October 2022 – Chaos Central Command

A Lie is a Lie

It’s that time again! Time to gather around the table and share some juicy tidbits of fiction with the folks of Friday Fictioneers, hosted by the lovely and talented Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. You can find other small tales of wonder, and danger at: rochellewisoff.com. Come on out and join us! This week’s photo is loaned to us by : Bill Reynolds.

wc: 98

Note: This is the opening paragraph for Nano this year. Leaves open so many directions, dontcha think?

Iosa hated being in a position where she felt she had to lie, even if it were only a little white lie. A lie was a lie. What bothered her was having to tell that lie to the one person whom she felt truly cared about her. What choice did she have? None, if she were honest with herself. No, if the truth ever saw the light of day, it would be her last. That reality was a certainty. And, she’d been seriously attempting to avoid that outcome.

She looked up, and saw that truth standing before her…

Author’s note: I was unable to get to the event last week as I wanted to. Hubby’s needs outweighed. So, I’m taking the time to rip out the shirt and redo it the correct way. I promise to do a post about it when I’m finished with it.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of terminal waiting, then jumping and doing as Hubby moves through the process of Vocational Rehab and Blind Services evaluations. This has been needed for decades. It’s finally happening. Just pray that all comes out well and we can get the services that he needs.

Inktober Day 16 – Day 22

Okay, I have to admit that I’m really behind. Sooooo, I decided to try to do a week’s worth of prompts in one sitting… only giving 2 – 3 min per sketch. Nothing fancy, just lines/contours. Just capturing an idea for each prompt. This week, I forgot my “go-kit” so all I had was a Dollar Tree rollerball ppen. It served is all I have to say about that. So, here we go. No explanations, just a splash down of pics…. just remember: I did say that Inktober has a tendency to bring out my worst work, the following is evidence to that statement.

Now, I’m only two days behind. I now return you to sanity.

Inktober Day 15 – Armadillo

Day 15 – Armadillo. Off the grid with this one. The prompt led me in an entirely different direction. That’s okay. “The road less traveled” and all that. As a day of winter chill set in yesterday, I was quite mindful of our sisters and brothers who have no home to shelter them. Need I say more? Should I just allow this to speak for itself….

Inktober Day 9- Day 14

Still playing a little catchup here. This post should bring me up to where I am. Exception is one particular Inktober prompt that I want to do on a seperate post by itself. It has a very serious message, so that’s how I’ll do it. Until then, here we go again…

Day 10- Crabby. My attempts at drawing a literal crab were so atrocious. That’s all I’m saying. So, I went a different direction. I was reminded of my time on Grenada and Ms. Katleen’s advice NOT to mess with the gazillion crabs that greeted us every morning on the beach. I saw quite a few tourists who did not heed the signs, and some lost fingers in their stupidity. I heeded the advice after Ms. Katleen took a thick stick and showed me how the crab could literally cut it in two.

Day 11- Eagle. I went stylistic with this one… thinking of the regalia I’m making and was going to put a Zuni Eagle/Thunderbird on. I really enjoyed arting up this one. It’s bright and cheerful. Used a touch of my Walnut ink, too.

Day 12 – Forget. Who remembers hearing the phrase “Tie a ribbon round your finger. It will help you remember”…

Day 13 – Kind. I was reminded of a scene in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” where the monster encounters the little girl, and how the little girl is not afraid of him…

Day 14 – Empty. And, last for this posting…. I actually did run out of ink in my favorite Micron pen and had to go out to replace it… yet another delay. Anyway, running out of ink fit perfect with this day’s prompt…

And with that, I’m caught up to the inking I did this morning before dawn and the crush of the day began. The next post will be the stand-alone posting. When you see it, you’ll grasp why…

So long for now, and thanks for all the fish!

Inktober Day 5 – Day 8

Forgive me, I’ve been quite busy of late with barely enough time to get anything into my sketchbook, let alone post it. Ach, but It’s already past the halfway point and beyond, and I’m only up to day 15. So, let’s do a little catchup here. Will do 4 photos a post….

Day 5 -Flame combined with Day 8 – Match (pressed for time…sigh…) Pretty self-explanatory… Was going to go another way, but wanted to remain family friendly.

Day 6- What Artist doesn’t like a bouquet of art supplies?

Day 7 – Trip. Just wouldn’t be complete without a “trip” back to the 1960’s with its psychedelic ‘shrooms…

Day 7 – Nest. I was playing with my Walnut ink here. That’s supposed to be an eagle in the nest. I was going to combine 2 prompts again, but didn’t.

The Real

The Real

The real of it is that this week, I have no time to play.

