Illustration Friday: treasure

The word of the week over at Illustration Friday is "treasure."

This fits the bill, don't you think?

No pun intended!

acrylic paint, colored pencil and a jewel

Illustration Friday: Capable

Ravens are so smart, they even know how to use tools.

But you knew that, right?

Just a quick illustration before heading off to work.

Acrylic paint and colored pencil on patterned paper.

Hi everyone!! I miss you all!

xoxo

Lo♥ 

Animal Wednesday: Mystery Box

Well what do you think is in this big box that came from Robin?

The lilac tissue is SO her :)

WOW!!! Look at the size of this guy! He's tired after flying all the way from San Francisco.

Well, he sort of flew :)

Emma took off like a shot and hid under the pillow!

It could be that she remembers the story about her daddy (Brian) getting attacked by ravens in Bodega Bay at the same place where "The Birds" was filmed. See the schoolhouse? She just KNOWS Alfred Hitchcock sent this damn bird!

It's true, they showed no mercy.

Bliss is a lot tougher than Emma, believe it or not.

Here she is checking him out near one of her beds.

There'd better not be bird poop in there, hairy guy!

Nope. Good thing for you! I'll be watching you though.

But I love him and he apparantly loves our Rhode Island Red Rooster.

Aww, he'll find a place in Em's heart soon. And Bliss will lighten up too.

Meanwhile, guess what I named him?

Really.....guess!

He's a bit more hairy looking than feathery, probably because he's still young and downish.

Ready?

Hairy CAWnick Jr. !!

Happy Animal Wednesday, my dear friends.

Thank you Robin! I love him. Can I keep him, huh, can I?

xo

Lo♥

Illustration Friday: Stay

The word over at Illustration Friday this week is stay. I had a few ideas that I tried but they weren't working for me. I have felt blocked lately, like many of my other creative friends. And then it dawned on me. I haven't been painting my beloved ravens for a long time. It's as if I had abandoned them without even noticing until painting wasn't making me happy any more.

I hope for my sake they're back to stay.

So here is today's alla prima painting, Raven Totem.

acrylic paint on canvas, 4" x 12'x 1 1/2" deep. Soon to be available on Etsy or perhaps YART

Animal Wednesday: Snow Crow

I've been busy trying to get things painted for holiday sales at the gallery and on Etsy.

Here's the first in my series of Snow Crows.

What better way to say Happy Caw-lidays!!

OH, but today is Animal Wednesday so I guess I should say,

Happy HAW-lidays!

(groan)

;P

Illustration Friday: Spooky

Oh yeah, real spooky with that embroidery Mr. Ghosty!

I was wondering where my hanky was, pesky raven.

Hey, this is also for Animal Wednesday. What the heck!

~acrylic paint, micron pen, colored pencil and a scrap of cardboard~

Six Word Saturday # 8

Spring

gives me wings.

I'm soaring!

For more six words, click here please!

(The stamps in the piece are from Caroline in Malaysia, my cousin in New Brunswick, Canada, and Jossie in London!)

Illustration Friday: Propagate

There's a flock of ravens in the Northeast that are referred to as the "Kimono Corvids."

Their taste for fine silks has been passed down through many generations.

No one knows who their seamstress is. We all know ravens know how to use tools, but needle and thread?

The mystery remains.

My chosen definition for Propagate is: To transmit (characteristics) from one generation to another.

Acrylic paint and colored pencil on patterned paper

Illustration Friday: Corvid Kimono

When Raven wrapped herself in her ancestral kimono her heart became still and peaceful. She felt surrounded by her loved ones, past and present.

Most days, that was all she needed.

For Illustration Friday prompt: wrapped.

Let me say it's good to be back.

Acrylic paint, colored pencil on patterned paper.

Thankful Thursday: The Welcome Wagon

There were a few goodies waiting for me when I arrived in Rhode island. It helped ease the transition of closing one door and opening another.

Dear, sweet Marianne did this small canvas of the sun, moon and sparkling stars. The outer edge of the mandala has seagulls in the sky.I hung it up right away where I get to admire it several times a day.

She also sent my "H" atc for hibiscus, which I love...

...and she surprised me with this cactus rose. Such a soft, beautiful painting.

Then she wrote a "Welcome Home" note of this Frida Kahlo card.

She really knows my heart.

Thank you, dear friend!

This card winged its way to me from a friend I left behind. She and I both love ravens/crows. All of the black writing is hers, playing off that game of "telephone" we've all played as a kid. The inside of the card says "We're not ready to accept your departure." I smiled for days at her humor!

(Click to read it. Pavels is a local bakery in Pacific Grove.)

The next piece of mail to put a smile on my face was Mr. Grouper, my "G" atc from none other that Mim. I just adore her drawings!

She wrote a sweet note on the dragonfly card by Lynn. Thank you Mim!

Speaking of Lynn, she sent my "I" atc card with none other that that hoochy-coochy Inspiring Ismerelda! She's one of my favorites! I'll bring her out every time I need to channel my diva ;)

She mailed her in another one of her beautiful cards. Thanks so much Lynn!!

Inside this wonderful card from Lisa B was my....

..."J" is for Jackdaw atc. The Jackdaw is the crow of the old world. I love him!

But wait....

She also sent this long box. I hope you can read the writing if you enlarge it.

Inside it was this....

...AMAZING hand painted crow's feather depicting the great plains where Ibis and (my totem) the crow are often found. WOW! Thanks so much Lisa!

