Day 35 - Worked

Watercolor

Watercolor
Children's Book

Children's book image for story my sister-in-law wrote.



Watercolor

It was a lonely afternoon. Just kind of sad, even after such a great weekend. For everything there is a season. Today I worked on many projects and now the week begins. Good night all!

Day 34 - Memories

Tonight I celebrated old and new memories and thoughts with my college roommate. We had a great time reminiscing and talking about our future goals, hopes and dreams. I am blessed to have such a wonderful friend in my life. Many wonderful friends and family grace my life. I thank God tonight for reminding me of the good and positive things people and this world have to offer. Thank you Sue!


Watercolor. Children's book page

Day 33 - Passing

Watercolor for Children's Book. The cat is based on my friend Brandy's Uncle's cat who is slightly disfigured and oh so adorable. I never fell for a cat like this before. I wonder how Mickey would be with him.


Watercolor. I really love your peaches....

Today was a sad day. My beautiful friend Barbara's father-in-law passed away and I attended the viewing. He was with his son Dave when he died and as always funerals bring loved ones together. I love this family as if they were a part of my own. To hear all the good things they are doing made me so proud of them. They are made of tough Italian-German stock and have hearts of gold. It is funny how a death makes you think of those you lost (you cry at the casket as if they were your flesh and blood) and of what you still have to offer and enjoy in this world. Death is cruel but inevitable. I trust God for the final outcome.

Day 32 - Email

Today I answered over 90 emails, mostly work related. I am not sure how and why I receive so many emails (first time I counted them) but I know I don't want to do that again. It's time to cut the apron strings to technology (to some degree), so I'm going to try a new strategy. I'll let you know if it works.

Gouache - Children's book spot illustrations

Day 31 - Tired

What a week and it's only Wednesday night! Since Monday, I taught and did prep for 4 computer classes, went to my own art therapy class, painted, did my homework, attended 3 meetings and did, I don't know what else (oh, yes, attended to my dog's demands! So, with a quick drawing for my children's book, I hope to be more productive tomorrow. Oh one very good thing. I ate a big, juicy, cheeseburger today without any guilt. It was a beautiful thing.


Pencil Drawing.

Day 30 - Run

Someone asked me today what quote I live by. I thought of many "great" quotes but kept coming back to three Bible verses my husband and I grew to love in college.

2 Timothy 4:7 to 8 (NIV) ” I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Hebrews 12: 1 (NIV)” So let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ”

1 Corinthians 9: 24 (NIV) ” Run in such away to win the prize “.

I made some very good and some tough choices today, but I thought of these verses as I did so. I hope I can continue to live by them.

Running to school!

Watercolor

Day 29 - Tired

Back to work, but good overall first day back. Finished an old painting tonight. So tired! Night all!

Acrylic

Day 28 - Productive

Children's book page


Pumpkins

Rooster

I return to work tomorrow and am ready. I painted all day after attending church and breakfast out. My hip is better and I made some good decisions regarding the future. A very good day. All items below are watercolor. I won't be this productive for a while again since my job has to take priority over personal art, but I will continue to sketch and work slowly on projects. I am learning so much from this challenge. More about myself than my skills.



The notecards and envelopes are a continuation of a set I created for a very good friend of her trip with the love of her life to Hilton Head. She took the photos, I just interpreted.

Watercolor

Day 27 - Injury

I worked on my children's book but only got the drawing done and not the painting. I am fighting a two week old ski injury and it is painful. For today, I will just quote St. Francis:

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew." -Saint Francis De Sales

Watercolor

Day 26 - Commercial

I tried my hand at some hand watercolored note cards today. I liked it because I had a good reference (my friend's vacation photo!) and it was quick. I may enjoy going commerical with notecards, calendars and prints. I also got a chance to work on several pages of my children's book. This semester break has been so good for me. Tonight, I'm off to ski with my son. Doesn't get much better than a good spin class, a productive and creative work day and time with my family. Oh yeah, there's a squirrel in my fireplace again. The squirrel squad is here. Notice I'm as far away from the evacuation as possible.

