of fun to see and flip through the pages. One baby step to a novel of my own. If you have a desire to do some original fiction, Untold Press is still accepting stories for consideration to be included in their next anthology - Happily Ever Afterlife. If you're interested in finding out more, click the link, write a story between 5000 and 10000 words and send it to them (formatted properly). Who knows? You may be the star of the next anthology.

Topsey-Turvey But Accomplished

What a productive if topsey-turvey day Wednesday was. Because of the various firm errands and appointments I had scheduled, my normal schedule was shot to hell. But...I ended up getting so much accomplished in spite, despite, or merely because of the shake-up. I started by doing my first load of laundry at 4:00 am - yes, a ridiculous time for laundry, but time saved. Then I had lunch for breakfast - OK, a small bit of explanation. I had a lovely text-message coupon good for two days allowing me a hamburger with fries for $5 if I purchased a drink at my local Perkins. Their Tangler-burgers are amazingly good and coffee is necessary. So...a wonderful lunch for breakfast.

I wandered Staples for a half-hour of price comparison. I have a 20% off deal that exists for a few more days, but I'm not sure I saw anything there to convince me to buy. Their prices tend to be more expensive. There was a Logitech washable keyboard that was tempting...but I didn't break down and buy it. I'll check my store supplies and make sure I do/don't need things before maybe buying on Friday morning.

The keyboard can be washed. I LOVE this!

Finally, after picking up my store supplies from the store that was going out of business I did a quick grocery shop and set up to work on art for the rest of the day. I continued doing the laundry (of course) but also managed to transfer and ink out seven separate panels by the time I put my sketch pad away at 9:00 pm. I have decided I will have to do a single photo montage for one illustration and there is one pure drawing that I want to do of a beautiful visage - a perfect response to CB's character. I only hope I can do him justice.

And Aearwen and I talked for 90 minutes in the late afternoon. I completely lost track of the time. I was inking out one of the drawings while talking with her and before I knew it she, wise person that she is, said that it was probably time to call it an end for the week. I don't have a lot of people I can talk and talk with and it's always such a pleasure to exchange writing tips, story ideas and family notes with her. It's been a year or so now that we've been talking every week and I absolutely love it - one of the high points of every week for me.

It's always fun to talk to friends on the phone.

So today, go with the flow to allow things to be accomplished, and treasure your friends. You'll go to sleep tonight with a well-satisfied smile on your face as you reflect on the day you just lived.

A Day of Color and Light

The electronic ballast adventure was successful beyond my dreams. My landlord came in at 10:30 am or so and began the rewire of one fixture. I phoned my Manager who came by on his day off to watch and learn. After one more call-back for the landlord to explain one more little point, my manager understood what to do and jumped in. By early afternoon all fixtures had been rewired as needed and new bulbs were installed. We have light! It's a beautiful (and very bright) thing and I and my customers will be very happy. No more hiding in the shadows...

A solar flare from 2007

I thought I'd share this lovely solar flare with all of you. It is,

of course, much brighter than my banks of fluorescent lamps, 

but there is nothing exciting about looking at a row of lighted

light bulbs and solar flares are much more beautiful.

Today is my day off, but I won't get a chance to actually be home and relax until mid-afternoon, really cutting into my creative time. A local bead store is going out of business at the end of the month. The owner contacted me (and other stores in the area) to offer the last of her merchandise, fixtures and supplies and she does have a few things that I can use. So, I'll be at her place at 11:00 am today to pick up the supplies I discussed with her and to see if there might be anything else of interest. This will keep me away from my desk for hours which does not make me happy.

Loading boxes

I have high hopes that the boxes I pick up won't be too bulky, but

no guarantees. Either way, I'm getting a good deal and she's getting

a bit more cash before her doors close forever tomorrow.

My plan for whatever time I have left today is to ink in as much of the new panels for CB's story as I can and begin the color work this weekend. I'll see if that works or not. I have a total of seven panels that I want to create for her as well as one original portrait. We'll see how time goes. I wanted everything finished by tomorrow - yeah! Right! Totally rolling on the floor with that deadline. But Back to Middle Earth Month begins on Friday and I refuse to back-burner writing completely in favor of panels. I'm hoping that I can manage mostly original art instead of digital or photo-shopped montage works and so I'm really trying to work on original pieces. We'll see how things are standing at the end of March.

Using PanPastels

I can hardly wait to begin the color work on my inked panels. Too fun!

I hope that your Wednesday will be a bit less hectic than mine. I know mine is impossible when I begin doing laundry at 4:00 am (a ridiculous hour to start my laundry). A highlight for my day will be my weekly conversation with Aearwen. Thank goodness for friends!

