To Write Love On Her Arms

 I was told on an etsy thread that this Friday is To Write Love On Her Arms day (I kind of don't think it is officially since there's nothing on the official TWLOHA site for Friday except a thing at Remuda Ranch) and it seemed like a good theme for some art work.  Clearly I'm still going ultra literal. I'm no good with metaphor.

I've had a lot of friends who have struggled with depression and various addictions. I've struggled with depression myself. Years ago when I first saw a To Write Love On Her Arms t-shirt, I knew immediately, without explanation, what it was about.

Of course I went online to find out more - and at that point there was mostly just a story online about the girl, Renee, who they started To Write Love On Her Arms for - and it was kind of confusing to figure out what TWLOHA was doing exactly. But they've grown since then and I can't help but be impressed with their mission to bring hope to people who can't see any.

And I think that hope grows with the awareness they've raised. One of the things I remember about being a teenager is how even kids who weren't coming from particularly bad situations could struggle with depression. It affects all kinds of people, but if we never talk about it it's just that much harder to deal with.

Though this post is written in support of TWLOHA this blog is not associated with TWLOHA in any way.

Needle in a...

 Sometimes I just have to draw something goofy to break myself out of a rut. When I was a kid I used to draw funny or overly literal illustrations for common sayings (like, a bunch of butterflies chatting at a party - social butterflies), but I decided to just go literal for "Needle in a Haystack"

I did think of another possible illustration for it - have you ever had a Haystack Supper? Around here they serve "haystacks" for fundraisers mostly - it' a bunch of food out in bowls and you pile what you want onto your plate in layers.

We had it at our last office lunch - there were crackers, lettuce, ground beef, nacho cheese, Doritos, pineapple chunks, diced peppers, tomatoes and probably more.

I didn't have all of that mixed together - but other people did.

Mmmmm. Tasty.

Color Thankfully

Another coloring page, this one is Thanksgiving themed. I know after a long day of cooking my mom always expected us kids to help set the table and what-not. Feel free to print out for your kids to color, but you may not alter, redistribute, or profit from this image in any way. This image is for coloring purposes only.

Latte Art

I haven't had my art on display much since college. Every year my church holds an Art Gala and some of my pieces are up at the office, but that's pretty much it.

So, I'm really excited that my art will be up for the entire month of November at Latte Art in Warsaw, IN.
I haven't seen it up yet, but here are a couple pictures of some of my framed art sitting in my living room.

I know most of my readers aren't from the area, but if you happen to be in Northern Indiana you should stop on by! The coffee's great and they make a point of having new goodies all the time.

Night Light

Now available as an 8x8 print or a 5x5 on request!  I personally love this one, the candle, the wind, the night. Some of my favorite elements of life, so I'm pleased to have incorporated them into a drawing.

Laundry

It's been a few years since I've had to use a Laundromat. Even since I've moved into an apartment without a washer & dryer I've been doing my laundry at the house of a generous friend. But my friend is out of town & someone I don't know is house-sitting.  I could conceivably waltz in there and do my laundry anyway... but I don't know that I'm up for that much awkward.

Fortunately there's a laundromat not far from my home. A few years ago I was driving 30 minutes to do my laundry. I lived in an apartment with no washer/dryer hookup. The landlord conveniently owned a laundromat across the street. There no storage space either and the landlord conveniently owned a u-store-it across the street. These things gave me pause, but the bigger issue was that the dryers in the landlord-owned laundromat burnt people's clothes. Not mine, but my roommate's clothing came back visibly singed. Next closest laundromat? Two towns away. Oh Indiana.

The laundromat is over-priced and wildly inconvenient, even when it's nearby. You can't leave and generally, if you're me, you can't talk to anyone because everyone else is speaking Spanish. Unlesss of course I need to tell anyone, "the princess is crying in the bathroom."  Rosetta Stone = Fail. But, one thing about the laundromat is that it's actually a decent place to sketch, because what else are you going to do?

 

I have never witnessed kids racing in the laundry carts, though there are usually a few of them playing hide'n-go-seek or tag. But if you were a kid, wouldn't you want to play in the laundry carts? My family never did laundry at the laundromat, but I feel fairly certain that my sisters and I would have tried this.

New Cards

I have a new facebook fan page - come check it out! I'm not doing much with it yet, but in the future I hope to have special deals for facebook fans and of course you'll get all the previews first.

I had a return customer make a request and this is the card I drew up for her.
Printed versions of this card can be made by request.

This card is for sale in my shop, a bit different drawing style than my usual, but it's been popular in the past as well, so I thought it was time to offer some more in that style.