Love in the Service of Creativity

I have a mild addiction affliction, but it could be worse. I could be merely hoarding all these markers, which, of course, would be sick. Instead, I am using them and caring for them and just generally giving them a nice place to live out their days. It's kind of marker foster care, really.

I have been afflicted with a love of markers since I was very young. I really did used to hoard them and not use them. I was afraid of using them up on something frivolous. Eventually they would dry up from neglect, and I'd throw them away. Very sad! I've come to understand that fear does not serve creativity. I'm over the fear of wasting my supplies. I'm using them happily. Every day. And, when I go to a store that sells markers I don't already have, I feel that other affliction: marker envy. Sigh!

Marker Love

Homage to Long Weekends

This is just an excerpt from one of my private journal pages. I was obsessed with threes, because it was the beginning of a three-day weekend. I love how the bees turned out--the three bees, each with three stripes and three dots on each wing. It was out of hand!

Homage to Three; patterned paper embellished with marker in Moleskine Cahier

Well Done!

I love getting to draw on the table at Bonefish Grill, and it's craft paper! I'm tempted to take all my markers sometime and show them what it COULD be! :)

This was a celebration dinner for my husband's last day at what was a very challenging and stressful job before he headed on to the job he has now. If only I'd had more time to make this great, but the bread came to the table, and it was on to the business of...you know...the good stuff.

Drawing on the Table "Cloth" at Bonefish Grill

Another Acrylic Face

Still learning faces with acrylics from Jane Davenport's book. I'm sure I could work on it more, but I'm moving on. I still can't say that I love acrylics. They dry too quickly!

Face in Acrylic; acrylic & watercolor

iPhone Photo Filter Fun

Once your phone can do this, there really is no going back. I got this effect with my iPhone 6 and with the app called Snapseed. It's not exactly Photoshop, but for a phone app, it's pretty cool!

iPhone Photo Filter Fun; photograph edited with Snapseed

Computer "Doodling"

I've finally learned Adobe Illustrator this year at work after years of only dabbling with it. It is an amazing program, making seemingly impossible things actually very simple. This took about 10 minutes to create.

Computer Doodling; computer generated mandala

Three Little Peaces

These three little "peaces" are the work of a quiet evening.

Three Little Peaces; watercolor on cold press

Today, I Imagine

I didn't imaginate enough as a child. I'm making up for lost time. This was just fun!

I Imagine; marker on sketch paper

Kyrie Eleison

This took a long time, but I'm very happy with the outcome.

Lord Have Mercy; marker in Moleskine journal

Hope in the Lord

I collected the cardboard drink coasters at a restaurant and did this to one of them. Gesso is a wonderful thing!

Hope in the Lord; marker on gessoed cardboard drink coaster

Me, the Coloring Queen for a Day

I've loved to color for as long as I could grip a crayon. Now that it's becoming very cool for adults to color, I just want to say, "I told you so!" I entered a little coloring contest at Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine, and I actually won. Aw, shucks! They provided the black line drawing, and it was up to contestants to be creative. Here's what I came up with.

Earth, Wind & Fire; marker on paper

Dip Pen Doodling

Doodle on! This started as a simple, monochromatic watercolor of pale blue grass or seaweed and bubbles. The brown and blue bottled ink and a dip pen turned it into a doodling exercise. I love the simplicity of low-tech pen and ink.

Dip Pen Doodling; watercolor & Noodlers ink on watercolor paper

EDM 271 - Free Choice

Drawn from memory, which isn't a good enough excuse for messing up the stripes on the lower left. Sorry, Betsy! This is done with water-based markers with a little help from some gesso, when I lost the whites and had to paint them back in.

EDM 271 - Free Choice; 3x3" markers on mixed media paper

EDM 270 - Something Preservable

Use it or lose it.

EDM 270 - Something Preservable; 3x3" watercolor

EDM 269 - Something Annoying

An increasingly noisy society, even nice music playing in EVERY business, store, and restaurant, is a little annoying to me. Trying to find absolute silence is almost impossible. I guess I am officially old.

