IT'S FRIDAY!

The weekend is upon us.

Relax.

You can breathe...

Earlier, when I traipsed upstairs to Jake's studio to see what he was up to, his sketch notebook was open to this:

Not his usual style or medium, but I love it!

Anyway...

Have a beautiful weekend!

And remember to loosen your grip on things. Just enjoy them as they are.

INTERVIEW WITH ONE KIND WORD PROJECT

It's true!

I've been interviewed again - this time by Molly at One Kind Word Project. 

Such a huge honor. 

I can't remember if I found their blog first or if they found me, but regardless, the One Kind Word Project blog is a source of constant inspiration for me, so it's such an amazing and humbling thing that Molly actually approached me for an interview!

Maybe sometime I could interview her here...

Anyway...definitely head over to the site and check it out! My interview answers are mostly just silliness, but look around beyond that and you'll see they post some really beautiful work. Sometimes when I have writer's block I'll peruse through their anthology submissions, and it usually puts fresh wind in my sails.

(The whole purpose behind the blog is to create a forum for collecting and ultimately publishing a print anthology of people's stories about the life of the heart. It's such a wonderful concept.)

But without further ado - cause I know you're squirming with anticipation to read it - my interview. 

(And if you missed the first interview I did, that one with the sweet and talented M.A. of A Simple Conversation, you can find it here.)

  Alrighty, I'm off to make hot cocoa and read a little of this with my kitty-cat before bed!

THE BIRDS OF CHILDHOOD

Today as I sit here by the swimming pool (which is freezing, I'm sure!) I hear the wind come blowing by, rustling through the limbs of nearby trees, tapping together their naked branches. It blows under the leaves on the ground, like a mole burrowing beneath them and raising them up, then rises up itself to circle the wind chime, sending it into random song. 

I can hear the birds, too. Even though winter has not quite left us yet, the birds are out in large numbers today. I hear them chirping and jumping around in the bushes behind me. 

Illustrations by my talented husband, Jake Page.
For drink coasters with these bird images, click here.

I remember when I was a young girl, I loved playing in the woods. It was such a magical place, with trees that seemed to sense my presence and welcome me into their secrets, pointing me down paths in the way that they grew. I was happy to follow, winding through the underbrush, being very careful for thorns and also to be quiet so as not to disturb the spirit of the place or to miss noticing anything which might be sitting quietly by, watching me. 
It would get so quiet sometimes. People often tell me that I walk like an Indian - meaning, of course, that they never hear my footsteps come up on them, and I wonder if it might not have been my long hours in the woods which made me this way, ever creeping quietly onward, noticing each stump and wondering at its story, every lady bug or patch of moss a sacred mystery. I would go on that way for whole afternoons, inhaling the slightly musty smell of damp and fallen leaves, enthralled by escaped rays of sunlight which shimmered through openings in the canopy overhead, zigzagging down across the trunks of trees, tagging them with ethereal strokes of gold. I would hush myself with wonder, thankful to be allowed to witness such a place of magic. Then suddenly, a little bird would hop around in the leaves right beside my foot, and I would go leaping into the air with fright, imagining a snake or who knew what. But the little bird, largely unfazed, would continue to skitter and hop about in the underbrush (on the trail of a worm, no doubt), and I, little hand over my young heart, would amusedly still myself with a laugh. 

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HAPPY PRESIDENT'S DAY, EVERYONE!

(Okay, it's 9:45pm, so perhaps I should say I hope you had a happy President's Day. 

My day was excellent. I got to spend an hour reading in Barnes and Noble, so pretty much any day where I get to do that is a good day in my book. Haha, no pun intended.)

Anyway...

I wish I could show you some of the absolutely fantastic stuff Jake is churning out for this picture book he's hard at work on, but I can't unveil any of that just yet, so instead, I'll leave you with this sketch that Jake did several months ago of a rather presidential looking fellow.

I actually blogged about the colored, finished piece here, but feel free to print this off and let your kids have a go coloring it, or - who are we kidding? - color it yourself!

