Art Every Day - Feline

This is a feline rather than a cat, because the face is almost human. It was created from a very quick ink pen drawing I made of my cat Phoebe while she was cleaning herself, to which I added water colour pencil.

I'm into cats at the moment (who knows why?) and almost bought a 2008 calendar filled with cats today. I changed my mind at the last minute and chose a Buddha filled one instead. I'll show you next year, it's bad luck any sooner!

Art Every Day - Sand Castle

This was my piece of creativity this morning. Come join me on my morning walk....

It looked quite gloomy as we arrived.......

But as we walked, the clouds drifted away and the sun shone.......

I am truly lucky to be able to come here every morning .....

Some people get to live the dream.......

Time to go home and wash the sand off our feet and have morning coffee with apricot toast.

Art Every Day - Big Yellow Cat

Back in the creative groove again! The 'Big Yellow Cat' is a journal page. I will create a few more pages with cats as the subject, so that I can play with colours more and eventually a painting will emerge. I have been sneaking up on Phoebe, our black cat, with my camera, in the hope of getting some interesting poses to work with. Being a cat, she is not very co-operative and keeps turning her back on me!

Art Every Day - Wellness Mandalas

I have missed quite a few Art Every Day posts, mostly because my heart and my head have been focused on fitness, health and well being these past couple of weeks, instead of sitting down to make art. I think I should have signed up for Wellness Wednesday, not Art Every Day ! (lol) Ah well, there are a few days left of November.

Here are a couple of wellness mandalas, which I made as an experiment to see if I could spot any difference between the old me and the new me (post chiropractor) in them. Many of my earlier mandalas were off centre. The second one was made a week ago, the first one today. I can see a difference in them already.

I found this excerpt from the book "Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh and my new wellness mantras are;

Breathe, you are alive!

and

Smile!

:)

Writers Island - The Dream

Inspiration for this piece came from Eileen, who is known affectionately as 'the Dream'. She posted here, in response to a meme, that she loved silverback gorillas and also, had once run up a hill in Ireland and touched a cloud . I made the comment that this was magical and would make a good story. So then I went away and wrote this. Later in the day, I visited Writer's Island , not having posted for a long while, and discovered that the prompt was 'The Dream'. I don't have to tell you that this is all too uncanny and freaky! So this post is for you Eileen :)

The Dream

The silverback gorilla steadily ate through stalks of bamboo that grew on the side of the mountain. He sat in the dusty, red earth with his mate and they groomed each other patiently in the sun. The day wore on and they nestled under the shade of an African Redwood tree and slept.

The silverback gorilla was compelled to climb up the mountainside beyond his safe territory, although he knew not why, until he came to a place where the air was thin and cool. Below he could see the dense green roof of the forest, where squarking birds circled dreamily in the humid air. Upwards he climbed, until all around him was pale with white mist. Hanging in the air beside him, he saw a cloud, heavy and green with moisture. The silverback gorilla cautiously reached out to touch the cloud and he gasped at the cold that met his black fingertips. Suddenly the cool wind swirled around the mountaintop in a flurry. The cloud darkened dropping rain in sheets that ran down the mountainside in torrents, gathering sticks, leaves and pebbles along the way.

As quickly as the dark cloud had burst, the sun broke through the thin mist that remained, heating the thick neck of the silverback gorilla. The mist slowly began to dissolve, revealing bright blue sky that hurt his eyes. He bellowed and roared, beating his chest as he danced on the mountaintop.

That night as he sat beneath the dark canopy of the African Redwood tree, water dripped from shiny leaves overhead. Puddles in the red earth reflected the stars and moon hanging in the clear sky above. The silverback gorilla quietly began to tell his mate of a dream, where he reached out to touch a cloud, making the silver rain fall across the thirsty forest.

Seven Random Things About Me

Both Kelly - 'Kikipotamus the Hobo' and Eileen - 'The Dream', have tagged me to reveal 'Seven Random Things About Me'. This is how it goes;

Link to the blog of the person who tagged you.
Post these rules on your blog.
List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

1. I am in love with my Gonstead Chiropractor! After years of headaches/fog and neck pain following two separate car accidents, which has impacted on every area of my life, I decided to seek alternative treatment. To finally be clear headed and free from pain is just amazing. Feeling so good has led to 2 and 3.

2. I have just given up alcohol and become a vegetarian again after a six year break.

3. I have begun walking 2-3 kilometres every morning on the beach, followed by a swim, with Jess the Border Collie. Between us we have six salt and sand encrusted sore legs, gallons of ozone in our lungs, healthier appetites, mild sunburn, a car full of sand and deep sleeps!

