Our Animal Friends and Perennial Favorites

Hubby came home tonight after eight but still was game enough to labor over my drawings, the prospect of sharing the works of creativity overcoming the body fatigue.

These drawings feature some domesticated animals whose company some of us may treasure over the human kind, some becoming our best friends. And then there are the perennial favorites: the flowers. A smorgasbord of interests that fill us with serenity.

Hubby thought they look more like little chicken on their maiden flight. And that would be the dream of all chicken, to say the least.

A masked rabbit?







Perhaps it's my high productivity, hubby seems to have run out of caption ideas.



A doggie with unsually highly developed hind legs.

A bird, the kind that hums.

This looks familiar, except for the background.

Fish Taking to Water and Bacon's Friends

The weather today was fabulous, cool, though it would dip into the 30s (that's Farenheit) at night. And true to his words, hubby stopped by Office Depot on his way back and lugged home a standalone scanner. Well, lugging may be overstating the fact, since the scanner is so slender. It's more like carrying a gift bag in one hand. See for yourself.

The flattest thing on the table is the latest addition to the Internet Publishing crew: Canon CanoScan Lide 90. Installation was a breeze, even for the VISTA operating system. It comes with just one cable, a USB, and comes on when the computer is switched on. Hubby likes the soft sizzling sound when it scans.

Anyway, what's the first thing one does when given a new toy? Play with it, right? And here then are the results of hubby's playing, thanks to my foresight in stocking the "supply" earlier in the day. At first hubby wanted to scan just the fish drawings, capturing the fishes like, well, fishes taking to water. But an evening call from CY changed the "fishy" theme. See below.











Notice that only one drawing has an even number of fish. Just a quirk in my train of drawing.

Now, CY has a cat named Bacon, a black and white feline. And when she called this evening, I offered her the cat drawings. So consider this a preview, CY dear.

Could that be a flying mouse? I need to have my eyes checked, or my brain examined.

Snooze time!

Of Birds and Flowers

Today's theme is chirping birds and fragrant flowers, a complementary picture of teeming life, spring is in the air, and nature in harmony. Hubby had wanted to buy a standalone scanner today but the evening downpour (reminiscent of the afternoon showers in Malaysia) put paid to that intention.

It seems that our all-in-one scanner is about to call it a day, casting streaks of lines over the outputs that are just difficult to ignore. So if weather permits tomorrow, these would be its last scanning job. And for once, let the drawings speak for themselves and let's be filled with whatever thoughts that come to mind.

The Fun of Draw and Paint, and Ladyhood

Two more new students joined today's Arts lesson: Linda and Mrs. Kim. Mrs. Kim, from Korea, was our neighbor while we were living at South Tampa for a couple of years. Her daughter was a classmate of CE in Plant High School.

As the image shows, the table was put to full use with the complement of Arts students today. Any class expansion, which is likely given the fun that we have had, would entail us getting an additional table, perhaps spilling over into the patio (or lanai as is called here).

Our teacher, Mrs. Fan, sat at the head of the table. Starting from her left going clockwise are: Linda, Ling, Mrs. Kim, and me. The lanai is the space behind Linda and Ling (separated by a French door) with an unobstructed view of the car park (separated only by mosquito netting).

And today's Arts class focused on drawing the images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, particularly Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. To put it more correctly, it's actually tracing out from a completed image, for fear of making mistakes if drawn free-hand by beginners like us. But the congenial atmosphere and the pressure-free interaction
are what I valued most from today's session.

Continuity in Ephemerity (the Cyclicity of Life as seen through flowers)

The book that I bought at a discount at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts recently is entitled Painting Fabulous Flowers with Donna Dewberry (North Light Books, 2006), a proponent of the one stroke painting style. But strike that, I just read in the inside cover that she is the originator of the one-stroke painting technique.

I have tried to mimic some of her works presented in the book, but infused with my own multi-stroke style, believing that to each his/her own, as long as one is comfortable with the effort and effect.

Hubby actually scanned this upside down. without realizing that they are actually drooping. But this is the correct side up ( or down, depending on your perspective).

Flowers with long slender stalks, rich in space.

Top view of closely bunched flowers, with more (buds) to add to the splendor.


Sprouting from the left in a storied fashion.

Fanning display.

Fighting against gravity, a keen tussle to ascend over each other.

A richly embellished couple, the leaves doing their part to enhance the flourish.

A single flower on textured card, a delightful departure nonetheless.

The Bear Necessity

A common feature of weekend sales brochures that we receive with our Sunday papers is discount coupon. Last weekend, we got a 40% coupon for any regular priced item and another 10% coupon for total sale, including items already on sale, from Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, and another 50% coupon from Michaels Arts and Crafts, two competitors in the Arts supply business.

So we visited both stores on Sunday, and used the coupons to buy a Chinese brush painting book and a water color book, one from each store. And some of today's offerings are inspired by them.

Display of affection, panda-wise.

What a cute way to seek shelter, polar-bear-wise.

The Lotus, card-wise.

Panda chomping.

" Now stay put, I think I have found the last of whatever is inhabiting your head."

The lotus flowers, rice-paper wise.

Mindful Pandas

I can't seem to let go of my penchant for drawing pandas. So here's more, hopefully capturing their mindful moods as members of the sentient beings.

Mother and cub bliss.

Relaxing in their natural habitat and enjoying the loving kindness inherent within a family.

A cub dwarfed by its means of sustenance: a fully grown bamboo tree with baby shoots.

Sibling cuddling on a roof top?

Food mindfulness.

A rather determined look, mustering the final push to the summit.

Play mindfulness, if ever there is one.

Sauntering at ease, body-mind-envronment as one.