You're so very thoughtful ;)

And yesterday I went to the post office and found this wonderful card that says it all from KJ! And the bonus of my first week here so far has been meeting KJ face to face. Yay!! It was easy-peasy, like having my sister stop by. Now our friendship has taken on a new dimension and has gone beyond virtualness.Is that a word? Anyway, it felt good to finally connect. I'd love to meet all of you one fine day.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

Whew, what a first week!! One to be thankful for, for sure.

Animal Wednesday: As the crow flies....home

Today is the last day to post anything I want to say other than commenting on other blogs.
This has been an interesting 'packing up and tossing away' of memories.
The sheer physical work of a move this size is enormous, but the emotional weight that bears down on you is immeasurable. Even if you're the one that initiates the move, it still has significant impact.
As I was going through papers I came across this quote that I had on my bulletin board in my first studio. It's powerful to me.

"If you wait for a better time to create, better than this very moment, if you wait until you feel settled, divinely inspired, perfectly centered, unburdened of your usual worries, or free of your own skin, then forget about it.

You will still be waiting for tomorrow, and the next day, wondering why you never managed to begin, wondering how you did such an excellent job of disappointing yourself."

I hope I heed these words and get those paintbrushes out of the box as soon as I land on the other side. If not then...when?

Thanks for coming on this ride with me. It will be interesting (as some of you have said) to see what the move brings out in my art.

Please stay tuned!

Illustration Friday: Theater

"Channeling her inner Diva."

I don't have an inner Diva. I don't think I ever have. I don't feel the need to try and upstage anyone. Just the thought of that drama is too exhausting!

The world is a stage as they say, and we are all actors in a grand play until our final curtain call.

acrylic paint, colored pencils (prismacolor), patterned paper, and a sticker for the sparkly crown!

Illustration Friday: Subtract

The Crow by Abby Kimball

I click my pen.

Click click.

I lick my lips.

Lick lick.

I stare out the window.

The teacher talks

'cross the Y and an X.'

I see a crow outside.

My mind instantly goes back

to the second grade when the teacher

told us that the crow was beautiful once,

but to save mankind

was burned by the sun.

I remember I cried.

I still think crows are beautiful.

I pulled from my thoughts.

'Abby, what do you think?'

I look to you.

You mouth 'subtract 4.'

I say that.

I look at you.

Your chair is leaned back

and you're smiling.

I'm the crow.

I smile.

Here's how I arrived at this. I went to poemhunter.com and looked up poem lyrics that contained 'subtract.' I hated most of them and decided on this one because it had a crow in it and I could imagine the finished art. I liked the feel of it too. Then I went in a different direction and used an image from my greeting card program and I scanned it in sepia tones on a paper bag. I added paint and colored pencil and eventually overworked the hell out of it and called it a night. That's what I get when I don't draw my own image and use my own words, but hey...it works, right?

Happy weekend everyone!

Illustration Friday: Time

Time is such an intangible. How do we illustrate it?

I chose to draw a raven on a brown envelope that will be stamped with the time and date when it's mailed. I love taking the time to write a personal letter and to decorate the envelopes. Of course I add a special stamp that often features my art, but not always. I do try to make the stamp match in some way though.

If you'd like this envelope to be sent to you with one of my raven card designs inside (blank for you to send), just leave a comment saying you want it. You have to be willing to email me your mailing address, of course! I promise not to keep pestering you via the post, and I won't share your address with anyone else.

The winner's name will be drawn next Friday. Stay tuned.

Happy Friday everyone!! And happy, healthy baby, Penelope :)

IF : Routine Ravens

Most of you know I love ravens and I end up using them in so much of my art. I don't know how to make a photo montage so I had to crop and scan each one, and then scan the printed one which is why the quality of this is quite poor. This is a scan of a scan...sheesh.

All of these ravens have appeared here with their stories. To see what they had to say, find them in my archives!

I hope to have time to paint something else for this week, but for now here you go! Ravens galore!

Animal Wednesday: Spirit In The Sky

I'm keeping with the raven theme here so I don't have to change the song! This is from my archives when I was doing raven and pear designs as a spin-off of those crazy dreams I was having. It's called "Raven's Bounty."

Happy Animal Wednesday! HAW, er CAW!!

IF : Detach

As a way to temporarily detach himself from the rest of the flock, The Elder will often choose the high branches of the bare oak so he can keep the others in his sights, even though they are a mere reflection in his eye. He's the wise one, all knowing, all seeing.

Click to see the reflection in his eye.

36"x 36" acrylic on canvas, finally finished today for Illustration Friday's word: detach. I've been so detached from my life lately, I haven't been to the studio!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Animal Wednesday : Creative Wings

Hello my Animal Wednesday pals! I did something in the ol' Moleskine this week, so please take a look here. HAW!!

IF : The Legend Continues...

As we go back to my dream of Raven and the giant pears, we see Raven fly from one pear to another, checking on them as if he has a kinship with them. From the time the moon falls from the evening sky until the first light of dawn, he stays watchful and protective. He has surely and rightfully earned his title, "Keeper of the Orchard."

For Illustration Friday prompt, "Tales and Legends." Acrylic and Prismacolor pencils on bristol paper. ( from my archives)

IF : Winter Plain

I had a series of dreams a while back where giant pears cropped up everywhere dotting the hills and plains. From a distance they looked like small, golden trees. There was always one raven in the dreams, as though he were the keeper of my dreamscapes and these golden pears were his gift.

Here on this desolate winter plain, Raven holds tight to the magic of this gift. Keeping watchful and looking skyward towards the falling snow, Raven is thankful for this moment.

acrylic, Prismacolor pencils, rubber stamp trees on bristol board.

For Illustration Friday promt: plain (from my archives)

Be sure to check out my entry for this word in my Moleskine!