An Old Piece, Same Sensibility

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing a very early “Carla Sonheim” (HUGE “LOL” HERE!!!) I think I did it around 1994…. I’m starting to list things for the Moving Sale.

Moving Sale (etsy)

Hello!

I’m having a sale over at my etsy for the month of June… almost everything is half price, and I will be listing new originals and various other items I find  as I try to go through my stuff and weed out…. I REALLY don’t want to haul all of this stuff to Seattle, and we need some quick cash for the move as well… FYI

Picasso Dogs

I can’t help it. I just need to share what I’ve been working on this week, even though I probably shouldn’t (it’s for the drawing book…). This “Picasso Dog”  exercise always produces wildly different and incredibly wonderful results from both kids and adults. Here’s another:

You may not really like them, but I am  L O V I N G  them for some reason! I want to do 1,000.

And if you DO like them, the exercise will be in the book!!!

Blue Dog

Some thoughts wrote hastily from a 1959 book, The Joy of Drawing by Gerhard Gollwitzer. I found it at the Buena Vista library (nearby, smaller, town). My notes in red.

For a child, rules for the game are rules for living.

Create “obstacles” for yourself with definite exercises which restrain you from completely free play and thereby give your drawing sense and form. (This is so in line with my own thinking regarding drawing “assignments!”)

A drawing should be finished in every stage of completion. It should grow from a large totality into the richer, more detailed parts. Never lose yourself in details and never start with them.

Drawing is not merely reproducing something visible but experiencing deeper intellectual and spiritual joys.

It is always drawing-lesson time, even if you are not drawing. (Meaning, you can observe and “draw” with your eyes…)

Look at objects as if you have never seen them before.

Is anyone else having a hard week? I am just all out of whack: Allergies, deadline stress, depression, house in shambles due to construction… driving to BV and finding this book was the only thing I got done all day. Now the boys are watching a movie but, since I’m feeling ever so slightly more myself, I am going to try and get something done. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Blue House

8″x6″, mixed media on wood (gesso, watercolor, ink, charcoal, marker, ballpoint pen).

Whirlwinded

We’re just back from a whirlwind — and wonderful — trip to Oregon for Christer’s graduation. What a wonderful ceremony and day! Above is my daughter-in-law, Christi; Christer; and Wes!

I have my first book deadline next week so am scrambling a bit (but in a good way!). I am loving it, actually. I get to wear both Artist and Art Director hats. 

PS… The house is a mess. Ugh.

PSS… Nothing like photos of yourself to get you to STOP EATING SO D*** MUCH!!

Procrastinating

My hard drive crashed a few months ago and so I have been cobbling together my files from back ups… definitely not comprehensive, but it’s something! Above is a watercolor c. 2002 and was part of the long “faces i’ve seen” series. I still like it!!

One-Legged Dog Thing

Good morning! It’s a beautiful day today… sunny, warm, and BLOSSOMING (which means I’m itchy, sneezing and achy — darn allergies — and can’t really go outside to enjoy it much!).

It’s fine, though. I’m happily getting into the routine of working on the drawing book, and working on the house, trying to get it ready to sell. A little drawing here, a little scraping there, a little packing here and there… that’s my life right now!!

But I am so grateful. I’ve had three wonderful teaching experiences this spring which have energized me so much! My husband is getting freelance work on a regular basis, so the pressure is off in that area. Wes is doing well and Christer graduates from Willamette University this weekend… Life is good!!

The above image is sort of a doodle I did this morning, thinking about my allergies and also the Picasso Dogs assignment that will go in the book… below was my first version, which I thought to be finished… then decided to add more (above version). I’m really enjoying recently purchased colored pencils… I can go right into the Play-Place with them!

Have a great day, everyone!!! Draw something, even if it’s just a silly one-legged dog thing.

I’ve Been Featured!

I’m the featured artist this week over at Creative Therapy, a great blog that gives weekly prompts, or catalysts, to get us creating art about the things in our lives that are important to us. I love this! See what I said to the following question:

Tell us about something that you always put off doing. Why?

 

Pack-Rattiness: Official Warning to Young People

Here you see my studio how I WANT it to be… I have a few papers, a few markers and paints, and that’s it. Nothing on the floor or under the tables… just a clear space to draw and paint.

I come from a family of pack-rats, my dad being legendary: when he died we found 30 years worth of phone books in his garage — my stepmother said he liked to track changes in phone numbers and addresses of friends and businesses(!). He also kept every receipt pertaining to my upbringing… he thought it would be so interesting to add them all up and tell me what I cost him (to the penny). He was an engineer with his own peculiar sense of humor!

Anyway, I have definitely inherited his pack-rattiness, and have all kinds of things I’ve been saving and saving. Some are legitimate (my kids’ drawings, for example), but some I just need to let go of (long-time blog readers know I struggle with this periodically).

The reason it’s coming up again now is that this summer we are downsizing, moving from a three-bedroom house with two studios and a basement, to a two-bedroom condo. I REALLY don’t want to move all this stuff I’ve collected over the years— STUFF that no longer has meaning or I no longer even like. But once it’s in the house, it’s so hard to let go!

Here’s the other side of my studio…

… and there’s more, so much more (in the basement, in the shed, in my family room and in Wes’ old bedroom). Papers, photos, collage ephemera, art supplies, books, dvds…

My warning is this: When you get older you will  no longer want STUFF… you can save yourself a lot of time and angst by just not letting STUFF into your life in the first place!

You will thank me in 10 or 20 years.

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Addendum: This is a great post … scroll down to the May 3rd entry.