Jans art

Contraption

2011-10-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

This year has whirled along with so few IF posts - the new word, 'contraption' captured my imagination. I love the old drawing of a Rube Goldbergish invention, with the guy flying along - then he meets my flying kitty, with her own contraption.

Journey

2011-04-16T18:54:00.001-07:00

My favorite poem is "The Journey" by Mary Oliver. I've been doing some duet-like oil paintings with this theme in mind. Thinking of the little wren (or whomever) heading off into the great unknown- beautiful, frightening, doing as Mary Oliver says "determined to do the only thing you could do-determined to save the only life you could save."

Toy

2011-03-26T13:50:00.001-07:00

For this week's IF word, 'toy', my thoughts went to a takeoff of the story, The Velveteen Rabbit, where the rabbit became real because of his boy's love. In my version, the toy rocking horse is dreaming of becoming free of his rockers, and galloping off across the heavens.

Resolutions

2011-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Well, the resolutions SHOULD be to do more drawings- but....I was thinking the precursor to this is organization, ie, having one's ducks in line. So....here they are. Happy New Year to all of us.

Burning

2010-11-16T07:13:00.001-08:00

For this week's word, burning, I reworked a very old illustration, something I've been meaning to do for a long time. It's not done, but getting there. I did the original illustration after my mom died, and was thinking about a takeoff of Greek mythology and the crossing of the River Styx of the newly departed souls. I'm not sure about the burning boat part in Greek mythology, but I think I'm mixing in Egyptian mythology here. The dog is the equivalent of the ferryman and the kind usher to the other side. All a little dark, but somehow comforting too, because the fire would be about transformation, somewhat like the phoenix rising from the ashes.

Atmosphere

2010-08-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

For this week's IF word, 'atmosphere', I liked this quote a lot..."Everyone carries an atmosphere about him. It may be healthful and invigorating, or it may be unwholesome and depressing. It may make a little spot of the world a sweeter, better, safer place to live in; or it may make it harder for those to live worthily and beautifully who dwell within its circle."

— J.R. Miller

Double

2010-07-24T12:11:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted an IF word recently, but things slowed a bit, and 'double' sparked my interest- and motivation. I was thinking of seeing 'double' with the cute pink baby elephants one might conjure up after several martinis. A pretty quick drawing - with happy colors.

Cocoon

2010-05-03T20:16:00.001-07:00

This nest was supposed to be the baby bunny safe cocoon. However, it looks about as fragile as its real nest was - vandalized by another creature and all the babies but this one disappeared. It's difficult to discern the motives of the universe and nature.

Dip

2010-04-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

I was thinking that sometimes, rarely, it happens that you may 'dip' momentarily into an imaginative magical realm.

Rescue

2010-03-30T08:03:00.001-07:00

In a moment like this, one can only hope for rescue by divine intervention or large life preserver!

Subterranean

2010-03-14T08:48:00.001-07:00

This is a quicky sketch- maybe more refined later. I just had to get the image in - because...we are having the gophers in the yard and where their subterranean activities come to the surface they are really really more than annoying! However... when looking at gopher images - they are so cute. And...don't they have a right to be here too? Or maybe not here, but perhaps in someone else's yard? So...the purchasing of underground buzzers and tubes and red pepper and everything that seems pretty much humane. Then the search - that says, how about underground firecrackers, poison, traps, etc. Oh no--I can't do that. So...here he is - the subterranean gopher. Maybe, if immortalized in art, he'll leave for more peaceful digs elsewhere.

Brave

2010-03-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

This is the black cat watching the incredibly brave (or foolhardy) mouse nibble away at the yummy cheese. I am thinking about innocence and those preying upon it, and how it is good to be both brave and innocent - but also to be aware.

Perspective

2010-03-01T20:50:00.001-08:00

For Illustration Friday word, 'perspective' - I think it's self explanatory - I'm just hoping the cat is feeling charitable. How can she not - but from her perspective....why not let the little puppy freeze?

Renewal

2010-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

I liked this quote about renewal-especially for the new year -"Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal and transformation in our lives". I thought the baby bird jumping from the nest and learning to fly might be one of nature's symbols of renewal!

Flying

2009-10-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

For this week's IF word, 'flying' I had something else in mind- but somehow this boat flying with the dog and the girl happened. It somehow looks a little more ominous than I planned, but....who knows, the red boat could be just the right vessel for the journey.

Germs

2009-10-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

This week's Illo Friday word is 'germs'. This is really silly and fast- multiplying happy germs!

Idle

2009-07-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

For the word 'idle' I was originally thinking about that saying, 'idle hands are the devil's playground'-but not conjuring up an image that was too appealing! So...on a lighter note, it's still summer and there is the summer 'idle' thought of reading outdoors under the tree and dreaming.

Tango

2009-07-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

A quicky (now revised) Illustrator experiment for tango-trying to capture a little of the 'dancing with the stars' idea.

Worn

2009-06-30T12:07:00.001-07:00

This puppy is worn out from playing with his friends.

Drifting

2009-06-23T20:46:00.001-07:00

I really like the thought of drifting in the breeze- I think this mouse is hoping it's a safe way to travel.

Time

2009-02-11T07:32:00.001-08:00

I was thinking of juggling 'time' for this week's word. There are all these things to do and not nearly enough time for all.

Flawed

2009-02-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted an IF drawing for months-somehow 'flawed' was just the right word. It seems like the world is so flawed right now-but there are glimmers of hope here and there. I've put a lot of hope into our new president's ability to at the very least bring in the best minds. For extra help, I've tried to draw in a really powerful angel to hold our world in her hands.

