Happy Birthday, Scruff

How did a year go by so fast? I started this blog this time last year. My first post was about the joys of spring (nothing has changed). I had no idea what blogging was about, really. I never liked the sound of the word. Blog. Like a bog, mixed with something slimy. I came to it by accident, while searching for tips on ways to use Photoshop in illustration. I came across Clare Robertson's blog Loobylu, and loved the way she wrote about her home, and her work, and her inspirations. I thought I would like to have a go. It would be a fun project, to create something that L could read one day, and to find a place for my images and little drawings. And so it was, but it has also been much more. It's been a focus for my wayward thoughts and daydreams about the future. Just like a journal, but infinitely more public. Since those first shaky beginnings I have: read hundreds of posts by inspiring people, decided I wanted to draw again, entered 26 illustration challenges, actually sold work online, and learned new skills in everything from CSS to Illustrator. I've stopped worrying about nobody reading it (and being too shy to tell anyone I was writing it), and I still get overexcited when anyone leaves a comment. It  has been one of the best things I have ever done. I read this quote this morning (via Swissmiss), and it seemed like exactly the right thing on the right day, just as I was thinking about how far I've come in the last year.

Sometimes the little times you don’t think are anything while they’re happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life.
Andy Warhol

Racing

Illustration Friday theme this week: racing. This manic zebra originally came from the Thing-a-Day challenge back at the start of the year. He has been spruced up a bit (from his former slightly scruffy self) in Illustrator.

Mrs Mop

It's Labour Weekend; first long weekend since June, traditionally the time to plant out your tomatoes. I bought four cherry tomato plants from the local garden club where I had a cup of tea and chatted about poppies and coriander relish. I came home, opened all the windows and turned into Mrs Mop, cleaning lots of grubby surfaces and finding it very satisfying. I love that whole spring ritual thing. Clean sweeps, fresh starts, new beginnings. We ate dinner  outside for the first time in months, sitting on the grass on a blanket. Lovely little things and very important, because these are the things to remember, the sunlit moments, the moments when nothing much happens but everything seems all right with the world.

Spooky

This week's Illustration Friday's challenge - spooky. In honour of upcoming Halloween, I guess. I'll try not to show this to L, it will just freak him out. He doesn't like my pictures of ghosts or monsters, especially if they have sad faces. The idea of a small boy lost in a spooky forest might just tip him over the edge.

Goodnight Moon

Found in a box of old books at the opshop - "Goodnight Moon," written in 1947 by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. I discovered it when L was little. I love it.  He loved it. The rhythm of the words is so simple. Nothing much happens. A little rabbit goes to sleep as night falls, and we say goodnight to all the things in the room including a bowl of mush and a quiet old lady who is whispering 'hush.'

"Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere." Zzzzzzzz....

Transportation

This week's Illustration Friday theme is 'transportation'. I tried to do something with no orange in it - looking back at past work I can see my fondness for a particular combination of blue and orange. When I'm stuck in the land of predictable habits, I often  use a colour scheme site like Adobe Kuler or Pictaculous. Kuler has hundreds of colour themes to try out and create. Pictaculous is great because you can create a colour theme based on one of your own photos. Sometimes I need all the help I can get!

Spring Whites

Three spring-like finds on a sunny Monday opshopping adventure. Alfred Meakin plate (still trying to find out its name), giant linen tablecloth drying in the sun, laundry hamper. Lovely creamy whites and spring colours - I feel like repainting the whole house, pulling up the carpet (not allowed to), and purging my wardrobe of all things black and faded.

Strange Children

Not my strange child, but a 1955 modern ballet called 'Strange Children' by a choreographer called Margaret Barr. I came across this image by accident when I was looking online for answers to my current parenting issues (as you do). My stars in the Sunday paper  today said: 'Knowing yourself well as a parent is part of your cosmic snooker game this week. Small children are frankly loopy at the best of times, but they will excel themselves right now.' That's for sure. I've given up looking for answers and have been looking at old dance photos instead. Margaret Barr lived and taught in Auckland during World War II. I love this image. They look like they could be in a desert, but  apparently they were on  the sand dunes at Curl Curl Beach in Sydney. There are lots more to look at in this collection on Flickr. A lovely little diversion for a Sunday evening.