Blues Brothers...It's never too late to mend.

Today I'm working on a page in my own Route 66 travel journal. I'm doing a bit of cut and paste (old school style) with copies of drawings I made recently. I also used some ephemera from the 1960s. This is not finished. I'll add some color, and I left a blank spot on the left because I really would like to drive up to Joliet and sit and sketch the old Joliet prison on site. It's a gem. I hope someday they will have it open for tours!

I fell in love with The Blues Brothers movie long ago, when it first came out, because of the stars (I was a big SNL fan) and especially the music. Later, my kids knew the sound track by heart as toddlers because it was our road trip music. I'd look back and see them in their car seats, their little feet swinging in time to the music.  The movie has many celebrities in it that you might not even know are there if you don't look carefully. Here's a page with some cool Blues Brothers trivia: Fun Facts Blues Brothers.

Route 66

Here's another peek at a project for a Route 66 event coming up soon. This project will be all pen and ink...oh well...so far anyway. You never know...a bit of collage may creep in, but it's going to have a black and white them going on.

Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference

I've been working on a fun project for the Miles of Possibility Route 66 Conference, which is in Joliet this year. You know what that means.....The Blues Brothers, the old prison, the Rialto Theater, and other cool things to draw! I'll show you some teaser photos this week as I work on pulling the drawings together into journal type pages for this project. I'm heading to the lake with my art supplies and drawings to concentrate on finishing this project up so it can be printed.

Pages from Route 66 Travel Journal

 Here are a few more pages from my Route 66 Moleskine travel journal. This is the Blue Whale in Catoosa, OK. It's one of my favorite stops on Route 66! It was a popular swimming hole for years, and at one time there was also a small zoo with a large ark.  It's still a great stop today!

 This page is about Bob Waldmire. and all the exhibits about him in Pontiac, IL. I love sketching the school bus he turned in to a winter home...he parked it in Hackberry, Arizona and stayed there in the winters. Bob and his VW Van was the inspiration for the Fillmore character in the movie "Cars." You can learn all about him at the Illinois Route 66 Museum and Hall of Fame in Pontiac, Illinois. 

On this page, I used some drawings I'd made before in another book. I'm trying to corral all the 66 pages in one place so I copied them and rearranged a bit and came up with this page. I also included the drawing Bob made of his van and Fillmore meeting up somewhere on Route 66.

Only a little more than 13 miles of Route 66 is in Kansas, but it's a pretty cool 13 miles! This is the story of a Bordello and madame in Galena, Texas. She was convicted of murdering a miner, and it was suspected that many of the other missing miners may have met the same fate. Very creepy story!

Here's another Pontiac, Illinois page. Since I live here, and own the gift shop at the museum, I have drawn quite a few sights here. The sketch is one I made from my car over the winter. There is a nice place to pull off and look at the barn with it's advertising of Meramec Caverns. I used a sticker of my drawing of the Old City Hall in Pontiac, IL.  It houses the Route 66 Museum, the Livingston County War Museum, and the Bob Waldmire Experience. Also included is a sticker made from my drawing of the Livingston County Courthouse in Pontiac. I have a rather crudely carved stamp I made and I use it often for Journal pages and other Route 66 artwork I make.

I'm working on a Joliet project right now, so you will see quite a few more drawings about Joliet that will be used in the finished project. This little pen and ink of Rich and Creamy will reappear in that project too. I copied the pen and ink drawing I made months ago, and added colored pencil and glued it to the page.

A Little Stamp Carving

I created a new postcard for the shop by using a close up of a page of my Route 66 travel journal. I used the computer to add in the town and to identify the bus as Bob Waldmire's land yacht and to add a Route 66 shield. I like how it turned out, except that yesterday I realized I forgot to put a signature or a line to identify myself as the artist. I ordered 500 of these and they only sell for 50 cents, so I sure didn't want to sign them all by hand. So, today I got out the carving tools and made a little stamp to fit in a space on the back. I am a very inexperienced stamp carver and it shows, but I still like the handmade look of it. I used Vistaprint to make these using their standard paper.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Blog...wow.

I just found Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog, and she is so inspiring! I just had to share this post about a dress and tie she painted to wear to a formal event. So creative! I've included a picture of her date's tie to give you a peek at what is in store when you click to see her spectacular dress! Click on her name to see the dress she started with and how she transformed it. You really have to see this! Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's dress.

Journaling Paris...

Right after stowing our luggage at the hotel, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. Of course this has been on my bucket list forever, and it definitely did not disappoint. It's every bit as beautiful as I imagined, and the views are fantastic!

 I made a little pocket for my Paris Pass. I couldn't bring myself to throw it away, so now it's part of the souvenirs. I put more of the little photos I had printed in these pages. These are just cut and paste over some of the pages I'd painted up before leaving home.

 Here is Jennifer looking out over the city and Pat, Jennifer, and I up high in the tower.

Later that night, we saw the tower glowing with golden light, and it several times in the evenings it puts on a sparkling show.

 We stayed at the Hotel Duquesne Eiffel, which was charming. Old and yet, modern...a nice combination. We could see the Eiffel tower if we opened the window and looked down the street.

 Another pass I kept, Plus a little map torn out of a guide.

 I drew this as we sat at a café by Notre Dame and drank mulled wine (it was pretty chilly out).  The cathedral is stunningly beautiful, and also a moving place to visit. Mass was in progress while we were visiting.

