"Red" is such a rich topic, I was compelled to participate once again - this time with a new illustration rather than a recycled one. This poppy just "popped" into my head (sorry) and I just had to do it...plus, it's a nice little departure from my usual style, just for fun...
Well, it certainly seems like cheating to use a previous IF submission for this week's theme "Red", especially since it's been so long since I've participated, but actually, this is OK. I'm marking my full return to the world of blogging and weekly participation in Illustration Friday with this, the very first IF submission I EVER did - the theme back then was "Black & White" - that was June of 2005 - wow! How can it be that long ago...? You can read here what I wrote then... And now - my how my life has changed since then! It has been a "colorful" journey, to say the least! Even my hair color has changed since then to, you guessed it, red!
December 21, 1956 - December 21, 2006
I wanted to take just a moment to congratulate my wonderful parents on their 50th wedding anniversary!! What an incredible accomplishment - what an incredible inspiration!! The years have been happy and sad, challenging and tragic, fun and mundane, glorious and ho-hum, giddy and grueling, prosperous and poor, exceptional and everyday, ordinary and extraordinary. So, what's the common thread..? LOVE! Love for God, love for family and friends and strangers, love for each other - the deep abiding love that overcomes obstacles and sustains you through tough times...the kind that makes you laugh and cry at the same time...the kind that transcends circumstances and soars...
God Bless you Mom and Dad - and thank you for your heritage of love - we are all the richer for it!
This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "Farm". Farm critters have always been some of my favorites to draw, and weren't they fun to color and cut and paste as a kid...? Though many of us may never have the opportunity to actually visit a farm, I wish for all of us to be able to savor a bit of the country in our hearts...
The Drama QueenAll I needed was a walk-in closet, a couple of sheets for curtains, and some dress-up accessories and I was playing being in a play. I didn't do this too often, and ONLY for family (as I was way too shy to do this for strangers), but it was fun none the less to be transformed by a few simple household items and a lot of imagination. Check out lots of fine renditions of "play" at Illustration Friday - this was a fun topic to get back in the swing of things with...
"Because you've always stood up for me, I'm free to run and play. I hold on to you for dear life, and you hold me steady as a post."
(Psalm 63:7-8 -The Message)
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I'm so sorry that I have been away from my blog for so long - and I said that after my last post as well - but trust me that my life has been quite crazy. I sense that I am turning a corner and pulling into the neighborhood of "normal", and that is a welcome relief. Thanks to all of you who still come around to see if I'm alive - I assure you I am :o) I'm looking forward to going 'round and commenting on your work too - I've really missed visiting with you!
Well, I have finally made substantial updates to my illustration website: www.beckyyoung.com - these were long overdue. Now it features my digital "cut-out" style much more prominently, and has quite a few more samples than it did. Check it out!
I'll be away from this desk and my personal computer for 2 weeks starting today, July 1st, as I travel up to Colorado for a combination of vacation, visiting old friends, dealing with my Colorado property that is for sale, work, and illustration marketing. It's time again to visit the Christian Bookseller's Convention just like I did last year - it's in Denver again this year. I hope to shop my new and *hopefully* improved portfolio around to Christian gift manufacturers and publishers - it should be a blast!
SO...no more posts for a while (so what else is new, huh?) But I will be back and will give a full report in 2 weeks. Take care, thanks for dropping by, and God Bless You!!
Well, the song "Jungle Boogie" from Kool and the Gang was the first thing that popped into my head - and so here you have jungle critters dancing as I imagine they do when no one is looking....
Portrait of Contentment
Hello to those of you who haven't completely given up coming by to see if I've posted anything...I am still here. I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post - but then again, with the kind of month I've had (actually with the kind of year I've had), I guess it's understandable. It would take far too long to go into it all, but the highlights/lowlights have been the finalization of my divorce, my father's hospitalization, my own illness (which I'm over), endless paperchase to prepare to close on my new house, actually closing on my new house, moving into my new house, unpacking at my new house, buying stuff for my new house, and lots of activities sprinkled in between have kept me out of touch, endlessly exhausted, and emotionally drained. I THINK that things are settling down a bit finally...and that has given me the occasion to stop and let y'all know what's happening with me.
