Archive for Pencil Sketch
A gift for graduation
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When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares. ~Henri Nouwen
Today I share with you words from Nicole – she approached me a few weeks back via email and asked if I could possibly morph two separate photo’s into one drawing? Nicole’s story has been told to many people I am close with, my heart was warmed by her passion to make a friend smile and bring a special moment to her friends graduation.
Below are Nicole’s own words of why she did this….
The quote above is a perfect example the relationship with my friend. My friends mother past away last August after she battled three different types of cancers. My friend and her mother were very close more like best friends. She past 2 weeks before her senior year of high school and she wouldn’t get to see her graduate.
That’s way I decided to have this sketch done of her and her mother together as her graduation gift. It shows that they will always be together at heart and will see each other again.
Dan Fogelberg – Virtual CD Tour
Posted by: | CommentsI was asked to host a virtual cd tour promoting Dan Fogelberg, well, I am a music lover – but that was a name that hasn’t been in my current music repertoire… I remember his name, but could I tell you a single song title? no…
I figured this was being sent to me for a reason, I was supposed to listen and find some lesson here or was it just to find another set of good songs to listen to on a warm spring morning.
Dan Fogelberg was interviewed by Fred Migliore and speaks about on a personal level kind of a behind the song… I loved that concept. Dan succumbed to prostate cancer in 2007 and yet another musician went to play next to Jesus, Mary & Joseph….a musician that so many know his name, but perhaps don’t know the history.
We look into the faces of the famous musicians that get us through difficult times with their music, but do we ever realize their tough times? What makes them tick? What’s behind the song?
One of the clips on the cd Dan speaks of the emotional involvement… “not knowing he would touch so many people so deeply...”
Musician’s touch us on a daily basis, I can’t recall the last time I ever listened to one of his songs, I had to do my research and was surprised to find he was from Peoria and was as well a session musician.
I asked Fred Magliore a few questions about his experience with Dan Fogelberg -
Susie – I have gone written about several musicians and have drawn them, I often wonder of their lives.. you had the chance of sitting with Dan and learning about his life.. and him personally..what would be one thing that you learned about him, that surprised you?
Fred – I think his gift of being open to receive, and paying attention to the things around him that many of us are to busy to notice. I don’t mean on the physical plane either but more on the matters of the heart and soul. Thus a lot of the songs he wrote were channeled through him “like Souvenirs” as he put it, “frozen moments in time” that amazed him.
Fred – I hear what your getting at and there have been many times over the course of the hundreds of interviews I’ve done, where there were questions I wish I would have asked. But not with Dan. There was this feeling of closure that both of us had, when we finished the interview and I think it’s very apparent upon listening to the interview.
I wouldn’t say I am star struck, but always thought it would be truly fascinating to sit down with someone famous and learn about them.. learn what touches them, what brings the song into their life, this is the opportunity for Fogelberg fans to have another glimpse, another memory and keep his music and the man alive.
There are about 45 minutes of “lost segments” from the CD which have never been & WILL likely never be released to the public!
As an added bonus - post a comment during this tour and you will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of this one-of-a-kind CD with the remainder of the interview!!!
The most unique, insightful, special comment will be chosen to win a copy, in addition to the random drawing winners!
The tour started early on in April – check out the other blogs that were involved. You can purchase the CD from as well from – FM Odyssey
Thursday April 2 – Cheryl Malandrinos http://www.thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/ Review
Friday April 3 – Steven Bradley – http://stevenbradley.blogspot.com/ Review of CD, quips from interview, banners, possible interview questions (posting on 10 blogs)
Monday April 6 – Shelley Tucker http://thiseclecticlife.com/ Review of CD
Tuesday April 7 – Joyce Anthony http://joyceanthony.tripod.com Review of CD
Wednesday April 8- Dyan http://blog.voiceoftheangels.com/ Review of CD
Thursday, April 9- Joyce Anthony http://joyceanthony.tripod.com
Friday, April 10- Linda Merlino http://www.gooddaysnodays.blogspot.com CD Review and Shelia Goss- http://sheliagoss.com/blog/ mp3’s clips & review
Wednesday, April 15- Marta Hoelscher http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/ & http://inhishug.blogspot.com/ CD Review
Thursday, April 16th – it is me here at soul-to-soul.com & my husband over at Bucks Guitar Modifications.
