JC's Coffeehouse

Natasha Wescoat Giveway!

2009-05-04T23:21:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite artists is hosting a give-away on her blog. Check it out!
http://natashasartcandy.com/

Illustration Friday: Instinct

2009-02-21T20:30:00.001-08:00

Did you know that clownfish have a built-in INSTINCT to not only horde food (since they can't travel far wihout being eaten by predators)... but they also have the INSTINCT to work with the Sea Anemone to survive? Anemones are actually invertebrates that catch food with it's stinging tentacles. A clownfish, which has a natural mucus covering that protects it from being stung, hides in the anemone for protection against its predators, who try to follow it and wind up getting stung and eaten by the anemone. What a great partnership designed by God our Creator!

Here's an interesting article I read about this.

I've been so busy lately and haven't drawn anything in so long. I've come to realize that I really enjoy working with color pencils, and had a lot of fun drawing this. And my "Clownfish in Anemone" actually fit this week's Illustration Friday theme!

Arabian Horse

2008-11-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Haven't had a lot of time to work on new things lately, but I do hope to get back to more art soon.

I didn't know this before, but all Arabians, no matter the coat color, have black skin, except under white markings. Black skin provided protection from the hot desert sun. Although many Arabians appear "white," they are not. A white hair coat is usually created by the natural action of the gray gene, and virtually all "white" Arabians are actually grays. (info taken from a wikipedia article... gotta love wikipedia!)

Once upon a time, there was a little house, on a little hill, way out in the country...

2008-10-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

I saw this a while back and thought this cartoon was particularly touching. In these troubled times, we realize what "progress" may actually bring. But let us not forget to cling to that little bit of hope...

Disney's "The Little House" - 1952

New Painting!

2008-09-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe I got this painting done! Yesterday was absolutely crazy, as I had several errands and seemed to be on the road forever. And I thought I'd be exhausted when I got home, but somehow my creative energy was still flowing and I managed to finish this painting of a quail. It's acrylic on a 5x12 piece of plywood, and I mixed in a medium that makes acrylic brush on and blend like oil paint.

I was under the gun to finish this because I'm giving it as a birthday gift to a very good friend of mine, who loves quails.

It's very satisfying to complete a project that's been on my "to do" list for a few weeks. Plus, I proved to myself that I can paint something other than ATC's. =)

I Love Your Blogs, Too!

2008-09-05T22:03:00.001-07:00

The very talented (and super nice) Lisa M. Griffin gave me the "I Love Your Blog" award some time back, and I am shamefully late posting it... sorry! This goes right back to Lisa, as her site is such an enjoyable place to visit. I'm also giving it to all the "Cool People with Lots of Talent" featured on my sidebar. Check them out and find out why I love their blogs so much!

That's Sir Nils Olav to you!

2008-08-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

This story made me smile. A king penguin received Norwegian Knighthood recently, having already received medals for good service and other honorary ranks ever since he was made an honorary member of the King's Guard in 1972 after being picked out as the guard's mascot.

Check out the full story here

And the video (in case you don't believe me):

Here's also a few penguin ATC's I recently made (I thought it would go nicely with this post)...

Star Wars Mania

2008-08-13T23:55:00.001-07:00

In honor of the recent post by the talented Joan, here is the Max Rebo Band from Star Wars Return of the Jedi...

Check out these clips of Star Wars music I found:

If you liked that one, check this one out (this guy is brilliant!):

I Dream of Africa

2008-08-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Some ATC's of various sunset scenes in Africa. I've been wanting to do these for a long time. I was listening to the soundtrack of "The Lion King" on my iPod while creating these and it really helped get the creative energy going. It's always been my dream to go to Africa and take a Safari ride to see the animals. (sigh) someday...

Another Inspiring Artist - Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh

2008-08-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

A friend recently showed me some notecards bought at the Art Institute of Chicago that depicted the work of Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh, a Scottish artist who helped originate the "Glasgow Style" of art during the late 1800's. I was immedietely intrigued! I don't recall ever seeing her work before and I am always so excited to discover (for myself) something new... even though it's like a century old.

I was most facinated by the strong, flowing lines and wonderfully strange shapes of each piece. Here's some more of her work...

Cinderella (Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh)

Label for Sheenore Fabrics (Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh)

Opera of the Winds (Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh)

THe White Rose and the Red Rose (Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh)

Oh ye, all ye that walk in Willowood (Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh)

Brillante Award

2008-07-29T00:07:00.001-07:00

Whoa! Katrice was so kind to have awarded me the Brillante Weblog award... She is so awesome! And her site is full of her bright, happy, colorful illos! What a perfect opportunity to highlight the work of others (who doubtless have received this award many times already). I often visit the sites of these talented artists, whose blogs inspire me for the following reasons:

1. Pati - I love seeing her recent sketches of people she sees on the subway. Each figure is so thoughtfully drawn, right down to the smallest details. And I love that Godo still makes his appearances!

2. Chickengirl - Jannie Ho is way cool! Every time she posts stuff that she buys and collects... I want to buy them too! Yeah, and her artwork is so fabulous!

3. Emila Yusof - Emila is an amazing photographer! I'm highlighting her photo blog because every time I see her crisp and clean photos, I am inspired to go outside and take pictures of bugs and rain, too! I think everything she touches turns to gold!

4. Brian Gubicza - I'm highlighting his photos, also. I think it is the neatest thing to chronicle one's first year in a new city using photographs. There is this wonderful urban beauty about each of the pics.

5. Zari - She can draw things in different, cool, wonderfully different ways, but her bright personality always shines through each piece. You can always tell it's a "Zari" drawing. Truly, she is one of my favorite artists!

6. Mike Baker - I think it's virtually impossible not to be inspired by Mike's work. His use of color and character expression is just brilliant! And there's a story to tell with each illo, too. Writers need to make up stories to go with his drawings!

7. Valerie Walsh - Oh my goodness, not only are her paintings and illustrations so beautiful... but they have "heart". You can tell that each piece was lovingly created to make others happy. And I love the stories Val shares on her blog so much, that I pass them along to others too.

Okay, so these are just a few of the talented people I've been blessed to come across. Thank you so much for sharing your talent on your brillante sites!

Felt Craftyness

2008-07-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Feeling crafty lately with a couple of felt projects...

Purple Trees and Sometimes Blue Skies

2008-07-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

The Jacaranda Trees are in bloom around here. I don't remember them flowering like this into the summer... but nevertheless it's nice to see.

Before I learned they were actually called Jacarandas, I thought they were just our special purple trees. But I found out they also grow in Australia, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Los Angeles...

So for some time now, the skies around the Bay Area looked like this from all the fires taking place in California (it smelled bad too)...

Then miracle upon miracle, we had a couple of days when the sky looked like this...

(Sigh) Now it's back to this...

Summer Means...

2008-07-13T08:28:00.001-07:00

...Going to the Fair

...Campfires

...The Beach

...Finding Stuff at the Beach (like this purple starfish)

Sweet Gifts

2008-07-13T01:33:00.000-07:00

Some thoughtful gifts from friends at work...

I love sunflowers!

A package arrived with these goodies...

A beautiful handmade card (such wonderful workmanship!)...

A pair of beautiful Ukranian dolls (my friend is from the Ukraine)

The tile on the right is another gift that's sitting on my desk at work (along with a postcard of the same favorite painting)

And a heavenly treat - white chocolate cup filled with chocolate mousse and topped with a fresh raspberry... yum!!!

Artists Who Inspire Me: Chiura Obata

2008-06-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today, I received a wonderful gift from a friend - a book on Chiura Obata's work! Chiura Obata, who was a professor of art at the University of California, Berkeley, was one of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans forcefully relocated from their homes and communities to internment camps in 1942. While there, he taught art classes and kept up his artwork, painting beautiful and haunting scenes even in the midst of being incarcerated. The book I have has more than 100 of Obata's sketches, sumi paintings, and watercolors from his internment period, along with letters and interviews. His art is a testimony to his artistic genius and undefeated spirit despite his circumstances.

Here's some of his work...

Topaz Mountains (Chiura Obata)

Topaz War Relocation Center by Moonlight (Chiura Obata)

Dawn, Knight's Ferry, Stanislaus County (Chiura Obata)

Evening Moon (Chiura Obata)

That Lovable Wookie...

2008-06-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent drawing of everyone's favorite wookie, Chewbacca... 'cause I just felt like posting it! I kind of like his soft and kindly expression... as he shoots someone to smithereens with his blaster. =P

Although I didn't actually use it, I found this palette on Colourlovers, called "Chewbacca". Cool huh?

