Imagine that you have magnets in your shoes?

“The best antidote I have found is to yearn for something. As long as you yearn, you can’t congeal: There is a forward motion to yearning.”
– Gail Godwin

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I like that.  Yearning has a forward motion.

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Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

A Tower with Outside Stairs?

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There is just so much wrong with this, but who cares?  It’s a bookmark and what are we doing when we read a book?  We are stretching our imaginations, right?  So, imagine that you have magnets in your shoes and the stairs are steel.  You won’t fall.  But, you can lean way out or duck and roll into that lowest opening.  Can’t do that without magnets in your shoes. 

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About Gail Godwin

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American author Gail Godwin is best known for her well-developed characters in such novels as A Mother and Two Daughters, The Odd Woman, and Violet Clay, all National Book Award nominees. She was born in 1937 in Alabama and raised in North Carolina. She married and divorced twice and lived with composer Robert Starer for 25 years until his death in 2001. They collaborated on ten musical works. She has written 13 novels and two short-story collections. She lives in Woodstock, New York.

Watercolor Aztec Bookmark

“It’s difficult in times like these; ideals, dreams and cherished hope rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality.  It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical.  Yet I cling to them because I believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.  I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”– Ann Frank

 

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Aztec Bookmark – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

Another fun bookmark to make.  I painted some cows with this design, too!  I know!  Weird! 

Ann Frank

Born in Germany in 1929, Anne Frank is one of the most famous Jewish victims of the Holocaust because of the diary she kept during her time in hiding before being captured by the Nazis. She was only 13 years old when she and her family went into hiding. The writings from the two years she spent in such close proximity to her family was discovered and published by her father, Otto Frank and continue to touch people today.

Hippie Chick Postcard

“Anything that you throw comes back. All your actions are echoes.”
–Swami Satchidananda

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Bethville Postcard – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

I think this bookmark comes from the hippie chick in me.  What can I say? 

Swami Satchidananda

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda,  the founder of Integral Yoga,^®  is one of the most revered Yoga masters of our time.  Regarded by many as an apostle of peace,  Sri Gurudev serves as an example of  the teachings of Yoga and its goal of Self-Realization.

This site celebrates his life, service, and teachings.

Watercolor Coy Pond Bookmark

Limited expectations yield only limited results.
- Susan Laurson Willig

No one but me determines my course today. My success begins in my mind.  - Karen Casey

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Coy Pond Bookmark – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

For some reason, I liked this with all that white on the fish.  Would you have added color?   This is bookmark 11 of 18.   1-8 Were posted in May of 2012.  9-18 were done before work,  during my recent computer fiasco.

Karen Casey -  http://karencasey.wordpress.com/author-bio/

Karen is married, a grandmother, an occasional golfer, and an avid bridge player. She and her husband, Joe, own a home on Prior Lake which is adjacent to Minneapolis, and they recently built a log cabin outside of Lafayette, Indiana which is her home town.

Even more recently, Karen and Joe sold their Harleys. It was a hard decision. Karen loved the freedom of the ride, but lost a friend on a Harley a couple of years ago and Joe was nearly creamed on his bike in Sturgis. It simply seemed like a good time to let them go. They have not lost the desire for adventure, however, and Joe bought a small two-seater Piper Pacer airplane which they fly all over the country. Some might say it’s no safer than motorcycles but at least you don’t have to fight for space in the air like a Harley rider has to fight with cars and trucks on the road. Joe has even begun to build an airplane. He expects it to be a 3 or 4 year project. For you enthusiasts reading this, it’s an RV9. You will know what that is. Karen will be the passenger. That’s all.

Bird on a Vine Bookmark

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”
– Thomas A. Edison

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Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Bird on a Vine Bookmark 10 – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

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I had so much fun doing these bookmarks.  The stress level at work was so high that when I painted on these in the early morning hours before work, it set a calm state in my body.  This enabled me to take on all the computer drama with  less anxiety.  Does that make sense?

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I’m getting a new awning at the sign shop!  The frame is coming down today.  I’ll share a photo when the new one goes up.  I’m trading in the old tired forest green for blue. 

