The trip

Here is the plan for the trip I mentioned in yesterday's post introducing BigBig. Since it is in the colors for this weeks summer of color challenge I will link to that. I want to do a larger map showing the details of each stop along the way when I get a chance. But first, photos and sketches from the trip each day for a week....

5 things

As i said last week or so....

I spend too much time on the internet,

there's always so much more to see.

So i thought i would stop when i have found 5 things.

And once in a while I will post what I find.....

If you click on the colored word it will take you to the original site..


1. This week I saw... and loved the wonderful colors in this art...






2. I found this recipe and made 6 jars of strawberry jam following it. Yum!

3.  I have been making my own drinks like these infused waters from pinterest...

4. I bought.... this set of 18 artists colours in gouache and I can't wait to try them out. I just want to wait till i am done with the mandala art for my future book, since i can't try something new when i have the pressure of a deadline. I should be able to give you a link to it soon!

5. This map art site was so inspiring! So many maps to looks at, get ideas from, or order. And you can upload your own as well, and since i have been thinking maps lately it was a great site to find now.

My oldest daughter is moving to Arizona next week for a new teaching job so i am driving with her across the country so she doesn't have to go alone (my other daughter is coming along as well) and then the two of us will fly back after a week of driving and sightseeing. She has all sorts of things lined up for us to see each day after our driving is done for the day. I am excited and nervous. I have never driven this far or through cities, i have never been out west, i have never flown, and i have never left my son for this long either. So much to worry about. But i plan on sketching my trip, drawing maps and sketching food and sights we see. If i can figure out how, i will try to post a bit from the road...

work in progress.... a novel called Wild Phlox Season

I know I said I would have a video, but not only didn't i finish putting the video together, I didn't finish that painting from last week...

 instead, i started another, did a bunch of little sketches, and wrote. 

It is, for some reason, embarrassing to admit I am trying to write a novel.

 I have no writing experience, except of course I read and write a lot. 

But I have never tried to write a novel. 

It seems too daring and self-important.

And then if it's bad, it would be humiliating, and if I never finish it would be one more thing I didn't complete...

 the list of why not to admit this out loud is endless. 

But I am trying anyways because these 6 women are in my head, and they do stuff in my imagination all the time, so why not try to get it all out on paper.

 I have been slowly working on it since November.

And I have had the idea since I did 29 faces 2 years ago...

Sometimes, writing it for me has been about sketching things from it, or drawing maps, writing out their family trees and fun stuff. 

Really, I have no idea on how to write a novel so I am just stumbling along and we'll see.....

Paracosm

I had to look that word up awhile ago when Nicolas from MyAntarctica used it in an etsy treasury... if you don't know Nicolas you should check out his blog and etsy treasury's. It is not enough to just look at his photos, you need to read the words and poetry that goes along with them!

 You will be transported.....

 

Anyway, if you were diction challenged like me... here's the meaning from Wikipedia:

A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world, or fantasy world, involving humans and/or animals, or perhaps even fantasy or alien creations. Commonly having its own geography, history, and language, it is an experience that is often developed during childhood and continues over a long period of time: months or even years.

So recently I decided to paint a small trio of islands that I have been creating in my head for years...

I have painted the first of the island so far....

Get ready to discover

 Brodonia Isle,

 largest of the 3 Davielo Islands.

 

 

This map is not to scale or actually even geographically correct. It was just drawn from memory to show the lakes and rivers and mountains. I'll need to redraw it at some time.

 

 The next one is accurate as far as size and scale. It maps out the 3 Provinces and town borders...

 

 

People of Lesser

all connected to nature

perfection in maps

 

Three distinct cultures and peoples have developed over the years. The Broganians don't even know the existence of the People of Lesser.

 

So I had to start writing out a bit of there story. The people of Lesser have developed a complete "religion" around the lines of Lucif (black negative energy lines), Roya (red positive energy lines) and Verdent (green peaceful energy lines). When a line of Verdent crosses a line of Roya it is called a site of perfection! The people of Lesser make pilgrimages to these sites called perfection regularly.  It explains a bit of what I am talking about on the next map....

 

 

The next piece so far shows a bit about the people of Lesser and the monuments to Roya and Verdent....

 

 

 

 

The last piece is a painting of the city of Gulls , inhabited by the Broganians, a much less civilized, and warring culture.

 

 

I think that's enough for today... Happy Paint Party Friday and Haiku my heart!