NaBloPoMo - Day 7 - Ink on the Water... Color

So a couple of posts ago, I shared some of my drawings from #inktober on Instagram.

Today I thought I would share some of my watercolor and ink submissions...

Hubby thought that my drawings were "boring" because they weren't

as colorful as some of the others that people were posting...

So, I brought out my watercolors and gave them some color...

enjoy!

I've alway loved cheetahs... in fact, one of my bucket list items is to pet a cheetah...

Still waiting to pet that cheetah...

I also have a fascination with carousel horses...

I've done a couple of different sketches and studies about these two,

I like how this turned out...

I like this one too... 

I know it's a little cartoony, but I always loved this story.

You say, "catch"

I say, "fish"

This was my final drawing for this year's #inktober

It's based off of a photo I took when I was in college.

Hope you liked these... 

It's actually inspired me to draw more...

Maybe I'll continue to share them here...

NaBloPoMo - Day 5 - Mad Drawing Skills

Last month I participated in #inktober which was on Instagram.

I have posted some of my artwork on this blog from time to time,

and I mentioned that art has been cathartic in helping me get over

the death of my mother.

A lot of this month was a little bit of both...

There was a list of prompts, so every day you tried to draw something

based on the daily word...

I'm sharing a few of the 31 drawings

which are my favorites...

This was my drawing for treasure:

What's cooler than finding a pearl in an oyster...?

I think of turtles as wise... ancient.

This is immediately what came to mind when I read the prompt.

Frail - like a tiny almost weightless hummingbird...

Sling... I had a little fun with this one...

it's going to be a fun ride...!

Finally, given that it was close to Dia de los Muertos,

I had to honor my mother by making a virtual ofrenda instead of

a true altar in my home...

Her favorite foods are there: pan dulce, pears, a glass of wine...

We honor the dead and their memory, and I truly

hope she is enjoying that glass of wine across that marigold-covered bridge...

TYOFWM - Two Monthaversary

Well, at least I am no longer suicidal....

But I still cry occasionally for no apparent reason.

And, I am often overcome by waves of melancholy...

How can she be gone...?

The world is so different.

And, I have changed too...

DH says it's like I suddenly don't know what to do with myself...

I've had the last two weeks off work.

I initially spent a lot of this off time on the internet...

and, I found this image:

I don't know why I've always equated hummingbirds with my Mom.

I can't say it's her favorite bird.

I don't even know if she had a favorite bird.

But, if I bought her jewelry, or a shirt, it would have a 

hummingbird on it.

As part of my self-imposed grief therapy during this time off,

 I made myself start

sketching and drawing again...

One day, I found myself sketching that second bird in the series...

then, I added a pretty basic background of just 

shapes.

Next thing I knew, I was filling in an ocean and fields

and hills and clouds in the sky...

And this happened:

I stopped for a moment and 

looked in shock at my sketch and realized I had drawn a hummingbird

flying over the area where I live.

And, I realized it felt like my mother's soul as it left this earth;

flying high about everything, free from confines,

light as a bird...

And, it brought me some measure of peace.

So much so, that in the last week, I've been spending

less time on the internet and more time doing creative things:

like painting again...

I took some art work from a painting class in acrylics

and re-painted over them in oils...

This is one of my favorites:

 I first painted it in 2014, and I loved the fall feel it had...

Here it is in oils:

I feel like I brightened it up and gave it some more depth...

It's been a good week.

And, I've even started a new larger painting.

But, we'll keep that one under wraps for a bit...

Right now, I'm just glad to have found a little bit of joy

in the dark and gloomy new world

I've suddenly found myself in...