miss me

dear friends,
dear family,
dear fellow artists,
dear fellow bloggy folk,
dear lurkers,
ttfn
bye
so long
au revoir
see ya
later, gator
in a while, crocodile
toodle-oooooo and cheeerio, fish and chips, bangers and mash, stow it in the boot, tea with the queen.....
my camera is packed so i can't even snap a pic of my latest art for you.....back soon.....love, e

jump for joy meadow

yippee....i finished this painting today......i started it eons ago....i worked on it monday at allison's.....i actually made the pigs, the tree, the borders, the swirly pink grass happies.......and then today.....i outlined.....made eyeballs....did the little footies.....and made that cutie pie sign.......allison had said, i think you might need something in that bottom right corner.......and i knew it did...it was a bit empty....but wasn't sure what to put there.......i was thinking about a bush or some flowers....but.....boing.....had that lightbulb moment.....illustration friday topic is SIGNS.....i'm gonna put a sign...a happy, piggy, fabulous sign....no pressure.....now what does a happy, piggy, fabulous sign say? i came up with: Jump for joy meadow as the large print.....and below it, leap and bound at own risk, no life guard on duty........these pigs, of course, can read.......

here's a DIDJA KNOW? .....didja know that i write on the back of all my canvases? i kind of journal as i go on them...particularly since some of them are in process for months (years?).......i write what i was thinking about or doing ...what the painting means.....so, on the back of this one, it says "three flying pigs" ......
LESSON LEARNED: don't title your painting before it is done! i was going to put wings on...but then switched to have them jumping for joy....oops! ......

now, i'm a bit miffed (my miffed is very subtle, i'm not that miffed at all) .......i can't get my photos to upload to flickr...nor can i get them to load onto this blog.......is it the flickr site? the blogger site? the whole whumongous world wide web? or my computer? heaven forbid it is MY computer.......but it has been going on ALL afternoon...since about two when i finished the pig joy painting....it is now almost 8 (american idol time!) ......so....i'll give up on the pic....if you read this and there IS a piggy pic...then you know i stayed up all night trying and trying and retrying to upload........

illustration friday: sign

illustration friday: sign
Originally uploaded by eeeee.

so.....i belong to this flickr group called illustration friday.......one more group that i belong to in order to get myself doing more art, more types of art, more often.......and yet, i have not ever participated before......

i was sitting on the couch tonight (after voting for blake on american idol......six votes .....drew, julia and i all want HIM......andy voted two or three time for jordin...i think she'll win....don't tell andy) ...where was i......oh...sitting on the couch ( watching dancing with the stars.......hoping dear, dear, dear apollo will win......i didn't vote) .....and i was doodling...i decided to look online for a picture to draw...and chose a bike sign......while drawing it, i realized that the illustration friday theme was signs....and here i was drawing a sign....is that a sign...should i start participating in illustration friday...why, indeed i should...and shall.......so, not my grandest effort....but a bit of artistic effort filling in a few pages in my doodle journal today......my art minutes are becoming fewer and farther between as school charges to the end........but, even if it is just stolen minutes, i resolve to do something a little bit artsy every day......

oh...and yippee.....apollo just won dancing with the stars......wow, is he ever a cutie pie......i would like for him to marry his dancing partner......there are very sweet and dear together.......

tra la la....happy day ....and good night.......

do not pass go, do not collect 200$

do not pass go, do not collect 200$
Originally uploaded by eeeee.

today was a dandy art day at allison't house......dixie (the dog) and i went up to her house this morning.....and stayed til the last minute possible without being late for my kindergartener's pick up.......i worked on two pieces....finished niether......but got a great go at both.......

this monopoly one had been started six months ago.....i got that fun border on in this morning....i'm partial to the harlequin bits in particular.....

i also worked on a piece that was just a landscape background out of dictionary pages......i added a border, a tree and some pigs......but it has quite a bit of work left to it.....and i'll wait til it is done to show it to you.......

so....highly happy and succesful art day......yippee......

when you play monopoly, what is your favorite set to get? i like orange......they are affordable to develop, yet quite pricey when landed on.......greens are the worst value in my book......i think my brother david LOVED getting those cheap purple ones, baltic and mediterranean....and my brother raymond always wanted the light blues, vermont, connecticut, and oriental.......but that's just my swiss cheese memory......i'm not positive those were their faves......
so? what's your favorite monopoly property?

