Experiments, sister, and traditions in Provence

I did a little drawing from a photo for my sister and her husband. This is the result after playing with it with my paint.net software!

I actually like it better than the original, it's a bit boring in comparison ^^!

I'll print the red one and send it to them too, in case they like it...

And this is a quick thing with acrylic paints on colored paper. I've never done that before, just play with colors. It's pleasing, in a strange way. I mean, I'm pleased by the result in a strange way, I'm not trying to judge it but I just like looking at it for some reason.

And this one, same thing :

 I've also done other things that I'm not showing... I had done some drawings that I thought were really cool... and then I painted them, and it got worse and worse and now they're really rotten.

I hope everyone had a good time at christmas. I went to a Provençal traditional mass with friends who sing in the folk choir. It was a great experiment. Provençal traditions are both beautiful and fun because people in Provence have a great sense of humor and an incredible way to talk and tell stories. Their telling of the Nativity story is really unique - at some point there was an enormous piece of cheese involved - I didn't understand exactly what it was doing in the story as it was told in Provençal...

December things, books and girafes

I found the heart shaped rock the other day on the beach. I went for a walk, trying to enjoy the first rays of sun in weeks and to beat my blue mood, and I found the rock. I felt very gloomy when I went, and I was fine when I came back with this rock and some nice others!

I tried to draw the top of my christmas tree but I think I'm not patient enough for that kind of thing.
The weed on the bottom left is wheat, here in Provence people grow it from the 4th of december for luck and money in the house. Anything that can help, I'm willing to try!

 

Last reads : on the right, La Cithare Nue (the naked sithar) by Shan Sa. It's so beautiful, from the first lines to the last ones, I couldn't believe it. It's like watching a painting, hearing music and reading a poem, during hundreds of pages - and the story is fantastic. I can't recommand that book enough! It makes a great Christmas gift, too!

The other one is by Tony Hillerman, Skeleton Man. I haven't finished it but it's great - I've never read a Tony Hillerman book that I didn't like! It had been a long time since I'd read one of his stories, and I felt the need for it. He's well known in France - present in every public library!

 

  And a quick one I did yesterday and this morning. I wanted to draw something, anything, and found these girafes before the Ngorongoro mountains in an old Geo magazine. It's not very polished, but I like it anyway - and I have this urge to make things, like I've never had before. I'm really enjoying - and needing - the process!

Hermione Granger vs Mary Poppins

Drawings I did last weekend! I took everything that was in my bag out and drew it. (if you click on the drawings you can see them bigger.)

I was sick and stayed inside the whole weekend - anyway it was raining  again so no regrets... And actually, spending hours drawing and painting without thinking about anything made me feel real good and I was feeling recreated when I went back to work on monday.

Sometimes I also have other things in my bag, like a book, a cup for coffee, nespresso doses, chocolate, my umbrella, reading glasses, a scarf... It's a Mary Poppins bag!

Now yesterday evening I saw the last Harry Potter movie with my daughter (it was awesome!!) and I can tell you Hermione's bag beats Mary Poppins's bag by far!

Roses, chocolates, John Wayne, and an Advent subject.

New page, new flowers! A friend offered me the roses and the chocolates (yes, the brown things below the flowers are chocolates in a box). I had to draw fast because the chocolates didn't last long. The roses are doing better!

And a portrait of John Wayne from a photo I found on The Impossible Cool .

And this an Advent calendar I made for my daughter. All the little cases are open and I put sweets, chocolate, and little fun things in them! She loves having her little surprise every day.

 I made it with card board, scrapbook papers, a few pens, tape, glue, and a rainy afternoon (we've got a lot of those, that's why I'm able to update the blog so much...).

 It's raining again, my work is all done and I'm drawing like a mad woman, so expect a new blog post very soon!

Flowers, my guitar, and thoughts

First, I want to thank everyone who replied to my last post, for your advice and encouragements, and simply for sharing your own stories. It made me feel better about the whole thing, and it made me think (dangerous thing, that!)

So I took my sketchbook again and drew the flowers on my table, first time I draw flowers, and it shows... but I'm still happy with the drawing because it's colorful and I enjoyed doing it. On the left is a pinecone, in case you don't recognize it.

And this is the new love of my life, my guitar. When I was young I played the piano, it was a love/hate relation,and no one ever thought I should do something with it... (except maybe, stop).
I thought I was lost for music forever, being obviously not gifted at all. but I love music, I love the sound of live instruments, especially guitar, bass and percussions, so I treated myself and bought this and a method for learning.
I'm having fun playing, for my ears only (I'm not a cruel person). There's absolutely no pressure at all. The sounds and the exercices take me in a meditative state like nothing else ever did (great surprise!)

I think playing an instrument or singing just for pleasure is more understood and accepted than sketching or drawing. People seem to get the point better. But maybe I'm wrong, it's not something I'm very familiar with.

2 books, 1 journal page and some ranting

Books again! Favorite authors, so no surprise but a lot of pleasure!
On your right, new book by Kate Atkinson, short stories (a genre I usually don't like much), fabulous. I feel she writes for me, I mean, it's the kind of things I'd like to write if I could write. But she really has a unique way of seeing and expressing things.

And, on your left, not new book by David Baldacci. I'm beginning to seriously love that author. I like thrillers, and action packed stories, but usually the characters are a bit simple and without depth in those kind of books. But not with Baldacci. I love his characters, they feel human and likable. And the stories are great.

And this a little page just for the pleasure of drawing, something I have missed doing, lately... My pen for drawing, my nespresso cup, little hen on my kitchen counter, ivy leaves, little statue at my parents' place.

Lately I couldn't draw anymore. I made a few drawings for friends and family. When I show my drawings, I often hear : "That's nice! You should make something of it".
Make what? I thought I was making something, actually. Like, a little drawing. Just for the pleasure. Isn't that something?

And then I stop drawing. Not the first time it happens.
I think I'm over it, this time. I just want to draw and not care why or what for.

Do you sometimes get these kind of remarks?

Shelves and a lot of books

Two books I read in october. I liked the one on the left, by Nancy Huston, especially for the very interesting take on men and women, the power and the fears beneath the relationships and attitudes.

The book on the right "Horowotz et mon père" (Horowitz and my father) tells the story of a man who was Horowitz's friend in Russia before the revolution, when they were teenagers, and was at least as good a pianist as Horowitz.
He fights with the white Russians, flees to France, get married, and lives a very ordinary and rather happy life until the war and later his wife's death. His son tells the story, and it's great, interesting, tender, funny, clever...

I loved it even more because the story takes place in Paris west suburbs, which is where I grew up, and I felt the place in the book, like it is in my memories, and that was great!

And this is a view from my couch... Shelves in my living room, with some books, of course!
I'm trying to get back to my "first love" in drawing : the "Every Day Matters" style!