Lost and Found

I added the above photo, so you can see

how adding names to small post its

and then folding them worked out..

This is what I keep my watercolor pencils

in and grab colors from

when doing a Artist's Journal page

. It came from Pier One a long time

ago and is a thick transparent

deep mylar type bowl

sectioned into four areas for an

assortment of dippers for salsa

that would be in the center part, where

I had inserted a jar that fits with a

dab of that blue tack it to keep

it stable......

.....and I bought two--the other for

the regular colored pencils. What

a surprise bonus for me to find

the "................" I had bought

months ago and lost it right off

quick---a frustrating hunt brought forth

no results. I guess if you

hang around long enough,

things turn up. Do you see it?

"I Remember Mama"

The French words say:

"This is a test page " in a journal I found up

in the studio that appeared to be like a

Moleskine with lines, which I had been

wanting to try, liking what I had seen

Katherin Jebsen-Marwedel do . So I did

testing on a full back door page and

this I Remember Mama on an 'up front' spread.

I found the Pitt pens did not bleed through,

and the waterpencils and water brush worked

ok, if you are sparing with the water

amount....but the page is a bit thinner

than the Moleskine and probably would

not bother a pencil or pen artist. Or

straight text journaler. I did have to go back

and add the lines that got lost in the colors.

So since I know I won't use this, I am offering it

as a freebee---leave a comment and when

the name is drawn after there's enough

interest, I will email the winner for the

address to mail it to...

Self Portrait EDM Challenge 56

I found this unposted challenge

done in pencil, when I decided I

better make a record

of what Challenges I have done..and where

they are located etc. It was tricky to

do this flipping through

4 different journals..but I'm glad

I didn't wait any longer. I am

accentuating the positives if possible--

for the negatives will wear you down.

The little Auburn Maine bottle

(where I grew up) I did on a seperate

piece of moleskine paper and

glued it where it would hide something

and improve the page. I did use a mirror and

a photo I had taken in a mirror while drawing

--even if I have

a photo, if I can see the thing or hold

it, helps me draw it the way I want to.

Maid Marian's Moons

I'm posting an Alphabet "M' page

let's see there's a faux Marble wall, Maple trees,

Mistletoe, Medallion, a memo, The Maid herself and

her Man and two Moons. Let's say the feather

came from a pheasant named Mortimer.

"V IS FOR VINTAGE" Part of the Process

Part of the Process

***************
At the top, you see the final scan below it,

and the first scan
of the Alphabet Journal Page "V is for Vintage"
I don't always do this, but just feel like it
sometimes. Here I have scanned
a first look at the colored with watercolor
pencils and applied with waterbrushes
journal page to "study" and
make decisions about how I will
finish it and liven it up with my watercolor

pncils and waterbrush.......
You may agree that the original scan
looks weak in color and values..
well, that's what I think
because I like the final
to have more punch...
Buying this old scrapbook in
my old home town was so
exciting to me--who made it and
what her life was like will remain a
mystery that I can imagine what
I like about.....

So far. in my Alphabet book.I have

done C, B, and S---now the V

....me thinks this'll take awhile.

It's cool not to have someone breathing

down my neck to hurry up :-) and

of all horrible things, trying to edit what I do.

At my age I can enjoy more I think.

EDM CHALLENGE DRAW A WINDOW

I'll leave it to you to put your own

interpretation on this spread--I had

several ideas and so this developed

.....right click to read better--the pages

are in a small Moleskine

where I had cut two consecutive

pages out---and then glued the

cut edges left,

in the center---I needed some

Moleskine paper and still

have some left in the journal's

back pocket for future use. I'm using

pencil, ink, watercolor pencils

and waterbrushes.

The Spring mate hunt is on!

A Robin photo from my brother came today

and I could not resist taking it

to PSP8 and playing with it---

the bird guy looks so bursting

with song and it shouldn't

take long for him to

attract a mate--above you see

a photo I took of one of the nests

they built last year on

my front porch amongst

a small collection of

bells...some visitors

like to ring them all

one after another---which

really gets my attention...

