Castle Pond at Laguna

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Missing home, simpler times.  Middle of the night.
I was thinking about the time I ditched school and me and my boyfriend
swam or walked from Main Beach in Laguna to my house in South Laguna.
Laguna kids always had their bikinis under their clothes!

This is an iconic view of the Castle with the pool in Laguna,
Owned by many famous people, one being Bette Midler.

The big black drip of ink costs extra.
As does the blob of pink which came off Baaaad Pat!

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Baaaad Drawing of Pat

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Maybe I should stay away from portraits altogether.
For one thing, they HAVE to look like the person or they are just crap!
So personal!  However, I post them all, good bad or the worst.

I reworked this bad sketch until the only thing left to do was to cover the page in black ink.

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Dentist

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Mitchell says this abstract looks  a bit bloody.
That is what you get when you are in high anxiety over the dentist.
BTW, this is not a phobia, but fear from past experiences in the hands of butchers.

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However, I was pleased after it was over.  She was good!  No pain!

Higher than a kite from drugs to get me INTO THE CHAIR,
the trip home was surreal, from picking up bad food to go at Fish Sauce
(so sad, they used to be good)
to the drive to the studio through NW Portland,
which Mitchell now calls little Shanghai due to the construction sites
blocking roads every day, because they can’t build a three story building
without needing the whole street to stand in,
AND then there were TWO (what are the odds) big rigs blocking intersections
— one jack-knifed and the other stalled.
Mitchell starting down a street then having to back up and go around
(did I tell you the contractors and truck drivers do not put up cones?)

Me laughing my arse off.

Got my daily sketch in before I fell sleep.  Drugs will do that.

I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
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3d and 4th Collage Abstract

w17-2-2-nost-abstract-0477My third abstract collage… Mitchell likes but not me…
Really wanted something else and it is overworked; I like the idea of writing and writing then moving the inks but like it best when some of the writing can be seen as such…
But all new to me so happy with progress.

Black rice paper under soft cotton cream paper.
Inks, not watercolor.

w17-2-3-nost-abstract-0475And another save…. both of these I don’t like for different reasons…
Rice paper and Oregon grasses herbal paper.

I think abstract is like poetry.  I’m a bit uneasy trying either.

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Second Teabag Abstract

w17-1-29-nost-abstract-0484My second abstract teabag art…
With bits of both my and other people’s handmade papers.

They are so tiny and fun…

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Hearts + Flowers

Fooling around with cheerful flowers for a handmade card for Mitchell.
Doodling while watching British Mysteries…
Grabbed some of my shellacked papers to play with,
and a dip back into markers and pencils.

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SPRING IS COMING!!!!!!
I swear.
Even though it doesn’t LOOK like it!

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Dan’s Maddie

w17-2-11-dan-maddie-0454I love this picture of Maddie flying with her ears in the air, and wanted to try to capture it.  A challenge for me.  I decided to pair it for Dan with one of her puppy pictures.

Goal was to keep a furry critter loose… I did okay!
Maddie’s puppy nose is a bit to long, and so she looks a bit older.

w17-2-11-dan-maddie-0456I used a LOT of ink under — so Dan, this may not be quite as light-fast as a watercolor
and you might want to put it in a north-facing wall that gets no sunlight —

w17-2-11-dan-maddie-0459☾

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 ©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back  to dkatiepowellart.

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Bright Ideas, Week 10

I think I am going back to posting sketches from my Bright Ideas journal
on one day…  I like them all lined up at once and really,
they are not special enough each for its own post… Usually!

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I tried wetting the page on this one…
Doesn’t really work… bleeds through as the pages are about 20lb…

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The simplest item can hold a memory…
The French glass that Kamala and I used to “argue” over…

☾

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Bright Ideas multi-color journal,
Lamy Joy with De Atramentis Document Black ink,
Platinum Carbon Pen with Platinum Carbon ink waterproof cartridges,
White Uniball Signo pen, Fat white Pitt pen, and colored pencils.

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I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.

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Tea Bag Village Moon

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It is true that Mitchell and I both live with the knowledge of being guided by an
unseen hand.  We’ve both been “taken are of” most of our lives.
Love this Thomas Merton quote though I edited it a bit.  Here it is in its entirety:

“My Lord, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following
your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.” 
Thomas Merton

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Stepping off into uncharted territory, trying my hand at abstract with a bit of teabag art.

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Bright Ideas: Laura Perry

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This pair of earrings brings back a host of memories from childhood fo a beloved babysitter who became a friend.   We laughed and enjoyed each other so much!
Her home was a trailer at the loveliest trailer park in the world, Treasure Island, back when Laguna and other California towns were places meant for people of all income levels.
It was covered in shells from her walks on the beach…

☾

Bright Ideas multi-color journal,
Lamy Joy with De Atramentis Document Black ink,
Platinum Carbon Pen with Platinum Carbon ink waterproof cartridges.

w16-4-24-bi-ganesha-sq w16-4-25-bi-daffy-dill-sq w16-6-4-bi-fiesta-mug-sq w16-10-10-bi-stars-too-sq w16-10-6-bi-rhinestone-stars-sq

I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.