Snow Leopard

2008-06-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, here is the last of the endangered animal series I did for a "Nature"-themed ATC swap. I think Snow Leopards are fascinating -- Not only are they incredibly beautiful, they are reclusive creatures so attacks on humans are extremely rare. And they physically cannot roar. Although they are supposed to be protected as an endangered species, there are no measures to adequately protect them. They are hunted for their beautiful fur, and their bones and body parts are used in Asian medicine. Their loss of habitat and food sources are caused by deforestation and dam projects. More info and links to conservation projects can be found here

Photo Mosaic

2008-06-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

I was browsing around Flickr and found some really cool photo mosaics that people had uploaded. Some were of specific color schemes (eg. brown and pink) and I thought that those were particularly lovely. I wanted to do something similar, but it was difficult to concentrate on specific colors right now. I do however have lots and lots of dog pictures (pets of family members and good friends), so I thought I'd start with this...

row 1(l-r) Cha-Cha, Nixon, Elvis, Queenie; row 2(l-r) Kiki, Lala, Todd, Fluffy; row 3(l-r) Todd, Walter and Cha-Cha, Millie, Kiki; row 4(l-r) Queenie, Chow-Chow, Ace, Todd

I can't begin to tell you how much of a blessing these little guys have been to our family over the last couple of very trying years. So this is just a small tribute to them. =)

Starbucks Splash Sticks... huh?

2008-06-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Today, I saw someone's starbucks coffee had this thing sticking out of the sip hole...

I learned this little green invention was called a Splash Stick and the purpose of it was to prevent accidental spills from the little hole on the lid. At first I thought, wow how cool... I love mermaids and the design is cute and innovative and... well, cool!

Then I went home, saw my post again about the polar bears and thought to myself... wait a minute! that little green plastic thingy is kind of wasteful isn't it? I mean, how much will be produced and then just carelessly thrown away? Besides, isn't the cup lid supposed to prevent spills in the first place? what about covering the hole with a sticker or something... what about a finger? what about being just a little more careful when you walk so you don't spill stuff all over yourself?

I would have to say this was a bad call on Starbucks part to put these things out. I wonder, too, why these splash sticks were "quietly introduced" to the Starbucks chains. I'm sure they know these aren't environmentally friendly, but wanted to come out with this gimmick anyway. What happened to being environmentally responsible?

I'm not a tree hugger or anything, but I understand that for plastic bags alone, every year billions of them are produced and less then 3% are recycled. Plastic bags are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases. In fact, the 380 billion plastic bags that Americans throw away each year are made from millions of barrels of petroleum, contributing to global warming, depleting oil supplies, and driving up costs of petroleum-based products like gasoline and energy for our homes.

You can check out more facts on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Global Warming website

They also have a few definitions posted that make explaining (and understanding) the problem of global warming a bit clearer.

Global warming
The progressive gradual rise of the earth's surface temperature thought to be caused by the greenhouse effect and responsible for changes in global climate patterns. An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth. Global warming has occurred in the distant past as the result of natural influences, but the term is most often used to refer to the warming predicted to occur as a result of increased emissions of greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse Gas
Any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone (O3), perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

Greenhouse effect
The effect produced as greenhouse gases allow incoming solar radiation to pass through the Earth's atmosphere, but prevent part of the outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere from escaping into outer space. This process occurs naturally and has kept the Earth's temperature about 59 degrees F warmer than it would otherwise be. Current life on Earth could not be sustained without the natural greenhouse effect.

Enhanced greenhouse effect
The concept that the natural greenhouse effect has been enhanced by anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, CFCs, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3 and other photochemically important gases caused by human activities such as fossil fuel consumption, trap more infra-red radiation, thereby exerting a warming influence on the climate.

Anyway, I'm not saying I'm the perfect environmentalist or anything, but I think we can all do our part. I believe the Lord meant for us to be good stewards of what He gave us. So I've come up with some goals for myself and tips to share on being more responsible:

1. Look more carefully at stuff before throwing away and determine what can be recycled. For example, I had absolutely no idea that yogurt containers could be recycled until I looked at one closely and saw the symbol.

2. Reuse more stuff. I've gotten into the habit of taking water bottles home and refilling with filtered water. I think this is good to re-use a few more times. Better yet, I should use the kind that you just wash and refill.

3. Use less ziploc bags and use more of the food containers that you can rewash and reuse. Bringing your own lunch saves money too.

4. Carpool when possible. With gas prices these days, this is getting to be a necessity!

5. Don't take stuff that's not needed, even if free. This includes the splash sticks, extra napkins (unless you're really going to use them), free pens (that's gonna be a hard one for me), and other freebies that will certainly be thrown away soon and filling up our landfill.

Ok, well that's it for now. (Sigh) Save our polar bears!

Polar Bear

2008-06-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

It is unbelievably sad what is happening to the polar bear population right now; and quite scary what the impact of global warming is turning out to be.

Grey Wolf

2008-06-04T00:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm finally, finally ready to mail off those 16 ATC's I owe my friend and her ATC pals in Belgium. She was kind enough to include a wonderful card made by her son. He drew me a wolf, so I thought I'd draw one for him, too. =)

A Traditional Sauce

2008-05-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I scoured the net for a traditional Bolognese sauce recipe because I wanted to attempt a traditional version. The recipe, however, uses diced pancetta -- which wasn't available at the local Food Mart. So I substituted diced ham. Probably bacon would work too. Also, it calls for wine... but since I never have wine around the house or even know what kind to use for cooking, I skipped it. There's not a whole lot of tomato in this either. They say that Bolognese is not a tomato sauce with meat. It's a meat sauce with a bit of tomato in it.

Here's my "on the cheap" and simplified version...

Bolognese Sauce

1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced celery
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package diced ham (about 8 oz.)
1 lb. ground pork
1 cup whole milk
1 can tomato sauce
olive oil
salt and pepper

Fry ham in olive oil for a few minutes until it sizzles. Add carrots, celery, and onions and mix and fry until vegetables are translucent. Mix salt and pepper into ground pork and add pork into vegetable/ham mix. Stir until pork crumbles and browns. There should be some liquid still in the pot from the oil, meat and vegetables. Add tomato sauce and garlic. Then add whole milk gradually, slowly mixing it in and stirring well each time.

I made only the sauce tonight to make it easy on myself. Tomorrow, I'll cook up the spaghetti and serve the dish with garlic bread.

More Recipes on a Budget

2008-05-30T00:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's another one I made just the other day. I love love love this one for barbecue (and summer is just about here, so there is lots of opportunity to cook on the grill!) But this version I made for the oven.

Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken (instructions for grilled version follows)

2 lbs. chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons lemon pepper

This one can be more expensive if you buy the boneless, skinless chicken breasts. But cheaper with the bone and skin on and you just remove it yourself. Anyway, lightly season chicken with salt and pepper. Use a fork and pierce chicken all over. Combine olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon pepper and marinate chicken into this mixture for a few hours (overnight is best). When ready, put chicken in baking pan, pour marinade over, and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 min to 1 hour, checking for doneness.

For grilled version, definately marinate overnight. When grilling, use the oil/lemon juice/lemon pepper marinade to baste chicken.

Here's my side dish...

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

4 large russet potatoes
1 whole bulb of garlic
olive oil
1 cup whole milk
2 - 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes in large pot of water for 30 to 40 minutes. Meanwhile, bake a whole bulb of garlic with a little olive oil drizzled on it and wrapped in foil in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. When potatoes are done, peel and mash. When garlic is done, peel and squeeze out the roasted garlic. Add to potatoes and continue to mash. Add butter/margarine and milk slowly and mash until desired consistency, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

My Other Passion...

2008-05-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've seemingly have gotten behind on my personal challenge to remain creative for this month. However, I will say that I've been keeping busy with some other creative endeavors this week... cooking! Yes, one can only take so much of "take out" before longing for some nice home made food.

I've been on this "Top Chef" kick for the last few weeks too. I totally love that show! They had this one challenge where the contestants are supposed to cook a family meal for 10 dollars... 10 DOLLARS!!! Wow. But they came up with the most incredible meals that I was so inspired to come up with budget menus of my own.

Ok, so here's the first one that I'll post. Not sure if they will all be under $10... but I'm trying to make them affordable, easy, as well as tasty.

Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Pork Chops

2 lb. package of pork chops
salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey

Season pork chops with salt and pepper, and fry in frying pan with oil for a few minutes until browned. Not too long or else the meat will be tough. Combine vinegar and honey and pour over porkshops in pan, and continue to cook for a couple of minutes until porkchops are coated with vinegar/honey mixture. Remove from heat and serve with rice, or couscous, or scalloped potatoes. (my scalloped potatoes came from a box)

Gift Tags - Day 18 of MPC

2008-05-23T10:19:00.001-07:00

I continued making things out of photos I've taken, and just finished these gift tags.

I first used a photo of the Eiffel Tower, and then played around with color variations and special effects in Photoshop to give it this pink and grainy look. I then printed several copies of the same image on vellum paper and glued them on a soft pink metallic cardstock. I also took small slips of paper with "to and from" typed and pasted these on the back of each. Finally, I used a special tool to set the eyelets and strung a sheer pink ribbon through.

More Travel-Inspired Items - Day 17 of MPC

2008-05-21T01:15:00.000-07:00

Here's some more items I worked on last night. They can either be used as gift tags or short bookmarks. But I made them 2.5 x 3.5 in., so they will be going with the earlier batch of ATC's I made and sent to Belgium.

These are actual photos that I had taken. I cropped them, fixed the color so that each had a pink tone, and added a "grainy" effect. I also used some cute pink and brown ribbons I bought.

Travel ATC's - Day 16 of MPC

2008-05-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

All the posts about travel inspired me to do some collaged ATC's that I completed last week. These and at least 9 more are going to a very nice and very patient group of artists in Belgium. I happened to run across their site where they posted pictures of their giant wall of international ATC's they collected some time ago. Anyway, we arranged a trade and I received a package from them weeks ago. Needless to say, I am extremely late in sending these!

Homerun

2008-05-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Had to share this...

The Amalfi Coast - Day 15 of MPC

2008-05-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

My absolute favorite place to visit is the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It's an incredible drive by bus around the steep and winding cliff-side roads, with breathtaking views all around.

The towns are big tourist attractions. There is just something so quaint about the buildings all clustered together on a hill. At certain locations, there are mini-replicas of the towns displayed in carved-out sections of the hill. They also grow lemons everywhere, so the fresh light scent of lemons is present when you pass through this area. It's no wonder that when I see blue and yellow color combinations, I think of this place.

The town of Amalfi is my favorite stop, with it's wonderful, little shops, gelato stands, and the square with the Apostle Andrew's statue. I'm not sure what the exact connection is with St. Andrew to Amalfi, but it may have something to do with part of his remains given to them. Amalfi has done much to honor the Apostle.

Here you can see St. Andrew's Cathedral in the background.

And here is my favorite little store that specializes in limoncello (a lemon liquor). I think that's the shopkeeper in front of his store. Although I don't drink, there are other plenty of other items to purchase... such as lemon white chocolates, lemon-scented soaps, hand creams, perfume, and many other things.

Colosseum by Night and by Day - Day 14 of MPC

2008-05-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have literally hundreds of pictures of Rome and narrowing it down to my favorite photos is nearly impossible, but the above is what I decided to post. They are interesting shots to me because they are of the same view of the Roman Colosseum (from where I stepped out of the metro station); the first is taken during the late evening, the other during the next day. Our tour guide was hilarious, and maybe I'll post the video I took of him on YouTube sometime.

Here's a scene from the Spanish Steps, where everyone would gather, sit, and enjoy sitting among strangers.

And here is a pic of our poor feet on the Spanish Steps, as we closed a long and tiring day of sightseeing...

The Leaning Tower of Pisa - Day 12 and 13 of MPC

2008-05-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, so I'll count this as the 12th and 13th entry since I worked on these photos both days. Pisa is a fun place to visit and I've been lucky to have gone here twice. But there never seems to be enough time to do more here... other than the obligatory pictures of trying to hold up the tower.

The Florence Cathedral - Day 11 of MPC

2008-05-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Italy is probably my favorite country to visit because there are so much to see and do, and each place seems very distinct from the other. When visiting Florence, Italy, the whole experience was a blur since we didn't have much time to explore. We were on an incredibly tight schedule because we were on a cruise and the day's excursion only allowed us a few hours of sightseeing. The above pic is the only decent shot I have of the Florence Cathedral. From this angle, you can see the baptistry, bell tower, and a glimpse of the cupola.

I played around with the image and used the impressionist brush in photoshop to create this version.
The city of Florence boasts incredible architechture and art. I was sorry we didn't have time to visit the museum and see the statue of David. There was a copy of the sculpture in the city square... but a copy just isn't the same. Anyway, we compensated by treating ourselves to our favorite... Italian Gelato! I can't seem to get away from talking about food. =) When I returned home, I showed this pic to my boss and she thought it was funny I took photos of food. But when she went to Egypt, she took pictures of the different food stands there and she said those were among the most colorful and interesting shots she took of her trip - and she remembered my Gelato photo... ha!

Castles that Inspire - Day 10 of MPC

2008-05-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Neuschwanstein Castle, a 19th century Bavarian palace, is located on a mountain top in Germany. It inspired other castles in the area to be built and also served as the inspiration of Walt Disney's Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty Castles.

We had to hike up some steep trails to get to Marienbruecke Bridge from where I took the above picture. The palace was built by King Ludwig II, who was fascinated with swans; and you can see this facination in the decor of the palace's interior.

This was a really fun trip but required some advanced preparation. It took us two hours by train from Munich to get to the town (Fussen) where this is located; then we had to take a bus from the train station; then a shuttle; then a horse-drawn carriage up the hill; plus we bought tickets in advance to take the castle tour. Totally well-worth it though!

I'm already starting to get some other ideas of what to do next with these travel photos I'm posting. I was thinking of making stickers, or tags. The creative inspiration continues! =)

Santorini Blue - Day 9 of MPC

2008-05-10T08:20:00.000-07:00

Santorini was my favorite place when I visited Greece a couple of years ago. The island showcases the beauty of the Greek islands, with the gorgeous contrast between white-washed buildings against the mediterranean blue waters.

The above picture was taken as we strolled around the town, taking pictures of homes, churches, gates, doors, and everything we encountered while there. I probably don't want to know what residents must think of tourists who go around taking pictures of their neighborhoods.

Besides being so beautiful, Santorini was a straight up adventure from the start, which is why I have such fond memories of it. From the donkey ride up to the town that sits atop a steep cliff, to the crazy bus ride with the drunk ticket collector still able to count exact change; the kind shopowner we met whose dream was to visit Hawaii; the cutest stray dogs you'll ever see; and of course the amazing scenic views every which way you turned.

My friends and I stopped by a restaurant and had baklava and iced coffees. And here is where we made a pact to go see the rest of the world starting 5 years from that point...

Paris Dusk - Day 8 of MPC

2008-05-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

My posts for this personal challenge to blog about creativity seem a little all over the place. I kept it broad so that I won't run out of ideas of what to write. But now I'm feeling kind of scatterbrained. I'm feelling that I need to focus more and be a bit more organized.

Ok, so maybe I'll start with a series of travel photography for now, since traveling and taking pictures is definately a passion of mine. But what's so creative about it? I think that a great deal of creative energy is spent whenever you play with the composition and color of a photo you take, and then "fix" or crop in photoshop. I also believe that travel photography is a form of journalism because you're communicating something about that place through the pictures you display.

The photo above is one I took in Paris a few years ago, after visiting the Musee d'Orsay, a truly wonderful museum of impressionist art. It had just stopped raining, the sun had set, and the sky looked especially beautiful at that moment. It was a nice, calm close to a hectic day of sightseeing.

In Paris, yes you might encounter some rude people... but I came across some very nice ones too. It depends on what kind of person you are. If you smile, others tend to smile back. If you expect they will be rude and obnoxious to you, then you are only looking out for that and that, I'm afraid, is what you will get. But this is true anywhere though.

Anyway, I should also note that when we first arrived in this city, I had probably the best cup of coffee I EVER had. The coffee was so rich I didn't even need to use any cream. This and seeing the lights on the Eiffel Tower at night were definate highlights.

I thought that along with this photo, I should post some french music too. Check out this lovely tune from Josh Groban.

Paper, Paper, Paper... (Day 7 of MPC)

2008-05-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Crafts are fun and paper crafts are too cool for words!

- I was checking out Goobeetsa's blog and saw his Robotic Pig.
- Some time ago, Georgina also constructed a beagle from a template.
- I also love this guy's work: Papercuts

Here's some stuff I made some time ago...

