Fred...The Octopus?

Well, Ollie would have been a little unoriginal right?

I spent the day shirking my responsibilities. Okay. I did balance the checkbook. Lesson plans for the week and other things, they were neglected.

Ollie, er...I mean Fred, he kept me busy :)

I am out of practice with painting, but I still had fun. It's watercolor paints, watercolor crayons, and colored pencil.

(if you want, you can get an uncolored version of him, and try coloring him yourself. see yesterday's post)

Happy Sunday,

Rhoda

Seuss Meets Pastels

I have been trying to make an effort to draw more each day.

Some days I make it. Others I don't.

Inspiration is lacking, but I have order

ed some new books (Amazon and I get along really really well...but my bank statement doesn't really like it *wink*).

This one came in the mail recently:

The ABC Drawing Lab by Carla Sonheim. It has some great ideas to rejuvenate your creativity. One that I used in my H.S. Art class was the Dr. Seuss buildings. There were a few great pieces that came out of that lesson.

Here is my version from today. I was wanting to play with pastels, but wasn't sure what to draw. My eye drifted to the book and the first page I opened to was the Seuss page. Off I went :)

(I'm not sure why that image keeps loading sideways, I've rotated and saved it in my files...grr. Oh well, tip your head *grin*)

And, for those of you that have downloaded my doodles to color previously, I have created another doodle page. I'm hoping to color this one with watercolor paints and maybe digitally as well. Fodder for lots of artsy fun.

Click on the image so it opens in a new tab or window and then right click and save. Print. Color. Enjoy :)

Have a great creative weekend!

Rhoda

Crushed, But...

I have been thinking about college again. It's time to start working on my Masters. The thoughts were swirling around, and I came back to an idea that I had when I first started college at 19. Drawing. Illustration. Make money doing something I love. Go to school. Learn more. Draw. Make money. Sounds great right?

Problem #1: we live in tiny, rural, Montana.

Solution: find a college that offers a Masters degree online.

This led to Problem #2: Most colleges don't offer a full online program for a MFA in Illustration.

Solution: search harder. Find 2 that do.

Problem #3: Money. Holy crap!! The cost is as much as my bachelor's degree was, and that included living off some aid money when we started the family a little early.

Solution: There isn't. So I cried.

My heart was really set on learning to draw better. Put my skills to the test and use them as a source of income. Become a Freelance Illustrator.

Today. Solution to Problem #3. It's round about. It doesn't get me another step in my education. But, it is what I do best. Teach myself. Yep. You don't have to have a degree to get Freelance work. I'm sure it helps. Oh Well. I'll do it the hard way. I challenge myself to do it.

Step One: Draw more. Be confident about it and just do it!!

On a lighter note.

We walked to breakfast this morning. Hayden wanted to know what he was going to do for "entertainment" at the table. What he was really asking was "Can I take my Nintendo DS and be a game head". Nope.

Instead, we took paper and pencils and challenged ourselves to draw something on the table. All four of us. We sat and doodled. My coffee and creamer. They are destined for an art journal...into the scrap-box they go :)

Happy January. Let's hope it goes fast! It can slow down when spring comes :)

Rhoda

Blog? What Blog?

I am a slacker...

Well not really.

Maybe a little :)

School started and my life on the Internet came to a screeching halt. For that matter, my creative life came to a screeching halt as well.

There has been no time to read about other creative people. No time to be creative. No time to even think "creative".

I am anxiously awaiting Christmas break and some time to just "be". And maybe, when that happens, I will have some time to share some thoughts, findings, ideas, etc. with anyone willing to read them :)

Happy December!!
Rhoda

I Have Been...

It seems that this time of year is always a blur.

Those fun (but not so lazy) days of summer have flown by and now we are thrown back into another school year.

We have been fitting in a little more summer. A quick trip to Yellowstone. Amazing. Too bad it was so fast. I'll try to post a few of my favorite pics in the next few days.

Soccer. For both kids. Keeps us busy 3 nights a week after school and then all morning on Saturdays.

Meetings. Hunting Season. After school activities. The list just keeps growing.

However, I did find a moment of inspiration yesterday. And I scrapbooked it. It is currently for sale on eBay. Just for fun. Something little: The Boys of Fall

Even though it is a very busy time of year, I must say it is one of my favorites. I start looking forward to the colors. The smells of leaves drying and woodsmoke from fire places. Comfort foods like warm stews an

d fresh bread. And most of all...the colors. My all time favorite colors I think.

I was also thinking.

Since it has been awhile and I have neglected my little corner of the internet for a bit now.