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About Thomas A. Edison

Thomas Edison, the American inventor who made his early fortune with the stock ticker and the phonograph record, is credited with inventing the light bulb — although he simply improved upon the original idea by making the bulb burn longer. Edison was born in 1847 in Ohio. He was a dreamer in school; his teacher called him “addled,” and his mother taught him at home. He used the money from his inventions to set up a lab with a number of employees; he held a record 1,093 patents in his name. He died in 1931.

Hearts & Butterflies Bookmark

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Bookmark 9 – Watercolor and Black Pigment Liner

On my last bookmark post, Mary Walker said… “I love the feeling I get sitting on the couch with a stack of three or more art books taking out the bookmark and reading a section popping the bookmark back in and moving on to the next. The weight of the books on my lap and the height it gives me to prop the book I’m reading feels right.”

That just made me want to go over to Mary’s house and read art books.  Doesn’t it sound wonderful? 

 

About Aristotle

 

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher who is considered one of the most influential thinkers in history, wrote a number of books about science, poetry, and ethics. He was born in 384 B.C. in Macedonia. He studied with Plato in Athens and later tutored Alexander the Great. His death in 322 B.C. was rumored to be caused by hemlock poisoning.

Bookmark Number 8 – Tweetie – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.”
– e. e. cummings

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Bookmark Number 8 – Tweetie – Watercolor & Black Pigment Liner

I just finished Bookmarks 8 through 18.    Does anyone but me actually read paper books these days?  I love books and I’m not ready to give them up. 
I hope you are having a safe and fun 4th of July weekend.

About e. e. cummings

The writer who became known as e. e. cummings was an experimental poet whose idiosyncratic typography complements the music of his poetry; he published more than 900 poems, two novels, and four plays. He was also an accomplished painter. He was born in Massachusetts in 1894 and entered the ambulance corps in World War I but ended up in a detention camp after expressing his pacifist views. He died in 1962. His most famous poem was “In Just-”.

Little Cedar House

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
– John Muir

Yeah!  I like that!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Little Cedar House - 2" x 3.5"

I painted this little house in my hotel room, too.  It just came out of my head.  It is actually the top of a bookmark.  I just haven’t decided how I want to finish it.

This morning, I started on my first commission from the KC show.  I went to Ellen’s house and took the reference photos.  On the other 3 commissions, they wanted their flowers to bloom first and they are sending hi res photos.  Ellen didn’t have to wait.  She just told me to make everything bloom.  I can do that! 

About John Muir

American naturalist John Muir is remembered as a passionate champion of the natural wonder of Yosemite; he was instrumental in turning the land into a national park. Born in Scotland in 1838, he immigrated with his family to Wisconsin in 1849. He dropped out of college to walk 1,000 miles from Indiana to Florida. After falling in love with Yosemite, he took a job herding sheep nearby. He developed the theory that the valley was created by glaciers, which is now accepted as fact. He died in 1914.

Show Bookmark

“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
– Marian Wright Edelman

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Show Bookmark – Watercolor

This is a little bookmark I made to use as a demo piece at the show in Kansas City.  It was all inked, but only partially painted, so people could see how I do my paintings.  So many people asked on Friday, that I did this for Saturday.  It was an amazing show!!  I sold 5 paintings and got deposits on 4 commissions!!  Oh, I sold my zentangle bowl and some boxed postcards, too.  I’ll tell you more about it later.  Right now, I need to return a bunch of calls and emails. 

About Marian Wright Edelman

American activist Marian Wright Edelman, who founded the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) as a voice for poor, minority, and handicapped children, was the first African-American woman to practice law in Mississippi. She was born in 1939 in South Carolina. Her father, a Baptist preacher, died when she was 14; his last words to her were, “Don’t let anything get in the way of your education.” She graduated from Yale Law School in 1963. Her many awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Zentangle Bookmark for Kana - 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
– Dr. Joyce Brothers

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Zentangle Bookmark for Kana - 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

I had so much fun with this one!  Kana Tyler is a writer, a reader and a lover of books and the color turquoise.   To read more about my zentangle bookmarks go here.