17th- Robin Epstein is a lover of Dan Fogelberg’s music for a long time & will submit a review http://aroundtheisland.blogspot.com
22nd- Susan Wingate: http://www.susanwingate.com ; will review the CD
29th & 30th- Marvin at: Free Spirit blog at http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com/
AND
Hippie Days blog at http://tiedyedtirades.blogspot.com/ will review the CD
Roy Orbison – You Got It
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Every time I look into your lovely eyes,
I see a love that money just cant buy.
One look from you, I drift away.
I pray that you are here to stay..
Topping out the charts on April 15th, 1989 was You Got It – posthumously – Roy Orbison, 24 some years after hitting it big with Pretty Woman in 1964.
Roy passed away in December of 1988, I remember hearing the news and could hear his voice resonating and thinking, yet again, we lost another great.
Every time I look into your lovely eyes… followed up by.. you got it.
Do we get it? Or have we forgotten it?
Remember after 9/11 when a compassion emerged from the American People, one that made time stand still, a time when we were all grateful for the people in our lives, when a stranger held the door open for you, when someone helped you pick up your fallen groceries.
We don’t “got it” anymore – and it’s really not that hard to “get” back either, but no one seems to be willing to take the time to get back to basics.
Orbison is remembered for his many songs of “lost love”, let’s hope we can learn from Roy Orbison, the feelings that are buried within us, the compassion that we know others deserve and let’s get back to the basics.
Where Have All The Men Gone?
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Where Have All The Men Gone
anonymous
Where have all the men gone? I see plenty of woman, youth and children, but fewer and fewer men.
Who will guard the camp?
Who will teach the youth and children?
Who will provide for family, the elderly, the disabled, the future of the people?
Who will fight the battles and right the wrongs?
I see what are supposed to be ment. They look like men, but sadly, they act like the youngest of our children. Instead of children’s laughter or tears, I hear these men children crying that they did not receive their due, receive enough praise, be fed when they decided they hungered, have what they desired.
I hear the whining, complaining, cursing, bemoaning, gossiping, and aggravation coming from them. I witness others being embarrassed, hurt, pained, torments by their actions. I watch our Elders praying for a little peace, our woman beg for a little comfort, our children become confused.
How are the children and youth to learn anything from men whose temper tantrums and actions show them to be children themselves? Something is wrong, very wrong. Something here can do more to destroy our people that all the other problems combined. If we allow this to continue, we will loose another generation. They will not know how a man is supposed to act or how a man truly conducts himself.
What example do they have to follow? What men do they have to look up to and admire and patter their life after? Our young men need this. Our small boys need this. Our elders need this. Our young woman need this. Our little girls need this.
Are there any men out there? If so, please join our few, protect our camp, teach our youth and children, listen and learn from our Elders, accept what Grandfather bestows on you and remember our teachings. What you need will come. What you desire will be bestowed, if deserved. What you accomplish will be seen by all without puffing of chest, strutting, demanind, cursing or acting like children. Consider that maybe if it did not come, it was not meant to be.
I got this out of a Native American Newsletter, several years back, it still stands true, when you turn on the nightly news, and governors, senators, and people in the public eye are whining, crying because they were wronged, when in actuality it is their actions that brought on the wrongs.
We have service men fighting, defending and wishing they were home to enjoy their families… the brave, the warriors…
Lead by example, teach and be taught, and put your big boy pants on!
Steve Marriott – Go On My Son
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Steve Marriott would have turned 62 tomorrow – January 30th.
A musician, singer, songwriter and guitar player, known from Humble Pie and Small Faces.
When I think of Steve Marriott, I think of 30 Days in the Hole..and I also think of the Lukas Clan.. mainly Jack. A guy whose life blood is the volume switch on the stereo.
One year, Jack invited us to a Marriott Memorial Birthday Party.. my son, thought this was awesome! Any reason to get together and listen to old rockers joke, laugh and give each other a rash of shit about times gone by and concerts they have seen together.
These are for Carol – Jack’s niece – who requested it! Rock on Little Sister, once the hair grows back, I know you will be tossing it around in that head banger fashion that I’ve grown to love!
In April of 1991, Steve Marriott lost his life at the age of 44 – having been born pre-mature and weighing in at 4 pounds 4 ounces..