4. I frequently move the furniture around. I just love change and any time I begin to feel stagnant I change my enviroment, keeping Feng Shui in mind. I've been doing this all of my life and it works every time! This weekend our computer desk was moved under a window, so we can look out at my neighbour Bill's garden. This is excellent when you need to rest your eyes to avoid computer eye-strain.

5. My first car was a pale green Mini I bought second hand for $400, known as 'Irving'. The accelerator pedal was so small I could only fit my big toe on it! You could park it anywhere. We had many fine times together, one of which was holding up steamy summer midday traffic for many kilometres, when Irving got a vapour lock and refused to move. A burly and sweaty truck driver pushed us off the road while we waited for the NRMA.

6. I love to browse in Op Shops and one of my dreams is to own a Secondhand Furniture/Bric Brac shop. Old furniture and wares have so many interesting stories to tell and new lives to take on (often involving a paintbrush!). And it's recycling - saving the planet.

7. I have hand fed a giraffe. They have such gentle eyes!

Seriously, absolutely everyone I know has been tagged. So if you're reading this and you want to join in, consider yourself tagged!

Art Every Day - A Basket of Fruit

A basket full of mangoes, lemons, kiwi fruit, bananas and an apple, in watercolour pencils. I'm tossing up whether to add water to this or simply leave it as is. It is not my best effort, but I thought I would post it any way, if only to prove that I am actually creating every day! Mangoes are back in season again here in Australia. Yay! I love eating them and sucking the juice and flesh from the seed and skin. The smell of ripe mango is just the best thing ever.

Art Every Day - Hearts

Some happy hearts for Tuesday's Art Every Day.

Art Every Day

I have been playing with more banner hopefuls. My life has had it's ups and downs lately and I haven't been able to find my happy, creative place quite so easily, just when I've signed up for Art Every Day!

But today I felt it all coming back and managed to produce these, in between some blue sky day gardening.

Lots of sunshine after a week or so of rain and cooler temperatures has made it hard to stay inside. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon on the beach and walked from one end to the other, inhaling salt spray and sunshine. Due to an on-shore wind there were loads of blue bottles and jelly fish in the water and on the sand. Today I feel quite revived!

Eileen has been asking where my self-portrait is! It was promised many posts back and I apologise for not yet delivering. I would like to do some more sketching too, so maybe a self-portrait sketch soon.

Art Every Day - Banners

Many of you have asked what crayons I use. They are actually Micador (an Australian Brand) Oil Pastels. So maybe I've led you astray and they are'n't actually crayons as such (?) All I know is, the palette is varied and vibrant, that they are messy and creamy and I love em!

I've missed a couple of days posting, partly because my other half is on holidays and we share the computer, so my computer time is halved, and partly because I became side-tracked trying to work out how to make a new banner for my blog. It is clear to me now (I hope!) and as soon as I create something worthy of a banner I will make the changes.

I want to use something colourful and vibrant to represent the kind of art I create, so I am using Art Every Day - the whole of November, to play with banners. Fun and games! So here is a little of what I have been playing with. More ideas to come.........

Art Every Day - Leaf Design

Today, a leaf design, still with crayons - I'm enjoying them too much at the moment. It is true they remind you of when you were a child. The smell, the colours, the mess you get in when using them. It is also good to have the colour right there and ready to go - no getting your paints and water and brushes together - just pick up a crayon and start creating something!

Art Every Day - Crayons!

Inspired by Tammy, I dug out my crayons and proceeded to make a mess in my journal. I love the way crayons blend and smoosh the colour all over the place. I had to stop smooshing though, when the black threatened to muddy the colour. You should see the state of my hands!

I heard the Jewel song "Hands" this morning on the radio "In the end, only kindness matters.." So true.

Art Every Day

God likes art.

That's the part

My parents would ignore.

God likes art,

And I make art.

That's what God likes me for.

Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

I have decided to join Leah and many others in "Art Every Day", where you post something, anything, creative, every day for the month of November. I am a day late starting, but maybe the time difference will work in my favour here!

Also, I have cheated and posted a colour pencil sketch of some cheerful and gorgeous day lilies I did a while back. Today's artwork was attempted but not successful. Not a good start, I know, but as Scarlett said, tomorrow is another day!

By the way, my mother and father always supported and encouraged me totally in my creativity and I love them for it. I chose the poem because I loved the spirit of creating art, simply because you were meant to and because you love it.