Here we have an odd combo of carpet and imaginary alphabet. I am not sure if they are separate doodles that happen to be on the same sheet of paper or if they really are all of one piece.
This carpet starts out with a really large medallion. I haven't made a big one in awhile and I am happy to see this one.
Another imaginary alphabet. I call them that because whever I make these I think they must mean something. It's the orderly arrangement of the elements, it looks like language. If it is writing, then I must be able to read them. Right?
I have a giant cardboard tube that the flooring for our bathroom came on in my studio. I know what I have to use it for now.
I probably should have saved this one for Halloween or Day of the Dead. Like most kids, I remember Day of the Dead for sugar skulls. This is exactly what it sounds like, sugar with a gruesome factor which made it even better.
I have no idea where the skulls and death masks in this doodle came from, but I like them.
I flip paper around a lot when I am doodling, so there really is not a specific orientation. It doesn't matter as much with abstract images. The skull images make it seem like it ought to have one. If it did, I think this doodle would be flipped 90 degrees, but if I do that, the image was much too small.
So, crane your neck if it bugs you, or just flip your laptop.
An imaginary alphabet! I haven't posted one of these in a long time. I don't think they are as visually interesting as a carpet doodle.
I always look at these and wonder what they mean. I think to myself that because they look like writing, they must mean something. I think I read so much that I am conditioned to try and read them.
They are easily the most mysterious of all the doodles that I make.
Writing is a kind of magic anyway. We can look at a bunch of symbols and find a story, or a message, or information we need. It is fascinating if you sit and think about it.
Nick sent me a link to Ancient Lives , a project where they are using regular people to help decipher ancient text. I love trying to do it, and I can see how scholars can spend their entire career working on one document.
And now for something not completely different, but not entirely the same either. This is an odd grouping with some new doodle developments.
First, there is the diagonal block doodle, which is unusual. If it is not a new thing, then it is extremely rare. I don't remember any others, and I don't see any when I glance through my highly organized doodle file.
You know I am kidding, right? I don't have any such thing. What I do have is several piles of doodles scattered about in various locations.
My favorites from this bunch has to be the oddly balancing doodles, they look like strange ducks. No, not the quacking kind of duck, the stacking kind of duck used by hikers to mark trails.
I like to make ducks, not necessarily to mark trails, I just like to stack rocks.
This is going to be a long post, so get comfy.
Now that the holidays are through, the snow is gone, the daughter is back to college and everything has settled down to a dull roar, it is time to catch up on all those things that get shunted to the side.
I owe you doodles, 4 of them.
This should have been your doodle for Dec. 26th. I hope you had a happy holiday! We had no water downstairs, because I put potato peels down the garbage disposal which backed up all the sinks on Christmas eve. That was fun. And not the time to be looking for a plumber!
I love this doodle. It is the usual leaves, pods and floral medallions, but they are just so graphic. There is a wonderful mix of negative and positive shapes in the patterning. It feels bold and strong to me.
This should be the first doodle of the New Year. Best wishes for good things in 2009!
I am going to make a confession: I kind of hate New Years. I don't drink, I am not a party gal. There is something depressing about the whole affair. So, I go to bed at 10 o'clock New Years eve. I find there are plenty of people who light fire crackers and wake me up at midnight. I am glad in a weird way that they do it, because I don't entirely miss the change over to the new year.
This is a very odd doodle, it stood out from the pile. Not the hieroglyphs, that is normal, but the two that appear to be made up of letters and numbers.
After staring at them for a bit, one appears to be the numbers from zero to 10. The other might be all the letters of the alphabet (with a few extra X's thrown in for good measure). If you take the time to decipher them, let me know if I am right.
Just to prove that I am not kidding about the hieroglyph thing, here is a full page of them. This should have been your doodle for Jan 9th.
Do you think that I will ever provide myself with a Rosetta stone?
And, finally, I will leave you with the doodle from last week:
This group doesn't have the graphic boldness of the first group. It is busy, with lots of movement. I really like the energy in the patterning. It looks like I must have been happy when I was doing it.
Whew! that is done. I will be back on Friday. It will be nice to settle back into a routine.
This week's doodle starts one way and ends another. Rather like this week's weather. It was gloriously sunny and 90 degrees on Monday, now it is 63 and raining.
Sorry! I couldn't find the doodle. I stuck it in a book and forgot about it. There are a couple of reasons that I wanted to post this one and didn't pick a substitute so I would be on time.
This week's doodle is an interesting assortment of mandalas, free form botanical doodles, hieroglyphic doodles and a couple of boxed doodles thrown in for good measure. This sheet has something for everyone.