the palace

one of three, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

Santa Fe's plaza is the home of the Palace of the Governors.

This is a hasty sketch of part of the famous palace, where native american craftspeople have been setting up their wares for sale since the 1930's (?)

Next time I go on vacation I'm making much more time for drawing and painting.

Reality

A few weeks ago (time flies) I went on a 5 day vacation with my friend Kaye. We went to New Mexico and spent time in Santa Fe and Taos, mostly.

The trip was a much needed break form real life and was supposed to be a groovy trip into a sort of surreality. It was surreal, as anyone who has been to New Mexico can attest (they don't call it the Land of Enchantment for nothing) but graciously, the trip also reminded me of the sweet reality that we sometimes get way wound up over stuff that doesn't matter. Everyone we encountered were the most laid back, easy-going, take it easy kind of people I'd ever met. Chilled out. Smiling. Relaxed.

Spending just five days without TV or internet and spending lots of time outside in the sun and wind and high altitude inspired me inside and out. Walking around old pueblos during the day and then beholding the worlds most amazing sunsets each evening is reality. I didn't get to sketch as much as I'd hoped, though I took lots of pictures (627!) I can't wait to go back. I'll sketch and paint more next time.

On the last day in Santa Fe, we had a few hours in the morning to kick around before we had to drive to Albuquerque to catch our flight back home. I found a spot in front of the San Miguel Mission and sketched the front of it.


The San Miguel Mission is said to be the oldest church in America.

"overheard"

Drawing at the coffee shop

The day I drew this, during a long lunch at a café down the road from where I work, I ran into one person I hadn't seen in years, chatted with two random co-workers while standing in line waiting to place my order, and I noticed a local celebrity who was sitting at the other end of the café reading the newspaper having a cup of tea.

hat and coat on hook

hat and coat on hook, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

While we waitied for our order, I sketched this coat hanging on a hook in a local family restaurant. It was the first time I had ever pulled out my sketchbook in a restaurant. I was in a nother world while I was sketching, and I'm not sure if that was a good thing. I was cool. But what was everyone else thinking?

Not Blogging

park bench, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

When I was hanging out at the park with my two boys I sketched these two women sitting on a park bench on the other side of the pond from where I was. They were chatting, I was drawing, no one was blogging.

Elsewhere

One of my collages has been featured on the IKEA fan blog, Positive Fanatics. Groovy.

not a video game

After a long Spring Break week of dreary weather and mostly staying at home (filled with a lot of cartoon network and video games, and not as much shooting hoops, bike riding, or outside play as everyone would have liked,) we all welcomed the brief fair and sunny days this past weekend.

Sometime in the middle of Sunday afternoon the boys' bikes were loaded onto the bike rack attached to the truck and we all headed over to the bike-track and skate-pit park where they could ride a while. The place was packed. Turns out there are dirt bike races every Sunday afternoon and kids and adults come from all over the state to race. We found a spot to sit on the knoll between the bike-track and the skate-pit and watched the kids in action. I tried to draw some of the skateboarders - not so easy since they don't exactly want to stay still and pose...

The boys rode their bikes around the park some while we hung out and watched. Everyone agreed it was way more fun than anything on a TV or a computer screen ever could be.

old rusty

old rusty, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

The sun was low in the west one evening last weekend and instead of holing up inside the house after dinner and all that I brought the sketchbook and watercolors out the the backyard patio table. Old rusty was parked right there in the grass, smilin, "Draw me! Draw me!" My boys had been pushing each other around in the yard in it earlier, laughing and making all kinds of noise. Raaawwwwwrrr!

Soon old rusty (and squeaky) will help move compost and bags of home improvement store garden soil to the garden spots.

FEET

IF FEET, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.
This one can be seen full size.

Handy Tracker

This is my Handy Tracker for making some sense of myself during the month. This is handy not just for me, but if my hubby would check it out as well, it might clue him in as to why I'm especially sweet, or "unusually" withdrawn.

(click here to see it bigger)

Disclaimer: There is at least one small error in wording... I didn't notice it until after it was scanned and uploaded. It's "pre-menstrual," not "pre-menopausal..." although, really- the symptoms are quite similar.

And while this chart is based on information found all over the internet, I am not a medical professional and claim no expertise, other than saying that the general "flow" of this chart has generally been acurate in my case.

Oh, and one more thing: Yes, I designed this one, and yes, you may use it for personal use if you wish - Free! If you decide to publish it (on the internet or elsewhere) please just note where you found it, thanks!

