Thursday

Because I Just Like Quirky Prints.

A Day for This

xoxo, Saralyn

Sketchy

I love sketchbooks. I carry one with me wherever I go, because you just never know when inspiration is going to hit. I get zillions of ideas every day, and without my sketchbook to organize myself, my poor brain would explode. Most of my ideas don't come to fruition, but I still love being able to write them all down, or draw them out. My sketch book is a must-have at church. Drawing and doodling helps me listen better, and it helps to pass the time when things are slow (not that church is ever slow.......). 

I love drawing people. I used to sit in class and just sketch the people around me. I missed some important lecture notes, but I'd like to say it was worth it. People do interesting things in a classroom when they think no one is watching them. In the words of E. M. Forster: "For it is a serious thing to have been watched. We all radiate something curiously intimate when we believe ourselves to be alone."
 I watched a girl stack and re-stack her Smarties, and then eat them in a specific pattern. One girl looked at pictures of herself on Facebook for 50 minutes, and another girl wrote some boy's name over and over again in her notebook. Apparently she loves Zack. I watched one guy drool all over his computer, and heard him swore as he woke up in a sopping mess. Haha, college.

Here are some pages out of my latest sketchbook (I have about 50. IT'S FINE).

The yellow circles you keep seeing? Those are future paintings.....if I ever get around to doing them.

Moral of the story: whether you are artistically inclined or not, carrying a sketchbook around with you is a good idea. Write down random thoughts, make observations, look at the world in a different way. Have fun!

xoxo, Saralyn

Strawberry Pie

Breakfast: the best strawberry pie I think I've EVER tasted. I had it for dessert last night, and I'll probably have it for every meal today. (Sorry stomach, lactose is headed your way!) Check it:

Right??? So here's the secret to this AMAZING pie: 

Pie crust, prebaked and cooled. (We used a frozen pie crust. It's the easy way, kids.)

Combine in pan over medium heat:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

3 tbs. corn starch

1/4 cup strawberry gelatin powder

Let that delicious mess come to a gentle boil, then remove it from heat and let it cool. As it cools, it will  set up and get nice and thick.

Side note: If you're not patient enough to wait for the mixture to set up, this can happen:

Ha! We put the mixture on the pie and it sort of overflowed EVERYWHERE. But it made a pretty sweet picture on our counter. I think it looks like a goatee man with awesome pouf hair. Super trendy.

So. The recipe we used says to slice fresh strawberries and place them on the bottom of your pie shell, then pour the strawberry gelatin mixture over the top. You could do that. 

OR you could do this: Miranda was a genius and made a semi-sweet cream cheese mixture out of cream cheese and a little bit of powdered sugar. She put it on the bottom of the pie shell, then put the strawberries on top of that, and the strawberry mixture on top of that. I would recommend this course of action. The cream cheese junk isn't very sweet on it's own, but combined with the super sweet strawberry jazz, it's peeerfect. 

Now stick that baby in the fridge and let it set up for 2-3 hours. Serve with whipped cream.

SO RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. Seriously. Your taste buds will celebrate for hours (or days, depending on when you brush your teeth. It ain't no thang.)

xoxo, Saralyn

Latest Artwork

Bike collage.

Happy Thursday, all!

xoxo, Saralyn

Happy Sunday!

My Latest Work

I did not take the photo, p.s. But I had tons of fun doing this piece. 

It is GORGEOUS outside today!! If I wasn't so blasted tired I would be out there doing....something. I hope you can enjoy this beautiful day!

xoxo, Sara

Inspiration: Blue

The sky is so beautiful today! I was walking home from work this morning, and I couldn't stop staring at the clear blue sky and the beautiful, perfect mountains. It was gorgeous. I took some pictures on my phone, but unfortunately my phone camera is.....less than awesome. Just imagine snow covered mountains against a backdrop of immaculate blue. 

The beautiful sky is the inspiration for today's inspiration: the color blue!! 

Bolivian Salt Lake

Antarctica

This is BEAUTIFUL!!

Korean artist Lee Kyu-Hak recreates famous paintings using wood wrapped in colorful newsprint. I love this! 

Another wood painting by Lee Kyu-Hak

Super cute dress

Owls. Whoot.

Turntable?? Yes please!

Awesome plate. I love the detail on this.

Hope you were inspired. Have a fabulous day!

Sunday Quote

ALSO:

This is how I'm feeling today. Life is great. You are great. 

Have a beautiful day!

10 Things I Love

Just a Drawing.

A Tree for Thursday

An old man walking his pet tree. There's nothing better to look at on a Thursday night.

In Honor of Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I've always liked Valentine's Day--mostly because when I was younger, my Dad would do really fun stuff for us. I remember waking up a few times to candy kisses and hearts scattered all over the table. One time he hid candy in the house and made little cards with word puzzles that, when solved, created little messages.

One year the 6 of us kids, with our Dad's help, turned our kitchen into a private restaurant. We cooked and served a dinner for our parents, complete with place settings, menus, appetizers, dessert, and background music. After dinner, my parents danced in the dining room to one of their favorite songs. For my parents, it was probably a less-than-awesome night. We kids had nooo idea how to cook steaks, and we were giggling and whispering in the kitchen for their entire meal. I think we even asked them for large tips when they were done eating. But for me, it was, and still is, the best Valentine's Day I can remember.

