Doing A Little of Everything.

TENDING my flowers, then picking some for the cemetery this Memorial Day. Wanted to share their beauty before it passed on too. These are the headstones of my grandpa, grandma and aunt in an old country cemetery.
Visited with friends, had a good lunch and then traveled back home to work some more in the yard. Planted three pepper plants and colored some paper with paint. I wanted to show Candace my stamps I carved: nose and eyebrows in one stamp, two eye stamps and a twisted sort of mouth stamp. This is what I did over at the beach. (You need to think about how what you draw "right-side" will end up "left-side" when stamped. Think ahead; don't be like me.)
One more thing to show. I have been working on the Anticipated Stranger notebook - recycling the annual report folder from Timberland. I worked on the cover the other night, stamping part of the "story" about this guy. He's not someone you want dropping in, I don't think. Something a bit sinister about him, making trouble, stirring things up - femminismo

Not Quite What I'd Planned ... but OK.

WELL, I WANTED to do some carving and I did. Started it before "Lost" and finished it after. (Who is shooting at - or around - Ben's daughter?! Questions, questions! And did she ever think she'd seek protection by using her father's name?)
As usual I jumped right into the project. I did a few trial sketches and didn't come up with much that pleased me. I did decide to do leaves, so I drew a few on the "Mastercarve" medium. It cuts like butter. I was a little frustrated at the beginning and just made cuts along the top and sides randomly.
I had forgotten how to achieve the effect I wanted (so much for taking such long breaks from making art), so I went from a negative image to a positive one as my stamp carving went along. But somehow it always seems to look fairly pleasing. Above is the block and the first impression. It helps me to ink it up as I go along so I can see what I'm doing wrong. (It's also encouraging to see something actually happening too.)
The second photo down shows the block further along. You can see my sketch of the vines coming down from the leaves. Now I change over to just going around the leaves and taking a little carve for the vein. The carving tool (skinniest blade) does the best job. Just barely put the blade in the block. You can always make it deeper, but you can't put it back.
Well, I'm done with this and now that I remember how much fun it is, I want to turn this one over and do the other side.
I can also do the edges ... something the Mister suggested.
Nine more days and we are on our way to Cabo San Lucas and then to Todos Santos. The mangoes will not be ripe until June, but I hope the gray whales are still off the coast. Adios until manana. - femminismo (no tildes on these fonts)

Something for Myself.

TODAY I DID something for myself. It involved stripping from the waist up and applying pressure to a couple of "friends" I've had for quite a few years. I do this to my friends yearly so we can have a long, happy life together.
Judy Wise mentioned she had gotten her mammogram, and it reminded me that I'd gotten a letter in the mail from the local hospital that it was time for my yearly exam. I had put the letter aside, waiting just a little bit to call and make an appointment. But I told myself to stop being foolish and pick up the phone. Today the very efficient technician did a fast and painless job. So I found a ribbon online to post as a reward to myself for doing the right thing for my health. Good for me!
Now for some art: I have been carving in a soft block of "Mastercarve" material. I'm working on leaves and vines, something I enjoy. I'm not sure how it's going to look when it's done. Usually, I've found that even though it looks messy while you're carving, and it's nothing like you planned when you started, it turns out to look OK once you ink it and stamp it.
I'll show it to you tomorrow because it's somehow grown late in the evening. Another big day tomorrow. I hope you've gotten some art done today. - femminismo

Dedicated to Ro.

If you haven't heard of her, you simply must go check out Ro Bruhn's art. Her stamped journal/altered book pages have led me to new painting heights with vibrant color mixes and patterns.
And her encouragement to carve my own stamps has got me up until past 10 p.m. (again!) even though I swore I'd get to bed early tonight.
It's not Ro's fault, however. It's addictive and has kept me from snacking on chips and from biting my nails ... for a while.
I carved two stamps tonight: one is a flower inspired by a similar stamp on Ro's pages, and the other is "the woman" - as the Mister calls her - that I keep drawing over and over again. Ro says she finds carving her own stamps is "very rewarding." I'll go even further. It makes me feel Powerful. Watch out, world!
Sleepily, femminismo.