EDM 269 - Something Annoying; 3x3" watercolor & marker

EDM 268 - Something I Need

Ask any artist, "How many more colors do you need," and the predictable answer will always be, "Just one more." I need to remember how hard it was to finish this piece the next time I'm tempted to start another completely uninspired piece. This took parts of four days to finish. And, waiting for the Glossy Accents to dry was excruciating. I'm a very impatient waiter.

EDM 268 - Something I Need; watercolor & Glossy Accents

EDM 267 - Something Flexible

I could have been a ballerina, if I had been lean, long-necked, graceful, coordinated, and flexible. But I wasn't. I can spell "prima." I'm settling for that.

EDM 267 - Something Flexible; 3x3" marker on mixed media paper

Golden Strands

The first of hopefully many golden girls because I have a huge tube of gold acrylic paint to use up. I hope I can make myself make the next one even golder.

Golden Strands; collage, acrylic & marker in art journal

Elisabeth Elliot

Rest sweet in Jesus, dear lady! I will always think of Elisabeth Elliot as one of the wise women who helped me navigate the early years of marriage and motherhood. She died today, and we should all miss her. She was a treasure! When I think of her, I always think of this quote. It is how she began her radio program every day, and I can still hear her calm voice saying it.

The Everlasting Arms; watercolor & marker in Moleskine journal

Mama Called It

Mama called it my beauty mark, which was really sweet of her. This is a self-portrait, and other than the odd colors, it's a pretty good likeness. For the record, I'm deep into middle-age, but I have not actually succumbed to blue hair yet. :)

This is acrylic on gessoed paper, which is new for me and very much out of my comfort zone, and it was saved by an odd assortment of markers and pens, which I'm quite comfortable with.

Self-portrait in acrylic on gessoed paper

The Wind Knows How I Wear My Hair

I'm trying to get more comfortable drawing faces. Jane Davenport's book and online content have been very helpful. This quick sketch uses Prismacolor pencils which have been blended with sansodor. That's a new technique for me. It's interesting.

Windy Hair; colored pencils in Moleskine journal

2015 EDiM Day 26 - A Sign

Imagine waking up in a magical land where the signs in the park encourage you to keep ON the grass ... and where the dragonflies are as long as the proportion-challenged artist's arm! Duck, there are TWO of them! Agh!

EDiM 26 - A Sign; stamp & marker on craft paper

I now believe that stamping grass is easier and faster than drawing it. The lower two stamps are reuse from an earlier day this month.

EDiM 26 - Sign stamp

On the Desk Today

Here is the palette of happy colors that will end up in a make-believe garden I'm working on. I'll show the whole thing in a week or so. I love these colors!

2015 EDiM Day 25 - Apron

I had to get something together fast before I fell any farther behind. This is a motif from the boldly printed fabric from my apron. The fabric is actually black and white, but I exercised my artistic license. I'm fascinated by negative space and how it distinguishes itself, usually by accident, in all art.

EDiM 25 - Apron; stamp & colored pencil on craft paper

The tropical leaf stamp.

EDiM 25 - Leaf stamp

2015 EDiM Day 24 - Keys

I went with key concepts, since I went with literal keys earlier in May. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:13 Thanks for all who have done this for me and my family.

EDiM 24 - Key Concepts; stamp & marker on craft paper

And, the three little tile stamps.

EDiM 24 - Key Concepts stamp

2015 EDiM Day 23 - Interesting Building Detail

We have interesting plant hangers on our main porch posts. This year, we have no planters hanging from them. I think they're decorative enough just as is. And, I don't have to remember to water them this summer!

EDiM 23 - Hanger; stamp & marker on craft paper

This stamp was not easy! The end.

EDiM 23 - Hanger stamp

2015 EDiM Day 22 - A Basket

This is the sad, empty basket that hangs on a wall in my studio.

EDiM 22 - Basket; stamp & marker on craft paper

And, here's the stamp under all that marker.