Valentine's Day, Slashy Santa/Valentine & Future Projects

Valentine's Day was very pleasant. I had a lovely note from a friend on the Secret Valentine Admirer post and a truly lovely story written for me on the Slashy Santa board. My husband got off from work early and picked up dinner fixings making a lovely dinner for us featuring Chicken Kiev, rice and green beans almondine with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. It was a very pleasant evening topped off by Project Runway with Bette Midler, The Divine Miss M, as a guest judge. All in all, it was a delightful evening.

Bette Midler - always beautiful and classic. I adore her!

As mentioned above, the Slashy Santa archive is now open for reading and 31 stories were submitted for Slashy Valentine. I wrote my story for Olorime and was so delighted with the assignment since I have spoken with her on and off for several years on the boards. Unfortunately she ended up pulling out of the group and has dropped out of sight. If you happen to read my story, please give me feedback. I feel it is one of my more edgy pieces and is borderline NSFW, but I only wrote as the characters insisted and I was pleased with the direction of the tale. Reviews and feedback would be very appreciated.

Not everyone can access the SS Archive, but eventually I'll put the story onto my  AO3 archive.

I am half-way through the first major edit of my latest o-fic story. I want to send it to a couple of friends this weekend for a quick read-through, and have it submitted to the publisher for their consideration no later than Friday of next week, sooner if possible. As always, I have no guarantees, but a rejection notice will be one more for the scrapbook and won't stop submissions in the future.

One of the locations in CB's story is a cemetery.  What fun! I love wandering old graveyards...

I'll be without a challenge deadline when I finish this story so I can go back and continue working on my novel for a while until the next challenge is announced, as well as work on my illustrations for CB. That's my next high priority item. I've pretty much determined what I want to illustrate and got the images collected. Now it's time to settle down and put pen to paper. Actually, that sounds like so much fun!

Progress and a Day of Reading/Writing

Not that I haven't been reading like a little demon over the past few days - it is my preferred method of comfort and cocooning after all, but I have good reasons to read now. I have one e-book that I am within twenty pages of finishing, so I' going to knock that out of the park first, and then I can dive back into CB's Big Bang story. I started reading that yesterday afternoon and already know that I'm going to just LOVE illustrating this. My problem won't be the assignment, it will be the method(s) I want to use and how many illustrations I want to make. I cam already tell that I love the story, though, and I am SO VERY FLATTERED that she wanted me to illustrate a second story of hers.

Should I use pastels? It's very tempting...

My Bechdel Challenge story "Trail Ride" got finished yesterday and I run into final editing today. I want to read it through again at least two more times. This one I edited as I was writing, but the last bit hasn't been tightly examined yet and I know myself - my initial errors can be HUGE. Editing is my best friend, writing off the cuff can be my worst enemy.

Karma against my next door neighbors (the salt thieves) came back and hit me yesterday when I realized mid-day that I had lost one of the earrings I was wearing. I can count on one hand the number of earrings I've lost since I was a kid, and this makes two earrings lost within six months. I'm not happy about this at all.

Oh Happy Day...

So today I'll be writing, reading, writing some more, doing laundry, reading, writing some more, grocery shopping and reading some more. Then I'll talk with Aearwen for our weekly phone call, and I'll read some more. All in all, it sounds like a day of perfection and total happiness to me. Yippee!

Power...or Lack of Power

It is an indication of boredom at work coupled with too many things to write, too many deadlines staring me in the face, and too many things to read that cause me to run my power down on absolutely EVERYTHING! Yesterday was a prime example. My laptop is not a problem, it has a new battery (purchased just before NaNoWriMo so that I would be able to write on the fly) and I have plugs with me as well as permanently set up at the shop. So for the laptop, all is well. But my portable devices ... OY!

I have always thought these large power line structures

looked rather like aliens or giants striding across the

earth. This collapsed one really looks like it's ready

to walk forward.

My NookColor and my smartphone both got used into the yellow yesterday. In fact, my phone was down to the red. I hadn't used it quite that much since I bought it this past August. But I read on my Nook and my phone and I was reading a lot yesterday. When my power died on both devices, I brought my laptop out to the front room and worked with battery power for a while. Now I have my Big Bang story from CB to read and begin to create illustrations for. That got downloaded and converted last night and I loaded it up on my Nook this morning for easy reading. I wanted to put it onto my phone also and it seemed to accept the transfer, but...I can't seem to access those files to read it on my phone. So I'll read it on my Nook, I'm fine with that.

