I hope that all of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving and that you get to spend it with family and friends. That is what we will be doing tomorrow. There will be anywhere from 30 to 50 people here at our house. Everyone brings a dish and so there is plenty of variety. I wish that you all could come too. That would make it just perfect.
I just thought I would send a quick greeting before I have to get back to the kitchen… turkey’s roasting.
I was inspired to try to make a piece of jewelry with a message. The piece turned out kind of large and rustic. I’m not one who cares much for flashy jewelry. Please excuse the bad photo. Despite minoring in photography in college, I still take lousy photos…I’ll blame it on the camera. I tried to scan it, but that wasn’t entirely successful either.
I think I’ll wear it to town today and see if anyone likes it. It may be a bit large. Sometimes I’m not sure about some of my creations. Last week, one of my young friends (she’s 21) was introducing me to one of her co-workers by saying, “She’s so artsy, she can take tacky and make it look good.” I think that was a compliment.
Anyway…I can look down at the words and be reminded of the fruit I should bear. Some days I need reminding.
I was lying on the swing on our deck this afternoon, enjoying the beautiful fall sunshine, when I heard a horrible screeching cry. At first I thought that maybe something was attacking a fawn in the woods. It kept crying over and over. The sound was coming from across the road. I ran to that side of the house and I could see two animals in the field. I got our binoculars and ran back. It was the oddest sight. There was a gray fox and a bobcat having a face off in the field. They were pretty near each other. The fox would walk toward the bobcat and screech at it. The bobcat seemed a little confused. It didn’t attack. They kept this up for about ten minutes and then the bobcat walked off to the right into the woods, and the fox walked off to the left into the woods. I was wondering if the fox was trying to divert the bobcat from its young. Too bad I didn’t have a camera with a telephoto lens. Sometimes it’s like living on Animal Planet around here. (This photo is only a digital re-creation.)
I just completed a painting of cows on an old window. A friend had given me several of the windows and had asked if I would paint one of them with cows because they live on an farm and raise cattle. They are not my favorite subject matter, but I had fun painting them anyway.
I just wanted to post a picture of the lovely gift that I got from my Australian blog friend Julie. There is a beautiful atc entitled “Patient Woman,” a copper and bead bookmark, and a colorful card. Julie does beautiful work, so check out her blog.
Also, another one of my favorite bloggers, Jafabrit, asked on her most recent post, ” What is your favorite painting.” Mine is a painting that I did in high school when I was about 17. It is of a woman in a tropical setting and my sons always say that it looks like me with gray hair. I tell them that it is prophetic and that I will live in a tropical place when I am old and gray. (I hope!)
Gladys Heron and her PipsWell I just flew in from Florida and boy are my arms tired. I know… bad joke. That could go along with the ones that the flight attendant was telling as we were taxiing into the Nashville airport.
What did the fish say when he swam into a concrete wall?
Dam!
Where do you find a turtle without legs?
Right where you left him.
How do you make a tissue dance?
Put a little boogie in it.
My very generous sister and her husband had rented a house on Little Gasparilla Island and invited us to come down for a weekend. It was so fun! You have to take a water taxi to the island and the only transportation is golf carts. No stores or restaurants. I took this picture while I was sitting on the dock watching my hubby fish. I kept walking closer and closer to this heron and it just stood there. I guess they know no one will bother them there. While we were on the docks, three dolphins where swimming around. They didn’ t stay up long enough to have their picture taken.
I guess that it’s back to the real world now.
I have been trying to get over my fear, block, hesitancy, or whatever it is of drawing people. Lately, each evening that I get to sit and watch TV I’ve been sketching. This is one that I did last night. The face was from a jewelry advertisement. When I finished the face, I thought she looked middle eastern so I gave her a paisley head covering. I think I will name her Esther.
This is a dangly that I just finished. The image is a transparency over a page from a hundred and twenty year old book, sewn over a map of Mexico, on a watercolored and stamped background.
Here is a group of charms that I just finished for an ICE charm swap. The theme was Asian Good Fortune and the charms were to have a red theme and include a fortune in the packaging or on the charm. The charms have a red jasper bead, a black glass bead, and a Chinese coin charm. The package is made from a tag that is painted with red watercolor, with a hand carved stamp. The stamp is supposed to say “harmony” but I forgot to carve it backwards. There is an origami crane in each holding a fortune in its wings.
