When Brothers Attack

Sometimes a little brother has to gain the upper hand...

Diahn Gets Her Groove Back

Or at least continues to try to get it back...It was a rainy, rainy day here in east Tennessee, so I sketched from some photos I took on some recent adventures. It feels really good to draw again. I can feel the little frowny lines between my eyes relaxing...

A jellyfish from the Aquarium of the Smokies - one of my boys and my favorite places to visit. I love the jellyfish tanks - they look so ethereal - like underwater sea fairies...except they might wrap their nettles around you and make you wish your nerve endings didn't connect to your pain receptors.



And a page of memories from our trip to Dollywood. I didn't realize that they have a large eagle sanctuary there, and could have stood in front of the majestic birds all day. Just fantastic. I also enjoyed watching the boys take it all in for the first time. Not surprisingly, D was slow to warm up to the more adventurous rides, loved the mid-range ones with less-steep drops, while J LOVED the gigantic drop of Daredevil Falls and wanted to go over and over, and in the FRONT SEAT! We all got wet that day, but he was SOAKED.



Can someone explain to me why I can draw an eagle, but not my own children? Strange. J looks like he will when he's 16, and D's eyes and mouth are wonky, but...that's okay. Right?

Isn't Technology GREAT???

Yes, I'm a tech-nerd. I admit it. I love electronics more than the average American woman, I think. Except for Linda. She's at least as techno-geeky as I am. I mean that as a compliment.

SO...for Valentine's Day, my sweetie got me the best thing. Well, yes - he did get me some chocolate, but this was even better than that.

It's a Sanyo Xacti CG6 digital video camera, and it's awesome. It is about the size of my Blackberry and just slips into my handbag and goes everywhere with me. I've been playing with it for the last month and annoying filming my family all over the place (which you can view on my YouTube channel, if you want to see what the videos look like.

It also takes 6 megapixel stills, and I've got to tell you, I wasn't all that hopeful at what it would produce. It's got a tiny little lens, but I'm very pleased with what I have seen so far. It even has a flash.

But, that's really NOT what this post is all about. My oldest son, D, is 8 and he used it to take this (beautifully framed and composed) picture of me, Dr. SmartyPants and J. Now come on - I was impressed when I saw it - I know you are, too!

He's obviously a photographic genius...

Crayola Rocks!

Okay. All too often, I complain about lousy customer service and shoddy craftsmanship, etc. But today...I'm going to give a big KUDOS to Crayola. Now...I'm a big Crayola fan. I love their products - my kids love their products and usually I can buy them without any fear that they are going to be less than fantastic.



Yesterday, the boys and I went to the store for a few items and I saw a cool tower of 50 of the Pip-Squeak markers for a reasonable price.




The tower opens up and stacks like a pyramid, so you can just grab a color and go. Well...we had to have it. All of our other markers are scattered from here to Timbuktu. I told the guys we'd get it as long as the tower stayed on our work table downstairs, instead of traveling all over the house. Great. Got it. Good to go.



Just a few minutes ago, they decided to color and D. brought one of the dark green markers to me and told me it didn't work. Sure enough it was all dried out, as were 15 others. WHAT?? 15 others? That ain't right. So, I called their 800 number.


An incredibly short 2 minutes later, I spoke to a very nice lady who apologized up and down and back and forth and assured me that they had tried to recall all those markers, due to a sealing problem, but obviously some had slipped through the cracks and could she please send me a newly designed tower right away?


I LOVED it. Are you kidding me? A company that takes responsibility for its problems? Holy cow - what an idea! She didn't try to tell me that someone must have broken the seal (they hadn't) or that it was a result of a shipment problem by some unnamed contractor or any other nonsense. Just - "Hey - we made a mistake and we are going to fix it. We are so sorry for your hassle, is there anything else I can do for you today."


And that, people, is how you win brand loyalty.

i CAN draw

Linda and I went out wandering about a while back and I did actually sit and draw something that almost resembles a person! Yippee!! I can do it!! I asked J if it looked like and old lady, and he shook his head and said, "No. It looks like an old man." So. My apologies to the nice lady who was having lemonade with her friends. You didn't look anything like an old man.



I also grabbed a moment to draw while we were at the Biltmore on Thursday. The spires on top of the house are really lovely and fun to draw if you ignore the crick in the neck that accompanies the task. We were sitting in the courtyard drinking hot chocolate while I drew it. It's a good way to keep young boys still. The orchid was in the conservatory and I had to draw it from a picture, because the downside of using hot chocolate to keep young boys still is the burst of energy that comes after they finish the drink. Hey...you do what you can

Happy Birthday

Ronald's Birthday Candles!, originally uploaded by diahn.