mona mermaid

my deadline painting group on flickr has a deadline coming up......i wrote it down as the 18th....to trick myself....so i'd have it done by the deadline on the 20th.....and...the trick worked....i posted it today, thinking i was just in the nick of time...forgetting entirely that i had worked in a grace period for myself.....so....the challenge was to do a piece that is inspired by another painting...not hard for me, because so much of my stuff is inspired by famous artists.....but i hadn't done a mona piece in a while......and had been thinking about her...so, it was a natural fit......

in case you are new to me, this blog, or my art....i have a big mona lisa thing running through my art....i did my first mona about four years ago......here's a link to my mona lisa set on flickr.......

one week of school left.....it has me a bit out of sorts....there's so much to do for the kids and with the kids, that art time is curtailed...and then once it is summer time, art time is even more scarce....ack.......hopefully i can get a bit more art in before the joys of summer take over entirely........

not sad

it is wednesday....it must be pottery day......ALTHOUGH.....next week is my last pottery class for a while...unless i decide to take one in the evenings over the summer...oh the dilemma.....

i'm on kind of a dorky roll with this happy stuff! i butchered a happy birthday stamp ...chopped it right up.....and have just been using the happy on my pottery ...... i got these four pieces back.....i really love them.....they are sweet and would make a great set.....you could have a "happy" themed party with ALL the happy pieces i've been making...however...my current plan is that all these pieces will be going to separate homes...i've even picked out the specific happy homes that need one.......i glazed five pieces at pottery today....all substantially bigger than these pieces......three of them were more in this happy series........i hope i pick them up next week......

i'm sure that one day i'll be crabby and i'll make pottery with mean things written on it.....would anyone want it? probably.....some ironic soul might be interested....or some glass half empty kind of person.....but i certainly wouldn't put it out at a sale....or (ack!) give it as a gift....ha......" here, friend, i made this bowl, would you like it, no? i can't imagine why you don't want a crabby, crabby, crabby bowl" .....
in the meanwhile......happy it is......

talk of journals and mona lisa

i spent this past weekend away.......went to the mountains with 100 of my closest friends....not actually...but kind of......my family, and 25 or so other families from my church went away together.....to camp...in the mountains.....it was also my birthday....it was also mother's day......so i kept a journal to document the weekend........it's part of that art every day thing......and now i'm trying to finish up this journal.......filling in some of the bits that i dind't document at the moment.......but want to put down for the happy memory of it........the journal is part documentation of a happy time, part doodle, part collage......and all happy.......


i turned in my painting for lola's auction today.....check that off my list of things to do ...whew......




my next art thing to do.....i have a deadline...may 18 (oh, no! very soon!) ....my flickr group called deadline painting is the deadline......this friday.....the topic is a painting inspired by another painting....i'm working on a mona lisa painting......but am a titch worried i won't get it done......life is interfering with my art....AGAIN! or should that be always.......ha.....
there are so many end of the year thing to manage...it seems this end of the school year thing is about as busy as christmas time for how many obligations there are...but.....you know me.....i'll squeeze in some art time anyway, of course.......so there is a mona lisa to look forward to......hmmmmmmmwhat will she look like........can you imagine?

birthday, mother's day and knitting

i just had a weekend trip away.....a fabulous road trip
i just had a birthday on my trip away....a fabulous birthday (i only lied a few times)
i just had a wonderful mother's day.....with a very dear husband and three children that give me boundless joy......

all that said, email me if you want the sappy, gooey, happy details......but my blog is about art!!

so.....
saturday, on my birthday, on a mountain top, by a lake, with friends and family, i journalled....for hours.....just perfect ...i doodled and i wrote and i doodled some more....i'd stop briefly to check on the fishing...or the boating....and i did take a nap....but an artsy day with my beloved black markers in my hand.....perfect.......just perfect.....

and then, somewhere during that day, sophie said she wanted to go learn to knit (we were at a camp with our church group) so i took her over to the knitting spot.....and watched my pal melinda teach my sweet six year old to knit......i haven't knitted since third grade..and yet....it looked familiar.....and i picked up a some yarn and some needles and whipped me out some knitting.....sophie knit too, but, again, this is MY art blog.....

