I'm SO BLESSED!

Yeah! Bravo! I'm the man! I won something!!! You heard it here first...I received a phone call yesterday afternoon from a state watercolor society. (Can't divulge which state yet..sorry). I had entered one of my paintings into their annual national invitational and they informed me I received one of the awards. YEA!
This, of course, comes with a nice little prize package....I'll take all I can get. The reception and opening of the show is still a few weeks away but they wanted me to make plans on trying to be there to receive my award. GOD is good!
It is always nice to win something and it never gets old. I have been very fortunate over the years to receive awards at the larger venues.
Anyway I just wanted to share this good news with my friends and say this has made my day, week or more. I can show you the painting but I can't tell you where it was entered until after the opening reception. Thanks to all of you for comments and may you be blessed as much and more than I in your endeavors...praying for each of you. LOL

Burning the Fog

Marina Sun
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

Some days are foggier than others but yet if you will give it time the sun will always come through.
I had a foggy day yesterday and last night but I am praising the sun coming through today. The outlook is always different although both hold their own type of beauty.
The hot news about my gene test is I have the wrong one or it has mutated out of control for the chemo they were going to try....so on to the next battle. Doc said the chemo I'm on has stopped working so they're looking for something and for me to hang in there....like I got a choice.ahahaha.
My lungs sounded good to him and the CAT scans showed no new areas plus the tumors on my liver have maybe gotten 5 % bigger which is no big deal. He thinks I look healthy and they just can't figure me out...hahaha....People can't figure God out either and I keep hanging around HIM...so things are good for me.
They decided to go ahead with my regular three day chemo treatment so that I would have at least something in my system. WOW what a night....no sleep due to the steroids in it and I had nausea and all the good stuff......I think I am being poisoned! ahahaha...for those of you who don't know, chemo is poison.
Another day and maybe some rest and I will be good to go and maybe I'll take a ride on one of these boats in the picture.
I paint sometimes from memory when I can't get out of the house and this is one I painted the other day...watercolor. I thought you might enjoy it. GOD bless and thanks for all the prayers and good vibes you are sending my way.

Memories

My Mentor's Style
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

Painting pictures like this are a healing process for me. I've spoken on this subject several times before. When I finished this I thought it would be nice to share it with my friends....YOU.
So get out there and do some journaling or even some art and you'll be blessed for it. GOD BLESS

My Caricature Bird Friends

Caricature Birds_edited-1
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

There I was in the middle of the woods enjoying the cool of the air and the sounds of nature. I had no drive to draw but these guys kept getting louder and floating through the tree tops....that's right they were just kids. Trying to fly and look good for the day was not their best suit yet.
So I took out my pen to get even and only had the back of a email paper in my paper. I cut them out and here they are......caricatures for sure....my friends.
enjoy........This is really a healing process.

Turquios Skies

Turquios Skies
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

This is a quick sketch I did while on vacation a few weeks ago. The sky was so turquoise color and my favorite birds, Ravens, soaring on the hot air currents. Man I wish I could soar like that. Ground colors are so magnificent there. I can't wait to paint this someday.
I did this in my aquabee, 5 X 7 sketch book. On this particular page I had a prior wash of matte medium and water before drawing. Ink and watercolor sketch outside of Taos, New Mexico. En Plein aire painting is always a treat for me.
Now go journal and some art if you want. GOD BLESS>

Taos Rhododendron 1

Taos Rhododendron 1
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

Here's one of my sketches from vacation. This is done in one of my little journals. Can you see how much I was enjoying myself with the watercoloring of this flower? Let the healing begin...God is good. Now go do some journaling or copy this flower for your own enjoyment. Use colored pencils, crayon or whatever floats your boat.
God bless
Ricky

Irish Gentleman

Irish Gentleman
Originally uploaded by Ricky Holtman

Hey Gang,
Here's a sketch that anyone can do...........by that I mean there are people around us all the time. Ask them to pose for 5 minutes. You'll find out that over time you will get faster and learn what you need to look for to make a picture. Concentrate first on a specific element such as the eyes or nose, mouth etc.. Just practice the parts and then practice putting them together.........TRUST ME it will work for you. More on this in a later blog.
Great day again and we had storms overnight but if it wasn't that it would be drought so go figure....thank GOD for taking care of us.
Now get out there and write, doodle, paint, draw and send some comments this way so we know how we are doing. GOD BLESS

BLessing for YOU!