You really are the best, you know...

It May Not Be Painting...

...but at least it is something!

Playing around with mobiles again - and an old Patricia Wyatt calendar that Linda gave me...

Now flying from the entryway chandelier.

The fact that they are birds of prey silhouettes might reflect my current state of mind regarding my artwork...but I'm remaining hopeful.

In Search of Spring

Technically, it is here. The temperatures don't quite show it yet, but it is official. Spring is here! We went in search of it over the weekend, and found it in smallish doses. This forsythia had burst forth at the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. As had a whole crop of daffodils and this lonely tulip...



The big tulip displays will be in a few more weeks, and I hope to go back and see them all.

It was a day to enjoy the sunshine, even though the wind remained quite chilly. A little running and hill-rolling took care of that, though...





Do you remember rolling down hills? Getting all dizzy and disoriented and covered in green, green grass? Oh, I do, and it always makes me think of days like this. Days when you listen carefully to hear the sounds of buds cracking open and seeds sprouting.



Days when you realize there's just a teensy bit more daylight than there was yesterday, that the chill in the air is not quite so sharp.

Days when you remember that the best things in life don't cost a penny and can be held in one's lap.



I love days like that.

Oh, Boy!

I'm just braggin'...

Yo, Peeps!

There are signs that a change is a-coming. A new wind is blowing - a fresh perspective is inevitable. Creativity has been hard to come by lately, but the last day or two has brought it out in unexpected ways...


For J's Easter party at school...Peeps cupcake baskets with jelly bean eggs. The licorice handles just didn't work. And who likes licorice, anyway?


A new spring-color-palette-inspired sewn paper mobile to replace the paper snowflake mobile from Christmastime.

Hope of the warmth to come has come out lately, too...


In lightning fast bicycles ridden around the neighborhood lake...


In tiny seeds dropped into planting pods...


In the determination and strength it takes to conquer monkey bars for THE VERY FIRST TIME EVER. And yes. I did remember my camera. Smug mama look...

Oh. My. It's almost here. The green is coming back. The trees are whispering it to the wind. The frogs are talking about it in the pond. I overheard them today. They say..."not long now. don't give up."

Visitor

Sunday afternoon the kids in the neighborhood came across this little girl. She's got on a collar with a rabies vaccination tag, but it is out of date and the vet clinic that it was registered to doesn't keep the owner information in their computer longer than a year (how lame is that???). She's a sweet girl - at least 2-3 years old, according to that tag (it was from 2005) and she is currently renting the doghouse out back.

So.

The boys and I made flyers and passed them out all over our neighborhood and two other neighborhoods nearby. We also let the local shelter know we had found her in case anyone was looking. Given the smell that is currently emanating from this pup, she's been away from home awhile, although she's not overly scrawny. Slim, for sure, but not starving. She's been very sweet to the humans here, but I introduced Oscar and Chico to the mix today to see what she would do.

Strangely enough, she and Chico did okay. He sniffed...she growled...he walked away. No hay problema.

She and Oscar did not fare so well. It may be time for a little Dog Whisperer action.

I think Dr. SmartyPants (the softy) is secretly hoping nobody claims her so we can keep her. I don't know. She's got to have a serious bath and a cat-scan. Literally. If she is not nice to Ben, forget it. She is obviously a Jack Russell Terrier, so she is going to have a need to chase things like cats.

I don't know.

The boys have already named her "Precious." AS IF. I mean, please. "Precious?" I think we can do better than that. Something has to stand up to those manly names the other critters have.

IF no one claims her and IF she passes the cat scan (and getting along with Oscar) and IF a fabulous wonderful literary strong name pops into my head. THEN I'll think about it.

At least there would be another girl in the house...

OH - and hey everyone...if you have a dog/cat/bird/ferret...whatever...PLEASE put a collar with ID on it. I mean really. It's simple. It's cheap. You could have your pet back.

Stumped

I've made it all the way through the longest part of winter without being too badly affected.

Until last week.

Or maybe the week before. It's hard to say, now.

In any case...I'm stuck. Stumped. Stultified. Stalled, stifled, squashed. Stagnant.

Are you getting my drift, here?

It's hard to say why. Daylight savings time just didn't start soon enough. Someone looked at me cross-eyed last Wednesday. Spring Break is next week. Who the heck knows anymore.