today, on our drive home, i knit much of the way (except on the winding roads where the knitting was exacerbating the car sick feeling!) ....my kids, qutie interested in my new knitty me, asked a zillion questions.....
what is it going to be?
i don't know
how do you finsih it?
i don't know
do you tie a knot?
i don't know
are you still going to put a button on it?
i don't know
how will you make a button hole?
i don't know
...and i really didn't ......i had figured out the knitting...and i was just winging it......and i figured out how to taper it off.....and then i just pulled the yarn though the last three loops i have.....anyone? is that right? ......so i had a finished flat thing and my family was SO impressed.....i could have left it that way and it would have been fine...and yet......i got home.....and had a beautiful satin white ribbon in my mind....and couldn't find it......so....i used a shoelace.....don't worry....it was clean......one of those round ones that come in sneakers but don't stay tied....so as soon as the shoes come home, ya have to change the laces......so....had some of those in my art room......laced that baby up.....found a tiny button...cause i couldn't figure out how to make a buttton hole! ....and there ya go....i made a little purse, wallet, business card holder, something or other....it is not quite as artsy as it could be.....it needs some dangles and doodads and doohickeys...but......it was mother's day...and i had to go sit on the couch and look relaxed while the family cooked dinner (linguini, pesto, scallops, mushrooms) and baked a day late candle laden dessert (brownies, i'm not a cake girl) ......
so, all in all a very happy weekend......and whaddaya know? i can knit!

ps....melinda....you rock! and sophie has been knitting today, too.....love, e

hopes and dreams

i have an interesting habit (i almost called it a bad habit, but it isn't bad, it just IS) ...... anyway.....i really have a hard time with a white canvas...especially on the HUGE canvases that i love to use.....so.....when i have extra paint, frugal meeeee likes to use it.....and i just use it up on any blank canvas that i have on hand .....and i always have plenty on hand......so.....i don't have white canvases haning out for long.....i have painted canvases that don't actually have a plan......and then i get a good color that maybe isn't such a great background color and i'll get out some letter stencils or stamps....and i'll cover a painted canvas in letters.......and i tend to have lots of these just getting started canvases in my studio....like this one......i did it last summer.....or maybe fall... but a long time ago......a nice yellow background with groovy, green letters.....lovely.....fine.....sitting there waiting for divine inspiration ......for months....with others just like it.......



and now it is done.....hooray......i collaged a border, similar to my doodle heart series.....and then i made a heart, out of a map (i wish that everyone that i love would give me a very precise road map to their hearts so i'd know exactly what they needed from me...but that would make things too easy, wouldn't it?) a map heart in the middle.....and then i doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled and doodled ...that canvas, after all, is THREE feet tall, two feet wide......that's a boat load of doodlisciousness.......

i did this piece for kristy, at lola's galleryT....she is doing a fundraiser for the foster care support foundation...the party theme is hopes and dreams......so it won't have long to sit in my family room and be appreciated.....it will be auctioned off this month......

tra la la......

one last bit.....my favorite part of that collage there is the bottom leftish......i made seven little people....and marked them as the days of the week....my youngest, an art critic at six years old, thinks i did them wrong....my saturday AND my sunday are each just the letter S ......"and that just isn't clear, mommy...you should have sa and su" ....apparently she learned that in kindergarten......

happy, happy, happy

it was a pottery day today.....hooray for that....and this happy, happy, happy plate is one of two glazed pieces i picked up....... i think i glazed five or six pieces last week....so by next week i should have quite a few more happy pottery pieces......i also picked up some bisque ware today.....but didn't get around to glazing it...... i wish i loved glazing.....cause that's really the key to fabu pottery...but i just really love the messing about with clay bit......the glazes seem a bit of a chore for me...even when i try to have a joyful attitude about glazing....or go about it experimentally or quicky or slow and steady, it is no use....a bit of a drudge.....i sometimes kid and say i'm going to pay a pal to glaze for me......but i won't.....that'd be like cheating.......

here's an interesting tidbit....i brought my two happy plates home today (you can see the other one on flickr) ....and the two happy plates are already wrapped......with curly ribbons and all!! ........i'd tell you why, only, you can't really announce gift giving on a blog, lest the recipients read the blog and blow the surprise!! i do believe one happy plate recipient knows it is coming to her...the other has no idea! .....i love surprises...i even love giving surprises as much as i like getting them.....
happy, happy, happy ......

