RetroAlchemist

My new Rx for getting some sleep: flickr, rain, and lavendar

All too often, when it's time for bed, I can't get to sleep.  I'm tired and know I'll be even more tired if I don't get some sleep, but nothing seems to work. . . . However, a few weeks ago I happened on a combination that works well for me: flickr favorites+ the sound of rain+ the scent of lavender=  lights out!  With my laptop on a little table next to the bed, I lie there watching the beautiful pictures of sunrises, moonrises, waterfalls, forests, sleepy kitties, funny squirrels, clever crafts, colorful art, and more.  Add the rain and the lavendar, and before you know it, I'm nodding off.  I set my laptop to shut down in an hour, and I'm always asleep before the hour is up. 

I think I can safely say that I now sleep as soundly as a PumpkinHead:-)

   

Beautiful Word Clouds

If you love words and language, take a look at www.wordle.net.

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

I "wordled" one of my favorite poems, "God Says Yes to Me" by Kaylin Haught and got this result:
 
I'm thinking it might be fun to try wordle on a few lines or a page from my journal.

Here's the unwordled version of this wonderful poem:

God Says Yes To Me by Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

(Thanks to my friend Maureen for the link to wordle:-)

Her Every Look Speaks Love

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.  ~Eric Fromm

I Need a Small Space Just . . .

Last month I went to NCORE (which was wonderful!) and for the duration of my trip I decided to concentrate my incessant doodling to one piece of paper rather than a bunch of scraps. Here is the final product: I Need A Small Place Just Big Enough For My Heart (4" x 4/25"  -- 140# watercolor paper, ink). 

Do you ever feel that way, like the world is so crowded and confusing, you need a small space of solitude to call your own?

ACEO Penelope Popsicle Toes

ACEO Penelope Popsicle Toes
Originally uploaded by Retro Alchemist

Hope you are all (humans and penguins alike) staying nice and cool today!

Bunny Robbots

I've come up with a new character/creature, which I am calling a Bunny Robbot:

 

I was doodling in my art journal one day last week, and there he was, a sad little robot bunny carrying a bindle.

 

Next thing I know, I have a whole page of Bunny Robbots.

And another page:

 

And yet another page!

Finally, I "fleshed" one out with prismacolor markers on bristol paper:

Bunny Robbot is different from my usual creations, but I am enjoying his wistful ways and hopeful demeanor.

Illustration Friday: Garden

It seems like every week for the last month I've missed one day of work because of illness or a personal crisis. I thought I was going to make it through the whole week, but this morning I woke up with an earache and feeling dizzy. I took my meds and stayed in bed, afraid to turn my head, which would make me throw up. Yech.

Anyway, working carefully, I was able to draw a response to Illustrated Friday's prompt "Garden" while I lay in bed, and in the late afternoon I took turns painting and lying down. Here's my "Woodland Garden."

Anytime I draw a garden or nature theme, I try to work in those cute red polka dot mushrooms. I love the way they look.  In this Woodland Garden, the mushrooms are the meeting place for four fast friends: Clara Caterpillar, Lucy Ladybug, Bartholomew Bee, and Drucilla Dragonfly. I imagine they'll settle in for a long visit while nibbling on tender grass shoots.

I have listed this painting in my etsy shop, so drop by and take a peek!

Thanks, Illustration Friday, for the inspiration!

My Mother Was The Wind

Some time ago Illustration Friday offered the prompt "wind," and this is the quick sketch I came up with:

When I drew this I was thinking of being in the back yard with my mother and her taking hold of my hands and twirling round and round, lifting me off the ground until I felt like I was flying. I think, I hope, most people have a similar happy memory of this activity:-)

Anyway, I knew I would use this idea in a painting eventually, and now I have:

This is watercolor, Twinkling H2O paints, and ink on 90# watercolor paper. It's just a tiny bit short of being  11"x7.5" and has a 3/4" border. Unfortunately, my scanner doesn't do it justice as far as the colors or the glimmery shimmer go. I thought of my mom the whole time I was working on it, and I sure wish she were here to see it.

If you'd like to see a larger size for more detail, go to my flickr page:-)

Illustration Friday ACEO: Multiple

Below is my response to the Illustration Friday prompt "multiple."

Three in a Tree

I'm really into drawing birds right now. Must be a "hurry up, spring!" thing.  I'm so ready for winter to melt away in warm spring sunshine. We get a few teaser days of sun, but then it's back to snow, sleet, and slush. Today it was just so windy!

Okay, enough of the weather forecast.  I think this Art Card turned out well, so I listed it in my etsy shop.

Before I go, let me show you my first response to "multiple."  It just didn't look right, so I kept adding on and adding on, and pretty soon I had ruined it. DOH!  Anyway, behold my shame:

Looks like the poor birds have Mohawk haircuts. And what's with that Dr. Seuss tree?  Good thing I ruined it. The second one turned out much better!

A Present for Me (from me:-)

Look at these beautiful cards I bought on etsy from BeeDazzlesGifts!  I bought two sets of cards, but the shop was running a "Buy Two, Get One Free" promo (see end of this posting), so I got to choose a third set of cards.  That makes three of each design, so nine cards total.

I love her art work!

It's so much fun to get something in the mail besides bills and junk:-)  Today at work I needed a "Thinking of You" card for a co-worker, but my card stash had nothing appropriate. I think Whimsical Tree (third card) will be just perfect.

Bee, the shop owner, was running the promo and donating money from that sale to support an etsy member whose husband is missing. The etsy community is very supportive, and Bee is a wonderful example of the caring sellers there.