Desert Heat...

...requires a fully operational A/C system in one's vehicle!

Gosh! It's hot here...

and..it's not even officially summer...yet!

Drawn completely lead free...several weeks ago...

in the customer waiting area...

enjoying tasty tidbits from a buffet of yummy snacks...

while keeping all cool and comfy.

“One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels.

The thing to do is to supply light

and not heat.”

~Woodrow T. Wilson

Inward Thinking...

...Another waiting room sketch I made last month...

ink straight in...

no anatomical accuracy whatsoever.

It is the result of some imaginative inward visualization used
to keep my waiting room mind occupied.

I then flipped it in Microsoft Digital Editor for a more

skeletal x-ray vibe.

“If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet,
you'd best teach it to dance.”

~George Bernard Shaw

Off and Running...

...and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

Aargh!

(Click on any image to enlarge for better viewing...)

Well...I am having another kidney stone blasted by ESWL

(extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy)

this coming Friday.

The preliminary tests I alluded to above are actually

general pre-op procedures

just to get all my little "ducks in a row."

Tic...Toc...Tic...Toc...

thank goodness I love to sketch!

I loved that the lady in the wheel chair

provided me with a perfect 10 minute drawing study...

little did I know that seconds after finishing her

she would leave.

Perfect timing...

Serendipitous? I think so! :)

(All drawn lead free...ink straight in...colored at home.)

"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right,

you'll probably never do much

of anything.”

~Win Borden

"The Art of Waiting..."

...is the art of "cooling it."...the skill of dilly-dallying...

the choice of sticking around with a purpose.

The art of waiting

is the art of consciously pausing time

without knowing whatsoever what will happen next.

It is both the anticipation of a question and

the expectation of its answer.

It is a pregnant pause...

a lingering...

a wondering...a biding of time.

We can do this waiting, artfully, in silence...still and pensive...

or we can be more animated

and fidget...

or tap...or pace...or doodle...or wring our hands

with nervous energy.

We might just wait a minute...wait for hours...

or wait forever.

Sometimes we even "wait and see"...

or we wait

until we feel like we really can't wait one second longer!

We can hang around, hang out, hover over,

put on hold,

hold our horses...hold the phone...

hold on...

or, believe it or not,

often choose to hold absolutely everything!
Super humanly, we keep our shirt on, mark time, sit tight

while we simutaneously

lie in wait, lie low, and look forward to.

We might wait for...or wait on...

or wait until.

We might wait alone, or we can wait in a crowd...

or we might wait alone in a crowd.

We can wait at a bus stop...or wait for the mail...or wait by the phone.

We often wait until the second shoe falls...

or until the cows come home.

Some think they can wait until hell freezes over.

The art of waiting

can potentially paint away the painfulness of predicaments

and create a canvas of peace.

So...

may whatever it is you that might wait for today...

bring you

the answers you are looking for

or simply the

serenity you just might need.

“The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension

waiting to be struck.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A Bit of Mish Mash..."

A two page spread in my red Hand.Book journal...

which was actually

started in a restaurant in Tucson in 2009...

then

worked on while "waiting" this week

(see key...right hand corner)

and

finally completed last night while watching

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

on TV.

Oh, and of course...

digitally flipped just before posting...:)

Images enlarge when clicked upon...:)

"Bloomin' at Jerry Bob's..."

...for breakfast in Tucson...

a beehive of local activity and huge portions!

The place was blooming with color and all sorts of interesting

people and things to draw

while waiting...

outdoors for a table...and indoors for our food. LOL :)

Painted once we returned home.

Happy "Blooming Tuesday" all...Yes, I've succumbed to the
lure of yet another little bloggy group. LOL :)
Blame it all on Teri C...
she's always blooming with great ideas!
(After all she suggested this breakfast place and started the group!)

"Bloom where you are planted."
~Proverb

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast."
~John Gunther

"Saving the Ta-Tas..."

...at breakfast Monday morning.

Our favorite little "local hangout" for breakfast,
burger basket lunch specials,
scrumptious "homemade from scratch" desserts,
and their infamous Friday night fish fry is
"Martin's"
a family owned and operated business...
located in Sun Village right here in Surprise, Arizona.
Last Monday, a day they are normally closed...
Martin's hosted their first ever
"Breakfast for the Cure."
Food was generously donated by suppliers for the event...
and the wait staff and kitchen staff
not only worked on their day off...but worked only for tips.
The atmosphere was exuberant and joyful...and celebratory!
The place was packed...and decorated in pink...
and even though wait time was bit longer than usual
everyone had a smile on their face
and a glow to their spirit...:)
The positive energy level that day was beyond supersonic!
(I even got a bit weepy it was so exhilarating.)
Susan , the owner and one fabulous baker, and her sister Peggy
partake in the 3-day breast cancer
"Walk for the Cure" yearly.
Proceeds from the breakfast,
as well as generous bids made on each and every one
of the numerous silent auction items,
made the day a stand out!
I get the "happy chills"
thinking about the power of small community coming
together for a worthy cause and making such a
powerful impact.
Days like this are "what it is all about"!

This piece was sketched with a borrowed ballpoint
on the back of a pink silent auction flyer
...taken down from the wall...
(It didn't even cross my mind to bring my sketchbook...really!)
first...on my lap...no backing board...while waiting for our table...
and then continued
while drinking coffee awaiting our food.
I used colored pencil at home to refine details
and improve the readability of my
jiggly lap lettering and lines.
A copy will be given of the drawing and this post
to both Susan and Peggy
sometime today...
as I definitely foresee a vision of a burger basket
on the lunchtime horizon!

Why not help save the "Ta-Tas" Worldwide!???!!!
Click here or here for information. :)

"You give but little
when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."
~Kahlil Gibran

"Really Wired..."

...all over my chest with sticky pads...electrodes attached...

...a gown "open to the front"...

waiting for my cardio stress echo to begin...

each resting heartbeat monitored

while

juggling my illustration watercolor journal in my lap,

...lines being drawn all funky and askew

with a pen running out of ink.

The sketch was made "lead free"...drawn in under 10 minutes...

and with no real pressure...right?! :)

It was then

painted at home..."barefoot, braless and blissful"...

with my BP back to normal...

on a gorgeous, but windy, sunny Arizona day

while

watching the NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" Basketball coverage on TV

broadcasted from the Cardinal's Stadium

in Glendale Arizona.

Last, of course,

the image had to be "digitally" flipped here...

just to go along with the theme of my totally high tech digital exam...

and...

"just because" it's fun...(the exam...not so much!)

"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat

match the beat of the universe,

to match your nature with Nature."
~Joseph Campbell

"Mission accomplished...in a heartbeat!"

~Me :)