Moss Whispers

Lacy Leaf is a character in this first story of Twigs at Twilight.As Big Twig and Little Twig leap down from their branches in their large old oak family tree, they are headed on a search for their good friend, Lacy Leaf who has blown down from the tree before the day is done, before the magical time of twilight when adventurers are free to leave their daytime posts at the end of their branch. Even though, at this point, she is not supposed to show up in the story…I feel it is important to give her a shape in my mind. After all, it is because of her that this adventurous search begins.

This is my first attempt at painting the beginning of twilight, the time between daylight and dark. I want it to get darker as we move further into Big and Little Twigs adventure, and as the night moves on…yet I don’t want it to get so dark that we can’t even see the characters, where they are and what’s going on. Illustrating my writing is such a great exercise for me! It really helps me also shape the text. I’m so looking forward to seeing what happens with this story! I have been ‘sitting on this one for years…worked on it off and on, but not yet been happy with something about the flow of the story.

Last night was one of those ‘untimely’ ones! Up past 2 am dealing with technology tempests! I guess I need to give myself a little slack on learning how to navigate the subtle nuances of a new website vs. a blog! I was trying to post a painting and embed the text. I need to learn how to ‘draw and paint’ with not only the ‘content’ of the text in mind, but also merging the ‘text and painting layout’ .  I actually don’t even know how to ‘language’ that much less ‘execute’ it! Agghh! And now that I’ve mentioned the word, execute, I didn’t at ALL intend to create a painting that looks like two little guys being ‘executed’ in a tree! NOT a good way to begin my next innocent children’s book!!!! I definitely need to adjust this illustration to reflect what is really beautiful in my mind’s eye! More work to be done!

As for the poem…I was digging through all my notes on Twigs at Twilight, (and this story has been in the making for years!) I came upon my initial poem that I wrote and have been tediously tampering with off and on ever since!… I’m courageously stepping through fear to tackle this one!  And to get one step ahead of staying up til dawn each night, I’m posting this poem again TODAY!  and the first page of the ‘story’ will come up TOMORROW!!! To write about ‘dawn’ I need to switch my inner clock!  

TWIGS at TWILIGHT (initial poem)

Two tiny twigs become best friends
Perched on branches at different ends
By day they watch as the world moves by,
When twilight comes, they sprout wings to fly!

As evening shadows step out to play,
This moonlit night, twigs begin their day.
Through their limbs blow nightly breezes,
With winded breaths, each locked joint eases.

Knees once stiffened, wiggle and knob,
Eyes exchange winks, heads gently bob.
Linking elbows, they take their stance.
Two tiny twigs begin to prance!

They loosen their joints and raise their knees,
Dancing a circle that no one sees.
Off on adventure upon the lawn,
Until the untimely sun cries, Dawn!

HURRAY! The little birds are sharing the jingling sound around the world! What Makes A Jingle Ring is now available for sale on this website in my SHOP! Next, the sharing of it will take ONE BIG MANY! So if you like my first book, please share it with as many as you think might also like it! And if you have suggestions or comments about it for me, please share them with ME here on my new website! I’m the lucky learner in this process! Thank you ALL for you support! Enjoy! And please let me hear from you! Meanwhile,…. the next book is brewing…

The little birds that keep appearing in my illustrations are practicing their drum rolls and fancy steps to present the opening of a new website and publication of my first online book, “What Makes a Jingle Ring?” This has been quite a practice for me as well, especially the last details! So keep your eyes on the web and listen for any jingles, bird sounds, or mosswhispers, to herald it’s coming! This has been a dream for a good while and I’m grateful for all the bit of ‘lift’ I’ve been given to get this project off the ground! I’m so excited and hope you’ll enjoy what’s coming!

I thought I was going to excitedly write about my new book publication that will be available after tomorrow! But instead I decided to take a break after working all day on ‘the details’ of the book, and celebrate how toddlers grow up! This is a little drawing I did of one of our sons when he was in his cowboy career days! And today, that ‘lil cowboy’ turned thirty! Even though I can’t quite get the real life and likeness his wonderfulness at this age, I’m realizing that memories of our little boys and girls are etched forever in our hearts. Their chubby little legs, feet and fingers, their sweet voices, and wobbly proud walks. They are so precious growing up and the preciousness never goes away, even when they become wonderful men and wonderful women! So, rather than miss those days with sadness, I just want to celebrate how they are embedded in us forever at every age and stage, and it’s such a privilege to get to watch them grow up!

I will be publishing my book, this weekend! The first version will be in pdf form and available for SALE online. I plan to start with this format first and will look at other publishing options (amazon, apple, print) in the future if people are interested.
This whole process has been a great way for me to start the ball rolling. And now that I’ve begun this journey, I look forward to sharing more stories, learning through the process, and honing my skills of writing and illustrating! Thanks to so many for support along the way! I hope you enjoy my first picture book and I would love any feedback or suggestions.

The hole where the skink (or was it Slab?) crawled was under the Potter’s mantle.

Had a dream last night that I was teaching again and was introducing working with clay, specifically ‘slab work’ with clay and rolling pins. Couldn’t find enough free surfaces for each child to spread out. Wanted to work in ‘an extra studio’ I had set up years before in an extra room at the school. As far as I knew it had not even been entered since then. (This is a ‘studio’ I’ve seen in my head for years also. Don’t know for sure if there is one somewhere. It’s not the one in our garage.) I opened the door for us to use it, and there was a whole group of kids and a teacher already in there!) So we continued to work where we were all over the place…on the floor, under tables, etc. I was trying to teach them to roll their clay a certain consistency…not too thick, and not too thin. I gave them each two flat sticks to put on either side of the clay to keep the rolling pin from rolling things too flat. I was trying to explain the word, ‘slab’. I just had to invent Slab as a character to show them what I meant. Very similar to Gumby, but uniquely Slab. So now that I’ve had the thought many times about this character at the Hillock, and have written about Slab as the character, the Potter, and have now dreamed of the importance of the character Slab as a teaching tool and example….is it time to focus on him as a character first? Also at the Hillock the other day, there was a very large colorful skink who raced into the Potter’s house, ran under the mantlepiece on the cedar tree that holds some of his pottery, and scurried down a hole there! Hmmmm….

Watching over his pond is an ancient king frog who has long turned to stone. His story is quite compelling and may surface soon as mysteries unfold at The Hillock. For now, he is content watching his offspring many generations hence, as they sparkle and shimmer as living cells in their comfortable pillowy egg sacs. Even Francklin the dog, respects their glistening greatness and allows them space when he cools his tired three legs in what he knows as ‘his pond’. Meanwhile, my head’s swimming with all these mysterious clues and characters.