Here's how it works:
There's a line for each month... just begin at the top with the next time you "start," by writing in the month and the date you begin under the "0" and then just list the dates across from there.
You'll run out of room but that's okay, because you'll just begin at the beginning again under "0" when the next cycle starts.
Ovulation normally occurs around 7 or 10 days after the last day of the period - this is an estimate, but it's safe to say that it happens around mid-cycle.
You should be able to take it from there,

the land of enchantment

New Mexico landscapes, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

This is a page from a sketchbook I brought on our 2004 car-trip vacation to Durango, Colorado. While riding in the car looking out at the amazing New Mexico landscape I sketched a few of the scenes. Talk about 'gesture' drawing. I can't wait to return.

Sunday News, more or less crafty in nature.

Today feels like a good Sunday. The rain fell all night and this morning the sun has been shining on the wet spring green grass and dark umber garden dirt. The wet concrete patio feels cold under my bare feet when I stand on it facing the warm sun to the south. Our black scruffy little dog has been yipping at the squirrels and birds playing up along the skinny leafless branches of the elm and sassafrass trees by the back fence.

While I drank cup of earl grey green tea (it's okay, not my favorite flavor... earl grey is better with black tea) I read the Sunday paper headlines, eventually finding the weekly ad for Hobby Lobby. This week crochet hooks are on sale for 1/2 price, which is good. I only have two and that just won't be enough if I'm to try to knit the cute little bear (by Camilla) in my new book The Happy Hooker.

I confess: I have forgotten how to follow crochet patterns. I used to know how... in college... Now I'll have to re-learn. My son has already seen the pictures and he is in love. "Mom, please, can you 'sew' one tonight?" Gees.
Maybe this will help...

It's out of an old issue of Martha Stewart Baby (Winter 2000) and the pointed hat seems to have the same idea as the pointy faces of the bears. We'll see...

The weekly ad also shows that modeling clay is on sale this week. Maybe I'll restock my trashed-out-by-clay-monsters supply and make something funny.

(trashed out by clay monsters supply of modeling clay)

Now, all this writing and photo upoading has made me want to go back outside to the grass, birds and sunlight and so I'm off. I think I'll bring my sketchbook with me. And go barefoot. Going barefoot is so underrated.

recently

This is a drawing that started out as a headless body with lots of arms and just two legs. A few days later the egg-shaped thing appeared under the legs, and then the lines connecting the hands sort of happened. Then the drawing just rested for several days between the pages in the sketchbook.
Lately, I've not sketched much, not even during office meetings... Even though I bring my sketchbook with me to work, thinking I may steal a moment to draw, it just ends up staying in my bag underneath my desk all day until it's time to go home again.
The other day I brought the sketchbook with me to the boys' soccer games and tried to draw while watching them play from the sidelines.

When I do take the time to draw the drawing doesn't seem to get finished. Like this one. It's been building over time.

So, then one day I drew the head on this many-armed body and also added the journaling above it. And then the rest just fell into place.



recently, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

IF Tea

Oh, the cozy of a Friday evening with nowhere to be and nothing to do except to have a cup of tea while watching the speed skaters race.

Inked the tea bag during my Friday lunch break. Color added later in the evening at home.

By the way - this is the tea that came as part of a goodie package from the wonderful Maria in Sweden. Tack Maria! Jag blev så glad av allt som du skickade :)

Purpose

When we write and draw, we have the unique first in line opportunity of seeing, reading - learning - that which we are trying to express. There may be desire to understand a drawing when there is not a clear purpose or title.

Why is there a large black round spot in the middle of the figure's body? What kind of hat is the figure wearing - is it a helmet?

Is he (or she) angry, or stoic, or bored? What does it mean?

Hunger?
Hate?
Sadness?
Promise?
Opportunity?

Nothing?

coffee all day

coffee all day, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

IF Song

When I think of song, what came to mind is a simple song I remember from my childhood. The lyrics go something like this:

Vem kan segla förutan vind
Vem kan ro utan åror
Vem kan skiljas från vännen sin
Utan att fälla tårar

Jag kan segla förutan vind
Jag kan ro utan åror
Men ej skiljas från vännen min
Utan att fälla tårar

Translated into English, it goes sort of like this,

Who can sail without winds
Who can row without oars
Who can part from a friend
Without shedding a tear

I can sail without winds
I can row without oars
But I can't part from my friend
Without shedding a tear

I do not know who wrote this melancholy song.

Update Feb 23: Check it out! My Dad just emailed me this link. You can hear a sample of this song, as sung by Nina Lizell and Lee Hazelwood (cica 1970) - It is number 11 in the sample song list....

