Before It Goes Away

Here is a glimpse of what's left of my winter garden. We planted spinach, lettuce and broccoli for our inaugural crop. The lettuce did well, the spinach did so-so and the broccoli....eh, not so much. Not sure what went wrong, but at least I got a few photos out of it. Anyone with veggie gardening experience in the Southwest with tips on what (if anything) grows in the "warm" months, please give a holler.

Choosy Mothers

Choose Jif of course...actually I prefer the Laura Scudders.

Night Time is the Right Time.

Or my other title for this photo, Moonlight/Streetlight.

The Moon Never Bores Me

I do hope my (seeming) obsession with photographing the moon does not bore you... I can't help myself. Before you say anything, I do realize that this photo is ridiculously noisy/grainy. Setting my ISO to 1600 seemed like the right thing to do given the darkness and I was too lazy to get out the tripod. I will keep experimenting with that. Noise aside, I thought it was lovely!

In other news, it has been an interesting week. The weather appears to finally be giving us a break; temps are dropping slightly. Not a moment too soon for my electricity bill either! With the change in the weather I am happy to see an improvement in my energy level and mood. Summer in Phoenix can suck the life right out of you!

Page 1 - Pie in the Sky?

I have started working on my sketchbook for the 2012 Sketchbook Project. My theme is "I Remember You." I will illustrate memories of people and experiences that have made a lasting impression on my life. This year I will complete the book. I think I have a better handle on budgeting my time...(we shall see). Here is a sneak peek of my first page (click to enlarge). One of the few things that can cause me to stop & ponder is a beautiful sky full of clouds so I figured what more appropriate subject for the opening page. I have also decided to start working through  The Artists Way again, if only for the sake of completing it. I have a small problem with finishing things that I start, can you relate?

Last night while trying to avoid working on my drawing (it takes a lot of energy) I was scanning through a few of the blogs that I follow and came across this article that centered around the idea of making changes in your life by changing your focus, "focusing on the No to become clear on the Yes, defining the Yes to clarify the No." Although I am not a follower of Zen philosophy, I do try to be open minded. There were some very interesting concepts, you can read that here.

Time to have a rare (these days) early evening cup of coffee and walk the dog, I need to relax, it has been a stressful day!

Image Transfer/Tip Jar Thursdays

I just came across this Facebook post from Arthouse Coop. It is an installment from their blog called "Tip Jar Thursday." This weeks feature is on image transfer; a technique which I will be including in my 2012 Sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project. Hope this information is useful to you. I know I needed a refresher on the finer points. After reading the post, it is all coming back to me. Needless to say, I had a flashback to Mrs. Yen's Intermediate Art class way back in 1975. Whooh.... You can check out a few pages from my 2011 Sketchbook and some random portfolio pieces here. I am just getting started on the 2012 Sketchbook but I will be uploading to this site as I get pages done. Maybe you should sign up for this project too, come on, whaddayasay???

Still Life w/Flowers

My green vase collection, fresh flowers, my mother's photo at two years old, the glass egg, the green speckled shell and Pat's crazy face sculpture. These are a few of my favorite things!

Improv

On Saturday Jess's friend Karen was over and they decided they wanted me to take some photos of them. So we took a walk and snapped some impromptu portraits. Future supermodels!

Flying Through the Air!

When I was a kid, the swings were my favorite thing to play on at the playground. Something about the feeling of flying through the air was exilarating. I have never outgrown that love of flying through the air on a swing. Whoever came up with this carnival ride is my hero... I only wish I were up there with them!

Petting Zoo

These little critters are just itching to get their fill of whatever is in your cup, whether it is intended for them or not. Fun at the petting zoo!

Another Prickly Day

Walking the dog today I came across some interesting plants. The dog wasn't nearly as fascinated as I was. She had pee-mails to read...

That's Right, It's My Birthday

Yes, this is shameless self promotion. Yesterday was my husbands birthday and tomorrow is mine. Everyone should feel special on their birthday. Bring on the cake!

Headin Out #2

Time to take the party on the road...headin out after a day of fun at Love Cycles.

The Long Ride Home

This was the view out of my window driving through the California desert a few weeks ago. We took a weekend jaunt to visit family in SoCal. A great time was had by all....

Cherry Blossoms

It never ceases to amaze me how Gods most magnificent creations are small and easily overlooked.
The quiet beauty of this blossom is but one example of this fact.

Late Again

Tomorrow is my niece Laurens birthday and as usual I didn't remember until it was too late to get her card in the mail. Sorry Lauren. You know I'm good for it though, right? Seriously, the check IS in the mail...

Shadow Shot Awning

Always looking for those fun shadow shots. I like the way the stark angles of the building contrast with the organic shape of the palm tree shadow. Check out this shot and more shadow shots over at Hey Harriett. This one will be there next Sunday, but she has new ones posted every week.

Molly Idle Prismacolor Workshop

Yesterday I participated in a Prismacolor workshop with Molly Idle of Idle Illustration. She is a lovely person and a fantastic illustrator. I don't know her entire bio, but apparently she has been an author/illustrator of childrens books for some time now and has a background in animation. She has a number of titles out, some of them sadly are now out of print. If you have children, you must check out her website and go and find her books in your local book store. I intend to pick a few of them up for the future (you know, WAY DOWN THE ROAD, when I'm a grandma) with munchkins to read bedtime stories to. Anyway, the workshop was good. I learned some new techniques for working with colored pencils, met some fellow Prismacolor enthusiasts and also saw some cool gear. One of the other folks had this great pencil case which she purchased from Dick Blick Art Materials. More on that later...

Smile for the Camera

Our theme this week seems to be Dog portraits. The first one (see last post) was purely coincidental. Tica was looking very cute laying on the bed in our guest quarters so I snapped her picture. Then she was playing with Pat while he was trying to read and on it went. THEN...I logged on to The Pioneer Woman website and, low & behold, the new Photography assignment was "Dog Portraits." To be honest, although I have taken LOTS of pictures of my dog, not to many would make it through a serious critique. So I have decided to make a more concerted effort to work on this subject. Maybe soon I will work up my nerve and take pictures of PEOPLE!

Change of Scenery

This past weekend Pat and I went to California to see his sis and her husband. It was nice to have a little change of scenery and spend time with the Woolleys. The princess found a spot to call her own.

Valentines Day

Roses galore at my house on Valentines Day! My thoughtful husband gave me a lovely arrangement of 60+ miniature orange/pink roses with some tiny sweet purple flowers mixed in. It was gorgeous and I especially liked it because those are my FAVORITE roses (even though I don't know the proper name). My daughter's boyfriend gave her a dozen beautiful soft pink full size roses in a really pretty vase as well as a box of 12 CUPCAKES!!! Oh and a stuffed bear. Did I mention the CUPCAKES??