June Bug Idea

June Bug Idea, 5x7, originally uploaded by pejnolan.

Last night as I was typing away at my computer, I could hear the softly muted trills of the screech owl's song. I was so very glad to hear it because our neighbor's had cut down the trees that the owls and owlets used in the evenings and I had thought they might not come back. I'm so happy to be wrong.

After the owl came a June bug. "Hey Mr. June bug, buzzing at my window, don't you know it's May?" I said quietly, chuckling to myself. My Aunt saw this posted on Facebook the following day and said the phrase sounded like a 1920's flapper song. I like the sound of that.

The nights have been uncharacteristically warm. The air is soft and feels good against my skin. I just felt at ease for the first time in a long while. I haven't had many quiet moments of reflection lately. My life has gotten too busy. I need to pull back, reassess, center myself and cut out some stressful areas so I can breathe deeply once again.

My last post was about wanting to combine the transparent Akua Kolor inks with the opaque Graphic Chemical inks similar to Francis Gearhart. I've been rolling ideas around in my head and came up with the little June bug. I'm excited to get started. Scared and excited.

That feeling is good. It means that I am stretching and growing as an artist. The nervous energy, when harnessed, results in some good learning. The physical end result may not be fantastic, but what I will have learned through the process of trying is invaluable.

This is just a digital drawing. By doing it this way, I am planning out the color combination and placement. It is the same as drawing it out on a sheet of paper, but this time I just chose to do the sketching on the computer using layers in Photoshop. Of course, the amount of detail will depend on my wood and tools. I'd like to get pretty close to this - maybe just more stylized using patterned cuts for the trees and a light pattern background pattern for the warm, peaceful wind.

I signed up to study Japanese Moku Hanga with Matthew Messmer at Spudnik Press in Chicago. I can't even tell you how nervous I am. I've never really taken public transit before. That may sound silly to some, but I'm just a small town girl. The town I grew up in doesn't even have a stoplight! We had to travel to a road construction site at another town to practice for the driver's license test. Turn arrow? Forgettabout'em. My husband is coming with the first day to show me the ropes, then I might be able to get a ride to the train station from one of the other students after that.

It will be a good experience not only for the educational aspect, but for the networking as well. It will be so nice to be part of a group of people interested in Moku Hanga. It starts May 29 and runs for five Sundays, 1 - 5 pm. Another adventure begins!