I was looking around in some drawers at my mom’s house a couple of days ago and found something that brought back old memories. I found a painting that I did when I was 5 years old. I thought that it had gotten thrown away. I was so excited to find it! My parent’s had decided that I would take art lessons from a man named Mr. Luby. I don’t remember his first name, but I think that he was German. I remember an accent. Mr Luby lived several houses down the street from us. When I went for my first lesson, I remember that he was quite agitated because my set of watercolors included purple. He said that I should learn to mix my own colors. He drew this picture and had me paint it. I remember him telling me about highlights and shadows. Even though I was just 5, he treated the lessons seriously.
That was the beginning of a lifetime of making art. From then on, my parents gave me art lessons from everyone in the county that they could find to teach me. I remember taking a course at the community college when I was 14 and being the youngest one in the class. I changed high schools because ours no longer had an art teacher. Then, it was on to college.
I don’t consider myself a great artist, but I cannot imagine my life without art. Nurture the creative in your children. It will enrich their life.
It is the wonderful season of Sukkot, or in English, the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a time of Messianic hope for both Jews and Christians. For the past 6 or 7 years, my family and I have been observing Sukkot and I have begun to cherish it. I had a sukkah that I could put up each year and take apart when it is over, but last year the wind blew it down (a testament to my bad carpentry skills.) This year, with everything that has been going on in our lives, I didn’t have time to build a proper new one, so I stretched sheer cloths from my top deck down to the patio below. It gives a feeling of shelter and festiveness but is not quite what I would prefer. It will have to do for this year. Saturday evening, both of our boys and their wives came and dined with us in our sukkah. It is a wonderful feeling to all be together.
In some of my research, I found that more than likely, Yashuah was born during Sukkot and definitely not in the middle of winter. The king would not have required the census that Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for in the winter. Most likely it would have been after the harvest at the time when Sukkot falls. I guess carols would be appropriate at this time, though it will take some getting used to.
On the news Thursday, I heard of a sukkah that they are building in Jerusalem this year made of 2 tons of candy. They are giving out candy for free to all visitors. If they can build one of candy, I guess mine will do, though we can’t eat it.
This is a found art piece that I made from my digital collage, watercolor background, paper bead, and a 3-D butterfly. I will leave it at the hospital today.
I just checked a new book out of the library called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kinsolver. It is about how her family lived off of the fruit of their land plus locally grown produce for a whole year. I’m just in the second chapter but I’m inspired.
My own garden is winding down for the year, but I just picked the last of the green tomatoes and turned them into green tomato relish. This is something that my relatives have made for generations and my aunt and uncle came to my house one summer and showed me how to make it. Mine will probably never be as good as theirs but it will do. They would save a bit from the previous years for a taste comparison so that it would be consistent. The relish is the only thing that I canned this year besides the pickles in a previous post. We usually freeze corn and pears and make fig preserves and blackberry jelly, but this was a drought year so the corn didn’t make it and the late freeze got the pears and most of the figs.
Maybe next year will be a better gardening year and the freezer will be full. For this year we will have to make do with the farm stands and the grocery store. Homegrown tastes best.
I think I would like to have just one dull, uneventful day…maybe not a lot of them…just one or two. On Saturday while we were helping one son and daughter-in-law into their new home, I got a call from my older son’s best friend saying that they were at the emergency room having my son’s hand stitched up because he had cut it while building a deck behind their house. It turns out that he severed a tendon on the back of his middle finger on his left hand. He had surgery yesterday to reattach it and won’t be able to move it for a month. That’s not a good thing for a contractor. His wife is in the process of interviewing for a job, so I think they will be okay financially. He seems to be in pretty good spirits about it and I told them that something good will probably come out of this. Sometimes when things seem the worst, they lead to unexpected blessings.
Meanwhile, I am still checking on my Mom every day at the hospital. She is having some swelling on her operative leg, so she is not progressing as fast as we had hoped. Today she said that the swelling is down, so hopefully she can get back on her feet soon.
I’m trying to squeeze in a little artwork. Here is a digital collage that I did today, with a photo of a cemetery angel .
Wow! Just when I think life will be a little calmer, my days fill up more. I have been a little remiss in my blogging because everyone else’s agenda overtakes my own. That’s okay. I guess that’s why I’m here…to help where I’m needed.
