On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Friday, August 08, 2008

Wrapping up loose ends

During the last week I busied myself telling the story of Beulie's puppyhood on the blog, Beautiful Beulie (www.beautifulbeulie.blogspot.com) and haven't kept up with the rest of my life. Well, I have, but not here. So now I want to wrap up all the loose ends and get back into regular art journaling and reading.

When we returned from Ireland in June I was looking around for novels which take place in Ireland and came across POMEGRANATE SOUP by Marsha Mehran. This is a good read of three Iranian sisters who left their homeland during the reign of the shah and eventually set up their own restaurant on the Irish west coast. Their reception in the village was spotty, but the story is well told. Because I had just returned from there I could easily visualize the setting and the characters. Good summer read!



My next book was Dan Price's MOONLIGHT CHRONICLES, a favorite of members of the Yahoo art group, Everyday Matters. I'm glad I didn't wait to begin a blog after I learned to draw. If I had, this blog would still be waiting in the wings. Ditto for Dan Price. His drawings are not great -- but yes they are, they're great! Sometimes it's better to realize that we all have our stories and we can tell them in words and illustrate them with drawings and, whatever our skill level, they will have their own coherence and elegance.



I've done a little journaling but that's the operative word - little. I began learning how to draw Demi and will be practicing, practicing, practicing in the coming months.



Ditto for the geraniums that live on my back deck.




This evening I took Demi to the dog park and sketched the little kiosk that adds such a nice touch.



There now, I'm all caught up and can begin with a fresh start this weekend!

3 comments:

  1. Nice pages! The colors and layouts are lovely!

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  2. Wonderful pages! I've been wanting to read those books - thanks for the recommendations.

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  3. Well good for you! Being caught up that is. I am not. I've jotted down the two books you've mentioned. Will look them up. I've only got about 20 books sitting here waiting for me to get off my blogging hind end and read them already but what's a couple more?

    I'm taking Jessica's drawing class and find it's pretty good. I'll be continuing on as will my granddaughter. I'm trying to talk my daughter into continuing too but she thinks she's too busy (which she is but I push the art anyhow). I recommend her drawing class if you get where you are unhappy with art and start to stop. Otherwise I think you are doing fine and you are right, it's our story in our markings, not someone elses. It's just hard to accept sometimes when we want to be doing better but we are individuals with unique ways of seeing and marking. I find our whole society has gotten this way. You don't see people just singing for the fun of it anymore because they don't sound like the professionals - who lipsync because THEY don't sound like their professional selves without special equipment either. So it's time we enjoyed ourselves instead of trying to be what we are not and we may be surprised to find how far we can go.

    I sure hope I am not coming across preachy. I really am not - I just see you worrying about your skill or perceived lack of it and it shouldn't be the issue. The issue is whether you are enjoying yourself. Oh, I know what it is, it's Sunday and I grabbed the pulpit! Lol.

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