It doesn't really matter why, I think. What matters is breaking through the funk. The stump-funk. The steaming, stultifying, stagnant, stalled, stifled, squashed stump-funk.

Aren't you glad you dropped in today? Here - have a big steaming cup of stump-funk with me! Pull up a chair and whine awhile.

You'll fit right in.

Bleh.

Snow Day

The reports last night said it MIGHT snow here in the valley. The 6 year old in me prayed for LOTS of snow.



I woke up this morning with SNOW DAY in my mind, but the county school district did not agree. Our little co-op follows the county schedule, so...no snow day...

or so we thought.

J was supposed to have a field trip today, but that WAS cancelled on account of the weather, so he had no school. So, rather than taking him home and going back later to get D, we called our own snow day. Isn't homeschooling fun?



We had to spend some time outside exploring in the (miniscule amount of) snow. Much fun can be had with ANY amount of snow when you are a boy under the age of 9.



Tiny little snowballs still pack a wallop...



We're snow starved here in the south.



The most dedicated boy can even get a snow angel out of it...



Hope your day is filled with the magic of snow days...

And the hope that Spring is really on the way...

An Apple a Day

Well, I'd like to say it keeps the doctor a way, but this flu season, at least...not so much. We've actually not been overwhelmed with it, but little J is still battling his mystery virus...6 days and counting of fever and a cough. He'll be missing his last basketball game of the season, poor little guy. His fever-induced sleep-talking events have been fun, though. Nothing like a little hallucination to keep it real.

So. I've painted another apple. I don't know why. I actually started this one about 2 weeks ago, and just finally managed to finish it yesterday. It is one of those paintings that, had I finished it when I started it, it probably would have turned out much better, but it just lost its freshness, somehow. I also think that having used the 300lb hot press on the last painting made using the 140lb cold press seem cheap and tawdry. Okay, maybe not tawdry. But that hot press is like buttah.

Or velvet.

Or buttah'd velvet.

All I know is...I like it. I'm going to have to get me some more. Soon. Like tomorrow.

Still loving the gouache. I can't make myself paint in acrylics. I've tried...it's just not working.

And I think that's okay. Why fight it?

Aw, Shucks

I got an email from Sharon at Flat Sound of Wooden Clogs, yesterday, telling me she had passed on this award to me. What a surprise and an honor! Thanks so much, Sharon!

Now, it's my turn to pass it along to some bloggers that I just love...

Of course, it almost goes without saying that Linda would top my list! Not only is she an amazing artist, fantastic writer and humorist extraordinaire, but she's a wonderful friend and constant source of inspiration and encouragement.

Helen is a friend from WetCanvas that has been blogging of late - she does wonderful watercolor pours, but also does just about everything else, including dolls, assemblages and whatever else strikes her fancy. Now get over there and say hi and encourage her to post them frequently (I am not patient...)

Stefani at Blue Yonder is also a source of inspiration. Her lovely photographs and the tales of her adventures in homeschooling boys are always delightful.

Whenever my bloglines shows an entry of Drawing the Motmot, I give a little squeal of anticipation. Debby is an extraordinary artist, let me tell you. The inspiration on that blog alone is worth large chunks of time spent perusing it. Lovely stuff...

And last, but certainly not least, Rob at Car-a-Day...he combines the two passions of my household in one wonderful blog. If you like cars and you like art...you'll love Rob!

Are there blogs out there that you love? Play along...

1. If you get tagged, write a post with links to your favorite blogs.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the creator of the award, Emila.

Forgiven?

Forgive me, blogland, for I have sinned. It has been 2 weeks since my last blog-fession. I mean, really - 2 weeks. To the day. Phew. We've been wrapped up in flu-season and mystery viruses and lots of activity on top of that and I've not seen the inside of my studio since exactly 2 weeks ago today. That is just so very wrong.

So, today, even while still in the middle of mystery virus-land (not me, but little J, unfortunately), D and I came up and cleared off a space to play. If you have children and have any desire to teach them anything about art, you HAVE to go to Artsonia. Teachers upload lesson plans with all the concepts and materials that you need and all you have to do is register for FREE to have access to all of it. We decided to work on a color wheel - learning the primaries and secondaries, while making something beautiful with 6 way radial symmetry. I wish I could think these things up, but I can't, so therefore...I Artsonia.