Last weekend I had a wedding and a funeral. The wedding was at my house. My nephew was the groom. The funeral was a good friend’s mother. On Saturday morning, I sat though about an hour and a half funeral that was almost totally in Spanish. It was very interesting. Then I came home and helped finish preparing for the wedding which was at 4:00. All went well despite some much needed rain. (Pictures to follow when I receive the photo disc from my brother-in-law.)
Then on Monday I had to accompany my mother to the hospital for her knee replacement surgery. I have been at the hospital every day this week. I took art supplies with me, thinking I would have a lot of down time to create but that didn’t happen.
I did get to do a little art the week before and didn’t get to post it because my battery in my camera died. This is my graffiti inspired mixed media collage on Tyvek. I did a series of graffiti about love.
Also, I did a digital collage on healing.
It’s off to the hospital for me to check on Mom.
This is my “baby” whom I have always said was born knowing how to drive. The bottom photo is from when he got to drive at Talladega and went 173 miles an hour. It is a dream of his to get to drive Nascar. Does anyone out there have any Nascar connections? I guess, from a mom’s viewpoint, there are scarier things he could be doing.
It’s finally finished! I have been working on this painting for about a month and a half, off and on. It is to hang in the Community Outreach building at our church. We have a food bank there and feed from 60 to 100 families there each week. The building is kind of blank, so they asked me if I would paint a mural. They have been known to redecorate frequently at the church, so I decided that if I painted it on canvas, it could easily be removed when someone decides to do something different. The size is 6’x6′ and this photo was taken from the landing at the top of our stairs. I’m noticing that the lettering is slightly crooked. I have a hard time being consistent when I’m doing lettering. I also think that the holes were probably in Yahshua’s wrists rather than his hands, but that is the traditional view so for art’s sake that is the way I painted them, even though I tend to not be very traditional. The fan is blowing on it because the paint was not quite dry and I am impatient (I need a little work on that character trait.) I plan to take it into town today and deliver it.
It’s kind of ironic that the quote is about bread. A lot of our food that we give away is from the local grocery stores and they always seem to have a lot of bread that is ready to go out of date that they give us. Usually, when I help out, my post is at the bread table and I always have to persuade the people that they need 4 or 5 loaves, just to try to get rid of it all. A majority of them are coming to the service that we have before the food bank doors open so they are getting fed the Word also.
And it is still hot.
It’s just hot! It was 107 degrees yesterday and should be about the same today. Some relief is expected this weekend with temperatures in the 90’s. Maybe that will feel cool.
I made another fan and played around with watercolors and Photoshop yesterday. I think the heat is zapping my creativity and I’m hoping a little play will jump start it.
Yesterday my mom called and informed me that it was 105 degrees outside. I was aware of this fact because I had been outside watering plants and bushes for 3 hours. According to weather.com this will be the trend for at least the next week. Scary! To go with the theme of the heat, I decided to alter a paper fan. You know, the kind that they give out for advertising. I did a random one and then I got to thinking about people who would use a fan, and then hot flashes came to mind. I am very near that time of life, though I tend to only get warm flashes. So, then I decided to do a series of hot flash fans. I had just finished reading the blog of Michelle Ward and was inspired by her spray paint journal with stencils. I got some printed fans that I already had and spray painted them and added sprayed stencils and then some collage and glitter glue. The image is from a 1958 Maidenform bra ad. I liked the way it turned out and I may put a couple of them in my Etsy shop.
Meanwhile, I’m just trying to stay cool.
This is my husband’s creative endeavor. Super HOT dill pickles. I am just the assistant and he composes the jars and amounts of ingredients. Every year he says, “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this” but he loves the kudos and keeps making them. This is probably the last batch for this summer and will give us a total of 23 quarts. I love the smell of the house for a couple of days after we make them…vinegar, garlic, and dill. I think maybe I’ll do a painting of them sometime. This is a photo with the Photoshop dry brush filter and kind of gives me a feeling of what I’d want the painting to look like. Also, I would like to come up with a name and label for them. Something like “Fire and Dill.” Any ideas?
Here is a new bracelet that I made today, being modeled by one of the many cucumbers in my sink, destined for the pickle jar tonight. ( The cucumber, not the bracelet. )
It is not cool as a cucumber here today though. The high was around 100 degrees.
Not much going on art wise these days. Everyone is keeping me too busy. I seem to be at the mercy of everyone else’s agenda. That’s okay, it’s nice to be needed. I just thought I’d post a picture of one of the wildflowers from our field. This is a purple passionflower and it is Tennessee’s state wildflower. The vines grow wild all over our farm. They make a fruit that we call a Maypop and my boys used to have Maypop battles with their friends. Oh what strange things you do to entertain yourself in the country. The flowers are very fragile when picked, but I got a good scan of this one before it wilted.
