love you more

love 'ya, mean it!!

happy valentine's day, sweet bloggy friend!

xox

{supplies:  strathmore 400 series 140 lb. CP w/c paper,

daniel smith watercolor, .3 graphite pencil}

inktober #24

inktober day twenty-four,  prompt:  "one dozen"

i must admit that when i first saw today's prompt,  i thought, "really?!".

but once i started thinking about it,

 everything kind of fell into place, one heart at a time.

because these hearts appear in my artwork today 

for some very special reasons:

first.....unfortunately, this will be my last inktober post this month,

but you know it would take a really good reason for me to bow out 

of the challenge early, and i've got the best reason in the world....

our daughter is marrying the love of her life on saturday,

and it's go-time!  i've got to get ready for this celebration of big love!

second.....while this artwork contains twelve hearts,

it was created to hold the power of a lot more than that,

and it was created with all of you in mind.

each one of these hearts holds about a gazillion

little hearts, and each one of those gazillion hearts holds 

my gratitude and appreciation for all your visits to my 

blog, instagram, and Facebook, as well as

 your sweet, supportive, and encouraging comments.

thank you from the top, middle and bottom of each one

of my heart of hearts!!!

third.....you know i love any reason to draw a little heart 

here and there.  add some chocolate, and things really start 

getting crazy..... :))

thanks again for coming on this inktober ride with me....

i'll be back in cyberspace very soon!  

xoxox

click here for more info about inktober!

{supplies:  canson moulin du roy w/c paper,  micron pens

pentel color brush pens, white gelly roll pen,  copic marker}

love birds

this little pair of love birds is wishing 

all of my sweet bloggy friends a

beautiful, chocolate-filled valentine's day….

and so am i !!  

xox

{supplies:  fabriano artistico 140 HP paper, sennelier watercolor,

7B graphite pencil,  .3 mechanical pencil}

inspiration monday

while i was spending the day with my little bird friends in new york last saturday,
 my family went out into the city for some exploration, and ended up walking across the brooklyn bridge.  out of all the photos my little dutch sweetie took that day, this is one of my favorites.....and i couldn't wait to hear what these padlocks are all about!

as the story goes,  true-loves personalize a padlock with their names and date, and then lock it onto the railing of the bridge.

then, the key to the lock is thrown over the railing into the river,
symbolizing that the bond and commitment between the true-loves is everlasting.

i'm a hopeless romantic, and this story tugs at my heartstrings big time....

  but while i was at the workshop, my mr. romantic was creating a story of his own,
because when he picked me up later that day, he very sweetly presented me with a gift wrapped copy of the new somerset studio magazine, and said "page 22!"

and there, on the pages of a publication that's brought me so much inspiration for so many years, is the story of my "ocean of truth" paste paper booklet.....and i must admit that every time i think about it, i have to pinch myself to make sure it's real!  thank you SO much to the staff at somerset for an absolutely beautiful article!

but most of all......thank you to my little dutch sweetie, a.k.a. mr. romantic, for all the wonderful things you do that tug at my heartstrings.  YOU are my inspiration monday-and-every-other-day-of-the-week, and you will always hold the key to my heart!
love is forever.....xox


{journal page supplies: moleskine journal, koi watercolor, derwent inktense pencils, pitt pens, white uniball signo gel pen, 2B and 6B graphite pencil}

{there are thousands of love locks attached to the brooklyn bridge.....
to see more images, click here!}

inspiration monday

when you follow your heart,
inspiration will always open new doors for you!
xox


{this was created in my walls notebook using an E-10 falcon nib,
dr. martin's bleedproof white,  pan pastel, white charcoal pencil}

big love

sending you

big hugs,

big love,

and big fun

this weekend!!

journal: decorative paper, fabriano artistico,

hand-carved stamps, micron, g-tec pen, decorative tape

a little love

just sending a little love your way today...and wishing i could somehow express to you how much i appreciate your visits to my blog, your encouragement, your wonderful comments, and your all-around sweetness!  you are all THE BEST...group hug!!!

Luv 'ya!

happy valentine's day to all of you sweeties in blogland!!  

live, laugh, love...repeat

this is the first in my new series, "so true".  all of the artwork in this series will measure the ACEO size of 2.5 x 3.5" and focus on a short quote, quip or truism.  this piece was written on canson paper using dr. martin's bleedproof white (which is like gouache and used by photographers and graphic designers to do touch-ups).  while i like to work on a smaller scale, i think that this will prove to be a fun challenge!   we'll see how it goes!

 

meet molly

allow me to introduce you to my studio mascot, molly.  this photo was taken of her when she was a puppy, but she still looks the same, except her ears are a little longer now.  as far as studio mascots go, she's the best.  she's great at keeping secrets, and even turns a deaf ear when my work isn't going well and i say bad words.  she cheers me on at just the right time and her demands are few, so it's very easy to spoil her...and believe me, i do!

love grows here

here is another ACEO (art cards, editions and originals) that i worked on this afternoon.  i'm still enjoying working on these happy pollyanna flowers, but i've noticed the past few days that i've had a nasty little itch to get back to bookmaking, which has been a passion of mine for a long time.  if you have some time to browse on etsy, there are some beautiful handmade books offered by talented artisans at a very reasonable price.  anyway, i think that pollyanna likes to read, so maybe i can come up with a way incorporate her garden with my books!  i'll have to think on that...

today, yesterday...and tomorrow

i did this piece a few years ago and i still love it because: *i love the scripture, *it has a simple design, *this lettering is my favorite, *i enjoy using the heart-in-hand motif in my work, *i love using different shades of purple (especially blue purple!), *and, you guessed it, there are six wonderful little boxes to put all of that fun stuff in! one of the nice things about keeping a record of my work, and then looking back on it from time to time, is that i'm reminded of how much i enjoy doing little pieces of artwork like this. i have been overwhelmed recently...trying to decide "shall i paint today?, shall i draw today?, shall i letter today?". as usual, i've been making the process too difficult. what i should be doing today is take what i love from all of my artwork yesterday(s) and focus on that. of course, all of this is subject to change tomorrow(!).