My own design of a sunflower using the quilling technique:

And here's a dollar origami I made of Yoda, using Marc Sky's design:

Fantastic Felines by Laurel Burch - Day 6 of MPC

2008-05-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I've posted someone else's artwork. The above painting is by the late artist Laurel Burch and is part of her "Fantastic Felines" series. I remember first seeing Ms. Burch's artwork on some very cool totebags, and bought one for a friend some time ago. I just LOVE the jewel tones of her paintings... and the use of gold! Actually, one of my favorite tools is my gold-leaf pen that adds just that bit of pizazz.

I know I had not posted much the last few days, but I'm still working on the personal challenge for myself to remain creative this month. Last night, I tried to make some cat themed ATC's, inspired by Laurel Burch's work. I managed to come up with my own designs. But I'm not used to working with acrylic paints and long story short, I winded up throwing the cards away. I tried adding a bit of sparkle to them by putting on a light coat of gold metallic watercolor paint over an orange acrylic background... and that turned out pretty cool. But the rest of it was crap.

I might use that sparkle technique again soon though.

Belated Greetings! - Day 5 of MPC

2008-05-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Oh man, I missed my own birthday! (my blog's, that is, which was yesterday) Oh well, Happy 1st Birthday... grab a plate and get some cake!

*photo and photoshop manipulation by me. I guess I can count this as a creative project. =)

Fresh Fruit - Day 4 of MPC

2008-05-04T07:45:00.001-07:00

Speaking of dessert... here's a pic of a strawberry pie with fresh strawberries. I wish I could say that I made it, but it's store bought from good old Marie Callander's. I've noticed that the stuff I've been posting has lots of greens, blues, and browns. Let me liven up the color pallette a bit by posting something bright red. I've been wanting to buy a better camera for close up shots like this. But let's see how much the tax refund dollars stretch this year.

Anyway, Summer's right around the corner and fresh fruit will be in abundance. Something everybody I know looks forward to.

More Design Work - Day 3 of MPC

2008-05-03T18:48:00.001-07:00

More playing around with photoshop tools. Although these are leaf-pattern designs (I totally LOVE leaves and trees), the colors were actually inspired by... FOOD! Or perhaps "dessert" is more accurate. One of the more interesting things I've ever tried is a rich chocolate brownie served alongside green tea mousse. And I didn't even have the whole thing... I just *tried* someone else's. Even so, it still left quite an impression on me. It's a dessert served at a very cool tea house in San Francisco I went to a few months ago. It was fun day with friends talking about art!

Seven Trees - Day 2 of MPC

2008-05-02T08:13:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of My Personal Challenge (MPC) has me going back to the archives, so to speak. Last year, I tried the "Every Day In May" challenge to create something (or in my case, take photographs) each day for the whole month. I managed to stick with it for about a couple of weeks but didn't complete. Since I never posted them before, I have a bunch of pics that I can go back to. (Yeah, I'm trying to get ready for work too and don't have a lot of time to post this... so having that source is good for me)

Anyway, I've always wanted to learn how to draw trees properly but am still in major need of practice. My versions end up looking like brocolli. I took these last year as reference pics, and just put them together on photoshop and did a little manipulating while using the program, giving them a bit of that "magical" flair... I hope.

My Own Personal Challenge

2008-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

In a few days, it will be my blog's very first birthday! woohoo! I've decided to celebrate it by giving myself a challenge. I've seen posts where people try to draw something every day for a month or a year or whatever... hmmm, well I can already tell I'm gonna flake on that sooner than later, so I don't want to make it IMPOSSIBLE for me.

I think I'll just try to blog about creative stuff for as many consecutive days as I can (but I won't stress if I miss a day here or there). It can be as simple as writing about something I saw or learned, a photo, or maybe even some new drawings (probably lots of photos, I'm thinking). Just something to get back into the creative side of life, since things have been extremely hectic lately.

I started this site as a diversion from life's worries and concerns, and a year ago I just had way too many of those. This has been a very therapeutic, alternative way to spend one's energy on. And I must say that since writing and posting here, I've learned a lot about myself, met lots of incredibly nice and encouraging people, and discovered that it's more important to have fun with your art than to care if people like it or not.

Ok, so here's my first "creative" piece for this challenge. It's a tropical-inspired design I did on photoshop, using the various photoshop tools. Why? I kept hearing the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in my head today - the version by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (try saying that 10 times fast!) The link to the song is under the photo, if you'd like to listen to it. I like the song's style... and message. =)

Let there be light!

2008-04-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

Some traditional color pencil sketches on black cardstock ATC's. It's fun to just draw sometimes! =)

Candlelight

Red Lantern

Fireflies Jar

This Spring's Orchids

2008-04-20T20:21:00.001-07:00

Here's pictures of orchids picked from my backyard recently. It's not a wide variety of colors but I think the soft pinks and muaves are beautiful, and I wanted to capture them somehow with this series of photos... Happy Spring!

Something New...

2008-04-15T23:13:00.000-07:00

So for the past few weeks, I've been playing around more with gouache. It's such a great medium! I love its coverage, blending capability, and just the way the brush moves it on paper. I went to a gouache demo some time ago, and the artist who was teaching was telling us that it was ok NOT to be exact when you paint. She said "let your brush dance on the canvas". Ok, well here's my very first gouache piece. Yeah I need more practice, but I did what she said and just let my brush "dance".

Something else I'm trying out is woodburning. Now this technique does take some getting used to, but it's fun! ooh, but watch out and don't squeeze the handle of the woodburning tool but instead lightly hold it like a pen. Otherwise, you'll get a fat heat blister on your finger like me. Yes, I burned myself quite badly doing this one.

Ok, totally unrelated but I was able to catch American Idol tonight and David Cook --Wow, you go boy! BRILLIANT!!!

The Only Moving National Historic Landmark

2008-04-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

This week, I actually managed to do something I hadn't done before -- I rode a cable car! It's funny... I've lived in the SF Bay Area for most of my life, but that was one thing I just hadn't gotten the chance to do yet until now.

My work sent me to the city for a few days to attend a conference, and I knew I did not want to drive in, so public transportation was the alternative option. After taking our subway/metro system, I caught the California/Van Ness cable car line to the hotel.

I didn't realize that it took 2 people to operate it, with each car propelled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed underneath. Each car can be stopped and started by releasing and gripping the cable. One of the drivers mentioned that they had to change the cables every 100 days. You can read more about cable cars and a bit of their history here.

It was a fun commute over these last three days - but a ride on a cable car is way expensive -- $5 one way! That's a high price to pay for something that's kind of old, and goes pretty slow over a relatively short route. I mean, riding the MUNI metro is only $1.50. So the cable cars are more for the tourists than for most regular commuters. I would have tried to walk on other days, but the streets are really steep and the MUNI couldn't take me directly to the conference site the way the cable car could (yeah I know I'm SO lazy). Anyway, it was a fun experience nonetheless.

Our Stories

2008-03-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Last Christmas, I received the following book and finally got the chance to start reading it.

It's called "Listening is an Act of Love", and it's a bunch of stories from real people interviewing each other... a sort of modern day history project called StoryCorps. The stories would be recorded on CD's, one would be given to the participants, the other went to the Library of Congress. It's an opportunity to preserve American history through the experiences of everyday people like you and me. I was actually just trying to get back to sleep so I thought reading a book might be the trick. Wow, I was so fascinated just by the first few pages! And even more fascinated by this project.

You know, I actually had picked up a People magazine just before and was reading about J. Lo's twins, and which celebrity was dating who or breaking up with whoever that week. Let me tell you, I hope that America is not remembered by it's celebrities and who decided to go to rehab. I think this project is a great way to showcase the normal, "regular" people whose stories are much more interesting and inspiring and REAL!

Here's a pic of the Grand Central booth where people can record their stories. Darn, why didn't I know about this when I went to NYC a couple of years ago?

And here's a pic of the mobile story booth. Take a look at their schedule to see if it's coming to a town near you:

And here's some stories you can actually listen to (some of the favorite ones I had the honor of hearing and reading about in the book):
Michael Wolmetz and Debora Brakarz, boyfriend and girlfriend, interview each other. “So, this is the ring that my father gave to my mother…”

Dr. Richard Collins and his grandson, Sean. “Sister said it was a sin against the school.”

William Jacobs tells his grandson, Seth, about an unexpected visit from his fiancee’s mother. “She said, ‘I have to tell you some things…’”

12-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s syndrome, interviews his mother, Sarah. “Have you ever lied to me?”

Hee-Sook Lee and her daughter, Joyce. “I said, ‘I love you.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’ I wasn’t satisfied with that answer.”

The Perasas recorded what would be their final interview together at their home in Brooklyn

Mary McCormick interviews her 84-year-old father, Dan E. Andrews, Jr. “Can you tell me the scariest moment when you were a little boy?”

