This is one of my favorite drawings, which I did last year. I love it because it's just a little glimpse of things I saw while on one of my weekend walks, reminding to stop from time to time and enjoy the simple things around me. I'm posting this again in honor of Kate Rietz who celebrates her birthday today. This drawing is one of Kate's favorites too. Happy Birthday gurl!!! *party horns blasting* *confetti thrown about* *balloons and streamers floating around*
I've been decidedly absent from the blogging world recently, not because I haven't been wanting, needing to draw, but because I've been needing to take care of my recently acquired additions of two little hens. So, if you're a spoiled hen in my household, what do you need? A spiffed out, two-story condo complete with nesting boxes, roosts, and a flower box! I've been tempted to add a sound system but that would be overdoing it, yeah?
The coop will be raised on legs with a little ladder going down to the lower fenced "yard" where they can lounge on grass and sip MaiTais. The roof is removable to make the coop light enough to move around in case the chickens need a change of scenery. As you can see, I have a lot more work to do, including painting and adding trim and of course, the roof. Maybe I'll add a sun roof ... Hmmm ... Whatever I decide, I'm hoping the good life will inspire my hens to lay lots and lots of eggs!
If you want to see pics of the coop in its development and pictures of my hens, check out the coop construction page on Backyard Chickens.
Ok, I really didn't mean for this to be a sarcastic post at all. Despite the fact that I missed my Thanksgiving lunch with family and my Thanksgiving dinner with friends and despite lying in bed all day with a terrible cold, I am thankful. I am grateful to God for giving me life and for blessing me each day with all that I need. I am thankful for my friends who bring me joy every day and who love me despite my faults. I am thankful for my family; my brothers and their families who are so dear to me. I am thankful to have a job in this difficult economic times. I am thankful for a roof over my head and food in the fridge. I am thankful for Robutussin DM and Ricola and Theraflu and for the other medical and natural wonders that are getting me through this cold. I am thankful to those I meet everyday on my blog and in person and for those I've yet to meet. Thank you all for being a part of my life! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I added to my menagerie this weekend! Lily, a white Japanese Silkie Bantam chick, is just over 3 mos old and already showing off her spiffy doo! Isn't she beautiful, ... in a Solid Gold dancer kind of way?!
Mom and Dad's Beef Stew Recipe
1 lb beef stew meat
2-3 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
3-4 russet potatoes
3 celery whatchamacallits
3 carrots
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
optional: 2 beef bullion
salt, pepper to taste
sugar to offset acidity of the tomato sauce
2 T flour
Brown meat with smooshed garlic. Add chopped carrots and celery and cook a little but not too much. Add onions and cook some more. Add water to 3/4 to top of stuff in the pot and bring to boil, cover, and simmer for an 1 hr 30 min. Sometime along the way, add the potatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, beef bullion cubes and cook a bit longer, say, for 30 min. Make a paste and slurry with the flour by adding water. Add to the stew to thicken. Dat's it!
Hmmm ... can you guess what I made for dinner last night? It's not quite done but I think you might be able to guess what it is. I'm drawing this for friends of mine who tried to make it themselves but felt they didn't quite get it right. So, when I finish this drawing, I'll include the recipe for them ... and for you. :)
Ernie was just lying around the house today. My Godson was over and I found this on the living room floor, under a chair and figured what the heck, I'll draw it as is.
Thank you everyone for all your visits. I'm having a glass of wine to celebrate my 50,000th visitor. Whoever you are, thank you! This one's for you.
Once in a great while, we are blessed with the truest of feline companions. Mamo, my friend for over 14 years passed away on Friday. She was the sweetest cat ... but she was no pushover. She managed to survive the loose dogs on Molokai, traffic on Oahu, and lived the rest of her life in peace on the Big Island. I buried her under a large `ohi`a tree in Volcano, under flowering gingers ... in a warm afternoon shower.
A few months ago, I was approached by a writer from Sandhill Publishing and invited to be interviewed for the November issue of Smart Computing magazine that featured art-related websites! I was so thrilled to come home from my vacation to a package that held a couple copies of the magazine with this Drawing on Nature Artblog featured in the "That's News to You" section (green box) on page 41! You may read the article if you subscribe or just google "Joan Yoshioka" and "Smart Computing."