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Bright Ideas: Parker Palmer Depression

w17-1-25-bi-parker-palmer-campbellParker Palmer, writer and activist, became known to me through his writings
about depression.  I  find him grounding and thought-provoking.  His thoughts on the current state we find ourselves in are most comforting:

“How do I stay engaged and whole on the shadow side of democracy? I’ve been putting that question to my soul, and the response has been unnerving. It seems I’m being called to become a “patriot,” a word I scrapped years ago when it was co-opted by the “God, Guns, Guts, and Glory” gang. But a passage about patriotism by pastor/activist William Sloane Coffin — who spoke in the voice of the soul — has me looking for ways to reclaim that word for myself:

There are three kinds of patriots, two bad, one good. The bad ones are the uncritical lovers and the loveless critics. Good patriots carry on a lover’s quarrel with their country, a reflection of God’s lover’s quarrel with the world.

What would it mean to have a “lover’s quarrel” with my country right now, animated by the fierce love my soul would affirm?”

For his answer, read on in ONBEING!

☾

Bright Ideas multi-color journal,
Platinum Carbon pen in medium with De Atramentis Document Brown ink.

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Dan’s Squirrels

Commissions are harder because I have a happy outcome in mind.
I can see the person who the piece is for and see that smiling face and…
My Monkey Mind Critic kicks in…

Black animals are the hardest…. black cats, black dogs, black squirrels.
My steps, from line to ink (grisaille and brunaille) to watercolor:

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 ©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back  to dkatiepowellart.

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Keith Newstead Builds Automatons

This is so cool!  Love to see Creative passions!

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I got nothing…

Too much political reading and journaling…
What is going on is really depressing me and I’m a bit burned out.Still drawing but can’t really share it… TOO politically sad.

Mitchell sits to play guitar and occasionally says, “I got Nothing.”
Its become a catch phrase in our studio.

Here is Mitchell’s finger.  That is the best I can do today!

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Subzero Chili with Beans

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Drawing from Jan 9…  Just posting all out of order!

Ice and snow and we lived on this in the studio….  though not really subzero here!
Recipe, rough, approximate, because I rarely use a recipe…

  • 2 big onions, chopped
  • 1 lb ground round
  • 1 oz chili powder
  • tsp salt
  • tsp black pepper
  • tbsp cumin

Mind, you, I may add more spices, but the beef especially  is so good browned in spices….
So, start with the hamburger in a hot pan and all the spices, and brown
(you may have to use a bit of olive oil); when the beef is brown put it into a BIG pot.
Brown the onions after and drop into the pot.  Add:

  • 4 (though you may need a total of 6) 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
  • 4 tsp chopped garlic

Now here is an option, but not necessary.
Sometimes I add a couple of heaping tbsp of Blackened Hot Pepper Pesto
or add a couple of chopped roasted poblanos or mild warm chilies.
Simmer for about an hour.  Add:

  • 3 stalks celery, chopped with leaves if possible
  • 4-6  sweet carrots, chopped (I must get healthy in there and they add natural sweet)
  • 4-6 15-oz cans kidney beans (rinse beans before dropping into pot)

Simmer until carrots are cooked, tasting and stirring constantly
and trying to keep your “Mitchell” out of the pot until it is fully cooked.
Add more chili/cumin to taste…
Green onions are excellent on top, and of course,
if your “Mitchell” makes corn bread then you are in heaven.
Sometimes I add frozen corn when reheating…

This recipe freezes well too!

Always organic or non-GMO, humanely raised.
It matters!

snow-out-the-window☾

Aquabee Super Deluxe Journal, Pentalic HB woodless pencil,
Lamy Joy with De Atramentis Document Black ink,
Platinum Carbon Pen with Platinum Carbon ink waterproof cartridges,
Sennelier, Holbein, DS Primatek and Daniel Smith Watercolors.

54 1 54 9 54 12 54 10 54 3 54 11 54 2 54 6

 ©D. Katie Powell.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back  to dkatiepowellart.

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Campbell Valance

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The embroidered velvet drapery at the Campbell House sticks in my mind…
Amazing detail, lovely graceful, beautiful patterns.

I’ve taken to playing with it in ink:

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I am still reading Krista Tibbett’s book, Einstein’s God.”

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Okay, I didn’t mean to make a clown face…

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Cat Cozies

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Gads.  I’ve been putting this off long enough.
Blankets and stolen sweaters that reminded me of Jai and/or Kamala.
Cried through washing them.  The clean stack made me cry more.

And old throw that was bleached then I tried to dye it and
that didn’t work and eventually it became a cat throw.
Kamala lived her life for the morning ritual of “Do you want to be a Quilt Kitty?”
She would come running and prance around while Mitchell
put it over the top of whatever — bed or futon or footrest —
and that would be her cue to roll around and become like a kitten at play with him.

I’ve given up two loved sweaters for Jai, one a blue mohair and the other a blue cotton turtleneck.  He would crawl inside them and peek his head out.  Come to think of it,
maybe I am ready to draw that from photos.  It’s just been too hard.

He’s been gone a year.

Then there are the endless sick blankets from his IBS.  All a sadness, missing them.

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Bright Ideas: Hopeful In Bad Times

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“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.
It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty,
but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.
If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.
If we remember those times and places — and there are so many —
where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way,
we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future.
The future is an infinite succession of presents,
and to live now as we think human beings should live,
in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

Thank you Howard Zinn

Earrings of mine off to another home….
Paper and leather created by an amazing designer!

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☾

Bright Ideas multi-color journal,
Lamy Joy with De Atramentis Document Black ink,
Platinum Carbon Pen with Platinum Carbon ink waterproof cartridges.
And a few colored pencils….

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I agree to Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International License, which you can learn more about by visiting the site, or,
visit my web page for a more user-friendly summary on my terms.
My images/blog posts may be reposted; please link back to dkatiepowellart.

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