IF - Chair

The chair is a happy model for the artist. The chair won't move or change positions. The chair accomodates the artist. The chair poses patiently.
One evening last July the western sky was the color of a peach. The lawn grass was greener than a crayon. The temperature of the air was a backyard perfect 75 degrees Farenheit. Together they cooked up a dish called Gorgeous Summer Evening with Kick Back and Relax, garnished with little Sketch A While.

This one... ah, yes. The TV - it was on one of the Kerry - Bush debates last October. W sat in the IKEA recliner and looked at an I Spy book, and I was on the couch with my sketchbook. Our scruffy cute dog found her way into these sketches too!

And here is one of our old green metal patio chairs. They were uncomfortable until I bought the perfect seat pads for them on sale at Target. They look good now, those green metal chairs, with these new red-orange striped seat pads, and they are a lot more comfrortable to sit in.

Pull up a chair. Have a seat. What's on your mind?

Weaving

Right now the hobby table is cleaned off. There are several odd sized boxes in the hallway. The boxes are filled with things like cheap plastic tumblers - bright blue, orange and pink tumblers - an electric juicer, a plastic mandoline, some old candle sticks and tea light cups, and lots of art supplies. It's that time of year. Time to clear out the clutter. The only thing on the "art room" floor now is the hobby table, the bookshelves, and two guitars.

The woven paper collage above was done back in December. Collage making relaxes my mind so it often wanders off somewhere make-believe, somewhere silly, or playful, or adventurous. I never know what will end up on the page before I start. It's purely creative - spontaneous. That is what my art is, I think. Spontaneous.
Maybe the spontaneity of my creations is what makes it is a healthy challenge for me to do more "assigned" art. Concept art. Art with intent. Disciplined art. Maybe.

mome rath

mome rath, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

Right now this one is in a pretty good mood. The tea is only lukewarm, however, and some other thing is yawning loudly behind him.

learning to play

learning to play, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

oo de lally
oo de lally
golly what a day

Patterns

Having a tendency to doodle during office meetings it only makes sense to bring an actual sketchbook with me instead of a lined notebook. It tooka awhile for this to happen because there is a little courage involved... maybe the same kind of courage it takes to sketch in public.

Amazingly, the sketchbook hasn't created any stir at all. And that's nice.

In this sketch I noticed a lot of patterns, and maybe that's the left side of the brain having some fun. The cool thing about office doodles (drawings) is they have no pre-determined concept and the entire time the pen is moving across the page there is the opportunity for anything to emerge.

IF katten

katten, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

A smile Lewis Carroll might have appreciated.

...turns out Friday evenings while waiting as my son takes guitar lessons is a good time to sketch...

guitar lessons

blue moon music, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

My son is taking guitar lessons. I am taking time to sketch.

IF E is for...

When I saw the topic "E is for..." I was initially disappointed... The topic immediately brought to mind the Dr. Seuss ABC book, again, and didn't my illustration for Sea kind of play on the Dr. Seuss ABC theme?

So I thought about "E is for..." and frustratingly all kinds of great "E" words came to mind, all kinds of English and Swedish words. Maybe I could pick a Swedish word for E, I thought.

IFeisfor, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

There are so many things E is for and my illustration is a sketch where E-words are randomly listed inside a big E.
Maybe this sketch could grow up to be a big illustration someday, but for now, E is for the 5th letter in the alphabet, and really so much more.

Update: Feb. 2, 2006

The "E" has been to the spa, and look how refreshed it seems to be now.

collage with office doodle and a lunch receipt

collage with office doodle and a lunch receipt, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

This year I decided to save as many shopping/ purchase receipts as possible and to make it worthwhile the receipts are ending up in collages.

My little project may not be on the scale of Kate's, but I'm already having a little fun with it.

This page includes the receipt from my lunch on January 4th. During the few minutes while I waited for the order I sketched this.

Sea

This one can be viewed larger - just click the image.

Lunchsketch

While I was waiting for my order at lunch yesterday I noticed a handsome converse sneaker, attached to a young man, underneath the table across from me. The sneaker looked back at me, and then it winked and mouthed, "sketch me."
How could I not?

Illustration Friday: Flavor

IF Flavor, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

Hurling "Hate" arrows to the Valentines's day candy may seem a little violent... but I really don't (want to) like the flavor(s) and this little visual imagery has been successful because when I pass the (disgusting) valentines day aisle in the stores I have been flinging quiver loads of Hate Arrows toward the (awful) sweets and chocolates.

It's my defense strategy. Muahahaha.