Illustration Friday - Resolutions

First off, Happy New Year every one! Thanks to all of you who have become followers over this past year and thanks also to those of you who may not be followers, but still check in from time to time.  It's nice to know that there are people out there who actually read this, especially when there are so many other wonderful and interesting blogs to choose from.

This posting, my first for 2011 is another dedicated to an entry for the 'Illustration Friday' word challenge, which this week, appropriately enough is "resolutions." I originally hadn't planned to do an entry for this week's word. I don't know if it just seemed too daunting or I just didn't want to devote the time to it, but upon reading this week's challenge, I had pretty much decided to skip it. But then the word started me thinking - do I have any resolutions for this year? If so, what are they? and if I have resolutions, could I draw them? After giving it some thought, I realized that I probably make these same resolutions every year, but I guess they're worthy resolutions so they're not bad ones to renew each year.  My first resolution is to read more.  Now, I do read quite a bit, but since the majority of my reading gets done at bed time, I'm often too tired to get in more than a few pages at a time before I'm falling asleep.  So, I'd like to make more time for reading. I'd especially like to read more middle grade and young adult novels.  And of course there is a whole back list of classics I'd like to read.  My second resolution is to sketch more.  Most of my sketching of late has been done on the computer but I would really like to get back in the habit of working in an actual sketch book using real pencils and not digital ones. I'd also like to discipline myself to start taking my sketch book with me on trips to do some on location sketching. Next is a resolution I probably make every year  - to exercise more. There was a period when I was doing quite well with this resolution, going to the gym two or three times a week, but for the past four months, most of my exercise has come from walking our dog, Poppy, who we got just about four months ago. It's no coincidence that my drop in gym attendance coincided with our getting a dog. Poppy does need to be walked and it takes a lot of time out of the day to squeeze in 4 or 5 dog walks, so I've sacrificed going to the gym. But here's hoping that in 2011 I can get back to the gym at least once a week. My last resolution is one that I really need to stick to - to spend less money. For the past two years, I've been living off of a small inheritance that I received when my mother died, but over these past two yeas I've watched that money dwindle as it has gone into paying rent, buying groceries, paying utility bills, upkeep for the car, medical bills, etc. These aforementioned expenses are things I can't really control, but some expenses that I can control are those that I spend on books, movies and cds. I tend to be an impulse buyer, a dangerous thing to be when you're on a limited income. I have a weakness for a good bargain and it's so darn easy to shop online by hitting that 'add to cart,' button, that before you know it, you've got a huge credit card bill filled with lots of small transactions.  I really need to take control of that impulse.  There are lots more resolutions I'd like to make - send out more postcards to publishers, work  harder to get published, write more, stay in better touch with friends, etc.  I guess I would consider the four that I've decided to illustrate to be my 'core' resolutions, the ones that will help keep me sane. And if the world keeps going in the direction that it's been going over the past couple of years, I'll need to hold on to my sanity.

A little about the artwork - I did this piece 'on the fly.' In other words, there were no preliminary sketches.  I created the piece in Corel Painter using some of the calligraphy brushes for the line work and digital watercolor brushes for the color washes. I tried to keep the piece spontaneous by drawing quickly, but I will admit that I did erase and 'undo' some of the lines and re-drew them until I got them the way I wanted. I probably created the whole piece in around 20 minutes.

What I've Been Up To

I haven't had time to do a regular blog posting in a while because I'm getting ready to be part of a local gift fair. This will be my first time as a vendor at a fair, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. I'm making lots of stuff though so I hope it's well attended. Here are a few quick pictures I took of a few of the things I've been working on.

Here, I'm getting ready to make some bottle-cap magnets.

These images are being glued to glass tiles and will be turned into pendants and magnets.

 My cluttered work table.

A basket full of prints of some of my illustration work, all ready to go.

Dog-tag necklaces.

These images are attached to scrabble tiles and will be turned into pendants. They just need to have the pendant bails glued to them.

I will also be selling bookmarks, polymer clay jewelry, stickers, greeting cards and a few stuffed animals that I made.

One of the greeting card designs I will be selling.

One of the laminated bookmarks I will have for sale. This one is part of a dog series that I did, each with a different dog related quote. This one is a quote by Edith Wharton.

Good Friday Memories and Easter Ephemera

Today is Good Friday. Growing up as a Catholic, and going to Catholic elementary school, I remember that on Good Friday, school was always let out early. But before school let out, we were required to go to Mass. It was a long Mass due to the fact that the gospel reading always consisted of the entire Passion.  Of course it seemed even longer knowing that after Mass was over, we would be allowed to go home and start our Easter weekend.  I always felt antsy during Mass and since Good Friday Mass was so long and it was usually right before lunch, I sometimes started to feel a little light-headed and faint.  This wasn't helped by the strong aroma of the incense that wafted from the censer that the priest swung back and forth as he walked down the aisle.  My feelings of restlessness and discomfort during Mass made me feel guilty since I was supposed to be concentrating on Christ's suffering and death on the cross.  Yes, the pews were hard and I was hungry, but my sore bottom and hunger pains were nothing compared to the agonies of Christ that I was supposed to be contemplating. What I needed to do was to stop complaining and start thinking about the Stations of the Cross, but as a grade schooler, that wasn't always the easiest thing to do. So, of course, guilt ensued.

The other thing I remember about Good Fridays took place at home.  Since tradition held that Christ died around 3 p.m., when 3 o'clock rolled around, my sister and I often joined my mother in saying the rosary.  It was usually just the three of us, since my dad was still at work and my older brother seemed to always manage to get out of joining us in such things.  

Other than having fish for dinner, the rest of the Easter weekend was pretty low key.  I do remember looking forward to Easter Sundays though. When we were very young, I remember that on Easter mornings we would awake to find that my parents (or was it the Easter Bunny?) had given each of us a new Easter basked filled with a stuffed Easter bunny and some pipe cleaner chicks. If we were really lucky, we would also each get a See's candy chocolate-creme Easter egg.   Later on after Mass, which thankfully was relatively short on Easter, my dad would hide plastic, candy-filled eggs in the backyard for us to hunt. Our big meal of the day, as it was every Sunday, came in the early afternoon, usually around 1 p.m. I think ham was what we had for Easter dinner most years. As I got older, moved away from home and spent more Easter's away from my family, most of what I found special about Easter seemed to fade away. With both my parents now dead, and the rest of my family scattered across the country, any Easter traditions that we shared, are now long in the past.  Now Easter seems to creep up on me by surprise. I'm usually taken unawares by the arrival of Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season. And when Good Friday rolls around, it doesn't seem that different than any other Friday. When I think of Easters now, they are tinged with nostalgia and a bit of melancholy. 

Yesterday, I pulled out of my closet a album of postcards that was kept by my Grandma and Grandpa Desjardins.  The album is filled with a mix of scenic cards, portraits, and holiday cards.  The postmark date on many of them, including the Easter postcards that I'm posting here, goes back to 1910 and 1911. So, for your Easter viewing, I hope you enjoy these century old Easter Greetings and may you all have a very Happy Easter.