Hardworkin' Cube

Hardworkin' Cube

Have enamel in this one to give it some cool shimmer which the camera does not pick up.  I'm loving this little cold fellow.

Did She Only Want A Summer Romance?

Did she only want a summer romance or was she starting to see the lifeguard differently?  In any event, Gretchen's conflicting emotions were causing her unwanted angst.

(Here's a more recent drawing in my 100 day project - 100drawingsonpaper).

Pistil and Stamen Happiness

Here's one for any of you botanists out there.  It's still technically summer for another week so I thought I had better get this remnant in before it's seasonally inappropriate.

Pistil & Stamen Happiness:  

The realization that as a "Perfect Flower," you never need a blind date

(There's three of those fertile flower critters in there. (-:)

And for those of you who are thinking, what the h-e-double-toothpick is she talking about?  A perfect flower has both male and female parts, a stamen and pistil, respectively, and they can pollinate themselves!

An "imperfect flower" only has a female part (pistil) or male part (stamen--the pollen-producing reproductive organ) and needs the wind or someone knocking into it or a bee or some other insect to cross-pollinate/fertilize it.  Life, so interesting, no?

Knit One, Pearl Two

It's been so hot the past weekend, summer still sending out flares.  But if you take the time and sniff the air, you can smell that sweet, drying out smell that signals August and the beginning of school.  Maybe that is just a Midwest thing, I'm not sure, but the grass and field corn are sending a signal.  The brilliant colors of fall and knitted caps will soon be on their way.

Day 302. Even Indian Summer Was Over (Farewell Ice Cream Man) NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Here's another one I started awhile back and abandoned.  I spent 4 hours completing it today (well, the middle of the night--I couldn't sleep).  I was going to call it "Farewell, Ice Cream Man," but after it SNOWED big fat, wet flakes in Illinois yesterday--October 22nd--before Halloween, I thought, "Even Indian summer is over."

Just two Fridays ago it was 80°F (26.6°C), and my friend and I were eating at an outside cafe.  Two days later, Oct. 13th, I took this pictures around our neighborhood.  I like the juxtaposition of the still green trees flush with autumn leaves of brilliant orange and gold.  The sky was so blue, and I even caught catches of summer flowers, still holding on.  Alas, by the end of the week it was turning cold, the furnace was on, and yesterday, I actually wore my winter coat.  Sadly, I'm already reminiscing the last gift of summer weather seen below.

 16" x 20" (Oval)

October 22, 2013

October 13, 2013

Day 271. It Was A Spirograph Summer

Well, peeps, I'm typing this at 1:02 p.m., and according to "The Old Farmer's Almanac" that means it's STILL summer until 3:44 p.m. CST.  And what a beautiful summer it has been.  There were a few scorchers (unlike last year when it was ALL a scorcher) and a humdinger of humidity last Thurdsay night (ugh), but overall, this was a summer snatched from my childhood.  Beautiful breezes, upper 70s °F (25 °C) and low to middle 80s °F (30 °C), frequent low humidity (unheard of in IL)--it was paradise!

Because it was so beautiful out, I let Ebert's quivering nose guide us around and around and around in a local park, not caring that we were lingering forever in approxiamately the same 20 foot circle.  I thought, it's as if I'm in a perpetual spirograph with him following the scent of squirrels and rabbits and birds that had frolicked here before him.  It was o.k., though.  I stared up at the deep blue sky, felt the breezes on my skin, smelled the fresh-cut grass, and let the earth's green seep into me as my feet followed an oval path of infinity.

I was so fascinated by Spirograph in my youth!  All those endless patterns and swirls you could make, all as varied as someone's fingerprints.  Do you remember it?







Lordie, here's some Kenner Spirograph commercials from the '70's--they're just so GROOVY I couldn't decide which one to include--so here's two.  Hilarious!  O.K. now back out to this beautiful weather.  I hope you had a wonderful summer, and I wish you an equally fabulous fall. (-:

1973

1978

I also loved Lite-Brite, Monopoly, Life, Rummy and Operation growing up, but that's another story. (-;

P.S.  It's rare that I sketch things out anymore.  I usually just start painting on the canvas, but for this one, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it.  I actually first thought of this back in June (June 14th to be exact--on the first heavenly spirograph day), but put off doing until the last possible moment of summer for some reason.  Here it is.

Day 247. Fall Is Creeping In

Oh, red-hot summer.  She's still lounging around like she's in a hammock of endless days.  Summer has really been roasting us this past week, giving us a reminder that she's still in control, capable of making us miserable and forcing us to run into the nearest air-conditioned oasis of cool.

But, this chili pepper of a season is slowing being seduced by fall.  He's creeping in without our gal truly realizing she's losing her power.  He's a gentle fellow.  I've seen his presence at the tippy top of our neighbor's maple true.  Hidden among the green leaves, there he is--just a few leaves turning scarlet orange--already!  In August!  And I've spotted other tell-tale signs of his dalliances.  Buckeyes, still in their round, green casings, hitting the ground.  Crabapples and black walnuts beginning to fall to the earth, and an oversized catalpa leaf, golden bown, almost looking like a supple piece of leather.  There they all are, letting us know a change is near.

Keep burning bright, summer girl.  You're starting to fall into a deep nap...not quite yet...but soon.

 Fall creeping in on summer - soon, the world will be more brown than green.

So beautiful--leaf as leather.

Day 245. Hummingbird Surprise (SOLD)

Sunday I made my husband sit out on our front steps, eat breakfast, and soak up the lazy summer day.  We were talking, and all of a sudden, a moment of magic!  I could barely believe what I was seeing.  Just a few feet from our heads flitted a hummingbird.  And, it just stopped right there in the air, furiously pumping its little wings, but levitating perfectly in place like a toy helicopter.  I could only utter one word, it almost catching in my throat, "Hummingbird," as I simultaneously pointed my finger.  We both stared at it in disbelief.  It then zipped over to some half-opened blossoms of our magnolia tree, again, hung briefly in place, and then zoomed off into nowhere.

I felt sprinkled with stardust or a glittering of day dust.  What an enchanting gift from nature, unasked for, unsuspected, but given anyway.

Day 238. He Mourned The Loss of Summer

He mourned the loss of summer just like any child.  No more cotton candy, corn dogs, or raspberry- blue snow cones. The end of fairs, festivals, burning heat, and red sunburned skin aching for shade.
His sorrow was deeper, of course, because there was more carnival food behind him than ahead.  The carousel's song had whirled through his ears more times than he could remember, and he was starting to lose the sound. 

Then, again, he was still here.  He still had time for another ride on a rickety roller coaster ratcheted together by dentally-challenged men.  He still had time for another funnel cake...perhaps next year.