Hope you are all having a happy holiday!

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

Solstice greetings

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

Been hibernating
Hidden from blogland in black
Following the sun

Finished last weeks mandala

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

Taking time to heal
Watching favorite movies
Dreaming in circles

Still lounging

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

Still not up for much since the surgery... I was supposed to be back to work by now but that's just not possible, still on the couch most of the time.... Here is a quick sketch i did manage...

And a list for aimee over at artsyville... A reverse bucket list... The list of done that, checked it off....it's not an extremely exciting list, no jumping off cliffs or hang-gliding but it works for me....

*Married a man i love...
*had 5 children...
*Bought an old house i love...
*do art regularly....
*work at a job that sometimes at least feels worth it....
*left the job that didn't feel worth it years ago...
*lost 16 pounds recently...
*had an art show, well, two small ones but they count...
*painted a pallet for Hammondsport and got invited back a second year...
*have my art in a gallery....
*opened an etsy shop...
*testified in court for work....
*stopped biting my nails years ago, (ok, so now i twist my hair, big deal)...
*learned to be HAPPY!...( not insanely but comfortably!)


Edit: after reading some lists i thought of so many more things i just had to add...

Rode an elephant
Went on a whale watch
Was within touching distance of the Queen
Was published in a magazine

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!

Black friday shopping...
In sweats online and comfy...
Eatting leftovers...

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

We had a good meal here... Turkey, pie, potatos and gravy, and we will have enough leftovers for a full week...

Also ...
I am the featured artist over at Paint Party Friday if you want to go checkout the interview.....

All i have to show today is a work in progress....

Fall fearless and fly

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

This challenge was to create a page about what makes you feel safe and comforted.
Being at home with family is where i feel this, but also in nature,
the calm of the woods,
the peace of a pine grove,
The soothing sound of a creek,
The rustle of tall grass and
The comfort of an old mother oak...



photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

This morning, when i woke up I felt good...

the absence of pain...even small pain... when it's gone it feels even better than before you had pain....

how good that feels even if for a liuttle bit since last week's surgery...

 

 

I so here's my story today...i always crave time alone.

i can't remember the last time I was alone IN my house...

years honestly

but this time i am not complaining...

 

  

I had expected to be alone this week since the kids would be working or at school and I would be lounging on the couch...

it didn't work out that way, there was early dismissal due to parent teacher conferences, 2 days my youngest was home sick and I have had help in and out...

 and the thing is I have been fine with that! Glad of the help actually...

 

 

help from my mom...

 

Homemade granola 

warm when it was delivered

Yummy and healing

 

flowers from friends...

and from my daughter, the ring...well... even if it was just because she cleaned her room and didn't know what else to do with it...

 I still wore it and had this quiet moment when i was laying on the couch doing nothing except listenng to her in her room listening to dave matthews band. it was nice. 

 

 My mother in law has checked on me, I have had my daughter and her new tiny puppy, Starburst...to help.

And whenever my youngest tries to climb on me which is what he does; either my husband or my older son or someone is right there to help and distract my youngest with wrestling to protect me. My husband has cooked great meals, but then he always does that...

i am lucky!

 

 

And if you all want to be super nice...you will take the time to go vote for the fabric i created using cut paper over at spoonflower. I have been cutting  up paint chips and arranging them and photographing them and then color changing and altering using their programs, (II watched a tutorial on the site to help me learn how!) and i made this.

It will be available for sale once I order a sample, and now it is entered in their weekly contest. click here to see it as fabric. and Click here to get to the link to vote, I will warn you ...you have to scroll thru all 20 pages before it will let you vote, but hey, you'll do it for me, right?

Thanks a million, if i keep with the fabric thing awhile maybe I will order some and have a giveaway soon. Maybe after next week, for Thanksgiving my house will get even fuller as my oldest will be home from college and she's bringing her new pet too... a kitty named dirty popcorn. I haven't seen the kitty yet, we will have to wait and see how these two new pets get along with out 2 older cats, Tyronne and BobDole.  It will be a full house...
Thanks for voting!
I am headed back to the couch...

Artists playroom

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

The challenge this week was to create something for christmas, i had started this last week and finished it today,( it had been almost done). I have so many ideas after laying around watching art videos on the ipad since the surgery. If i could just recover enough to sit up for very long there are sooo many pages i want to make, sewing, quilting, canvases... All just waiting to come to be...
I am feeling better though, and i appreciate all the kind comments, and the help naming my daughters puppy... She may have decided on starburst, but not 100% yet. There will be more puppy photos to show soon, as she is a sweet dog and sooo tiny. ( i keep calling her kitty). See you tomorow for another aedm post.

