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Happy Halloween!
Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!
After all the trick or treating tonight remember to take a picture
of your costume tonight and email it to me for the costume contest.
Final submissions are due on Tuesday. You can now see all the
entries so far on the Surprise Me page!
Illustration Friday: Snazzy
I do believe this Illustration Friday thing is getting
kind of Snazzy! Let's see your snazziness!
I dyed my hair red last night. Just because I could.
I like it today. Looks like I'm on fire.
How did I get this busy? I guess it just snuck up on me.
My to-do list is more than one page! I'm trying not to
let it overwhelm me. But sheesh. What I am doing to
combat it is run. I recently started working out again
and it makes me feel calm. My brain stops thinking about
all the stuff I have to do and starts just focusing on what
my heart is doing, how my legs are feeling, how my body
is moving. I like that. I'm trying not to skip it even if I feel
like I can't take an hour away from my work.
Things that are making me happy right now (despite all
the negative campaign ads that I'm now seeing because
I have bunny ears):
The Pacers. I love the Pacers. Particularly Boomer and
the blow-up air-guy Boomer. He makes me laugh so
tears come out my eyes.
Orange leaves falling from the trees like giant
psychedelic snow flakes.
The garbage truck that goes through my neighborhood
that has $EAZY$ spray painted yellow on the front.
What does that mean exactly? Are they hiring? Are they
bragging? Is that someone's alter ego?
Working on some bigger paintings just for me. (no, that's
not part of my to-do list)
A new painting of Mother Mary I did for a catholic friend
(to see it go to the here...it's the last icon).
Pumpkin carving. I haven't carved one yet, but I want
to this week sometime before Halloween trick or treating.
All the fun costumes I'm getting for the Costume Contest.
My new Pink Converse.
A new tea I'm digging. Yum!
And Illustration Friday. I love it!
Anything to add?
One of my sisters came down on Thursday and spent two
days with me. It was amazing fun. We shopped and gabbed
and ate and told stories. I got to hear about what she is
studying and her take on the things she is learning. She
heard about the business of illustration and what my day is
like. Before this, she assumed I colored all day. (hee...that's
sort of true). Friday took us to an antique store where we
walked around and admired decorative china tea sets and
antique porcelain dolls. We both got a new brooch (her first).
I'm way into brooches. Have been for years. I picked up this
red one to add to my little collection.
Then we stumbled upon a beautiful dress. We both fell in
love and immediately took it to try on. Normally antique
clothing doesn't even come close to fitting. Ladies back
there were smaller, I think. And, being 6 feet tall, I usually
don't even attempt to try things on. When I do, it's usually
for a laugh. But this dress fit...both of us.
We weighed who would wear it more. It became obvious that
it was me. (She said she's wear it only once or twice a year.)
So, I charitably said she could borrow it for those occasions
and whisked it off to the checkout counter.
Here's the prize:
and a detail:
***
Illustration Friday is going really well! Everyone has such unique
takes on the topics. And it's cool to have some new illo blogs to
peek at!
The next Illustration Friday topic, chosen by Tammy and Élena
is "Snazzy". Happy doodling!
Illustration Friday: Fiesta
Cha cha cha. Who's got some fiesta images to show?
p.s. The reason I'm posting on Thursday evenings is because
I'm somewhere in the middle of the coasts. This way we don't
make ther early risers in the east wait.
Yesterday I got an email from an acquaintance who is
organizing a Day of the Dead celebration for one of
my favorite neighborhoods in the city. He asked me if
I could come by and paint something on plywood for
decorations. I was free last night so I said sure. I'm glad
I did.
I showed up around 6 and was led to a corner of a cold,
dark warehouse where there were paint cans and brushes
and buckets of grey water all around. There were also
giant sheets of primed plywood. I was told I could do
whatever I wanted and then I was left alone.
I grabbed a flat piece of wood and pushed it against the
wall, staring at it for a minute, wondering what would happen.
I looked around on the floor and saw a piece of charcoal.
I picked it up, quickly made a giant sketch, and grabbed the
can of turquoise paint.
A sky appeared. A bulbous cactus showed up. A orange
squiggle border found its way to the party. A fiddle-playing
skeleton wearing a giant sombrero with fringe danced his
way onto the plywood. It felt so good to be messy and work
on a huge canvas. It put me out onto the comfort zone curb.
Made my brain move like it hasn't in a while. The time passed
and I didn't even feel it.
