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.

office phone

office phone, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

It was quiet at the office this week with lots of people out during the holidays. Good thing I brought my new sketchbook with me to work... and a loaded *new* iPod (!)

A co-worker of mine stopped by and, like so many times previously, he shook his head and said "Why are you here? You should be illustrating childrens' books."
But this time I said something like, "Okay, why don't you write the story, and I'll illustrate it."

Fifteen minutes later he brought over a sheet of paper with a story printed on it. It's enough story for at least 20 illustrated pages, maybe more. Gosh.

Why not? It'll be fun, and good practice. I love looking at childrens book illustrations, there are so many illustrators I admire, there are so many styles. We'll see where this goes, this little challenge placed before me. Who knows?

Illustration Friday - Holiday

Guest artist: My Dad. From a series he drew in 1964.

Wallpaper Collages

A while back I was shopping at the home improvement store when on a clearance rack I noticed a stack of sample packs of wallpaper for $1.00. The added scraps of office doodles seem to balance out the collages...

Magazine clippings and wallpaper samples make great collage material.

Not all my collages have wallpaper samples.
Other collages are made entirely with wallpaper samples.

I think I like the simplicity of these recent collages. Maybe it is a respons to the otherwise very hectic and stressful pre-holiday weeks?

Illustration Friday - Imagine

The other day while doodling at the office, this little coffee pot suddenly appeared on the page under my pen. I imagine it could be a creamer, or a syrup dispenser... or maybe a brain could be put into it, which is what my imaginative son suggested.

Open For Business

Annelito has opened her SHOP!
Check her out, don'cha know.
She has a groovy style I like, and now her art is available for purchase. Hurry, because those cool brooches, rings, vases and magnets will go fast!

Beatles Songs

Here's a thing I found on Susanne's Ventil, and hey, what a day to sing a few Beatles songs.

Choose an artist (or band) and answer only in song TITLES by that artist: The Beatles
Are you male or female: She's a Woman
Describe yourself: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da
How do some people feel about you: Day Tripper
How do you feel about yourself: Think For Yourself
Describe your ex boyfriend: Dear Prudence
Describe where you want to be: Norwegian Wood
Describe what you want to be: Good Day Sunshine
Describe what you want: Money
Describe how you live: Too Much Monkey Business
Describe how you love: Act Naturally
Share a few words of wisdom: All You Need Is Love
- - - - -
Check out Laura's sketches form her trip to Sweden.
- - - - -

Ilustration Friday - Blue

Blue, originally uploaded by Tifty's Art.

Blue - An office doodle from today.

Two things happened today:

... I recommended a co-worker, a peer, for a leadership position.

... J supported me as I made a huge decision.

Illustration Friday - Small

When I think of "small" I think about the size of me and my selfish ego in relation to the universe. And it makes me feel free, and light and happy and not angry and not hateful and not judgemental.

(This is my first ever Illustration Friday topic/participation! And it's already time for a new topic, Blue, and I hope to submit a drawing for that also.)

Time Goes By

Diagram of my average weekday.

Clay Day

Played with my son's clay today.
This guy had a body, made of clay. It was smooshed. The head was spared. So the new body was drawn.

This is temporary art. Not made to last, not meant to last, not gonna last.
Sometimes, a liberating creative burst happens when the creation is less important than the creating itself. And every now and then, that freedom yields really fun stuff!

I look at this clay head and I just smile. It's CLAY. It's smooshable.

A little book

The other day when I found PocketMod.com (via Susanne) I printed out some of these Food Diary sheets for a handmade book I made. So practical.

On the page above are a few quotes, and the one that says "Don't make rules, just follow them." is a reminder to myself to do the things I am always declaring I shall do. In other words, when I make a personal declaration like, 'get up early and practice yoga,' it's better to just get p early and practice yoga than to declare it.

The pin in the head is just one of those doodles gone wild. It started out being a pin in a pin cushion, and suddenly the pin cushion became a head!

You can view the series here.

Here's a doodle from a meeting at the office. The meeting was a big overview on Sherman Anti-trust compliance.
I've really played around with this doodle in photoshop, using some neat brushes I found at rebel-heart. Miss M can make some groovy cool brushes!

It was twenty years ago today

Today I called work and left a message for my boss that I would not be coming in because I had to take care of a family situation. Since I did not elaborate it may have sounded strange, and tomorrow I will have to explain, I suppose.