EDiM 22 - Basket stamp

2015 EDiM Day 21 - Where I Sit & Read

When I read, my favorite spot is on my front porch in an Adirondack chair. "I wish I read more, but there always seems so many other things to do." ~Jane Bennet

EDiM 21 - Sit; stamp & marker on craft paper

This was a fun stamp to make. And, look at the ink pad I used! It's perfect!

EDiM 21 - Sit stamp

2015 EDiM Day 20 - My Wallet

I bought this quilted wristlet at the Longaberger outlet store while on vacation last year. It was labeled as second-quality, which is another way of saying "imperfect." I always feel like I should buy imperfect products--like we belong together--'cuz I'm imperfect, too. The tag comes out of the pocket. See the comments for "the rest of the story."

EDiM 20 - Wallet; stamp & marker on craft paper

I know I'll use these versatile little stamps again! I thought the push pin on the tiny stamp was a stroke of genius. Is that bragging? :) And, don't you love the irony of the smudged ink on "IMPERFECT"? It made me chuckle when it happened. That'll teach me to brag!

EDiM 20 - Wallet stamp

2015 EDiM Day 19 - A Cupcake

I took this literally. Cake in a cup. What a good idea!

EDiM 19 - Cupcake; stamp & marker on craft paper

Little cup; big frosting.

EDiM 19 - Cupcake stamp

A test impression.

EDiM 19 - Cupcake test

2015 EDiM Day 18 - Lipstick

Since lipstick is a little out of my comfort zone (I rarely wear it), I decided to go out of my art "zone" with this, too. I have loved paper crafting my whole life, and this is my first attempt at decoupage. The lipstick is pieced scrapbook papers embellished with Pitt pens. Actually, the entire piece is made from little scraps from my paper stash. I save the smallest scraps just in case! I think I'm becoming my grandmother (like they had time for art journaling during the Depression!) There's a hand carved stamp in there, too.

EDiM 18 - Lipstick; stamp, marker, & collage

The heart stamp surrounded by scraps of paper for the next decoupage adventure.

EDiM 18 - Heart stamp

2015 EDiM Day 17 - A Measurer

I don't use canning jars to measure, but I could because they have volume markings on them. I couldn't decide which variation I liked better, so I included both color ways. Stamps are so good at duplication!

EDiM 17 - Jar; stamp & marker on craft paper

And, the baby Mason stamp.

EDiM 17 - Jar stamp

2015 EDiM Day 16 - Recipe Ingredients

I've been making this recipe for over twenty years. I can probably make it in my sleep. And, before anyone asks, no that isn't ketchup. The camera did weird things to the glossy medium I used.

EDiM 16 - Recipe; stamp & marker on craft paper

Two stamps that I will use separately, but probably never together again.

EDiM 16 - Recipe stamp

2015 EDiM Day 15 - What I'd Give Away

I spent a little time channeling my 13-year-old self while I drew this. There was such a long list of things THAT girl would have gladly given away: the glasses, the pale complexion, the invisible eyes, the red hair, the freckles. Now, I just want to throw away all the self-doubt from those years (and the part that still lingers 40 years later).

EDiM 15 - Younger Me; stamp & marker on craft paper

The subtle little stamp that was used above is actually one I created for Day 2 and reused here.

EDiM 15 - Younger Me stamp

2015 EDiM Day 14 - Something I Use Every Day

Keys...when I can find them.

EDiM 14 - Keys; stamp & marker on craft paper

These took a ridiculous amount of effort, but I love how they turned out...and they're reusable!

EDiM 14 - Keys stamp

2015 EDiM Day 13 - Last Thing I Bought

I bought lunch from the drive-thru (don't judge), and the fun graphic on the bag spoke to me. I knew it wanted to be a set of rubber stamps. What? Your lunch bag doesn't talk? Pity. The craft paper makes a pretty convincing lunch sack, don't you think? :)

EDiM 13 - Lunch; stamp & marker on craft paper

I look forward to finding ways to use these shapes for non-burger purposes.

EDiM 13 - Lunch stamp

The inspiration for this piece...