Month: April 2018

Taming Your Inner Critic

The Creative Process, Uncategorized

Being a creative type can be a lonely affair as one toils away at their desk and/or in their studio.  To combat the negative, yappy little voices in my head that say “this sucks” I keep a good supply of reading material on hand to feed my “inner cheerleader” so that I may merrily stay the course.  I just finished listening to a very good book that I would recommend to any person that needs to keep their inner critic at bay which is…

Your Inner Critic Is a Big Jerk: And Other Truths About Being Creative,   by Danielle Krysa and Martha Rich

daniellekrysa-yourinnercriticisabigjerk

This 136-page gem is packed full of wise advice and anecdotes gleaned from the author’s interviews with other artists and from her own experiences.  She covers such topics such as facing the blank page, dealing with criticism, jealousy, excuses, and blocks with humor and sensitivity.  You’ll get advice on how to navigate through roadblocks with various exercises designed to make you stronger.  Though I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book and will listen again, I will be buying a hard copy so I may mark it up and enjoy the great illustrations by Martha Rich.  Put this one in your toolbox!

 

 

Of Black Lines and Colored Water

ARTifacts, The Creative Process, Uncategorized

Although I consider myself primarily a printmaker, I like to do whimsical illustrations from my imagination with black India ink lines and brightly colored watercolor. It’s like creating my own coloring book without the concern of color splashing outside the lines. These little paintings are usually based on something out of my life. The piece below is a composite of fond bath time memories. Emmy Lou, my beloved long hair tabby (RIP), would often come sit on the edge of the tub and watch me as I languished in the water. Then we would be joined by a dog, or perhaps two who would take a nap on the rug beside me.

IMG_0456.jpg

 

Another example of ink line and watercolor is the piece below I recently published in my post, “Daily Visitor”. It is of the stray cat, Lizzie that comes to the door every night to be fed.  I like to exaggerate the features of animals and people to add to their personality

Simple pleasures recorded with ink lines and colored water.

Lines

Celebrating Rain and Earthworms

Poetry, Uncategorized

leaf-3267258_1920

It rains a lot in Western Oregon.  Until this weekend it has been a wet few weeks.  One can hear a good deal of whining about the weather by this time of year.  For me, I just roll with it.  Knowing we are having adequate rainfall and an average snowpack provides comfort to me in these times of “climate insecurity.”  The lakes will fill, the Salmon will have water to run in and a myriad of creatures and plants will be happy in the dry months yet to come.

Song of the Earthworms

The earthworms sing about rain

While we complain

Jolly songs as they move the soil

With their soft heads

Seeking the sweet aroma of decaying matter

Until they hear the drops fall

Turning to deluge

They turn their sleek, tubular bodies skyward

Toward the light

Emerging from their soil home

To languish in the freedom

Of puddled water laying on the earth

earthworm-686593_1920

 

WP Photo Challenge: “Prolific” Sea Life on the Edge of the Oregon Coast

Photography, Uncategorized

On our way to our favorite coast getaway in Yachats last week, we stopped by the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.  In their display tidepools, they had specimens of the prolific sea life in the Oregon tidal zone. There was a wonderful selection of sea anemones, starfish, mussels, and sea cucumbers to view and touch.

IMG_0369

IMG_0371
A sea cucumber is in the top left quadrant, the bright red organism to the far left is a Strawberry anemone

IMG_0422

A collection of an unidentified shellfish on a piece of driftwood that I found on a beach

Prolific

Awakening My Inner Gardener

Photography, Poetry, Uncategorized

IMG_0433It seems like just yesterday I was pulling out spent tomato plants & putting the garden tools away for the winter.  But here we are again- Spring and my inner gardener is awakened again.

SEED CATALOGS
They arrive like expected guests
In the days after the New Year
A steady parade of seed catalogs
All shapes and sizes
From varying corners of the country
Filled with beckoning colored photographs
Of fruit, vegetable, & bloom waiting to fill the garden
Ready to awaken the winter-weary to a fresh frame of mind
The possibilities of the planting season.

Continue reading “Awakening My Inner Gardener” →

WP Weekly Photo Challenge- A Smile for Lambs & Llamas

Photography, Uncategorized

IMG_0355

Earlier in the week on a local walk, I paused by Bide a Wee Farm to admire the adorable newborn lambs and their friendly caretaker llama with a class 3 underbite.  Smiles for everyone in an Oregon spring!

Smile

Daily Visitor

ARTifacts, Poetry, Uncategorized

 

IMG_0351

The once elusive stray cat we had named “Phantom” that lives under our house has warmed to us.  Her nightly visits for food has turned to a several-times-a-day occurrence.  Yesterday she was following us around the yard.  As she has outlived her name we now call her “Lizzie.”  I find her a delight and a great subject for art pieces.  Someday I hope to pet her on my lap.  For more on our stray cats, see my Stray Cat post.

Purr

The stray cat cries pitifully at the door

waiting to be fed

a feast of canned food atop dry

with a tiny bowl of fresh cream.

As she eats hungrily

I feel bones protruding

from the soft fur of her small body.

She purrs