New Mural for the New Church

I am painting murals for the new church in the kids rooms. I am not doing them all but a good portion of them. I started with the kindergarden room, the first room on the left that has windows for light since there is no electricity yet. I decided to do a jungle room with lots of bugs, frogs, dragonflies, birds and monkeys and I think the scripture will be "God created all things" I have to look it up. I am so sick of seeing Noah's Ark at every church so I want to do some different things. The church is very open and as long as I am not painting scenes from Hell I guess it all good. LOL I told my husband, dont think I didn't think about it, just a good threat for misbehaving kids. Just kidding. Anyway, it is not finished but I have a pretty good start. I got a bit to realistic so I am adding some fun wild colored bushes and stuff to liven it up a bit, after all this is Kindergarten!!! I wanted the whole background to just fade into the distance and all the fun animals to pop off of it. Here is my WIP (work in progress) more to come after I return from Tennessee! It is hard to see but this is a fairly good size wall, maybe 20'x9'. I have 11 hours into it so far.

The Vacation

Ok, tommorrow is the big day. For 6 years, my husband and I have not had a vacation alone of more than an overnight thing. Since Jennifer got hurt we haven't been able to find anyone to stay with her for any length of time. We tried her siblings and that just didn't work out, they are unable to grasp the fact that she can't do the things she used to do and she would call me at midnight and say " I am so tired and they still haven't put me to bed". Well it ended up just causing fights among all of us so we don't ask anymore. But my quest to find good care so that I could spend some time with my husband was still in the works. It ends up that the hospital where she has therapy is going to take her and work on some issues we have been having with her prothstetic leg and braces. I was so excited because its a perfect fit, its like her second home, she knows everyone. But even the best hospitals have their flaws and it still makes me a bit nervous not being there with her. The wonderful thing about this hospital visit is that it will allow us to go on vacation and I am going to the Nashville show to see my quilt that is a semifinalist. I have been so excited planning the travel arrangements etc and then last night I couldn't sleep. I think I am just worried about leaving her, its hard to understand if you're not a caregiver or maybe a mom with an infant. I was never the overprotective mother that couldn't stand the thought of her kids leaving. I looked forward to them starting their own lives. They were all gone except one, full time college student. But now, when I do everything for her and we spend everyday together, its so hard. My husband said, "We don't have to go, we can just stay home" but we can't. Inside I know that, I have to do this, she will be fine, and once I am there I probably will be too. We have all these things planned for Nashville and I have to go. I want to sketch too while I am there. So I will be gone for a week starting Tuesday. I hope to return, refreshed, renewed and with lots of fabric, and sketches.

pictures

One of the most amazing parts of the program, to me, is all of the trained volunteers that are needed to allow one quadriplegic person to water ski. I watch the total trust that this paralyzed person has to have in the team around them. They get strapped into a cage like apparatus that is mounted onto a single water ski. There are two people in the boat, one to drive and one to hold the flag, two sea doos with two people each that follow along side and one person the is on the back of the ski as it gets up and they make sure the person is stable and then fall off and swim back to the dock. All those people, to bring a smile and make a paralyzed person feel like a million bucks for 10 minutes. Its so incredible, such a great group of positive people.

More picts of Land meets Sea

I am posting some pictures of our week of activities. I want to share some of the amazing stories of some amazing people. As most of you know, if you read my blog, my daughter, Jennifer was hit by a drunk driver and almost did not survive. She was in the hospital for 8 months, in a coma for 4 1/2 months, she lost her vision, her leg, her voice and the use of her right side. Since then, 2000, she has improved, her voice is soft but we can understand her, her vision is better although she is still legally blind. She is smart and happy and dealing with her new life. Some of the other people we meet this year included a 17 year old girl that was shot by gang members in LA, another 18 year old was paralyzed by her father who was driving drunk when he crashed the motorcycle which she was an 8 year old passenger. Some are born with the handicap, others are hurt as a result of some sort of accident or crash. This program is so wonderful, I can't say it enough. It gives these people an opportunity to be normal for a week. To enjoy some of the things that the rest of us can do if we choose to that they could not do otherwise. The volunteers are all trained and the equipment is all adapted for the different handicaps. The moto is "you can" they never give up trying to make it work for everyone. It is a huge undertaking and I am so grateful. Jennifer thought she would never be able to enjoy some of the activities she participates in during this week. Also Long Beach, shuts down the Marina for us so that we don't have to compete with the able bodied boaters etc. Here are some pictures, I hope you enjoy and if you want to donate to a worthy cause please think about this organization, you will change a persons whole attitude towards their disability. To donate: Casa Colina Centers for Rehab, Outdoor Adventures program. 909/596-7733.

