Art in my Heart, Jacqueline Newbold: The Fun Continues

I was with Jacqueline last year, and had a blast learning art journaling.  I wish I could go back.

Art in my Heart, Jacqueline Newbold: The Fun Continues

Watercolor of a scene from Trento, Italy

The first is a photo of my sketch in progress, and the second photo is of the "finished" watercolor.  I had alot of trouble with the clouds in the sky.  I am not really happy with it, but I am going to keep it as early watercolor and then compare after I have had some training.  I am now reading "Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain"  and hope it will enable me to draw what I am seeing.   Or to see what is there so I can draw it.  Thanks for looking.

Status Post Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplant

  This photo was taken on Day 49 following my Bone Marrow (Stem Cell) Transplant.  It was taken on July 19, 2011.  I am now at Day 95 and am awaiting the Day 100 Milestone.  It has been a long and difficult journey, including 5 weeks in the hospital and Graft vs. Host Disease, which made my skin red and thick and leathery all over and I was so swollen you could not tell I had ankles or knees or elbows.  But that is now in the past.  Current issues have to do with swelling in the feet and ankles, which has improved since stopping one of the offending medications.  I am working now on building up my stamina. 
  I am reading a book titled "Finding God's Path Through Your Trials" by Elizabeth George.  At least in the beginning, it centers around the first few verses in James.  One quote I liked:  "Faith is not a hothouse plant that must be shielded from wind and rain, so delicate that it has to be protected, but it's like the sturdy oak which becomes stronger with every wind that blows upon it.  An easy time weakens faith, while strong trials strengthen it."  by Katherine Workman 

Another Sketch

  I haven't felt creative in a very long time.  I haven't had much energy.  Taking chemotherapy seems like a full time job at times.  Just when I start feeling better, it is time for chemo again.  And holding down a job, in order to pay bills and have insurance is a challenge, and a blessing as well. I had a Hickman catheter placed on March 4th, 2011, and that makes getting chemotherapy easier.  News from the Transplant Team:  they have found a donor for my Stem Cell Transplant. 

  As I said, I have not felt creative in a very long time.  But this evening, I got the urge to sketch a friend.  This sketch does not actually look like her.  She is a beautiful woman.  There are so many things I just could not get right, especially her eyes.  This sketch does not do her justice.  But, it was fun to try to sketch again. 
 

Paint Your Art Out

I made a new friend recently, a wonderful artist named Judy Breymeyer, and she told me about a studio in Edmond named "Paint Your Art Out".  Judy was teaching a session this morning and those of us in attendance would paint our interpretation of one of her beautiful oil paintings, Ozarks in Autumn.  I had asked her if I could come, since I had never painted and she assured me that I should come and have fun.  So I did.  We all had a blast.  We painted with acrylics.  Of course, my poor painting did not look anything like hers, but I still learned alot and had alot of fun.  I think when things settle down, I will try to paint some more.  
How about you.  What do you do for fun?

Pebble Beach and Birthday Bunch

A bunch of us meet at a local fast food place for lunch on Sundays after church.  We celebrate birthdays within the group and the staff at the fast food place lets us bring in cakes.  Tomorrow we are celebrating the birthday of my friend's husband.  I don't know him very well, so I asked her what he liked, and she said he liked to golf, so I dug up a photo I had taken in September 2004 on a trip to Monterey, took an oval out of another photo and made an overlay, and decreased the opacity of the overlay, so that you could partially see through it.  I am putting the photo on the front of the card.  If my memory serves me correctly, I think it is of the 18th hole.   Thought I would share. 

  How do you celebrate friend's birthdays?

The Importance of Doing Nothing

This layout was in response to a challenge on Jessica Sprague's website. 
I had taken these photos in January 2007 on a trip to Amelia Island, Florida.
If you click on the layout, you can see it larger.  How about you, do you think it is important to spend time "doing nothing"?