About Dr. Joyce Brothers

The popular American psychologist and advice columnist Joyce Brothers first found fame by winning The $64,000 Question game show. She was born on October 20, 1927. Her influence, through a daily newspaper column, radio and TV shows, and more than ten best-selling self-help books, has made her one of the ten most admired women in America, according to a number of polls. After her husband died in 1989, she wrote her most personal book, Widowed, delving into her own grief. She lives in New York City.

Play It Forward Bookmark for Gwyn – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength.”
– A. J. Cronin

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Gwyn – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

Gwen and her husband, Sam, are avid sailors.  They love taking their sail boat out on Lake Eufaula.  They love their Harley, too, but I don’t know how to draw one of those. 

You can read about the Play It Forward game on my post here.

About A. J. Cronin

Archibald Joseph Cronin, the Scottish novelist who wrote as A. J. Cronin, had a full career as a doctor before turning to fiction. He was born on July 19, 1896, worked as a Royal Navy surgeon during World War I, and later was appointed Medical Inspector of Mines in Wales. Some of his most famous books are The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom, and Pocketful of Rye. His works were known to reflect both his religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic and his medical training. He died on January 6, 1981.

Play It Forward Bookmark for Kordelia – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.”
–Hannah Arendt

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Kordelia – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

This is another “Play it Forward” bookmark.  You can read more about the game in my post here.  

Okay, you are probably wondering why a bookmark for Kordelia would say “Nonny” on it.  Kordelia prefers to be called Nonny and most people do call her that.  I’m not very comfortable with such intimate nicknames and I just like the name Kordelia.  She was the first person I saw do Zentangles.  I’ve been fascinated ever since. 

Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933 and lived in Paris for the next eight years, working for a number of Jewish refugee organisations. In 1941 she immigrated to the United States and soon became part of a lively intellectual circle in New York. She held a number of academic positions at various American universities until her death in 1975.

She is best known for two works that had a major impact both within and outside the academic community. The first, The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, was a study of the Nazi and Stalinist regimes that generated a wide-ranging debate on the nature and historical antecedents of the totalitarian phenomenon. The second, The Human Condition, published in 1958, was an original philosophical study that investigated the fundamental categories of the vita activa (labor, work, action).  More here….

Play It Forward Bookmark for Dorcille – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“The self is a calm stable center surrounded by a continuous changing sea. Merge with yourself and be ready for any emergent sea.“
–Coretta Scott King

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Dorcille – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

Learn more about the “Play it Forward” game on my post here.  Dorcille and her husband own Belle Starr Marina, here on Lake Eufaula.   That’s where the fish comes from.    Dorcille misunderstood the post and is not able to play it forward, but she has been my friend for 20 years and I’m sending the bookmark anyway.  (Even though she tried to refuse it.)

I found out this morning that J.E. Lattimer over at Fictional Machines blog has nominated me for Blog of the Year Award!!  What an honor! 

Coretta Scott King – Pioneer of Civil Rights 

April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006 – Coretta Scott was born in Heiberger, Alabama and raised on the farm of her parents, Bernice and Obadiah Scott, in Perry County, Alabama. She was exposed at an early age to the injustices of life in a segregated society. She walked five miles a day to attend the one-room Crossroad School in Marion, Alabama, while the white students rode buses to an all-white school closer by. Young Coretta excelled at her studies, particularly music, and was valedictorian of her graduating class at Lincoln High School. She graduated in 1945 and received a scholarship to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  More here.

Play It Forward Bookmark for Mona – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

“Holding onto a resentment is like swallowing poison and hoping the other person will die.”
–Anonymous

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Here’s how to REBOUND…

Reevaluate your future.
Explore new options.

Bounce back quickly.

Overcome disappointments.

Uncover hidden strengths.

Never give up on yourself.

Develop wisdom and perspective.

Both of the above are from my little book – Oh, Thank Goodness, It’s Not Just Me!
by Lisa Hammond & BJ Gallager

(Sometimes you just kinda know what someone you love might need to hear.)