EDIT added later: i gave away my two happy plates....to my two best girlfriends......they took me out to lunch for my birthday.....hooray.......and they loved their new happy plates.......

doodle shoes

i finished my shoes....my original plan was collage...and i was going to do angels or pigs or some winged something or other.....but i've been on a doodle binge.....and that's what i went with....this moment...as i type....i am wearing my new doodle shoes.....and....even better than that.....i dressed to go with the doodle shoes.....i have some friends who will SO dig these shoes.....but i also know some people that will think i am the tackiest thing walking.......and so it goes...they sure do make me happy though.....and that's what counts, right? everyone should wear happier shoes.......

edit addition: i've now been wearing my new old shoes for two whole days.....i have gotten loads and loads of happy comments......surely everyone should wear doodle shoes.......

doodle dandy day.....

i dug out the space that i call my desk....all the way down to some christmas cards! how's that for true confessions? i assume the last time i cleared off the flat surfaces was prior to a christmas party!! oh my! .......so, my art time was curtailed....i didn't even make it down to my studio..except a few trips to put relics from my desks into collage bit bins....i took stolen moments and doodled though.....i drew these clogs....actually couldn't get them from life....so i did them from the photo of them i have on flickr...and a few days ago on this blog.......these are the ones i've painted yellow........so...after drawing them.....(side tracked question: is it ok to sketch in m doodle journal? this is a bit more than a doodle!) so...after drawing them, i actually took the clogs and started doodling ON them....i was planning to paint them or collage them...but somehow that sharpie just had something else in mind.......i can't take a pic of the doodle clogs yet cause they aren't done......soon though......groovy pals are taking me out to lunch for my birthday at the end of this week, and i'm pretty sure i'm just meant to wear yellow doodle clogs to celebrate! no one should turn 35 without a pair of doodle clogs! ha.....

if you are so inclined...i loaded a few other sketches onto my flickr site......just so you can see that i did more doodling than cleaning today.......wouldn't want to get the reputation of a clean and tidy girl......

don't google me....

if you google me, you certainly won't find much, if anything....

however...if you know where to look, there's all sorts of spots to find me......
like...... allison's art........we'll just say that's the greeeeeeen meeeeeee.......

or ...what about chrysti's blog.......she digs me too!

and lest you think i've not been arting .....last night my dear one went to bed VERY early...and i stayed up VERY late doodling on a three foot canvas.....i can't show you yet, it's not done......that much doodling is quite time consuming.......

but! i've also been doing some doodle cards today......for a big swap, a small swap, and a pal-al-giveaway cause she said she needed one.......

color me happy...just don't color me purple!

what's your favorite color?
my favorite color has been green for as long as i can remember......my birthstone is green....the green crayon in a box of 8 is my favorite one..... when i was little i wanted to be the little green candyland fellow......
i own four pairs of green shoes.....cute ones for dressy occassions, like church, nice green sandals, some walmart flip flops, and green crocs......green is good.....i have three green purses....one i made out of baby overalls, one is crocheted, one is shrunken wool...what is it called when you knit something and then shrink it? right, that....my mom gave me that one......

and then there is orange......orange has been a favorite in the last ten years....i think i chose to love it when my husband proclaimed it his favorite..... i don't recall him ever having a favorite color prior to having children who cared about such things and pinned him down on it......so....orange.....over time i grow fonder and fonder of it.......i have orange mary janes, orange nikes, orange crocs, orange flipflops, and orange clogs that i painted myself a year and a halfish ago...... so that's five pairs of orange shoes....just one orange purse...but it is shaped like a watering can, so that earns me groovy bonus points, certainly.......

and then there is pink....i love pink....light pink, dark pink, bright pink.......all pinks......

growing up, i think that everyone in my whole life had blue as a favorite color......i like blue .....

purple is about the only color i don't love....and i've actually tried to love it lately.....wore a purple tshirt to bed last night, even! ......i try to appreciate it.......one of my favorite paintings i've done was becuase allison challenged me to find my inner purple........i can like purple just for the joy of grape juice....... in the last couple years i've started drinking grape juice again because my dad told me that it is full of healthiness because of that dark purpliness.......

so, i took a test.......and lo and behold, what does it say?
PURPLE is your color.
Spontaneity is the key to your existence. Quick-witted with a flair for originality, you enjoy situations that allow you to explore your creativity. Comparatively conservative, you appreciate beautiful surroundings, especially if they’re found in nature. Your relaxed and self-assured personality allows you to work well with others. Surprisingly enough, your unique and unusual tastes don’t prevent you from being comfortable among your more conservative peers.

