O.K. This was the weirdest thing! Last night I was fixing dinner…I don’t even know how this happened. But I had just pushed the pot of boiling noodles back off the burner a bit, because it was hanging too far over the edge…and since my kids kept coming in trying to help, that made me a little nervous. So just after I did that, I smelled something and looked down to see my sweater totally in flames…down my sleeves and across the front of my sweater. I tried to pat them out, a couple of times they would start back up again…and then finally it was out. I whipped off my sweater in a panic and checked to make sure there were no more flames. I am sure this all happened in a matter of seconds. I wasn’t hurt…but it did freak me out. I don’t know why my sweater caught fire…maybe a static spark ignited it when I got close to the gas burner…maybe it was the hairspray that had fallen down onto my clothes when I did my hair that morning…I had no idea that something like that could happen…just so you know…I did not stick my arm or anything into the flames. It was just really weird. Sam said I had to do an illusration of this. Although the image in my mind doesn’t quite match the picture as I really was moving fast, trying to put the fire out…but my eyes probably were that big and I tried to draw a distressed look on my face…because I really was, and for an instant all I could think of was my kids and what if I couldn’t get the fire out! Yes, I had to throw the sweater out…it smelled nasty and had big burn marks on it.

Oh and the backsplash behind the counter in blue and green glass tile mosaic is not really there…but I wish it was.

This is the view from my front porch window this morning…looking out across the street. I’d say we have about 6-8 inches so far. The large snowflake is a paper snowflake that I have taped to this window.

Illustration Friday

I know, it doesn’t exactly fit the topic. I am sure everyone else did a take on the four seasons or something…I haven’t checked any out yet. But, didn’t have time to do another illustration. And it does sort of fit because it is a sky in the Winter Season…right. Did I rationalize it enough to convince you?

As I drove to work this morning I couldn’t help taking notice of the beautiful colors in the sky. It was a pale turquoise blue with shades of peach and pink streaked across it. The colors made me think of the 80’s color schemes that we all try to stay away from now. As I passed a local factory, smoke billowing up into the sky produced a sillhouette in the most brilliant shades of purple. It was like something you’d see in a painting. One of those rare moments of beauty that only last for a short time, until they fade away. So, I made a mental note of the colors and how they impressed me, and later when I had some spare time, painted this watercolor in my moleskine. We are expecting a big snow storm tonight…I wonder if the colors in the sky this morning have anything to do with that.

A side note…I figured out a way to do acceptable watercolors in my journal. I brush a wash of water over the page, enough to get rid of the sizing that is on the pages. Once it is dry enough to paint on, it pretty much takes watercolor as well as drawing paper might. I think it turned out pretty well. I was loving everything about my moleskines except that, but now I feel better about it. Oh, I was checking out Moleskinerie. com and found out the correct pronunciation of Moleskine is mol-a-skeen-a…but a lot of people call them “moleskins” and some people call them skines (skeen-a) or moles (mol-ees). Interesting…according to Moleskine owners, if you ask for them in a bookstore using the correct pronunciation, they have no idea what you are referring to. Hmm. Interesting.

From a small moleskine sketchbook where I am compiling all my ideas and inspirations about Illustrated Journaling.

I took an Illustrated Journaling class to get my creative juices flowing again. It had been years since I drew for fun…In fact I do not even remember drawing just because I enjoyed it. But I did know this: I enjoy drawing…enough to know that I wanted to do it more. Before, the drawings I did were comissioned by someone, for a project for a class, but not for me. I had never attempted to draw in order to record my life. I kept written journals here and there, but never filled one of them. I guess they bored me. I remember in college, my drawing professor told us we should be keeping sketchbooks. Which I did – only they were only filled with drawings, sometimes with a line or two description. He encouraged us to write when we drew. Write about colors, sounds, smells, textures. I didn’t get it then and I never did it. I didn’t get it until now. I love to write. I love to draw. Now I see writing and drawing as one – inseperable from each other. A drawing by itself can not tell the whole story. I look back at drawings I’ve made in my college sketchbooks and wish I would have understood what I now practice. I wish those drawing had been accompanied with thoughts of how I felt about what I drew, where I was, what I was thinking about, etc. In the same way, I wish my written journals had included drawings. Especially my travel journal from my trip to Italy. It is one of my biggest regrets, as I didn’t visually record my trip in any way except slides. Someday I hope to redo my Europe Journal as an illustrated journal. So now, here I am, well on my way to completing my second illustrated journal. It is part of my life now. I take my journal everywhere. And in the few situations where I have left it behind, I often scrounge around to find some kind of surface to draw on, an envelope, a napkin, a receipt…whatever I can find. Life is more exciting. I am more fulfilled and happier and less stressed. I have found inspiration in my illustrated blogging friends online. I have been blogging myself for nearly 8 months. I share my drawings, my experiences, my life with whoever comes across it and I have discovered that I have become an inspiration to many people…even people I do not even know. As the years go by, I will look back through my journals and remember the moments I have recorded in them. One day my kids, maybe my grandkids, will read them and know more about who I am and what I did and how I felt. They will not forget me.

For any of you that live around here…I am teaching Illustrated Journaling at Ella Sharp Museum. It starts this Thursday and is an eight week course. You do not have to be an artist to take this class, all skill levels are acceptable. If you want more information check out the description & cost on Ella’s website. I know it says Greg Mitchell will be teaching it, but I am taking it over for him as he is not able to teach the class. I would love to have you join us.

I did this painting on my new watercolor block that I got in my Christmas stocking. It was nice to use actual watercolor paper, instead of the crappy 80 lb drawing paper I have in my journal.

I painted this from memory. I saw this on my way to work this morning. It got me thinking. However, I don’t think that you can probably understand the illustration unless you read my journal entry…so even though it’s small, I left it for you to read.

Check out the other links for Illustration Friday…I usually don’t ever post anything till Friday afternoon for IF. This week I had a chance to get my illustration done before FRIDAY!!!! So I HAD to post it early. Just had to tell everyone that.

I have always been fascinated by the beautiful forms created by nature – untouched by man. I had this picture in my head when I saw the topic this week and I am not sure of the actual place this was. I found the picture I was thinking of online as a result of a Google search…I would tell you who took it, but I couldn’t find a name…so it is someone’s photo, but I painted the watercolor from a printout from my laser printer (no color). Oh, and from what I could tell, it may have been Bryce Canyon. Never been there, but would love to see it, or others like it in person someday. Maybe sooner than I think, there is talk of a spring break trip out west! We’ll see.

My sister brought her kids over on the sled and we played in the snow, made a snowman and a snow fence. A friend of mine had given me a spray bottle so we used our new NEON food coloring to make some spraypaint for the snow…It was so fun!

I finished this doodle this morning that I started yesterday. I transferred a bunch of my students eyes into my journal from their self-portrait projects and then colored it with markers. I am not claiming it to be any great work of art…but it was fun to do. Sometimes you have to just play around and doodle and see what you come up with.

By the way, we had ANOTHER SNOW DAY TODAY!!!!