Moody Mugs

click on photo to read pillow talk

****************

I love the collection of coffee cups over the stove and

usually pick out the one that I'm in the mood for,

to drink my coffee in. The framed motto has been there

for eons it seems and always makes me smile to

spray on the glass cleaner and polish it,

about once a month. The tea cup puppy did

come to visit me and did sit in my cup....I recall

being afraid of one that would

ticky ticky run to the edge of her porch and

bark at me till I was well past her territory

--- when I was about 7.

Draw A Fish Challenge 165

( left click on photo to read words better)

Well, here's Wilson posing for me again..This time
he has his Halloween teeth on and a red glass
bottle in his lap. The verse I made up is
a take off on "People who live in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones"...
He comes a day late for an
Easter page--never the less..
he's here now...

What time is dinner?

see photo above, for the Easter dinner I will be

having...the St Edward's Island

mussels I steamed last night and

have flash frozen for some

later meal..I saved a few shells as

they add coastal ambiance to any sea

food repast.....it surprised me that

I hadn't noticed the shells resemble

hearts when opened---it'll include

the Alaskan King crab meat, I just

shelled, (using some great strong

scissors that worked best, plus getting

two pot holders sopping wet with

crab juices) nestled next to a melted

butter shell cup--a dollop of mashed

sweet potato, a wedge of Jarlsberg cheese

with hot Maine blueberry tea to aid in

the digestion.....burp!

from The Palette Inn---on the coast of Maine

...Jill Mordasky, Keeper

************************************

(this is an email sent out to some

family and friends as a joke---

I do not own any place on the

coast of Maine---and the flowery

meal discription seems to be how

I might have to do a menu , if

I did...:-)

TRAVEL BOX PALETTE of 11

I decided to take only the watercolor pencils I could fit into a new neat slide top wooden box..when I go to Eastport---and limit myself to a fixed palette---I am used to just about every color pencil there is and this will get

me back to more "mix thoughts" which can only be a good

thing. The first color in the rows is the start color and' then the rest of them are are added to it.--using the waterbrush that wipes off to clean easily on a paper towel make this type of exercise non messy and fun. I will take a white pencil too, just in case.

It's the teacher in me that thinks maybe some newcomers might benefit from

this spread. I hope so...

Homage to Jan Brett et al.

Left click on photo to

read words better

******
This spread started with the #191 Challenge

of drawing paper money---then

I decided the spread should go up

to the top page too--I purposefully

did a Jan Brett "how to" video Dutch

Bunny to get something up

there. Then did the

Polish Chicks from pausing live ones

moving around in her video...

the dark background with the chicks

told me to add two other dark areas

to balance this---the Chinese symbol

is for Properity .....the black bird becomes a

"money is the root of all evil" symbol---

the running ribbon was added to

enhance page flow...the pencil, sketcher's

homemade bombsite and the tack

and hanging tags were fill in

design additions......the writing up

top, was planned to be there ....

that's how it all came to be.

Bus Stop Welcome

Quite a few times I have been on this road

in town and had to stop behind a school bus.....

it seems odd to me that this would happen in this

same spot, but it has a few times. The big ole dog

always waits for her to get off the bus, in an

anticipating, tail waging stance .

She has a bag in her hand which demands

a good sniffing--it might be a treat!

Table Pigeons

Every Day Matters Challenge #208

Draw something out of place

*********************

After the incident with the Grackle

bird running amok upstairs

recently, I hoped the pigeons

over on the neighbors' roof

wouldn't try to visit in the

kitchen. I'd had this #208 challenge

in mind and Sumner sent a photo

better than mine, to look at.

I do a light pencil ' positioning search sketch' and

then use a fine pen to get as

serious as I feel like....

"Dedication"

Left click to see larger

*************

Here is the dedication page in the front of

my second, almost completed,

can hardly believe it, small

Moleskine journal.

I have managed to catch quite a few

strong memories of my mother,

before she was my mother.
You can see the drawing from the photo in the

blog just before this one.

I'll just mention what an ordeal it

was to pick the blackberries even if

there was quite a large tangled patch---

I had to wear long sleeved

flannel shirt and big buckle boots to survive

something resembling no mans land...

which was a killer in the hot

days the berries were ripe to pick.