Still Here

Yes, I am still here. It's been so long since I have posted anything that there is a 3 inch layer of dust on my blog page. I guess the creative juices just haven't been flowing. I get like that from time to time. I'll go for a long time with out the urge to draw anything and if I try to make myself it will turn out looking like I tried to draw it on the back of a run away rhino during an earthquake. Hopefully I will be able to come up with something soon. In the meantime, though, I have 4 of the coolest guest artists that you will ever find ready to jump in and take up my slack. So without any ado here they are:

Our first artist has graced this blog before with wonderful pictures such as Jimmy, Destructo, Moto BMX, Impala, Deadpool, and was the star of "Happy Birthday, Big Man!!!!".

Here he has drawn us his own character creation named War Hawk. He said that he got the idea from DC Comic's Hawk Man. I think he did an excellent job on this. He has actually came up with his own hero universe. I have seen his characters and they are very good. He puts a lot of time and thought into each of them. He gives them their own names, list of powers and weaknesses and whether they are a hero or a villain. He has even started drawing his characters in comic book form where a certain hero has a story line and villain or villains to defeat. I love to see his drawings. I love the fact that we share a passion for comic books and of all things heroic. We can sit a talk about it for hours. He recently informed me that he loves to read my blog. He said that he really enjoyed looking at it and that he spends a lot of time here, so because of that I will try to make at least one new post every month. Just so he will have something new to look at. Thank you, Big Man for letting me unveil your newest hero here. I hope you will always love to create the way you do now. Just so long as you DON'T DO IT DURING SCHOOL!!!

Our next artist has also made his own guest appearances on my blog. He has given us the wonderful, thrilling drawings of Horror, General Grievous, Wolf Man & 2nd Hulk, and was the star of "One Fast Hotrod!!!".

This drawing is of a phoenix bursting into flames and trying to fly away, but it is chained downed. He said he got the idea from a particular video game. I really like it. I like his use of colors here. He has always had an uninhibited imagination. He can take his mind anywhere. From shark invested waters to the depths of outer space if there is an adventure to have, he can do it. I like to watch him as he plays with his little action figures. How he matches them up, not concerned with what people say their powers are, just making it up as he goes along. I think that is so cool. So thank you Hot Rod for letting me show this picture to the world. I'm sure they will love it as much as I do.

The next person on our list is also a repeat guest artist. She has graced us with some of her earlier abstract art seen here on Guest Artist #3 and is the star of "My Little Dumplin". She shows us now her more fashionable side.

She received a fashion designer kit for Christmas and has been putting it to good use. As you can see she has created a wonderful ensemble that will undoubtedly rock the fashion world at the next big show in Paris. Everything is color coordinated and matched just perfectly. I love sitting with her while she creates her next outrageous design. She takes the time to look through all of her patterns and comes up with the best outfit imaginable. Whether she 'Just Woke Up', or is 'Going to the Pool', or even 'Going to the Prom' She is sure to put all the right pieces together to make a one of a kind perfect look. Way to go Dumplin and thank you for letting me walk your master piece down this blog's catwalk.

This will be our next artist's first contribution to the blog although she is the star of 'My Little Squirt".

This picture, which she affectionately named 'Kitty Cats Playing with Me" Was given to me on Saturday afternoon just before a stimulating game of 'Let's See Where We Can Bruise Daddy Next". It is fun to watch her color and draw. She sits there and hums a little tune or sings a little song or even makes up a story about what ever she decided to draw at the time. I also think its important to mention that she is very well rounded in her creativity. Not only is she very good at using colored pencils, which you see here, but she is also a master of crayons and finger paints as well. Well Little Squirt, I hope you like you blog depute, and I thank you for yet another beautiful picture.

My Little Squirt

Well it took forever, but I finally got it done. This is the last one, our little caboose. I have never had a picture so hard to draw before in my life, but it was worth it. I think it turned out pretty good. I will get the final and absolute opinion today when my little ones arrive and Squirt sees her picture. Then and only then will I know if it is worthy of her Highness.

I'm not sure what to say about our little relationship. I know it started out rocky at best. I wasn't allowed to be there when she was born, I was told she wasn't mine, and then she was taken over an hour away from me at the most impressionable time of her life. She never had the chance to know me like her brothers and sister did. That whole coming home at the end of the day and having me scoop her up and get some well deserved tummy sugar. Or having me walk into her class room and pick her up from daycare. I have missed her first words, her first steps, almost all of her 'firsts'.

