Tall Tales from Kansas

moments of joy wrapped up somewhere inside it all

Over the holiday weekend, after it turned too cold outside for humankind, I made another mitten for the holiday garland, filled the bird feeder (twice), and examined the frost on the northeast facing bedroom window upstairs. 

Upon completion of those chores, sister and I did some Art Zooms where I engaged in tree painting and drawing, from ideas found on holiday cards and instagram. So many good ideas for having fun. 





After that I got the bright idea to hem up the new flannel shirt Dottie sent me for Christmas. You may think that's too many pins to use, but on an edge with curves, the more the better. For me. 



I drank many cups of hot tea to stay warm and tried to catch up on back editions of the the book review from the NYT. Sometime during all of that the idea of adding a tree to the pygmy forest worked it's way into my mind. 





The last very last page of Everyday Journal #7 was finished, a new one begun, and I took a photo of the Christmas tree for posterity. Do you recall where you have placed your Christmas tree in every home you have ever lived in? Nowadays, when we take photos of everything, most people could scroll back and look. But I can't remember where it was in our first home in Lawrence... back in the late 1980's. 







The tree was completed just in time for supper and now it's back to work tomorrow. Happy 2022 everyone, whatever it brings, there will surely be moments of joy wrapped up somewhere inside it all.  

put a wet washcloth on the table next to you before you start

Yesterday sister and I did a ZOOM/FaceTime art session. She worked in her sketch books and I played in my journal. My everyday journal. The journal that has been getting written in a whole lot more in the last year than ever before. 

I just write about everyday stuff. What else do you put in an everyday journal? I like to cut stuff up and tape and glue it in too. It seemed a good idea to keep track of a pandemic and what was happening in my life during this time. And of course what I think about it all right now.

But I didn't want to write while she sketched, I wanted to try making a collage out of parts of the Sunday NYT. I saw something about it in last week's paper and wanted to try it. I went through the paper and cut out stuff I thought I would want to use. No plan, just throw some images and words/headlines on the page. 

Here is what my spread looks like. Nothing deep. Just something to look back on in a week or a month or a decade. 

This activity will be repeated.

Maybe one word from a headline per page arranged into a story? The possibilities are endless.

I think it would be so interesting to see what 10 different individuals would cut, arrange, and paste on a 2 page spread from the same Sunday edition.

P.S. A glue stick and newsprint make for some seriously dirty hands.

P.P.S. Next time put a wet washcloth on the table next to you before you start.   

keeping a travel journal is a wonderful thing

How can this one be eight years old today? Just yesterday Sister and I were walking through the streets of Bergen, we had come out of a place where we bought a bunch of old books with cool covers and I ducked into a yarn store for a second when we somehow learned that Allie Grace had been born. 

I am sure you have seen some pictures from this travel journal before, but there is no reason you can't come with me down memory lane for a second.

I just read Sister some of the things I had written down. I have said it before and I will say it again, keeping a travel journal is such a wonderful thing... while I am doing it, when I get home, and years down the road. 

But I digress.  Happy Happy Happy Birthday Allie Grace!  Lets go to Norway together sometime. I can introduce you to Big Tom the Motorcycle Cat, or his progeny.  

seriously that is exactly what my knees look like

Oh the joy of having like-minded friends, who at the drop of a hat, will arrange their schedules to sit around a table with you and play.

I include this photo of Sharron and Joyce because it's a perfect reflection of their friendship, but also so you can see what they really look like.  In my renderings of them I have taken artistic license and chosen to stray from reality. 

Making art with others, while you laugh, tell stories, and look up to see the ocean before your eyes, surely is what heaven is like. If you believe in that sort of thing. 

There must always be blind and semi-blind contour drawings.

In her usual easy-going manner, my sister, the artist who nudges me by example, enticed me on this trip with her trees.  So I had to try. The presence of a chief tantalizer is important in any art retreat. Someone to encourage you past the point of struggle to that one small success that pushes you onward.

Then I went back to other things. Cherries in bowls, birds, treasures from the sea, a study of eye glasses.  

And then, for some reason, on Sunday, after reading the NY Times and seeing the amazing Wendy McNaughton's work, I somehow go the idea that I was not only completely capable, but likely could excel at capturing my whole body in a sketch.

It's all in the eye of the beholder, but seriously, that is exactly what my knees look like.  

until I pull down the Budapest journal

This week, along with finishing up that languishing sketchbookery project, I pulled out the Lummi Island travel journal.