The long version or the short and for-good-company version?
How about this: Marriage enrichment. My hubby and I both needed to spend a day together just the two of us, no kids, a whole day, at least until we had to go pick up the boys from school :)

We had a really nice time, relaxed, and stress free, and we were able to carry on conversations without interruptions or trying to give one another a status update or instructions or "constructive criticism!"

Today, I just realized, marks twenty years since our first ever date, when we were 18. We went to a high school football game. It started to rain. We had to sit pretty close together on the bleacher under my umbrella. I have no idea who won that game.

Against the Wind

"Only a fool wishes for what he wants. A wise man works for it."
-Peter van Winkle

Doing My Work

What is holding me back from doing my creative work? What is holding you back from doing yours?
Sometimes I wonder if all the surfing around and finding "inspiration" in the so many wonderful and beautiful, and brilliant and clever designs, creations, and images among all the internet bookmarks is getting in the way of my own creating. The inspiration is so big, so great, and so much fun to find that I choose 'finding inspiration' over doing my own creative work.
Does this make any sense?

Maybe all this inspiration is really building up a kind of resistance in me.
Maybe not.
I don't think the idea is to always come up with something new and different. As if.
There is nothing new under the sun.
I think the idea is to do creative work. No matter what. Now. Today!

"The highest treason a crab can commit is to make a leap for the rim of the bucket."
"The awakening artist must be ruthless, not only with herself but with others. Once you make a break, you can't turn around for your buddy who catches his trousers on the barbed wire. The best thing you can do for that friend (and he'd tell you this himself, if he really is your friend) is to get over the wall and keep moating."
"The best thing and only thing that the artist can do for another is to serve s an example and an inspiration."

-The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield,
who writes from the hip about breaking
through blocks and winning inner creative battles.
Cool.

On a Day Off...

When I take a day of vacation to stay home with the boys because they are out of school I always think I'll have all this extra time to "catch up" on all my little projects, errands, housekeeping, and maybe even get something creative done too.

I was off on Monday and today this week and so far the most 'creative' thing I have done is videotape the hairstylist while she was cutting my hair. Oh, and I embroidered a little too.

Tonight I'm cutting and gluing. I want to fill up my sketchbooks so I can buy more.

This is the challenge: Fill Up The Sketchbooks. By January 1, 2006.
How hard can it be?

Polaroided

Polaroided, originally uploaded by Tifty.

Since it's been a while since I scanned anything to upload here I thought a neat polaroided picture would be about right here. It's a Flickr Toy, found here.

I'll have a little time to update tomorrow, I hope. Fresh doodles coming soon!

Art Studio

There is a new group at flickr. It is called Art Studio. The idea is for people to post pictures of their art studios, or creative spaces, or art nooks, craft corners, or hole in the closets where they usually spend time creating.

Every February the magazine Home Companion will feature well-known artists' studio spaces, and this is my favorite issue, sometimes the only issue, I buy all year. I love seeing artist studios.

Several years ago, on one of my visits to Sweden, we visited the (now a museum) home of the famous Swedish artist Carl Larsson. It is a home where every wall is a work of art, painted and decorated by Carl and his wife Karin. If you ever get a chance, go there! Carl Larsson also drew and painted his own home and studio interior many times. So inspiring!
We also visited the museum home of another Swedish painter, Anders Zorn. On the property it is possible to peer into his log cabin art studio, or ateljé, I imagine what it was like to paint by the light from a lantern at night, or from the light of the sun streaming in the small windows.

My "studio" is the top of an IKEA hobby table, in a spare bedroom. It used to be the space on the kitchen counter before we moved the boys into a room together, after we bought the solid oak bunk beds at SAMs. I like my space. Sometimes it's a mess. Sometimes it's tidy.

Autumn Apples

Just the other day when I was cleaning up my hobby table, I found a box of water soluable crayons amid the mess. They were bought a while back and I guess I sort of forgot I had them.

Of course this little discovery warranted immediate cease-clean-up, and a full engagement into Operation Explore Potential Fun While Using Watercolor Crayons! An old magazine was laying open on the hobby table, where a picture of a box of apples smiled at me.
There was my subject.

Some of the outlines were drawn with terra coloured PITT artist pens, but this drawing (click to view larger) is basically all done with the watercolor crayons.