My next project will probably be to make dill pickles with my husband. They are his specialty and our family and friends have put in their orders for this year’s batch. He makes them super hot with three or four kinds of peppers, including habeneros. The zucchini and tomatoes have been keeping me busy also. If you were here, I’d send you home with a bag of them.
Wow! Has it been a whole month since I last posted? I have been so busy that I’ve barely had time to check my email.
The first big news is the wedding of our older son that took place on June 30 in Sarasota, Florida. It was a beautiful, simple ceremony on the beach with immediate family and a couple of their best friends. The lovely photos were taken by the minister’s wife, Natalie Evans. This past Saturday, we had a belated reception for them at our home. I did almost all of the food preparation, including two cakes, and also had some help from my other daughter-in-law and my sister. We had at least 90 people here. I’ve decided that I have no desire to take up catering. That was a big job.
My other occupation for the past 3 weeks has been to help my other son and his wife with the house they are building. My older son is the contractor, but we are doing some of the work and not subbing it out, in order to save money. We have been cleaning and staining the concrete floors and laying tile in the bathrooms. When we get it all cleaned up and finished I will post pictures of the tile. In the master bath shower, we used slate on the walls and added accents of ammonite fossils that they found in the rocks on the property. The floor of the shower is covered with smooth river stones that they picked up in Chattanooga, where they used to live. It is quite unique. Later this week we will be tiling the counter tops. In a couple of weeks they will be moving in and we will have an empty nest again.
Life is constant change and lately it has been wonderful and exciting. I pray daily for the strength to keep up. Uphold your family daily with prayer and cherish every moment with them. Blessings to you and yours.
Today’s harvest. Rain today! Hallelujah! This is the first substantial rain we have had in 2 months. I thought we were going to turn into a desert.
It’s so hard for me to settle down to doing one thing for very long. There are so many fun things out there to do. I’ve been doing some crocheting, felting, and sewing lately. I crocheted a couple of purses that I finally finished yesterday and am listing them on etsy. I also started felting some more beads. Those are things that I can do while I watch TV (which I don’t do a lot of) or ride in the car. I made a necklace from some of the beads and listed it for sale too. The model for the necklace was my lovely daughter-in-law, Christina. I don’t know if these will appeal to anyone, but I can’t help making stuff and I have to do something with it. I’ve also found that if you don’t consistently list things on etsy, your item goes way down in the list and rarely gets viewed. Listing on a regular basis insures traffic to your shop. My goal of one thing every day was a little ambitous but one or two things a week is not too hard.
I just finished a painting for my husband’s birthday that I wanted to share with you. For special occasions I do a painting for his office. Usually they are of scenes from our farm or community. This painting was done from a photo I took last summer in our small town. There was a broken down truck parked in a field and the bed of it was filled with elderberry flowers and it was surrounded by Queen Anne’s lace. I loved the faded blue color. What could have been an eyesore was transformed into a quaint summer scene.
This summer, that truck is gone and they replaced it with a red one. I’ll just have to wait and see how this scene turns out.
I just completed a garden pedestal for myself. Sometimes I have to do a piece just for me and not for sale. Don’t muzzel the oxen that treadeth the grain. I have had a couple of pieces of salvaged pvc sewer pipe for several months, waiting with this project in mind. The tile is also salvaged from various projects of my own and my mom’s and sisters’s. I’t is about 3 feet tall and 7 inches in diameter. I am using it to cover the unsightly pipe that goes to our septic tank that I’ve been looking at for 11 years. Now it’s covered.
I just finished a couple of new pieces for my etsy shop. As you can see, I am in a color theme of predominately turquoise. The basket is made from the same sheet of felt paper as the pouch in the previous post, but cut and woven rather than leaving it solid. It is ornamented with 2 pence coins, hammered copper wire, and a copper tag with the word “gratitude” stamped into it.
The clock is a wooden base that is shaped like a bird house that I collaged with dress pattern pieces, newspaper clippings, and paint. The scrabble letter words remind us that “Time Flies, Be Happy.” Life is too short to dwell on the negative things around us. We get caught up in the cares of the day and forget to be grateful for the good things in our lives. The little winged girl on the clock is a picture of my grandmother taken around 1904. She is pouting because she dropped her rose petals and her parents and the photographer wouldn’t let her pick them up. I think it is interesting that the story of the photo was preserved so that now, over a hundred years later, we have insight into the person in the picture.