I know of one person that will question those numbers after reading this.. I’ll wait for your 4:44 call! And I’ll love ya for 44 years
Having played in Moments, Small Faces & Humble Pie, his life intertwined with many names that we all know. Whole Lotta Love by Zeppelin bares a similar sound to Marriotts version of a song originally written by Willie Dixon – apparently harboring no ill feelings for Plant, Marriott is quoted as saying.. “Go On My Son”
Achieving greatness should carry with it a sense of “humble” – we don’t get places with out inspirations, we don’t get places without learning from someone.
No matter’s whose path you cross, you can learn at least one thing from them.
Here is a single line from “As Safe As Yesterday Is” by Humble Pie – I was in a meeting yesterday and there was a topic of the “fear” how our news broadcasts and how reading the daily paper is like an emotion blizzard-put on some good music today and eliminate a bit of your fear.
And you can’t be diseased by what you fear
Happy Birthday Steve Marriott!
When It Just Ain't Right
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I’ve got wood..but not the type Frank is talking about over at Tech Jaws.
This is a piece that I knew was BAD.. and just wasn’t right. I beat myself up for 24 hours, knowing I totally missed the deal on this as well it being an unjust to my favorite subject.
This is a piece of work that will be auctioned off at a charity event coming up in February. My husband did not understand my angst over it not being correct, but graciously spent several hours sanding it off for me.
I even asked my brother-in-laws opinion, and he said if I had to ask him, I knew it was not right! He always has an opininon.. most often times one that’s larger than he is. I am not proud of this one, and it just pissed me off.. reworking pencil on natural wood is a pain in the ass. I erased, re-drew, erased, re-drew and nothing, I just could not connect this time.
I highly suggest number one, if you are going to sketch on wood, as I have in the past, go lightly. I mean that literally, it would have saved me time as well as Buck, but determined to get the darker shades down, I laid it on thick.. and the wood just soaked it up..and no matter how I tried, the mistakes could not be corrected.
There has to be a lesson in it right? What makes us good? Going back at it and trying again. Not wanting to butcher another guitar biting sketch, I opted for another favorite pic, really which one of them is not one of my favorites. To many pictures of Stevie, too little time!
Walking away from a project or re-grouping early on is the best way of fixing something that is not going as you had planned. We can all be off our game on any given day, I took a breather and with wood had clean fresh slate which is now turning into something that I can with confidence sign my name to.
Not all the work we do is perfection, not all the projects we are involved in can be “spectacular”, walk away with a lesson & a plan for the next one.
Return to Innocence
Posted by: | CommentsEnigma said it best in their song called Return to Innocence
Don’t be afraid to be weak
Don’t be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
We have in the news, Rod Blagojevich – we all know why. Britney Spears for a song with “nasty” connotations as well as Plastic Surgery for the Dead?
Perhaps I just don’t get it…. any of it….Blagojevich needs to trade his jogging suit for some big boy pants and let the state start a recovery effort.
Driving the tollways, his name is plastered all over the I-Pass lanes, if, he is guilty – I do not claim to be a “politician” or a “political junkie” so, I won’t weigh in on that one, but if he is guilty, how much money will be spent alone on removing his name from these signs?
The manpower, hours & money to do it?
Honoring people when they are gone is one thing, a dedicated highway for someone who has made a difference, or a street named after a famous ball player. I get that..but I do know where we have gotten so much helium to inflate the ego’s that exist in our society.
Returning to innocence – when will reporters report on those that make a difference other than those that are bringing down the moral fiber of the human race?
Plastic surgery for the dead? Do you think that King Arthur needed plastic surgery before they sent him afloat on his funeral pyre? Do we really need to have a revival of Britney Spears and her Memoirs? She was born in ’81, does she really have memories worth sharing after the age of 17?
What about those that have truly suffered tragedy? Just look into your heart my friend, that will be the return to yourself.
Take a day, turn off the tube, relinquish the remote control and find a story in your own life that will be good for someone unsuspecting. Return to Innocence, where you did things because they were fun, you learned, you made people laugh…..
Prompting this post was an inquiry that I had about a sketch, the subject of this inquiry is a driving force behind my passion for drawing, I was asked a price…I am finding it impossible in my heart to put a price on it…..most likely, I will be giving it away!
KISS my What?
