Daily, I toil in a part of nature’s paradise. I look out of my office window and see three enormous redwood trees. They form a semi-circle around a little rickety bench.

There are days, when I sit on that bench, near these luscious beauties, which I have named “the three sisters”. Wondering often, if they could speak, what infinite wisdom would they share.

They are infinitely magical to me, changing the lines of their bark to peer at me in all kinds of shapes, color and forms. But, no matter the transformation of these “sisters”, they always appear as women, whispering to me, daring me to discover their infinite wisdom.

But, I cannot… all I can do in my mere attempts, is to sit in their beauty and try to capture a fleeting glance, a colorful whisper, a dancing tone…knowing their infinite magic will outlive mine.

This week, in stillness, I try to capture the infinity of nature and peace…let’s all meet there in that infinity.  Peace

Tango is a very specific word, so for me, that didn’t translate into a lot of different meanings…humph…that was my thinking! Tango, I thought, well, I’ll do a couple, dancing a classic tango move.

Well, I can’t begin to tell you how this simple thought turned into an illustration, that wore me out!

First, I drew a profile  of a woman. I then cut it out using black paper.   Next, I drew a rose on a piece of scrap watercolor paper, painted it with ink and water color. Then I drew and outline of a couple doing a tango move and then collaged it, using this week’s newspaper coupons. All that was so much fun!

Then, the frustration hit the fan! First, I could not scan it, since it was too big for my scanner and I don’t know how to piece two scans together (yeah, I should, but I don’t!).

Next, I tried to photograph it and the gloss from the collaging, caused too many glare spots on the digital shot. This went on for a couple of hours, me repositioning the illustration, realizing my lighting inside was awful; and then going outside to photograph my creation.

That didn’t work either!

I came back inside, determined to tear the creation up and forget about the prompt for this week!

Oh, did I mention, I went outside, without showering, a T-shirt over my nightgown and flipflops on with my hair sticking up all over my head, looking like I’d stuck my hand in an  electrical socket! I stood in the middle of our parking lot complex, to take this digital photo, and folks, I don’t care who saw me! (there goes making a first good impression, I just moved here!)

I re-cut the silhouette and painted it with black gouache, (used a blow dryer to dry it quickly). Then I cut all the figures out again and put them on a white background. I started the digital photo process again!   Finally, after many words, that I can’t print here!

Voila…TANGO!

I finally had a photo I could use!

So here you have it, a simple illustration with a lot of hours putting it all together!  So my vibe for the week is patience!

Persevere, my friends, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Peace.

“As life unfolds, there will be times you will get played.”

So many images unfolded in my mind, when I saw this week’s Illustration Friday prompt, but with so little time and simple materials at hand, I decided that sometimes simplicity says it best.

As always, I leave you with the seeds, you provide the interpretation.

Peace to you in this life of chaotic music!

“In our flawed existence, we seek perfection and it is in our midst.’

As an artist, I often try to capture what I have in my mind, but it is never as beautiful, as it is in my mind’s eye. That’s why I continue struggling as an artist, because one day, I will get it right.

Besides, I find beauty in all forms, any and everywhere!

Peace to all and warmth to all the folks in frigid cold places.

When my family and I visited Albuquerque, Sante Fe & Taos, it was an incredible trip!

Out of all the beautiful people, places and things I saw, painted, sketched, and photographed, it was the vacant or abandoned things that stand out in my mind.

During our various outings on the road during this trip, I saw this vacant log cabin in the middle of the desert. My family was appalled that I wanted to stop, get out of the car and go inside of it!

After reassuring them “that crazy Mommy” would be very careful and only wanted to see the outside up close and take a few photos. My “craziness”….uh…curiosity got the best of me and I had to go inside.

It was a beautiful vacant room. Beautiful, intricate patterns and textures, the house itself was a one room house with windows and no door, as if beckoning all on that road to stop by, come in and “look” at the stillness and vacancy.

That place, that cabin, that vacant room stays in my mind inventing its own stories of why, how and who as with all vacant places, people and things.

Vacancy has business in humanity…fill the space…the thing and the people…Peace to you all.

