Finer lines and details

I've found myself working a lot with acrylic paint, oil pastels, and paint markers these past few years.  Some of the reasons for this were these were the materials I had on hand, all three mediums work well on wood, canvas, and cardboard, and I preferred creating abstract, graffiti like work with bright colors (street art is a source of inspiration for me).  Here's an example of something I created last year:

Lately I've been using pens and colored pencils to create more detail-oriented pictures with finer lines.  My materials of choice have been Prismacolors (the best colored pencils you can get), and Micron pens from Japan (also really good pens for drawing - I absolutely love these pens).

I worked on this picture last night inspired by a drawing I saved from some nice packaging:

As you can see, I love flowers.  I didn't realize how much I loved drawing and painting flowers until I started this blog. 

I dedicate this drawing to all our friends in Japan.  May hope bloom amidst the chaos, may new life thrive and grow, and may peace be restored.

Spring is here!

Creative use for frames

I saw something like this at an antique store for $35 and thought it was the coolest thing but a bit pricey.  I decided to make my own with an old frame, some twine (you could also use wire), and clothes pins to display my random bits of paper and old cards.

Before:

After:

Sketches and doodles

Feeling blue

Recent painting

Inspired by this print in our house:

To paint this:

Acrylics on salvaged wood.

The last day of my '20s

It just hit me that today is the last day of my twenties.  Wow, time just flies by. 

Things I have appreciated about my 20s:
Discovery
Openess
Learning from trial and error
Learning in general
Taking risks
Connecting with my passions
Big picture dreams and a sense of destiny
Seeing the world as a bigger place
Owning what's mine, figuring out what I want
Deeper relationships
Finding kindred spirits
Finding support networks
Healing
Forgiveness
Learning to say no
Learning to say yes to the right things
Learning to accept my limitations but also embracing strengths
Finding a voice
Empowerment
Respecting myself and others
Caring for others in deeper ways
Learning that it's not always about ME
Initiating my own growth
Counseling
Traveling
The feeling of being untethered
Possibilities
Suffering is not always bad
Sometimes you need to choose to suffer
People are complicated
I'm complicated
I'm okay
God really loves me

So I take all these things with me into the next stage of life, ready to embrace what's waiting for me.