New addition

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

My daughter brought home a new addition to the family from a shelter in Rochester. She's a chihuahua/minpin, who just had surgery too.... She weighs about 3 pounds. my daughter is not settled on a name... She had thought of Joplin but the puppy is to fragile to be named after Janis Joplin. We also thought about Little Foot as she has a long neck... Any suggestions?

A get well card to myself

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I was planning on adding flowers around this little guy but all i felt up to was a few words....

And speaking of words, here's my list for tuesday... It's a list of possible future lists requested by aimee over at artsyville.

-small pleasures
-Favorite desserts
-Just read books
-Favorite places to eat
-All things red
-All things green
-All things blue
-Etc
-Magical things
-Childhood enchantments
-Favorite ways to make wishes come true
-Pies
-Types of teas
-Things you say to yourself to make yourself feel better
-Things you say to make yourself do what needs to be done
-Things in your closet
-Things in your purse
-What i see from my window
-interesting words
-mantras
-yoga poses
-wisdom learned from a grandparent
-wisdom learned from a child

Feeling a bit better

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

This is what's on my lap as i am propped up on the couch... Well, and the ipad, and i have been googling bird images... Because they seem cheery!

In the hospital, in the maternity ward but not to have a baby....

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I took my sketchbook to the hospital with me and sketched my hand with the IV shortly after the hysterectomy friday. Must have had some good drugs as I am home today and feeling better but not up to sketching again yet.

Maternity ward
Listening to babies cry
Proud patents talking


Hello all at haiku my heart, and sunday sketches and creative everyday!

Aedm 8 and share the joy!

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I had planned on finishing more of the mandalas i started or painting some of the tiny sketched planets or more zentangles even but then i read Tracey Fletcher King's blog as i regularly do and i got up and had to sketch a teacup. Couldn't help myself actually. This is my favorite of mine to look at, so pretty but too tiny to use very often though. I have two handmade mugs i use for my tea so i can get a really good sized cup. I don't feel i have found the perfect cup yet, same as the elusive favorite pen that i am sure is out there but i have never found.

This is thursday so not only anothe AEDM day but also favorite things thursday and share the joy thursday.

So my joy list....
1. The almost favorite tea cup
2. The darkness... With the days getting shorter and colder it feels more closed in and safe and cozy. I am the opposite of claustrophobic. ( by the way i know i am spelling things wrong or typing too fast but i don't have time for spell check so please excuse all my errors...)
3. With the shorter days comes holiday packaging. While everyone else moans that there are Christmas decorations in the store before Thanksgiving I am secretly loving the pretty peppermint tea boxes and the candy packages with snowflakes all over them. it makes me feel all happy and i feel the need to go watch childrens fantasy movies. I started the golden compass last night and will get to the lion the witch and the wardrobe soon, and the polar express, and labyrinth and on and on...
4. My son is talking more now that he is being bussed to an autism classroom an hour away. They are doing a great job and he's using more words at home. Until 3 weeks ago he had never even answered a yes or no question. He would just repeat the question. Then 2 weeks ago my husband asked him if he was pretending to be a T-Rex as he was making T-Rex noises, and he said "yes". We were so shocked we hardly realized he'd actually answered. Then a week or so
ago he was repeatedly poking my eye at 4:00
am and as you can imagine i was not happy and i said " what do you want?" in a fairly
annoyed voice... He said " I want a cookie please" clear as day. I was so excited i got up and of course, got him a cookie! Yeah!
5. I am having surgery tomorow ( a hysterectomy... I was feeling like i shouldn't say that on here but i am not sure why not) which means i get two weeks of work, yeah again!
So i won't be by tomorow but after a feel better i will see you all then...

Socc

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

That's the name of this puffy tangle, it's fun to do , i have started 3 more "planet" drawings in my sketchbook.... Why? I don't know, just felt like making tiny planets, like i did a few posts ago before rereading The Little Prince again..... I will paint them today maybe and show them tomorow. The first is made out of this same tangle... Socc.

What i see when i close my eyes

 
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I promise soon i will move on to something else, i always do, but for now i am stuck in the mandala phase... Quick ones, this one was done without a compass,..... i watched a video and i am sorry i can't remember who posted it right now, and my computer has yet another virus so i am on my ipad and i can't seem to add links on this.... But if you google "growing a mandala from a seed" i bet you will get her video, it's very good.

