a brand new tiny little life

I often do these quick sketches on my Sketchbook for Samsung phone app because I can save and post to my blog so easily. Sometimes I don't have watercolor, sketchbook paper or anything else handy but I can sit in the corner with my phone looking like I am absorbed in facebook or something.

events

“There are many events in the womb of time which will be delivered.”
― William Shakespeare, Othello

Mother, Grandmother, Doula and Artist sketching while attending the birth of my third grandchild.

Marching days

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations



I thought that I could put my snow boots in the far corner of the closet and not need them again this year. We had sunshine and songbirds last week!
















It is snowing today, great big heavy chrysanthemum flower shaped flakes. Put on the old boots and get out there to shovel again. 
These tiny winter Aconites from last week are smothered with 5 inches of cold white winter.
Both of these sketches were created with my Sketchbook app on my Samsung phone. I lost the stylus a day ago so I finished the aconite sketch using my fingers. It got a bit heavy and lost some nuances. Here is another version. Found my stylus today and drew these old snow boots.

celebrate the day

Join me in a toast to life! Today my third grandchild is born.

tiny little new life

True spring green is not showing itself yet. Mounds of disgusting blackened snow are still hulking here and there.
So far the only spring flowers I have found are these teeny tiny breaths of yellow in the grass. Bright yellow Winter Aconite which come from miniature bulbs that I must have planted ages ago spreading across our lawn. These appear long before the crocuses or daffodils or best of all, dandelions.
In our household we are also waiting breathlessly for the appearance of another tiny new life. A baby! His due date was Friday the Vernal Equinox of Spring but he is ignoring that timetable made up by grown-ups.
This bunch of Winter Aconite is so tiny it would fit in a newborn baby's palm

spring!

Yesterday was the Vernal Equinox. Words are so lovely. I love the words "vernal" meaning spring, and the word "equinox" meaning day and night are of the same duration.
Above is a watercolor of my favorite spring flowers, blue irises.

A Father's Love

8 





























The Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.
12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west,
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on his faithful followers.
14 For he knows what we are made of;
he realizes we are made of dust.
15 A person’s life is like grass.
Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
16 but when the hot wind blows by, it disappears,
and one can no longer even spot the place where it once grew.
17 But the Lord continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers,
and is faithful to their descendants,
18 to those who keep his covenant,
who are careful to obey his commands.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven;
his kingdom extends over everything.
Psalm 103:8-19 (our Scripture reading on Ash Wednesday)

This little painting is another one of those unfinished bits that I began and stopped because of the many distractions in life. It is a sketch of my husband and our firstborn son. Maybe now that he is grown, I can finally finish it. When the Scripture lesson was read on Ash Wednesday, this image flashed into mind. oil on canvas 9x12

pi,pie, or cake day

Forget about Pie or Pi, I am making a Lemon Cake today. Pi has always been a mystery to me being an art or literature major type.

Specially requested as a birthday treat for the family.

in honor of pi day

3-14-15 is not ever going to happen again. What a thought.

snow melting sunshine and songbirds

Spring is just beginning, just a hint in the air, and the sound of melting snow is like bright music.

These birds are original artwork that I created for my oldest daughter's wedding invitation and assorted printed accessories.

24 hours late

My flight from Chicago to Denver should have lasted 2 hours 10 minutes. Frontier Airlines managed to stretch the ordeal out to more than 24 hours. Planes didn't show up, after frustrating hours with no communication, flights were cancelled. No effort made to compensate arrange a new schedule, vouchers, nothing. The employees were exceedingly rude to us customers.
The only explanation offered by the rude company spokesman was that the plane had "mechanical problems". Yes, I would prefer to fly on a safe, mechanically sound plane, but weren't there any other planes available in 24 hours? All the flights seemed to have "mechanical problems"all the time and everywhere.
And the weather was fine, clear  in Chicago and lovely in Denver. No storms or nasty weather excuses for the problems.





My heart went out to this young woman flying alone with her infant. Four or five hours walking up and down the terminal keeping the baby quiet from Wednesday to Thursday.

And the weather was fine, clear  in Chicago and lovely in Denver. No storms or nasty weather excuses for the problems.

at the airport

fellow travelers share the misery

I traveled to Colorado this week on Frontier Airlines. Long story/Short story; I will never fly with that company again. Sketch here from my sketchbook while waiting for flights that never happened.

after the big snow

There is a tall and splendid sycamore tree outside my kitchen window. It is most striking in the winter. The white and black and dappled bark of the trunk and the architecture of the limbs show off against the winter sky. Often it happens that a bright blue sky accompanied by more bitter cold follows a big snow.

I have drawn this tree many times. Here is an illustration for a magazine story, the same tree is glimpsed out the window behind the main character. And here is a sketch from last winter showing the tree from my kitchen window.

and freezing

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily."So it is.""And freezing.""Is it?""Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."
― A. A. Milne
The House at Pooh Corner

all moments

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." Frederick Buechner  Life Itself is Grace

My son got a new job! We celebrated with a sushi lunch. Savoring the moments, and sketching in the moment on my Samsung phone Sketchbook app.

Byzantine Art exhibit

Icon of Christ Pantokrator late 14th century

We visited an historic exhibit of Byzantine Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. I was told by an art historian friend not to miss this because the entire collection is from Greece and most likely will not ever be exhibited together again.
And I usually take my sketchbook with me and balance it on one hand while furiously sketching out my impressions with the other as it makes me really look long and deeply.

Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections presents 63 superb artworks from the early Christian and Byzantine eras. Originally exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the exhibition represents major artistic holdings from Greece—many of which have never been exhibited outside that country—consisting of shimmering mosaics, architectural fragments, manuscripts, luxury glass, silver, personal adornments, liturgical textiles, and painted icons.