Anthony D’Andrea tells his daughters, Monica and Mary, about autograph hunting outside Yankee Stadium in the 1940s. “He said, ‘Freckles, how many times do you want my signature?”

Anyway, this is just a sampling of great stories I heard. This project is something really interesting to do on your own too. Maybe over a cup of coffee or tea? =)

Easter Greetings

2008-03-23T02:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

"The Lord is risen indeed!" (Luke 24:34)

Multiple

2008-02-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a multiple selection of Starry Night coffee mugs for you! They're actually scans of (and enhanced digitally) of 5 artist trading cards I made for different people who requested them.

click to enlarge

Having some fun drawing again...

2008-02-24T00:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm getting back into drawing and making some new ATC's. I spent the day getting caught up in some group swaps and I felt really good after completing them. Here's one I did just for fun. I actually used an old manila envelope from work that I had stuck in recycling. I thought, hmmm... I like the color and I could make it look a little old fashioned. Plus using recycled materials is always a good thing. I need to do that more.

The Five Chinese Brothers

2008-02-17T00:56:00.000-08:00

Posted on Monday Artday

I wanted to participate in this week's Monday Artday challenge, "Favorite Book" (I'm really late though). One of my favorite children's books is "The Five Chinese Brothers" by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese. It's a retelling of an old Chinese legend about five brothers who looked exactly alike with each posessing special abilities. When one is arrested for murder and condemned to be executed, they work together to outwit the executioner by using their individual abilities.

Love and Peace

2008-02-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Zari made this beautiful dove icon and tagged me to spread the message of love and peace to fellow bloggers around the world. She currently lives in Lebanon, a country in the midst of political turmoil and violence. Zari, you and your family are definately in my thoughts and prayers! We all know the world needs a lot more love and peace right now.

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

1. If you get tagged or not (and want to play along), take some minutes to meditate about love and peace, pray for countries that are facing troubles, for those people you love and those you don’t.
2. Write a post with links to blogs that you think would like to participate
3. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

Emila / Zari / Jeff / Eslina / Pascal / Bearuh / Katrice / Joan / Pati / Val / Steve / Georgina / Jo / and anyone who would like to participate!

License to Chill

2008-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

So last week was really crazy. Not only was I behind a couple of projects at work, but I found out I had jury duty and went through the long and tedious process of jury selection. It took a couple of days, but I was eventually dismissed with others when they finalized the list of jurors.

During those two days, I didn't really do anything except sit and listen and read when I was able (I brought my Freakanomics book). But for some reason, those hours spent in the courtroom just left me exhausted. Oh and I've been having insomnia lately too, so I'm sure that didn't help. Anyway, I had scheduled myself to be somewhere those same evenings, too but I guess I should have just gone home. At one point, I was really feeling like I was coming down with something bad. And it's taken me a while now to get over that lingering feeling I'm getting sick.

There are days I push myself to do way too much than I should. Doing things for others, or doing things that I think will be good for me. I even stress when I feel I can't be more creative! Eh, I just need to chill!

So I go visit Steve's page the other day, and lo and behold I was granted a license to do just that. Well, he gave it to everyone I know, but I for one want to use it. So, with Steve's permission to post this, here's my official LICENSE TO CHILL!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

"The Love Mug"

Be good to one another - today and each and every day! =)

Lion Dance

2008-02-10T23:33:00.000-08:00

How funny (since I just posted about it yesterday)... I went to a local shopping center after church today and they actually had a Lion Dance happening there, complete with firecrackers.

From Wikipedia: "During the Chinese New Year, lion dancers from martial art school will visit the store front of businesses to "choi chang" (picking the greens). The business would tie a red envelope filled with money to a head of lettuce and hang it high above the front door. The lion will approach the lettuce like a curious cat, consume the lettuce and spit out the leaves but not the money. The lion dance is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to the business and the dancers receive the money as reward. The tradition becomes a mutual transaction."

Here's a couple of videos I found (this first one features the more cutesy characteristics of the costume)

This one is more the dance...

Sun Lin Fi Lok!

2008-02-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

That's "Happy New Year!" in Cantonese. Or "Xin Nian Luai Le" in Mandarin. Chinese New Year is an important festival that traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th, called the Lantern Festival. I'm not actually from China, but as a SF Bay Area resident, I've been fortunate to have been to Chinatown and see the Lion Dance, hear the firecrackers, and eat some really good food! This year, the New Year festival takes place from February 7 - 21.

I'm currently hosting a group ATC swap and one of the cards I made is of a Lion Dance at Chinatown.

I've been lagging with my drawings lately (been in kind of a slump), but here are some pictures I took over the last couple of years at SF Chinatown.

Here's the main entrance...

Lots of banners and decorations (looks like they still had the holiday ones up)...

At a Dim Sum restaurant. Uh, you probably don't want to know what this is...

One of the many stores selling really cheap souvenirs...

A dragon display at one of the stores...

An evening photo of some lanterns hanging...

Have a Happy New Year! And "Kung Hei Fat Choi" to you... which my friend told me really means "Good luck to you, and hope you get lots of money!"

I Love You This Much Award

2008-02-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

The wonderful and awesomely talented Emila Yusof gave me this beautiful "I Love You This Much Award".

Oh, I love it! And I also love the following awesome folks and their blogs/sites:

Emila / Zari / Jeff / Eslina / Pascal / Bearuh / Katrice / Joan / Ms. Froggie / Mike / Brian / Pati / Val / Steve / Georgina / Jo / Chickengirl / Moony / Pickledog / Kathy / Michelle / Cecilia / Esmeralda / Kat Blue

1. If you get tagged (and want to play along), write a post with links to blogs that you love,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

Share the Love! =)

I Received an Award!

2008-02-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Eslina, whose "Ocean and Me" blog always makes my day, gave me a "You Make My Day" award! *EDIT* I also received this from wonderful Zari - Wow! I feel SO blessed to have received this from such sweet friends... THANK YOU!!!

I'd love to pass this on to the following who are not only extremely talented artists, but just about the nicest people you could ever meet:

1. Jeff Brame (Well, I think he's received several of these already, but one more won't hurt. I always look forward to seeing his wonderfully drawn characters and fun style. Some of his illos and ATC's are sooo funny -- I'm still laughing over the custodian fairy!!!)
2. KStyles (I've always admired her bold use of color and clever takes on the Illustration Friday challenges. Her drawings brighten everyone's day!)
3. Steve (My goodness, he is incredibly creative! I really like the fact that he continually challenges himself with different art mediums, styles, techniques, you name it! And he challenges his students to do the same. How awesome is that?)
4. Georgina (Talk about creative! Wow, her clean style, lovely patterns and drawings make everyone who visits her blog smile! She is also extremely generous and so kind to share her gift of art to others)
5. Joan (Her artwork is simply amazing! Her pencil sketches of even everyday type objects are full of life and character. I love her posts and descriptions of her drawings too... how many people can liken their purse to a rainforest?)

I am thankful to all of you and your wonderful blogs for always making my day! =)

Bookmark Winners!

2008-02-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

I took all the names and put them in this bowl.

Then I randomly picked the following names to receive these handmade bookmarks...

Hope you like what you will receive! I'll be mailing them off in the next few days.

Also, as you probably already know, the "guess this book's title" answer is...

"Freakanomics" is actually quite a fascinating read, in which an economist explores particular issues and answers questions such as, "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?" or "How is the Klu Klux Clan like a group of real-estate agents?" I'm sure you've asked yourselves the same questions...hahaha. Anyway, Jeff Brame was the first to guess correctly and will also receive a bookmark.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to all who participated!

New Contest!!!

2008-01-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

I know I should be working on my painting but I get distracted too easily, and just happened to make these beaded bookmarks the other day. They are made from glass seed beads, swarovsky crystals, and charms. I figure they would be my next giveaway. Anyone who would like to receive one can simply comment on this post and on February 3, I will randomly pick 3 people and each will receive one of these.

Just wondering if anyone might be able to guess the title of this book...

2008-01-22T02:05:00.000-08:00

hint: it's one of the few (if any?) economics books that spent time on the New York Times bestseller list

To win a bookmark like the one pictured here, see the post above this.

Slowly, but surely...