Watercolor.

Day 25 - Roots

Today my sister and I posted several pictures from our childhood on Facebook. We had so much fun writing back and forth about our childhood hometown, Cedar Grove, New Jersey. It was an amazing town to live in during a wonderful time in history. I feel that my roots there have molded my character in such a way as to ultimately (after many wrong turns, I might add) make the right decision when faced with a life changing dilemma. My sister and I were blessed to have been placed in our family, in that town, in that time.

Watercolor with photoshop background.

Just the watercolor.

Day 24 - Venice

“The surface of Venice is constantly metamorphosing [and] painting Venice is almost like being a restorer, peeling off the layers to find the picture after picture underneath.” Arbit Blatas

Some of my happiest memories before my husband passed away are of our 25th wedding anniversary trip to Venice. It was everything I could have imagined it to be. Beautiful, mysterious, historical and romantic. I returned a year later after Pat died to walk in our footsteps. It was difficult, but so necessary in my grieving process. I hope to paint more of Venice and reveal the layers beneath...

Watercolor

Day 23 - Inauspicious

Tonight was my first art therapy course and it was wonderful. Art, spirituality, healing, and helping all went hand in hand as I began to feel at home in the classroom again. I was not overwhelmed or ill at ease. It was almost an inauspicious occasion to commemorate the beginning of a new chapter. I like new beginnings and am fearful of them as well because they mean change. I look forward to finding joy within the difficulties. It will be a task to complete paintings in the next few months so I'll be showing more sketches instead. I believe they will be telling.

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." Joseph Campbell

Pencil in sketchbook.

Day 22 - Help

My sister and her friend Robin came down from Syracuse to help me get my house in order by assessing the house, what has to be done to it and making changes immediately.

I am grateful for their love ... and help!

Watercolor - unfinished children's book page.

Day 21 - Time

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Watercolor with Photoshop enhancements.

Just watercolor

Day 20 - Celebrate

I celebrated my time with my son today. I felt so fortunate to be able to just sit with him and talk...about good things, difficult things, what is going on in both of our lives and what we want for the future. We both love certain shows and today we got to see the end run of a great actor in one of our favorites. We celebrated just being together. I knew what it was to feel blessed at that moment. Some celebrations are without fanfare. They are just beautiful snippets in time.

Watercolor with photoshop background.

Day 19 - Play

I played all day. I taught a spin class, I met with my silpada rep, I had coffee, I skied well into night and watched Community and Scrubs, BUT, I did draw page 5 of my children's book and painted just the beginning. I had a great day.

Watercolor

Day 18 - Restarting

I dusted off my children's book today! I'm not sure how it happened, but the catalyst was there. Maybe it's taking the risk of drawing, painting or creating something everyday. I now have four official pages complete and started working on page 5. I hope to have this done so I can send to lulu for printing in rough form and then I can submit it as a reference tool on my work style to other companies, book authors and stores. We will see where this leads!

Watercolor

Day 17 - Respite

Today was a good day. My sister and a dear friend gave me great advice, insight and love. I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Plus, I made the decision to begin my degree in art therapy. This drawing is a new beginning of my children's book...finally.

Pencil.

Day 16 - Insight

Today was not a good day for many reasons, but some insight came out of it. I realize that I cannot trust everyone, that I need to keep painting to heal myself and others and that God alone is always there. It was a day of revelations, pain and resignation. Not every day is a positive one but I believe in forging ahead regardless of the circumstances. This painting is of a friend's daughter. I loved doing it.

Plain and simple watercolor.

Day 15 - Attention

I am getting there. When I do an involved project, I have to constantly take steps back to look at it, see where I need to put more detail and where I need to take things out. It can be just like life. Where do I simplify? What do I give my attention to? Progress is slow and can be steady if it's done a little at a time. I'm learning.