I can't be purple! ....a bit of that sounds like me, but some of it NOT at all.......so some of those questions were iffy......i decided i needed to take it again and really think about my answers.......and.....
whew!
RED is your color.
You boast incredible willpower and are capable of overcoming obstacles that would normally leave others shaking in their boots. You have a penchant for colorful environments and often impress others with your energetic bursts of energy. Your interests in many areas of life often leave you scattered, but when you focus you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

whew! i'd much rather be red! .....and some of that red stuff DOES sound like me......
what's your color?

a heart art kind of day

my pal allison came over today for art time......she painted frantically....i sat and oh so calmly doodled away my day....i finished these three heart art collaged doodles......i really have become a doodle kind of girl.....not a high art form....but an oh so soothing and happy and fun and easy art form......i have bunches of little favorite doodle bits.....(doodle bits sounds like a sugary cereal!).......like a little guy out of a yearbook that i made an angel.......and those odd little people i've made.....and the kissing king of klubs......and those checker boards are very soothing to make

i DO so love the doodle-ness...but i'm also fond of the odds and end bits of ephemera.......the oh so loved bingo cards....monopoly cards.....dictionary pages....maps....a bit of a novel (not a good one!) ..... i have one more grande sized heart art doodliscious collage to finish......and then i need to find my next thing.....will it be more doodle? not sure...... i collected LOADS of bingo cards last night at a bingo bash.....i can do some sort of bingo loveliness......hmmmmm...i'm now officially thinking about my next big thing.......

oh....i do have some small thngs still going on......finish arting up my clogs......do some more doodle cards for the doodle swap at chrysti's blog...i keep giving the ones i've done away! i need to get six great ones off for the trade before i run out of the doodle steam......

little known fact: i have a dog named dixie.....and i call her dixie doodle.....even though she never doodles on the floor anymore!!

happy artsiness of my day: i won, i won! i commented on jane's blog and she does a drawing of groovy commenters....and i won, i won.......i'm pretty sure she just digs me, is all.......i get a prize! .......read her post.....and MY comment to it....apparently not everyone knows what e. stands for.......i wasn't even being mysterious......isn't that funny? what's your favorite e name? for an artist? hmmmmm....something to ponder.......

a bit of art a day keeps the blues away

maybe i sound like a broken record (OH! is that even a cliche anymore? i need something a titch more hip to say!) .....dare i say, i'm being repetitive in telling my groovy readers how happy it is to have an artsy endeavor each day.......i went to pottery......i picked up a small nativity made of chocolate clay.....it is lovely! .....i got six...YES! six! ....i got back six happy, small bowls and such....they were bisque ware...and i glazed them.....one is specifically for allison, but the other five have no definitive future plans......the nicest thing is that i USUALLY hang onto bisque pieces for SO long before i glaze them...glazing is not the best part for me.......but i did these same day, so that's a nice habit i wish i would keep .......i actually have bisque ware in my basement that is downright ancient now....because i was never moved to glaze it.......anyway....happy pottery morning....and i just did some painting in my basement studio.......finishing up a few things here and there.......

tonight i am going to a bingo party at church......do you know i am bingo girl? i plan on bringing home plenty of bingo cards, and that sure makes me happy!! ...... i've also donated quite a few things to be prizes for winners....and a painting for a raffle prize......there's a theme going here in my blog....it is WAY easier to just give away art for a good cause than it is to do the legwork required to do marketing, galleries, art festivals and such!

EDIT: ok....i feel the need to edit....i am a bingo girl, in that i LOVE using bingo cards in my art like this......i'm not necessarily a bingo PLAYING girl.......i don't go to the lodge every weekend and play, or anything like that! ....it's an art thing....not an actual bingo playing thing...though i did ACTUALLY play tonight....and if it is possible to be BAD at bingo, i was HORRIBLE...however.....at one point, melinda was laughing so hard she was crying....which got me laughing so hard that i was crying too....whooooooknew that bingo could be so funny!

i've got this groovy shoe thing going on.......

in a day chock FULL of artistic endeavors, my happiest artsitness was painting my shoes....tra la la.....i LOVE painting my shoes...because i know that SOMEWHERE in the book of rules, it says, don't paint your shoes......

conversation from moments ago:
me: look what i did today!
he: i saw that
me: whadaya think?
he: is it art?
me: not yet.....but it will be soon!!

if you want to see other groovy artsiness from my day, go to my flickr site
........i spent the day at allison's in her art studio....always a nice art vibe going on there!