HOLIDAY

I have been so busy I haven't posted anything in so long. I just thought this was a funny one from last year... two year olds don't REALLY want to sit with Santa. They're just glad when he's done delivering gifts!

STRENGTH

This is an acrylic painting I did from a photo I took in Spain several years ago. The Sunflower is an amazing thing -- deceiving actually. They are so STRONG, you almost cannot break off a flower with your hands. The blossoms were HUGE and the stalks stood more than 6 feet tall!

See this in my e-store... as a print(16"x20") or on anything from mugs, to shirts, to totes.

NIGHT

COLD

This was a quick one last night. I know it's so "typical"... a snow scene. I usually try to interpret the week's challenge with some clever twist or something unexpected. Lately, however, I've felt sad over the loss of someone special. I didn't know her VERY well but she was my sister-in-law's sister. Does that make sense? I suppose we were distant in-laws. She was only 33. She has two children ages 13 and 8. She had Lupus and was sicker than most of us could've guessed. She'd had bloodwork done recently that showed she was getting better. She'd just returned from a week in Montana with her husband... her obituary photo came from that trip. She was a beautiful, fun, down-to-Earth, happy, loving wife, sister, mother, friend, etc. This is turning into a sob fest...sorry. I just can't shake thoughts of her. It has affected me on so many levels...I am a mother, a wife, a sister, a sister-in-law, etc. She was just so young and it happened so unexpectedly. Anyway, that's why I've waited so long to post and why my post is less than clever. Now, ya'll go hug the people that you love because life seems to end too suddenly sometimes. I know I'm paying more attention to the little things. Take care!

Click here to see this as postage...in my e-store!

LOST

I was playing around on Photoshop with some textures that I created as well as with some fun paintbrushes (like the Azalea brush I used for her hair.) I included a detail of her hair just in case you couldn't tell there was a bird "LOST" in there. I really had no idea what this would be when I started. Then, it just sort of happened. After I did her hair, I thought, "that would be so funny to have a bird lost in that mess." So, the bird came to be... and my interpretation of LOST. Hope everyone enjoys!

FLOAT

This is a quirky little drawing I did in our children's playroom. (It's not so little actually - 6 ft. by 3 ft.) We recently painted chalkboard paint on the top third of the wall. This way, I can do murals for them that change with the season. I used pastels and plain chalk. My husband's contribution was the cat. Enjoy! (Enjoy twice, I suppose. I submitted twice -- oops!)

FRESH

Hasn't everyone seen two toddlers hug -- so sweet. He's sort of getting "fresh" wouldn't ya' say? Ha! So cute.

ESCAPE

I realize this is really a simplistic drawing. Like my first post to IF of the key at the bottomless pit of a bag that functions as purse and diaper bag (my version of DEPTH), this says a lot about my current life. Sometimes I just need 5 or 10 minutes on the phone with someone to ESCAPE. That's it... there's my ESCAPE version for this IF.

DEPTH

NEW TO I.F.

I am a busy mom of two. I love being a mom. I am also a painter. I love painting, too. I love the feel of paint, the smell of it, the way it flows from the brush, the way colors mix, etc. I also am a designer so I use the computer quite often to edit hand drawn or painted images. My conflict is that I have so little time for creativity while I try to take care of my family. I try to get to my "space" as often as possible and use my creative energy for gifts for people (maybe that's a mistake) and decorating our home. I came across a website that I thought was so incredibly cool, I had to take part. I will be creating art with the word "depth" in mind. Let's see what I can come up with.