Watercolor

Day 14 - Friends

I have had many friends come and go in my life but none so many as in the last three years since my husband past away. I have been treated well and not so good by them but it's been a good series of life lessons in which I am learning quite a bit. This image is for an old friend whom I no longer see. I promised him a painting of his son's bar mitzvah and will be sending it as a token of that friendship. One of my favorite old hymns that my grandfather used to sing was "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". It is one of the most beautiful songs I heard my Grandaddy bellow out. I am glad to have that memory and that truth in my life.

Watercolor

Day 13 - Nesting

..
All I wanted to do today was stay home and paint. BUT... I taught spin, went to a workshop for my job, worked on a project for my other job and had dinner with my son and his friend. All in all, the day was a very good one but I really just wanted to nest. I even pulled out my children's book to tackle next week. Some days are gifts and should be savored so I'll take this one and do just that. Even when circumstances are not perfect...some things can still come close. In all things, I am thankful to God.

Watercolor with Photoshop Background.



Just the watercolor nest.

Day 12 - Finishing

It
I guess I'm on a roll because during this break from work I am finishing projects that are several years old. It feels good to complete things that have laid dormant. I think tomorrow I'll pick up my long neglected children's book. No skiing until Sunday so Saturday should be a good painting day.

Wroxton College, Wroxton England trip 2008. Watercolor

Day 11 - Shortcuts

I am having a party tonight! The first since Pat passed away...and also the last before I sell my house! I am now committed to getting this house ready to sell and make the move that is so necessary in my life. So, tonight's art is well, "short". I did a quick watercolor study that expresses my art, the new year, old and new memories. Shortcuts are not my usual way to do things, but hey, it's party time!

Watercolor.

Day Ten - Progress

A turtle's pace today! Too many things vied for my attention so painting took a back seat. The good thing is I sat down to paint even if just for an hour. I hope to catch up on Friday. Tomorrow will be sparse as I'm skiing in the morning and having the girls over for a party at night. The dichotomy of a social life and a painter's life is pulling at me. We'll see how I do after the party!

Watercolor

Day Nine - Family

This painting shows the love my family has. I think it doesn't require anything else to be said.

Watercolor.

Day Eight - Patience

Patience is elusive. I keep learning the lesson of it over and over. Why? I want everything to be ok NOW! I decided to take my time with some in depth paintings of Venice. Now that I have the freedom of one year to complete some artwork, I thought it might be fun to create a few series of paintings. Venice. Roosters. Flowers. People. Lots to paint, so little time. God give me patience (or maybe not...).

Watercolor and pencil.

Day Seven - Determination

My Dad was the most determined man I knew. My husband was also incredibly determined. They also loved baseball. Oh my gosh did they love baseball. My husband took me to my first baseball game at Yankee Stadium in 1975 and I thought I had entered heaven (at least earthly heaven). It was SO beautiful. I became a fan from that day on. I learned a lot of lessons from my Dad and husband and my Dad's words still ring in my ears. "Push through, pull yourself up by the bootstraps and don't finish until the job is done." Pat's words were equally inspiring. "Stick to it until it's over and never give up...NEVER." I would say they are great words to live by.

Watercolor scrapbooked in Photoshop.

Day Six - Procrastination

I am sometimes the queen of procrastination. Today's art is of a graduate student I met while studying at Marywood University. Steven Walker, is an amazingly talented artist and probably one of the funniest people I've ever met (except for my nephews ). I told Steven I had a present for him when I graduated from Marywood. That was over four years ago. This month I decided to finish the projects I started including the last of my client web sites. Two more sites and one portrait to go and I'm there. Tossing off the garb of procrastination feels SO good. Now if I can tame the demon this year and complete things I start.

Day Five - Renewal

I skied today. Hard. And fell. And hit my head and face. For the first time in a while I got scared so I'm getting that helmet I've been putting off purchasing. I love to ski and I love winter (except for driving in the snow). I wanted to paint an image of renewal on the first day of the New Year. I find horses to be simultaneously calming and magnificent. Maybe that's what renewal is ... a magnificent calm. May the New Year bring renewal to all who need it.

Watercolor.