2008-01-22T01:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, I managed to cut up my paper and start a very rough sketch -- extremely rough sketch! There are quite a few photographs to refer to besides the main photo reference, so I may do some short studies (like the small one in this pic) before starting the main painting. I'm still playing around with the composition in my head and testing the colors out. I will keep it fairly small so it's easier to scan when finished. Anyway, just wanted to share the progress, however small, I was making. =)

The Start of a Project

2008-01-16T01:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I took the plunge and joined my local art association! (oops, I just looked at the calendar and I already missed the first general meeting, darn!) Well, anyway, this is a big step for me because I'm trying to be more serious about developing as an artist, as well as gain more confidence about showing my work. The art scene is still relatively new to me, but I've learned so many things since I started drawing/painting again last May.

First of all, I discovered that I really like watercolors and I like using the canson paper you can buy in big sheets. Although the paper buckles a bit after getting wet, the paint and color pencils just glide so easily on its surface.

So here's a "blank canvas" all rolled up and waiting for me to paint on it...

I already have an idea of what to do and even a reference picture I took. I just have to start it. Not sure how long it will take me to complete, but I'm looking forward to doing this and recording the process.

ATC Giveaway Winners!!!

2008-01-10T20:26:00.000-08:00

Congratulations ZARI and BRIAN... Boba Fett is all yours! Zari will receive the one of him in Jabba's lair (left) and I'll send Brian the one where he's on the sail barge (right). Thanks all for participating! I'll have another contest soon, so be on the look out for it!!!

In the meantime, check out this video I found on YouTube (I thought it was funny)...

Coffee Wars

2008-01-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Interesting news. An article in the newspaper today reported that Starbucks is making a move to do some major restructuring. The current CEO is being replaced and they plan on closing U.S. stores that aren't performing well. The company has seen its stock plummet 50 percent over the last year. They are also being hit with competition from you guessed it - McDonalds! A CBS News article details McDonald's plans on adding their very own coffee bars with baristas!

All I can say is that Starbucks has completely saturated the coffee market in recent years -- with stores in every street corner and even inside grocery stores for heavens sake! And McDonald's coffee is actually pretty good -- and much cheaper I might add. Yeah, I don't really feel sorry for Starbucks, although I don't wish any harm to their business either. It will just be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Who will I support? hmmm... well, there's a bunch of small, independently owned coffee shops that are worth a visit, and certainly deserving of our business. Although I'm pretty cheap and prefer to make my own coffee at home and at work, I'll have to look out and pay more attention to these small shops. I just wish they were more conveniently located... which is possibly the reason we frequent Starbucks, located in just about every corner! argh!

Anyway, I'm not very good at commentary. So I'll just finish off this post by including some coffee-related ATC's I made especially for people or for group trades.

"Pacman's Coffee" for Jeff; "Kona Coffee Island Fairy" for a fairy swap; "Big Cup of Coffee" for Sheri

"Greedo's Coffee" for a Star Wars swap

Coffee Art

2008-01-07T00:36:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post this for a while now (saw it on YouTube). Hope you haven't seen it yet!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T08:42:00.001-08:00

My first post for the new year! I just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2008... I pray for many blessings to come your way! The above is a pic of some vintage beads given by a friend. Hope to create something with these soon, as well as more fun projects and artwork to share. I also want to use this blog more and may make a few minor changes along the way. Thanks so much for visiting! =)

Christmas Cards

2007-12-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

This is the first year I came up with my own design for Christmas cards. The design itself was inspired by the following folk tale (retold by Angela Elwell Hunt). It's a great story of hopes and dreams, where life sometimes takes us, and how we can trust God and his ultimate plan for our lives.

THE TALE OF THE THREE TREES

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on it's way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!"

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."

Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" The first tree said.

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with saw dust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even river; instead she was taken to a little lake.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God...

"Many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him." Her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful." She said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beam was Yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And Every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God. That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

So next time you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Fun with ATC's

2007-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's been so much fun trading Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) and my family and friends have been really impressed with my growing collection. Last Thanksgiving when we were all gathered together, my nieces and nephews wanted to make some of their own. So after eating, we cleared the dinner table and had a lot of fun painting and creating more ATC's to trade with one another.

Here are some of the results (they came up with some great stuff!)

I think encouraging others to pursue creativity is so important. We're planning another one of these sessions for Christmas!

Top 25 Movies!!! (and more)

2007-12-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

The super-talented Jeff Brame tagged me to share my top 25 all-time favorite movies. It was SO tough to limit the list to just 25 because I have so many faves. But I managed to list those I have seen multiple times and never get tired of watching (or those seen once or twice but have affected me deeply). A few more came to mind as well =) Here goes...

1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Star Wars
4. Empire Strikes Back
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
6. The Sandlot
7. Frequency
8. Sense and Sensibility
9. The Goonies
10. Executive Decision
11. The Patriot
12. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
13. Outbreak
14. Shawshank Redemption
15. Big Business
16. Terminator 2
17. Aliens
18. Jurassic Park
19. Radio Flyer
20. The Passion of the Christ
21. A Christmas Story
22. October Sky
23. The Pianist
24. Speed
25. Eight Below

Other Favorite Blockbusters/Action Films…
The Phantom Menace
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
LOTR: The Two Towers
LOTR: The Return of the King
Back to the Future
The Mummy
Terminator
Shoot to Kill
Sneakers
The Rock
Frantic
Gladiator
Dante’s Peak
Twister
Independence Day

Foreign Films…
Seven Samurai
Life is Beautiful
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Comedies…
The Wedding Singer
50 First Dates
City Slickers
Coming to America
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
Major League
Shallow Hal
A League of Their Own
Angels in the Outfield
The Princess Bride
Forest Gump
Kindergarten Cop
My Best Friend’s Wedding

Dramas…
In Her Shoes
Hotel Rwanda
Billy Elliot
Finding Bobby Fischer
Dangerous Minds

Animated…
The Lion King
A Bugs Life
The Little Mermaid
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Toy Story
Balto
Shrek

Documentaries...
March of the Penguins
Supersize Me
A Player to be Named Later

Musicals…
Tammy and the Bachelor
Singing in the Rain
The Sound of Music
Calamity Jane

Whew! ok, there's more that I can name, but I need to end this post somehow or else it will go on forever. I'm going to tag these other talented artists to share their favorites: Eslina, Steve, and Katrice. Thanks for playing along!

Hey, It's Me!

2007-11-27T06:52:00.001-08:00

At Monday Artday, we had the awesome challenge of illustrating our fellow artists. Here are the ones of me in...

Godo-Style by Pati

Zappy-Style by Zari

Moony-Style by Moony

Thanks so much! You all are so talented!

2007-11-23T11:55:00.000-08:00

Eslina from Ocean and Me tagged me to share 5 random/weird things about myself. Ok, here goes...

1. I’m a huge fan of the Oakland Athletics (baseball team). I try to get autographs and pictures with the players, and I even have a pic with the world series trophies we won. They’ve not been doing so well as of late, but I still like them. Go A’s!!!

2. I eat cereal out of a drinking glass, but I consider this more “practical” than “weird” because I can at least drink the milk after the cereal is gone!

3. I used to be in a band once and played lead guitar and did some of the singing –we were together only 5 months. I’d love to say we broke up because of “creative differences”, but the actual reason is that each of us got too busy with other things.

4. My only claim to fame was that I was in the movie, “Angels in the Outfield”. Well, I’m in the crowd scene during one of the “games” they filmed, along with a couple thousand volunteers who also sat in the seats. I haven’t seen myself in any of the shots yet, though…. But I know I was there!

5. My secret dream (other than being a famous artist) is to be a chef, and sometimes when I’m cooking I like to pretend I’m hosting a cooking show and say “bam!” when I add pepper or spices, haha.

Ok, I have tagged my friends Zari and Pascal. Will try to find others but most everyone has been tagged already! Hope to find some who are willing to share some fun facts about themselves!

Here's the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well
as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Things I've Been Working On

2007-11-15T07:23:00.001-08:00

Wow, been super busy lately. My mom and I are combining forces for a fundraiser early next month. Here are some pieces I've recently completed.

Desktop Meme (my workspace)

2007-10-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Eslina tagged me to show my desktop/workspace area. I've never been tagged for anything before, so I was very happy to participate. But the only thing is that I don't really have a desk. For now, I've been doing my artwork on my kitchen counter! But I can't complain because I have a decent sized work area, and the lighting is pretty good from the overhead lights above.

I mostly use watercolor and color pencil...

I just love using my prismacolor color pencils...

For now, my JC's Coffeehouse exists only in blogland. But someday, who knows? I might have my own coffeehouse where I get to display my artwork, as well as my friends'. I had some family who used to own a coffee shop a few years ago -- a really cute one too. They had a wonderful 70's/hippie theme going. But Starbucks moved into the same shopping center and they absolutely KILLED their business. They eventually had to close. Very sad, but that's life.