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In the presence of my husband, if someone says “kiss my ass”, he quickly says, “mark a spot, you are all ass”
Here is Paul Stanley, guitarist from KISS – born in Queens in 1952 and a legendary rock figure, writing and co-writing a majority of their famous chart busting hits. It was with Paul’s encouragement that KISS took off their makeup sometime in the 80′s. Paul has a birthday coming up on Inauguration day, he will be 57 and still looking pretty good!
It’s tough for many to take off their make-up because we are a society driven by the anorexic look, face lifts, fat lips and boob jobs. What are we recognized for, is it our appearance, talent, brains or looks?
We have all heard Oprah whining lately about how upset she is with her appearance, she needs to loose weight by the Inauguration….. give me a break! I’ve got news for Oprah, many people would like to be employed, or be able to pay their bills on time. A worry such as 15 pounds should never throw us into such a tail spin.
We have stereo typical images of bad boys, dumb blondes, sex symbols, geeks, business men, career women and so on…Take off that stereo typical make up, there are so many things you can obsess over, other than appearance, I have battled my weight for many years, up 20, down 10, up 5, down 1.. I can’t physically keep up my “goal” as set by the Weight Watchers standards.
I am setting my own goal, it’s where I feel comfortable, where things fit that I like. Strive to be the best you can, don’t strive to be someone else, or look like someone else, because, underneath all that stereo typical make-up, there very well may be botox, silicione and alot of stitches & scars.
A great example of the not being stereo typical is Diane Keaton, she is who she is, and she is a beautiful woman!
To the rest, well.. KISS my…
He Danced – Patrick Swayze
Posted by: | CommentsHe danced into our lives 20 years ago, with Dirty Dancing, I can’t believe it was that long ago..
I remember seeing Swayze in “Red Dawn” in 1984 – and for some reason last night, I remembered a line he had in that movie -
C’mon! We’re all going to die, die standing up!
A few years back, I had a discussion with a character I referred to as “Captain Chaos” and it was in regards to dying – it was regarding my friend that was told she was terminal, I said to Chaos, “I can’t imagine what it is like to wake up each morning knowing that” He looked at me quizzically and said, “it’s going to happen to all of us” Coming from someone who as by his nickname, I didn’t expect those words, but how damn true is that.
Patrick Swayze is living his life now with strength and drive, I have to say he was inspirational, scared out of his wits I am certain, but he is living now, for what he loves, for the passion that is within him.
Looking at his gaunt and sunken eyes, you can see fatigue and yet he pulls it together to continue doing what he loves for as long as he can. Do we really know what fatigue is these days?
We waste so much time on materialistic nonsense, petty arguments and trivial bull shit and for what? Is it fulfilling? Just watch the nightly news….scandel, scandel, scandel. Why? Everyone wants to have more or be more than the next person.
We shouldn’t wait to be in a situation like Patrick Swayze to get to the core of who we are and living for what we love.
“What winning is to me is not giving up, is no matter what’s thrown at me, I can take it, and I can keep going.” Patrick Swayze
What happened to Sexy?
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Sexy? A state of mind, person or place that makes us think someone else is sexy? I was reading news of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler and walking down memory lane of old celebrities that as a young teen I thought were so hot that I’d forge their autographs on the Teen Beat Centerfolds and proudly hang them on my wall.
This picture depicts Mickey Rourke in 9-1/2 weeks and Kim Bassinger as she hangs on his every breath with weak knees, along with another hottie of current days, Vin Diesel – the boy with the biceps and full of attitudability. Is it what people wear, how they carry themselves, a certain body part that our eyes convince our emotions that they are sexy?
What happened to Sexy?
Mickey Rourke was extremely sexy, from 9-1/2 weeks to Harley Davidson & The Marlboro Man, he had that bad boy attitudability…the attitude that takes away a womans ability to resist, he still has attitude, but the looks have drastically changed.
If beauty is in they eye of the beholder, are we fickle beholders when we see a recent photo of a Leif Garrett, Mickey Rourke or Jeff Conway? Or have our tastes just changed over the years? What happens to sexy? If we take an actor or actress for the merits of their fame, are we being shallow when their looks are lost with time and we no longer find them sexy?
When we mature, sexy matures with you, when you alter it, people know you have altered it, and the illusion is lost. Altering yourself to re-capture your youth, rarely works, your “audience” is aging with you….
We all change over time, are we more likely to think one is sexy still when we see the changes happen slowly?