World Penguin Day!

Today looking a little black and white?

It better be.

Boom! It's World Penguin Day!

(Different from National Penguin Awareness Day, and still cool.)

"How adorably awesome",  you say!

I totally agree.

It's also not complete arbitrary nonsense.

World Penguin Day coincides with the northern migration of penguins. They start to waddle north  in March and April throughout the world. They can be found in Antartica, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, the Falklands & Galapagos. 

Yay penguins!

Here's a link to 5 things threatening the little guys & things you can do to help penguins.

Here's a B&W collection honoring penguins on Etsy. 

May your World Penguin Day be awesome, and if it's not, may someone or something carry you through it.

Searching for the Queen Bee

I'm a busy bee this month, with a show coming up, 

finishing and starting new projects, and (ugh) taxes. 

So, I'm posting a short clip of my latest preoccupation-

BEES!!!!

This clip from shows Lucyann looking for the queen.

(It's really hard to work a phone with beekeeping gloves, so excuse the vertical orientation.)

By finding the hive where the queen is located, and then relocating it, the bees will produce a new queen. 

I won't go into all of the details, because I know I can go off on tangents with my nature/animal nerd jargon and ramblings, but

it's a process called splitting hives, and it's one of the ways that bees are really flippin' amazing.

This helps beekeepers to grow colonies in the spring, and is especially helpful because some are losing up to half of their hives every year to colony collapse disorder. 

(so scary, sad, and not cool- don't use pesticides, especially systemic!)

The myriad of substances that these tiny creature create from flower juice and water boggles the mind.

They all have specific jobs, they are extremely practical, they are incredibly effective at communicating with each other, and know when to communicate certain things.

They dance out complex routes to the best food and water within teensy eensy itty bitty spaces.

It's absolutely amazing.

I need to get back to work, so I'll leave you with a quote from the 50+ year beekeeping veteran, Lucyann~

"If people worked like the bees, we'd have very few problems."

buzz buzz

wiggle wiggle

A queso fountain and Freebie Friday

It's Friiiiyaaaaayyy!

I was traveling last Friday, so I am a week late getting this freebie up on the blog.

(Today's freebie is on my Patreon page!)

This week has flown by, and I'm glad it's the weekend-

but it can't compare to last weekend.

I got to visit my old home of Tybee Island, GA, and one of my oldest friends from SCAD.

A true "seeester" during my days romping around on one of prettiest, and quirkiest, places on the planet.

The affair was graciously held at the astonishing Drazek abode.

Keith & Jen are the owners of Latitude 32. My personal favorite place to shop on Tybee. Super nice people, great apparel, and the bride designed the company logo!

My friend Kelley was a gorgeous bride, and she really deserves her own post, but I'm actually happy to say that I didn't take many photos after the wedding began.

I was really enjoying myself, and I was sans phone most of the weekend.
The photographer, Travis Sayre, was doing a much better job than any of us amateurs could, anyway.

  I do wish I could have gotten pics of the flowers, though! My god, they were gorgeous! I showed up a bit early to help with any extra loose ends before the ceremony, and I got to help put the arrangements on tables. Unbelievably pretty. Two close friends of Kelley's (and also super awesome people!) are amazing floral designers and flew in to do the wedding.
Andrew Zellmer and Sarah Rheaume of Bowerbird Atelier.
The wind was seriously kicking and they still made it work. It was like a fairy tale.

The Sunday Bloody Mary bar brunch at Marlin Monroe's 
softened the blow of the open bar reception and The Wind Rose Cafe after party.
(Yes, the after party; the bride insisted.
The bar where the couple met was having its 20th anniversary.
No one refuses the bride!)

Best wedding favor in the universe!

Marlin Monroe's is where my husband and I had our wedding reception five years ago after our beach wedding,
 so it was really nice to reminisce and walk the beach before brunch.

Brunch wasn't the end of the parties, there were still more beach houses and friends to visit.
Sunday Funday may have originated on Tybee. I'm just sayin'; they were living it there well before hashtags.

Monday was a day for Husboo and I to stroll around Savannah, shop, eat, visit a couple more friends, and pick up art supplies. (I especially miss that part of living in an art college town.)

It was a fabulous trip full of friends and fun,

but you really do need to see the magic that is the queso fountain. I did shoot a quick video of that, because I knew the bride was super excited about it. I mean, yeah. 

  Check my Instagram to be mesmerized.