I was thinking today that it's pretty cool to find stuff just
laying around in your head. All these little images and
memories and mental imaginings are just sitting around
on a couch in there, sipping their coffees and waiting to
be called on.
Cactus? Get up. It's time to go. No you can't finish your
latte. You gotta go. You too, Fiddle. No dilly-dallying.
Everyone else can relax. It's not your turn yet.
It All Works Out
Isn't it funny how sometimes you just stumble into exactly
what you need at the moment you need it? That happened
to me last night. Yesterday was my best friend's 40th birthday.
There was a big party in the evening with a live band and lots
of people and pie (you all know how I feel about pie). There
was a woman there who I'd met once before at an art show.
She seemed very interesting then, but I didn't get a chance to
talk to her. But I did last night. She walked into a conversation
and said something about getting older and better. And I yelped.
It's my theory!
{side note: Have I spoken of this before?...I can't
remember. My theory is that you get cooler with age. Here's
how it works: the older you get, the more experiences you get,
the wiser you get, the cooler you get. That's the concept.}
Well, I explained my theory and she nodded and said that
was true...Until you hit 50. Then it's all downhill. I frowned
and the conversation ended soon after.
Later that evening she walked back up to me and said
that she was kidding about the 50 thing. And that it was
a good theory. And she said, "You know what's good? Is
when you're around long enough to just know that
everything is going to work out and be okay. When things
circle around and even out eventually."
I stopped. I felt like things suddenly were moving in slow
motion. This was what I needed to hear. I explained to her
that I had recently left my job. My job that offered stability
and retirement plans and regular paychecks and healthcare.
That I struck out on my own and sometimes feel like I'm just
flailing about. I don't know where I'm headed to, let alone
how I'll get there. That sometimes I feel like I'm just pretending
that this is going to work. That I am scared. But then I smiled
and said that when I feel that way I try not to take it too
seriously. I try to keep perspective and realize that things
work out in the end...even if we don't know what that ending
will be.
She nodded and patted my hand. She seemed to understand.
I wanted to ask her about her life and her choices, but
somehow, it didn't seem like the right time.
It felt good to admit that I was scared. And it felt good to
feel some sort of relief. I needed to hear from someone with
experience that it all works out. And I did.
Don't forget!
***
Also, I've made some additions to a few portfolio sections.
Most noteably: Check out the latest HUMONGO project I was
talking about last week in the Advertising section. And the
Digging section is finally updated for October. Can we say
procrastination?
Houston, We Have TV
Last night a very different sound filled my house. It was
a jumble of fast moving background noise. Noise I'm not
used to at all. I think of that noise as bar noise. Last night
the TV was on. Up until last night I haven't had TV. I'm not
just talking about Cable. But basic TV. Even one channel.
Nil. And I've been fine with that. It was my choice.
As a kid, I didn't watch too much TV. I'd watch cartoons
on Saturday morning. But that's about it. My mom always
told me to go play outside. Go jump. Go swing. Go run.
Get out of the house. So I did. My childhood was spent
on the lake, fishing, in the woods, playing baseball. Just
not in front to the TV.
In college I decided to start watching the news. And after
a while it started making my days feel more stressed.
Lots of bad news all the time. Plus, all these brain-numbing,
staged reality shows started showing up and I just didn't
want to be a part of it. I didn't want to get sucked in and
care if Sally was still on some island or Brad slept with
Kelly in a lapse of judgment. So, I decided to pull the plug.
And for many years I've not had TV.
It was odd hooking up the bunny ears and suddenly seeing
things on the screen that I couldn't fast forward. It's strange
to think that this wave has been hitting my house for all
this time and all I needed to do was tune it in. I watched
Law & Order last night. And the whole time I felt like I was
doing something wrong. It was really surreal and eery.
The reason for the change is this: Very often lately,
I've been getting into a lot of conversations where I'm
woefully uninformed and I'm just tired of it. People talk
about Jeopardy and The Apprentice and little snippets
of news and I just smile and nod. My long time excuse
has been "dark hole, 26 years". And people smile and
secretly wonder what's the matter with me. Only seen
five episodes of Friends? I should be ashamed.
(by the way, I just had to google "popular TV shows"
to get the name 'The Apprentice'...it's that bad.)
I feel dumb. I hate getting into conversations where pop
culture is involved (which is practically every conversation).