But here's a photo of my own little coffee corner in my kitchen and my friend Zari's cards that she sent me (a furious J and C). If I ever do get my own coffee place, these cards will DEFINATELY be displayed, as well as all those that people have been so nice to send me. =)

Anyone who would like to show their workspace area, consider yourself tagged! =)

Pass the Pink Penguin(s)! Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2007-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to post this after reading Emila Yusof's blog on Breast Cancer awareness. She was kind enough to let me put her lovely "pass the pink penguin" graphic here. I have dear friends who had moms (also dear friends) pass away from breast cancer, and the "pass it on" badge I created (below Emila's) is a tribute to mothers, daughters, and families who have been affected by this disease.

**Update** Here also are a couple of new pass it on badges that other blogger friends created.

Eslina of Ocean and Me, made this:

And Zari of justZHM created this one:

There is lots of information and tips available about breast cancer:
- Examining your breasts is an important way to find a breast cancer early, when it's most likely to be cured. See the following site on Breast Self Exams.

- Know the risks and how to prevent the disease. Detailed information about how to understand these risks (including genetics, environmental factors, etc.) is available on the Breastcancer.org website

- The site also gives information about Nutrition and Breast Cancer. Research findings suggest that physical activity, a healthy diet (particularly one low in fat and high in vegetables and fiber), and a healthy weight can help reduce the risk of breast cancer or the cancer coming back.

- Did you know that men can get breast cancer, too? Please read the Breastcancer.lifetips.com article on statistics, risk factors, treatment options, and why male breast cancer should NOT be taken lightly.

- Do your part in helping raise awareness on breast cancer!

Here's how you can help:
1. Spread the word. Announce the event on your blog. You could write a blog post (like this), or a little note about it. Whatever you choose to do, just go ahead and tell your readers about it.

2. Go pink. Modify your theme if you know how to, or get yourself a pretty pink theme. If you run a website, turn your website pink. But if you don’t like pink, you could still participate by putting up a badge on your sidebar.

3. Design badges and banners. Design a couple of “Pink for October” badges or banners for other participants to use (for free) and to publicize the event. Some of the existing badges and banners can be downloaded from the Official Pink for October Site.

4. Design blog themes. There are a lot of bloggers (me included) who can’t even do simple designing, so if you are good at it, perhaps you could design and release a few pink themes? So, I am hoping that whoever happens to read my post, please do something to spread the awareness. It only takes a moment of our time.

If you like to take part in this awareness, you can copy paste these instructions and come up with 5 tips to avoid breast cancer. Feel free to save or copy my Pink Penguins to your post.

Thank you!

Life Imitates Art

2007-10-19T00:44:00.000-07:00

I need to use this blog more! I made the ATC on the left last month and recently traded with Tracy for her cute trick or treat mouse. Then, just this past weekend, I went with my friends to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin and Art Festival (a madhouse!) and took the picture on the right. Funny huh? I didn't even realize it looked like the card I made until I downloaded the pic on my computer a couple of days later.

Petey the Paper Peacock

2007-10-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

Island Fairies - ATC's

2007-10-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Island Fairy - Plumeria

Island Fairy - Hibiscus

Island Fairy - Sanddollar

Island Fairy - Shells

Special ATC's for Coffee-Theme Exchange

2007-09-24T00:57:00.001-07:00

I made these Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) for a group "coffee-themed" trade we are doing on the Monday Artday ATC site. These were a labor of love for me because I so admire the wonderful work of Sandro Botticelli, Marc Chagall, and Vincent van Gogh. These are part of what I'm calling my "favorite artists coffee mug" series.

If you haven't gotten into ATC's, you should check out the site and come join the fun. It's an incredible opportunity to get to know artists and their fabulous work through trading these little gems.

"Pile of Leaves" ATC's

2007-09-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Alphabets - Coffee ABC's

2007-09-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Color pencil sketch, manipulated in Photoshop.

The cup sketches were actually from artist trading cards (ATC's) I created. After scanning the images into my computer, I simply manipulated the images in Photoshop and came up with this illustration. I was going to try to do the whole alphabet, but that will be for another project someday. =)

I was so busy making ATC's last week that I didn't get to post my "visitor" drawing for Illustration Friday last week (it's on my list of things to do). And I hadn't missed a week since I started this blog in May! Anyway, I didn't want to miss it again, so this is what I came up with.

I also found an "A to Z of Coffee" list on the internet. Really good info and definitions of some coffee-related terms. Fun read!

Monday Artday Challenge - Charm

2007-09-03T10:22:00.001-07:00

Yay!!! I'm so excited about the awesome award I won for the weekly challenge. Thank you so much Bearuh and thank you Monday Artday!

Monday Artday posted a challenge to "alter" a small object so that it could be worn as a charm.

First, I found my small objects: small wooden tile and buttons from my sewing basket. I think just finding something to use took the longest time!

I painted a small tropical fish on the tile and painted the buttons, which were used as embellishments. I also applied gloss varnish to seal the paint, and added a starfish charm and crystals, too.

Oh, and I finished it with a lobster clasp so that one could easily hang it on a charm bracelet.

I'm so happy to be trading with Sheri, who also made a beautiful charm out of a domino tile. I'm looking forward to the exchange! =)

"Crazy for Coffee Mugs" ATC's

2007-09-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

These ATC's are getting to be so addictive! =) Here are some new ones I did...

Beach Mug

The Love Mug **For Kat Blue**

Mermaid Mug **For Emila Yusof**

Tuscan Red Pot Mug

"I Love Chocolate" ATC's

2007-08-24T23:58:00.001-07:00

Giant Toblerone Bar (watercolor) **For Pati**

Sees Candies (watercolor) **For Zari**

Chocolate Covered Oreo - Chilled (watercolor) **For Brian**

Joseph Schmidt Chocolates (watercolor) **For Woody**

Brownies... Yum! (watercolor) **For Zari**

Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (pen and watercolor) **For Irisz**

Chocolate Lip Balm (watercolor)

Amalfi Lemon-White Chocolate (watercolor) **For Mike**

Fields' Burger and Chocolate Shake (watercolor) **For Mim Stella**

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry (watercolor) **For Maryam**

Cheese and Chocolate Train (watercolor) **For Ms. Froggie**

Chantico Shock (colored pencil)

Just heard about these Artist Trading Cards and thought they would be fun to do. These are from what I'm calling my "I Love Chocolate" series, based on something I posted a couple of weeks ago: Click here. If you'd like to trade I have most of these available. Email me at JCEPH4@aol.com

Thanks!

Captain

2007-08-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

I drew the first captain that came to mind. Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop.

"Love, exciting and new. Come Aboard. We're expecting you..." So goes the theme song for that famous TV show, The Love Boat. And here is none other than Captain Merril Stubing to greet his guests as they board his ship. Handsome, charming, debonair, single-dad -- Captain Stubing was a good catch, but his buddy Doc seemed to take all the ladies. On the last show of the series, the good Captain finally married a woman played by Marion Ross (Richie's mom from Happy Days).

Anyway, more fun facts about the show can be found here.

On a related note, I've been on two separate cruise vacations to the Mediterranean and (if you don't get seasick), cruising is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to travel. All you can eat buffet, gi-normous moving vehicle, people to wait on you hand and foot. (Sigh) I want to go on vacation now.

Expedia has a handy guide that explains all about cruises. Check it out!

Emergency

2007-08-14T23:23:00.001-07:00

In case of CHOCOLATE Emergency, break glass! Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop.

I'm a certified chocolate FIEND! hehehe. Here's my top 10 (ok, 12) favorite all-time chocolate experiences:

12. Starbucks Chantico. Billed as a chocolate dessert, it was so rich, you could go into chocolate shock if you drank 4 or 5. Find out why they pulled it from their menu here.

11. Trader Joe’s Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix. Read a review of this DECADENT product.

10. Chocolate covered fresh strawberries. Isn't this health food? =)

9. Although this is a non-food item, Ben and Jerry's sells the cutest Chocolate Fudge Brownie lip balm.

8. Try this: Buy a box of chocolate covered oreos (yes, chocolate-covered), store in the freezer, and in a few hours, enjoy a fabulous treat!

7. The Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity3 in New York City. Maybe it tasted so good because we had to wait 3 hours to get seated during the holiday season?

6. Amalfi, Italy - a little shop called Sapori d' Amalfi sells the most delicious lemon/white chocolate candy bars.

5. Fields, Oregon is a tiny town consisting of a few buildings, but they serve the most incredible, world-famous chocolate milkshakes!

