Presents from Nana

Yes, I'm milking this birthday present thing for all it's worth. I don't usually get birthday presents, just cards and phone calls. So this birthday was an exceptionally Woo-Hoo! birthday...the most joyful one in a long, long time.

Journaling (to save your eyesight):

A box full of goodies arrived in the mail from Nana. She said the book [Making Handmade Books, 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms] was on backorder and arrived just in time for her to pack it and ship it to me.

She got to flip through it for just a few minutes before packing it. She said she wanted to keep it for herself. I can understand why. When I opened it I was transfixed for an hour.

The Guardian Angel necklace was cool because I don't have much opportunity to wear her Guardian Angel pins anymore. I can wear the necklace all the time.

I think the cool retro stationery came from a thrift store which, to me, makes it even cooler.

The cat was on the front of the card which read, "In honor of your birthday, Bootsy pulled a piece of yarn out of his butt just for you!"

I have a very strange sister.

Books, I Have a Few

(bang, bang, bang!)

"This meeting of the Notebook and Sketchbook Hoarders Anonymous meeting will now come to order. Tonight Speck will tell her story...."

(smattering of handclaps)

Hi, my name is Speck.

Hi Speck!

My story starts back in June of 2008. I wanted a sketchbook so I made my own out of stapled-together copy paper. By October of that year I was secretly craving more; bigger, better. That's when I bought my first little 4" x 6" hardbound sketchbook.

My sickness wasn't so bad back then. I filled the first little sketchbook and bought just *one* more to replace it. Then I filled the second one and replaced it with *two.*

It grew slowly after that, picking up an extra book here and there, even getting ones for gifts. Then I acquired a couple of marbled composition books for free, and a notebook for my purse.

Then suddenly this summer...I...

...I developed an obsession for lined writing journals...

(pause; downward cast eyes)


...I don't know what happened really....(lower lip quivers)


Something went...


...something went just *horribly* wrong!!!!!



*sobs*




OK, back to reality...

It isn't as bad as it looks, but I was appalled at the amount of books I have acquired (57). I didn't realize there were this many until I collected them from all their little hidey-holes and put them in a pile. Granted, some of those little itty bitty ones don't really qualify as "books", do they????

Eight of the sketchbooks (3 med, 5 small) are filled and retired as well as a medium sized writing journal.

Six of the sketchbooks have just one or two sketches in them. The two square ones are almost filled.

I'm not quite sure how to classify that stack of five Black-n-Reds in the upper right. They were bought as sketchbooks, but they have lined pages. One is about 1/3 filled with pencil sketches. I may end up writing in the others. Hey, at $5.00 each, I just picked up an armload. I'll figure out what to do with them later.

Six books are newly acquired writing journals. Who could resist a Beatles' Abbey Road or Yellow Submarine journal??? Yes, that's a little twee for someone my age, but I didn't care. They were only $4.00.

These are my current working books:

-Illustrated journal
-Writing journal
-Planner
-Pen Inventory
-Commonplace book
-Note jotter when watching TV (a ripper)
-Note jotter for desk (also a ripper)
-Note jotter for purse (another ripper)
-Mini sketchbook for purse
-Square green sketchbook for purse

Do I need an intervention, or am I merely well organized? You won't find any loose scraps of paper on my desk or in my purse. There is no artwork laying about in teetering piles.

(evil grin)

I may need a new book to keep an inventory of all my other books! Yes, yes, that's the ticket!

Dear Diary

Journaling:

I've been bitten by the journaling bug. I blame it on Clairefontaine paper and Exacompta journal refills. While looking for sketchbooks with CF paper I found the sister company Exacompta. They carry a line of gridded journal refills in nice leather covers.

I've always had a lust for gridded paper - so many possibilities!

I was just about to click the "buy" button when I realized I already have a journal full of slick, creamy, gridded paper with a nice leather cover. I pulled it off the shelf and started writing and writing and writing.

Apparently I have a lot more to say than what I have space for in this illustrated journal. I don't like to write in it because the paper is too rough. Plus, Hubby snatches it out of my hand to show to complete strangers. Eeek! Don't want strangers to read my deepest, darkest secrets!

I've tried keeping a journal many times in my life, but writing on lined paper is too much like writing on school notebook paper. Suddenly it feels like I'm taking notes in 9th grade Civics and I'm quickly bored with the whole thing. Gridded paper doesn't seem to cause that reaction. Humm....

Anne Elizabeth's Diary

Journaling:

This is the illustrated diary of 12-year-old Anne Elizabeth Rector who lived in New York City in 1912.

She kept her diary faithfully for a whole year, from Jan. 1, 1912 until Christmas Day of that same year. I suppose new amusements awaited her under the Christmas tree after that and the diary was abandoned.