Then called my sister to schedule a FaceTime SketchTime session, so I could at long last paint the buoys on the final page of that journal.  Something I have been meaning to do for a year.  

And while I was at it, I flipped through the little accordion schetchbook that goes with it.  

And then I looked at all the shells and other things we found on walks that we painted...  

... and remembered how fun that was.   AND how successful I felt after doing these pages.  

Just sitting at the table outside our beach house, looking at the great white watcher, talking to the deer, splashing our brushes in the water.  

You may recall how I said that my Bavarian travel journal was, to date, the most enjoyable to work in while on the actual trip?  Then I think I said I loved them all equally once they were done.   That is absolutely true.   The "I love them all equally" part.  Because seriously, when I look at this one it seems like my favorite.  Until I pull down the Budapest journal that is.....

I will take one just like it for our trip next summer

Today I sewed a strip of trim inside my Bavaria journal and called it done.

Here it is.  The good, the bad, the ugly, the hilarious, and the unforgettable.  A real time capsule of our time in Germany.

My sister made the journal for herself, and then (lucky for me!!!!!) decided she wanted a different format and gifted it to me.  Oh happy day.

It may be my favorite of all my travel journals to date.  To work in on the trip, I mean.   I love them all equally once they are completed.  

The size was perfect.

Small and uncomplicated.

With pages for sketching and painting.  

Sister had done some collage work in advance.  Which was so nice.  

And, plenty of room for recording all the important events.  

The accordion shape was great to work with.  

I could lay it out flat and also work on several pages at a time if I wanted to.  

I have said this before, but it bears repeating... if you don't have someone you can travel with that likes to draw blind and semi-blind contour drawings, you are missing out.  

It also helps if they say, "I think I'll paint a mountain scene" and you can say "oh me too".  Your two drawings will not look alike.  That's ok.  

If you go to Wallgau, I hope you attempt to draw the church, as well as the mountains.  It imprinted them in my brain in a way the camera never could.    

We went to the Franz Marc museum one day, and promptly came home and applied all that we had seen there.  Each to the best of our abilities.  You can't ask for more than that.  

This teeny yellow car really had 2 tail lights, but I only had room for one, you understand how that can happen I am sure. 

My map of Germany.  Not accurate.  Extremely fun to draw and paint all the same. 

Sister and I in our "house-dresses" on the balcony in Wallgau.  

The end.  Thank you sister for making this journal for me.  I will take one just like it for our trip next summer.   

as told from the perspectives of two moss sisters

This is a story, in pictures, of what can happen when you don't know about the need to make a reservation ahead of time for a ferry.

 

 As told from two perspectives, by the Moss sisters.  Who did make it home by 11:30 pm and are spending the day today, doing absolutely nothing.

Except filling up this book stitched for me by my sister, and of course walking on the beach.

The end.

time and distance quiet that extremely loud-mouthed

So you know how sometimes when you are working in your visual/art journal, and each stroke of paint you lay on the page feels like torture, and you wonder "will I ever finish this page/book"?  That's exactly how I felt about his book.  Until today.

Today when I looked at it, I felt goofy with delight for every single page, and I thought to myself how glad I was that I did everything I did in it.  I couldn't find a thing I wanted to rip out.  What I thought about while I was flipping the pages was just  how much fun Mary Ann and I had, that it looked just like free expression, and I wanted to do more stuff exactly like it. 

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, surely time and distance quiets that extremely loud-mouthed inner critic.  And to that I say AMEN!

Definitely not Fredrik Henr AF Chapman

As promised.  For those of you who are interested in such things.  Here is the final signature of the Stockholm travel journal.  This is the fastest I've ever completed a travel journal after arriving home from a trip.  Probably because there was only a page or two to finish up and some photos to print and add to the mix.  It is also, by far, the most fun I have had working in a travel journal on vacation. 

You will notice I tackled several subjects more than once.  Including that mother-in-law's tongue above.  I liked this version more than the first.  Less wimpy.  A bit more bold. 

I think the reason it was so enjoyable is because I stopped thinking so much about what I should do on each page and I just DID.  Whatever I wanted.  If Mary Ann was doing something - even though I thought it might be too hard.  I did it.  I told myself I was not making a masterpiece.  Though I will likely think all of them are masterpieces in the future.  Ok.  Maybe not all of them.  Definitely not Fredrik Henr AF Chapman, who is coming up shortly for your review.  

