Illustration Friday - "Stitch"

Once again, the completion of a long-delayed art piece and an appropriate Illustration Friday topic have fortuitously collided! I started doodling around on this mini-quilt more than a year ago, but just yesterday finished appliquing, machine-quilting, and hand-binding it. It is part of a series I had conceived of quilt blocks based on memories of my summers at my grandparents' farm. I have 2 others already started. So, I hope fabric art isn't against the I.F. rules, but that's what I'm doing lately...
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Pie Mini-Quilt, 12" square, cotton fabric and batting.

Illustration Friday - "Grow"

Oh, I miss doing Illustration Friday! I see that this week's topic is "Grow" so I have recycled last February's drawing since it fit! I really like this doodle - I think it could grow up to be a cool painting some day...

I strive to keep growing in every way. It's so easy to fall into the comfort zone of familiarity, but remember: "You're either green and growing, or you're ripe and rotting!"

Black Micron pen in my sketchbook.

Illustration Friday - "Cars"

In an effort to be more conservation-minded,

Leon traded in his sports car for one of the new energy-efficient Bugs.

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Drawn in my sketchbook with black Micron pen, Prismacolor markers and pencils.

Illustration Friday - "Sign"

About 8 years ago, I met my friend Leila. I had been learning some sign language from books and I introduced myself to her at church. She and her husband are both deaf from birth and they have two hearing daughters. Leila is an amazing person. She was born and raised in Lebanon and grew up lipreading Arabic and French and using Arabic Sign Language. After her father died, her mother moved Leila and her 3 brothers to the U.S. Leila was 16. She missed 1 year of school while she started learning to lipread English and to sign ASL, then she went to a Deaf Institute for high school and graduated. She was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in 2000. She is an excellent teacher and friend. Her two gorgeous girls are like our daughters too. God definitely put us together!j(My sign name is a combination of the letter "P" and the sign for "art." Leila's sign name is a combination of the letter "L" and "long hair.")

jDrawn with Micron black pen and colored pencil.

Illustration Friday - "Citrus"

Lemons are one of my favorite things - in fact I've been on a bit of a lemony kick lately! I have taken to putting a slice of lemon in each of our glasses of ice water with dinner. Lemon coconut muffins are one of my best recipes! I have a lemon theme in my kitchen decor. So, while I could have used one of my previous drawings for this week's IF theme, "Citrus," in honor of my recent obsession, I painted its portrait.

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Lemons in a Pottery Bowl, acrylic painting on canvas, 5 x 5"

Illustration Friday - "Wired"

**image replaced with higher quality scan 3/15/07

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A familiar sight, if you have a middle-schooler.

Illustration Friday - "Sprout"

OK, I haven't been doing Illustration Friday lately - I've been preoccupied with painting birds! But the topic this week, "Sprout," reminded me of an ink doodle I did a few months ago in my sketchbook, so I scanned it and gave it a little color on the computer. We all need to keep growing! Our minds, our skills, our faith, our love! "You're either green and growing, or ripe and rotting!" So get growing!

IF - "Superhero" and Birthday Mania

Here is my Illustration Friday entry - and the media is... FROSTING!

We are in the midst of birthday season around here: sons' birthdays, nephews' birthdays, husband's birthdays, mom's birthday, friends' birthdays, dog's birthday...

Last night we had my nephew's 5th birthday celebration dinner here at my house. He (like his daddy) is into Superman, so I made him a Superman cake. Inside, it was gluten-free, dairy-free banana cake which was a new recipe and got raves, so I'll put it in my "keeper" file!

Have a SUPER day!

Thanks to my son, J, for recognizing that this fit the IF topic of the week!

Illustration Friday - "Buzz"

We have four large lavender bushes that grow along the path to our front door. I love to walk along as I leave the house and brush against the stems to release their scent. In late summer, the lavender is in full bloom and is thick with bees. They aren't a danger though - they are preoccupied with their job!

I took this photo last August when we got our new Nikon CoolPix digital camera. I took dozens of photos until I got one with a bee on a bloom in focus! I knew when I saw the Illustration Friday topic, "Buzz," that this was what I wanted to paint! The painting is acrylics on a 4" square stretched canvas with 1/2" wraparound sides. This was fun to do! I painted the out of focus green abstract this weekend, and last night I painted the bee on the bloom on top.

