Sunday, March 20, 2011

Illustration Friday – Cultivate


Given everything that's going on right now in the world, it seems appropriate to send a message to cultivate peace. Each little thing every individual can do to that end, makes a difference!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62527516/spread-peace
http://www.valerielorimer.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sometimes It's the Things You Don't Know


I was struck by the simple truth of a Rainn Wilson (a.k.a. Dwight Shrute from The Office) quote I read recently about faith and not knowing what's going to happen at any given time. I remember as a child thinking "show me the proof" about religion, faith, why things happen the way they do. As an adult, it's taken a while but I enjoy living in the moment and not worrying so much about things I can't "see."

My dear childhood friend, Jennifer, posted to my Facebook page recently and mentioned some of the wild, crazy things we used to get into together. We lived in a very small town and came up with some pretty unusual things to do to stay entertained...one of which included the two of us getting in her Radio Flyer wagon and taking off down a very long, skinny, windy road down a very steep hill.

As a parent, I look back on that now and think "what were we thinkg…were we insane?" It was a really dangerous thing to do since it was the only road in and out of our little town that sat on the side of a mountain - and if we steered the wagon incorrectly, we could easily have flown over the side of the mountain (which almost happened once). I even had the torn up knee to prove it. But, I think it basically comes down to friendship, trusting Jen when she was "driving," and taking a leap of faith every time we got in that wagon. Not such a bad philosophy.

There are lots of leaps of faith during our life journey - and many times it is about what you can't see or what you don't know as cold, hard fact. I think that's probably the underlying, subliminal message in my art which I've been told by many they find nurturing, spiritual, affirmative and, of course, whimsical from time to time...okay, maybe a little more than time to time. So, all that being said, go hop in a Radio Flyer and go for a ride!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67251269/journey-note-cards

Friday, March 11, 2011

The View From Up Here


I'm continuing my fascination with giraffes in this piece! A couple years ago, we were visiting family and took the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo. You can actually feed the giraffes there. It was so incredibly awesome being right next to them and having them eat out of your hand - okay, kind of slimy too - but still cool!

This piece is called The View From Up Here...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69815877/the-view-from-up-here-print

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sometimes Nature Cracks Me Up


Into the house came a box of strawberries and inside it was....yes, this strawberry! I found it very entertaining, as did the other members of my family – especially my 8 year old. So many times I have said that I find inspiration for my artwork in nature. This isn't quite what I meant, but I think I have a thought about how to turn this into a piece of art...hmmm...It's just too good to pass up!