My first time doing this. First, I did the blind contour* of the sailboat as a warm up, followed by a regular, sighted drawing, and finally the blind of Dad’s sculpture. Fun, instructive, freeing experience.  Goodbye, expectation of perfection. Adios, left brain.   Great surprise in the reveals. I found myself immediately appreciating parts of the blind contour but criticizing the regular drawing. Hmmm….there is something profound to be said of this appreciating the blind and criticizing the sighted thing, but I am too tired to put it in words. Maybe, expectations? Finding the beauty and wonder in chaos? Finding the flaws and imperfections in the orderly? Something to ponder. * The blind contour method involves carefully observing the outline and shapes of a subject while slowly drawing its contours in a continuous line without looking at the paper.  The goal of blind drawing is to really see the thing you’re looking at rather than retreat into your mental image of...

A previous prompt (lyrics) inspired a tribute to my mother. Today is Dad’s turn. When going through and organizing family treasures recently, I stumbled upon Dad’s army stuff . . . this manual on map reading, his ration stamp books, uniformed photos, memorabilia from Hawaii, postcards, letters, and more. My family is one that, across generations both maternal and paternal, saves EVERYTHING. Being an only child, I am the repository of all family memorabilia, and I am most definitely carrying on the family tradition of hoarding (er . . . saving) stuff. This was an interesting experience delving into Dad’s military experience. I remember him  speaking of Pearl Harbor and his time in Hawaii, but the details mentioned in this letter from a friend of his who served with him provide an interesting picture of his time there.  Though I have treasured artifacts, I wish I had spoken with him more about this time in his life.  I do remember him playing his ukulele. This last photo is...

I always get a side eye when I smooth out and save tissue paper from gifts. What folks don’t understand is how cool it is to use in collage! (Tissue paper is like an extra gift.) This took longer than 5 minutes because I really got involved in this one. Fun, airy, light.   Moral of this post: There is no need to actually buy me gifts; just a wad of tissue paper will thrill me!😎

Ok, this one made me cry. Everything was significant: Mom’s diary of all the books she read, that one of the book titles was “No Greater Love,” her handwriting, the green “W” on the bottom left side for her maiden name West, and the green “S” on the right side along with the 1945 wedding photo of when she became a Shaw, and her memorial card from the day I said that final, tearful  goodbye. And that brings us to the prompt - lyrics from one of my most treasured songs. 

Ta da! I met the challenge goal and did this in 5 minutes. (Well, the scribbled Micron, the neurographic drawing, and the glued prompt sticker, that is. I spent another 25 minutes having fun with acrylics, Posca pen, gel pen, and embellishing.) I used the gorgeous color palette in the prompt sticker. I’ll tell ya, that huge white space haunted me. Fill in or leave blank? It’s ALWAYS a challenge for me to know when to stop. Then I found the quote and couldn’t help myself. Very meditative session today. Enjoyed doing neurographic drawing again, as I haven’t done that in a long while. FUN!

The olive’s origin as a symbol of peace can be traced back to ancient a Greece and Rome. It not only symbolizes peace, but victory, fidelity annd strength, friendship, cleansing, light, reconciliation, and richness in different cultures and religions.  Olive  branches are found on the UN flag,  representing the organization’s dedication to maintaining world peace. The image can be found on coins, coats of arms, police patches, and badges all throughout the world. Given all of that symbolism, it seems fitting to consider the olive in these troubled times of conflict, division, and war. Peaceful  efforts to resolve issues is so very much needed.  This piece took much longer than my goal of five minutes .  I got W-A-Y carried away with painting meditative watercolored branches of olive leaves and thinking about love, peace, and resolution. “Lyrics” may as well be a permanent prompt for me because they show up in most of my journal entries, and these are ...

  After painting this one, I had a powerful urge to hop in a boat and row around on a quiet, still, remote lake. After rowing assertively, I wanted to drop my arm over the side and drag it through the calm, refreshing water. Sketching took a ridiculous amount of time to get things right, and the paper in my journal  didn’t accept watercolor well. I suppose I could have easily accomplished this one with colored pencils, but I wanted the watercolor effect because . . . well, it is water. 💧