Blessings to each and every one of you - I hope to be back to blogging more regularly real soon - thanks for stopping by!!
"Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world's a choir - and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios."This week's Illustration Friday topic "Spring" was rich with possibilities. I however, was not rich with time. I would have loved to have done more. I adore Springtime - all nature awakening, so full of promise. Spring has been in full swing here in Texas for weeks (as seen in these pictures I took recently) - but my life at the moment seems more like Spring up north - you know it's coming, but there's not a lot of physical evidence. And these days I feel like a tulip that is still underground - there is so much happening just under the surface (I could fill a whole blog if I had time) - and I am pushing, pushing through layer after layer of rock and dirt and frozen ground - so close to breaking through and breaking free into the sunlight where I am meant to be! So today, I chose to have the quiet assurance that comes from faith that I indeed will break through into the new life God has promised me. Hopefully I'll be blooming before you know it...
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"The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will shout and sing! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the desert."
Isaiah 35:6
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"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:19
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"...but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
John 4:14
How many times have we believed that we can never change? How many times have we tried to rush the process? How many times have we not moved forward from fear? How many times have we chafed against the confines of the cocoon? How many times have we lost hope that we will ever soar?
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"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven"
Ecclesiastes 3:1
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"And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more..."
2 Corinthians 3:18
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If you'd like to see a great teaching on metamorphosis, check out this online streaming video sermon by my pastor, Kerry Shook of Fellowship of the Woodlands church. When I heard this message this weekend, I knew what I had to draw for this week's Illustration Friday topic: Insect.
Tea for Every Season
I love the topic for Illustration Friday this week: Song. Although I am not much of a singer, I LOVE to sing and do so all day long - in the car, in the shower, in the grocery store along with the Musac (when I momentarily forget where I'm at). I love all kinds of music, but I especially like to sing praise and worship songs. God has so filled my life with His love and grace and mercy that I want to spend my days singing with a heart of gratitude back to Him.
For this week's Illustration Friday topic: Simple, I chose to illustrate a quote from one of my all time favorite children's authors, Laura Ingalls Wilder. For those who may not be familiar with her work, she wrote the "Little House" series of books about growing up during the late 18oo's on the American frontier. I LOVED those books and read them over and over again throughout my childhood....and not too long ago too. She describes in glorious detail the simple (yet complex and dangerous) lives they led. Wonderful books!
I found this quote and thought is was appropriate for this week's Illustration Friday topic: Chair. It is also particularly fitting for my frame of mind. One of the hardest things about moving away to another state was leaving my dear girlfriends behind. I miss them dearly. But they are a part of me, woven into me for all eternity - they are the type of friends that you pick right up with where you left off - even if it's been a year or two since you spoke.
Well, I thought it was about time that I told you why I moved back to Texas. There's no nifty, easy way to say it: I am getting a divorce. I was married for 22 years, exactly half of my life, and now I am launching into a new life. My wonderful parents have graciously invited me to move in with them while I finalize the divorce and sort through the financial issues and obstacles in preparation for buying my own little home. My job with the large technology firm is in tact - I still work from home and am all set up with my home office here, so I am in good shape with work. My husband and I were never able to have children, so we did not have to deal with that painful issue. All in all, I am in pretty good shape. But I'm not kidding myself - I have had and will continue to have pain and loss to deal with - you don't unwind and untangle two souls in a few weeks.
(click the image to see it larger)So many ways a person could go with this week's Illustration Friday topic: cats. For whatever reason, the phrase "The Cat's Pajamas" jumped into my head and stuck, so here you go - kitties in their PJs. I love kitties, and I love pajamas, so this was a fun one for me.
As to the phrase, according to the website Cat-ch Phrases, "The Cat's Pajamas" means:
"something considered to be outstanding. The term "cat's pajamas" comes from E.B. Katz, an English tailor of the late 1700's and early 1800's, who made the finest silk pajamas for royalty and other wealth patrons."
What can I say...it was the first thing that popped into my head.
