I had a rock tumbler as a child and really enjoyed it. When my youngest was a child we bought her one. She was eager to enjoy it too, but somewhere after starting on that path, we lost track and it everything inside turned into a solid mass. We tossed it and forgot about it. On a recent beach trip, I collected handfuls of rocks, as I am always likely to do, and, upon return, remembered how I loved my childhood rock tumbler. I immediately researched, ordered and eagerly anticipated its delivery. Of course, with Amazon Prime, that was only a couple day’s wait. As soon as I unboxed it I thought “what am I doing?” I have neither time, nor space for yet another hobby. I thought “what will I DO with a pile of polished, pretty rocks?” I would gather them in my hands and feel their silky smoothness. I would likely gather them in some beautiful glass bowl and…then what? I have toddler grand kids frequently at my home. They put small colorful things in their mouths and up their noses and feed them to the dogs regularly. And I don’t even have a single space to display a bog bowl of pretty rocks. So I quickly decided “I’m Returning the Rock Tumbler” and will, for NOW, stick to painting them when the mood strikes.
When I was a teen, my grandfather had alzheimers, a failing heart, and half of one lung. He was covered with scars and sometimes muttered at walls.
I was asked to keep an eye on him, briefly, one afternoon, while my grandmother did something else. While I was alone with him, he looked at an empty space right next to me, and whispered: "Mom? Dad? Is that you?"
With the exception of getting hit by a car, that was the most terrifying moment of my life.
Doodling is what I do. It's a way to make visible the randomness that's in my head - just drawing out a concept right when it comes to mind and scribbling on whatever I can find.
*writes a few words, masticates a few more he found reading Doctor Who books*
An ode to the more saccharine yet saltier tasting things in life. Faff and fluff aside, find your own meaning folks.
I drew this with a brush pen, then used a water brush to blur out the lines into shadows. I used Photoshop to invert the background and tweak the colors.
"He'd forgotten how to keep his head from popping off in outer space. Why was he here again?" ~ A blackout poem from a recycled page of Dealing with Blue, a young adult romance.
"He ordered a large side of feeling and the avoidance maneuver roll since they were sharing a can of love." ~ A blackout poem from a recycled page of Dealing with Blue, a young adult romance.
"It meant something good when it was over. I need my space." ~ A blackout poem from a recycled page of Dealing with Blue, a YA love story with small town fun.
