hindsight

"In nature nothing exists alone."

"By acquiescing in an act that causes such suffering to a living creature,

 who among us is not diminished?"

"The question is whether any civilization 

can wage relentless war on life 

without destroying itself, 

and without losing the right to be called civilized." 

"Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is 

-- whether its victim is human or animal -- 

we cannot expect things to be much better in this world. 

We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. 

By every act that glorifies 

or even tolerates 

such moronic delight in killing, 

we set back the progress of humanity."

― Rachel Carson

watercolor

sharing at paintpartyfriday 

Festina lente

watercolor and ink

Hasten slowly.
~Augustus 

Sharing at paintpartyfriday 

in spite of ourselves

watercolor

for marji

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -

 loved for ourselves, 

or rather, 

loved in spite of ourselves.” 

― Victor Hugo

sharing at paintpartyfriday and artist'splayroom

Rhinos are killed for a cure... that doesn’t work...

watercolor

for marji

“The tragedy is that rhino horn

 is made of keratin, 

the same stuff that makes up

 human hair and nails. 

It has no medicinal value, 

you might as well eat 

your fingernails.” 

– Mark Jones, Executive Director, Humane Society International/UK

saving rhinos

fight for rhinos (poetry&art)

Sharing at PPF & APR

little is big

watercolor and ink

Sharing at PPF and APR

growing up

“They keep coming up new all the time - 

things to perplex you, you know.

 

You settle one question 

and there's another right after. 

There are so many things 

to be thought over and decided

 when you're beginning to grow up.

It keeps me busy all the time 

thinking them over 

and deciding what's right. 

 It's a serious thing to grow up, isn't it, Marilla?” 

― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Sharing at

artistsplayroom

paintpartyfriday

now I know in part, but then...

watercolor

“Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? 

It is that we have only known the back of the world. 

We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. 

That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. 

That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. 

Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? 

If we could only get round in front--” 

― G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

Sharing at 
Artist'sPlayRoom
PaintPartyFriday

deny not the tears

“Cry, child, for those without tears have grief which never ends.” 
― Mexican saying

watercolor

"Don't ever discount the wonder of your tears.

They can be healing waters and a stream of joy.

Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak."

― Wm. Paul Young

artistplayroom

paintpartyfriday

through the eyes...

 watercolor

“What is that you express in your eyes? 
It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.” 
― Walt Whitman

sharing at ppf and apr

life is delicate

watercolor

Our 6y/o son was diagnosed with epilepsy this week...
it has been a hard week...

“Sometimes it seemed to [her] that...
life was delicate as a dandelion. 

One little puff from any direction, 

and it was blown to bits.” 

― Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

Sharing at 
ArtistPlayRoom
and
PaintPartyFriday

misunderstood

watercolor

“Every man has his secret sorrows to which the world knows not; 
and oftentimes we call a man cold when he is only sad.”

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

sharing at apr
and ppf

One bite, one step, one moment at a time...

[You] can't swallow an elephant whole:

 "One bite of the elephant at a time"

~Tova Diamond

watercolor and candle wax

"The skin's tugged hard by the rush of time 

and I say it aloud in a current pounding past...:

Calm

Haste makes waste

Life is not an emergency

Life is brief and it is fleeting, but it is not an emergency...

Stay calm, 

enter the moment, 

give thanks..."

~Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

For ArtistPlayRoom: Burnt SiePruBlu

(Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue)

read, children, read!

 watercolor 

(digitally altered for it was a proper dud)

                  for APR (bookmarks)   

                                                                      also sharing at PPF                                                       

bundle of hope

"You know what the great thing about babies is?

They are like little bundles of hope.

Like the future in a basket."

- Lish McBride

I love these little people;

and it is not a slight thing when they,

who are so fresh from God,

love us.

-Charles Dickens

pen and ink

sharing at APR: mail art

and so we lost the unicorns...

Noah was not only obedient to God's extraordinary commands, 

he was also fond of animals 
(which was unusual in his day), 
and not afraid of them.
He may not have had the strength of Samson, 
but he herded a great royal lion and tawny lioness 
up the ramp and into the ark without a flicker of nervousness, 
and cautioned them not to tread on the tail of the peacock 
who strutted ahead of them.  
He drew back only  little as the coral snake flickered 
with its beauty and its deadly poison.  
He swatted the ugly wild boar on it's rough rump.

And the water kept rising.  
And the animals kept coming.

The ostriches weren't at all sure about the gangplank 
and pecked at Noah as he urged them up into the ark.
 The birds flew in circles and excited the gorillas.  

And the water kept rising.

"Hurry!" cried Mrs. Noah.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" cried their sons, Shem, Ham and Japeth.
And the water kept rising.
And the family kept shouting.

And Noah got wetter and wetter 
and his beard and hair dripped 
great drops of rain.

"They're all in!" cried Mrs. Noah.  
"Hurry!" 
and she pulled Noah up the gangplank, 
and Shem, Ham and Japeth pulled the gangplank up, 
and the ark began to move away 
into the floodwaters.

Noah shook the rain from his eyes. 

"Wait!" he cried.  
"The unicorns aren't on!" 

 But the ark was already out into deep water.

~Madeliene L'Engle, Ladder of Angels

watercolor

Sharing at 
ArtistPlayRoom (color)
PaintPartyFriday
ManderinOrangeMonday

quite normal

"What are your symptoms?  

Do you feel baffled? 

Bewildered? 

Confused?  

A little edgy?  

Frightened?  

Puzzled?

"Yes, yes!" cried Lionel, "all of that!"

Good," said Dr. Tudbelly, "you're quite normal."

~ Lloyd Alexander, The Cat who Wished to be a Man

sharing at APR: [emotional] weather
and PPF

Balance in Life Together

watercolor

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community... 

Let him who is not in community beware of being alone... 

Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls. 

One who wants fellowship without solitude 

plunges into the void of words and feelings, 

and the one who seeks solitude without fellowship

perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

sharing at APR: resolution
and MoM

parental advice

Acrylic on Canvas

Never fear shadows. 

They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby. 

~Ruth E. Renkel

sharing at

apr (shadows)

ppf

night sky

“If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, 

how would men believe and adore; 

and preserve for many generations 

the remembrance of the city of God 

which had been shown!

 But every night come out these envoys of beauty, 

and light the universe 

with their admonishing smile.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature and Selected Essays

watercolor

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
^{~ King David}

sharing at APR: stargazing
and MoM

Invisible (study#3)

watercolor
(click to enlarge)

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, 

to enter into the places of pain, 

to share in brokenness,

 fear,

 confusion,

 and anguish. 

Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, 

to mourn with those who are lonely, 

to weep with those in tears. 

Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, 

vulnerable with the vulnerable,

 and powerless with the powerless. 

Compassion means full immersion 

in the condition of being human.” 

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

sharing at
PPF and APR