Clutter

2008-09-07T15:30:00.001-07:00

For this week's IF word, 'clutter,' I thought of what I am experiencing a lot now, mind clutter! It seems like there's so much going on in my outer and inner worlds it's sometimes hard to focus in or feel particularly calm and peaceful. I find myself flinging around on all the political sites, then switching to walking the dogs, thinking about my horse living out on a ranch where the fires of last year burned - and that time is coming around again. And then there's the house.... and then there's money.... and work.... and on and on. Meditation, or more painting, perhaps...

Memories

2008-08-31T23:21:00.001-07:00

This weeks IF prompt, "memories", brought the thought of Carl Jung's book, "Memories, Dreams and Reflections," which I have not thought of in years...more memories. So this is a dream.

Hoard

2008-06-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile- finally found a few hours for this week's word - 'hoard'. Just thought of a little squirrel hoarding his stash of nuts away during these great summer days.

Fail

2008-04-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Courage allows the successful woman to fail and learn powerful lessons from the failure - so in the end, she didn't fail at all." Maya Angelou

Save

2008-04-06T08:25:00.001-07:00

This is a quick sketch- but when the word 'save' was presented I could only think of all the animals out there saying, 'please save us'. I hope we can.

Homage

2008-03-30T21:51:00.001-07:00

My IF post this week is an homage to Joseph Raffael, a painter whose work I have admired and been inspired by for many years. His is the wonderful top image and is called 'Spirit'. I worked on the koi in the more humble lower image very quickly and in my more painterly way-wanting to somehow take off just a bit on his sense of color, movement and interpretation of nature which just astound me. I initially saw an exhibit of huge oil paintings of his at the Newport Harbor Museum of Art in Orange County, California about 30 years ago - aaaah!! They really were the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen-water lilies, water, foresty things. I'm not sure when he shifted to watercolor - but now I think that's his primary medium - huge very saturated watercolors. I could step into them and be very happy. He left California and is now in France and shows in New York- do see if you're there. You can see more on his website: http://www.josephraffael.com/

Heavy

2008-03-17T21:24:00.001-07:00

This is a stretch - the song 'he ain't heavy, he's my brother' popped into my head- does this have anything to do with a mouse and an elephant? Why not!

Garden

2008-03-07T09:31:00.001-08:00

I did this oil painting about a year ago for a garden tour. It's called 'Nina's Garden' and is where I was painting during the tour. I had been a little apprehensive about doing that- but it was nice- the day was beautiful, the visitors were friendly and happy and the garden was magical. I wanted to submit new pieces to Illustration Friday, but this piece fit the word 'garden' too well for me-bringing back all the memories of that really beautiful place- so here it is.

Leap

2008-03-02T20:56:00.001-08:00

Leap'in lizards....
I'm a little afraid of reptiles, so I thought making cute lizards might be a good exorcism.

Multiple

2008-02-23T08:05:00.000-08:00

Not much time this week- so here's a quickie-a little multiple choice test.

Theory

2008-02-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

In theory, anything is possible.

Choose

2008-02-09T15:42:00.001-08:00

How to choose? When the road diverged, there was really no question...

Blanket

2008-02-03T20:36:00.001-08:00

For the word 'blanket', a phrase, 'she slept under a blanket of stars' came to me-so I had to try to capture the image.

Tales and Legends

2008-01-26T14:42:00.000-08:00

For this week's Illustration Friday word(s), Tales and Legends, my thoughts immediately went to one of my favorite fairytales - the story about a mean stepmother married to an oblivious king. She banishes the princess and turns all the princes into swans. It becomes the task of the princess to turn the swan brothers back into people brothers.

Here's just a bit from The Wild Swans, by Hans Christian Andersen. "But however quietly its white glassy surface rested, there was still a motion on the shore, as its waves rose and fell like the breast of a sleeping child. When the sun was about to set, Eliza saw eleven white swans with golden crowns on their heads, flying towards the land, one behind the other, like a long white ribbon. Then Eliza went down the slope from the shore, and hid herself behind the bushes. The swans alighted quite close to her and flapped their great white wings. As soon as the sun had disappeared under the water, the feathers of the swans fell off, and eleven beautiful princes, Eliza’s brothers, stood near her."

When I was looking up the story, it seems there are many versions of the tale, titles and details - as well as a variety of numbers of brothers - 7? 11? I still love it and... it rekindled a desire to illustrate the whole story. So...that could be a good project.

Plain

2008-01-19T07:38:00.000-08:00

For this week's word, 'plain', my thoughts went to the Amish, who are the 'plain' people. This girl is having a little trouble with the 'plain' part.

Stitch

2008-01-13T07:50:00.000-08:00

To illustrate stitch, stitching...thinking sewing, thinking stitching wounds, thinking about NOT illustrating real wounds but still showing repair. So...perhaps the great unknown stitching up a wound in the world.

100%

2008-01-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

I was having trouble thinking of a concept for 100%.....kept thinking of 100% pure 'something'. So, it became 100% pure color-no shades, no gradients-had to push aside my painterly leanings.

Soar

2007-12-30T12:59:00.001-08:00

I was thinking of the view of the bird soaring above the landscape. My thoughts then went to Iowa and the upcoming caucus votes, which then led me to think of the Iowa landscape, the focus on Christianity (or just the semblance of), the difficulty of peace on earth and the hope that the soaring peace dove might offer. I doubt that all these things come across in the illustration-but they're there in my head!

if entry sample

2007-12-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

This is the illustration background for a child's prayer/poem written by a client. The text goes over most of the illustration.

Beginning

2007-12-28T07:52:00.002-08:00

December 28, 2007
I want to be able to post to Illustration Friday, so....just set this blog up-I love so many of them-hoping to eventually get something a bit more personal-in the creative realm, that is. So...here goes. These are my girls, Maggie and Camelia - ready for Christmas and whatever wonderful thing each day brings.