The end.   "That's all she wrote" as my dad used to say when there wasn't anything left.  Thanks for coming along for the ride.  I will enjoy looking at this journal in years to come and recalling in great detail the complete delight that was Stockholm.   Heck.  I am enjoying looking at it now.  

the portraits of myself and Mary Ann were highly entertaining to do and still make me laugh out loud

Here it comes.  Part II of the Stockholm travel journal.  Provided here for your amusement. 

This painting of Ingrid, in front of the bookcase in our apartment, where the books were organized by color, is my favorite - of all the things I painted in this travel journal.  Although, the portraits of myself and Mary Ann were highly entertaining to do and still make me laugh out loud until I cry.   

Until tomorrow.  When the final installment shall be posted. 

I told her that I would carry her bags everywhere we went if she would

The time has come to show you my Stockholm travel journal.  In three installments.  One signature at a time.   Mary Ann made this journal for me.  It was completely and totally perfect.  In every way.  Size.  Number of signatures.  Types of paper used.  I am pretty sure she said that for all future Moss Sister Adventure Travels she was going to continue this tradition.   I think I told her that I would carry her bags everywhere we went if she would. 

I am going to recommend that you make yourself a "Hound Dog" tomorrow and Tuesday nights to enjoy while you review the next two installments.  When I made mine on Sunday I had a lemon instead of a lime and it was even better.  Get one.  It's worth it.   

that fine balance between carefulness and carefree expression

It is hard to calculate the enormity of the satisfaction that can be derived from messing around with pens, paints, pencils, and ink.  Below are some of the pages I did in Palm Springs this year. 

The first one below is my favorite that my sister did, followed by my favorite that Pam did.

They make that fine balance between carefulness and carefree expression look so easy to achieve.  It's not.  But it's fun to try. 

 

cut and move a hundred times before pasting

Avert your eyes if you have no time to waste. 

Because one could spend countless amounts of time re-arranging bits of cut paper on a blank page.

If you have equal preference for both sides of the paper, so much the better.

Once you get all this stuff out, you might as well make a big batch of pieces of paper that you are sure will not go together.

Because invariably you will find a pattern with them all that you do find pleasing.

So much fun.  Who knew?

And I have not even begun to manipulate the background. 

This my friends, is just to show you that cut and paste can quickly turn into cut and move a hundred times before pasting. 

can't say for sure how it's all going to shake out

It's the time of year for the transferring of vital information from the old planner to the new planner.  Truth be told I don't know why I call it a planner anymore.  It's a glorified calendar with a place to record important thoughts that come to me out of the blue that might lead to something.  Sometime.  Maybe.   

For whatever reason, I still have a need to be able to hold a calendar in my hands, and turn pages, and see a month at a time.  To that end, I pulled out some supplies today and followed the cut and paste trail my sister laid out for me. 

Old kitty photos, Uppercase magazines, images that make me catch my breath, anything that whispered to me.  Nothing was sacred. 

I can't say for sure how it's all going to shake out yet, but I can say with great certainty that I am having fun figuring it all out. 

And I like the direction I am headed in. 

Related articles

sending the joy of the creative process along with the words is ever so satisfying

'expanding my doodle vocabulary"

Today I did a deep dive into Pam's Creative Sketchbooking class on Creative Bug.  It was like having my own private art retreat with Pam and Mary Ann, except I could pause Pam whenever I wanted too and rewind her to watch again.   I sat in the living room drinking coffee and watched all 4 classes and then, sufficiently inspired, I gathered supplies.

Including these acrylics that have not seen the light of day in quite some time.  Please forgive the state of my acrylic palette.  I gave up long ago trying to clean it between uses. 

Next I started on the mesmerizing "task" of cutting some triangle shapes. 

After which, I mixed up a drink, cued up the class, got out the sketchbooks and a pen, and followed right along. 

This is my favorite kind of class.  It's all about the process and just having fun.  I am picking up new tips though... things like "color balance on the page" and "expanding my doodle vocabulary". 

None of this is finished, although I did decide the butterfly I started some weeks back during facetime sketchtime needed a creative sketchbooking triangle border.  I love going back to old pages and adding new elements. 

Tomorrow I am headed back for more hi-jinx.  I am not sure of anything I am doing except that I am enjoying the heck out of myself and that is what days off were made for. 

captured while waiting for a table outside Elmer's

 In addition to cactus gazing, tea cup buying, and taking neighborhood walks... there was also quite a bit of sketching done in Palm Springs. 