Just yesterday we were writing about 'Choice', basically changing our thinking and attitude in a shorter time span. WHY?, because things change when we do.
We should always be LOOKING UP for things to happen to us in a good way. Have an aire of expectancy at all times for the good in our situation and our fellow man.
I woke up this morning to a great blessing to you and me. Chris Beck, a renowned artist, wrote about this site on her blog. WOW!
Since we are a new blog this benefits us all to get the word out. So people can learn what we are about and come together as a community that shares and cares.
I personally want to thank Chris for this.As you go to her blog and look at all the beautiful things she is doing leave a comment and become a follower. To own one of her paintings and be able to sit and meditate on it daily would bring great joy to your spirit. Her colors and composition are beyond believable. The blog title is "I'm painting as fast as I can." and the article title is "Journaling Through Cancer".
Please check out the comments under the article also, they are precious. Remember again, this site is not about me but US....your participation through comments and your art. Please leave comments and again please thank Chris for what she has done here. It was no small measure.
It's a sunny day and all is well.....amen. Now get those journals out and write about whatever or how this blog and Chris' blog has affected you.....then doodle something or draw a picture. If you use color, think about what colors and temperature we would want to express a wonderful experience such as this.
Please share this site with as many people as possible. The more input the better. I'm leaving a picture of mine for today. The primary colors show how I feel.
God Bless.

The Goldfinch

Yes I was doing my plein aire painting and kept looking at this tree....."did someone put christmas ornaments on the tree?" No, as my eyes got adjusted it was a whole HERD OF AMERICAN GOLDFINCH! I had never seen that many in my life. What a blessing that was....all I could do was stare and get my binoculars out. Thank GOD the sun wasn't playing tricks on my old eyes. This is a watercolor approximately 12" X 18"...140 pound cold press paper. Enjoy.
My question to you is........"Are you journaling yet?" I'm waiting for your responses and some followers before I go much farther into ideas etc. for writing. God bless.

Journaling

What a beautiful Saturday.....the wife and I took a day trip to check out some art. This old historic town is having artisans around the square every second saturday of the month.
Some were weaving and some painting. Not many there yet because of early summer yet but it will grow. This is there second year for it and were had a good time walking around and even going in some of the old stores.
These older towns that aren't very big have a tough time of it. It's good to be able to use the arts as a possible platform to draw people there. But people must remember to support them or they can't keep coming back.
We got back and sunshine and trip had me up and rearing to do some art. So playing around I came across a full size, 15" X 22", watercolor I did in Colorado before coming down ill. This was at about the 10,000 ft level. It was beautiful up there. So I hope you enjoy the art and think about what is written here. This is journaling....YES YOU CAN DO IT! God bless

Art TIp #2

Hey friends, Hope this finds everyone well. Did you do any journaling or doodling lately?
The medical field of art therapy has plenty of proof about journaling and imagery [doodling]. It's proven to be one of the most therapeutic we can do for ourselves.
Finding drawings on cave walls thousands of years old tell us people were using images long before words. It is proven today that images are still more expressive a language than words will ever be. Remember the saying "A picture is worth 1000 words". It's true.
So, what does this mean to you and me? We need to get off our rear ends and get to writing and doodling. Tell others about this or this website and get with the program.
Some say how do I doodle? Start scribbling....scribble the trash can..your coffee mug....a flower...chair..lamp.GO FOR IT!
Others talk about color....well think about it for a minute...umh..We get our colors from our feelings and this is why we doodle...to express your inner thoughts to the outer environment. For instance if I was going to say, 'I feel sunny today', what color do you think I would color my stick person? What about the other stick person you drew and you wrote, 'they are green with envy'. What color would that be??? RIGHT....green. You see out getting in touch with our images can express things so much better than the words sometimes. But the two work well together.
I got my chemo pump off this morning, you know the needle out of my chest. Well, what color do you think I feel right now? RIGHT ON! pretty sunny right now.
So I went out and picked a sprig of Azelea and did a quick ink pen drawing and colored it with watercolor....does it look like I feel? Sunny and all warm and happy inside from my experience this morning? You bet it shows that. This is what we want to do at any given time of our day or week is get it out there so we can HEAL on the inside and help someone else who may go through your experience.
GOD BLESS!

Art and Doodling

Here's a new little sketch of the Missouri River. It's approximately 6" X 8" at the most..
It doesn't take much for a quick sketch once you learn. This happens to be watercolor. Some people like using watercolor and others don't. Try colored pencils, crayolas, or just plain lead pencil. Whatever you find that works for you. There is no right or wrong and no picture is better that someone else...it's just different. Never compare yours to mine or others because our experience is different and just like our handwriting, no two are alike. Now get out there and get with it and leave a comment. God bless.