 

Land Meets Sea

Well we just returned from our week long adventure in Long Beach with Casa Colina the Rehab hospital that Jennifer goes to for therapy. They have this program called Outdoor Adventures which allow handicapped people the opportunity to enjoy activities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. It is such an awesome program and it lets Jennifer feel a little bit normal for a week. I will post pictures and share some of the things we experienced. Our first night we arrived on Monday and the activities didn't start until the following morning so we got to relax and unpack. The hotel where we stayed was wonderful, it looked like an Italian Villa. Out on in the courtyard by the pool was a wonderful sitting area and at 5:30 they served wine and hors d'oeuvres. We sat outside and enjoyed the warm breeze and talked about the week ahead. It was a great start for our week.

Life is like a bowl of cherries.....

why is mine always full of pits. I think Erma Bombeck wrote that book. Well I must admit, although I do have those types of days, normally my life is a bowl of cherries. I think this has to be one of the most beautiful fruits, they are so shiny they almost don't look real. I am sure they are spraying them with something like a wax covering which I shouldn't be eating but I don't want to know really. I love them just the same. I can remember my mom telling me about a time when her and her girlfriend decided to go and pick them for themselves. It was an actual cherry farm where you could pick so many for a set price. Well my mom said that there was nothing as wonderful as picking those beautiful cherries right off the tree and eating them almost as fast. She said that they tasted so much better right off the tree. Well about an hour later, she thought she was going to die. She had to go to the bathroom so bad she doubted if they would make it home in time. She said she couldn't even think of leaving the safety of the throne for quite awhile. She has not gone cherry picking since and the lesson, everything is good in moderation, was given new meaning!

Reality

Sometimes things just hit me from the side and I don't even see them coming, or I have been running from them so long I don't notice when it has finally catches up with me. Either way I am still shocked to hear that my blood pressure and cholesteral and triglycerides are up at high levels. I know since Jennifer's accident I haven't taken time to care for myself but I think I just kept telling myself I am fine and she needs me. Now I have to face the reality that my health is at risk if I don't stop and care for myself. Its such and easy thing, neglecting ourselves. I think as moms we are just used to sacrificing for the good of the family. My fear of who will take care of Jennifer if something happens to me is all too real in my life and sometimes is all consuming. I am not grossly overweight or do I eat bad, I just think its years of stress and neglect and lack of excersize. So I am going to be good and take my medicine and try and get healthy again so that I can be around and strong for a long time. Take note all you caregivers, take the time for yourself. OH it sucks getting older!

Hoffman Challenge

Every year Hoffman Fabrics has a challenge where they supply the fabric and we have to come up with some way to use it. I did it last year and didn't win but it did travel all year around to country. I was so late in getting it to them that I forgot to photograph it, some one sent me a picture at one of the shows it was hanging at. I should be getting it back in October of this year. Anyway, I decided to try it again, but this year I photographed it first. It is a quick design, the quilt is due the 28th. It is only 23"x23" and the flowers are three deminsional and I hand painted the toucan face. I still haven't named it, I am open to suggestions and would love to hear what you guys think.

WC Weekly challenge

I haven't had time to paint or draw in some weeks now, I miss it terribly. It is a special time for me, a time of renewal and it relieves my stress. I think that is the part I miss the most and I start to resent the activities that keep me from doing it! Some weeks life just gets in the way. I have finished my quilt and this week I decided to do the Wet Canvas weekly challenge. I love sunflowers so it was right up my alley. I hope to have much more to post now, expecially since we have taken the month of July off of therapy so I don't have to make the long commute.

