3-25-16 ~ Just Some Doodling

"We used to play a lot outdoors, not in leagues,

but just in our spare time.

~Steve Yzerman

...Now, at 77,  I take pictures, doodle, and draw in my art journal.

Easter on My Mind 

Art Journal ~ Colored Pencil and Pen and Ink

Practicing Faces, a Dog, and a Cat

Art Journal ~ Watercolors and Pen and Ink

February 19, 2016 ~ More Red and Lots More Love

 Leave All Things and Come with Me.

Let’s Dance

Reminisce

~ Did you ever take tap dancing as a child?

~Did you ever wear a frilly outfit like this?

~I took tap and adored it, but never did I sport an outfit like this one.

She is oh, so cute.

Sorry I cannot seem to photograph my journal evenly. It seems like one side is always a bit cut off. Actually they are straight. These two are on pages side by side, but to photograph them together makes them so small you cannot read the letters. Both of these collages were made with some old papers I had for the backgrounds, common doilies, cut and paste, typing, and Kim Klaassen’s "Softly" texture. The little girl with the tap shoes came from Reminisce Magazine.

This post is linked with:
Lunagirl Moonbeams - Love
Three Muses Challenge - Love
Moo Mania - Hearts

#30 ~ I’m Already Thinking Valentine’s Day

“If God had intended us to follow recipes,

He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.”

~Linda Henley

Each year my son, Gene, Patti, and Eloise come here for my birthday on the 7th of February. Then we go out to Douthat State Park for fun, games, eating, and hiking. We have gone for so many years that this year we decided just stay here at the homeplace...so they are not coming until the next weekend...the one of Valentine’s Day. That’s when Eloise has a 3-day weekend. That’s a GOOD thing for Baga. The “tragedy" of this is I (Baga) will not get to help her make her Valentine’s Day cards for her classmates. We have done this together ever since she started school, so since she won’t be here I have had to make my own for her. 

This picture is linked with Weekend in Black and White.

Eloise’s Valentine is linked with Dezinaworld15 Cheeky Challenge for week 3 and Lunagirl Creative Challenge for January which is “babies or children”.. The Cheeky Challenge was for us to come up with a piece that represented something “romantic”,  and since I love children so much I decided to make a Valentine with a little boy and girl in it. The background frame and the hearts are from Goggle stock images, the texture is Cottoncandy which I think is Kim Klaassen’s but am not sure, and the little heart banner at the top is one I made for my dear friend, Weezie a while back. Even if Eloise was not going to be here to make her Valentine’s, I decided to make one of my own for the Cheeky Challenge and to send to her. 

#10~"Children~ Our Hope" Series

"Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven."

~Henri Frederic Amiel 1821-1881

Back 20 years ago I was making post cards using a collage technique of painting, pen and ink, stamping, and glued on papers, pictures, and fabric.  When I finally found then, I could not believe it has been 20+ years, but the date on these original cards says 1995. What made me think about them was the amount of deaths we have had in our country of young children due to gun violence...and especially the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995.  It was around this time I had started my series of Children ~ Our Hope, and then there was the bombing. It upset me so badly that I decided to work out my sadness by painting on my post cards. This was my first attempt at using water colors so my pictures are very primitive. I painted them on very heavy matting, and to mail them I had to have them hand stamped and pay added postage. Luckily I saved most of my originals.

This was my first card. 

Children ~ Our Hope

My first card of the Children’s Series.

The names at the foot of the beds were those of family and friends. Boy Hornot represented my daddy, and Boy Gray was the name of my principal at the time.

This is my second card in the series.

Then came the devastating Oklahoma City Bombing on Apri 19, 1995, and that is when the tone of my cards changed. I was devastated by the number of dead and injured, and the deaths of 19 little children in the day care center broke my hear in two. Here are the cards I created following that tragic and unforgettable day and helped me to work out my grief.

 My Third Card

"Suffer the Little Children”

My Fourth Card

“The Littlest Angels”

My Fifth Card

“Going Home”

My Sixth Card

“The Journey Has Begun”

My Seventh and Last Card
These are the same children as in my first card, but this time they are dressed differently, and I have added tissue paper, a USPS postal stamp, and an ink stamp. They are still smiling and happy, and they continue to be our hope for the future.

This post is linked with Blue Mondays, Monday Mellow Yellows, Pippa’s Weekend That Has Been, NF DAMS~Digital Art Meme, Paint Party Friday, and Saturday Art Linkup.