Illustration Friday: Gesture (and frustration)

It started with a delightful book I'd made at a FABMO workshop. I'd layered in tissue paper in the book--and so I did a gesture drawing of my cat on the white page, and a line drawing on the tissue paper over that.

But then it got more complicated--I really liked the idea of the overlay, and I wanted to translate that to my blog post. And then I got frustrated. I didn't have the right tools to easily make an animated gif, and once I finally figured that out, I discovered that Blogger doesn't support animated gifs--and the only way to get them on there was a complicated work around which involved getting an account I don't already have...

So, reluctantly (and somewhat defiantly) I took my dear hubby's advice to take a break. When I came back I decided to try from a different angle--I would make a movie. So I did that. Started to make a post--and then wanted to add in the photo--and I couldn't get to the photo upload screen. So I saved the post to try a different browser--only when I pulled up the saved post: there was nothing there!

Big sigh that I finally got my post up--almost the way I want.

Garden

I have garden envy. My mom has lived in the same house for 31 years. And in the course of that time she, (with my father’s help) has built up lovely gardens. She belongs to a garden club and they get together and discuss flowers, and living in the Southwest: drought.

I’ve moved five times in the past five years. I currently live in a rental house, with a postage stamp yard and mature landscaping. (more like a postage stamp with a house shaped hole in the middle…) But the yard includes some beautiful tree-sized rosebays that occlude the privacy fence. And earlier we had Pride of Madeira spiking up. And one tomato, and one zucchini valiantly struggle in pots on the driveway.

My husband has plans to build an aquaponics structure. It is like hydroponics plus fish. The funny thing is aquaponics doesn’t qualify as organic gardening, because the fish manure is fresh! But aside from a small scale experiment that was dismantled, once the roof overhang shadowed the window from the summer sun, this is still locked in his head.

But then inside my head is a garden too. I've planted ideas: some have grown, some have blossomed, and some have withered on the vine. New ideas flit in and land briefly, like a humming bird, and flit off again--not even disturbing the branch. Were they even there?

Illustration Friday: Remedy

It has been quite a while since I responded to an Illustration Friday prompt. I had started waiting for inspiration, which wasn't coming. When I started doing IF, it was a sort of practice. I would do an illustration even if I didn't have inspiration. Then life got in the way.

So this week's topic "Remedy" reminded me of Rescue Remedy: a homeopathic treatment from flower essences. I'm still not sure where I stand on homeopathy, but there is something pleasant about the idea of essence.

I've been reading Karen Maezen Miller's book Hand Wash Cold: care instructions for an ordinary life. She is a Zen priest. And whenever I read about Zen, my ego starts getting uncomfortable. And all the work I've been doing around my identity becomes Important. But being reminded to stop judging helps me sigh a little and let go. And wouldn't my identity be more comfortable just living in my ordinary life?

Maybe I should start practicing something again, but maybe I should be practicing nothing.