A Little Sunshine Must Fall...

Sun Rays -- Pen -- 2006

Just a little experiment with a different style.


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Our Little Bean

Yep, that's right! I'm pregnant! And here is the first picture of our little bean...

"Hurley-David Jr. -- 32 weeks before birth." -- GIMP, Sept 1st, 2006.


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Illo Friday - Safe

Self Portrait, 8 weeks pregnant -- Pencil, Sept 1st, 2006.

Baby. Safe in Mamma's tummy. I suppose this is as good a time/place as any to let the world know. I'm pregnant!!! Hubby & I are terribly excited.

I wasn't sure if I was going to post this drawing. One of the dangers of using yourself as a model is that your drawing may end up looking even more like you than you thought it might. Of course, I intended it to be a drawing of me, pregnant at 8 weeks. But I guess I thought my rough sketch lines would stylize it a bit. My husband chuckled when he saw the drawing, he said it definitely looked like me, but said it seemed tasteful enough to post. My mom said it would have been fine if not for the fact that it has my face. I started getting nervous posting it myself. My friends, relatives, art customers/clients, and salsa students all come here from time to time, and now they get to see me naked. Well, it's not really me naked. I mean I did take some artistic licenses of course. I came up with several censored versions of the drawing, but found myself getting a terrible taste in my mouth and wanting to rebel against my own censorship. So here it is. Unaltered. Raw. This is me (sort of). With Baby safe in Mamma's tummy, but with Mamma feeling vulnerable and exposed.

How sad that we can't just appreciate the naked form. As soon as it has a face/identity, especially if it is recognizable, it almost becomes lewd at the moment of recognition. But I started thinking about it. This is the way this drawing had to be. It had to be recognizable as me. It's me pregnant. Baby is safe in my belly. Maybe I could have drawn it with clothes on, but I think that would have taken away from the purity of the connection between me and my unborn. Then you would have identified me by my clothes and categorized me as a certain type. But, here, I am me, just me. No cover, no guise, nothing but me and Baby.

This reminds me of an article I read yesterday. Totally different situation. But we Americans definitely have a problem with nudity, especially motherly nudity. Why? Who knows. But apparently there is a big uproar about the scandelous photo of a nursing baby on the cover of "Baby Talk" magazine. Ridiculous! It couldn't be less sexual or lewd, or more beautiful.


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Illo Friday - Skyline

GIMP


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Illo Friday - Rain

Faroe Rain, 1997

Storm
by Elisabeth Hurley

Tinkling at the window
Tapping at the wall
The rhythm starts out slowly
As rain begins to fall

The sky begins to darken
The ground begins to spot
The leaves give way softly
As drips turn into drop

Now people look for shelter
To shield them from the sky
Pulling up their pants and skirts
They scurry right inside

Then puddles start to gather
And rivers begin to muster
The breezes start to blather
As winds turn into bluster

A heavy wall of water
Gushes down the street
The rain is crashing, thrashing down
And splashing up on beat

The thunder picks up tempo
from drumroll to drumbreak
And with a flash of lightning
Trees shiver, shimmy, and shake

And now with cymbols smashing
Storm gives her ending call
And with a great crescendo
Thus ends this mighty squall

The rain slows to a trickle
The river is just a sputter
The leaves are barely whistling now
in a wind that's just a mutter

And as the sun begins to peak
And drips begin to dry
People run outside to see
A rainbow in the sky

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Illo Friday -- Dance

After so long away from the blog, how could I resist this topic on Illo Friday?

When we salsa, it's like magic...



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Boise - Best photos of trip

I have been neglecting my blogs a lot lately. But it can be difficult to keep up with them when you have life going on. I recently took a trip to Boise to visit my sister, I have gotten myself a graphic design contract with a big company, and I got myself a pet baby corn snake all in the last two weeks. It's been very busy! I really haven't had any time to draw. But since I have a couple nice shots from my recent trip, I thought I'd include those here. (Click on any image to enlarge)

Some portraits first...
My Sister


My Niece -- gorgeous, even with bed head.


My Nephew



Then some landscape...
They took us on a drive up into the nearby mountains to do some hot spring-ing.


It was gorgeous.


This little nook was a mini hike down from the highway. The water was warm enough that it was difficult to put more than your feet in for any real length of time.


Then we drove some more for some pools that required a hike through a forest to get to.


Look at the steam rising off the rocks! This site only offered us mini pools, so we didn't soak here like we did at the previous spot.


