I write a lot of books and stories and have done so all of my life, but there's another creative side of me that far fewer people are aware of and that's art. I first drew in pencil, tried pastels but that was a disaster...I smudged everything. I tried painting with acrylics when my older sister Lynnmarie was painting with oils, but I stunk at painting. I wasn't until high school when found my true medium- india ink! The pen holder and nibs just spoke to the 1800's girl in my heart. sometime in the early 1970's I went to Johnson's Bookstore in Springfield and found a Speedball Calligraphy and drawing set with A, B, C, and D nibs, ink, pen cleaner, and several Hunt tips and a holder...it was as if the gates of Heaven were flung open!
In 1976 when I went off to college, I hauled a good supply of my pen and ink drawing along with me and hung them on the walls. When life got busy with working full time, managing a house, raising a child my drawing slowed down. Rheumatoid arthritis plagued and still does, but the worst of it is in my left thumb. Fortunately, I'm right-handed!
I began drawing Westfield's black squirrels in early September of this year and hid two originals in frames on Art Drop Day, September 4th. The response to my drawings was rather overwhelming. People were messaging me for additional clues or just flat out where the squirrels had been dropped. So, I drew some more, and then some more. Eighteen or so different squirrels emerged from the pen nib, some with touches of color.
The squirrels will be available in my home town at events. Several have found their way into Blue Umbrella Books, 2 Main Street, Westfield, MA, and I have been talking with my former employer for whom I assisted in creating the black squirrel silhouette (again a pen and ink drawing) that graces his line of The Black Squirrel, Westfield Massachusetts merchandise. He may add several of my art prints to his website- theblacksquirrel.com
Anyway, Kelly was kind enough to create an Art page for this blog, so feel free to go and play among the squirrels. I'm also going to do some chipmunks, and other wildlife in the future. I drew a vampire bat for Halloween, of course. I'll also put up the draped funeral urns (a series of 14) after NaNoWriMo. Kelly got the squirrels up this evening then dashed to her laptop to begin work on her NaNo novel. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now...so, excuse me as I dash off to be a good author and get some words put down before bedtime!
If any of the squirrels catch your fancy you can email me at sebuffum415@gmail.com. The prints are $10 each direct from me at this time, and there would be some postage if you're not local.
No comments:
Post a Comment