“E” is for Elephant Shrew

75A674A6-1718-44D0-A2F8-DD5D2109D004.jpeg

A very small mammal that, despite its name, is not a Shrew. The tiny Elephant Shrew is more closely related to a group of African mammals that includes elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks. You got to love the curious world of animals.

#collage #collageart #paintedpaper #paintedpapercollage #elephantshrew #animals #animalkingdom #animalart #instaart #instaartist #cutandpaste #illustration #acrylicpaint #curiousanimal

B is for Bird

B495F564-B8C6-4422-9AEE-88607DE6F544.jpeg

B is for Bird…Arizona Desert Quail…kind of…made from cutting up my used paper palette from painting with high flow acrylics and painted Washi paper scraps.
#collage #collageart #paintedpaper #paintedpapercollage #bird #birdart #arizonaquail #desertlife #instaart #instaartist #cutandpaste #illustration #illustrationartists #acrylicpaint

"The 100 Day Project”…100 Dogs in 100 Days

Dog with 100 day quote.jpg

Creativity is a skill. 

The more we practice, the more skilled we become. 

Practice takes time.

Practice takes commitment.  

Through practice, we develop a creative habit.

To develop a sustainable creative habit, you’ve got to learn to love the process.

Don’t put barriers up that aren’t really there.

And just get to work and make something.

It’s the journey not the destination.

 

The Commitment/Plan:

Show up day after day for 100 days of drawing or painting a dog…”100 dogs in 100 days”. 

So off I went in search of dogs. Luckily there are plenty of them in the neighborhood running and playing on the beach. I would start my day heading to the beach. Once there, I would stop and ask if I could photograph the dogs, explaining “the 100 Day Project”, finding out their names, breed and age and then I would officially start my daily 4 mile run. 

Self-Doubt:

I was not easy to sustain the day-after-day drawing and somewhere around Day 30 I started to waiver. I mentioned to a long-time friend and therapist that I didn’t think I could do it…and she said “Don’t think, Just do”. Her words struck a chord and I kept on going finding daily inspiration, reward and solace in the showing up and staying committed to the process…and just doing….

Letting go:

The urgency of creating one piece every day, amidst the activities of daily life, forced me to trust my creative intuition rather than thinking too much about the outcome. Each day I would pick a dog and an art medium and work until eventually I would have to call it “DONE”. No time for agonizing, fretting or second guessing…just let go.

 

Community

One of the best things about this project was the amazing sense of community that builds with the people around you. Online with others taking on “The 100 Day Project”, with friends near and far, and of course with all the people in the neighborhood and on the beach with their dogs.

 

Thank you:
Thanks to everyone who let me stop and take pictures of their dogs and alson those who sent me pictures of their dogs. 
I am grateful to my friends and followers who supported me throughout this project. I could not have done it without their daily encouragement. 

 And lastly, Thank you Sophie, for being the best dog and my best friend. You graced my life for 16+ years with your unconditional love and exceptional “dogness”. Because of you, I took on “The 100 Day Project”—100 Dogs In 100 Days and finished!

I will do this again…as soon as I have an idea of what to do…

My art in Cross-Stitch

Cross stitch.jpg
Back Cover.jpg
Book Cover.jpg


My art in cross-stitch!!!
A fellow Camino pilgrim and avid cross-stitcher @penningtonterrace has an Etsy shop where she sells her cross-stitch designs. Thank you @penningtonterrace for creating a cross-stitch of one of the illustrations from “Walking in Watercolor”.

I can’t wait to see one stitched.

Etsy.com/au/shop/PenningtonTerrace

.#caminodesantiago  #book  #travelillustration  #crossstitch  #crosstitching #crosstitcher #watercolorillustrator  #sketch  #traveldrawing  #walking#illustration  #illustrator

A Nor’easter knocked us out!

DFD7D1FF-AE12-4585-BB86-8A09CBA00939.jpeg

Rain and record-breaking winds of 40-60 mph have left us in the dark for several days. Trees, telephone poles and wires down so roads are closed and street lights not working. It hasn’t been easy for us humans and the creatures that share our beautiful coast.

.

#seagull #maine #nor’easter #noelectricity #sketch #sketchbook #sketching #ink #coloredpencil #inkdrawing #instaart #instasketch #instaartist

Farewell Bob

IMG_4078.jpeg

30 years!!! An end of an era for Bob Kendall and the Kalimantan Restaurant and Bar in Sanur Bali. Bob who was originally from Colorado USA was one of the first people we met when we moved to Bali in 2008. His casual outdoor restaurant and bar across the street from the villa we called home became a place we gathered. Overgrown with vegetation, talkative exotic birds and a few cobra citings, Bob would sit at his stool at the end of the bar giving us guidance as we tried to figure out life in far far away Bali, Indonesia.
Terima Kasih Bob
Harapah terbaik untuk anda
.
.
#sketch #sketching #watercolor #ink#collage #collageart #portrait #bali#balilife #sanurbali #inkdrawing#illustration #illustrator #instaart#instaartist #oldfriendship#terimakasih