Pencil Shavings

Healing

The younger child is healing up via reading. In my experience a book is nearly always the best medicine.

ASCII Art and Stranger Things

     Well another week of classes has gone by without much to show you in the way of art.

I did finish my ASCII art assignment, about 5 days later than I wanted, but hey, at least it's done. Superman (the Christopher Reeve version) was my inspiration for this, and let me tell you, ASCII art is way harder than you might expect! (and clearly I have an issue with symmetry)

This is what happens when your kids bring home the back to school plague and insist on sharing with you.  I didn't miss any classes but I was way too tired when I got home to do any extra work.  On the plus side that whole being a idiot and not actually laying down when you are sick managed to lose me a few pounds.  So, you know, yay plague as a diet plan. (OK not really)

Next week involves a lot of painting and trying to get a few pieces entered into a show for the middle of the month.

I'll be sure to let you know how things go on that front.

Sundays

Sunday Mornings.  That's another thing to add to my gratitude list.

We've changed the way we work weekends around here, well I changed them.  Sundays used to be the chore day and I would be doing laundry from dawn to dusk then I would wake up on Monday feeling completely ripped off and even more tired than I was on Friday night.

So now Saturday is the “up and at ‘em” day around here.  Do chores, run errands, get the clothes clean.  Then Sunday mornings I wake up with very little on my plate to accomplish.  Get some groceries, go out for coffee, make a nice dinner (that will hopefully have leftovers for Monday) and get a handle on what has to be done for the upcoming week.  I also work on homework projects that might be coming due.

It’s still not a day of rest, but the mountain of housework and laundry are behind me so it feels like an easier ramp up to the activity of the week.  I think that making my headspace feel better helps the rest of me feel better too.  

Now if I could just get rid of the back to school plague my kids gave me this week everything would be great.

 

There Are Days

Today is another painting day for me, which is a joyous thing.  

I am by nature a lazy person, except when it comes to painting.  I have a way of managing to put everything else aside when I have a painting to work on. Everything except my children’s demands.  I just can’t paint when they are doing other things around me.  

It’s kind of like the phone ringing, and as soon as the sound is heard the children come running out from where ever they are hiding to ask me loud questions while I try to talk to the accountant or whoever is on the phone.  When I get my paints out and wet the paper my children suddenly appear, jostling my elbows, asking questions, sloshing juice in glasses precariously close to my paints and paper.

So these days are really nice, when the kids are at summer camp and I have space and time.

Unfortunately Mother Nature is turning out to be just as demanding and distracting.  Yesterday was so humid that my paint was drying in the way that I’m used to.  Actually it was hardly drying at all.  Today it is cold and rainy and I am fighting the urge to turn on the furnace, but have instead found fuzzy socks and long sleeved shirt (and a big pot of coffee.)

The worst part about spending all this time painting is that I can’t show you what I am doing.  This is a child’s portrait for a private client and I don’t have permission to post it, which, by the way, I totally support, but it does mean that I have no artwork in progress to show you.

But we both need patience.  I need to finish this piece and get it delivered, and then I’ll have something new to create and show you.

 

 

Today is July 23 (my independence day)

Today is the first day of summer camp for the kids so I have 5 days pretty much to myself to try and get some creative work done.  

The commission is my priority this week but in between, while the paint is drying, I’m hoping to to get some other things done too.

One of the things I’m hoping to get done is more work along the lines of this daisy that I painted last summer.  I have an idea for a multimedia piece that I think could be really interesting.  It will involve lots of experimentation and some construction.  

I’ll keep you informed of the progress as I go.

Oh and BTW this piece is for sale, if you are interested let me know. :-)

 

Just For Fun

Yesterday my daughters and I went out into the world to leave some presents for strangers.

We left little notes of encouragement everywhere we went.  

We hid them in books, left them in sales racks, on bus seats, and on shelves.  Someone will find these notes and we just have to have faith that someone who needs a little encouragement will find one of them and be uplifted.

Perhaps someone will find one and want to leave notes of their own.

Maybe no one will find them, or no one will care that they got one, and if that happens then that’s OK too, because we loved making them and hiding them and it made our day one of the best days we had out together.