What is so magical about this book are Anne Elizabeth's illustrations of each entry. They are charming little ink and watercolor drawings reproduced from her original diary. I only wish I could draw as well now!

The entries contain her struggle with her mother to allow her to take art classes. Neither her mother, father nor grandmother think a girl needs to attend art classes. I can so relate to that...especially her entry where she offers to give up piano lessons. There's a conversation I had with my own mother many times.

How different my life would be today if I had only read this book when I was 12!

Anne Elizabeth's Diary Entries:

January 1, 1912
Daddy gave me all these art supplies for Christmas. Mother gave me one thing, this book. She instructed me to write in it every day. I shall draw here too. Mother need not know.

February 17, 1912
Today I wore my new woolen dress. It is a brown challis with a yellow lined collar and cuffs embroidered in brown. Mother got it to fit perfectly. Another battle about the art class. She does not think we have the extra money. I said I could stop piano lessons.

Cane Creek, Part 2

To be continued....

Hats Off to Women

Journaling:

This is the blank journal with the nice paper I got at Goodwill for 50 cents. It's dedicated to the nine women on the front who battled cancer. Interspersed in the blank pages are single pages with each woman's story.

The artist who watercolored the portraits on the cover lives in Little Rock. Proceeds from the sale of the journal go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation...or they did in 2002 when this was originally published.

Summer 2010 Daily Planner

I have been searching for a cheap daily planner so I could keep up with fun events this summer and to coordinate sketching trips with Miz Dee and her schedule. Couldn't find one I liked for the price I liked so I decided to just make one.

A little print, sew, cut and paste and viola! a kicky summer themed planner with cute flip flops and beach balls.





After I finished it I realized with dismay that two of the events I wanted to attend had already occurred. Dang. Missed 'em. A day late and a dollar short.

Showed the planner to Hubby and he wanted me to make him one too!

Out on the Porch - EDM #27 - Draw a Book

Journaling:

Was feeling rather uninspired with this challenge since I seem to be drawing lots of square boxy things lately. Found this book and thought about my grandmother.

As a kid I would porch sit with her in the early evenings sipping sweet tea from heavy, chunky glasses. Her wide porch spanned the entire front of her house. The squeaky porch swing was on one end, a row of white rockers on the other, and lush ferns hung along the length.

The western end was protected from the scorching sun by a stand of kudzu she carefully cultivated and trained up several strands of cotton clothesline rope hanging from the eave.

She would call out to the evening walkers passing by. "Hiya! How y'all doin'? Care for some tea?" Usually no takers on the tea as they had just finished supper, but many would come up the walk, plant a foot on the bottom step, and chat about things for a while. As darkness fell and the skeeters descended, they would say their goodbyes and continue on.

Other times we would just sit and swing, listening to the sounds of sticky summer...tree frogs, katydids, crickets, children playing somewhere in the distance.

When the lightning bugs appeared and the street lights came on I knew I had to go home.

Pencil Portrait, Lady Bowler - WIP

Journaling:

I'm working through yet another how-to-draw book - Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. It recommends practicing faces using cover girls from magazines.

LOL! I don't have any women's magazines with cover girls. The closest thing I could find was Hubby's US Bowler.

I got all my chores and errands done by 9:00 am this morning. I was looking forward to a whole day of zen-like drawing since Hubby wasn't due home until 10:00 pm tonight.

I poodle-dewed around and didn't break out the pencils until 4:30 pm, then Hubs showed up early at 5:00. Didn't get back to drawing until 11:30 pm. Got her face finished by 1:00 am, then called it a night.

I think it came out great! It actually looks like the photo! Woot! Still need to do a little bit of tweaking and finish the hair.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I drew a nose too.
Beware the Cosmic Nose of Death.

Kitty Helps Daddy Read

Journaling:

Hubby has infinite patience with our little furry housemates, even if it means he has to read with a catbutt on his chin and a fuzzy tail up his nose.

He'll stay in an uncomfortable position for an hour just so he won't disturb the cat on his chest or in his lap. He'll do anything for the comfort and convenience of the kittehs.

He's a saint.

Books, Kids and Librarians

Got the book The Duggars: 20 and Counting! in the mail today from Uncle Buck. Had to sit down and read it right then from cover to cover. Velly interlusting. Something about that whole family seems cultish and it squicks me out a little. Buck knows this. That's probably why he sent it to me, he's just that kinda guy.

Karen Blados blogged about her first-grade son being excited about checking out a "chapter book" from the yellow section of the library. First-graders aren't allowed books from the yellow section. That triggered an ancient old memory and I had to rant. Spent the rest of the day writing and spewing in a long, rambling blog post, "Traumas at the Library Check-Out Desk."

