Nurtured By My Side

'Nurtured By My Side'

5 x 7 oil on masonite

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'Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine

From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine.' 

When all my children were babies I would often sing to them, very quietly, as I held them and rocked them to sleep. Counting precious little fingers and marveling at the strength of such a little hand when it grasped onto mine. This song, from Dumbo one of my favorite Disney movies, was what I always sang to my youngest. And I can't listen to it without it bringing tears to my eyes, reminding me of those sweet, fleeting days. 

This little foal was born just a few days before I took this photo. And every time he stood up to nurse his mother stood so very still. Barely swishing her tail at the flies, unless they landed on him. She knew somehow where they landed. She stood ever calm, patient, steady, and watchful. It was another piece of evidence to me that a powerful love, especially a mother's love, doesn't belong to humans alone.

In other news I've been out of town a few days this week. For my birthday my husband got me tickets to see ZZ Ward, my FAVORITE musician in the entire world! So we made the five hour drive up to Boise, Idaho to see the concert and spent a few days there. 

ZZ Ward, with her trademark fedora hat. She was awesome. Every bit as good live as she is recorded. 

And I found my new favorite band too. This is You Me & Apollo, who opened for ZZ, and they seriously rocked. Like in a spectacularly amazingful way. Seriously. If you like Indie/Alt rock you should check them out. Pretty undiscovered right now, but they shouldn't be for long because they are awesome.

It was pretty rainy and cold while we were there but we did do a bit of sight seeing. There was this gorgeous bridge built in 1925 (I think), that went across a huge river. We don't have rivers like that in my neck of the woods in Utah. Which is a bummer. 

We also saw a ton (and by ton, I mean TON) of people playing (wait for it) Frisbee golf. This is like a real thing. I had no idea. These people take their frisbee golf seriously, they have different sized frisbees for different shots and everything. I must be sheltered because I seriously did not know such a thing existed. Nor was I aware of the zeal of its supporters. Wow. If you want to see a pic (because I didn't take one) here's a link on Wiki.

And another strange thing we saw was a bike bar. Not like a 'biker bar' with motorcycles, leather, and tattoos. No, no. Nothing like that. This is a literal Bike Bar. A moving bike type thing with a bar. Seats fourteen people. Yup. I can't make stuff like this up people. I'm not that creative.

You can see a pic of one here, because again, I slacked at getting a picture of this strange novelty.

And apparently squirrels are to Idaho, what seagulls are to Utah. Little scavengers who are not afraid of humans at all and practically scamper up your leg for food as you try to get to your car. I had some cookies in my hands as we left our bed and breakfast and those squirrels had their eyes on them. I feared for my cookies safety. It was a tense moment. It takes a brave soul to stroll through a Boise park without a few crumbs of food. Prepare thyself fair parkgoer lest ye shall face the wrath of the squirrels.

It was a good time. A great time. But it's good to be home too. . . where my cookies are safe from squirrels and I am not in danger of being beaned in the head by an errant frisbee.

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust - sold

'Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust'  sold

6" x 7" colored pencil on paper

Well I finally did it. I managed to capture a fairy just long enough to draw her portrait. :) She was pretty happy with it, happy enough to leave me with my own personal stash of pixie dust that should last until my retirement. Pretty sweet deal for a simple portrait don't you think? ;)

 

I believe in fairies. :))) *clap clap* Do you?

 

"Tink was not all bad: or rather, she was all bad just now, but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete change."  J.M. Barrie

 

Huzzah :)

Photo reference by the awesome Katlinn Lewis, thank you!

Sketchbook Tuesdays #1

Leopard sketch, charcoal

      This little sketch (actually it's kind of bigger, about 12" x 17" I think) has been haunting me for the past two weeks. I would work on it for about five minutes at a time and then put it aside. It didn't seem to flow, I felt like I was forcing it. Usually that means I have something wrong, like my brain is trying to tell me "STOP! Go back and make it right!"
    
      It's not as accurate as I would like, but still effective at creating a feeling I think. This is one sketch I'm going to paint one day, the light and his eyes are just too beautiful not to. :) I'm not sure that it's coming across as well as I would like in this sketch, but this leopard has beautiful rim-type lighting. It kind of gives him a halo effect.
     
      I've been using pressed charcoal for my sketches lately, the kind that looks like a pastel stick. It helps me to make more expressive marks, to not be 'fussy' like a pencil might encourage me to do. And that is truly a lot of fun.

      How much fun have you been having lately? Art related or otherwise?

Sketchbook Mondays # 5

      What is the purpose of Sketchbook Mondays? For me it's a motivational tool to spend more time in my sketchbook, and to embrace the fact that not every drawing needs to be 'perfect.' I think the reason most of us are artists is because we love to draw, we have fun creating an image. And this is one way for me to get back to that state of mind.

    Most of the time I am driven to create a painting that is a success, at least in my mind. And each one I do usually falls short of where I want it to be, and that's okay. That's part of the process. If we were satisfied every time we painted what would propel us forward to that next 'masterpiece'?

     So for the sake of just plain having fun with my artwork I have made an effort to spend more time doing things that I want to, just for fun. Not for any other reason. Thus the sketchbook Monday. When was the last time you sketched or painted something just for fun? Unafraid of what anyone else would think? Maybe you're better at that than me :) Tell me about it, it will be fun!

     These are some of my favorite sketches from seven years ago. That seems like a long time. I used to carry my sketchbook with me everywhere, and I would draw whatever struck me. Sometimes it was from a photo, a book, or even from life. I think my skills grew so much in that time just because I was practicing every minute that I could. And you know what? It didn't feel like practice or work, it felt like fun. :)