Being nice to others is a selfish kind of kindness, because it makes you feel so good inside.

 

Lazy Summer Day

It’s been a reasonably good day.  I’ve had a backyard full of kids for most of the afternoon, running through sprinklers and eating ice cream.  I don’t mind, at least I know where they all are (even as I watch my frozen treat supply dwindle).  The reality is that I remember spending hot days running through sprinklers when I was a kid and I like making that happen for my kids too.

We went to the farmer’s market today and loaded up on peas, cherries, strawberries, cheese, bread, and organic steaks that we grilled up tonight.  I also spent a little time finishing up a drawing I started on Thursday (holy cow that week went by fast)  He’s not done, but he’s about as close to done as I want to take him.

I am so tired tonight.  We had a busy day yesteday and I didn't sleep well last night.  Now that it is quiet at home I'm fighting to keep my eyes open.  Sometimes it's best to just give up the fight.

 

 

I have to get out of here!

 Although we do have really amazing brains that can help us imagine all kinds of things, like places we have never been and people we have never met. We still need to get out and see stuff and meet people.

I’ve been feeling down both mentally and inspirationally this week, and I think that I really need to get out. The neighbourhood is great, and beautiful, but I need something else. Something a little unfamiliar to give me a jolt.

Not to mention that getting a little sun on my skin is probably a good thing too. So I’m taking the kids out today. Some place to see something.

(This also means that I’m going to take the train and hopefully get the start of another commuter sketch underway)

Productivity is Productive

Before I say anything I would like to wish my American friends a happy July 4th.  Be careful out there.

Yesterday I did turn off my internet for two hours.  I cleaned the house for the first bit because knowing that I had shut off my connection made me feel weird.  Then I sat down and did some work that I had been putting off.  

Alas, it wasn’t art work, it was a tonne of paperwork that I had to mow through for the company.  I had been procrastinating with it and because I had it hanging over me I couldn’t focus on what I wanted to do either.  So putting a big dent in it gave me some breathing room to play around with some character sketches for the Webcomic that I’ve been wanting to start for a long time.

My husband, who does read a lot of comics, didn’t seem to get it. “They don’t look like us.”  Of course not.  “They aren’t supposed to look exactly like us,” I explained, "I don’t have time todo fully rendered portraits for all us every week for a webcomic that probably four people are going to read.”  It’s a comic..... ya know?

Then he seemed to get it. The idea right now is to come up with lots of drawings to refine the characters and give them some life before I start making the actual comic.   The comic will be loosely based on our family life, but also will have lots of fictional situations in it that the kids are already making up for me.  So hopefully it will be a lot of ridiculous fun.

As a side note I’m trying every hard to remember to reduce the resolution of the artwork that I put up here and on my other sites.  Seems that there are unscrupulous people out there in the world who like to steal art work.... I know, I’m shocked too.

The Long Summer Ahead

I love summer holidays with the kids.  Traveling all over the city, mostly by train but sometimes driving.  Doing lots of drawing and painting and of course taking care of the garden and enjoying our outside spaces.

Because of our delightful proximity to the Rockies we also will get in lots of hiking and exploring.  Summer really is a great time for me and my girls.

I am sad that tomorrow is my last day of work though.  Actually I have mixed feelings about the last day of work.  I've learned a bit too much about the petty viciousness of university politics.  But I have also made some friends and feel like I have contributed in a positive way to the department.

I also discovered way too late about doing these stipple ink drawings on the bus and the train.  I could have filled a sketch book over the spring while I was going back and forth, but instead I only have a few drawings to share over the next few days.  But I do think that this is a valuable exercise and I will try to do it at least a few times a week when school starts again in the fall.

The thing about drawing people on the train or the bus is the North American taboo of making eye contact with strangers.  It's much easier to draw on the train than in a park or somewhere else, because you are in close proximity and no one wants to look directly at you.

Also a lot of my commuting is in the morning so people are sleepy and in their own heads, not really thinking about what is going on around them.  This is a good time to observe.

Not that I always get away scot free, today I had I guy sitting next to me with his head practically on my shoulder watching me pull a face from the blank page with just tiny dots. At least he didn’t feel compelled to offer any commentary (besides being way inside my personal space).