Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sorry for the Long Silence.

Some may think that my last blog was a bit of a knee jerk reaction, but for me it was a heartfelt reaction to something that was so momentous in the lives and deaths of many people.  I just don't want these kinds of incidents to become common place to me while I go on with my comfortable life without another thought for the suffering of others.  It would be sort of like fiddling while Rome burns.

As it turns out it was a good time to refrain from blogging for a while because several other major events happened this past week.

First our dear friend of 40 years, Hubie, went to be with the Lord quite unexpectedly.  His memorial service was last week.  He was so well loved by people in the church and all over town that there were more than 300 people at the service.  He was the GREAT Mister Dependable and Mr. Fix-it, but not a big wheel in city matters or politics etc. --  just a humble and caring man.As an usher, he would always greet me every Sunday morning with a big smile and a kiss on the cheek.  He is greatly missed.

There is another major event that is quite unexpectedly looming these past weeks and for the near future.  It is claiming much of our time and thoughts.  It involves many appointments and important decisions.  I can't be specific because of the wide-spread nature of the web,  but when we are ready I will let you know.  I mention it now because it has been, and will continue to be, a factor in the frequency of my blogging. (Thought I'd just mention that it is not a health issue, praise the Lord!)

I am getting some art work done here and there but scanning, cropping and preparing for them to be posted is quite time consuming in my inexpert hands .  I would like to keep up with Inchies and ABC Wednesday but don't know if I can.  So for now I will blog when I can.  I am continuing to visit as many of my blogging friends as I can and I'm leaving comments, so you won't all forget me.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

AS OF TODAY...

AS OF TODAY...
...I am taking a break from blogging, in honor of the 81 or more hostages who were so brutally and savagely, mutilated and tortured to death in Algeria.

I cannot go back to my blog and witter on about my doodles, tangles and inchies and the trivialities of my life while evil of this magnitude runs rampant in our world.  

I need time to think and pray.

(I wasn't blogging in 9/11)

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A IS FOR ...


A is for...
ARTY ARBUCKLE'S ADVENTUROUS AFFAIR

Arty Arbuckle ambled apprehensively through the arbor of aspens that surrounded the old mansion.  He'd show his arch-enemy, Andy  Anderson, he thought acrimoniously.  He was not anachrophobic.

The ancient house loomed ahead.  It had  been abandoned ages ago. Anecdotes abounded about the large, hairy spiders to be found in the annex.  Accordingly, he attempted to step airily across the antechamber that led to the annex.  An assortment of antique furniture angled everywhere around the airless, gloomy room. Arty hesitated but avoided any accidental collisions. The atmosphere was  asphyxiating.  Feeling a little anxious -- and a little creepy, he stretched out his arm and gave the annex door a push.  It opened arthritically, so Arty advanced cautiously. The light from the annex windows temporarily blinded him.
        "Aaaagh!" he screamed, appalled at the apparition that appeared before him.  He thought he was having an angina attack.  There in front of him stood a.......a......what? 

With a rush of adrenalin, his legs almost crumpled under him and the hair on the back of his neck arose. Then....... amazingly, awesome relief washed over him.  The long-mirrored door of an ancient armoir stood open in front of him. The awful apparition Arty  saw was.... himself!


The above is my contribution for the 12th ROUND of ABC WEDNESDAY which begins today.  What an a achievement!  Hats off to Mrs. Nesbitt our founder and Roger Owen Green, our fearless leader.  To see more contributions to this excellent project, please click  HERE

Monday, January 14, 2013

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY

For the second Inchie of the year the subject is  GIRL.  I chose to do an ice skater. I love to watch ice skating on TV.  So here she is, my ice skating GIRL.


Welcome to all the new Inchie-ers (now there's a good word for you!)  We have some really talented  people who have joined us, so it will keep me on my toes to keep up!

To see more Inchies for this week please click HERE .  There is still time to join us.  We have no official starting date.  Come when you can.  Join in the fun. Thanks to Trillian who set up this project for us. 

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Back to the Old Style -- Almost

I saw a cute picture of a deer curled up sleeping in a bed of ferns and loved it immediately.  For the first time for many months I felt like doing a 'normal' piece of art and this piece seemed like a good piece to start with. I do almost all of my 'normal' art by copying from a picture or photograph, but I wanted to make one large change in this picture.  I would substitute a cat for the deer. (Of course!)  This is the result:


It measures 4 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches and is drawn with Prismacolors, a little black pen and a tiny bit of white watercolor for the whiskers and some longer cat hairs.  I can't find a very thin white pen, so I used a very, very fine paint brush.

I'll still continue to do "Designer Doodles" but I think I've broken through the block I had for doing regular pictures. I just was pushing myself too hard to do more and more complicated things. 

