Just a goofy sketch to go with my mood at the time. #SkADaMo
... but IT'S NOT OVER YET! Now for Step 2: THE VOTE!
Just click on this red American Made badge :o).
I am so grateful for this opportunity to not only win $10,000, but to get my artwork out there. A Social Media expert I'm NOT, but so many supportive people came out of the woodwork, shared my Martha Stewart nomination page with their Facebook or Twitter friends, and because of it, after 470+ shares, here I am!
The next step is to get votes from those same people...and more, so that I can STAY in the competition!
Never say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. After YEARS of using a huge array of markers and Prismacolor'd pencils as the medium for my illustration work, the last few days I've put my heart and soul into learning and working with watercolors. Bye-bye markers. You're no longer the star (sorry if I sound cold-hearted). HELLO watercolors!!
I've found that:
A. Doing serious research to know what you're doing is a must.
B. The placement of the watercolor color doesn't HAVE to be the end result.
C. Helllllloooo soft pastels and smudge sticks! Yes - that's the trick!
Paint brush in hand, tiny speakers hooked up to Pandora, playlist selected: Michael Buble, Chris Botti, Billie Holiday, and I'm in my own special creative piece of heaven. :o)
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OUT WITH THE OLD |
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IN WITH THE NEW! |
When my good friend and avid golfer, Suzanne, came to me with an idea for a new wall art theme last year, she had Christmas gifts for 3 of her golf cronies in mind. "How about putting distracting thought bubbles above their heads? Ones that will completely fit their individual personalities and interests, with their names included on the caption Focusing on Her Game? Put a really difficult shot in there... like a lake seemingly MILES away surrounded by a gigantic wall of trees!"
I was game. Especially with the personalization. We emailed back and forth. She has a great sense of humor, and gave me the most outstanding traits of each of her friends, along with photos. The response from each was exactly what she had hoped for.... lots of laughter and nodding approval as they saw their specific similarities portrayed.
So when Suz and her husband invited us to their winter home in Palm Springs last week I knew what I had to do - a picture of Suzanne. A surprise picture! I know her well, so the thought bubble captions came to me with ease! Grabbing photos off of her Facebook page I went to town, and here's what she got.
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REFERENCE PHOTOS:
Her ecstatic reaction as she saw her gift was worth
a 1,000 hours of drawing!! |
And that's what it's all about!
I have a baby in my life. Not MY baby, but close to it. His mom is my younger daughter Katy, so since she lives about 2 minutes drive from us I take possession of him often. I need to get my high of babydom (not in dictionary). The other high I get is watching his 11 year old big sister with him. As it nears the holidays it goes something like this ....
... ALL IS CALM, ALL IS BRIGHT
Another day of zero time for the HoHoDooDa sketch roll-out, soooo.... here they are again - my family cast of times gone by. (Dated by the old fashioned red looped mop!) Those were the days my friends — I thought they'd NEVER end!! A second Christmas card to all our loved ones as a silent cry for help. TEENAGERS...! (Although, I have to confess ... the idea came to me through my own days as a testing teen ;o).
THE CHILDREN WERE NESTLED ALL SNUG IN THEIR BEDS