Sunday, March 14, 2010

roaming and roving


i'm back and it's not easy to know where to start after you've been gone for a month! i had such a great time; saw so much, did so much, laughed so much...


here's my family - we were all in virginia beach for my nephew's wedding; left to right: me, my mother, my brother and sister (her son got married).


my son went with me - i loved that!!


i took so many pictures! just to give you a little view of virginia beach, here's the statue of neptune that the city commissioned near the boardwalk. the sign said that thousands of tons of bronze were used to cast it. mind boggling...

what i took with me were two 4" x 4" muslin books. each book had 12 pages, so there were 48 sides in all and i filled most of them while i was gone. i put pogo prints on some of the pages, but mostly i drew faces... i'm gonna start with the first faces that i drew and post more over the next few days. the only things i used were colored pencils and my mechanical pencil. i never used any of the other supplies that were in the box in the last post!












of all the traveling art stuff i've ever taken with me, this combination of muslin and colored pencils was the best. completely portable and easy to use anywhere - no water or clean-up needed. i was happy.... : )

before i left, we went to my favorite store in roanoke, la de da, where i found these amazing boots for 75% off. the words inside the box seem especially appropriate for this post, and for sweet renee. renee, i am blowing you kisses...



"...To all you roamers, rovers and rolling stones who know the destination is the journey, ramble on..."

~OTBT shoes


XO

23 comments:

  1. Such a gorgeous post ... I really enjoyed this and your beautiful pencil drawings. How does that work? Drawing on muslin? Is it stiffened some how?

    Look forward to seeing MORE!

    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE the idea of using 4 X 4 inch pages to concentrate on something....As Carolyn asked - did you use some type of stiff material between the muslin pages? What type of pencils did you use?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yep, I would have bought those boots in a heartbeat! I think my next travel journal will now be muslin with colored pencil. I always haul way too much and don't use it either. And I love the idea that you could add a little stitching to it later.

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh yea! glad you are back!!! looks like it was a great trip with lots of productivity too! your pages are awesome as always!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Awe!! Welcome back, Lynne! We missed you but it looks like you had a wonderful time. Your muslin pages are always so inspiring to me. I like that they're so portable.
    Thank you for sharing your fabulous pics. The boots are rockin' sister!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well hello and welcome back! You look like my long time friend Mary who lives in Chico! She is a nature girl too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. thanks for sharing bits of your journey...looks like a very fruitful one.Love the boots and the faces !
    ramble on, lovely lynne

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yay! You're back. And look! A photo of YOU. That's nice. Happy happy sons when they play with us a little bit.

    ReplyDelete
  9. first i just wanna say, it's so nice to be here again... : )

    hi carolyn, thank you! what i do is soak the muslin in walnut ink water (after i've washed and dried it), then when that's dry, i paint each side with watered down ivory acrylic paint. the last step is sanding each side so the surface is nice and smooth. all of this gives the muslin a nice hand, yet makes it stiff enough to work on. ...smiling to see you... : )

    exactly, dale anne, 4 x 4 is perfect for concentrating on something. see my reply to carolyn for my 'muslin treatment', and as for the pencils - i use mostly prismacolor, with a few faber castell and caran d'ache. thank you for coming by!

    hee, robin! aren't those boots the coolest?! and they have a zipper on the side so you don't have to lace and unlace them! yeah, you can stitch on the pages too. i took my stitching kit with me but didn't use it. i swear it's the perfect travel combination. xo

    hey cat! so nice to see your smiling face again! good to be back!

    thank you, manon! smiling to see your sweet self here... will be by your place soon... : ) xo

    hi janine, maybe i'll see mary sometime since i go to chico every few months! ya never know... thanks for the welcome back. : )

    hello my dear fellow big heart walking... yeah, let's ramble on... xo

    loani, it's the greatest to play with your kids once they get grown, isn't it? smiling a big smile seeing you again... xo

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Lynne and welcome back.
    It's good to read you had such a wonderful time. The photographs and drawings are wonderful.....