Here is one more Designer Doodle I did recently and forgot about:


This is 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches and I have used the same materials -- Prismacolors and black pen. The white in this drawing is the original card.  I called this one Lifesaver.

We went to see Les Miserables this past week.  I'll post about it soon.  I will add some news and other events relating to the theater also.  Maybe you heard about it.  

Blessed  -- peaceful and restful -- Sunday to you.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Z IS FOR...

Z  IS FOR....
I have been waiting for this one because I had it all ready.   This is not the first time this has been used on ABC Wednesday, but I only remember seeing it one other time a couple of rounds ago It is exciting to me because I came across it so unexpectedly.  It is another photo taken while on our tip to Lake Powell in September.

We were tootling along on I -15 when I saw it -- this road sign:

This was taken on our way back, through the car window. I was so excited because I now had entries for X, Y and Z for ABC Wednesday -- the hardest letters to do and I found them all on this trip.

Zzyzx is a small settlement or community claimed and founded by Curtis Howe Springer in 1944. There were some mineral springs there and it was begun as a spa for the elderly.  Springer made up the name Zzyzx, pronounced zaiziks, so that it would be distinguished by being  the last word in the English language. 

It is located in San Bernardino County on hwy 15 between Baker and Las Vegas.  It is a legal and actual name for this location, recognized by the government. It was originally known as Soda Springs and there are still some historical artifacts to be seen there, including the remnants of salt mining and a salt mill, as well as some wall drawings and evidence of a wagon stop.  Some unusual birds and other wildlife are also found there. 

Unfortunately the spa did not do well and eventually became a hangout for illegal drug activities. So the twelve thousand acres owned by Springer, were reclaimed by the government.  Today it is used by the California State University as a Desert Studies Center.

All the above information has been culled from Wikipedia, 

Zzyzx is somewhere I would love to go and explore for myself. I think I should have been an explorer in another life as I love going to out of the way places -- something which my sons seem to have inherited from me also.

This is my entry for the letter Z in ABC Wednesday.  This would be an excellent time for you to join us as we begin the 12th round next week.  Cheers to Mrs. Nesbitt , our founder and to Roger Owen Green our worthy leader.  

To see some more intriguing words beginning with the letter Z please click HERE.

Monday, January 7, 2013

EVERY INCHIE MONDAY...

This week's topic is STAR

I took it further than just the star in the sky, but thought I would do one of the stars on  the Hollywood Boulevard.


Elvis was not any special favorite of mine, but I needed a short name to fit in the space.  So Elvis it is. I seem to be having a problem keeping within the lines and also starting at the same point on a line that I stopped at.  Not sure if it's my eyes or just because it's so small.

To see more star inchies please visit HERE

******

Did another doodle a week or so ago:


I called this, Trefoil

Then I tried something else.  I saw a photograph of this design below in the local newspaper .  It was part of a mural.  The wall was covered with many of these designs.  To me it looks like a shell and I really like it, so I thought I'd give it a try and this is the  result:


Not so difficult as it looks, but definitely more delicate than my doodles.


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Y IS FOR...

Y  is for...
What else could it be but YEAR.  My husband went for his usual one hour walk this morning and said he could smell all the wonderful breakfast smells -- pancakes, bacon,  sausage etc.  It was about 11:00 a.m., so he figured all those who stayed up last night and didn't have to go to work today were having a wonderful start to the day.  Better than his bowl of raisin bran, he said!!

My Grandmother-in-law asked me on Sunday if I was going to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve.  I had to tell her that I stay up until midnight every night! My most creative hours are from 9:00 p.m to 1:00 a.m.  So what was her next question?  "What time do you get up then?" My answer, "As late as I can."  Let me tell you, that is one of the greatest blessings of retirement. My husband isn't too happy about it.  He's of the old school, "Early to bed and early to rise..." When we go to Hawaii, there's three hours difference and I'm right on schedule. Hint...hint.

Here's my Y photograph -- another one from Lake Powell which I have been saving.


Isn't that perfect?  Just shows I was thinking of all you ABC-ers while I was out there enjoying myself.

While I was lying in bed this morning just letting my mind rove, as I frequently do, I wondered why we don't start the New Year on December 21st, the day after which all the days begin to get longer again.  Seems it would make sense.  So later I went to Wikipedia and then wished I hadn't.  I thought I would find some interesting facts about dates and years that I could add to today's blog.  But the only fact I could come up with that was reasonably understandable was that there are many different kinds of years with all different kinds of names. One of which is the Vague Year, which I thought was very appropriate when it comes to me discussing this topic.  

So if you want to know more about the different kinds of years, just look it up in Wikipedia -- or ask Roger, because I'll bet he knows.  In fact he may even have blogged on it this week.

To find Roger, and many other ABC-ers, click on this LINK and see what others have chosen for the letter Y .  In fact I'm wondering just how many of us have chosen YEAR for our word this week.