I suppose we could dwell on that and have what time we do spend together to become uncomfortable and misused, but we don't. We have decided to take each other and hold on tight for every second we have. I love her with every beat of my heart and I make sure she knows it. I will never forget the time she was just sitting outside, playing in the dirt and looked up at me with a big, beautiful smile. I asked her what she was smiling about and she jumped up, ran into my arms and said, " I was thinking about how much I love you, Daddy." then went right back to her dirt moving. I thought my heart was going to explode right out of my chest. My head had filled so much with pride that I thought I wouldn't get it through the door. Yes sir, she has me wrapped, and she knows it. Of course, there was also the time when we were playing and I stopped and said, "I love you, Squirt." to which she simply replied, "I love me too." Ah yes, the witty things she says.

I am so thankful for all 4 of my children. I can't say that I love one more than I love then others. They are all so dear to my heart. But the fact that me and the Little Squirt are so happy together after all of the barriers we had in our way just feels so special.

I love you Squirt. I am so proud to have you as my daughter. I hope that one day I can return the favor and make you as proud to have me as your father.

The Blues

Have you ever been so down that you didn't think you could come back up? Just so sad that nothing can keep you smiling for very long? Have you ever felt like you could just walk off the face of the earth and no one would really notice?

I think it's safe to say that things have not been going my way lately and they don't seem like they are going to improve anytime soon. I just feel stuck. Like I am sunk down in the mud and there is no way to get out.

Nothing compares to earning your own money. Making your own way. Taking care of myself and those around me is a feeling that I miss dearly.

But, I know that nothing is truly hopeless and, eventually, things are going to get better.I know that I have a great friend and four beautiful children that love me and need me around so I will draw strength from that until my day in the sun comes back around. I know it's coming, I just think it needs to hurry up and get here.

My little Dumplin (Take Four)

And here she is. Making her Gary's Greetings debut, My little dumpie Dumplin. My third oldest child and my oldest girl. I have called her my Dumplin ever since her first day in this world. When she was born, she was tiny and white and all wrinkled up, just like a dumpling.

She is a true Daddy's girl and that is just fine with me. In fact, if she wants to be a Daddy's girl for the rest of my life that would be perfect.(Hint, hint)

When Dumpie was still a little baby she would love to get up at 3:00 in the morning and come see me. She had a 'system' that her mother and me HAD to follow. Her mother was to get up and get her and then bring her to me. If we deviated from this plan in anyway, she would not be a happy baby. I would wrap her up in a blanket and we go and sit in a rocking chair on the porch and watch the sun come up together almost every morning. I can still see those big green eyes staring up at me, so trusting and so full of love. Those big green eyes have turned brown now to match her mother's, but she is still just a pretty. I could fill this entire post on just how beautiful she is, but she is much more than that. She is so much more.

She is a very strong, smart, funny and caring young woman. She has enough love in that heart of hers to fill the Grand Canyon and it over flow. She can take me down with a shoestring tackle that would rival any NFL player, and she finds it absolutely hilarious that stepping on the back of my shoe, while running, will not only cause me to go down in a game of 'kill the daddy with the ball', it will also tear the sole right off of my shoe. She makes straight A's and thinks it is funny as hell every time Cindy Lauper pins her father up against the wall in the 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun" video.

She has tickle spots all over and doesn't mind asking to get them tickled. She has a laugh that is loud and infectious. If you hear her laugh and don't laugh yourself it is because you heart quit beating and you need to see a doctor. She has some of the best ear and neck sugar ever, and it is my responsibility to get as much of that sugar as the law will allow every time we are together.

She loves to throw tea parties and she loves the Jonas Brothers. She loves to color and to talk on her toy cell phone to Nick and let him know that she is going to marry him immediately. She loves her Barbies and her bath fizzies. She loves to climb up into my lap and curl up into a tight little ball and tuck her head under my chin and sit and snuggle for hours.

She said she wants to be a doctor when she grows up and she has the ability and the potential to do just that, and more if she wants to. She is going to be challenged though. She has to grow up in a world where the TV is covered with the images of women that only care about how big their boobs are or if they have too much arm hair. Music videos where the women are only there to see how fast they can bounce their butts, and men that just think a woman is here for their pleasure or that she is here to be lied to and made fun of. I know she can learn to see past all of that and become the beautiful, caring, strong young woman that I know she can be. I hope she learns to see her potential is unending. I hope she is always the knockout champion. I hope that she learns that the only reason she needs a man in her life is because he completes her and not because 'she can't fix her car because she's a girl'. I hope that one day she knows how proud of her I am, but she'll never really know how much I love her.