It's important to let some paint just fly around a bit before you get down to the serious sketching.  By serious you know that I mean blind contour drawings. 

I am a BIG fan of these for many reasons.  But mostly because they are fun.   Fun with a capital F.  For the drawer, the subject, and any witnesses.  

Mary Ann was first to draw the bottle of green Tabasco on the breakfast table at Elmer's but she was by no means the last.  

The gentleman above was captured while waiting for a table outside Elmer's.  He was discussing whether to order the banana french toast or the egg white scrambler.   That look you see on his face was caused by the turmoil of the decision. 

I did not let the fact that I was out of practice interfere with my fun in any way, shape, or form.  Nope.  Not me.   When you are in the company of fearless sketchers you jump in and swim.  

art retreat #3

As evidenced by these photographs...

... a good time was had by all at art retreat #3 this past weekend.

Tom foolery prevailed. 

When I have slept, unpacked, and sorted photos (in that order) I will have stories to tell and journal pages to show.  Sister and Pam will likely be sharing stories and photos as well.   Count on me for the true and accurate version of events.  

it needed sturdier feet

A small sampling of journal pages from our trip to Summerland. I have become completely enamored with drawing leaves and shells. 

You may notice that I have labeled everything.  I like to be helpful.  In addition to leaves and shells and pots of geraniums I decided that I, like my sister, must take on drawing the completely magical art of Nathalie Lete.  Mary Ann's on the left, mine on the right.  Since I drew my hen a little bigger I decided it needed sturdier feet. 

If you have never sat around a table with 3 other people doing a timed exercise where you have to sketch and color a Starkist Tuna Fiestaware salt container in exactly 15 minutes you haven't lived.   Seriously!  You must do it.   Marti, Nancy, and Jennifer please send me a photo of the sketches you do at your next lunch meeting. 

No one should deny themselves the pure pleasure of drawing. 

Drawing is almost as much fun as walking on the beach, unless you don't have a beach close by, under those circumstances the principle of inverse theory applies.  That means drawing becomes more fun than walking on the beach. 

I am a process person when it comes to sketching

These are all the pages I completed at the art retreat. 
Warning:  what you are about to see is not for the weak of heart or anyone who has had recent abdominal surgery and needs to avoid busting a gut, or to put it in technical terms - suffering a dehiscence of their incision. 

I am a process person when it comes to sketching as well as knitting.   The simple acts of manipulating a pen or brush or yarn and needles is therapeutic in and of itself.  The only creative endeavor I engage in where I am more focused on the outcome is baking.  I really like it best when baked goods taste GOOD.  I am very fond of my knitting and sketching even if they are not quite anatomically correct.    

she would tell me to do one line of each letter

When I got home from Palm Springs I dug around in my supply cabinet and located this oblique dip pen and some ink that I had from a class I took years ago.   I didn't really learn much from that class but came home from my art retreat determined to commit to some regular practice.  I got a book of different fonts so I would have something to copy.  

Luckily I know that it will take some work before I am ready to knock anyone's socks off with my fancy lettering.  Nonetheless, it is very fun to practice.  I figure if I do even just a little bit everyday I am bound to improve.   I think if Mrs. Berg, one of my grade school teachers, were here right now she would tell me to do one line of each letter.   She was pretty smart after all I guess. 

the chance to go to recess with my art buddies

Art retreat #2 was a smashing success.  The weather was perfect, the food delicious, and our house met all our basic needs... and then some.  That means comfortable beds, fireplaces inside and out, a lovely heated pool with a hot tub, nice landscaping to gaze upon, and most importantly - BIG tables to work at that could easily be moved if needed.

It is important for all of us to be able to sit at the same table so we can easily screech and howl when we see brilliance going on next to, or across from, each other.  Then we can run around the table to observe from the perspective of the creator and commence to whistling and clapping. 

Providing feedback to fellow art retreat participants is important if the need to do so strikes you.   Sitting quietly is also acceptable, as is calling out to your pals that you have just had a breakthrough moment and they might want to stop and look RIGHT NOW. 

I eagerly read each and every post on Mary Ann and Pam's blogs.  I gaze upon their creative endeavors with great pleasure as my brain puzzles over the working of minds that come up with the masterpieces they create.  