I hate not knowing what they're talking about. I hate not
getting inside jokes and having to either fake amusement
or just say sorry, I don't know what you're talking about.
And yes, I was in advertising. No joke. I don't know how
I got along without it while in that field. Really. Have you
ever heard of an art director who made TV spots that
they'd never see because they didn't have television?
So now I have a choice. I have the choice to turn it on,
or I can leave it off. Strange concept, will power...I'm
interested to see what I do. I think I may just go play
outside.
***
Man, I just love Illustration Friday. I love to see what
everyone comes up with. All these different interpretations
on the subject. How fun!
The next Illustration Friday topic, chosen by Whitney
(no url) is "Fiesta".
Illustration Friday: Smelly
Here's mine. Where's yours? I really liked this topic. It made me
laugh to even think the word "smelly". hee hee. See?
Transcendence
A few autumns ago my city hosted a tour called the Transcendence
Tour. It was posted in the paper. Different local spots that felt a little
different. Felt a little spiritual. Felt a little peaceful. Felt a little calm.
You went out on your own, not in a group, so you could take as much
time as you needed. We visited each of these places one by one and
felt their magic. A few of my favorites were Crown Hill cemetery where
James Whitcomb Riley is buried. It's up on a big hill where you can look
out and see for miles. There was also the gardens outside the museum
of art. It was beautiful. All the leaves were colorful and moved with
the air. I laid down on the ground and looked up, feeling the sunshine
on my face. The day was wonderful.
I caught a glimpse of that same feeling this morning, driving downtown.
It was misty out and it made the trees look really bright. Like warm
colors in a painting that stand out to you. I felt peaceful and serene.
Like time was on my side for once. No rush. No hurry to get back to the
studio. No impending deadlines.
I read something recently that said that you can help time feel like a
friend if you go about doing whatever you are doing as if it were the
only thing worth doing at that moment.
That really made me stop. I mean...I always feel like there are too many
things on my plate. I think about what to make for dinner while I paint.
I think about my to-do list while I'm at the bookstore. I think about the
weeds I should pull while I'm on my way to get the mail. Hell, I'm thinking
that I should get to the illustration I'm working on while writing this!
It's never just one thing.
But what if it was?
Everyone has experienced that feeling before. The feeling of getting so
wrapped up in what you're doing that you forget about time. But how
often is that? How often do you throw yourself into what you're doing?
That is my goal for this week. To go about doing whatever I'm doing as
if it were the only thing worth doing at that moment. And to do so
passionately and feel transcendence.
21 days till your submissions are due for the Costume Contest!
Grocery Shopping
Grocery shopping is not fun for me. But grocery shopping two hours
away is a completely different story. My friend called me on Friday to
ask if I wanted to go to Cincinnati to go grocery shopping with him
Saturday morning. I laughed and told him to avoid getting any frozen
goods. Then I realized he wasn't kidding. I said, "Okay, sure." And off
we went.
Jungle Jims, this place is called. It was huge and carnival-esque and
off-beat and just plain odd. They had lots of weird things to eat and
see. Bumpy fruits I've never heard of. A zillion flavors of tea. So
many salsas I ran screaming from the aisle. You name it.
There were large, moving displays of Robin Hood and certain
cereal characters (I'm never eating Lucky Charms again).
There was a tram. There were screeching monkeys splashing in
waterfalls and 400 pound tomatoes on poles. There were little rooms
marked with different nationalities to go into and sniff. (I liked France
and Holland quite a bit.) It was unreal.
I found a little scrap of paper and it looked like the perfect size
for a little list...
(Colin actually bought the 1 pound tin of celery flakes...um...what
the hell do you do with celery flakes?)
***
It was awesome to see everyone's doodles for Illustration Friday!
The next topic, chosen by Julie (thank you!) is "Smelly".
Remember to email me with topics if you think of a good one!
Illustration Friday: Sleep
I liked all the illustrations so far (see comments in previous post).
This is awesome! (I also liked the suggestions on how to improve
this idea. I think I'll make arrangements for them when I get a little
free time.
Also, anyone living in the Indianapolis area and happens to go to
Women's Expo (held at the fairgrounds today and Saturday) can
see that humongous project I've been working on. Just go up to the
Star booth and pick up a paper. I did the wrap that they'll give you
the paper in. Fun stuff. I'll probably post it here later so everyone
can see.
Cheers!
