brain stew

this is the product of brain stew. i enjoy that it happens to me. but then i try to make it go further, before it's ready... and then i don't enjoy the heart burn from those thoughts. just let it be brain stew. you'll know when it's ready. i mean i don't open the oven 100 times to know when the roasted vegetables are done. easier said than done.

i realized my sketches from 2006 look like precursors to my sketches now-a-days. those ideas are with me forever. so i wonder what now, will have been a precursor for, later.

so- these are just studies. good for sitting around and yelling out possibilities. but for now, if they make you feel something, tell me.

what do you think?

i am owned by summertime. a division of seasons.

has anyone else ever shucked their own oysters? not me, but my sister has. proof:

have you ever seen such a cuteness combo as a baby and a puppy, on the beach, together? (note: this is not our baby-- she walked over for the puppy-- and not our puppy---it's our friend's puppy... but it is our beach, and it was a totally cute.)

augie is the ultimate beach dog. fluffy and lazy and tan.

burst-y burst

friday to friday went by, so fast, and in a burst-like way, which must be necessary or else my idea-bursting would last too long and i'd explode. i've saved up some goodness for blogging next week. in the mean time, here are some new etsy cards. and a pretty cool blog showcasing their new logo + header.

supplement to {this moment} friday : grampy's elegant and familiar hand-swoop-nudge, and the j+j corn bag meditation stack.

{this moment}

inspired by SouleMama

 
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

{this moment}

inspired by SouleMama

 
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

 

 

illustration friday: swept

illustration friday topic for the week, "swept" ...
i honestly cringe when i see these rickety-junk-struggle-buses coming down the sand. i'm sorry if you drive one, but they just don't seem necessary. seaweed sweepers, should be their name. they don't even grab the trash. and they leave an unnatural trail.

what's good.

filling this little sketchbook so i almost need a new one, painting or drawing every day this week, and taking lots of pictures so i can also work from indoors when i need to. there is a difference between painting from life and painting from a photo. they go hand in hand, but sometimes one (or the other) captures something you didn't mean to, in a good way.

here is something that's wicked good. ...it's just... beyond me.

what's good with you?

fits + starts

someday, i'll put up some more finished pieces. i just kind of blast through ideas while not being sure of the purpose right now. lots of starts. i'm hoping the finishes find ME.

a pink one for good luck. mmm..lilikoi frosting :)

it's so gray in my apartment with the rainy day outside... i think i'll just actually GO outside and try to capture the gray then. beats sitting inside trying to wish it away.

something i read yesterday and am still thinking about today:

etsy blog article: teaching kids to think big

the above etsy article is an important one to me. and it looks like to everyone else, too. there were hundreds of comments before mine, and tons of comments after... on "how do we help kids 'think big'." i often think about that, how i want to indulge creativity and imagination, and give my future children the tools to do what makes them happy in life... withOUT having to move far up into the woods away from cell phones and computers, and WITH having them still understand the societal, generational, hard work ethic, values.

here's what i said in response to the article:

i was lucky to grow up with a family who indulged my creativity and allowed me to be who i wanted to be. but, i do live in a society where i feel the need to put pressure on myself to have that tangible success, money and a material life to some extent. i don't think we can keep children from feeling this pressure, but i do think we can allow them to feel like it's okay to explore and question. and that their imaginations are free and always should be. indulge that however you can. knowing how to "make" things (whether it's food, art, music, ...) instills confidence. and i think as an adult, (someone above said this well...) we learn to re-evaluate the meaning of success. and, if we have been given the proper tools of love and respect and confidence and freedom ...as a kid, then as an adult we can learn to follow our hearts, knowing that we'll be much happier this way, and that THAT is success, and THAT is a purpose that's just as respectable as any other.

i'm not sure if that makes complete sense, but i do think someone else said it well, "think big yourself."

if you read the article, let me know what you think!

d.i.y

i want to buy this book. in the summary, i learned about Resistance, and found this quote, which i want to paint on the wall:

"We are not born with unlimited choices... Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal that we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it." 

meanwhile, i am very inspired by this book. which i just finished, but can't put down.

last week, i got outside and painted from life. here's something i started. it was certainly what i need to do more of this summer. i think i can... i think i can...

D.I.Y is not always cheaper ... but definitely more fun.
Happy 27th Birthday Jay!!! (i know someday, we'll be leaving the number out of that phrase. but even then, i still would like you to announce the age of the person who is giving me a good-morning-good-bye kiss. "hey-an 81-year-old here ... giving you a kiss.")

woah- is that me? double me's who are not me, but are me.

right now our farmer's markets have lots of seedlings and potted plants, bright crisp circley radishes, huge beets, fancy lettuces, ... and flash mobs!? .... oh, and some meat, and eggs. and soap. all pretty good for june. but look what san fran gets in june!

farmer's market + grocery store + beach garden rosemary. regardless, i just love the shapes and colors this is making...