I'm so very happy that one of the most beautiful, fun, and unique souls I know has found a partner that appreciates and cherishes her like she deserves to be.

Ahhhhhh. I love love.

Okay- back to life. Back to reality.
Back to work.
BUT-
I love my patreon Patrons, too!

Here's a little sampling of the April rewards 

posted, so far...

Click here to get to the FREE download.

I'll be getting artwork ready for the Mayfaire show this month, 

so there won't be any more freebie downloads in April, just download rewards for Patrons only posts, and today's freebie will switch to Patron only soon.

Thanks for swinging by.

Have a great weekend, Beautiful!

I think we might just take it easy...

Freebie Friday

It's Good Friday,

and I haven't done a #FreebieFriday in a while, so I figured I'd turn this little doodle into a simple, instant download coloring page, and make it free for everybody this Friday on my Patreon page.

Just click here to visit my Patreon and download the pdf page.

After Friday the visibility and instant download password will return to Patrons only.

(The file password is on the Patreon post.)

Chicks not included on the black and white line art, but adding extra art and doodles are totally encouraged- being creative is the most fun part!

 Have a great weekend!

Finding love in brokenness...

 This will be a quickie/almost wordless Wednesday. I'm posting from my mobile, but I felt this photo deserved a longer caption to describe what I've been feeling this week.

I'm sure most of us have been feeling the same after the attacks in Brussels, and the ongoing onslaught of political vitriol here in the United States. 

Finding love in broken things... 

It's always easy to see the beauty in nature, terrible and awesome she may be. 

It's not so easy with people...

Expecting the darkest of our nature and being only surprised by the good is too depressing a baseline from which to begin.

Fully understanding actions isn't always possible, but examining situations and reactions and how they relate to the entire "ecosystem" can't be foregone. 

Sometimes it takes looking deeply into the brokenness, to the root of the wound and heartache, to see  where healing and rebirth may begin. 

Focus on the good. 🌿

(I'll keep trying.) 💚

Beware the Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March

Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio all hold primary elections today.

I'm sure you're aware of this, and if you weren't just turn on a television. 

(I'm allergic to political ads, so I can't without an epi pen.)

It's also a historical day in politics;

Today is the day Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C.E.

He got a surprise dagger party on the senate floor! Ouch.

The Ides, simply means the halfway point, and that was the 13th or 15th depending on the month. 

William Shakespeare made the line famous in his play, which was based on historical writings (but obviously fictionalized because he wasn't there).

Each year we hear that heavy phrase on this day, and it brings images of Shakespeare's mysterious soothsayer warning Caesar of his impending doom.This is probably where the superstition came from that it was an unlucky day, which brings me to this awesome Books by Her Side bauble featuring the Cassius line to Brutus:

Books By Her Side on Etsy

But every March 15th, I've always thought more about Brutus.

This is probably due to the influence of Shakespeare's work, as Brutus is essentially the protagonist of this work. 

This TED Ed animation is actually a perfect illustration of my mood when I think of Brutus.

Here's a fun, brief history of the Roman empire and Julius Caesar's role in it, if you'd like to learn more.

Even if the Roman patricians are technically like the current oligarchy, you have to admit that plebeian voting is a better deal than a militarized emperor.

Anywho-

No matter what your political leanings may be, 

enjoy these finds and then make sure to

do your stabbing with a pen, on the ballot, in the voting booth this year. 

Click here to see these items on Etsy.

Beware the Ides of March.

Left or Right on Freebie Friday

Happy Fri-yay!

I hope you're having a fantastic one, so far.

I've kind of had it with opinions on social media as of late, and I've been steering clear of my personal Facebook newsfeed for the most part. (I'm on my art page and ig, and though.)
The day after a debate is like a port-a-potty after a music festival. No thanks.

But I'd love to hear what your left or right preference is when it comes to adult coloring pages.

Care to give your opinion on 

which one of these coloring downloads you might prefer for print-at-home coloring?

 #1 or #2 ?

This particular design is pretty intricate and has a lot of symbolism, but I'll leave that unpacking for a later post.

When it comes to coloring, do you prefer the option to shade yourself, or do you like dark linework?

The dark lines of the original also leave patrons with the options of simply printing the artwork to hang if they wish, so there's that.

Let me know- left or right?
#1 or #2

It's #freebiefriday for patrons and I'm getting all the downloads together for the reward post.

Thanks so much for your opinions ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend, and try to stay sane out there.