We have a lovely coating of ice on top of yesterday's snow that is leading to very icy side streets and almost impossible sidewalks. I have a bin of salt outside my back door that the landlord provides for our use but as I left last night I noticed that my building neighbors stole all of my salt during the day yesterday. I THROW BAD KARMA TO YOU - SALT THIEVES! I have my dispenser full because that I keep inside, but my overstock is nonexistent now and the parking lot will be a skating rink for much of the day today. WTG idiots! In your quest to avoid snow shoveling you blasted all of us out of salt that we desperately need today. I'll be OK, I have more that I will now keep indoors only, but my thieving neighbors will be hurting. SERVES THEM RIGHT! Argh!!! I'm so pissed off about this stupid theft. It just was so rude to all of us who share our little block of stores.

I feel so sorry for anyone who was caught in this particular

ice storm. Everything was completely encased and the clean-up

would take a LONG time. Oook!

So...since ice seems to be my post of the day (along with power or lack thereof) I decided to give you pics of ice and power.

Vacation Alert

So this is my last blog post for a week. I will still have my laptop and be keeping up with LJ posts etc, but I won't write in my own blog while out of town. If anyone reading my blog drops by the store while I'm out playing at the Bead & Button Show, please be kind to my employees. It will take them a little longer to get your merchandise, but they're good people, of course!




I am somewhat packed. My easel and sketchbook, pencils and clothes (probably too many clothes) are all in the suitcases. My tools will be gathered at the shop this morning and I'll collect whatever jewelry I've decided on for the trip tonight. I've packed my Nook with all sorts of wonderful things to read including a very hard to find e-pub of Josh Layton's Man Oh Man which has been so highly recommended by so many of my f-list friends that I had to find it. Knowing that my DH would never tolerate a paper copy of a book like that hanging around, I had to find it in an e-version. It took quite a bit of digging into some alternative book websites but I finally found it. If you are also looking for a copy, I found mine on Fictionwise e-books.



My Nano is also filled and ready for the trip. I'm in the process of listening to Lynn Flewellen's Nightrunner series. Although the audio isn't as good as what Ellen Kushner came up with for Swordspoint (which was an exceptional audio book), it's still a delight to listen to the books and means that I don't have to be finished with the series quite yet. I am completely through with all of the e-books though, and if I didn't have other books in my "I want to read this" queue, I would happily start reading the entire series again.



Oh, and I also have writing to do while out of town. A lot of it actually. I've been so focused on my AinA story that I haven't even started my LOTRO Community story and that's due in by the 14th. So I will shift my efforts and get farther than the three paragraphs I have already started. And my Creative Writing course will have two lessons ready for me to print. I'll have to check and see if my hotel has a business center so that I can print things out instead of just reading through them on-line. So...I'm primed to be busy with my own things as well as seeing old friends from the beading world and newer friends from the writing world. I return home on Sunday and will pick my blog back up on Monday. So have a great week, everyone!

Vacation Prep and Various Thoughts

I leave for vacation on Tuesday and I'm finally starting to get a bit excited about going back to Milwaukee and seeing my beading and writing friends once more. I'm reviewing what I want to pack, and it is an indication of how sick I am (LOL) that the first things I am deciding is whether to bring colored pencils or only my graphite ones on the trip, and how I hope I can access WiFi in a variety of locations while out there so that I can continue to write and download my next two class assignments while I'm out there. There should be a business area somewhere that I can print my class assignments out from...right? LOL. OK, I know I'm sick, but it's really a good sick. And I have story deadlines that I have to meet....

Love these singing birds painted by Brian Barber.

One of the articles that I referenced in a second post yesterday mentioned several things that allow an author to clear their mental space and allow themes, characters, and other things such as story lines to enter into the brain. Silence was golden to this blogger, and although I can't disagree on principle, I can disagree in my own personal life. More often than not I prefer some noise around me. I get a bit antsy just listening to Mother Nature, although I admit it can be soothing. But when I'm writing I don't want soothing, I want edgy to keep me moving along. Soothing would just send me to sleep over my keyboard, and I've done that. It wasn't fun and I accomplished nothing by doing it.

Apocalyptica is a Finnish group of heavy metal cellists. I'm in love!

No, I want noise, whether it be the TV or music. I am starting to get more into music again lately, after several years of pushing it behind me. I suppose because my little Apple Nano is so easy to use, but also because I have f-list friends who are far more savvy about music than I and who keep putting up links to videos by their current favorites. So my repertoire of music has been shifting to include more popular tunes such as "Florence and the Machine" and "Apocalyptica" instead of concentrating on JS Bach, Beethoven and Mahler. This can't be a bad thing, because I love music and for many years was going to make my career in it. So keep those recommendations coming f-list friends. I'm picking up a lot of great tunes and it's making my writing come easier, which is allowing me to write better, etc. All good!

