IF ... Savour

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

It's so much more than a specified taste or seasoning. Smell certainly enhances epicurean pleasure, but savouring is far superior to any lip smacking activity. At it's best, one takes complete delight in the participatory dance, and the brain, having undergone an emotional reaction, locks the experience into it's deep, dark recesses only to have it burst forth, full flavor, when the ambrosia tickles the taste buds once again.

IF ... Sneaky

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved • watercolor & ink

Short of an original idea, I'm playing the cuteness card in this
stealth escapade. There's no mark of treachery or deceit, just a hungry mouse. Shifting perspectives, this composition had my focus on ellipse progressions and shading. Still easier in theory
than with a paint brush.

IF ... Burning

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved • watercolor stained paper and marker


Oh, how I thirst for you, my little jalapeno.
Or as Elmer Fudd would sing, 
"Baby, I'm on fie-wah."

IF ... Spent

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

Momma always said there'd be days like these. Being spent contains an interesting balance. It's eerily vacuous; missing the familiar 
push-pull. Gone are the longings and desires that drive us to action. 
It is simply a state of suspension, where the multitude of our psychological and physical parts are seemingly held in check 
by gravity alone. Who said nothing matters?

IF ... Racing

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

Fear, love, and exercise are three culprits that cause our hearts to race. That accelerated pounding, where it feels like the heart wants to jump right through the chest, places us smack in the moment, and makes us feel so primal, so human, and so alive. 

©2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

And then, there's the classic story of the tortoise and the hare.

IF ... Spooky

© 2010 Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

BOO!
Here, some common household items - a wrench, staple remover, tape dispenser, egg beater, and soda bottle with it's neck cut off (certainly THAT'S spooky) are buried (ooo ... the word sends chills down my spine) within this composition. OK, so they're not exactly buried ... they've been resurrected (a nod to Doc Frank) in this collage of paper, ink and pastel. These items were a requirement for a basalmorphic analysis for my drawing class. (Yes, the study of psychotherapy for mutant herbs, but frankly, I'm banking on Gestalt.) I examined the still life before me, sprawled across the table like amputated body parts. Perfectly still and lifeless. Deader than a doorknob, really. And then suddenly, an edgy transformation 
occurred ....  bbbrrruuuuaahhh!ha!ha!ha!

IF ... Transportation

©2010  Mardi Speth All Rights Reserved

Man has a romance with magnificent flying machines. OK, so this is woman and her perspective drawing class. With limited time, mandated objects, and a splash of creativity, both Illustration Friday's weekly word challenge and my homework assignment are resolved.  Hmmm ... my son doesn't think it will fly.