Illustration Friday
This Illustration Friday thing hasn't left my mind yet. Has it left
yours? It seemed like something that could be really interesting
and fun. I understand that the Photo Friday works by posting a
topic up each Friday. But that doesn't really work for illustration,
now does it? I think illustration takes a little more time (you know...
the paint has to dry or scanning must be done, depending on your
own individual style). So, I think we should do our Illustration Friday
with a little more notice. Say...post up our topic each Monday and
then we have until Friday to complete the illo.
So here's what I propose: I'll post up a topic each Monday, we have
all week to illustrate it, and we post them to our sites on Friday.
Then, if you participate, you just write your url in my comments box
after you post your image. Then we can just check the comments to
ooh and ahh over each other's interpretations! (Maybe someday,
if there's enough interest, we can have a different format...but you
have to start small. Right?)
I don't want to be the only one who comes up with topics though.
(That'd get tiring.) So, what if, when you think of a good topic,
you email it to me. I'll post them in the order they come in. That
way we share that aspect of it, too.
Okay, I know it's nearly the end of the week already, but I asked
Colin to come up with the first topic for this Friday. He came up
with "Sleep". So there you go. Hope we see some sleep illos
this Friday.
Ooh ooh...I'm getting exciting about this. This could be really fun!
***
I'm over my blue mood. Can you tell?
Just a shift in perspective.
Today I'm feeling blue. I'm not really sure why, to be honest.
Nothing has changed since yesterday. The sun is still shining,
the house is still peaceful, the world is still changing colors...
but for some reason I'm feeling lonely. Like no one knows me.
And it's not because I haven't talked to people. I make sure
I get out of the house at least once a day. I talk to people.
I try to get some exercise. I interact with the world.
It's just shift in perspective. That kills me. There are so many
ways to look at something and if you choose one, you
feel good about it. And if you happen to choose the other,
without knowing it, it's all messy and chaotic and fretful.
Why don't we have more control than that? I wish I knew
so I could change it.
Why do we sometimes feel like there's a bright shiny light
going on inside. And then other times it feels like that light
has been burnt out for days, cobwebs forming around it.
I just realized that above I used the word "choose". Hmm...
maybe we do choose how we are feeling. Is it that simple?
It doesn't feel that simple.
I don't want to go on about it, so I'll stop. Maybe I'll take a
break and go relax or something. Maybe that will help.
Maybe that's what we can choose.
I went kayaking on the river this weekend. The water
was icy-cold, but you got used to it after your muscles
warmed up from the paddling movement. There were
lots of obstacles to navigate through. Shallow water.
Strong currents. Fallen trees. The fallen trees were the
most challenging and my favorite. Seeing them in the
distance you wouldn't see any way to get through them.
But when you got closer there was always some way to
get by. Either a tiny little opening to hold your breath
and duck under or a low part where you'd balance on
the log and then hoist the kayak over, then plop back
into it, hoping not to tip. It took tactical thinking and
artful maneuvering. It was great. It also got me to
thinking about my life. There are tons of obstacles and
hardships to pass through and lots of times there seems
like there's no way. Then something happens or makes
itself known to you, and you get by...even if it takes
a lot of effort. There's always a way. And that comforted
me...even more than the peaceful river setting.
***
Don't forget the Costume Contest. I'm getting some good
submissions now. But I think we should move the
deadline date to after Halloween...say November 2nd. That
way the procrastinators (like me) can have more time. Or
you can snap a shot of your actual costume on Halloween
night and enter that. Bwa-ha-ha!
Photo Friday
Lots of people participate in Photo Friday. And I love to
look at the different interpretations of the chosen topic.
But does it have to be photos only? I guess so...afterall
it is named Photo Friday. But, off the record, I would like
to participate too. I'd like the challenge and it's nice to do
something for myself...whatever I want. So, it's Illustration
Friday for me. Today's topic is speed. Hence, the rocket.
(Plus, I'm just really into rockets right now...no one knows.)
The big assignment I spoke of yesterday is coming along
nicely. It's especially nice because my deadline was pushed
back a day. Thank god. I would have had to work all night
long to make it by this morning. Yesterday I painted so much
that my arms ached. I called Colin to come get me because
I was just a worthless puddle of goo by the end of the day.
I'm really grateful for one more day.
Lastly, Toronto Illustrators asked me to participate
in their fall gallery (thanks Amy!). I did a little piece
representing fall for that. Check it out.
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© Penelope Illustration. Stealing
is not nice. |
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