Cooking Man and I have started to make our own yogurt. It’s way easy, a yogurt 
maker is cheap, and the resulting yogurt is exactly what you want. We add vanilla, lemon or orange zest (from our own trees!) or nutmeg. There are eight cups, so we can get a variety of flavors. It’s about half the cost of store-bought yogurt, and carb-friendly and tasty. Proving once more that mixed-media can include the art of cooking and the joy of eating.
Urban Sketchers are on Spring Break, but still posting, and I love to see their page layouts and sketches.
Diane Becka takes a photo a day, and this one, about creating natural art with what you find while you are out on a walk, is both inspiring and satisfying. The post on creation and destruction both puzzled me and didn’t surprise me. But the boy’s action does make you think about what you would have done in the same circumstances–as an onlooker, as a parent.
I’m a fan of Buddhist Boot Camp, because of the incongruous name as well as the inspiration that works for me. Here’s one I liked this week: “Find something worth dying for, then live for it!” And no, I’m still not religious. So I love this quote from the site: “As the Dalai Lama says, ‘Don’t try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.’” When people ask me about religion, sometimes I say, “I’m Buddish”
It took me a long time to start sketching. Because, you know, I was chicken. (Image: ink on watercolor paper, inked papers. © Quinn McDonald, all rights reserved, 2012.
I’ve narrowed down my art choices so I can get better at fewer things. I’ve chosen pen and ink sketching (OK, and hand lettering, using the same pen nibs) and collage (which includes found poetry.) See how it gets out of hand quickly? But if you are a pen and ink sketcher, here’s a good site for choosing nibs for your art.
Today is the deadline to get the download on stenciling tips from Glenda Waterworth’s site, Chocolate Baroque. The offer ends on March 17, 2013. Get the code and link to her site here.
Yesterday, I spent the day re-vamping the way I make Monsoon Papers. I’d wanted to get richer colors faster, and decided that I liked to have the front and back look different. The same color family, but different looks. I spent an entire day doing it, and of course, the Inner Critic showed up to comment and tell me how I was wasting time. But it turns out, he was wrong. I got some great results, was smart enough to take notes. Which means I can teach it. And I will be 
teaching it in Mid-May in Minneapolis. The link isn’t up yet, but as soon as it is, I’ll give you more details. But meanwhile, save the date for May 18-19, 2013. (There’s more to the class than Monsoon Papers, but all that information will be up in about 10 days or so.)
Having updated the technique, I’ll also be teaching the new technique at the five-day art and writinf retreat at Madeline Island this July 22 to 26, 2013. (Wonder why I keep adding the year? Because I’ve had people try to register for classes I taught four years ago. Once you’ve got more than 1,600 blog posts, it can be hard to demand people check the dates of the post.)
That’s it for the weekend! See you on Monday!
–-Quinn McDonald is a creativity coach, writer, and artist who is creating new classes combining all three and having an excellent time doing it.
QuinnCreative 