That night, I got to see true love in action. I saw the love and respect my Dad had for my Mom, in planning that whole night out for her. I saw the love my parents had for each other, and for us, their children. There were no giant boxes of chocolates, no rose petals on the carpet, no expensive jewelry or lavish gifts, and no fancy dinner reservations. There was just us, a young family of 8, in a little blue house that was our home. Old, torn blankets were hung around the kitchen to make the dining room seem more private, and little emergency candles were on the table to set the mood. The steak was dry, the service was lacking, and the dishes weren't fancy china. But because there was love in our house that night, our "restaurant" was better than any 5 star dining service.

For years after that experience, I always thought that we had done my parents a special service that night. But looking back now, I realize that it was us kids who received something special that night. For me, at least, I received the comforting, reassuring fact that my parents loved each other, and that our home was a safe, happy place. I also realized that service is love, and that dry steak tastes like sawdust.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days when all 6 of us kids were living at home. Back when we'd run through the towels on the line after my Mom hung them up to dry, or when we'd laugh so hard we couldn't get through family prayers. Back when we'd make giant mud cities by the garden, sit on the roof to watch 4th of July fireworks, or be chased around the yard by our crazy rabbit who thought he was a dog. I miss those days. But though my life, and the lives of my family members, has changed drastically since those days, there's still one thing that stays the same: good ol' L.O.V.E.

Valentine's Day isn't about whether or not you're in a relationship, or whether or not your significant other remembers to do something nice for you. You could say it's a day for people to make money off of stupid cards, candy, giant teddy bears, jewelry, etc., but I think that's a pretty cynical view of this holiday. While we should show our love to others every day of the year, I think Valentine's Day is an opportunity to stop and think about all the different forms of love that are present in your life. It's a day to serve those you love, and recognize those that have served you. I like to think of it as a second Thanksgiving, replacing turkey and mashed potatoes with chalky candy hearts and chocolate. (As a side note, there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying candy and presents for yourself. There's also nothing wrong with eating an entire bag of conversation hearts all by yourself. NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT, JILLIAN MICHAELS.)

Anyway. Now that I've talked about the greatness of Valentine's Day, here are some pictures I drew to celebrate the absurdity of it. Enjoy!

This one's for you, Mom. Not because it's a guy at a urinal.......but because you recognized this song for how lame it truly is long before anyone else did.

Creepiest love song ever.

Cards!

Joseph Campbell for a Sunday Afternoon

A Study of the Human Hand

I'm really bad at painting hands, so I figured I'd study my own hand and try to finally get it down. It turned out okay, considering I didn't draw it beforehand. It took me about 5 hours from start to finish. The crazy stuff on the background is rubber cement. That wasn't the look I was originally going for, but the glue didn't peel off nicely like I wanted it to. However, I think I like this look better than if I had completely peeled it off.  The colors in the painting look ten million times better in person, as always. I should probably invest in a good camera sometime......

The sun is shining today. Hooray!

Painting for Kimbert

Robert and Edgar, oil on illustration board. 11.5 hours of frustration and doubt, but thanks to some heavenly help, I think it turned out alright. I'm horrible at taking pictures of my art-it always turns out rather...bleh. As usual, it looks better in person. Oh whhhell. It was fun to use my oils again.

The Creative Individual's Bible

I believe that everyone is an artist in some way. I also believe that creativity is super important, and nurturing your creativity will benefit many other aspects of your life. Enter: the little black bible. 

So I don't have instagram. It's still a picture worth looking at.

Before you zone out because this is another post about art, and you're not an "artist," hold up! The things in this book aren't just for artists. They're for everyone!

Austin Kleon sets forth 10 things that are important for the creative individual, or for anyone who wants to add some creativity to their life. I'm not going to go through all 10, because you can do that yourself when you buy the book! But I am going to go through a few things that I really love.

As an aspiring artist, I often struggle with how to create original pieces; pieces that are unique and completely "me." I think everyone struggles with the idea of originality. Teenagers are notorious for trying to find their own unique style, their own way. Fads of all shapes and sizes come and go as people try to create their own, original identity and way of life. 

Here's some crazy news:  NOTHING IS ORIGINAL. But don't let it get you down! 

"If we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it."  

We are all creations of influence. Why not celebrate those influences, and use them to create, to improve?

"All creative work builds on what came before."  (PS: All the quotes in this post are from Kleon's book, unless otherwise stated.) What we are influenced by is important. "You're only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with." So make sure that you're surrounding yourself with things of beauty, things that inspire you. As the old saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out." 

It seems like a lot of time in this life is spent by waiting. We wait in line, we wait for a better opportunity, we wait until we have enough money, we wait until we find the right person, etc. Sometimes waiting is inevitable. But one thing is for sure: if you wait until you know "who you are" before you start doing the things you want to do, you'll never accomplish much. 

You're ready now! Start doing what you want to be doing! "Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use--do the work you want to see done."  

Kleon talks about keeping a logbook, so you can see where you've been and how your ideas have evolved. One of my favorite quotes from this book is from Nicholson Baker:

"If you ask yourself, 'What's the best thing that happened today?' it actually forces a certain kind of cheerful retrospection that pulls up from the recent past things to write about that you wouldn't otherwise think about. If you ask yourself, 'What happened today?' it's very likely that you're going to remember the worst thing, because you've had to deal with it-you've had to rush somewhere or somebody said something mean to you-that's what you're going to remember. But if you ask what the best thing is, it's going to be some particular slant of light, or some wonderful expression somebody had, or some particularly delicious salad."

This book is super duper. *WARNING: READING RAINBOW REFERENCE AHEAD.* But you don't have to take my word for it! Seriously, read it. 

Creativity is given to us by God. It's a great, beautiful thing! Artist or not, you CAN create wonderful things. Bust out your creative ju-ju, and get making stuff. Do it now!