I just finished a new piece to add to my etsy shop. Actually I added 3 pieces but if you want to see the others you will have to visit my shop.
This piece is a hanging basket/pouch made of heavy roofing felt, that has been painted, stamped, collaged, and embellished. The pouch measures 7″ x 8 1/2 inches, excluding the handle, which is made of recycled copper electrical wire. The pouch is collaged with old dress patterns, a 1967 newspaper, and an old ledger. The photo on the front is a digital collage that I created from a vintage photo. Sewn across the top, are 5 vintage buttons, and the sides are crocheted together with fluffy yarn. The quote is from Picasso, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” You can hang this from a wall or doorknob and store things in it. I use mine to put my bills in and another for paintbrushes and pencils.
I am trying extra hard, to put up things for sale because I want to earn some extra money for our travel for our older son’s wedding coming up. The wedding will be on the beach in Florida. We are so excited for them. I can hardly wait and I feel their anticipation deeply.
This is a painting that I just finished yesterday, that is on an old window. I think that the scene is suppose to be Tuscan. It was from a picture that I found and changed a little. I recently sold another similar window painting at Arts Desire in Columbia, TN and hopefully this one will sell too.
I just received my charms from a swap hosted by Becky New for Altered Art Obsession. They were so FUN that I couldn’t wait to turn them into a necklace. I made a holder for the charms out of looped and hammered copper wire. Then I took an old necklace made of strings, which had a lobster clasp, and attached it to one end with a jump ring. Then I attached all of the charms to the loops. I only used the ones that were similar in size. I have several larger ones that I will use as pendants. I really like the way the necklace turned out. It’s fun to wear something like that because people always ask questions about it. Then I can tell them about my wonderful art swap friends scattered all around the world.
If you have not checked out Etsy, you’re missing a treat. Their slogan is “Your place to buy and sell all things handmade.” It’s kind of like Ebay, but better and made just for handmade things and art materials. I have just opened my own store on the site. The link is http://www.stillwatersstudio.etsy.com. I only have 4 items in my store right now, but I’ve challenged myself to add at least one new thing every weekday. I need to start finding homes for all of my creative inventory. So check it out, and come back frequently because there should be something new to see.
This is my second try on the challenge of creating an art doll out of an aluminum soda can for my Altered Art Obsession group. I think this one will be a little easier to mail than my first attempt. My swap partner is the creator of a wonderful online art zine called ZNE. When I found out who my partner was, I was a little nervous about sending my work to someone who sees such wonderful work every day. Aluminum cans are not my best medium, but my doll is now winging her way to California to live with Chel.
Pictured are the doll and her fabric bag for traveling.
My husband called from work this morning and said that we were invited to go to his sister’s house tonight for her birthday. He said,”Make something artsy for her.” I had just gotten through looking at a blogsite for a lady who makes unique jewelry. I was inspired to make something from hammered wire. This is the necklace that I came up with. It is copper electrical wire, copper tubing, my own lampworked beads, and a couple of copper beads on a rubber cord.
Maybe I’ll make myself one too.
The weather has been so beautiful that I haven’t gotten to do as much art as I would like. It’s hard to stay indoors. The garden is calling. This is a montage of photos that I took on Saturday. I would love to take you on a wildflower walk through our woods. They are a colorful carpet for spring. Each one, an old friend that I haven’t seen in a year. I looked to see if there were any morel mushrooms, but it has been too dry for them. Maybe with a little rain we will find them before the deer do.
I just finished a necklace made from found objects. My inspiration was a couple of websites. art -e-zine from the UK and the art of Ro Bruhn from Australia. The objects are ( from left to right):
pop top and turquoise
oxygen tubing with newspaper and beads
glass fuse with copper foil and wire
earring pendant with beads
mussel shell from our pond with beads
tubing with paper words and beads
Hebrew word for life ( I think) with beads
watch part and beads
NYC subway token with beads
shrink art with digital image
tubing with transparency and beads
key and beads
heart charm with beads
22 caliber shell with beads
yardstick part with button, text, and map pin
faucet screen with beads
mussel shell and beads
tubing, newspaper, and beads
tassel made from fabric and a green tea can
all strung on tiger tail with various random commercial beads,
Whew!