The extra-special thing about the art retreat experience is being with them in that space of creating.  AND in the presence of that BIG TALENT I do not feel small.  Instead, I feel possible, like any second I might do something that bursts out of me and makes me insanely happy.  There is no better feeling in the world than that. 

And in the end I always leave the art retreat skipping like a grade schooler.  Happy to have had the chance to go to recess with my art buddies. 

Planning for next year is already underway.   But you probably guessed that.  

I tried not to be so tentative

Inside this courtyard some magic happened over the last three days.

I had the chance to use new supplies, watch Mary Ann and Pam create some amazing works of art, and just hang out. I shamelessly tried to copy a page of Pam's effortless "appearing" doodles, practiced my letters, and in general tried not to be so tentative. In my next life, when I have thick hair, I also plan to be a BOLD artist.

Oh, and I also happened to discover that Lorna Doone shortbread cookies pair quite nicely with Pinot Noir.

crazy daisy hanging wicker chairs

The weather here in the desert is very conducive to relaxation. And if that in and of itself were not enough we also have party drinks, decorations, hula hoops, supplies to try out, techniques to observe, a pool to jump in, and some crazy-daisy hanging wicker chairs to swing in.

Art retreat # two is off to a very good start indeed.

all I need now are some miniature cars

When Mary Ann was here I got my new journal broken in with some sketches of kitchen utensils. 

And then I got this idea that I should make a map of Palm Springs, location of Art Retreat #2 (which is coming up in 6 days).  I have seen so many interesting drawings of maps.  They look fun and simple to draw.  Right up my alley.  So I consulted a real map and set about defining my perimeters and inclusion criteria, and then I got started.

It was fun and it wasn't terribly complicated.  But as I look at the completed page I am struck by something.  Perhaps you will agree.

What I have created is a game-board.  Not a map.  All I need now are some miniature cars. 

when I have completed it and am confident of it's accuracy

We are tip-toeing into the new year.  No jumping and running around here.  The hardest thing I did today was clean off the tops of the cans of black eyed peas so Chris could open them to have with our New Years Dinner.  

I only have 2 rows left to go on my "Hazeline" scarf.  I thought it would be good to start off the new year by finishing a work in progress.  It doesn't look like much now but after I block it it should look almost like the photo except in red.   I might have made a mistake or two   individualized mine so I would be able to identify it if it ever went missing. 

Most of the day I was sitting with my new journal.  Making a highly detailed (and sure to be very useful) map of Palm Springs.  

You never know, we could lose our phones with their fancy guidance systems while we are at the art retreat.  We might have an emergency of some kind that necessitates a visit to Desert Regional Medical Center.  Or what if I go into caffeine withdrawal and need to be transported to Koffi?   I am personalizing this map to meet our every need and will show it to you in living color when I have completed it and am confident of it's accuracy. 

Until then, Happy 2014. 

paper tearing and knot tying tips

In gleeful anticipation of THE 2nd annual art retreat in Palm Springs in January, I set about last weekend to make a new visual journal to take with me. 

Mary Ann gave me some paper tearing and knot tying tips while she was here and then just kept sketching as she watched the amateur at work.  She only cleared her throat a couple of times when she thought I might be about to make a terrible mistake.   Just trying to be helpful you know. 

An art retreat is FUN.  

An art retreat with Mary Ann and Pam is REALLY fun.   

An art retreat with Mary Ann and Pam AND a brand new visual journal is ABOVE and BEYOND fun.  Thanks for the tips sister!  Thanks for the cover Pam!  See you in January.

after which a border was added that could also be colored

"If you wait a long time between sessions of messing around in your sketch book you are bound to feel a little awkward when you start again." 

This is what my alter ego told my unconscious mind as I dabbled with the paints tonight in a rather ungainly fashion.

In my defense, I was imagining sitting in the apartment in Amserdam with my sister eating stroopkoeken and sipping tea at that little table by the window.   No matter, it's all about the fun, and I can repaint over it all if I want to. 

Drawing fish scales on a giant letter C is what I did after the coffee cup and the buildings of Amsterdam (which you will have noticed I was quite loose in my interpretation of.)

Finally I resorted to writing letters and coloring them in after which a border was added that could also be colored in.   All very good therapy when you are wishing with all your might you were exploring a city 4,483.5 miles away.   I have been assured that we will return to this very location in 2014 or 2015 and retrace each and every step.    Sister, I am holding you to it. 

have you ever tried to talk someone through how to reset the time on their microwave?