One fast Hotrod!!!

Here is the second installment of 5 portraits that I plan to put on here. This one is of my second oldest child. He is my Hotrod and has been since birth.

He is almost always full of energy. A friend once discribed him as..."A combination of Dennis the Menace, Calvin from Calvin and Hobes, and the Energizer Bunny on speed..." and I must admit she is dead on the money.

With a never ending imagination, he is quick to come up with his explaination on how the world works and it is usually something no one else would even come close to coming up with. He can come up with a 'poot joke' faster than anyone I've ever known. And while we are on the subject of poots, He is a world reknown armpit farter. Definetly one of the best, if not the best, armpit musicians.

He has a heart big enough to match his imagination. Quick to give a hug and a smooch and tell you that he loves you. He eagerly opens his heart to the people around him, and once you are in, you're in for life. The picture I drew this portrait from was taken while he was on his way to me to give me a hug. Arms wide open and his lips just starting to pucker up to give me a kiss wet enough to sink a battleship.

He usually goes through the day thinking that if anything is worth doing, then it's worth getting into trouble for. I find myself sitting back and smiling when I think of some of the things he's done. I wasn't smiling at the time, but I am now. I've learned to make sure that if he gets too quiet to stop and just check in to see what he may be planning to do next. That way the world goes un-cracked for one more day.

He has been described as a class clown, but he is a smart and clever young man, getting straight A's on his last report card. He loves to run and to be chased. He loves to see if his voice can actually reach the people in the house two streets over. And it just comes naturally. That's what makes him who he is. None of this is ever done just to be mean or with malice in his heart. He is just wide open. That's the way he was made, and I love him with all of my heart for it.

He loves to laugh and to make others laugh. He infects everyone around him with his carefree, love life attitude. I hope he never looses that. I hope he will always be the kind of son that is ready to climb into my lap for a tickle or just to sit and snuggle. I hope I can help him nurture his imagination so that it takes him as high as he wants to go. I hope he knows just how much I love him and how proud I am of him.

Happy Birthday, Big Man!!!!

Today we celebrate the birthday of an extraordinary young man. He is an exceptional big brother, and a wonderful son. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement. I love him and cherish him. He is a part of my heart and my soul, and I am so very honored that he became a part of my life and I, a part of his.

On the day he was born I nervously watched as the mid-wife turned and twisted him, trying to get him 'unwrapped' and cleaned up. I didn't think we were ever going to hear him cry, but once he started, he decided he wasn't going to stop. He wanted the world to know he was here. And he decided to shout it to the mountain tops. When they gave him to me I thought for sure he would break just by touching him. I took him over to his mother and laid him down with her and we sang 'Happy Birthday' as he nestled into her neck. He looked right at me. He stared straight into my eyes and I knew then that I was hooked. He had me wrapped around his finger. I still am today.

Being our first born he was full of lessons, wonders, and surprises. We had been told during the entire pregnancy that all he would do was eat, sleep, and poop. Well, two out of three ain't bad. He ate like a horse, pooped like a goose, but as for sleep; he wanted none of it. He was wide awake and wanted to stay that way. He wanted to see everybody and be a part of everything. He didn't want to miss anything. EVER. All he needed was a two hour power nap and he was ready for more.

On his first day of school his mother and I decided that we should follow the bus to school and be there for him when he got off. As he walked down the steps of the bus he looked so big. I couldn't wait to hug him and tell him just how proud I was of him. He looked at me with the most beautiful smile, and knowing that I was on the verge of tears, he said, "I love you Daddy, everything will be alright". It turned out that he was there for me.

I have cherished every moment with him. From helping him learn to ride a two wheeler, coaching his T-ball team, to watching him become a big brother. (By the way, he was sure that his mother was having a dinosaur and NOT a baby brother). Watching him learn, hearing him laugh and holding him while he cried. Making the 'monster spray', becoming the wrestling mat, holding him up when the water got above his knees, helping him splash in the tub and just watching him while he slept. All of these moments I wouldn't trade for the world. I wouldn't give them up for anything. They are tucked away in my heart so that someday, if I'm lucky, I will get to share them with his children.

He has grown so much over the past 11 years. It has gone by so fast. I miss that little guy with the big head that wanted to go everywhere I went. That wanted to do everything that I did. That wanted to 'help' me with anything that I may have been working on. Those big, beautiful, green eyes staring back at me with an unconditional love that I had never felt before. He has taught me what true, unending love really is. Watching him develop into the fine young man that he is undoubtedly going to be gives me a feeling of pride that I can not explain. His fun loving nature, his caring and compassionate heart along with his hilarious sense of humor make him an amazing young man that I just can't get enough of.

