Plein Air Painter in Jersey Jungle Needs a Break!

My more recent watercolor classes have been plein air. What a challenge this New Jersey Jungle is! For those of you who have seen my FB posted watercolors and studies of "The Smokehouse"--enough of that! Trying to train my eyes, but "are we having fun yet?" So much rain! So much GREEN! So many shades of GREEN!

While on my visit to CA, I took some pictures of my green thumb friend's balcony. Painting the colorful succulents is a nice break. This is a study for the eventual watercolor painting.

The Isolated Life of the Artist–What is "GOOD?"

This drawing started on a vomit bag on a flight from San Diego (it was the closest thing to drawing paper I could find). I was inspired to write a story about a little girl who had a favorite uncle who was an entomologist. He arrived from the jungles of South America (at least that is where the story is for now) on her birthday and gifted her a headlamp. How the story evolves is still to be sorted out. The story is "shelved" for the time being, but its genesis provided fodder for illustrations. I have gone back and forth on Hannah's expression, the "buggy" birthday elements, the contrast, does the final art capture the original energy? etc...What works? What doesn't? What will a publisher think? See what you think!

"BOUNCE"

June 2015 entry for SCBWI  gallery for "DRAW THIS."  The word of the month is BOUNCE.

"Trampoline" was the first thing that came to mind..."pure" as opposed to other interpretations of "Bounce" i.e., "bounced checks", "bounced from a bar", or "bounce from job to job", or even "bounce back."

My neighborhood is changing, house by house, as younger neighbors are replacing the older. Two doors down from my house, the "squeak-a-squeak-a-squeak" of the trampoline, reminds me of the trampoline that sat in our backyard for years...Once my girls were done with that jumping period of their lives, they used it as a place for "girl-chat".

Change is inevitable, and I always hope that I "keep on bouncing" as those changes come my way.

My "Flying Companions"

I am soon flying to San Diego with Tank, Fluffy, Rocky & Ready to promote our new children's picture book, Three Tales, Four Dogs, by Roz Silva and illustrated by me, Sue Ann Erickson.

I will make sure Tank has a seatbelt on. He tends to wander and "borrow" things, and before you know it, the mess is everywhere!...not to mention some little girl crying that her iPad or teddy bear has "disappeared."

Scaredy-Cat Fluffy will be in my lap, as we take off. She'll be shivering through security before that! She's so afraid of everything...EXCEPT the Big Blue Garbage Truck!

Rocky and Ready are looking forward to the snacks–probably pretzels....I don't think airlines pass out peanuts anymore...good thing!! as Rocky's peanut allergy flared up at the pool party picnic in Bradley's big backyard last summer!

We should have 3 wonderful weeks in San Diego, as children get to know and love us!!!

Three Tales, Four Dogs by Roz Silva, illustrated by Sue Ann Erickson is available @amazon.com and other booksellers.
Published by Dayton Publishing LLC, Solana Beach CA (www.daytonpublishing.com)

My PURPLE Toe

I finally went to the Foot Doctor today. January 3rd I kicked a milk crate full of textbooks in bare feet...one of those, "Can I redo the last 5 seconds of my life?" moments. I asked myself, "What would a doctor do with a broken toe?" and decided a DIY taping would do the trick, while nature took its course. Wore socks, a velcro boot, and now rain boots with socks for the past 2 months, and the toe is purple and is still missing the "knuckle wrinkle"...Yes, still swollen.

I saw Dr Neshweiwat's smiling face, with his fast-talking information-infused positivity, enter the room..."How are you" he said, and the look on my face told him all he needed to know. Yes, I was back, but with "something new". (He treated my plantar faciitis months ago on the SAME FOOT)

After hearing my story, he said I was going the "caveman way", i.e., swelling envelopes the injury, cushioning the bone until it heals. Xray confirmed compression fracture has healed. No longer B.C., so cortisone was the next step. Yes, I actually wished for it...Yes, fix me.

If you have ever had cortisone shots for inflammation, you know it's not a one time prick and it's over. As he moved that needle in and around the small joint of my 4th toe with several injections, I white knuckled the armrests of the chair. I wonder if the other toes were scared for Mr. Ringman?

I see Dr. Neshweiwat in about 2 weeks for a check back. He says eventually I should be able to wear "Designer Italian pointed-toed shoes"...I am deciding if I should wear those shoes to the next appointment... hmmm?

Yearning for the smell of D-I-R-T

By now my sister-in-law in Upper New York State must be imagining (yearning for) the beauty that exudes from the soil in her garden. Years of work from her talented hands and the planning of decades will eventually flourish over their "lush estate." In the meantime, they keep shoveling that "lake effect snow."

Oh for the days of gardening to return! (I remember Crayola even had a "smelly color" named "dirt".) Are we there yet? Now, the end of February and we Eastcoasters (along with the rest of the country other than Southern California) are overtired of winter. This happens every year, doesn't it? The newscasters report that March 20, the 1st day of spring, is close. That is not some "magic day," but a glimmer of hope that we are just weeks closer to seeing the tips of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths peek out from under possibly the last bit of snow.

(To hold me over, maybe I will open that bag of potting soil and take a whiff!)

Temporary Custody

Due to my daughter Allison's car accident on January 2, 2014, I have "temporary custody" of her animals, from the clean out of her totalled car. While she is laid up with a broken kneecap, I get to draw and paint the precious "Kitty" who could possibly become the subject of a new book. No cuddling or feeding necessary, but these shabby fabric pets became a nice surprise for an additional illustration needed for the soon to be published (February 2015), new children's picture book, Three Tales, Four Dogs. "Kitty" and "Sock Monkey" are strewn on the lawn with Tank's "mess".

How wonderful is this? By using these things in my illustration, they become a recorded legacy of my daughter's childhood treasures.  I think about Marc Brown's illustrations of the Arthur books and how those precious nooks of his house and scenes of the neighborhood must mimic his own environment and will document memories for years to come. This seems so simple a concept, but may end up being a goal in later books that I illustrate. (Marc Brown even hid his children's names in the labels of the objects and places in his books!!!)