And while you're getting arts and crafty, why not try making some of these mini presidential figurines?

And check out these incredibly awesome handpressed magnets! As soon as I saw them I thought of my high school history teacher. You could name any american president and, without skipping a beat, my teacher could tell you some little-known, quirky fact about the man. He really knew his presidents. 

(And so does this etsy seller, I'm guessing, based on how often former presidents appear in his artwork,

like ...Abe Lincoln surfing?) 

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ART IN THE PARK

     Recently, I was having one of those particularly annoying days when the whole world seems to have agreed to pick on you - you know, nothing awful happens, it's just a bunch of little stuff, like somebody cuts you off in traffic just as you approach a yellow light, so then you have to slam on your breaks and sit there seething for two full minutes until the light decides to change again, and then when you finally make it to the store and collect the few items you need, the lady buying food for her entire family reunion is in line just ahead of you and there's only one cashier and both of them are chatting happily, oblivious to the growing line, and you're thinking of the state of disaster your house is in back home - especially the kitchen, the trash needs to be taken out bad, the laundry hamper is overflowing, you won't have time for lunch today, your cat has developed the habit of following you around when you're trying to work, squawking at you in a very high pitch to notice him... reeOWW...reeeOWWW.....mmreeOWW...

     Yes. It had been one of those days. And then I went to pick up Charlie, the little boy for whom I nanny. He recently changed schools from a public charter school to a private catholic school uptown. It's one of those well-composed, majestic-looking catholic schools, the outer walls made of an imposing slate-colored stone, with several stories of high, arching windows and a great big wooden door with black iron hinges and handle.

     The school sits on a beautifully green parcel of land, brimming with trees, shaded benches, statues, prayer gardens, all that sort of thing. It's really very inviting. Often I want to get out of my car, as I sit there in the pick-up line, and stroll around the grounds a bit, perhaps go sit near the statue of the Holy Mother - and I'm not catholic. It's just that peaceful of a place.

     Well, on this particular day, I was in a bit of a grumpy mood as I sat there in the carpool line, eating the exhaust of the soccer-mom SUV in front of me, focusing on all the things that had gone wrong that day, when I happened to look over to my left and notice something hanging from a tree limb nearby. It was a little piece of paper, colored with crayon, attached to the limb with yellow yarn, and on it was written a verse from Psalms in that unmistakable handwriting of a child.

Be still... And know that I am God.

Well that hit me like a slap in the face.

(In the best possible way.)

It was so simple, and yet it was just what I needed to help me course-correct my horrible attitude. 

     A few days later, one of my absolute favorite bloggers, Molly from OneKindWordProject, posted this. And then, my blogger friend Ladaisi did a post with these lovely little quotes, and between the two of them, I was inspired to create this:

I painted it all out first, then got it laminated at Staples, and hung it with some yarn in a tree at my favorite public park. It's the park Charlie and I often visit on sunny afternoons after school 

(because it has the best playground). 

Nothing amazing. It's not a quote that's going to change the world. I know that. But it was fun to create, and in a strange way it made me feel more connected to that park, to the people who will come by and see my little installation swinging in the wind. Almost like we share a secret.

And who knows?

Maybe for a moment it will take someone out of his or her known world and present them with an alternative, an idea, a possibility.

Hope.

I like to think so.

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TILL THE SOIL 'TIL THE FRUIT COMES

Why is it that wrangling your creativity into something significant can be as exhausting as an all-out wrestling match? 

I know for me, at times writing can be like pulling teeth.

But then at other times, the words flow like honey, sweet and smooth and flowery. 

What gives?

Boy do I wish I knew. 

Recently, Jake has discovered the rewarding but infuriating process that is creative writing.

He's been working on the children's book that I mentioned a few posts ago. 

It's a rhyming story, which in a way, makes it even more tricky, because you really have to do the rhyming part well or it's just gonna be bad. So... he's been working on that for about a week now, and he mentioned how frustrating it can be - one day the muse is there and you get 1,000 words written down and each one is like gold to you - perfumed gold, and the next day it's a struggle to even reach 200, and you pretty much hate every sentence of it. 

