Added New Fav - Learning Daily is a great blog and Cin's drawings are beautiful. Have a look and say Janey sent you.

Janey's Postcards - Kymberlee and Penny asked for Postcards. They're on their way. Want a postcard? Just send an email to Janey@janeysjourney.com with your name and address and it's yours.

Everyday Matters Challenge Favorite Jewelry - This is my non entry because....I don't have any favorite jewelry. I loose things so I don't buy much jewelry because why bother, won't last. But these guys have every piece of jewelry they ever owned. So, here are the Macivety Triplets (mom couldn't count). The last little guy is cousin Ed.

Portrait Practice

A Portrait or as Steve said "Practice, Practice, Practice". Oh, and I'm also practicing my signature. It's fun.

Every Day Matters Challenge Kitchen Stuff - It wasn't until after I finished drawing this that I actually looked at the challenge and it's really for jars, tins and bottles. Oh well, I just drew everything I could think of in my kitchen and labeled them. I'm a list type of person. There's lists all over the apartment. Doesn't make me more organized, just means I like to write lists. And it's just one step from lists to inventory. So, here's my kitchen inventory.

Plethora of Pears - You have to go over to Sketches and Stuff. Jim's entry for Illustration Friday is a Plethora of Pears in a Pear Pseudopod. My favorite is the third from the left (and I don't even like Pears).

Just some scribbles - I drew all morning but those will take longer to upload so here are some faces on ATC cards.

Saturday Night Palm Tree - 8 1/2 x 11, art markers what else. Happy dreams all.

Illustration Friday - Crowded - Here's my entry (2 for 1). It's a real quickie. I hope to do a better one later. The first is me of course and is in answer to everyone who ever said "what were you thinking about when....". The 2nd is yet one more installment in Post It People. But, I have a new name for the Post It People series - Twig and Berries. Don't you just love British slang? It's so refined.

Post Cards - Here's a postcard I sent to Nine-ah because - she asked. Want one? Just send me an email (janey@janeysjourney.com). No guarantee what you'll get, whatever is my favorite at the moment. And you have to go her Journal. She sold a painting is on up in the clouds right now. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you.

My First Watercolor - It really is. And of course I used the wrong paper - card stock because I didn't have any watercolor paper. I used a brush shaped like a fan and very dry. I did the grasses with art markers. I liked it better before I added the large tan stalks. But since the paper is kind of warped anyway I'm going to redo it. This time on either watercolor paper or bristol board. I don't really like the way wc paper absorbs the ink. Anyway, it's my first one and I kind of like it.

Anyone suggest a watercolor set for a beginner?

Lending Talents - Joleen of Joleen's Artistic Talent started a blog - Lending Talents which will be the host for charity auctions. This drawing is for a chunky book (5x5) which will auctioned and the proceeds donated to Unicef. So, please visit Lending Talents and contribute some of yours.

I've lived through 6 hurricanes since I moved to Florida. And without fail, the day after always looks as if the world were born all over again. When you walk outside, it's like walking into the day for the first time. No matter how bad I feel or how dark the shadows, as long as there's another day, then there's always hope. Maybe it's a little Pollyanna of me but it's how I feel and it keeps me going even during the worst times.

In response to Steve (aka Poison Pen), I have that fire in the belly feeling. It takes the form of an itch to have a pen in my hand and splash color over everything. I'm no Grandma Moses and at this stage in my life I really doubt I would ever make a living at this (not many people do I guess). What I want is to just do it. Just draw, color, learn new things and share what I've done. I guess it's something like outsider art. Those people had an absolute need to create and it didn't matter if anyone ever saw their work or not. It was simply not something they could not do. They had no choice. I feel like that. It's like breathing now. I'm more fortunate. I live in the era of the blog so I can share what I create.

And it's a good thing too. When I show my stuff to friends they can't seem to understand why I bother. Why bother with a website, why a blog, why draw that picture or make that quilt or that doll. What are going to do with it? I'm not doing anything with it. I'm creating it, that's the "doing with it". And now I can share that journey (and it really is one) with the world. And that person out there in Kansas or Italy or Japan will see it and maybe feel a little less odd, a little more connected and motivated to keep on creating. That's what this blog has done for me. I connected to a community of artists I never would have known existed except for this.

Well, gee that felt good. Thanks Steve.

New Favorites - I' ve added a 2 new favorites which both beong to a really great artist, Jim Bumgarner - Sketches and Stuff and Some Art. Check him out and say hi from Janey.

Comments - I want to thank Steve and Jim for those helpful hints. Everyone loves it when someone says they like their work. I mean, I do a snoopy dance when that happens (and when I get linked to). But more important than that is when you get those comments that change your work, that open your eyes to doing something different. So, please everyone and anyone consider this blog a classroom for Janey. Suggest a new technique, leave a helpful hint, reference an artist's work. I'm open for any suggestions. I want to be good at this and you can help!

Rededication - Poison Pencil was right - what a difference a heavy line makes. In the first set all you saw was color, now you see the cups. See, I said he gave good advise. And these are done in art markers. I've haven't tried digital (yet).

Dedication - These cards are dedicated to Poison Pencil because he can draw and he's encouraging and he left lots of comments on my blog! A color study of cups - well actually more like a color splash of cups in happy colors.

