Pen Lust and Cincinnati

First, I must rave about Uni-ball's new Vision Needle pens. I have been a long time fan of Uni-ball and carry around a black, blue, and red waterproof Uni-ball vision pen where ever I go. But I always wanted a greater selection of colors. Uni-ball has made their Vision pens in an array of colors, but I could never find waterproof versions. Now with their Vision Needle pens, there are eight waterproof colors. I am quite pleased with them, and I like them even better than the original Vision pens. It is definitely a case of pen lust.

Second, Dave and I leave tomorrow for Cincinnati to work with our editor to take photos for our book. We will be photographing the step-by-step processes. It will be a week of a lot of work, but we are definitely excited to meet with our editor Liz and the team at North Light. And thanks to a girl named Bean we have a lot to explore on our down time while we are in Cincinnati.

So, look for our book hitting bookstores in about a year.

Supplies and Equipment

Time is drawing near for Dave and I to head out to Cincinnati to work on the photo shoot for the book. Although we aren't heading out there until the 1st of March, all the supplies, journals, and artwork need to arrive a couple of weeks early. So, we spent the weekend getting stuff together, looking through journals, and talking about the book.

We pretty much have to send out anything that we may need to use and may need to photograph. Getting the materials and equipment together wasn't too difficult, and I just had to get a photo of all the JFJ goodness before we packed it all up. All those materials just waiting to break out and set off some art bombs. Makes me want to make some art.

IF - Time

This week's Illustration Friday prompt "time" had me going back to a page that I had started in December. I do not work in my journal in a linear fashion, and I often look for pages that speak to me. This page spoke to me as I pondered "time." I began this page in December on my 35th birthday with the writing reflecting on the last 35 years of my life and at some point I had added a little watercolor pencil to it. But I had written about how time passes so quickly, and it seems like only a little while ago that I was graduating from high school, going to college, and getting married. As I grow older, I become more comfortable with who I am and where my life is going. I would not go back in time for anything. The wisdom, the memories, the understanding, and the experiences that I have now are all because of the time that I have spent during my personal journey on this planet.

So, I wanted this page to be an accumulation of time, memory, experience. We may think of time in a linear fashion, but in the mind, recollections, thoughts, emotions, and time all occur simultaneously. They all layer together in a rich, vibrant vision. I wanted this page to feel that way, and it does not quite succeed in doing that, but it is far from being finished and will undoubtedly evolve over time. I simply wanted to get this early version out before I ran out of time.