Back to Art Journaling

This summer with it high temperatures has left me feeling like not doing art at all. Over the past couple days I broke the cycle and have been playing in my art journal.

Just give me some paper scraps and some glue and I am happy as can be.  This page is a hodge podge of scraps and was fun to make.

I used this map paper I made earlier this year and used it as a backdrop for this image. The words are some I wonder about often.

Here are more scraps again. There really is no meaning behind it. Maybe a little more time in meditation will lead to a wondrous discovery. I can dream can't I.

Two Journals and a Goddess

After taking Connie Hozvika"s course BIG I put a huge piece of paper on my painting wall. 6 sheets of 18 x 24 paper. I found it so intimidating that I just couldn't begin to paint on it. The other day I thought this is silly and told myself to paint on part of it. So that is what I did. This little goddess came out. She is 18 x 48. It feels great to have overcome that white paper and just paint again.

 Here is a little video showing a couple journals I just finished.

Writing Wednesdays

Work in Progress  this week.

I finished Nail Your Novel and I really liked it.  The author Roz  Morris also writes a blog of the same name. Nail Your Novel The posts are interesting and informative, if you are writing I highly recommend it.

There is a lot of basic information that I already knew in this book but it is also full of techniques on how to start editing an abandoned manuscript. She shares her plans and techniques from the very beginning to getting a novel published.  Its a great resource. I read it on my Kindle but I don't think I would do that again. I like thumbing through pages and the ability to go back and reference areas. That seems to be easier to do in a print book. I do realize I could add notes and bookmarks on my kindle but I still think a print book is easier.

I also realized I have this book on my kindle too.  I got it for really cheap when a promotion was going on, but never got around to reading it.

Its written by Randy Ingersmanson, whose claim to fame is the Snowflake method. He has an amazing newsletter that he also puts out that I have been reading for several years. So far it is really an easy read and seems very informative.

I am continuing to study about characters and emotion from the Write Great Fiction Series of books. Next on my list is this book on developing a good villain.

I spent way too much time on Pinterest today adding more pics to my work in progress board.  I find Pinterest to be a lot of fun but time consuming too. If you are on Pinterest you can follow me here.

I spent some time in the studio today but I haven't gotten any pictures to show. It felt to be working on art again.  I will have something to share next time.

A Completed Project and a Gift

I finished this blanket a little while ago. I like how it turned out. I have another project ready to go on the loom which I will talk about in another post.

Quite awhile ago I won a giveaway on my friend Lisa's blog.  It took awhile for her to mail it to me so she included this lovely piece of art with the package.

This big prize included a set of inktense pencils. I love using these, they are so vibrant when water is added to them.

Then there was this bound journal which is really a ledger.

The inside has pages of ledger paper that I will have fun uses for.  Its not old looking of course but it will still be great to use. I could even dye it with tea to age it a bit.

and last but not least a little paper mache' book thats is all set for decorating. Thank you Lisa for being so generous. I sure feel blessed to receive all these goodies.

Cannon Beach

I have been working on my website all day so its time to get back to travel for my post today.

We spent many hours walking along this shore. I do love the Oregon coast and the ocean.  It has such contemplative beauty about it.  I so wish I lived closer.

We had the most perfect day at the beach. Here she is  my daughter the bathing beauty. Unfortunately she really got sunburned badly despite having sunscreen on.

I was at Cannon Beach about ten years ago and I really loved it. So coming back here was a must. Here is that most famous view of haystack rock.

Girls never tire of playing in the sand or maybe its the writer in her leaving her mark.

Its a little rough but such a beautiful heart.

Of course I was next so I wrote my name in the sand.





































Once you begin I know you start seeing hearts and other pieces of beauty wherever you go. I loved the colors in this shell.  It was pretty fragile and I knew it would have broken by the time I got home so we left it on the beach for someone else to cart home.

We saw this pair of skulls in one of the shops.  I loved how they were painted.

We too a rest on this bench. I love it when there are nooks and crannies everywhere that are just fun to explore. There is more to come but that can wait for another day.  Have a fabulous weekend.

Writing - Progress

An old picture of myself writing, crown and all.


Its Wednesday already so time to post any progress I have made.  I read the  Little Earth Medicine's book on the Wolf. I got a couple tidbits on it but not as much as I thought I would.  I wish I had read it before I ordered the Crow book from the same series on Amazon.  I wouldn't have purchased it but now I have a gift for someone.  The other two books on writing Nail your Novel and Characters and Emotion and Viewpoint are still works in progress.  I have focused on the later book. It is really good and is helping me see how to rewrite my own fiction.  I am noticing also what I have been doing incorrectly so that has been a plus.
In the next week I want to focus on both of these books and do some research on ravens. 

This afternoon I am headed to a root canal specialist. It looks like they will remove the old root canal, add a new one that goes deeper and clean out any infection. It doesn't sound like its going to be fun at all.

Lady in Red

I have been working on this painting for the last several days. I am still not satisfied with it. So I'd love your opinion. Does the background need more, her dress look off, her skin need more blending or is it just me being over critical. I look at the canvas and think its the right side that could use something, it doesn't seem balanced to me.  Should I add words somewhere or what.  Ideas please?

Writing Wednesdays

I said yesterday that I would talk about a new project today. Its also an old one too. Its a novel that I started during NaNoWriMo, that National Novel Writing Month back in 2008. I have pulled the manuscript out many times, sometimes thinking I really want to finish and rewrite it. Sometimes I think its just garbage and not worth the time and other times there are some elements that I really love. They don't want to let go of me. Sarah read what I wrote and marked it up pretty good with her red pen. It needs a lot of work. The time she told me it was probably a trilogy I got really frustrated because I just wanted to take one of my November novels and finish it.  This is turning out to be a bigger project than I intended. So once more I put it aside.  Sometimes there are projects that you are just supposed to do and I think for me this is one of them.

I've always been pretty transparent on this blog. I show my successes and failures. I share the entire journey in the hopes that by my example another person will have the courage to follow their own inclinations. I don't claim to be a good writer or really to know anything about what I am doing but I do  know how to share.  I think that in putting a public face on this it makes me more accountable.  So here is my plan. I am going to share what my work in progress is about, what kinds of things I am doing on a weekly basis to move me towards my goal.  You can come along for the ride or just skip my Wednesdays posts.

The working title for my novel is The Raven Story. My main character is a woman named Zia who grows up in a Native American type culture.  She travels with a wolf named Kael that she communicates with telepathically. She 'll be on a journey searching for her father whom, she feels holds the secret to her existence and several other mysteries. The Ravens are a race of people she will encounter.  I have a pinterest board with some images for inspiration.  You can see it here.

I have been reading other fantasy's to become familiar with how other authors are doing this.  The latest being The Seven realms series by Cinda Williams Chima  To be a good writer you really need to be reading a lot of books in your genre, so I am trying to do that.


My first draft has several areas I want to work on first: strengthening my main character, creating a more in depth culture for her to come from. So that means research.  This week I am reading the Little Wolf Medicine's book on the Wolf.   I am hoping for some factoids to flesh out my wolf character a little more. I will also be reading Nail Your Novel : why writers abandon books and how you can draft, fix and finish with confidence. I am sure it will be helpful. To help me with my character development I will be using Characters and Viewpoint, from the Write Great Fiction Series.


I'll report in next week on how this all went.