I love busy artwork. The more stuff, the better. Sometimes simple is good, but most of the time, give me lot’s of stuff to keep the eye interested.
I will wear it tonight to a St. Patty’s party. Erin go Braugh!
I just finished a project that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. My cats have been using a cardboard box on our deck, for a home for the winter, like poor little homeless kitties. It was also pretty unsightly. I’ve been saving scrap lumber and tile from our building projects and decided that it was time to build them a house. I drafted my DH to help with the heavy stuff and technical support. I don’t think he was aware of how elaborate it was going to be. I tiled on it for two afternoons and my daughter-in-law helped do one side. Today I grouted it and now I need to make them a cushion for the inside. When the guys get home tonight, I’ll have them move it to the deck and goodbye cardboard box. Also here is a picture of Bella and Tilly watching me make their house. It was a fun project. Next, maybe I’ll do houses for my dogs. It will have to be a really big one for a Great Pyrenees
I have always been intrigued by advertisements by the Paper Whimsy company.
They are beautiful, soft images created from very old photos of children, digitally enhanced and collaged with other whimsical elements. I wanted to try to duplicate that style so I took one of the old photos that I got from my aunt and digitally cut a little far distant, long lost cousin from the picture. I added a moon background and some faint color and a few other effects an came up with an image that I am rather pleased with. As you can see in the original, one side of her is covered by her mother’s head, so I had to construct another side for her. Here you can see the before and after. She will wind up in several of my collages, I am sure.
I have been sorting through a lot of old family photos lately. I got them from my Aunt Marguerite’s apartment when we were cleaning it out. She died yesterday afternoon at the age of 84. It is sad to know that she is gone, but I am glad that she is out of pain. She was, as my husband says, “the keeper of the pictures.” I guess that is what I am too. I love to find out the story behind the faded images. This photo is my great grandparents, and great aunt and uncle. I love the look in my great grandmother’s eyes. There is a flicker of a smile in there even though it is not on her lips. I wonder what book my great grandfather was holding and about the flashy dress that my Aunt Hattie was wearing when everyone else is dressed in somber tones.
It sounds like the next few days will be filled with family, funeral, and food. In the south, there is always lots of food before and after a funeral. There will be a potluck lunch at the church, by the cemetery, and all of my relatives will be there. Maybe I will take some of the pictures with me and see if anyone can tell me the stories.
This is an art doll that I did for an exchage with the Altered Art Group. The challenge was to use an aluminum can to make the doll and to use every part of it. Some of the parts are not very conducive to altering. I considered just crushing the can and going from there. It was difficult, but I coaxed a somewhat human looking shape from a green tea can. I liked the design on the can so I didn’t cover it with paint. Her necklace says it all…”wierd”.
These are fabric, one inch squares that I just completed for a swap with my Altered Art Obscession group. I will be sending these to a lady in Canada, who will then redistribute them to other members. They were rather tedious to make but I have had plenty of sitting around time to work on them because I have had to sit at the hospital with my aunt (see previous post about her birthday.) She has been in the hospital twice in the past two weeks and in and out of the nursing home. Last Thursday, she fell and broke her hip at the nursing home. Two months ago, I visited her at her home and she made me peach pie and we visited and looked at old family photos all afternoon. Now she is almost totally helpless and very confused from all the medication. I have had lots of time watching her in the hospital, to think about death, helplessness, family, and loss of dignity. It makes you wonder how you would want to spend your last few weeks or months alive; aware but in pain, or drugged and confortable but totally confused. Most people say that to break your hip and be in a nursing home is almost a death sentence. She knows this too, and when she is aware it has to be going through her mind. All we can do is be there for her and try to comfort her. It makes you feel a bit helpless.
Cherish those around you and let them know that you care.
I have been participating in some art swaps lately. It’s kind of a side art hobby to connect with other artists around the country. One of the swaps was through Artella Zine and I received a package from a lady named Kelly Parker from Michigan. I am posting a photo of the dangly and card that I received from her and also she sent a small treasure chest of goodies to collage with. When I showed my husband and son, my son said with surprise, “So, there are other people out there like you!” I guess that’s what these swaps are about; to know there are other creative (maybe slightly odd) people out there like yourself. Another swap that I am doing is with Altered Art Obsession. For this one we have to make 12 tags and laminate them. We send them to the hostess who will collate them so that we will receive 12 different ones and she will attach them to a chain. I had fun making these little collages. Pictured are the fronts. The backs are collaged also.
