Saturday, February 21, 2015

Sushi cat - Amy


My insomnia is zapping my energy and as a result, I have not been doing any art. I had a burst of energy this morning (thanks to Peet's Coffee) and I broke out my watercolor pencils. I have not worked much with them before this month. Will see where they take me.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Rachel - Watercolor


Where there is light, color and water, there is magic.  Alone, each falls flat, but combined they are delicious.  Whether ocean, rain, fountain, puddle, lake, fog or lowly goblet I find these combined elements enchanting.  Here is my watercolor.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Rachel - Morning on the Water

Snapshot for a busy day.  Sometimes it's difficult to reconcile everything that I need and want to do in the space of any given day.  Today, all I could manage was a pause on the road to take a snapshot.   Today that will be good enough.

Amy - Fairytale



Pencil drawing with "Fairytale" as the prompt. I went for the iconic settings coming from the book. I just love being swept into the world created by a good book. I'm not much of a Fairytale kinda person. Give me some realistic fiction! I recently re-read "To Kill a Mockingbird" over the summer and I am kinda stoked about "Go Set a Watchman."
Lori Singer~ Photography inspired Poetry


 

In-between the Gray,
Pink showed her the way.

  
 She was situated  somewhere between the two extremes. 
Gray skies  to the west and coral skies to the east.  
 The magic evening light of the sun bowing slowly and doing her thing. 
 Pink using her magic ways.   
 She convincing her, that a rough day is just  but a day, and all days are beautiful days beautiful days when observed in just right way.  
Revealing the gray, as just a scale, and not cause for gloom, trouble, or worry.
 Gray the beauty of color indeterminate between black and white. 
The color with so many shades it's not always easy to tell them apart and an art students nightmare project or delight. 
 Sometimes warm and at others cold.  

Get those scales just right said Grace M, the art students teacher.

The importance of gray as a color, not mere black and white. 

Light to dark. 

   Setting. 

 Reflecting. 

 Reflecting celestial light, reflecting color on gray, revealing heavenly skies through the inky monochrome display of clouds in the valley night.
To the east,  heavenly skies, and to the west, emerald hills,  light patches of wild mustard flowers dotting the roadside.  
All framing the spectacular views of the valleys.
The evening somewhere between the light and dark of the night.  And then Pink in the sky. 
 There she was out of the blue, revealing the rosy light.    
 Pink showing  her the way... upon the gray atmospheric canvas above.  
 Gray just a  mood. 
A pervading  feeling always with undercurrents and overlays of the beautiful Pink when illuminated just right. 
 So dear friend... befriend the gray and know Pink will show you the way.

Lori Singer

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Rachel - Neon Bloom

I took a photo of this weedy little bloom a while back, but was sorely disappointed that the focus was off.  I still loved the shapes and feel of the image, so I decided to work with it and give it a totally different look.  I like how it turned out.

floral journey - Amy


Another journal entry - water color and pen

Ode to the 9th - Amy


This is a mixed media art journal. I've been fairly obsessed with Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I listened to Karajan's version while making the piece (and I am listening to it right now). I love the optimistic theme of "brotherhood" and "unity." I know that the daily casual exchanges of kindness does not make the headlines. Yet these are many and powerful; they are the foundation of our social contract as human Beings. I'd like to stay focused on the human potential toward unity and acceptance of self and others.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Rescued Lion - Amy


We visited Florida over New Year and I had the chance to visit the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa. We had a tour by the owner/founder. It was so sad to hear the ridiculous and ultimately tragic stories that lead to the big cats ending up at their facility. Big cats do not make suitable pets, don't live on a vegetarian diet, their cubs should not be used as a photography prompts,  and they should not be bred with domestic cats. Rules that seem perfectly obvious to me! I am grateful that there are amazing humans out in the world that devote their time and money to help this wonderful creatures.

Rachel - My Tree in Winter

I love my tree.  Each of its seasons are beautiful in their own way, from the first tender green buds in spring, through the verdant canopy of shade in summer and all the way until the final leaf falls, laying bare the vein-like branches in winter.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Rachel - Tender Beginning

Here are my beautiful niece and her husband on their wedding day.  They are so in love, and so tender together.  I wish then a lifetime of tenderness and care.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Rachel - Look on the Sunny Side

I had all kinds of difficulty with uploading tonight.  If point of fact, I had to scrap my original image because ît would not upload.  So, I moved on, looking at the sunny side (and at what I would be able to do on my phone).

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Rachel - A Marvelous Bird

Growing up my grandfather regaled me with many witticisms, pithy poems and tall tales; one of my favorites was a limerick about that marvelous bird, the pelican.  After my grandpa's death in 2009 at age 96 I researched and found that it was written by Dixon Lanier Merritt, but for me it will always be my grandpa's poem.

Oh, you wanted the poem?  Here it is:

A marvelous bird is the pelican,
its beak can hold more than its belican,
it can hold in its beak enough for a week,
what a marvelous bird is the pelican.

Robin - Dark Ocean

I am so lucky to live here in Santa Cruz and see the ocean every day.
The ocean has moods. Even when it's a gorgeous day it can still feel temperamental to me. I love that.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Rachel - Look Up

Sometimes I get so busy that I buzz from place to place, looking at the ground, focusing only on the destination.  One thing I like about our Daily Art blog is that I get into the habit of looking for opportune subjects everywhere I go.  In that way I become more present.  Today as I was rushing to a meeting I took a moment to look up and I found light, lines, curves and color.  I stopped and took some photos, and answered a few folks inquiries about what I was doing.  Here is what I found when I took the moment from my day to look up.

Mirror - Amy


I am doing the Tinkerlab daily art sketchbook challenge. The prompt was "mirror."  My intention was to do a quick sketch, not much fussing. I just want to get my hand moving! The Tinkerlab challenge can be found on Instagram. Feel free to follow me there at Amy925.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Rachel - Fort Point Stairs

What is it about spiral staircases that I find so intriguing?  Is it the way the experience of climbing changes based on whether you choose to walk closest to the wall or the center?  Is it that you never quite know what's around the bend?  I don't know... but I like them!  I can't quite figure out where to go with this image.  I've tried it in black and white, with lowered and then with raised contrast, nothing quite satisfies me.  Just like the stairs themselves I won't see the end until I get there.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Stripes - Amy Greenberg


I am happy to join in this year after a year (or 2 ?) of absence.  My diminished energy and life just sucked up the creative juices in me. This is my attempt at doing a zen doodle inspired creation. I am also attempting to follow the daily prompts with Tinkerlab's daily drawing project that called for "stripes." Looking forward to seeing everyone's art this month!

Robin - Almost Spring!

This is a photograph of an Iceland Poppy that I took yesterday.


Heart Necklace


Finally getting around to feeling my creative spirit.  The beads in my bead box have been calling my name.  I was lucky enough to have found these components to put this together as a special gift for my daughter for Valdntines Day.

Water's Edge by Rachel

I am consistently awed by the power and beauty of water: It can be gentle and cleansing, or it can carve its way through the hardest mountains of stone.  The dance of water and light never fails to captivate me, and I find peace in watching the ever changing and ephemeral patterns created by the tides at water's edge.