Still haven't found my muse yet. Still drawing other people's photos dang it. The illustration today is from a photo by Mary R. Vogt, or "taliesin" on Morguefile.com.

Showed it to Hubby and he asked, "Why does she have a Band-Aid on her thumb?" Grrrrr. That's a shadow. Then he said, "Looks like that finger would be good for booger pickin'." Sigh. I can tell when he has spent the day with his golfing buddies. He becomes 12 years old again. (eyeroll)

A Sudden Attack of Foliophilia

Journaling:

Had to get out of the house for a while and found myself wandering down the crap aisle at Wal-Mart. They had stacks of journals marked for clearance. Woot! Like I need another journal.

Found two of this [brown] leather one with creamy pages that were graph gridded. Have no idea what I'll do with them but the paper was too luscious to pass over. Maybe I'll do some sketching with a brown Pigma in it. The grids won't bother me as much as lines would.

Found the [three] Red-n-Blacks for $5.00 each. I couldn't pass up any journal book for $5. Don't know what I'll do with them either. The paper is super slick and I had lusted for it when they were full price.

I was testing all my pens on the grid paper and got to the set of Staedtler pigment liners. Ohhhh...they slid across the paper like greased lightning. What a dream to draw with! I had forgotten.

Need to break these out and draw them dry. They are Roz Stendahl's favorite "must-have" pen. They're available locally so that's a big plus.

My "Stuff"

Journaling:

Was invited to drop in on two different open-studio painting groups to see if I would like to join. One meets Tuesdays afternoons and has an instructor on hand for help if needed. The other meets all day Mondays without an instructor.

Both folks I talked to said, "Bring your stuff so the group can see it." Eeeek! My stuff was hither and yon in no particular order. Had to figure out when I drew things, date them, and get them in chronological order. Thank goodness for my blog. I need to get better about dating stuff.

I created covers and title pages for the Blog Art album and Portfolio. The portfolio is really just the loose stuff that wasn't bound in one of the sketchbooks. I didn't know what else to call it. Some of my sketchbooks didn't even have my name in them so I created title pages with appropriate info.

It's going to be scary having real people see my stuff and me see their immediate reactions. I won't be able to hide behind the safety of the anonymous Internet.

Should I introduce myself as "Speck?"

The rest of the story:
I started thinking it would be a good idea to get out of the house and find other creative, artsy people. I knew there had to be some out there somewhere.

Ran into a co-worker of Hubby's at Wally World and she mentioned her hubby was in the Tuesday painting group. Called him to find out about it. He said to come on down.

He also mentioned another lady who writes and illustrates children's books was a regular in the Monday group, so I called her to find out about that. She said come on down.

I'm a big 'ol Introvert, not a people-person. Being in a group of people saps my energy. Plus, nobody locally knows me as Speck so I can blog away on the Internet without repercussions from small-town attitudes. If I show up with Speck on everything my cover will be blown.

It sounded like a good idea at first but on the Eve of Destruction I'm experiencing a boatload of anxiety.

What have I gotten myself into???

I need Xanax.

Words

Journaling:

Words feed my brain and nourish my soul. I love a good quote - a well-crafted phrase that makes me laugh, makes me think, or gives me inspiration or fortitude. My quote collection was scattered...newspaper clippings, margin notes, post-its, comics, email bits, blog comments...they were everywhere.

Decided to gather them up and write them all in a little 4 x 6 journal I can keep adding to as time goes on. Ought to be a pretty interesting collection by the time it's filled.

It's pretty interesting what I think is worthwhile to save. Some bits come and go, having outlived their usefulness or relevancy. Others seem to endure the test of time and have floated around in my files for years. Found some dated 1986.

(If you want to read the quotes, click on the image to embiggen it.)

Red Cat

This was supposed to be an orange cat but it got away from me. This is one of those instances where "it looked better 20 minutes ago."

Sigh.

This was also supposed to be more primative but I seem to have an addiction to shading and perspective. Now it's a weird mishmash of styles.

Le sigh.

If I could delete the red cat and the lamp it would be a pretty cute little sketch.

Oh well, it was just an experiment anyway.

Markers in big leather sketchbook

Uncle Tony's Photo Album

Journaling says:

Worked all day on Uncle Tony's photo album because I wanted to include some genealogical information. Can't have a photo album without a family tree to figure out who all the people are.

Added the star paper as a background for the covers & spine. Added a triptych of Tony's pics on the front.
- First Communion - 1925
- Dashing young stud - 1940
- Balding & bespectabled - 1987

The Artist's Hoard

Booklight

Faulkner