My cloth is chosen, the pattern cut

my fingers are raw and pin pricked

and my dreams have gone wild.

The delicate fringes are tied

My fingers are raw and pin pricked’

and my dreams have gone wild

In the end, by Friday this,

A new dance attire will be made

until then, from dawn to dusk

and well beyond

my fingers are raw and pin pricked

and my dreams have gone wild.

Wc:89

Author’s Note: Please forgive if I don’t get around to your story until Monday or beyond. I’ll be reading just later. Sunday last, I was asked to dance this coming weekend. As some of you know, I’ve retired from Jingle dancing, and haven’t been with my Native Fam since before the pandamn began. Soooo, though I had slowly gathered the parts and pieces to make new dance regalia in the Women’s Traditional style, I’d yet to begin. I planned to work on it over this winter, but Sunday’s request could not be denied. My Native Sister offered to make me a beautiful shawl. I traveled up to her home and we spent the day sewing together, chatting, laughing, crying, all the things that I’ve missed so very much. By day’s end, we had almost completed the shawl, and I’d made a huge start on the dress. I still have an element to add to the shawl that may/may not make it by this weekend… The dress… I have the shirt nearly complete and will whip out the skirt today hopefully. As long as the creek don’t wash out the circle, I’ll be there dancing on Saturday. Thankful for those who survived the pandamn, and mournful for those who didn’t. My shawl as it is at the moment… three bears will be in each corner, overlapping and facing the starburst. Bears will be yellow, brown and orange to match.

Behind Glass

wc: 35 with title

Behind Glass

The sadness

like rain

falling down

the window’s

cheeky face

washing away

the clutter

of reality’s

unsettling times

like time

frozen thus

behind the glass

separate

yet a part

the sadness

like rain.

Author’s note: It is October, so I’m out playing with ink for the annual Inktober art madness. I started out a few days behind due to an incident while making said ink. Quickly caught up, though, so that’s good. Hubby is well and working hard. Caught up with an old friend this week that I haven’t seen in a while. It was a good visit.

In regards to the poem above…well, I did go home for Labor Day weekend, and found far too too many missing faces. I also went to a living history event with the group that I do that with, and again, found far too too many missing faces. So, it’s been a sad few days processing all that was lost to covid, cancer, and life in general.

Inkie catchup for Inktober.

Let us start with the finish of Day 1! YEAH! This morning, I took of the last of the bandages on my hands. Hands feel almost normal with a little twinge now and then. So, back to doing things. FIRST on my list was laundry… while that churned away, I worked on catching up with Inktober-ness.

I didn’t exactly work my composition out so well for my Gargoyle wannabe. I’m not an expert at drawing dragons and demons and beasts. That said, I didn’t use any photo ref, just drew this off the cuff in pencil and then went back with ink. After finishing it, there was this huge blank area, so I decided to write a little something to remind about the original purpose of the gargies… diverting water away from buildings and “protecting” against the real evil and demons in the world. So, the ugly wins. Keynote is that I used my homemade walnut ink!

Day 2 prompt was “Scurry”… I went with the obvious. A quick 2 min sketch. Gave me a little chuckle… moving on…

Day 3’s prompt is “Bat”… all I could think in my tired brain was that I’d gone “batty”… I thought of drawing a real bat, but given that I was so behind I wanted to catch up as quickly as I could… so, consider this a hose job on the prompt… moving on…

Day 4 – Today… caught up, slowing down, enjoying the journey. Today’s prompt is “Scallop”. I thought about shells and how they are tossed by the tide, and churned smooth by the sea. I delved back into pointilism which I haven’t really played with in a few years. I’d forgotten just how relaxing and enjoyable playing with the dots is. I could almost “feel” my BP lowering while I dotted these shells up. The little poem came to me first, before I started doodling… So, I made sure to leave some space to write… I think it looks a little like a waterline flowing down the page…

Inktober – Day 1 -half-finished

I’m a bit behind already! ARGH!!! Thanks to scalding my hands while making the Walnut Ink. That said, this morning I started to work on Day 1 – Gargoyle. I’m not all that familiar with Gargoyles on the whole, so I did a little research into their function and purpose. Very interesting way to divert water I have to say to that. Anyway ,my Gargie is half-finished at the moment. My hands are still quite sore to the touch so holding the pen or the brush is for a very little time at one sitting. Even typing this is painful.

I’ve used my new ink here. YEAH! It works. I don’t know what it is about Inktober that seems to bring out the worst in my “arting”. Maybe because I just throw down whatever because I feel so pressured to get each prompt done within the day allotted for it. Don’t know. Anyway, my humble offering to the even is half-done at the moment. Day 2 is easy and should be a quick draw, so off to do that one.