I may sound crazy here but when i close my eyes and rub them i see kaleidascope's of swirling colors. I thought everyone did till i mentioned this one day and the person i was talking to thought i was nuts. Maybe it's an autism thing, not that i am autustic but since my son is , i have read that autistic people see bright colors, and a grown autistic man once said his childhood had been a memmory of bright lights, swirling colors and he thought everyone's was like that. I wonder if my son sees this, i know he hears too much, he can hear things we can't. my daughter recently read many autistic kids hear plants dieing, screaming in fact. That sounded horrible to me but they didn't seem sad about it, it was just what they heard. My son can't tell me this kind of thing yet so i don't know what he hears but he uses head phones to drown out the noise often.

So, how many of you see colors?

Oh, i almost forgoy, this is tuesday, time for list it tuesday, her theme this week is movie lines. My favorite ones are usually obscure , my friends don't seem to watch the same movies i do.... Here's some favorites...i 'll out the movie they are from below...

" on the contrary, it is more stirring to my blood than any imaginings could possibly have been..."

"be careful what you wish for... You will surely get it!"

"When the God's want to punish you they answer your prayers."

And the one i am reminded of each morning as i pack my son's lunch and he outs smarts me fairly regularly by getting the 3 cookies i put in his lunch...."my mental faculties are TWICE what yours are, peabrain!" said by the villian macleash in the kids movie rescuers down under to his pet lizard while trying to keep the eggs in his lunch box away from the lizard. The lizard gets them all everytime, and my son seems to get the cookies whenever he tries too, the second i turn my back, they are gone.

Zendala dare

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

At the brightowl she has a weekly challenge with a template for a mandala, i drew my own from her template rather than downloading it as i wanted it in my sketchbook. The theme was pies and she asked we use tangles that started with the letters PIE. I used paiz around the outside, and paradox is the one in blue, in-a-pod is the one that looks like pea pods and then echoism is on the outside edges in Red and yellow. This type of mandala i can get done very quickly. Yesterday's is much larger and all drawn out with a compass and takes a bit longer. Different types and different results but both are fun to do. Tomorow i should have another style entirely, less symmetrical, drawn from a "seed". After that maybe i'll be moving on to something else, a rock or nature sketch or maybe even a canvas. It all goes in streaks for me.

mandala

I have been playing with some of my watercolor mandalas, finishing a bunch up that I started weeks ago....and making a calendar on Lulu, and i just realized that the theme at Inspiration avenue this week is mandalas...i couldn't miss it since that is one of my favorite things to create....

AEDM

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I have done it again, gone and joined another challenge,
art everyday month...
even though I know i didn't make it everyday in blogtoberfest, i managed quite a few,
and the thing about joining "art everyday" is that i DO do art everyday,
but the posting art is what is hard...
But....
so many other really wonderful bloggers are in it i clicked on it too....
Just had to....
Couldn't help myself...
So i won't worry about being perfect or elaborate or anything, i'll just post something i Have done each day....
And i guarantee i will miss a day or two....
Just saying....

 How did I get to be almost 49 and never have seen these before?
I googled them and they may be from a Sycamore tree but I can't be sure... does anyone know?

We were lucky with the storm here, even though we prepared and had bottled water and candles, we never lost power, just got cold wet rain and high rivers and a few trees down in the area but no real damage here. We are far enough away from NYC that it missed us basically.

I took these photos in my favorite cemetery before the storm when we still had glorious SUN!

Happy rustiness

Wabi Sabi in the sun

spirits greeting me

Joy

photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

Working on creating a calendar.....
Full of color
Yummy

Back to zentangling for what's on your workdesk wednesday

This week the challenge over at IamtheDivaCZT was to use the new tangle created by the founders of Zentangles, Rick and Maria. It's called Bunzo and you can find directions on how to draw it here. I have made a few pages with it in my sketchbook....

ok.... wait...... the first pictures are of last weeks challenge which was to use stripes but i never got around to posting it so you have to see that one first.....

Now here's the one with bunzo which is the tangle in the center that looks like clam shells or fungi on a log.... i like this one, i think it will be one of my favorite tangles to use....

This one was also based on the zendala challenge at the bright owl. i have made mine long to fit in my sketchbook instead of sticking to a mandala circle but it basically follows her template in idea. Not a good photo of it though, hard to get enough light this time of year.

This one reminded me of a little planet once I got going, which then reminded me of the book, 'the little prince' which i have read at least 5 times but i decided I needed to read again, so I quit tangling for the day and read. 

           "Good bye " said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."
           "What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
           " It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."
           "It is the time I have wasted for my rose-" said the little prince so that he would be sure to remember.
           "Men have forgotten this truth "said the fox. "but you must never forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose."
           "I am responsible for my rose" the little prince repeated so he would be sure to remember.