IF - Hoard

When I saw the new IF topic, Hoard, I thought of how hard it is for me to let my creations go. This month I submitted three ATC's (Artist Trading Cards - miniature art that is 3.5 x 2.5 inches) to the Ankeny Art Center for a show that premiered this week. Unlike most shows, the ATC's stay with the art center. They are hoping to turn this into a traveling show.

Sometimes I just HOARD my work. The above image is a scan of some of my ATC's... some hoarded, some not.

I also hoard all kinds of "treasures" that may end up in or being used for ART!

What has been difficult with our recent home improvement project is to not hang on to every interesting bit that gets pulled off the house. I asked my husband to not throw away an interesting (to me) broken board he pulled off the soffet last week. I just need to photograph it & throw it away!

Illustration Friday - Forgotten

Unless you have purposely avoided the news this past week, you probably know the Midwest is experiencing historic flooding. Some thought the floods of 1993 were 500 year floods, meaning they would only occur to that severity every 500 years. In Iowa, some rivers are exceeding the 1993 levels.
Thankfully, the worst I have personally experienced is the inconvenience of relatively short detours to avoid flooded roads in Ames. And that was only 2 days.
We're just 40 minutes from the Des Moines River that is flooding over the Saylorville Reservoir Dam spillway. The news if full of stories of sandbagging, evacuations, road closings....
In Eastern Iowa, there is more flooding where water supplies are being threatened. Friends and family have already been affected by the storms.
All this gloomy news has been weighing me down. I found myself constantly checking the latest weather radar.
As if that wasn't bad enough, last night 4 Boy Scouts perished when a tornado struck their camp in Western Iowa. I wept after hearing the story of one of the boys - only 14 and already an Eagle Scout!
I realized that I needed to change my focus. I turned to God's Word, the Bible, for encouragement and perspective. Tonight I wrote most of the text of Psalm 77 in my journal and added the artwork. It's easy to get bogged down in the misery of life. But God has not forgotten us.

Follow-up to IF Save WIP

As time permits, I've been working on the graphite portraits I posted for Illustration Friday a couple weeks ago. This is the finished drawing. I learned a few things along the way. I'll work on a toned ground for future portraits which should help with establishing values. My husband was helpful for spotting trouble spots, which helps me develop an eye for ways to improve. I know this isn't perfect, but I decided that it could easily become overworked at this point. I'm happy with my progress, and now it's time to try another.