In addition to drawing my Tombo markers, eating peachy crumb breakfast cake, and fielding calls from Angie about her microwave, I have been messing around in my pattern book this week. 

Have you ever tried to talk someone through how to reset the time on the microwave when you don't know exactly what the buttons on their microwave say or how they are configured?  Oh, and add the challenge of their phone cutting out so you sometimes only hear every 5th word they are saying?  

Well try it sometime and then you will appreciate fully the therapeutic value of making dots,  drawing flowers, and coloring in a pattern book.  

my new career in raccoon portraiture

Saturday, I began my new career in raccoon portraiture.   I am not sure I will be able to make a living at it, but I am certainly going to give it my all. 

Since my sister left I have been working fast and furious in my smallish pattern book.    Filling up pages and trying NOT to think too much.    Dabble.  Sketch.  Cut.  Paste.  Color.

Have you heard of Nate Williams?  If not get yourself on over and check out his stuff.   My sister told me about him yesterday and last night I carefully observed his work, trying to get inside a mind that could come up with the things he puts down on paper. 

I went to sleep dreaming of colors and papers and letters and paint... and that my friends is a very good thing. 

P.S.  we'll let you know when the raccoon t-shirts are ready for sale.

they put in a nickel and I sing a little song

Right after work I dashed over to pick up my sister and we came straight home.  As we ran up the stairs we told Chris we would just eat in the art room while we worked in our books.   I had a bicycle to draw.  Mary Ann had a raccoon to work on. 

Then we started humming Melanie songs from the 70's.   If you haven't heard the nickel song for awhile (or if you have never heard of it all) please go and listen.  Maybe it will help explain these journal pages. 

I am going to go to bed right now and then get up in the morning and draw raccoons like this one my sister did.  Then as soon as I perfect my technique I am going to quit my job and become a raccoon portrait painter.  

then I came home and made letters in my pattern book

Tonight Angie and Sister and I played word games.  I laughed so hard I spit my hibiscus iced tea all over the table.  There were no photos taken of that.    

Then I came home and made letters in my pattern book.   Tomorrow night I am going to draw a bicycle.  I have never drawn one before but that is no reason not to try. 

watch Mary Ann and just copy what she does

I whipped up a little zucchini fritatta today to eat with our walnut-sage toast and blackberry jam.  Emphasis on the jam as you can see in the photo below.   When it is homemade, 1/3 jam to 2/3 toast is a perfect ratio. 

After brunch Sister set to work introducing Angie to the world of fun that is messing around in a visual journal. 

She took to it like a duck to water...

...and pretty soon we were all gathered around the table playing in our books.   When Angie said "what should I do now", I informed her "watch Mary Ann and just copy what she does, that is what I always do".  

The perfect way to spend a Tuesday in July when it's rainy and overcast outside. 

sometimes its best to let these things get worked out of your system

My sister brought me a pinwheel.  Very fortuitous since I have not yet made my own.  I had a feeling she might bring me one... which may or may not be why I held off on starting one.   All I know is it looks mighty fine in my window.   

I also got my new pattern book broken in.

And then something came over me and I started making onion domed buildings with my new Pentel colorbrush pen.

I tried to stop.  But I could not. 

Sometimes it's best to just let these things get worked out of your system. 

and did not stick myself in the finger one single solitary time

This past week I got my long anticipated shipment from Dick Blick.  The pads of fabriano hot press watercolor paper that I have been waiting for so I could make a new pattern book out of a book I got at a second hand store in Bergen, Norway. 

I kept looking at the paper and looking at the book and wishing someone would put it together for me.  Yesterday  my sister said "oh just go do it already why don't you!'  So I did.  I marched upstairs and ripped paper, and made signatures, and put together a template, and punched holes, and found my waxed linen thread, and did not stick myself in the finger one single solitary time.   That is a first. 

I am now ready to go to town making patterns with my new acrylic ink and Dr. Ph Martins tangerine radiant concentrated water color.   As soon as I can stop rubbing my hands over the smooth, creamy white pages that is. 

feeling a paintbrush glide all slippery-smooth across the paper

Just because you are not a painter by trade, is no reason that you should deprive yourself of the pleasure of feeling a paintbrush glide all slippery-smooth across the paper on a Sunday afternoon.

Especially if you should be doing something else, like say ... paying the bills.   My sister's been telling me all about her new class coming up starting July 4th and I just had to paint a pattern of my own.  HAD to. 