    Sweet greetz for you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Welcome Home and I am glad you had such a wonderful visit and time with your family. Love the sketches. Love the pictures you have shared so far.
    What fun! :)Bea

    ReplyDelete
  12. So, welcome home. I missed seeing you on the screen, I thought that little thumb-nail pic was NEVER going to change! -J

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi, I missed you too, had to content myself with reading past posts, looking at your pictures. Now I got to see an actual picture of you! I've only seen your feet before. I thought you had beautiful feet and now I see the whole you is the same. Love your new drawings. Sanding the fabric, huh, I never would have thought of that. I found a face in my most recent needle doodle and now I think I know where it came from. I will post it in my blog. Hope you are settling in all right and that you had a wonderful trip.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ohhhhhhh it is soooo gooood you are back !!!!!! you're BEAUTIFUL !!! love seeing a pic of you and your sweet family ++ your sweet son's face, oh oh oh. isn't it soo wonderful to have them around, all grown and you can actuallly laugh and play and just enjoy them ?? YESSSS !!
    those shoes are TO DIE FOR !!! I've already checked out the website - yummmmm - and of course your wonderful art - boy have we ALLLLL missed you or what ???? I have not dared draw/paint in my little barely there book YET !!! but I plan to come this spring, I've even loaded up on sticks, hahaha : )
    have checked in everyday and I am sooo glad you had a great trip and are home safe and sound : )
    BIG WELCOME HOME !!!!!!!
    XOXOXOBlessings, Sandra in AZ : )

    ReplyDelete
  15. welcome home wayward traveller!! look forward to catching up some. thanks for the pc :)
    xoxo K

    ReplyDelete
  16. Welcome back darlin girl... missed u.

    was here last night but that renee part opened me so sad had to go away a bit; she did write beautiful thoughts on my blog...

    do rolling stones gather moss
    ? or wear away ... slowly

    .
    your family looks so familiar; esp your mom and your son.

    love reading the heart stuff you write on your drawings. you;ll soon be walking out to the green shrine tree in your new boots, quietly and gently among the forest energies (carrying a part of your trip/journey (home to home) from one end of the country to the other. Nice.

    xo blessings : *)

    love your plane perspective!

    ReplyDelete
  17. hi momo luna, and thank you... : )

    thanks, bea... it's nice to be back. xo

    ha, jayne! i actually thought about the fact that i shoulda left a more interesting picture since it was there for so long!

    hee, jan... yeah, i think my feet *totally* go with me. : ) yeah, the sanding really makes a difference. for some reason the muslin gets kind of gritty after you paint it with acrylic. but sanding it takes the grit right off and makes it feel almost like suede. i will go to your blog and look for the face. (and thank you for the nice welcome back : ) xo

    lol, sandra, i checked out their website too, and could IMMEDIATELY see that i wanted half the shoes there! i have a weakness for cool shoes - and cool shoes with cool quotes on the box just take me right to my knees. ; ) thank you for the beautiful welcome back!! i appreciate it! xo exo blessings to you!! xoxo

    hey k... you're welcome... : ) was just at your place reading about the big storm and couldn't think of any words to leave. i know how scary that kind of wind is. i'm glad it's over now... love, love...

    dear m., yes, that renee part opened me too... we're just flying along and then something Stops us...

    i don't know about rolling stones... i can see answers from many perspectives...

    sunny today so will probably go out walking, but still too snowy and muddy for the AB (amazing boots). xoxo (missed u 2)

    ReplyDelete
  18. not sure I can imagine a more perfect pair of Lynne kicks - such happy little feet.
    so many thoughts, so much to say ... for now, so very glad you're home safe.
    blessings sweet friend

    ReplyDelete
  19. no joke, welcome back to blogville!
    I missed your stuff.
    xox,
    Joanie

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yayyyyyy! You're back! I kept watching my blog-list for your return. So good to see you and you creations and look forward to seeing more from you soon!
    (and, maybe this is inappropriate, but your son is the cuteness!)

    ReplyDelete
  21. welcome home. so nice to see you and your family. seems to me that no matter what materials you have with you...your creations are just perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Missed you, Lynne!! Welcome home.
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  23. hi kathy, and i'm sending you big smooches from here... thank you for the welcome back... xo

    ahhh, thank you, joanie...

    heya cynjon! awww, you're puttin a big 'ol smile on my face! and yeah, that happy (that's his name) IS the cuteness, isn't he?! : )

    thank you seth! so happy to be here!

    back atcha, julie! xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.