I should do another free coloring page give away.

Click on the image. Make it big and then save it to a folder on your computer. It's yours to print as many times as you wish. Color it. Change it. Doodle more on it. Just don't sell it please (and thank you).

Happy Fall to you All :)

Rhoda

Sunday Blog Hop

It's been over two weeks, since I have had a morning to just sip my coffee, read a few blogs, and contemplate what I would like to to do with my morning. WoW!

I plan to take full advantage of this day, I'm just hoping I can fit it all in ;)

My To Do List:

• Blog Hop (I need to be inspired)
• Finish cleaning my work area.
• Create something...What? I'm not sure yet. Scrapbook layout maybe? Work on a painting? Draw?
• Yoga

• Some form of cardio. Don't know if it will be a walk or a video, but it's time to move my butt!
• Lesson plans (I knew that something "school" would pop up in there, but it has to be done.)

So there it is. We will see just how much of that I get done. At least it is written down somewhere. When I start wondering what I want to do, I can look at my list. Or I can blow it off. That's the joy of Sunday. Go where ever the whim (or next click of the mouse) takes you.

Have a great day!!

Rhoda

Tomorrow It Starts...

Tomorrow is the big day.
Another year of school.
I'm almost getting to the point where I forget how many years I have been teaching. And it really hasn't been that long yet. I end up counting the grades I have taught. Now that I will be teaching Art for the second year, I will have to find a new way to keep track of the time :)

And. I promised pictures of my newly painted kitchen. I know it's been forever, but that has just been the way this month is going. I can't believe I am saying this, but a slow winter is looking good...(shhh!! pretend I didn't say that!)

The kitchen before:

And then the kitchen after it was painted, but before the knobs and drawer pulls came in (the lighting was better this day, so it's a good thing I took them when I did).

And then the final product when everything is finally back where it belongs. Knobs and pulls are in place. It's amazing what some paint, a new piece of furniture, and some hardware will do for a small space!!

And a visit from a super hero. He's always fighting crime and looking for another adventure:

Hope you have a wonderful August and beginning of September. I promise to be back soon (we will have Labor Day weekend to still play, after all *wink*).

Rhoda

Last Days

It's official.
We are down to the last few days of summer. Literally. Few. No more, soon to be less!

My last two weeks were jam packed. One week of work (Rewriting Montana State Standards for the Visual Arts). That sounds like loads of fun huh?! Long days. Tons of brain work, but I did start to get a little more excited for the school year.

Then, one week of sister and babies. We played. Swimming. Movies. Baseball game. And then I had to give them back. That was the hard part. It would be so nice to live only an hour apart. Or even better, across the street from each other ;)

Now. Thoughts of my classroom are swirling in my brain. I need to be in my room setting up for the year. Lesson planning. Scheduling. Year plan. All that fun stuff.

On the home front. I'm going to revamp the kitchen cupboards and pantry now that I have redone the appearance. Time to start clean eating. Whole family style. Soon we will all be lean, mean, active machines :)

I know I promised pics of the kitchen. Hubby just finished putting the drawer pulls on for me, so I will get the final pic and post it this evening or tomorrow. Promise.

Time to enjoy those last few days...

Rhoda

Play Time

I've been thinking about this for a few days now.

Then I go off and find something else to do and completely forget about it.

And now, I have remembered what I wanted to do, again. And I am doing it.

A free coloring page. Printable art. Something to use in your art journal. It is limited only by your imagination.

To receive your free coloring/art page, click on the image above. It will open in a new page or tab. Right click and save image (for Mac users hold down the control button and click, then save the image). After you save the image, please leave me a comment below. Tell me what you plan to do with your free art...or just say hi :)

Then...

Print and play.

Color in a photo editing program.

Whatever your heart desires.

Happy Playing!

Rhoda

P.S. All I ask is that you do not use my art in anything you plan to sell :)

Accessorize

Today, I am off to the big city to find the perfect side table and trash can.
Wow.
Never thought that a sentence like that would cross my lips.

I buy things as I stumble on them, I don't usually go looking for things. Unless it's art supplies and books. Those things I search out on a regular basis. In fact, I think a coffee and browse at Barnes and Noble might be in order.
Hubby is going too.
It's a date to shop.
I won't mention that I have to hit Costco as well. I'm trying to pretend it's just a fun trip ;)

I have knobs on order for the cabinets. Draw pulls for the drawers. Chalk board paint. That's going to be SO much fun!

When it is all put back together, I will post a picture. I have a before photo as well. Do you want it now, or together with the after photo?

Rhoda