I just tried my best

In Spoleto Mary Ann and I had a grand time in our travel journals.  I mostly had fun watching her create some masterpieces and then I tried to copy them.   When I was done I would show her what I had done and say each time,  "I just tried my best" and we would fall on the floor laughing. 

Have you seen a porcupine quill before?  I hadn't.  I picked up one on the path into town and taped it down along with a pottery shard I found on the way to Monteluco and the top of our wine bottle from Montefalco. 

I am a "process" journaler.  I don't really care as much about the outcome as the enjoyment in the moment of doing it.  When I look at this travel journal in years to come, I will think of staying up late into the night in the kitchen of the artists tower in the middle of the sacred woods of Spoleto laughing my head off with my sister.  If you haven't already seen her pages you should probably go and look here.

no reason to try and figure things out ahead of time

My sister arrived in the wee hours of the morning last night.  She is spending some time with Angie before we head off for Spoleto.  This morning we tumbled out of bed, I made coffee, and she showed me the signatures that she would be sketching in while there.  

Confoundit!  Why do I always wait until the last minute to try and put something together?   I pulled out some stuff that could, possibly, maybe.... work for a journal for Spoleto.

No.  No.  No.  and No.  None of these felt right.  Then I found this little book (Just under 6x6) I made years ago in a class and have never done anything with.  It's always been a little too fussy for my taste.  One of those things where you have to pick paper in a class and create on demand.

Nothing a little alteration won't fix.   I pulled out the sewing maching and some hot press paper and went to work.





It's starting to come together nicely, which just proves my point.  There is no reason to try and figure things out ahead of time, when the last minute will do. 

a dab here and a dab there

The comic strip journal (aka the palm springs art retreat journal) got a cover tonight.  I cut up the back of an old math book to make it.  

While I had the table cleared off I went ahead and got the paints out.

I still have some spots that need a dab here and a dab there.   You should be aiming for somewhere between over-the-top and downright gaudy in this kind of journal.  I think I am juuuuust about there.   

the place for experimentation on a small scale

Today I sat upstairs and added some dabs of paint here and some bits of paper there to my comic strip art journal.  The one I took to Palm Springs. 

I call it a comic strip art journal because it measures two and a half by nine inches.  Kind of like a strip of comics in the Sunday paper. 

I had the best time messing around in it.   Paint, ink, paper, pictures, glue, writing - anything goes in a comic strip journal.  It's the place for experimentation on a small scale.

I stole it from my sister's house a couple of years ago.  She made it out of paper scraps to practice a binding technique she was teaching.  I didn't think she needed it.  Besides, I wanted it.   I cut up the cover of an old book I have to make a cover for it. 

I'll show you what that looks like when the glue dries. 

If you have an art retreat planned anytime soon.  Take something like this with you.  It's a guaranteed good time. 

"art is life playing to other rhythms"

I don't remember where I read that quote for sure (maybe the Elegance of the Hedgehog?) but it sure sums up this past weekend nicely. 

As both Pam and my sister have fully described , we had the best time just playing around with no other obligations to block our creative impulses.    It was great fun to step out of the normal pace of life and into a sherbert-colored paint dreamscape. 

It was also a real treat to be able to see AND touch some incredibly creative journals. 

We are going to stay in touch with the energy of this time by engaging in a regular sketchbook challenge round robin. 

It's best to start slow and pace yourself in a challenge like this.  Probably by the time the next art retreat comes around I won't look quite so much like I am seriously in need of an appointment with an orthodontist.  But if I do - I won't care.  We laughed until we cried over our drawings.     

Thanks fellow art posse compadres, I can't remember when I have had a better time.   

"hey wait for us!"

Yoo hoo Sister!  Your post today got me in an Amalfi frame of mind.   I am supposed to be polishing silverware but instead I am looking at my travel journal from 2008!

I am recalling many of the same things you are.  But do you remember that we almost missed the ferry and while I was getting the tickets you ran down to the boat and yelled at them to wait for us?   I also carefully recorded your bout with nausea and how we concluded that the best place to throw up on a ferry boat is overboard. 

I can still taste Le Sireneuse as we sat by the pool and looked out at the incredible view and pinched ourselves and said "we are on the amalfi coast!"  I remember that along with listening to the man being interviewed we could hear the sea splashing up on the rocks below. 