(In fact, Jake took a break from writing the past few days to do some preliminary illustrations for the book - a process I'm confidant in saying he much prefers!)

But anyway, all that to say, I think it's normal for creativity to be a struggle. 

It wouldn't be nearly so rewarding if it all came easily, would it?

I read this on Don Miller's blog yesterday and smiled. How timely! 

And encouraging.

"I’m learning the fruit of my creative effort often ripens instantly. I’ll sit down and get thousands of words, but then a week later, working with the same discipline, will have nothing. But my job is not to make the words come. Who am I to make the words come?My job is no different than a farmer. I till the land. I fertilize the soil. I plant the seeds. Unlike the farmer, though, I am surprised when the green shoots sprout in the spring. I think perhaps it is magic, and it will never happen for me again. But the farmer knows if he tills the land, and is blessed enough to get rain, the harvest will come." 

Hang in there, Jake.

Hang in there, friends.

The harvest will come. 

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A BELATED VALENTINE RECIPE

I know it's February 15th now and therefore any talk of little heart-shaped sweets is going to be so... well, yesterday, but I made these for dessert last night and they were so good and so easy, I just had to share them with you! 

To Make These:

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 large eggs, beaten slightly

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cream sugar and butter.

3. Add vanilla and eggs; mix well.

4. Combine dry ingredients together in separate bowl, then gradually add to creamed mixture.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spread evenly across non-stick (or greased) cookie sheet. 

7. Bake for ~ 30 minutes, or until top is slightly browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

8. Let cool for a minute, then begin cutting cookies out in the desired shape and placing them on cooling rack.

9. When cookies have cooled sufficiently, slice in half and spread whipped cream (or ice cream, your choice!) between layers, then sandwich the halves back together.

10. Eat and enjoy!

Yummm...  

No matter who you spend it with, 

I hope you feel loved!

IT'S COMING...

Yep.

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.

I've been looking for some cute crafts to share with you all, based on the Valentine theme, but let me just tell you, pretty much everything out there is CHEES-Y.

I did find a few projects I thought were genuinely cute, though.

Like this.

And this.

And leave it to Martha to come up with something as simple and elegant as this. 

I also love all the cards that PaperCrave has been showcasing for their Valentine's Day Roundup.

Hopefully you'll find something in all this that you like, too!

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WEEKEND WANDERINGS

Jake and I are going to Chapel Hill this weekend to visit some good friends, eat some yummy food, and hopefully enjoy some pretty weather.

Yay!

I'm even looking forward to the traveling.
I like road trips with Jake, generally, if they're not insanely long.

I like listening to good music as we drive along together in the car, watching the scenery sweep past.
Because of course, the right music is critical to getting "the feel" right.

So I leave you with a song from one of my favorite road trip bands. 

Robbie Seay Band - Breathing Air Again


And for more of what I'm listening to, click on the widget further down the page, in the left tab margin - the one with the bird and the sheet music. (Be sure you're allowing pop-ups!)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Take the time to start anew...

Maybe it's in front of you.

Take the time to walk down your street

And heaven knows who you might meet.

Take the time to be okay

And laugh a bit along the way...

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FOLLOWING THE MUSE

You may have noticed I've been displaying less of Jake's art on the blog lately.

That's because he's decided to take the next month and focus all of his efforts into a single project - a children's book which he has been playing around with for several years but never finished. His goal is to finish writing it and illustrate enough sample art within the month to have something solid to send to publishers. 

I'm really excited and optimistic about it, but of course, that means less illustrations to display here for a while, no Illustration Fridays, that kind of thing. So hopefully you guys don't mind hanging with us for the month while things appear a little slower. 

The name of the children's book he's working on is Munch. It was his senior thesis project for his BFA, but Jake has just never been totally pleased with the finished product. Everyone who's read the basic story has loved it, though.