My hubby soaks in some rays at the first hot spring spot.


The drive home to Denver...
...offered us some surprising sights. First off we saw a small planted forest right by the side of the road.

The trees were planted in very precise rows.



This is probably my favorite shot of the whole trip. I love the soft oranges and the graphic lines of the trees. I also love that you can see through to a similar planted forest in the distance.


Then we spotted some cows feeding.
This is probably my second favorite shot.


Just to give you context, this is looking to the right of where I stood, and if I turned and looked to the left, the feeding cows stretched just as far into the distance.


Our dog Bongo watched everything from the back seat of the car. Here he checks out the cows (as you can see in the reflection in the window.)



Well those are the best ones... hope you enjoyed them. I am starting to really wish I had held out for a digital SLR instead of plopping down that money for the next step down (Sony Cybershot DSC-H1). I miss the quality and options that the SLR affords, and using a digital viewfinder just can't compare to seeing the real thing through those lenses. Still, this camera gives me some decent pictures every now and again. Since the user's manual stinks, I am still learning how to use all of the features by trial and error. But one problem that I have found that doesn't seem to go away is that there is often significant chromatic aberration -- particularly in areas of high contrast. Also, there isn't full clarity in these pictures. I wonder if this is because of the lens, which for some reason is the only lens on any Sony camera which doesn't bear the Carl Zeiss name.

Incidentally, I am becoming more adept at digital photo editing. I am learning how to remove unwanted details in digital images. I found I had to remove the food from my nephew's face in many shots (ahhhh boys), and was pretty pleased at my initial efforts in doing so.

Here is one such photo...
Before


After


And here are some close ups of the before & after shots.


They're not perfect. I had to edit this one so much that to me there is something odd about his mouth in the after version. But others came out pretty convincing in my opinion. Like the one of him laughing in the portrait shots at the top. He had food on his face in that shot too! Not too shabby eh? Like my hubby said when I showed him... It's cool, but also really scary.


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Butterfly Tabby

Pen & Ink Wash


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Sneaky Mouse

Pen & Ink Wash


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Illo Friday - Spotted 2

Spotted Fishy -- Pen & Colored Pencil


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ACEOs #25 - 31

Did these over the past few days.

#25 #26
#27 #28
#29 #30
#31
ACEOs #25 - #31 -- Pen & Ink Wash
Click on any image to enlarge

Bid of these or other items on eBay.

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Spring Beauty

It's so exciting to see color popping up everywhere in the garden.

So I had to take some shots of the back yard. (Drawing/painting is not
my only thing you know).





(Click on any image to enlarge)


Look at the texture of this daisy:


And here is a little color play:


HAPPY SPRING!!!

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Illo Friday - Spotted

Pen & Ink Wash

The Spotted American Eagle (Spotticus Eaglus)
The lesser known Spotted American Eagle, (or Leopard Eagle) has adapted to go virtually unnoticed in the dappled light of the forests in northern Wisconsin. A rarity to see, it has recently been placed at the top of the endangered species list.


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ACEO #24 - Beach at Dusk

Pen & Ink Wash

Bid on this or other items.


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Illo Friday - Speed

Okay this is a stretch, but if I don't put something in, I am in danger of not getting a IF submission in this week.

Boat Race - Pen & Ink Wash

Every summer in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, they have row boat races as part of the Ólavsøka festival. They are great fun to watch and the locals get very excited about them. It's a big deal there. Of course, for the topic of speed, it would be nice to show them actually rowing their hearts out. This'll have to do. It is just moments after the race.


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I'm in a Faroes State of Mind

Have Faroe Islands (where my mom is from) on the brain today, so I did some drawings from some of my old FI photos.



Pen & Ink Wash


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I'm selling greeting cards!

So I have been making these handmade greeting cards with my original art on the cards. I have about 16 of them for sale at Edla's Yarns in southern Colorado (1.866.280.YARN). So far, I have cards featuring my Motherhood drawings (1 - 5 and 6 - 7) mounted on handmade paper, and my Spring Babies (examples pictured above) and Daffodils with colored paper borders. These are the actual, original drawings, not duplications. So the cards can function as both greeting cards & as gifts of art! Cards are available for $6 - $12.

I am also looking into mass-producing some glossy, printed greeting cards as well. Below are my first two designs. If you are a retailer and are interested in selling these cards, or in seeing other designs, please contact me.






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