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Mona – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

This is for our little Playing it Forward game on Facebook.  Here’s what I wrote about it on yesterday’s post.   These little bookmarks are so fun!  This one will be heading to Sweden today.

Inspiration for these bookmarks was found in the following reference books:  One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula and Zenspirations- Dangle Designs by

Play It Forward Bookmark for Bonnie – 2″ x 5.5″ Zentangle

“Hope is not a dream, but a way of making dreams become reality.”
– Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Play It Forward Bookmark for Bonnie – 2″ x 5.5″ Watercolor & Black Staedtler Fine Art Pen

To start the year off giving, I became a part of Play It Forward 2013, thanks to Kana Tyler.  She posted on Facebook that the first 5 people to comment on her post will get something handmade (or home grown) in the mail from her, some time in the next 12 months.  The kick is… they in turn, have to play it forward and do the same for 5 of their friends.  I love it!  The first person to comment on my post was Bonnie.  This little bookmark will be winging it’s way to Canada.

Inspiration for these bookmarks was found in the following reference books:  One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula and Zenspirations- Dangle Designs by Joanne Fink.   I really intended to leave them mostly black and white with just a few little hints of color.  Well, as you can see…. I couldn’t quit!!!  I made 6 of these on Sunday.  (I was sick, so I spent almost the whole day in my studio.)  They will be laminated before I mail them off. 

About Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens

Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens played a major leadership role during the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s; his reforms include reciting the liturgy in modern languages, expanding the role of laypersons, and opening a dialogue with other religions. He was born in 1904 in Brussels. Wealthy relatives wanted him to study economics and manage their fortune, but instead he entered the priesthood. He was witty and charming, with an enthusiasm for soccer. He died in May 1996.

The Last Goofy Bookmark... for now

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”
–Edward Everett Hale

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bookmark 6 – Mine – Watercolor, Inktense & Sharpie

I don’t know if you’ll be able to see how much cooler it looks when laminated, but I’ll show you anyway.

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

This is the ends of all the other 5 bookmarks, since I painted them on a solid sheet of watercolor paper and cut them apart after they were finished. 

This weekend is the Lake Eufaula Association’s Golden Eagle Poker Run.  This is what the McAlester News-Capital  had to say about it:

EUFAULA — The Golden Eagle Poker Run is set June 9 at South Point Pavilion in Eufaula Cove, hosted by the Lake Eufaula Association. The annual fundraising event will offer more than $40,000 in cash prizes (based on 500 entries.)

All card stops are on the water, but the event is open to those in boats, cars and on bikes. The run course will include No. 9 Marina, Evergreen Marina, Belle Starr Marina, Eufaula Cove Marina and the host site, South Point Pavilion, also known as Peter’s Point.

All pre-entrants can pick up packets and first card June 8 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the LEA office, 701 S. Main, Eufaula.

For more information call 918-689-7751 or email info@VisitLakeEufaula.com.

For more on this story, see the print or electronic editions of the McAlester News-Capital. Click here for print edition home delivery or click here to see the Smart Edition for your computer, tablet, e-reader or smart phone.

The Lake Eufaula Association works very hard to promote our lake.  Come out and support them if you are within driving distance.

The American author Edward Everett Hale was born in Boston on the 3rd of April 1822, son of Nathan Hale (1784-1863), proprietor and editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser, nephew of Edward Everett, the orator and statesman, and grandnephew of Nathan Hale, the martyr spy of the American Revolution. He graduated from Harvard in 1839; was pastor of the church of the Unity, Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1846-56, and of the South Congregational (Unitarian) church, Boston, in 1856-99; and in 1903 became chaplain of the United States Senate. He died at Roxbury, Massachusetts, on the 10th of June 1909. His forceful personality, organizing genius, and liberal practical theology, together with his deep interest in the anti-slavery movement (especially in Kansas), popular education (especially Chautauqua work), and the working-man’s home, were active in raising the tone of American life for half a century. He was a constant and voluminous contributor to the newspapers and magazines. He was an assistant editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser, and edited the Christian Examiner, Old and New (which he assisted in founding in 1869; in 1875 it was merged into Scribner’s Magazine), Lend a Hand (founded by him in 1886 and merged in the Charities Review in 1897), and the Lend a Hand Record; and he was the author or editor of more than sixty books — fiction, travel, sermons, biography and history.
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Bookmark 5 - A Doodle-A-Thon

“Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over.”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bookmark 5 – Watercolor, Inktense and Sharpie

Are you sick of the bookmarks yet?  They are so fun and full of color.  The colors really came out bright, when I laminated them.  There is one more, which is the ends of all the other 4.  I kept that one! 