Next month we will be in Long Beach for Jennifer's week of activities through the rehab hospital. It is such a great program for her, they shut down the marina and so that all the handicapped people arent competing with the regular boaters etc. This week the marina is theirs and we are so grateful. They do water skiing and jet skiing and hot air ballooning, soccer, baseball, deep sea fishing, kayaking, rowing, and at the end of the week we have a luau. A great week of activities for a bunch of people who need to feel normal for a few days.

Finally Finished

Well I haven't had much time to draw, I have been trying to finish this quilt before a show deadline. I did it! Yippee! I am so done, I struggled with the size of the quilt and manuvering it through my machine to quilt it, wow, how I like small quilts better! My arms just burned as I tried to keep it rolled up as I shoved it through that small hole in the machine. It ended up being close to 80"x49". I just don't see how they quilt those quilts that are 8 -10 feet long, wow, I admire the people who are doing that size of quilt. I know that when I took Velda's class her newest quilt is 12 feet long. That is some big quilt. Well here it is, comments are welcome.

Our sketchcrawl at the Mission at San Juan Capistrano

My friend Susan and I went to the San Juan Capistrano Mission with the Southern California sketchcrawl group. I had such a good time but wish I had gotten to visit with more people. There was such a good turn out,about 20 people, that we only chatted with the people sitting next to us at lunch. I want to get to know everyone better next time, what a great group of people. The weather was great and at lunch we all passed around our sketch books to share. What a perfect day, after lunch Susan and I went back to the Mission and took a bunch of pictures, I will share later. In one of the fountains there were beautiful water lilies that were blooming in the most wonderful colors. Yellows, purples, pinks with big koi swimming under them. Here are a few of the drawings/paintings I quickly did. Thanks Jane, for setting this up, what a successful crawl you orchestrated.

Another update

Here is the piece to this point, I am still struggling with the horizon line and figuring out what I should put there. I would like the get this one finished so that I can start the next in a series of three.

Colored Pencil update

After seeing how far I had actually gotten I thought I should go ahead and scan in the drawing. Who knows the next step could ruin it. I always feel like I am one step from disaster since its hard to correct any mistakes here. But so far so good, and I am pleased with the progress. Unfortunately, my scanner cuts off her other leg. I do learn alot when I scan the picture and put it on the computer, the different angle and view helps me identify problem spots. Like right now, to me, the horse's chest looks a bit narrow, so I may have to make it wider. I will have to look at my photo first. Comments always very much appreciated.

Colored Pencil of my granddaughter on horseback

I am really trying to fit it all in these days. I know I have to be HDHDS, whatever they call it, I have a million projects I am jumping around on and never think twice about excepting more. Need to get a reality check and focus so I can wrap a few up. I am working on a huge quilt that I hope to enter into Houston, it was my goal this year to at least submit something and the one I was going to submit I can't, so I am trying to make a new one. But inbetween, when I am just sick of looking at fabric, I not only am sketching but working on getting to know colored pencils better. I am working on this picture of Kylie, my granddaughter, taking her riding lesson. She is riding the cutest bay Arab and I just love them together. I am a bit farther these days but thought I would post this early scan of it and I will post either another update or the finished drawing next.

Drawing in public

Well I had my yearly womenly doctors appointment. You know the ones where you get assaulted and have to pay for it. Well the waiting room is always full of moms, and kids and pregnant moms-be so I took along my sketching book. I knew the wait would be long so it was a great opportunity to draw people. The hardest part about drawing people in a small room when everyone is sitting in a big circle looking at each other is to not let them know I am drawing them. I have been getting better at looking harder and better so I don't have to look up as often. There were a group of kids in the waiting room, the one boy kept getting in trouble for not staying in his seat. His mom would scold him and he would sit still for about 15 seconds and then his spine would turn to jello and he would slither out of his chair, going under the arm and into the one next to them. It was funny watching her try and keep him corraled. The next set of kids were brother and sister, waiting for their mom with their grandma. The young girl kept trying to be the mom but the grandma had the final word. The little boy would pull away from the grandma and say "Where mommy go?" and the grandma would say "Shes coming" and then she would say "Come here" and he would say "NO!" and the whole conversation would start again. It repeated itself about 40 times before the nurse came out and put on a movie and saved the day for the grandma who was trying her best to keep him in line. LOL, the good ole days.

