Words for Woeful Wednesday, #5 & #6

#5, for 12/21/16

At Winter’s Solstice

Darkness gives way to the light.

This year, it lingers.

 

 #6, for 12/28/16

Not yet New Year’s Day:

My resolutions were made

On Election Eve.

ICAD 22 – 28 Chasing Rainbows

A boost of color seemed just what I needed, so I opted to go with Daisy Yellow’s suggested theme for the week, Rainbow Love. I’m really happy with the results.

Haiku and bubble mandalas in Sharpie pen and colored pencils, “over the rainbow” half-mandala in Stabilo markers, no-drawing-at-all rainbow of chairs, mixed media rainbow Medusa and “make your own rainbow” ladies, craft acrylic painted Paramecium Party (I was aiming for paisleys, but they wanted to be something else so I went with it…)

ICAD 2014 #1 — Prism

I had something totally different in mind for the first card for Daisy Yellow’s ICAD Challenge, but after I saw “Prism” at the top of her list of daily prompts, and “Text” listed as this week’s theme, I couldn’t get this one out of my head.

Though it didn’t feel like it at the time, thirty years ago my life took a change for the better.

Prism in fine point Sharpie pen and colored pencils, Hand-lettered Haiku text on separate card, cut and attached with matte gel medium.

Can’t go home again

I mean, you actually can, but once you get there, you realize that you can’t.

You know what I mean?

[Fine point marker and colored pencils (are you surprised?), 5×8 index card for ICAD Warm Up #2, Haiku #1]

Prescription: Chill

[Sharpie Pen on an index card…that is all]

Today I used the last half my lunch break to come up with a way to handle on-the-job irritation and anxiety with the implements I had at hand.  I breathed, I drew — and it worked. Now it’s pinned to the wall above my computer as reminder to do likewise in the future. 

Out of Gridlock

 

[Map inset, Prismacolor fine line markers, Crayola washable Supertips markers]

For Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments #16, a page that began with a map.  In this case, a map of the amazingly orderly street grid of the city where I grew up.  I know some people who’ve never left and others who did but went back because other places “weren’t like Milwaukee”. I moved away over 25 years ago — I still like to go back to visit the people and the places, but all things considered I don’t regret the fact that I left.  And of course that thought inspired (another) haiku.

The Shower Strikes Again!

[My go-tos: Sharpie pen and colored pencil]

For Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments #13, a short, two-panel comic strip inspired by the sight of my bare feet and naked toenails as I stepped out of the shower.  Giving myself personal extra credit for the haiku thought- and speech-bubbles!

(And yes, my toenails now sport very red polish…)

Bluebirds: Not-Quite-Mandala

(Black Sharpie pen, colored pencils)

Early mornings on the coldest days of recent weeks, a flock of bluebirds gathered in the tree in front of our kitchen window, waiting their turns at the suet feeder. (Okay, so they were bluebirds, which means they didn’t exactly wait their turn — more like flung themselves toward the feeder at the merest hint of an opening.)  I spent way too much time thinking about what to do with the image and the colors, then finally started just drawing. This started out to be less of a mandala than it ended up, and along the way, as I colored in the shapes and added details, a haiku formed inside my mind.

 

Blue and Yellow; Haiku, too

Combining a couple of challenges on these  — two more color-themed pages for Daisy Yellow’s Creative Experiments plus a personal haiku project.

This blue page started as an experiment in background painting inspired by the clipping tucked in at the bottom of the photo — liquid acrylics across the page, graduated from top to bottom, dark to light, topped by jabs of full strength colors; then a generous spray of water over the top to take the edge off. It turned out to be a bit too much water, so I took the opportunity to create a second page by pressing a clean paper over the top. I incorporated a square of that brighter pattern into the final page as a less literal depiction of the haiku’s “bolt out of the blue(s)”.

Working this tribute to my childhood favorite color (sharpie pen, all my yellow-named colored pencils, with a wash of yellow watercolor over it all to finish) caused me to confront the fact that  a big part of me wished for the pure happiness that it used to give me.