#2833 mid-week art break

Happy post-Valentine's Day. When I was younger, before MT and I were married, I put a lot of stock in Valentine's Day. I had such high hopes and expectations for grand romantic gestures, and those hopes never really worked out for me. I had a co-worker whose husband made sure his wife got bragging rights in the office. For her birthday, Valentine's Day, their anniversary, and sometimes just on random days, she received big, beautiful bouquets of flowers delivered to the office which she would proudly display on her desk while chirping about her wonderful, amazing husband. MT low-key hated that guy, even though the husband was really a super nice guy. For me, it was my co-worker I came to low-key dislike because of the way she would always ask, "What did you guys do for Valentines? Did MT get you anything?" As you read that sentence, please imagine a high-pitch, sort of squeaky feminine voice and a condescending head tilt. ARGH! I just had such a gigantic flashback, and it's been over 25 years!!

MT and I have had some spectacular Valentine's Days. We have often been on vacation in February and celebrated the "holiday" on our holiday. (ha!) The very first big vacation we took back in 2006 was over Valentines. Mostly it was a really great day except that I threw up after riding an America's Cup racing boat in St. Maarten. Our last Valentines trip was four years ago, and we were in Thailand. That was pretty cool! I'll take a trip, even with vomit, over a bouquet of flowers anytime. 

All that being said, yesterday was just another day. We had takeout for dinner and I cried over a dog - not one of mine - that got hit in the road by our house. The sounds that poor dog made. It broke my dog-loving heart. Sad.

Sheesh...how do I bring up the mood after that? Let's talk about my latest art projects. Some of them are good for a laugh.

At my work, we do a Valentine exchange, you know, like in grade school where everyone gives everyone else a little card? We don't decorate our own boxes, although I think we did one year. This year, I decided to make valentines for my co-workers. I thought about doing some little drawings, but then I got a different idea from Jill the Artist, then I tweaked the idea, and I had lots of fun with it. 

The project was a multi-step process. First, I colored a couple of "stained glass" cards. Here's one:

If you're just sitting around, feeling kinda blah, I totally recommend doing something like this. It is immersive and meditative and fun.

Then, using a heart pattern, I traced a bunch of hearts on the page, and cut them out. 

To finish it, I cut some larger size hearts out of construction paper, and glued the colorful hearts onto the plain paper, then I doodled on the edges because it was fun for me. I ended up with 23 hearts, but I needed 25, so I drew a couple of others that are a bit different, but I like them and they were fun to do. 

Tomorrow is our all-hands in the office day, so I'll give these out tomorrow morning. I think they are pretty cute and I had a great time making them!

This evening after work, I participated in a workshop by Jill the Artist. I'm glad I joined her creative group because it keeps me involved in art and gives me different ideas rather than just finding stuff on Pinterest. Don't get me wrong - I love me some Pinterest and I really enjoy looking for art-y ideas there. It's just way more interesting for me right now to spend some time playing with Jill's ideas. 

Today's workshop was the third one I've attended since we got back from Greece. I think she usually does one a month, and I skipped November - I hadn't joined the group yet. She usually starts with some fun writing prompts to get the brain going, and then we start sketching and painting from ideas she gives us. We did some scribble pictures that are fun and freeing. 

The big blob in the top left corner is supposed to be a chicken. I didn't scribble enough and got a little reproach from Jill (yep, I knew she was talking to me.) Right below the chicken is a cat, and the other two scribbles are dogs. That one over in the top right corner actually kinda looks like Stella LOL.

Another fun way to get out of the analytical side of the brain is to draw from an upside down picture. So we were shown this owl:

I turned my sketchbook upside down and started sketching. When I turned my book right side up, I had this:

I know. But listen, I am a naive artist! That means I have no formal training, and the art I make can look child-like and unsophisticated. My mom told me this terminology, and it's really a thing.

Anyway, then I decided I might like to put a little paint on this owl, and I learned a valuable lesson.

The pen I used to sketch the owl "bleeds" when it is hit with water, so the paint ends up looking pretty muddy. I really like that pen to sketch with, but if I think I might be painting, I'll be sure to use a different type of pen. The Micron pens are way better with paint. So yeah, the painted owl isn't great. The color I was using on the wings and body was more like the orange-y brown stuff around him, but it just turned muddy, as you see. When it dried a little, I slapped a bit of blue and yellow on it because I could. I'm pretty sure I'll try all of it again sometime because it's fun.

Here's the next one. We were shown this picture:

Cute, right? I've been wanting to try to sketch some birdies. I turned my sketchbook upside down and got after it.  Are you ready for the result?

So, the bottom bird looks okay, but the birdies get progressively weirder from there. I like the tail feathers of the top bird, but what the heck happened to his beak and why is he so flat? It looks more like a creepy rodent with a bird's tail feathers, blowing it's nose. SIGH. Maybe I'll cut it into some interesting shape and re-purpose it somehow. More likely is that I'll  just leave it in the book to give myself a chuckle now and then.

My sketchbook has kind of become an art journal. I often make comments and notes about what I was doing, or trying to do. This is the hobby I never knew I always wanted. 

It's NBA All-Star weekend here in Salt Lake City. The authorities are expecting around 100,000 people to come to SLC over the next four days. I'll just be over here in the suburbs, reading and scribbling.

Enjoy the rest of the week!