Acrylic paint on stretched canvas.

Illustration Friday - "Phoenix"

1 Corinthians 15:55

Hmmm, I was stumped for this topic for a while and had to do some research. According to Wikipedia, the phoenix was used in early Christian art as a symbol of Jesus Christ's resurrection. I thought that this was a good chance to try out my novice skills in Adobe Illustrator again, since it just wasn't flowing on paper. I'm pretty happy with this result - much better!

Illustration Friday - "Peace"

Merry Christmas!

Come see more Momma Pajama!

Drawn with colored pencils on green Canson paper.

Illustration Friday - "Help Yourself to Some Christmas Spirit"

Sure that Santa had granted their wish,

the mousies celebrated all night long,

dropping with contented exhaustion where they lay

sometime around dawn.

Drawn with Micron black pen, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.

Thanks for coming to see my mousie fun! Come see more Momma Pajama!

Illustration Friday - "Mask"

**UPDATED WITH COLOR VERSION**
Poor Bandit, always in trouble with the law! A victim of racial profiling? Or of a generational curse? Anyhow, look at those eyes - he's crying out for help!
Drawn with Micron black pen in my sketchbook. Colored with Prismacolor markers.

Illustration Friday - "Might"

Two meanings for "might" here: the camel has the might to carry great loads, and this might be the straw that broke the camel's back. This drawing is inspired by the last month at the homeschool center. We have been using it for the last 6 years, but every year there are a few more requirements, a few more restrictions, a few more burdens handed to us by the public school district. This latest one may just be "the straw," and it's time to look into other options.
Drawn with Micron black pens and Prismacolor markers.

Illustration Friday - "Invention"

An ode to my favorite invention - the hot water heater! Thank you, dear Edwin Ruud! You saved the world from heating bathwater on the stove, and made my mornings happy!

Pastel on black Canson paper.

Illustration Friday - "Thanksgiving"

Well, I pulled out my pastels to get a little practice in on them before I work on my homework assignment. I just couldn't resist this week's I.F. topic, "Thanksgiving." I've missed two I.F. weeks, since I'm working on illustrations for my Children's Book Illustration class, and something had to give! The photo I drew from reminded me of the nice sit-down dinner that our church serves every year for free to thousands and thousands of people.

Drawn on light blue Canson paper with pastels.

Illustration Friday - "Ghost"

"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Matthew 14:25-27

Drawn with colored pencils and Sharpie in my sketchbook.

Illustration Friday - "Smitten"

"Melissa had thought the blind date was a disaster, but in the morning it was obvious that Bill was smitten."
A quick and silly illustration for this week's Illustration Friday topic. Thanks for your concern, I'm feeling better!

I have been spending time working on my homework for my children's book illustration class. I just got home from the third class - which really was my first class! I missed class the first time because I was traveling, but then I missed the second class because I had the times wrong!! Grrrr! So tonight I finally made it! The instructor has us doing thumbnails and pencil sketches of spreads from Margaret Wise Brown's Bunny's Noisy Book. I think the original book was illustrated by Garth Williams, but we're not supposed to peek and get preconceived ideas! Much of the class has been about drawing tips and technical stuff like making dummies, bleeds, and indicating type position which I already know, but I have been making a nuisance of myself asking LOTS of questions about working with a publisher, getting myself known, etc. Craig is being patient with me, I think he's used to students who are less knowlegeable of the process. All you great blogging illustrators have already educated me so much!
So this is my second spread, which is of the baby bunny avoiding the fox. Next week we will continue on this spread, blowing it up to full size and making it in color.

Illustration Friday - "Trouble"

Had trouble thinking of a good illustration idea. Had trouble getting anything except the absolutely necessary done the last few days. Had trouble going anywhere without my box of tissues. I'm loving this new brush pen, though.

Illustration Friday - "Quiet"

Is there anything more amazingly quiet than an active, bouncy child absorbed in a book? I was inspired by Stephanie's photo of her child at Little Birds. I added the "journally" writing for fun to show the boy wrapped up in his silent adventuring.

Drawn with black micron pen in my sketchbook.