4. See’s Candy chocolates and confections.

3. Umm… I haven’t experienced this YET, but on my next trip to Switzerland, I’m going to take the Cheese and Chocolate Train.

2. The Toblerone bar.

1. Can I just say, I LOVE Joseph Schmidt Chocolates! Works of art, and the most delicious chocolates ever.

If you have any of your own favorites, feel free to tell me about them!

Missing

2007-08-08T01:13:00.000-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop.

I actually saw a poster for a missing llama named Dolly while on my trip. I forgot a few of the details (I faked some of the info on this poster), but it was indeed true that a pony last accompanied the poor animal on a walk before it turned up missing. I do hope they find poor Dolly.

I believe llamas are considered livestock rather than actual pets in the traditional sense. You would need lots of room for this beautiful creature. As I was looking around the web for interesting info, I discovered a page devoted to sounds that llamas make when they're uncomfortable, alarmed, flirting, or aroused. Check out the following link and listen for yourself: Llama Sounds
You have to listen to their humming -- it sounds just like a person!

Moon

2007-07-28T00:30:00.001-07:00

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the MOON...

Pastel and Digital, combined in Photoshop. Yet another one inspired by, or in this case partly drawn during my vacation in Oregon. I had done a pastel of a strawberry-roan cow we encountered during the trip, scanned the pic and pasted it over a digitally drawn moon. With some tweaking in Photoshop, I tried to make the cow look like it was leaping.

Wikipedia has some interesting takes on what the "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme meant. Some think it was about Queen Elizabeth I. Others say it was Richard III. Still others theorize the rhyme has to do with astronomy, explaining that nearly all "characters" are constellations. Cat (Leo – the Lion), Fiddle (Lyra – the Lyre), the Cow (Taurus – the Bull) jumped over the Moon (the Moon); the Little Dog (Canis Minor – the Lesser Dog), the Dish (Crater – a dish shaped constellation), the Spoon (Ursa Major – the Big Dipper).

You can see the theories here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Diddle_Diddle
Details about the Queen Elizabeth I connection can be found here: http://childrens-verse.suite101.com/article.cfm/hey_diddle_diddle

Poem

2007-07-22T23:51:00.001-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop.

This is a reproduction of the artwork on the Emily Dickinson stamp issued in 1971, which I found at an antique/junque shop in Oregon last week. I incorporated her poem "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" into the illustration. Her poems are beautiful, though some quite sad, but I love her use of similes and metaphors.

Another well-known poem of hers that I like is this:

I'm nobody, who are you?
Are you nobody too?
There's a pair of us, don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know!

How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog,
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

More of her poetry can be found here: http://www.bartleby.com/113/
Her life and story here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Dickinson

Discovery

2007-07-19T22:55:00.001-07:00

Christopher Columbus shows off his Discovery. Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop.

Whew! I barely made it for this week. I just got back from vacation in Oregon, and the only inspiration I could get was from the horses I saw during my trip.

Anyway, on Chris Columbus' second journey to the Americas in 1493, he brought with him 17 ships, 1200 men, and some livestock. The purpose of the voyage was to return to La Navidad in Hispaniola to relieve the men left behind from the first voyage, settle more colonists on the islands, and explore and claim other islands.
It is said that one type of horse breed brought over was the Andalusian. I can just picture Columbus riding on this very beautiful horse, looking very pompous and feeling rather important. Little did he know what he would *discover* in La Navidad.

Click here to find out what happened.

Geeky

2007-07-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

May the Star Wars geek be with you...

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. Since this year is the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, I thought I'd draw a group of fans with homemade costumes at a movie screening. I myself, admittedly, am a star wars geek.

There's an interesting article on CNet.com about this geeky, but still cool, culture phenomenon that endures today.

A bunch of parodies have also been made of the films, such as "Hardware Wars" and "Thumb Wars". Both can be seen on YouTube (I liked Hardware Wars). Anyway, hope all fellow SW geeks enjoy and have fun this year!

Twist

2007-07-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

Come on baby, let's do the TWIST!

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. This one's a late entry this week. I was experimenting with the background again on this piece. Is she dancing in space? Or maybe just lost in her own world as she dances away with this Chubby Checker hit. I just love these 50's/60's songs. Simple, catchy tunes and just a lot of fun. Sometimes at friends/family gatherings, we have hoola hoop and limbo contests and play a bunch of Chubby Checker hits.

Laverne and Shirley, "Opening Sequence"

2007-06-27T00:38:00.000-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. I thought it would be great to do a series of illustrations about one of my favorite sitcoms, "Laverne and Shirley". You can see the opening sequence on YouTube by going here.

I pretty much jumbled the words to this rhyme whenever I said it along with them, "one two three four five six seven eight, shameel, shamambles, habahabacorporated". I did a bit of googling and found out the actual words are:

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!" Schlemiel is Yiddish for an inept clumsy person. A Schlimazel is a chronically unlucky person. The difference between them can be described through the aphorism, "The schlemiel spills his soup on the schlimazel." Hasenpfeffer is rabbit stew from Germany. I guess Penny Marshall (Laverne) used to make up nonsense hopskotch rhymes as a kid, and this was one of them. The theme song is called "Making Our Dreams Come True", performed by Cyndi Grecco.

More about the show Laverne and Shirley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laverne_&_Shirley

Acceptance

2007-06-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

Sally recognizes Nancy from her art class, and musters up some courage to go up to the girls, who invite her to sit with them.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. Well, I took a stab at doing a companion piece to my earlier "Rejection" illustration. I just couldn't leave poor Sally eating lunch by herself and wanted to give her a happier ending. I think she'll be ok =)

Camouflage

2007-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. A little experiment on the background design, and some fun with the colors on the butterfly.

Interesting things I found on the internet about how butterflies use camouflage and mimicry as a survival tool: Some who close their wings mix right in with their surrounding environment--until they open them to suddenly reveal a splash of color (this might startle would be predators, and many also developed fake "eye spots" to serve the same purpose). The bright colors often indicate the insect is poisonous or an impersonator of a poisonous butterfly. Still others developed bright spots near its hind legs to draw attention away from its head--a bite off the rear wings instead of the head gives it a better chance of survival. Anyway, that's why I thought this would be a good subject for the theme "camouflage".

Check out these sites:
http://www.thebutterflysite.com/facts.shtml
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/butterfly/life_basic.htm
http://dirttime.ws/Butterfly/Behavior.htm

Rejection

2007-06-19T00:18:00.001-07:00

Sally's fear of rejection kept her from making friends at lunch.

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. Another tough theme, but this was the first idea that popped up in my head. Someone once told me that I had the bad habit of rejecting others before they reject me. I guess it's a self-preservation, survival kind of thing. Then again, we need friends to survive, too.

After I drew this, I was reminded of the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when Toula, as a young girl, sits down to eat her homemade lunch of moussaka at school. She had remembered, "When I was growing up, I knew I was different. The other girls were blonde and delicate, and I was a swarthy six-year-old with sideburns." Hehe... that was a funny movie. I thought it was great when in college, she made a point to sit with the blonde girls and befriend them.

**UPDATE** see "Part 2" of this illo.

Baseball Bob

2007-06-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. This is a pic of my good friend Bob, who was a minor leaguer in the 40's/50's. I softened the colors a bit to give it that nostalgic feeling. Anyway, I always wanted to do a baseball pic and so this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Just in time for Father's Day, too!

Track Star

2007-06-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. Here's another pic I did (of my nephew this time) who is a budding track star. T'was great fun trying to figure out the hands and expression. I'm sure the background can be improved a bit, but hey - I tried my best really. I'm trying to do more drawings with people because it's challenging for me and it's kind of neat to try to discover my "style"... whatever that may be. I just admire what I've seen posted on people's art blogs and journals here in this web-world. It's really amazing for me to see such an awesome art community!

Awards

2007-06-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

Pencil sketch, colored in Photoshop. Well here's my first post that doesn't have anything to do with Illustration Friday. I wanted to post something just for fun, and it's of another niece who just won a bunch of school awards. (I have a LOT of nieces and nephews). Working on these illos has been such a great experience for me. When I was in school, all I wanted to be was an artist. Then I decided I couldn't cut it in the art world, got my degree in business, and went on to work a "regular" job. I honestly don't have any regrets. I'm just happy I got back into it now that I'm older and for my own enjoyment. I still have LOTS to learn, but that's the beauty of doing it this way... I get to learn at my own pace, and get to discover a little bit of myself and my abilities in the process.