There is nothing like natural “sugary” and nature does it best! I love papaya, mangos, melons, kiwi, oranges and the sweet smell of flowers. There are some flowers that smell so sweet, it’s makes you think of sugar!

There is nothing like biting into a ripe piece of fruit and the “sugary” juice runs down your face and you try to catch it with your hands, to no avail! Now that’s a “sugary” life.

I am now on the hunt for a sweet juicy mango…hmmm…

This week, let’s try to enjoy the natural “sugary” taste of nature’s best offerings and that includes the sweet kisses of those you love, too! Peace!

Bear with me…this is a long one…

After arguing with my daughter this morning about the benefits of cleaning her room (i.e., “you can stop asking me where everything is”); she stomped to her room!

Later, I looked in her room and became misty-eyed.

Lo and behold, she cleaned her room…but inside of boxes and on the outside of boxes were all the things I love! Her “bear-bear”, her dolls and numerous other toy treasures!
Packed up memories…

For any parent, well some of us at least, seeing your little one grow up and storm into adolescence is challenging at best! I captured this moment in my journal along with this sketch; (I don’t generally go into her messy room, because I have fit every time I do)…sketching always calms me down!

So, long story, short…here is my rendition of “packed“. Packed memories, packed feelings, packed toys, packed childhood, packed teenager, and packed Mom!

I’m sitting in my bedroom, on my bed, now “un-packing” the memories of her babyhood…smiling with some tears…

Today, love all the little ones in your life and pack every moment full of memories…Peace.

Last night I ran the IF word “routine” by my son, his girlfriend and my daughter and they thought of cubicles, train commuters and dance routines.

I like them all, but I kept thinking of something more restful and peaceful, which I actually need right now to rest my mind. So then my son said, “why not a person in lotus pose with a detached head, of course, Mom, it doesn’t have to be gross”, and I thought, Bingo!

So this is me wishing I had a routine for being detached, it would make my life so simple. I’m going to work on that, since all my other routines are exhausting!

I just couldn’t stand missing last week’s IF so I had to do a word combo!

Namaste extended to everyone.

I started this piece on August 1st and I just completed it today. Bear with me, I’m coming to the part where the IF prompt, “Sail” fits in.

August is always a month of reflection for me. It’s probably because one of the biggest losses of my life happened in this month many years ago. I start off the month trying not be to sad, grasping at every happy moment and holding on to it for dear life!

August for me is the beginning and ending of many things. It is the beginning of the end of summer. It is the beginning of some of the hottest, humid days in Pennsylvania. It is the ending of a precious life and memory of a sad time. It is the beginning of constant healing and the joyous memories that will never leave me. Sharon, my dearest sister, there isn’t a day that I don’t remember how your bubbly life “sailed” out of mine and I hold on to the joyous sweet time that was ours.

Life is and always will be a magical endeavor, we are created briefly like an effervescent bubble. With many stops and starts we blow into a wonderful beautiful bubble that floats in the air and flits into the distant. Sometimes we see it pop immediately and other times it is carried on the wind, much like a “Sail“.

So this is my image for this week. A sage creating bubbles of life that “Sail” on their own journey becoming the various aspects of life, people, places, things. It is a beginning and an ending.

Continue to “Sail” because all endings mark the beginning of some infinite state of being.

Peace,
Indigene

As soon as I read the prompt for the week, I burst into laughter! This is such a common word in my household. My daughter (Kayla) and I both have very big hair.

When she was little (of course, she’s grown now, she’s 13!) I use to tell Kayla that her hair was “poofy’ because the fairies adored her so much they would tap their magic wand, and “poof” their love made her hair jump for joy!

Even now on extremely humid days, her hair just poofs; and she looks like a sun flower. Kayla and her girlfriends have coined the phrase “poof hair“.

She begged me not to draw her poofy hair and put it on the Internet, but of course, I ignored her, but I did do a younger version of her (she was 4 in this pose), and her poof hair. This is after bath time one morning when the fairies had “poofed” her during the night!

Introducing: “POOF hair”, one of the greatest loves of my life!

Here’s to finding those moments in the past, that just breaks you out in laughter and smiles.
Happy weekend from “Poof” Head Indigene!