I'm still new to all this paper art and being on the obsessive prolific side, finding an outlet for all this stuff isn't easy. I've now added what could be a potential new obession - mail art. I've sent out postcards to a Yahoo Snail Mail group but that's not the same as mail art (I think). This postcard is made for a trade in Italy. It's very different from the rest of my work. Can't get much more different between all that color and Egon. But here it is, drawn and collaged and on the way to Italy.

If anyone would like a postcard (no trade necessary), just send me a note. There's no guarantee what kind of card you'll get. Might be Egon, might be Palm Trees. You'll be my own PostcardX.

My take on Egon Schiele - died at 28, 1918. Drawn with pen, colored with art markers and oil pastels. And I finally broke that big blank white page phobia barrier thing - these are 8 1/2 X 11.

Illustration Friday's Theme is Bloom - I thought of the bloom that radiates off a baby's face with that powerdy fresh smell, straight from mother nature's mint. And we have the power to create that - amazing. And I'm not very good at drawing faces yet. Takes practice, practice, practice right? Well, here's some practice.

Stamp Carving - I'm taking an evening colored pencil drawing class in a local artist's studio. Her name is Anita Orsini and she's good. Take a look at her work here - it's amazing. I'm drawing a leaf and I think I've discovered something. I don't really like drawing with pencils. My hand itches for a pen and I have a real disdain for erasers and it takes all my self control to not just attack the paper. So, instead of working on my leaf, I started a stamp carving. And I like it and I haven't cut any fingers off yet either. And like Poison Pencil suggested, I'm going to try the Post It People on a carving. So here's my first ( 4x6), not completed yet. It will look familiar to anyone who's traded ATCs with me.

Post It Colors - Now what these guys needed was a little bit of color, don't you think?

Fav Links - I added another favorite link. Poison Pencil linked me last night and Frips linked me today and I'm doing a snoopy dance! My first 2 links. Really doesn't take much to make me happy - a new pen, a purring cat, James Marsters with a job (JM/BTVS ultra fan here) and someone linking me. Life is good.

Frips site is about mailart - something that I've started doing now. I've been making postcards for everyone I know. And started sending some to PostcardX. Really neat site that SnowJoe sent me to. People post their names and addresses and interests. You can just randomly pick someone and send them a postcard. It's not about trading but just a nice gesture. Try it out, it will make you feel good. As soon as I get a chance, I'll have a page on my site for the postcards. I wonder - do you think Post It People on postcards would make it through the post office?

Post It People - Why Atlas Shrugged and YoYoMen. What's next you ask? Greeting cards? Gift Tags? Book Marks? You betcha!

Added a some fav links - I'm constantly amazed at how many talented people are out there and they're all blogging. Check out Poison Pen and detlef jumpertz. now these guys can draw.

Post It People - Surfing the web during lunch today I came across Kristen's Sketch-Blog (much talented artist) and she doodles on post its. So I tried and they're really fun. It's a good way to loosen up. After all, they're just post its. Combine that with a library book on Australian Art and you get my Post It People. I think Kristen invented a new art form. Here's a few but there's lots more (and more to come during surfing lunches) here. And yes, they are a little strange.

Every Day Matters - Toy. This is a real quick sketch - a really bad quick sketch but I won't have time during the week so here it is. When I was a little kid I used to pester - read whine, beg, cry that I wanted a puppy or kitten. Well, my mom was terrified of animals. My dad got tired of hearing this all the time and every time he would promise me that I could have a puppy. So much for the trust between a parent and child but that's another entry. Instead I had this little toy dog on wheels that I would drag everywhere with me. Then one day there was a fire in our apartment and everything was lost. I remember walking in there after the fire. I was maybe 5 years old but I can still remember seeing my little dog all burnt and broken. By the time I was 20 I was living on my own and the first thing I did was get 2 kittens. Lots of years later, I have 3 well loved cats who every now and then appear in my drawings. But I really loved that little toy dog.

Illustration Friday Theme - Fragile. I was thinking about this all day. I could draw a leaf falling from a tree or an old person or a baby or even a house of cards - one breath it's gone, can't get more fragile then that. Then I started thinking how fragile life really is, how fragile I really am. So I drew my hand. If I really wanted to, if I felt that tired, it would just take a cut across that very fragile layer of skin to the vein beneath and life would just drift away. I could do that, I could be that strong that I could break that fragile bond that holds me to life. Well, that's my entry. And I'm not suicidal, really. Just like to think dark thoughts every now and then.

3/16/05 - From the emails and the comments I've received on this post, I think it must have touched alot of people. I'm grateful for all the concern and the comments. One thing I've learned about dysfunctional families - you either come out of it strong or not. Fortunately, I took my family as role models on what not to do, the kind of person not to be. The memories I have are there, they'll never go away, my childhood made me who I am. The pain may fade but the scares remain. That's just life you know. Not much you can do but stand up, smile and keep on drawing.

For Snowjoe - This drawing is for Snowjoe who takes pretty pictures and makes them prettier. Actually, it's a copy of his photo which you can see here. I don't know how to do a night scene yet so mine's a sunny afternoon in Florida. I like Snowjoe's better. Art markers and crayons (8x10).

Here's a drawing in honor of my friend Doris who said I never posted a picture for her in the blog. Here's the pix Doris and it's for you. Dawn from my patio, a paintbox sunrise.

I sold (let me repeat that), I sold 3 drawings. Three palms (8 X 10) which will be in one frame for a bathroom (it's a room). Here's 2 of them. I still can't believe someone is actually going to frame let alone buy a drawing.