Easing back into blogging...

I have been wondering

- a new page in my big journal -

Hello!

I feel like having a bowl of ice cream right now. And I feel like painting. But I can't. So when you can't paint - draw. There is always some kind of pencil and paper around. This little guy is going to enjoy the ice cream instead of me.

No paints around except for the digital ones. My friend played a bit with the sketch. I though it looked interesting. (Thank you Frank).

Have a happy day!

Who are they?

What are they thinking? Do they have names?
I don't know. They started as a sketch.
Then spooky looking creatures. I liked this phase and didn't want to move on.
All my girls start with burnt sienna eyes, and choose the color later.
This should have been a painting in my journal, but I don't know where it is. I can't be lost... I didn't take it anywhere. The only painting I did in the last month or more was the "Tired" one... and it disappeared. The house is mostly unpacked and pretty tidy... I don't even know where to look for it.
I guess I'll paint on canvases until it shows up...

When you don't work on weekends...

...there is time for little paintings (and bad, bad phone camera shots):

Time to drive to Santa Cruz, to touch the big trees, admire sea creatures, buy curtains.

There is also time to hug the big boy that I don't get to see every day anymore. And just because you don't see my happy eye in the photo, there is another version of the same photo where it shows that I was smiling inside and out.

Weekends are great! Hope that you had a great one too.

Tired

This was my try at a self-portrait. Of course she looks prettier and younger than I do, I just can't paint more mature faces. Maybe I'll learn one day.
I guess I win the award for the most boring blog in cyber-space. I have a really good excuse... I have been working 10-12 hour days for the last month... including weekends. Not one single free day. Wake up at 5 a.m. and try to function to midnight... I work in the digital department of a print house, and we are printing ballots for the upcoming election. I guess the election would not happen if I stopped working for half a day... (yeah, right). It is exhausting and it will last 2-3 more weeks.
I feel bad for not replying to comments and emails. I even have some new readers (HI!) that I'm completely neglecting. But I just don't have a choice at this moment. It is eating my every moment... even the little time I spend at home (awake) I am not able to decompress. I did steal half an hour last night in my (still unpacked) studio to make this journal entry.
I am dreaming color and journals and canvases and other fun stuff, but will have to wait before it can become more than a dream.
Untill then - thank you for the good thoughts, emails and comments. I promise that I'll be back to blog reading and writing when I reconect to my regular life.
Much love,
Z.

This and that...

I have been searching for the perfect time to write a blog post, and in that searching and waiting days have passed, things have happened and if I don't post something now (even if it's not the perfect time) I don't when I will. So this is what I've been up to:
I planted a herb garden. And some other things. I LOVE working in the garden. I scream and jump every time I see a worm... but it doesn't matter. Soon I will have a real garden where kale will grow all winter long for my green smoothies. My dh is going to build me a pretty square foot garden so I can play as much as I want.
I visited a hair salon, so I finally look presentable. Honestly, my hair was so bad... I looked like a scary witch.
I received a complimentary copy of this book:
because one of my journal pages is published in it. For some reason they chose one of my most depressing, sad, weird pages... It's funny looking at my face in a book. I didn't have the chance to read the whole thing, but it looks like eye candy for journal lovers.
I was inspired (as always) by Sharon and Jesse Reno, so I started a huge canvas with tons of color as background. I mounted it on the wall of my studio. My hope is that I will play often on that canvas, using any left-over color, drawing and doodling and writing and experimenting... I hope that it will change and get layers and layers and that this first one will not even show. It was fun to paint with my hands (and hard to clean them) on such a big surface.
Speaking of my studio.... I have new, pretty green boxes on my shelves... They are still waiting for me to organize a ton of "stuff". I unpacked some things (books - they are easy), but so much is still in boxes in the garage...
I painted a little, collaged and sketched too.... but not enough. I'll show more when I have something finished.
The boy didn't get chosen for the team.... He said he gave a 100%... and as much as he is disappointed, he said that when one page is finished, there is always something new waiting on the next page. So he is cooling off and enjoying the weather in Santa Cruz. Thank you for all good wishes.
So, that's about it..... What I have not written about is that I'm very busy at work and that the next month is going to be pretty crazy. It's good to be busy and it's also good to laugh and be silly. And I've been doing that too.
WOW! This was long..... If you made it this far, I'm sending you big cyber hugs. xo