Now - a word about color wheels and the profoundly color vision deficient boy. Yikes. As an artist, nothing makes me sadder than the fact that my darling eldest boy has a color vision deficiency. I can't imagine not seeing the colors that I do, the way that I do. The sadness is sharpened by the knowledge that as the mother, I had to have been the carrier of this particular affliction - it does run in my family. So, while D can tell a primary red from a pure green, all the shades in between are lost to him. Sometimes he even loses primary red and pure green if they are right next to each other with no other point of reference. Purple and blue look the same. Orange and red look the same. He's learned to read the crayon before he starts coloring. Tragic.

All that being said - he did a fabulous color wheel with 6 way radial symmetry...

And of course, I had to play along...

Maybe J will feel like doing it tomorrow - you know he's feeling bad when he won't even do ART!

Poor baby.

On another note, Sharon of Flat Sound of Wooden Clogs gave me a really nice award and mention in her blog. I'll post on it a little later this evening, I hope. Thanks Sharon!

On the Horizon

9 2/3 x 4 1/4 gouache on 300lb hot press

Things are brewing in this head of mine. I've got projects and paintings and collaborations on the brain, so it's making everything else difficult. The boys each wrote a book, which I published and bound as gifts for the grandparents. I still need to make copies for our own library, but haven't managed it yet. They were really amazing, but very time and energy and thought consuming. Now that they are done, I can move on to my own artwork. I do have to share a couple of their illustrations, though...

From 6-year old J's book, "Nanny and Pop Pop's Sports Adventure,"




And from 8-year old D's book, "Nanny and Pop Pop: Detectives,"





The books were in honor of Nanny and Pop Pop's 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Anyway - keep your eyes peeled - I'm looking forward to reclaiming my studio time for painting rather than editing and publishing. Linda and I met last night to go over our goals to see where we are a month into the year. Let's just say...well...January was, ummm...interesting.

I may need a do-over.

Bovine Blind Contours

I don't know why. Really. They just kept happening.









I think there will be more. But I really don't know.

Don't they have the best faces?

My Dad is Better Than Your Dad

IMG_0002, originally uploaded by diahn.

This photo was taken half his age ago. I remember when it was taken, although I wasn't there. He was in Greece, stationed there by the Air Force for a year, and the rest of us were in Alabama, living with my mother's parents. I remember the day he came home. I was 6 years old, and I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to recognize him after a year. My grandmother told me to not worry - I would always know my daddy.

She was right. Although, when he started snoring later at the house, I was scared.

My dad was gone a lot when I was young - in the service of our country - but his presence was always there. He worked two or three jobs (including the military) most of my life, sleeping whenever he could grab a nap. He worked hard so my mom could stay home with me and my brother and sister. He worked hard because that's how his father worked. He worked hard because that's just the kind of guy he is.

My favorite memories of my dad when I was little was when we would go to the lake to go swimming. Dad could hold his breath longer than anyone I have ever met. We would watch him go under the water WAAAAAYYY over THERE...we'd be completely silent, waiting to see if we could find a clue to where he was going, when suddenly, without warning, one of us would go flying up out of the water, propelled by his powerful arms.

You can't buy that kind of fun. Suspense, adrenaline...FLIGHT.

My boys tell me he still does it, although I haven't witnessed it in a while.

He can build and/or fix anything, as long as he has a hammer and a roll of wire. Maybe some duct tape. I'm pretty sure they modeled McGyver on him. When I wrecked my first car, about 2 weeks after I got it, we spent some quality time together in the garage, putting it back together. It didn't matter that I was a girl - I wrecked it...I would have to fix it. It was hot, greasy, smelly work and I loved it. Whenever I smell an engine now, I think of those nights we spent together under the hood of my pretty, wrecked, fire engine red Chevy. I drove it for 2 years with a primer gray hood and blue headlight covers. Then he finally found a nose piece and grill and we got to have it painted one color.

From him I got my height, my blue eyes, my gigantic teeth and my stick straight hair. I also got a love of reading (okay - more like an obsession), a strong desire to express my opinions, a love of all things mechanical and/or electronic and a fearlessness that sometimes leads to impulsiveness (but in a good way, of course). I also learned from him how a man should treat his wife...

...with respect and love and tenderness and a healthy dose of chocolate.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you very much.

(and yes - I'm almost 40, but he'll always be my Daddy.)

Two Bens

On the left side of the spread, Ben in Mars Lumograph 8b pencil and graphiting pencils, wetted with a brush.

And on the right side of the spread, Ben in pen and Neocolor II, as a blind contour.

I think this one captures his decidedly wonky personality.