What inspires me?

In the Artist's Play Room this week, we talk about the things that inspire us.
What inspires my art?

I find so many things to be inspiring....the sea, nature, animals...
Then there is the internet, more precisely the amazing artists I have met online.
 Their creativity also inspires me tremendously.

I haven't painted a realistic painting for the longest time but that's not to say I won't again.
Every time I see a painting of an animal, I feel a yearning within to put brush to canvas.
One day, I know I will....

I enjoy painting flowers too.
Nature is a great inspiration!

I discovered illustrated journaling a couple of years ago and it has become my main focus in art.
I absolutely LOVE sketching and adding colour to my journals.
 There's just something special to me about sketching, then adding some words,
either about what I've sketched or about my day.
I have met many other illustrated journal artists
who have inspired me greatly in this area.

A recent journal entry

There are so many things I feel motivated to do regarding my art,
thanks to all the wonderful inspiration that surrounds me.
My biggest foe is procrastination but I'm working hard to beat it.

~ Love, light and peace ~

Sunday Snippets - photos from my week

My first time playing Sunday Snippets!

Michelle made some delicious English-style scones and brought them over for afternoon tea.

Mikayla (my granddaughter) loved licking off the cream and jam.

The tangled heart which was in the flower arrangement
that my kids gifted me when I came home from hospital.

I was upset that I didn't get photos while the arrangement was fresh.
Sadly, a wilted flower will have to do.

Cody asleep on my bed.

Jack in my bed.

A new house under construction right behind our back fence.
Cody is not amused!!

A weird sky earlier in the week.
It was like the sky was covered with a thick blanket of cloud on one side,
while the other side was clear, blue sky.

Further progress on the blanket for Granddaughter number two.
This will be the same size as the blanket I made for Aaron
so will fit a single bed when finished.

I hope you've all been enjoying a beautiful weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~

I'm BACK minus a body part or two

Hello my dear friends!

I'm feeling so much better now although there is an element of sadness
that the uterus and cervix which served me so well in giving birth
to my five children are no longer a part of me.
I know it's for the best though...but still, a little sad, nonetheless.

It's been 12 days since having the hysterectomy and

I was very lucky not to require abdominal incisions.

This means a faster recovery.

It's incredible to think that I had major surgery on the Thursday morning

and was back home by Friday morning!

They don't keep you in hospital for long nowadays.

I was SO happy to get home.

Beau had experienced a dreadful night with Cody, my dog,

who was very anxious that I wasn't there, poor thing.
Cody sat at the window beside the front door late into the night
looking out for me, bless his little heart! x
Goodness knows how he would have coped
if I'd been kept in hospital for longer.
We'd even purchased an expensive collar for him prior to my surgery.
The collar releases pheromones that are supposed to calm anxiety in dogs and cats.
I've also tried him with anti-anxiety medication for storms,
fireworks, and construction work noises but nothing works
when it comes to my little man, Cody.
He not only suffers severe separation anxiety from me but
he is also terrified to the extreme of loud noises.

The Gynaecologist said it will take six weeks for me to fully heal within.

I already feel pretty good and I'm doing most of the normal routine things now.

 I'm still not allowed to do any heavy lifting for a while tho.

I'm listening to my body which tells me when I'm overdoing things 

and then I just rest up for a while.  

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 

for the beautiful comments, emails, and messages wishing me well in my absence. 

It meant a lot and I'm sure it has helped with my healing process.

I'm so sorry for not visiting you all but

I've barely been online since coming out of hospital.
As much as I missed you all, the break was much needed.
My computer keyboard started beckoning to me a couple of days ago
so I knew it was time to get back to the online grind.

I've been doing quite a bit of crochet during my recovery
and finished the blanket I was making for Aaron.

It took less that TWO months to complete from start to finish.
Not bad at all considering I started with 255 stitches

and worked 147 rows all up!!

Here it is on my Queen-sized bed to give you an idea on the completed size.

I just adore the ripple design!!

AND I've already started the next one for Granddaughter number 2 due in early November.

All plans to sketch during my recovery kinda went out the window.
However, I did expand the Buddha page in my previous post
to a double page spread which was what I'd intended to begin with.

I'll have more to share over the coming days but, for now,
I'll leave you with a pic of my precious Cody
dozing off to sleep on my pillow.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

~ Love, light and peace to all ~

Buddha

This week's APR challenge was 'In Series' with the intention being to select an item - such as a teapot - but show it in a series of variations.

I instantly thought of my Buddha collection.

I have quite a few Buddha statues in my home and,
although I didn't intentionally set out to collect Buddha statues,
it seems to have turned out that way.

I have close to ten Buddha statues but I've only sketched three here.

The truth is that I planned to do a double-page spread showing more of my collection BUT
time ran out.

Pencil-free sketch using Stabilo Point 88 pens, Faber-Castell Artists PITT pens and watercolours in A5 sketchbook.

This was a sketch I did a week or so back but kept forgetting to post it.
It was one of the Every Day Matters challenges and, as the text says,
it's plain but it serves me well.

Pencil-free sketch using Faber-Castell artists PITT pens with a touch of watercolour for the cast shadow in large Moleskine sketchbook.

I'm hoping to get another chance to post before I go into hospital for my hysterectomy on the 9th
but that will depend on how busy the week gets as I have lots to do.
 I'm getting quite nervous, that's for sure.

POST EDIT - I thought it was interesting to note that I felt so drawn to painting the background of the sketch in orange on my Buddha sketch page.  Not usually a colour I would choose so, after publishing this post, I looked up the colour 'orange' and it's meaning.  I found out that 'orange' is related to the sacral chakra which is associated with organs in the lower abdomen such as the uterus, large bowel, prostate, ovaries and testes.  I wonder if I subconsciously connected with the colour because of my uterine issues and upcoming surgery?

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

~ Love, light and peace ~