Felix Culpa

I have been so delinquent in posting to this blog. It isn't that I'm not producing art; it's that most of what I'm doing now is in my journal, and feels too personal to post online. There are some pages that feel safe enough, though. Below is a random page from my homemade travelers notebook.

I drew this back in June, right after we went to hear Audrey Assad in concert. I became intrigued by her album, Fortunate Fall. All the songs circle around the theme of felix culpa: felix meaning happy or fortunate and culpa meaning fall or fault. I love the incongruity. Who is happy when they fail? Who feels fortunate when they fall? The idea is not original with Audrey, of course. It comes from the Easter liturgy, and it would be familiar to her because she is Catholic.

I love it! "Oh happy fault that gained for us so great a Redeemer." Here's to all our happy failures and our so great Redeemer!

This page has lots of shiny highlights from Sakura gel pens, but they don't really come through in the picture. Add the shine in your mind!

Fine black pen and opaque white pen on the most ordinary paper!

I'm going to try to post more so that my blog doesn't look so sad and neglected. There never seems to be enough hours in the day....

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

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

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

The Heart on Display

I ❤ hearts!

You can't really tell from the photo, but I used a cheap set of glitter watercolor to shine up all the hearts. I love how they look and how little they cost!

The Heart on Display; watercolor and marker in Moleskine journal

Grace Doodle

In my mind grace is a subtle shade of pink.

This is one of my favorite color schemes! Ever.

Grace Doodle; white acrylic and watercolor markers on toned paper

That Ship Has Sailed

This is a concept piece I painted in my private art journal a couple months ago. It was strangely satisfying to get this down on paper!

That Ship Has Sailed; watercolor in Moleskine journal

Sunny Days & Sundays

I introduced some new markers to some old markers on this lovely, sunny Sunday. And, if you aren't humming a Carpenters' song now, I might not have communicated what I hoped to.

Sunny Days & Sundays; marker on mixed media paper

Come on Spring!

Come on, spring! You can do it! It's been a long, cold winter, and everyone is ready for pastels and butterflies and flowers.

I was just playing with some new Sakura Gelly Roll pens. It's always good to figure out what your new supplies can do.

Acrylic markers on toned paper

Easter Egg Doodle

Spring hopes eternal!

I was so pleased with this imaginative little piece. I feel like it's sort of a unique style that I haven't really seen anywhere else. I'm always looking for something that's uniquely mine! Why is that? :)

Easter Egg; white acrylic and watercolor markers on toned paper

Speed Painting

"I've got my eye on you!" I've never been a big nature girl or huge animal lover, so this is a rare piece for me. I'm trying to loosen up my style. This is super fast "brush sketching" in my Moleskine watercolor journal. I used almost no pencil. I just started with a brush and painted really fast. I know many people like this style of painting, but I would never enjoy doing a lot of this. There just isn't any interpretive quality to it. I like art to speak, and this seems to just represent. It was good practice, though!

I photographed the finished piece with the panorama feature on my iPhone. Pretty impressive, I think.

Eagle; Moleskine watercolor journal

How I Relax

I can't explain why I find this relaxing. I just do. A tinted paper sketchbook, a handful of markers, and Spotify. Ahhh!

White acrylic mark and watercolor markers on toned paper

A Whirling Dervish

The Kozy doodle pattern shared by Chris (Facebook Group, For the Love of Tangling) caught my attention. I thought I'd give it a whirl. 

I was so pleased with how the lettering turned out for this. I'm trying to work on my modern calligraphy. I'm trying to loosen it up. I got close with this! I really thought the colors worked, too. The ink is actually brown, and the watercolors are bright blue and yellow. Take my word for it; it's better in real life than in a low resolution photo online. :) And, there's just something about holding a genuine Moleskine journal in your hands....

Whirling Dervish; pen and watercolor in Moleskine journal

Jars of Clay

I've been sick for several days. It's been a reminder of what I'm made of: dust and water.

Jars of Clay; watercolor in moleskine journal

Doodle Birds

Here's a recent journal page with doodling underneath and on top of watercolor. This was fun!

Doodle Birds; 5.5x8.5" watercolor on mixed media paper

The Thing about Nature

A favorite saying from the wise and hilarious Dowager Countess of Grantham. I love everything about Downton Abbey, especially any time Maggie Smith is in the scene and speaking lines. She reminds me so much of my grandmother!

I was so happy with the way this drawing turned out. I struggle so much with truly imaginative drawings, but I really let this one unfold as it wanted to. It has the makings of a fine art piece, maybe....

The Thing about Nature; 5.5x8.5" Noodlers ink on sketch paper

Patches of Life

Patches of crazy--a story of life! I was inspired to do some work in a tan-toned journal by watching a woman on the train to Chicago using one. I love how the Uniball Signo Broad white pen goes down like liquid plastic. It is very opaque and dries shiny and permanent. There are so many possibilities for this pen on colored paper!

Patches of Crazy; white acrylic pen on toned paper

Blue Fountain Doodling

Doodling the way grandma did. There's just something about a fountain pen. Could it be love?

Blue Fountain Doodling; 5.5x8.5" Noodlers Navajo Turquoise ink on sketch paper

Coffee-delic

This is your brain on caffeine. Any questions?

Coffee-delic; 5.5x8.5" fountain pen on sketch paper