The Blue Lady

TODAY, in quietly experimenting with Adobe Illustrator a little bit, I suddenly went wild. The day outside was so very, very gray and drippy! Color - in a large dose - was needed.
It all began with just trying out different brush strokes in different colors. Branches appeared and then flowers. And then pistils at the ends of the flower.
Then a face showed up - a big heavy about the eyebrows - but with a gleam in her eye she couldn't be stopped. She insisted that a background of color be applied even if it turned HER face blue also.
Blue like the Mediterranean Sea. Branches gold as a sunset. Flowers bright as bougainvillea. Pistils like liquid sun.
The outlines of leaves and then a smaller brush, drawing in loops, to suggest trailing vines. (I'm drawing with my less dominant hand here.)
Illustrator has these "libraries" of "Nature" items that include dragonflies, and the small flares of light might just be lightning bugs mixing in with these winged insects out after dark.
I tell you: In Oregon, during the winter, we will do anything to brighten up the day with color - femminismo

It's A Really Good Thing We Have A Big Mailbox!

LOOK what arrived today! The giant plane load of misplaced packages finally landed in Portland and this delightful gift from Candace in Athens, Ga., made its way speedily straight to me. I thought it was an awfully large package in which to deliver a paper doll.
You can imagine my surprise when I opened it up and found layer upon layer of wonderful, delightful bubble wrap. (I love bubble wrap because that's what I most often "paint" with.) And inside the bubble wrap was this most beautiful thing: a specially bejeweled dragonfly picture!!
It wasn't one of her paper doll girls that I thought I won; it was this lovely beauty. (Do you think she knows I collect dragonflies?) Can you see Candace's picture in the upper left hand side? What a nice touch. Thank you so much, Candace! I have been very blessed lately, winning Julie Fillo's giveaway of prints and then this. Too much! But thank you, all.
It's been a good day. I got an X-ray today on my hip that's been hurting lately, but to tell you the truth - after all the exercise I got camping - I've been feeling much better than I did. I think sitting around at a desk too much in front of a computer is seriously bad for the body.
So with that, I'm going to shuffle off and move around a bit. Got to write a thank-you note tonight, also - femminismo