About F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, who wrote as F. Scott Fitzgerald, is best known for his novel The Great Gatsby. He was born in St. Paul in 1896. Fear of mortality spurred him to write the novel This Side of Paradise while in the Army. It was rejected twice by Scribner’s before they finally published it. His wife Zelda’s schizophrenia was the basis for his novel Tender Is the Night. After they separated, he moved to Los Angeles and wrote screenplays for studio films. He died in 1940.

Bookmark 4 – Squiggles and Giggles

“Today I am focusing on all the goodness in life,
all the blessings I have been given and all the richness
of all the friends I have, and I feel great joy.
Everything you think, you feel; and all that you feel
manifests to create the conditions of your life.”
–Ramtha

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

I LOVE that quote!!

Bookmark 4 – Watercolor & Sharpie

You can see the shadows a little better in this one.  That’s what I think makes them fun… the depth and shadows.  Oh, and the pen “stitching”. 

Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment, created by Ramtha the Enlightened One, is an academy of the mind that offers retreats and workshops to people of all ages and cultures.

Using ancient wisdom and the latest discoveries in neuroscience and quantum physics, RSE teaches students how to access the extraordinary abilities of the brain to “Become a Remarkable Life®.” RSE facilitates live events and streaming over the Internet in many languages.

JZ Knight began publically channeling Ramtha in 1979. RSE was established in 1988 in Yelm, Washington. More than 100,000 people from around the world have attended Ramtha’s events.

RSE’s unique, innovative approach combines many threads of contemporary scientific research to support the principle that God lives within each of us. The message that you are divine means that you have a direct experience with God, a direct channel. You do not need priests or missionaries to intervene on your behalf to deter you from a direct communion with God.

Read more »

Smiling is Infectious and a Bookmark

“Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu. Someone smiled at me today, and I started smiling too.”
Author Unknown

Good one!  It has already happened to me today.  I smiled at someone and they smiled back!  Love it!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bookmark 3 – Watercolor, Inktense and Sharpie

This is the darkest of the bookmarks.  To lighten it up some, I added the little white dots and x-s with white gouache.  I think it helped.  Did I tell you that these 5 little bookmarks are going to be someone’s Christmas gifts?  Talk about planning ahead.  I was asked to do 5 of them and the person I did them for is going to give them to her girlfriends in a book  (like I gave to her).  Nice!

I looked up “Author Unknown” on the internet and I found a site called cybernation.com, dedicated to the betterment of humanity.  They have a bunch of quotes by Author Unknown. 

Have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend.  I’d like to give a huge thanks to the brave men and women serving in our armed forces, as well!  THANKS!

Bookmark 2 - Another Doodle-a-thon!

“Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”
– Aleksei Peshkov

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Bookmark 2 – Watercolor, Inktense and Sharpie

So much fun!  I used a green sharpie to do the mesh in the background.  I put shadows behind everything to give it some depth, but it doesn’t show up well in the scan.  Only 2 more work days until a 3 day weekend!  Yay!  I haven’t taken many days off this month.  I’m not sure I’m going to know how to act. 


About Aleksei Peshkov
Russian social realist author Aleksei Peshkov, known as Maxim Gorky, was so esteemed that his birthplace, Nizhny Novgorod, was renamed Gorky in his honor. He was born in 1868. His parents died when he was young, and he left his home at age 12. He was arrested in the late 1880′s as a revolutionary. His writing, including his best-known novel, The Mother, portrayed a decadent society and immense poverty. He became disillusioned after the Russian Revolution, feeling Lenin’s Communism was little better. He died in 1936.