Business Cards

My new cards have arrived.

Anti Nuclear Propaganda Poster Second Version

The instructor wanted us to redraw the posters at a larger size for critique. I thought the message was being diluted by having the tree and other buildings so they were removed in this version. Critique is tomorrow so it will be interesting to see if the class recognizes the nuclear reactors without the other visual clues.

Thursday: My classmates liked the first version better and it sparked a lot of discussion but the instructor and I agreed later that the revised version was a better design.

Anti Nuclear Propaganda Poster

I was a little reluctant to do a tsunami themed anti nuclear poster for studio art class since Japan's tragedy is so fresh.

I drew the silhouette of a giant wave about to sweep away a nuclear power facility along with a fishing village. The wave resembles a dragon's head as well as an open mouth preparing to chomp down.

The poster was drawn with ink in a sketch book. The goal was to draw a poster that conveyed a propaganda message without text or color.

The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock

I had a studio art class assignment to draw a movie poster using silhouettes with no color in my sketchbook. The goal was to make the movie understandable without any type to explain the image. It might be fun to do a more elaborate image in Illustrator or Photoshop rather than a quick sketch.

Lady in Blue

Marker Portrait of My Mother

My mother used to wear her hair in an enormous up-do, think Marge Simpson minus a few feet.

Cowboy Coffee

Napkin Doodle

A silly but scary bird doodle; I think I was very hungry.

Coffee Shop Drawings

I got a little bored and silly but I didn't mind since it was 51 degrees.

Twyla Tharp The Creative Habit

I will admit I was reluctant to read this book since I thought it would be about being creative through dance and I'm as graceful as a moose on roller skates; this may be one of the best books I've ever read on creativity in general.

I have a lot to do and since I'm off this week I planned on doing an amazing amount of work. I watched DVD's, Hulu, checked Facebook, redid files, and opened every email as it popped into my in basket. The beginning of the book is about eliminating distractions and that's when I started taking notes.

I'm implementing several of her ideas such as creative pathways and keeping all the project notes in a box. She uses office supply boxes but I'll use the ones from Ikea since I want them be prettier to look at while remaining inexpensive.

Chinese Food Cranes

I did this ink drawing while waiting for lunch (I was inspired by the place mat). The cranes don't have much more to do with General Tso's chicken than General Tso ever did but they were fun to draw. The wings became more fanciful, the longer we waited.

Ink Drawing of Pomegranates

I just don't seem to get away from drawing food; this is a Micron pen sketch of Pomegranates from my art journal.

Found Lines Photographs

Cross Contour Lines

























Implied Lines





















Psychic Lines





















Contour Line





















Calligraphic Line





















Chaotic Line

























Line Created By Edges and Value Contrasts

























Actual or Explicit Line





















Lost and Found Contour Line





















Graceful Flowing Lines

Folk Art Style Watermelon Painted Cheese Box

I enjoy painting objects with food motifs and the colors of watermelon are so scrumptious. I just realized these are the colors you see when looking into the dining room (cranberry) from the living room (pine green). The kitchen is butter yellow and the foyer is pumpkin, I'm sensing a theme...

The Line For iPads

We didn't choose a good day to buy an iMac. I knew the iPad came out Friday but I thought we would have missed the rush when we went to the Apple store at 4:00. They closed the door until the 5:00 launch and we had to wait with 100s of people for the doors to open. I knew exactly what I wanted, asked the manager to bring it out and take my Amex but he said he couldn't before 5:00. The non iPad group was pretty cranky but the iPad people were very excited.

The new screen is amazing and the speakers are much better than the ones on my MacBook Pro. I was down to 5GB on the laptop and even after putting on a ton of software, files, music and photos I still have over 800 GB to spare. Yay, no more juggling files. I love my new computer but this is my second major Apple fubar in less than 30 days; I expect better from Apple.

Going To The Dogs

Thumb body is watching me.

Collecting Rocks

We collect rocks when traveling and it can become a bit of a display challenge. This wire planter is perfect for large rocks.





















I try to group colors and or locations. These have subtle green and blue shades. The dragonfly bowl is a majolica pattern from the 90s.



















The pink quartz looks pretty in a vintage blue bowl. I also fill coconut shells, sea shells, fossil bowls, bottles, planters and a gold prospecting panning dish with fools gold.



















Crystals end up on shelves and they are glossy dust magnets. One of my favorites is a multicolored one that resembles the striations in the dessert hillsides.

Woodland Snack Photograph

It almost looks like the woods ate the front of this turquoise colored truck.

Carved Wood Fish Folk Art

Fish Stick. I think I just heard my daughter shake her head and sigh.

He doesn't look terribly happy about being on a stick but the pond is frozen solid so this may be a better place to be.

I started whittling when I was a young child and carried a pen knife with me until it was decided a few years ago that all knives were evil. I would sit on the steps and make a big stick into a smaller stick.

I carved the body from pine, the fins are painted metal and the floor is a mess again.

Snow Shadows Photograph

The shadow on the deck.

Flowers in the Snow Black and White Photograph

Clay, Wood and Wire Sculpture Self Portrait

I did a sculpted self portrait that captured my essence but not my likeness; a laughing mermaid with wild hair leaped to mind. OK, I don't have a couple of her attributes but the wood was tough to slice through.

The head is made from clay and was fired at a low temperature. The hair is crinkly wire with shells and sea glass trinkets.















The body was made from driftwood which was cut, carved, and painted. She has a charm bracelet since collect charms from the places we travel to.



















The tail is covered with scales made from the inside of pop cans.

Snow Covered Red Sumac Leaves Photograph

Who says winter is boring? The contrast between the fresh snow and the Sumac leaves is lovely.

Snow Crocs Photo and Potholder Loom Rug

I think I know why most people stop wearing Crocs in the winter.

BTW, the rug is a somewhat failed experiment. I made a large potholder loom, the kind you bought colorful loops for when you were a child. I cut old t-shirts into loops but the stretchiness varied too much and the loops weren't close enough in size. This one somewhat worked since they were all the same brand of shirt from the same owner. I haven't given up on the idea yet but the first version with the malignant hanging lumps was a definite disaster. My dog gnawed the lumps off so she found it successful but the missing chunks impaired it's structural integrity and looked dreadful.

Frozen Berries Photograph

I don't know what this plant is but the snow crystals are spectacular.

Red and Green Beaded Napkin Rings

I was going to sell these retro napkin rings on Etsy but I liked the photo so much I'm torn. I'd like to say it was planned but I think the shot turned out well.

Santa Painted Cheese Box

Santa is wearing his spectacles and is ready for Christmas. I painted him on a wooden cheese box and he will keep fancy string and ribbon safe.

Blue Morning

It was tempting to play with this in Photoshop but I resisted. The field is outside St Michael, MN and was quite striking in the dawn.