Remember how when we got back to Amalfi from Positano we saw the Italian water polo players practicing in their kayaks?  How about when we arrived in Praiano and rushed to Tutto per Tutti for supplies and bought those beautiful red tomatoes that we roasted with olive oil?  And last but not least remember how we moved the table in the living room in front of the big balcony windows so we could see the silvery moon while we ate?

Hmmm I better get off this trip down memory lane and back to thanksgiving preparation.   Next up:  cilantro chopping and gourd arranging. 

nick is annoying the crap out of me

Tonight I am cutting up the last bits of the paper I brought back from Norway.  Making shapes (or not) and gluing them into my travel journal.  Printing a few more photos.  Trying not to scribble on all of them with my white pen, but it's hard not to.   I am a scribbler by nature. 

Still listening to Gone Girl.  I have figured out that if I was reading this book instead of listening to it I would be doing more "skimming" because I don't like the characters very much.  Actually, right now Nick is annoying the crap out of me and I would like to push him into the Mississippi river.   I am not seeing any chance of redemption for him but I still have 9 CD's to go.  

Gregory Blackstock you are a genius

When I was over at Hammerpress the other day trying to convince them to let me run the big machine that goes clickety - clack - clack, I saw the coolest book.  Have you heard of Gregory Blackstock?  He "draws order out of chaos with a pencil, a black marker, and some crayons".  

I want to draw chaos into order so I picked it up.  When I saw the extremely endangered hawaiian crow I knew I should buy it.  When I saw the steeplechase racers shoe on the back cover I placed it on the counter.  I thought it would be the perfect present for my sister.

I was right.  My sister does love it.   She already has it.  

Good thing I didn't buy 2 of them.  I guess I'll have to keep this one for myself.  I have been wanting for some time now to draw ants but needed a large scale model.  He provides many. 

In addition to  crows, shoes, ants, fish, hammers, drills, knives, tents, roofs, crosses, pianos, noisemakers, and plants there is an impressive array of boats and dogs.

I love outsider art. 

Gregory Blackstock you are a genius and I am sure glad my sister already had your book. 

letting go

Working along at a snails pace in my Bergen travel journal I have discovered something.

If I allow myself to let go of the desire to FINISH it, I enjoy each moment more, imprinting deeper the memories as I relax into the rhythm of cutting, writing, and playing.  There are enough deadlines in life.  No need to create more self-imposed ones. 

This is me, letting go.  Working by candlelight at 9:22pm on a Friday night. 

that's all I'll say about that

I got on a cut and paste kick when I was in Norway. 

Good, clean, fun.   That's all I'll say about that. 

back in the throes of meditative drawing

If you own an iPad and you do not have the SketchBook PRO app you are missing out on serious fun.   I put myself in a time-out from using it for awhile so I could get my knitting projects done. 

But then I had to go over here and read about the whole Zentangle thing and then I ordered the book and Amazon had to deliver it in like 15 minutes and here I am... back in the throes of  doodling  meditative drawing.   When they do the next Zentangle book they need to include a chapter on how to do it with SketchBook PRO. 

I better let someone know I am available to author that chapter.  

lots and lots of birds

I did not anticipate that drawing with sketchbook pro on my iPad would made me want to work in my art journal more.   

But it has.  I want to draw birds.  Lots and lots of birds.  I think I will put a bird on every single solitary page of my Norway travel journal. 

My sister and I have been discussing our upcoming trip via FaceTime.  It's important that we be able to show each other exactly what we are bringing. 

Unfortunately it seems that Lewis and Wyatt have been watching and now know how to call each other.   Fortunately there are no long distance charges associated with it. 

in your own mind

Never underestimate the therapeutic value of playing with pink and orange paint. 

Add some glue, wallpaper, black ink, and a few Pitt pens to really take it over the top.   Where it counts.   In your own mind. 

play begats play?

Playing around with my iPad has made me want to play around with my journals more.  I guess it's true that play begats play?

Speaking of playing.  I hope I get the chance to use begat in Words with Friends soon.

the world is such a big place

I hope I am transmitting to you my love for the city of Budapest on these pages.  The food, the architecture, the people, the things we did... captivating, all of it.  It's best not to have to work hard to have a good time on vacation.   I just like to walk through and experience life as it happens around me.  A life that is different from my own.  

I feel certain I will visit Budapest again.   But who can say for sure.  The world is such a big place.  There are so many places to see and enjoy.  In the meantime, whenever  I feel the urge I can flip through these pages and call my sister and say "hey, remember when......"