WC Weekly challenge- dogwood

One of the members posted pictures of her mother's dogwood that is in full bloom. She took several pictures and posted them for us to draw this week. It was a great study in value and negative spaces. I am really pleased with the results, I did it with mechanical pencil in my sketchbook. Where I live we can not grow dogwoods so I envy those who can. I have tried several times, I order them from a catalog and this tiny little twig arrives. I spend the next few months babying this thing in hopes it will grow, but I haven't managed to get one to survive a full season. Its just not a Southern California (desert) plant!

Another WC weekly challenge

I loved the challenge picture this week, I hope to get a chance to redo it in color. I did the sketch after the zoo on Saturdays sketch crawl. I love the idea of capturing the reflections in glass since color shows up and is distorted. I haven't done much of them but admire those who do and want to attempt drawing it more often.

Sketch Crawl at the Zoo

We had a great day today sketching with everyone. It was so nice to meet new people and just hang out. Although I think the zoo was disappointing the animals were very accommodating by keeping their movements to a minimum so we could draw them. The enclosures posed there own problem by limiting our view at times and we had to stand to draw. I took some great pictures which I plan on turning into paintings or more refined sketches. The flamingos were beautiful, bright oranges and soft coral pinks. They looked like someone took spray paint to them. Randy and Jennifer and I all talked about how poor the animals habitates were and how it was like going to a small town zoo where there was no budget for a real zoo, in LA! Shame on Los Angeles, it should be a top of the line facility. But it was a great day with some great people and most of the animals had babies which are always great for sketching. We have another sketchcrawl in a few weeks and I am hoping to make that one too. I really enjoy the time to just concentrate on drawing and visiting with fellow artist!

EDM #65 Noses

Here are the noses living in my house, the exception is my grandsons nose at the bottom. I also journaled everyones favorite smells. I will do the rest of my family as they come over to visit and write down their favorite things too. It was a fun study.

Another Colored Pencil

I am trying to keep practicing on my colored pencil. I am working on a friends daughter. The original sketch I noticed the mouth was too small so I made some adjustments. Everyone who has seen it says it looks more like her but I may have to start over. Its all good when its a learning process. The scan really over exposes the drawing, it is not so bright in person.

New Watercolor postcard

I traded watercolor postcards with a girl in Canada, she sent me a horse and I am sending her a cat. They are really small paintings that are mailed in envelopes. They don't send them through the mail to be stamped by the postoffice. I think I like it when they do that although you do run the risk of damage to the artwork. I sent out 26 fiber postcards and all went through the mail perfectly. Only one had any damage of any kind. This painting is a watercolor, 6"x 9".

Final colored pencil drawing

This is the third post in the series of my progressive application of a color pencil technique. Scroll down to the first post to see how the picture started and progresses, its interesting although I am just really beginning in colored pencils. Here is Nathan's picture finished. I don't like the skin tones at all so I will do another one but thought I would share in the learning process. I will have to change computers to post the photo I took and used as a reference. He really was trying to eat that big green plastic egg!

Second posting of colored pencil technique

Here are more in the series of drawings, you can see the progression of layers of color. Then in the final layers you add the real color, so everything changes. Its kind of weird.