Here is another page that is totally cut and paste. So many of the maps you pick up are wonderfully drawn and colorful. This one was for the Big Red Bus. It's one of those hop on, hop off tour buses, and it had the tour on tape in many languages. It was a nice way to see some of the city, and give our feet a rest at the same time!

 Musée de l'Orangerie was also a bucket list site. I 've always wanted to see Monet's large water lily paintings. They were simply amazing. It was a moving experience to sit and soak them in. While I was sketching I saw another sketcher, so I sketched him too. This was one of my favorite moments in Paris.

 We spent one whole day at Versailles. It's hard to imagine the expense that went into creating this palace...which was the summer palace...it's incredible. It also makes you think back on the history of the time, and maybe understand some of the angst and frustration of that time in history. It makes me glad that it's a place everyone can visit.

 We had to try Ladurée's macarons while in Paris! Lovely treat!

 Here's a page with a photo of the three of us in the garden at Versailles and a bit of a post card of the chapel there, and a little drawing of a settee/bed in one of the bedrooms. Everything at Versailles is incredibly ornate.

A cut and paste using a pretty postcard.

Pat treated us to a wonderful early dinner at the restaurant in the garden. These images are cut from some paper placemats that the waiter gave to us, after we explained about our journals. There were nice fabric tablecloths on the tables, but maybe they use these outside. The artwork is charming! Cut and paste makes for a quick page and captured memories.

 Jennifer had been doing some reading about the Petit Trianon, a village built for Marie Antoinette to get away from her responsibilities at the palace (a summer place away from the summer place). She had it built as an idyllic country village.

 I just used the beautiful map of the gardens for this page. It was like something straight out of storybook. It was not the easiest thing to find..even with a map. I think they could benefit from a few signs to lead you through the garden to the hamlet.

Here is the queen's boudoir. I sketched this little building from one of my photos after we got back to Ireland, because we were on a pretty tight schedule in Paris. This was in the hamlet, separate from la Petit Trianon. As I said, the buildings are STRAIGHT out a storybook. If you'd like to see some great pictures of a very charming place go to this site: The Queen's Hamlet.

Well, that's enough for today. More of this journal on another day!

Ireland and France Travel Journal

My sister Jennifer and I were so fortunate to be able to visit Ireland and France this March. It was my first time outside the USA, and I had a great time. We visited with my cousin Pat, who lives there part of the year. She has been going to Ireland for many years and was our amazing tour guide. She's also a seasoned international traveler, and we learned a lot from her!

I'll share more pages with you later, but for now, here is a start. Under the pages I've listed some of the "ingredients" in the page. I used lots of tickets, maps, and other things that accumulate during a trip.

Pat gifted us with beautiful little leather journals made by the Holden Leathergoods of Co. Kerry, Ireland. I used the bag the green bag the journal came in, as well as the stickers from the bag, and a purse cut from Holden's literature. The journal is even signed by the maker. Pat gave these to us before we left home, so I broke the ice by doing this page and one about packing before we left.

Here's a page done while I was packing. The suitcase is cut from an old postcard.

One day, early in the trip, we visited Howth. It's a lovely town on the Irish sea with many places to buy fresh seafood. While Pat was shopping for salmon and other things for dinner, Jennifer and I were exploring and taking pictures of the harbor.

This page was made with little photos I had printed at the little pharmacy in Donabate, the village where we stayed with Pat. I had the pictures printed 2 images to a print and then cut them apart, so they they would be small enough for this book. Pat is an amazing hostess, and we had a wonderful meal with her Irish friends. The salmon she made was the best I've ever eaten.

Here's a description of a proper Irish breakfast, which Pat fixed for us on our first day there. More on that later...yummy.  The Chinese bit was a note inside the bag of Chinese takeout we had with some Irish friends that night.

Here is a receipt for groceries and a list of words and phrases we were hearing being used in Ireland.

In Ireland, the driving is on the other side of the road, and there are roundabouts wherever you go. They actually work quite well, but I was so confused at first. This map of an imaginary roundabout shows my confusion, because I got the directions wrong on several of the vehicles. This page is all colored pencil and ink and white Sharpie pen.

We were charmed by Dublin. More pages about that to some, but here is a teaser: a Dubline streetlamp with shamrocks, and a Georgian Dublin door.  Pitt Artist Pens and Prismacolor colored pencils. Many of my pages were prepped with some paint before leaving the states, and this is one of them.

Here are a couple of Irish cottages, which dot the landscape. We even visited with friends who live in one of the old cottages, which they've renovated into a charming little home. This is happening all over Ireland, as the government encourages people to save the old buildings. These two even have thatch roofs. The pink one is a sweater shop in Doolin.

We went back to Howth several times. We were amazed at how the Irish sit out and eat at patio tables when it's quite chilly! Hardy folks. We also went back to Howth for a prawn festival which was mouthwatering. This page is just my notes, plus a wonderful little map they give out in Howth to help you find your way around.



I have many more pages to show, but this is a start. More to come!

Hairstylist's Prayer

I have been without a computer for a while, so I have not posted in a long time. I have a lot of things to catch up on, but I'll start with the most recent.

I have a friend who needed gifts for friends who are hairstylists. He provided me with this poem and the main color to use in each, and I created these canvases.

 This one is acrylic paint, water-soluble graphite, water-based Sharpie. He asked that I use the color orange, and otherwise to do what ever I like. I've been enjoying drawing faces lately, so I went with that.

 This one is acrylic paint collaged with papers printed on a gelli plate, and Sharpie water-based marker, and water-soluble graphite pencil, and India ink.

It was fun to create two very different pieces with the same theme and the same poem.