august challenge round up

Ok, so I didn't manage to draw each and every one of my shoes, but I did most of them, and I did all of my favourites. I not only enjoyed doing these drawings, it almost felt like an extension of the zen drawing experiment, it made me pay close attention to the detail and I took my time with each drawing, which is a new thing for me and I like it!!

So I'm rounding up with an old shoe drawing, one I did of my boots last year, while in our hotel room in Seville.

September challenge will be posted soon.

our little visitor

This week, we are looking after a friend's kitten while she and her husband are away on holiday.

This is little Claudia sleeping against Paul's hand. I haven't got her colouring right, but it is a first attempt. When she's awake, she's a hyperactive bundle of cute playfulness and mischief. We think our Jakey wants to play with her, but our other cat Lottie, is not at all pleased and is staying well away. Below are some pictures of Claudia in the flesh. The one of her in our kitchen shows just how tiny she is!!





















To see her sneaking up on Jakey, go here.

some unseasonal boots

These are my rather unseasonal Nine West suede boots. They make my feet look huge, but they're comfy and I love 'em.

August is nearly at an end now and I realise I'm not going to be able to draw all of the rest of my shoes for this project, but I definitely think I drew the best ones. It's also gotten a little more difficult to get any drawing done of late because we've got a kitten staying with us for a week and she doesn't tend to sit still!! Anyway, I'll do what I can.

further proof of my red shoe fetish

my converses

some recent mandalas

the latest shoe drawings

green and gold campers

I won an award!!

A giant heap of fluffy warm goodness and kitten hugs go to Lea for passing the Rockin' Girl Blogger award to me. Coooool!!! Thanks Lea. I'm totally freakin' honoured and giddy.

I was really curious to know who started it all, and after a bit of googling, I found out that it was Roberta Ferguson. This is the post where it all began in June 2007. And now I have the pleasure of passing the award on! So here goes...I'm tagging:

1. Changapeluda, for your bold, feisty, spirit; your big giving heart; your beautiful babies; you inspire me and I wouldn't have gotten to know you if it wasn't for the blogging community. Plus, you send me leaves and pictures of Neil Diamond and the Goddess Kali! You rock!!

2. Hardwax, your artwork is always new and makes me see things in totally unexpected ways. It reminds me of the infinite possibilities that are out there. You rock!!

3. Melissa, not only do you love cats as much as I do, you draw them infinitely better! Your tales of Simon, Comet, Norman, Gordon, B.J., Mother and Dad (have I missed anyone?) never fail to make me smile. I always look forward to your next drawing. You rock!!

4. Nina, your strength, openness, spirit of curiosity and exploration and the way you embrace life is inspiring. You rock!! Plus, you take killer photos and reading about your life makes me wonder if we might have been sisters in another life...

5. Shadows and Clouds, for the beautiful way you live life, and the beautiful way that you share it; for the way that you see the world and the way you are truthful to yourself, you rock!! I love visiting your blog, it not only inspires and refreshes me, it makes me feel connected to you since you left London. Plus, you also take killer photos and live in Italy. You double rock!!

I hope you enjoy basking in the shimmery moondust of receiving the award as much as I have, don't forget to pass it on.

Keep rockin'!!

silver and white

those red shoes

I have more red shoes than any other colour. These are my favourite red ones, found in a sale about four years ago, and I still wear them. The pattern underneath the shoes is some wrapping paper I found at Paperchase.

the latest mandalas

red birks

the shoe project begins...

So this is what I'm gonna do. Draw every pair of my shoes in this craft paper spiral bound book. Make it into a shoe diary of sorts, as some shoes even have a story attached to them.

I have 24 pairs of shoes, not 200 as some people have suggested, but a mere 24, and this includes flip flops, slippers and trainers, some of which I've been accumulating since the 1990s. Not quite Imelda Marcos then! So the drawings should fill the book nicely. How many pairs do you have? Will you take up the challenge?

August Challenge

It's summertime (finally!), so let's have a little fun. This challenge comes out of an idea that's been brewing in my head for a little while. I'm calling it the shoe project. That's right...this month, take the time to draw each and every single pair of your shoes, or as many as you can reasonably manage in a month. Draw them in any style you want. Paint them if you want. Put the drawings on separate pages in a book if you want. Get crafty. Create shoe collages. Whatever you want! Post your work as you do it and leave me a comment with your link and I'll link to your drawings on the sidebar of my blog. The most important thing about this challenge is to enjoy it!! Hurrah!!

the cat and the moon

July challenge wrap up

Thanks to shadows and clouds , kimbu and Janie for taking up the zen challenge. I definitely got a lot more out of it than I thought I would. Drawing that leaf was the best experience.

August challenge will be posted up soon.

moon mandalas

dark moon dreaming

~
















crescent moon emerging

~


















moon child rising

~


















dark moon falling

~

The changing faces of the moon...and a happy event that my moon mandalas coincide with this week's illustration friday topic...

some recent mandalas

earth's poem

nature
earth's poem
for those who care to listen

~
















I hadn't realised that I'd been away from my blog for over a week. Stuff happens...like spending the entire weekend reading the very last ever Harry Potter book (it's fantastic and that's all I'm saying).

After inhabiting Harry's world so intensely, I felt the best way to bring me back to reality was to do some zen drawing. So I sat down to draw this leaf. It blew onto our doorstep one day and I knew I had to draw it. Doing so was the first time since I started the zen drawing thing that I felt I really understood what it's about. I finished the drawing in two separate sittings of about 2 hours each. I felt like I really connected with the contours of the leaf, I could feel its curves and see the shadows collecting on its surface. Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed it, I felt like I was drawing with my whole self, even my heart. It was also an immensely rewarding lesson on the value of slowing down and being patient.

It also helped me to understand something I've been reading and contemplating. It comes from Robert Henri's The Art Spirit, which I picked up for guidance after my painting struggles. And oh what a treasure it is! Here's just one illuminating thought from it:-

"The object of painting a picture is not to make a picture - however unreasonable this may sound. The picture, if a picture results, is a by-product and may be useful, valuable, interesting as a sign of what has past. The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence...These results, however crude, become dear to the artist who made them because they are records of the states of being which he has enjoyed and which he would regain. They are likewise interesting to others because they are to some extent readable and reveal the possibilities of greater existence." (from The Art Spirit, emphasis his)

...which is kind of similar to the state of being present and mindful, in zen seeing and drawing, and made me see the value of paying attention, of not just seeing but also feeling what I'm drawing with my whole being, something that I should be doing every time I sit down to draw or paint, and not just during the month of trying out zen drawing.

Anyway, The Art Spirit is full of wonderfully encouraging, wise and inspiring insights. It feels like a gift to have discovered it just when I'm struggling so much with painting...don't you just love it when stuff like that happens?