Here's an illustration from the older version:

It's precious. 

I can't wait to see what happens with it, and to share all that with you!

That's part of the fun of art, I think - sharing it, and seeing how it affects other people.

I had dinner with one of my dearest friends last night, a fellow artist of sorts, and we got to talking about how unstructured the creative life can be. Sometimes it's hard to feel like you're accomplishing anything because you have to sort of feel your way as you go. There's no handbook for success on how you're supposed to make your art "make it." You just go from this thing to that thing, and you make what you love, what speaks to your own heart, and you hope that somehow, some way, it will speak to other people's hearts, too. And you meet people, and you get their feedback, and you strengthen the work, and then ultimately you let it go and flit over to some new inspiration that moves you, and on and on it goes. And you just kind of have to hope that somewhere along the way, somebody notices.

But even if they don't, there's no way you could stop. Because creativity drives you.

As an artist, you absolutely need to be creating something. 

You need to, or you feel like you're dying.

I don't know. Maybe that seems like rather serious rumination for nine o'clock in the morning.

Haha.

I just watched this short little film, which was very artsy and reflective, so maybe that's where some of this is coming from. 

I don't know that I completely agree with everything Yokoo says in this. I do think being creative comes naturally, but I think honing that creativity into something tangible and excellent takes work. But then, I also love the way she makes it clear that the work is worth it - that even though it can be hard, to people like my friend and I last night, feeling like we're adrift in our own creativity and knowing that we alone are the only ones who can ultimately be responsible for doing something with it, it's nevertheless a wonderfully freeing thing to sit back and remember that we get to decide how we are going to use our lives, we get to decide who or what we will surrender to - and that realization is like a breath of fresh air - like "opening a window in a stuffy room."

                 You're given this life to live and not to just exist.


                                    Amen to that, sister.

SWEET ANIMATION

        The Tadpole from Passion Pictures on Vimeo.

          I found this group Passion Pictures on Vimeo
and was browsing through their stuff. I loved everything
about this tadpole film. It's very sweet, and I love the colors,
             the character designs, and the simplicity.

                          Thought I'd share!

                       (I also loved this one.)

ETSY GIVEAWAY

Hi, friends!

I am loving the fact that it's Saturday and I have no obligations!

Currently hanging out with my cat... he keeps hopping onto my desk and planting himself right in front of my computer monitor, as if to say, Look at me.

Silly cat.

Anyway... 

I have some excellent news for you today. My friend Lauren who blogs at ladaisi is currently having a giveaway, and she's asked me to tell you all about it.

The prize is a $15 gift card to any one of these three Etsy shops:

Violet Bella Boutique

Violet Bella Photography

or

Skyline Fever

The giveaway ends next Friday, the 11th, so be sure to head on over to ladaisi and check it out pronto!

Good luck!

IF: DUSTY

The topic for last week's Illustration Friday was "dusty". 

Jake started working on his submission kind of late in the week, so he had to send it in before he was finished, but this is what it looked like:

Get it?

Dust... Bunnies?

Ha. 

My husband is so punny.

Anyway, Jake has continued to work on the image this week, just for the fun of it.

He's still not completely finished, but I think it's looking pretty close to it.

He still wants to put something into those three picture frames above the bed - maybe radishes and some other veggies.

He said to tell you all he's very open to suggestions!

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UNUSUAL INSPIRATION

This was the view out my window today.

(Okay, I actually went outside to take the picture, but it was visible from my window.)

There was water everywhere.

And as I was snapping pictures of the phenomenon, I happened to remember a guest artist who came and lectured at my alma mater while I was there, an artist who goes by the name Blue Sky, and he created a giant sculpture of a fire hydrant in the middle of Columbia, SC.

I remember that his entire lecture was about fire hydrants, and how he's obsessed with painting them and recreating them because they kind of look like little people to him, or something. 

Anyway, I thought it was kinda weird at the time, but today, as I was taking pictures of my very own gushing fire hydrant, I kind of understood the appeal a little bit.