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...