The article shows three drawings, my tropical flowers in colored pencil, Shaggy the dog in watercolor, and my Star Wars figurines in pen. I was quick to call my friend to let her know that her dog is featured in a national magazine! Of course, the world is now privy to my little-known Star Wars obsession, but I figured that is just a small price to pay! LOL.
Thanks Kris Glaser! (the very professional writer who was so generous to send me the magazines and so pleasant to deal with).
While sitting at the kitchen table with Kate on my last night in Illinois, we began drawing potatoes and garlic that we had saved just for the occasion. It was fun but also bittersweet, knowing I had to leave bright and early the next day. I finished up the drawing on the plane back to Hawaii and you can see what Kate finished later, here. This special time was such a nice way to cap a very, very special trip.
Chicago is gorgeous in September! I had some time to myself so I stationed myself at the end of a walkway, sat with some gulls, and drew for a bit in my moleskine. I added the color after I got home. Looking at this drawing, I can practically smell the ocean, er, uhmm, Lake (heh heh, thanks Kate), and the sound of the waves lapping the sides of the boats and gulls flying about. :)
Splat!!!
... a smidgen of images from my trip to Illinois. There was so much to see and do that I wish I lived there! More photos and drawings can be found on Potluck Sunday and on Kate Rietz's blog.
I was able to capture Sunshine's sweet repose with this quick sketch as she lay at Kate's feet while Kate worked on her latest illustration project late one night.
I am back home after a wonderful two weeks in Illinois where I stayed with my blogging friend, Kate Rietz, and spent the time exploring her incredible city of Chicago and drawing together. It is something we've wanted to do for a long time and we finally got our chance! Kate is as wonderful as I knew she would be and we shared many, many laughs together. It was so difficult to leave!
Kate and I have been posting our drawings from the past two weeks on our blogs so check them out! We also have a joint blog, Potluck Sunday, that we started back in Nov 2007 so there are postings there from time to time. Some are related to art, some not, but always a bit of ourselves.
P.S. Kate is selling her prints now so check out her professional website for more info.
I've spent the past week and a half hanging out with my wonderfully talented and great friend, Kate Rietz, here in Chicago. Yes, this island girl finally made it off her rock in the middle of the Pacific to draw and spend time with her blogging buddy. These are some drawings I've done at Kate's house, of things found along our afternoon walks with pup, Sunshine, or at Starbucks. If you want to take a look at Kate's drawings, check the out here. Drawing is best done with a friend ... and one as cool as my bud. :) (PS: I am already sad about leaving).
This is a little guy I did for Leigh (Beegirl) for our Moly_X_9 group. To check out the other two, you can find them here.
Thought I'd give you a peek of my Moly X9 entry in Scoach's accordian moleskine. The full layout and other member's drawings are here. Thankfully, my team members have not hung me out to dry for holding up two molys. *smiling meekly*
Thanks everyone who has been of great support to me the past few months. Since April, I have had an issue with an ovarian cyst that has caused me to rethink my life. Apparently, it is not an uncommon thing for women *ehem* my age, but my cyst caused me to bleed heavily for a month and a half ... continually (too much info perhaps?)! Ok, and then there were the cancer scares, serious anemia, and getting sick as a result a few times the past two months. I am recovering right now and on five medications (I feel like a walking medicine cabinet!). So, that is the scoop. Sorry for being a poop and posting only a couple drawings the past month. That was about all I could handle. But, I'm eating better now, exercising, and feeling much, much better. The road to recovery is so sweet.
Thank you everyone for your emails and calls! Makes me feel glad to know I have friends out there that care. *hugs*
Thank you Karen Blados, Ryan Wolf, Kate Rietz, and Derrel Blain for giving me feedback on the problems I had with my computer, email accounts, and blog posts yesterday. I slept on it (although I did toss and turn all night) and let God handle it, because really, of the support people I wrote last night, He was the only one that responded to my requests :). After I got home from work this evening, I turned on my computer and all the problems with my blog and email accounts had disappeared! Really! THANK YOU for answering my prayers! Woohoo! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I figured we could celebrate with a picture of my favorite plant, ohelo (Vaccinium reticulatum) and one of the miracles of nature. It's related to blueberries but it's our very own Hawaiian version.
Just a quick Saturday morning sketch of my friend's pup. I love his shape ... such a cute, compact dog that followed me around when I was at her house. I hope she recognizes him. :)
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