More colored pencil

I wanted to do a piece with my grandsons picture at Easter and I had been reading about a colored pencil technique where they apply an under painting of complimentary colors first then the final color of the piece. Colored pencils are done layer by layer, sometimes 20+ layers of color. Anyway, I decided to attempt this and I am disappointed with the results but I am going to do it again, not using the underpainting and see how he turns out. I have lots of cute pictures of him! It is an interesting concept and probably takes some time to master. Here are the series of progressive pictures. You will have to scroll up to catch them all. Dianne

EDM #62 Draw a previous challenge in a different medium

My daughter brought home a beautiful daylily yesterday. She told me that she would love to grow them after seeing this flower. It was an unusually deep shade of orange/red. I have seen some really lovely colored pencil drawings where they say they layer up to 20 colors and layers to get the depth of color etc and I have been dying to play. I used to do colored pencils but not with any true knowledge of how to use them and they always were just a nice soft picture. I am really please with my first attempt and want to get more familar with this medium again. I want to know how they are burnishing the colors down etc. Seems like I just have to have my fingers into everything!

Newest weekly sketch assignment at WC

This picture was really hard since the reference photo was really dark and details were hard to make out. It is a cute picture of some kitty's having a moment, by the window in the sun. I did it with mechanical pencils but the scanning process really doesn't lend itself to pencil drawings. I love the challenge of working in different mediums. It doesn't really matter what it is, its all about the creative process.

I have been working on several quilts, one is my newest art quilt for Houston! Hopefully it will make it into that show, one of my many goals. I will post as soon as I finish painting all the fabric and getting it fairly put together. Stay tuned.

More Huntington Gardens picts

Well I will be done with the Huntington gardens after this post. I have too many other drawing to try to get onto the blog. I find the more I draw now the more I want to just draw or paint. Its hard to stay focused on the things we have to do verses the things I want to do.

Huntington Gardens

We had a wonderful day at the Huntington Gardens, the weather was perfect as was the company. We met up with Karen, Robin, Wendee and Nancy. Jennifer and Randy came with me and took off on their own for a fun filled day while I drew with the group. I must say that my only complaint is that the time flew by and I didn't get as much drawn as I would have liked too. I am posting a few today and more to come of the sketches I did while there. Most are very quick renditions of things. This drawing is of a bonsi juniper in the Japanese garden area, the water was a bit dirty due to all of the rain runoff I am sure, but beautiful none the less. I just loved the trees and interesting textures that the area was full of. We also had a few visitors as we sat and sketched, they were coming to see if we had anything to eat in our pencil boxes.

EDM #61 Draw a grouping and Huntington Gardens

Well I decided with much encouragement from Robin to join the weekly sketch over at wetcanvas. I need to do the watercolor one too, now that I have seen the beautiful egret. Anyway, I did last weeks sketch tonight but need to start the new one. It was a grouping of three+ apples so it qualified. I had such a wonderful time at the Huntington Gardens with everyone. I will post some pictures soon. I enjoyed meeting everyone and dispelling some myths about certain people hehehe. Everyone was so wonderful and fun, we had a great time. But it went far too fast. All of the Southern Calif people need to come to the next one for sure!

EDM #15 Draw a tree or trees

We went to the Mission Inn for Sunday Brunch and the weather was great so we sat outside. I love to go there, every spot is a drawing opportunity. I could just spend the whole day ( which I may) drawing different areas. They have inside courtyards, and arch covered walkways with huge wisteria growing over them. A wonderful pool area and several chapels etc. Here is my quick sketch/painting. Normally we have never been disappointed in their food but I must say nothing went right today. Our reservation was wrong and they didn't specify a wheelchair, so they couldn't seat us, so we went to a different area where we were finally seated. Then they had a grease backup, and this carmel looking gooey grease started to creep out of the sewage covers right by where we were sitting, yuck, so they moved us again. Needless to say it wasn't the nicest of visits but we wont hold it against them. I am not done drawing!

Velda Newmans class

I went to a wonderful quilt class in Glendale, Calif. last week. We took Velda Newmans class and learned a bunch of new techniques for achieving specific looks on our fabric. It was a fun day and I think I will use more of her methods in my quilts. I really love her work anyway. She is so nice and down to earth. She was recovering from brain surgery where they had recently found a tumor and had to operate. She seemed to be doing great except she would have a hard time finding the right word occasionally, but I do that all the time and have never had brain surgery. I sat during part of lunch and drew this sketch of items around the room. A friend won 1st place at the show and we worked on painting realistic apples.