Day Off, Good, Bad and Rainbows

I'm in the mood for rainbows today, so I have several wonderful pics, some real some created, to share with you. Because rainbows are beautiful to look at and generally make me feel happy, so I'm sharing the feeling.

This triple rainbow was in Norway. Pretty neat, isn't it? It's my day off today. I wanted to take the time and go see Titanic in 3D, but I can't spare more than three hours of time in my day, so I will have to wait. I have writing to edit - both for my friend in Germany as well as for myself, and I have been working through a Life Drawing course that I would like to set up my easel and play with some more. I'll phone my friend in California late in the day, and do laundry. I need a new skirt, maybe I'll spend a short time shopping. All told, I think it will be a fun day and maybe ... just maybe ... I'll get some housecleaning done also. I'm optimistic about today, at least right now. So, I'm sharing pretty pics because sharing the joy is always a positive thing.

This pic is from Horseshoe Falls at Niagara. Very pretty.

This pic is over the farmlands of the US. Almost makes me want to be a farmer....no.

This was a produced rainbow from UC San Diego. But real or produced, it's still quite beautiful.

Studio Day - So Much To Do, Oh Boy!

I have so much to do today. I did get two items finished yesterday, one of the last two B2ME stories and my poem for LOTR Community which will be revealed on the 16th. I have one last B2ME story to write, a drabble for the week, and I MUST edit some things for Iris (I have a large note on my desk so that I don't forget).

There is an illustration that I must start today and I need some tracing paper which I know I own but can't find *sigh*. But I have a Dick Blick coupon, so I'll be making a quick trip out there today to get some. I have three loads of laundry to get done and my weekly phone call with my friend from California. It will be a busy, busy day, but a really wonderful one. Oh, and I have to pick up our personal taxes and pay for the corporate ones that I mailed yesterday. As usual, more than one day would be nice, but I don't have it, so I'll manage :-)

My cousin, the one I'm getting together with in a month, is supposed to be in Europe right now, travelling with her hubby through Switzerland and Germany. But he came down with the flu twelve hours before their flight was due to leave, even passing out in the car on the way to the airport, so she's still in the US. They have rescheduled their trip, but she now has a week open. I want it! - LOL. Have a fabulously creative day!

Different Outlooks

Yesterday my DH took a full day off work, something that he rarely does. His stated plans were to walk on the treadmill for a while, then spend the day drawing. He had a vision in his head about what he wanted as an image and planned to sit at his desk and work on it.

DH looks at retirement with hesitation and wonders how he can pass over the road.

I spoke to him late in the day and he was disappointed in his day, but when I got home it was obvious that he was massively depressed. He sat down to draw and didn't accomplish anything. Then he tried to photograph some things with his digital camera and that also came to naught. At least he wasn't able to get the image the way he wanted. He looked at me almost accusingly because I photograph all the time and draw whenever I can and I write, etc. He's starting to look at retirement as one long desolate road without anything for him to do.

I look at my road to retirement as a road of choices and hidden possibilities and I can hardly wait to explore.

I have my day off today. I'll be washing clothes, writing stories, I have an artpiece that I promised a friend that I would like to get started on, and I need to get all of my financial information put away. I'm massively behind on reading the short stories and ficlets written by others of my LJ friends, and ... gee ... I don't think I'll be bored! Nope, not at all. I understand depression, I sink into it periodically and it is anything but pleasant. But I've spent many, many years trying to pull myself out of it and force myself to do activities that I know will help me in the long run. DH is just not a pro-active person and just spirals down and down. Oy! Have a fantastic Wednesday, I know I will :-)

Finally a Day Off - Projects, Projects and Projects

So my DH's surgery went well yesterday, and I thank each and every one of you who reached out to me via post responses and Emails. Your positive thoughts and prayers were gratefully appreciated. I actually will get today as my day off, and I'm very grateful because my head is deep in fiction and I also have an art project due tomorrow which I have barely started. (Speaking of which, I should probably ask for a 24-hour extension because I will actually need that.)

I have been writing for Back 2 Middle Earth month, the overall theme of which has been BINGO. There were many cards that the Tolkien community designed, I designed one and have enjoyed the stories that it has helped to generate. Some people chose a small amount, others in the double digits. I chose eight. The prompts and need to write stories that conformed to and included the prompts were a wonderful mind-stretcher and I am still enjoying it and will through the end of the month. But I finally got the right call for BINGO last night. I'm not the first, by any stretch, but at least I got one - LOL. And with one of my favorite cards - Maglor in History - which has been responsible for some of my best fic this month.