Happy Birthday, Big Man. I hope you have a wonderful day today. I hope you know that I love you and I am so proud to be your father. I hope you understand these words I have here for you are words of love, pride and respect for all that you have taught me. I hope you have a long and happy life, and I hope that one day you will look into the eyes of your little one and finally be able to understand what love is meant to be.

Angel Of Fire

I have been working on this picture for about 2 weeks now. I needed it to be as close to perfect as I could make it. This drawing is very important to me because I drew this in honor of someone that means a great deal to me.

I have called her my hero, my one, my goddess, but she is, for sure, my angel. She is not like any other angel you will find. She will not coddle you and make feel warm and fuzzy because you just did something stupid. She won't sit around and tell you that everything is going to be alright when there is a good chance that it isn't. She won't turn the other cheek or back down from someone just because they need to feel tough. She won't try to make someone feel good about themselves just because they need and ego boost. She will not stand for any disrespect at any time. She definitely believes is doling out 'tough love'.

She will always be there when you need her. She will defend her family to the very end. She will stand in defiance to anyone/anything that tries to do them harm in ANY way. She has stood by me while the world caved in around me and never let go of my hand. She offered a calming voice that drowned out all of the screams that filled my head. She stood by me while I battled demon after demon and never let me forget that I had the strength to win. She stands by me today. She is still holding on to me. She is very much like this picture. She is an angel of fire. That fire can keep you warm or , if need be, she can set you ablaze.

She is beautiful, smart, strong, funny (although not as funny as she may think at times), brave, sexy, fragile, never weak, and in a word, perfect. She is my everything and the main source of balance I have. I have called her my rock in the past, but she is more than that. She has fought tooth and nail to keep the four people that matter most to me with in arms reach and has asked for nothing in return by my love, loyalty and respect. I gladly offer them to her. Freely and without disdain. She is MY knight in shinning armor. I treasure her.

We have been together for over 3 years and are not getting along very well right now because there is just so much stress wrapped around us almost all the time. But our love is holding us together. I drew this picture for her to let her know that my thoughts and feelings for her have not changed. They are still there and stronger than ever. I want her to know that I am truly sorry for any pain I have brought into her life. I never intended to hurt her. I never will hurt her again.

Some people might read this and think that it is too sappy. That these are just a bunch of words typed in to make people go 'awwww'. Or that this is just another stupid 'I love you' post. To those people I say you have never felt this woman's love. For if you had, you would surely sit back and nod your head as you read this and think to yourself, "He's right, she's all of that and more".

I hope you understand that the words I have here for you are words of love, respect and admiration. You are and will always be my hero, my lover, my partner, my best friend, my one, my angel. We DO have a relationship. I can't promise that the things around us will ever get better, but I will promise that I can do better to show you just how much you mean to me.

I Love You.

Personalized Hearts with Wings

Gary drew this trio of hearts with wings on plain white paper, using pencil, for his girlfriend. The color and texture were added after the image was scanned.

Memorial Cross

Gary drew this memorial cross to honor his mother, Clemaree.

Sword with Banner #3

The third of a series of design drafts, this sword pierces two hearts that contain the names (instead of all text being on banners, like in Sword #1 and Sword #2). Gary noted that the skull at the top of the sword can be replaced with something else or simply eliminated, if skulls are not your taste!

Sword with Banner #2

This is the second version of the sword with banner. Since the banner is wider on this design, Gary decided to not let the lettering drop from the banner as they did in sword #1.

Sword with Banner #1

As an alternative to styles like the roses with the names and date on a banner, Gary drew this sword with the names and a date on a banner that wraps around the sword. Again, our names were used for this illustration, but this drawing could be personalized with your name and your special date, be it a wedding date, first date, birth date, etc.

This is #1 of 3 sword designs that Gary drew. Numbers 2 and 3 coming soon!

Roses with Name and Date Banners

Gary drew these roses with banners for our names and a date for me (his girlfriend). Attempts to blur out or screen the names or the date ruined the shading within the banners, so I chose to leave them intact. Now seems like a good time, then, to introduce myself! My name is Mary Jo, and I am updating Gary's blog until he is home to work on it himself.

I added the pale pink background during the image editing process, to help the shading stand out better. Gary drew this in pencil on plain white paper.