Fishing With Love...

When you are fishing with love... you can catch whatever you wish! And so catching a few hours of paint time this weekend was exactly what I was fishing for. After all, if I don't love myself enough to let myself play every once in awhile... who will? So I gave my permission!

I couldn't wait to get started! I had these oddly rectangular canvasses for awhile and wanted to do something interesting with them. A whimsical fisher-girl seemed like just the right subject for this substrate. I began with a bluish-greenish monochromatic palette and let it fade into the background, so the girl and fish would stand out!

I'm not sure why I made her eyes so big! They looked a little more proportional in the sketch... but I went with it... chalking it up to a bit of whimsy. Whimsy never hurt anyone!

The pops of color were exactly what I was looking for, and the fish turned out even sweeter than I thought he would. I must confess though... that I drew him on a separate piece of tracing paper until I liked him. This little goldfishie is the 3rd iteration of my original attempt, and a sweetly creative expression of exactly what I was fishing for (with love)! You see... I'm trying to discover my own personal style. And like any good fisherwoman...patience and perseverence is what I need!

Oh, Sandy!

In case you hadn't heard... there's like this little storm brewing off the eastern United States. Her name is Hurricane Sandy and she's heading right for New Jersey and is expected to land sometime later this evening! Although we've been feeling the effects since early Saturday.

I happen to live in central New Jersey... 3 blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and 2 blocks from a local lake. And so this morning, my mom and I took a ride down to the beach to check out the morning high tide situation. I was pleased to see that the waves weren't even as high as they were on Sunday around 4:00pm.

...and that the ocean's edge had not even reached the boardwalk yet. This is good. But the relentless waves and wind were still making their presence known to our tiny little fishing pier.

My family and I have chosen to stay. If there are any water surges, they aren't like tidal waves that overtake the streets... it's more like a creeping water level you can see or react to in plenty of time. If we lose power, I'd rather be in my dark house than a dark hotel room. My 2 kitties agree!

I'll be posting more as the storm progresses. You can follow me on Twitter or check out what's happening on my Facebook page. For everyone in the path of this storm... stay safe and stay smart!