So today I'll work until my manager arrives because he had an errand he had to do on the way in to the shop, and then I can get home and start my laundry - SO NEEDED, I'm almost out of socks! I've still got my cold, but I am getting better, so today will be a day to concentrate on creative things and I can hardly wait! So happy.....OH and Project Runway All Stars Finale is tonight, and the Sweet 16 starts tonight....what a great day today will be :-)

Still Cruisin...

Well, Saturday's post led to some very interesting discussions about overextending myself (which is the normal way that I've lived my life for 50+ years) and archiving suggestions for my future drabbles and other short items. Lots to think about and things to organize when I have some spare time. Loved the interaction!

I'm keeping up well with the prompts for B2ME. The last few have been really easy - the numbers called only had two or three items that had to be included, MUCH easier than five very divergent ones. So I'm happy. And our weather has been SPECTACULAR! It's early March, and I was wearing my leather jacket yesterday. Amazing! We treated ourselves to a trip to Dick Blick yesterday for a very special sale - 20% off everything. Jim bought watercolors and a watercolor pad, I bought a small plaster statue of the head of David. Why would I want this? Well, drawing in an atelier always features working on different statuary to get shading down. Also, having a good bust gives me different profiles which can be difficult to find in some of my posing books and images. I'm pleased with him - he's quite beautiful.

I wish I could draw eyes as well as this. Maybe I should visit his website for the tutorial...

So today I will finish a story with Arwen and Gurthang (which is a sword if you're not a Tolkien-nut) and continue with a story featuring beads. Yes, beads. It was one of the items on the Art Supplies card and finally I had my main media chosen. Call me happy :-)

Dodging A Bullet...

Yesterday at this time they were forecasting snow - 6"-12" of the white stuff to hit us. But we got rain and sleet all night instead. It has just now (4:30 am) changed over to snow which we're supposed to have for most of the day. So over an icy and slushy mess, we'll get snow. It's going to be a very icy day and treacherous driving. I'll get my errands done as soon as possible and then settle down at my computer. I started printing my overheads at the shop yesterday and was having variable success, so I will be continuing working on that today because I have to get this nailed. If this doesn't work, I'll print detailed hi-def photo prints and then copy them onto overheads at the copy shop tomorrow am. One thing is for sure, I'm going through a lot of ink. But the overheads I've done are beautiful. Things are falling into place - none too soon :-)

This elephant standing on his trunk is in Barcelona, Spain. He was too wonderful not to share.

I whipped out a fast sketch for a friend yesterday, scanning it and sending it to her. She loved it, so I will do a more formal one for her. Some day I may be able to show all of you, but right now it is drawn for an original novel that is still unpublished, and therefore is being kept under wraps. I'm fine with that. I have other things I will be drawing in the next few weeks that I will happily share.

Of course, Barcelona is famous for Gaudi sculptures and buildings. This lovely mosaic lizard is one of his many pieces.

Of course, the fact that I am drawing means that DH wants to draw also - LOL. He wants to draw a complete scene - foreground character surrounded by background. I've been working on portraiture. But at least it has him thinking about his art again, so that's a great thing. Have a creative day and enjoy the sculptures above from Catalonia, Spain. Happy Leap Year Birthday to my nephew, Michael!

Weekend Plans?

So, the weekend begins today. I will work, of course, on Saturday (today) because that's what I do - LOL. But after 5 pm my time is my own. I'll pick up Italian food for dinner tonight (yummy) and then relax for the evening.

Yesterday I got a good start to my presentation (that's coming up quickly, early March to be precise). I will grab some of the other things I need today and get those worked on during the day today. I can work on the photographs over the weekend and get them massaged and ready for printing.

I also spent a long time last night looking at photographs of clocks. Yes, clocks. Not that I'm that crazy about time - at my stage of life I don't necessarily want to watch time fly away from me...

"Like sands through the hourglass, These are the Days of our Lives (This used to be the opening words to a very popular daily soap opera on daytime television here in the US.)

But I have a friend who is writing a story and there are a couple of images that are perched in my head, screaming for me to put pen to paper and draw them. I needed images to work with, so I spent a few hours looking at and saving images of clocks. I now feel that I know all too much about what they look like. But the image is starting to coalesce in my head. Hopefully, between writing and working on my presentation I can find a bit of time to draw too. Wait - my weekend is only ONE day. Argh. I need more time. ...