I just got back from a ski vacation in Breckenridge, CO. I think I’ve had my fill of snow for the next couple of years. Here is a photo of our motley crew ready to brave the blizzard and one of dear hubby and myself on the mainstreet of Breckenridge. Last is a photo of the winner of the snow sculpture contest there. The title is Old Man Winter. Saturday I walked through town and visited several galleries. My favorite was the Huneck Gallery of Breckenridge. The gallery is full of pet art. It features the art of Steven Huneck and D D Larue along with various other artists. They are both so prolific and their art is humorous and inspiring. I also visited Arts Alive the local artists’ co-op gallery. There was a nice variety of different media and I had an interesting conversation with the lady working there about precious metal clay techniques, my next new medium to try. Then I went into the Fox Ridge Gallery that specializes in art glass. I bought a beautiful pair of earrings made of dicroic glass. A trip like that gets my creative juices flowing again. Now if I just had time to create uninterupted.
My mom just got through remodeling her house and removed some old doors. The contractor wanted to burn them, but I rescued them. I wasn’t sure quite what I would do with them, but I knew I would think of something. If they were original to the house then they are almost a hundred years old. The paint is all crackled. I decided to paint a French lavender field scene on them and hinge them like a folding screen. I love the old distressed look but it doesn’t quite go with my house so these need to find a new place to live. They will stay in my basement along with my stockpile of other artwork until I find a place to sell them. Maybe ebay.
If there is such a thing as an art muse, for me it would probably be my Aunt Marguerite. When I was a child, my favorite place was my aunt’s attic bedroom. She had it stocked with everything a child would need to be creative; colored paper, scissors, glue, fabric, a doll house. Any art materials that my sister and brother and I got at home that Mom probably considered too messy, wound up there also. I have saved some of the things that I created and scanned them all, along with some other items from her room. I think that she is probably the reason I chose to be an artist. She was never married or had any children, but lived with my grandparents to take care of them. I think all of us nieces and nephews were like her children. She would always take time to take us on walks to the creek or the barn and teach us things.
Tomorrow she will turn 84. I made her a card using a picture of her taken when she was around 20 that she gave me a couple of weeks ago when I went to visit. I hope she likes her wings. Happy Birthday Marguerite!
I just checked my camera to see the photos that I took over the weekend and I thought that this one turned out pretty interesting. When I woke up Friday morning the sky was a beautiful pink and it made my whole kitchen glow pink also. I knew that my flash would reflect so I tried to cover it with my finger. Not only were the sky and kitchen a beautiful pink but so were my cats’ eyes as they were waiting for me to serve them breakfast. Kind of spooky.
Here are 4 ATC’s that I made for an exchange in my Altered Art Obsession Yahoo group. We make 4 of them and send them to the person hosting, who keeps one and sends back 3 different ones to the sender. This is my first exchange, so I am a little nervous. Is my work up to par for this group? The theme is “Femme Fatale” and hopefully my cards keep to the idea. Can’t wait to see what I get in return. The deadline is Jan. 15, so I will have to wait a while.
Here are two paintings that I just did today. Each is very different from the other. The first painting is a yellow lab that I did for my son’s friend, who did some roofing work for us at a discount. I copied a painting called “Dog Tired” that was done in watercolors, but this one is in acrylics, and I changed some of the colors. The other painting was done to use up the paints that I had left over. The palette reminded me of the southwest, so I added a couple of more colors to spice it up and painted three small paintings on MDF scraps left over from our building project. I then painted a larger piece and mounted them on it. It feels nice to get back into painting. I’ve been doing a lot of other types of art lately, but I think I like painting the best.
Every year, as a present, I paint a couple of new pictures for my husband’s office. Several of them are scenes from our farm, because I know that he enjoys being at home, out in the country. This way, even though he is at work, he can still look at the scenery. This painting is of one of the benches on our patio, in the summer, with the flowers around it and the pond in the background. He hasn’t seen it yet, so shhhh, keep it a secret. The photo was taken on the bench that is in the painting, bare of flowers because of winter. Oh, how I love summer.
I did a little collage work today as I was relaxing on a chilly Saturday. This a a collage of my mother when she was about 2 years old. The background script is a letter that my great-grandfather wrote to his wife when he was a soldier in the Civil War. All of the center portion was combined on Photoshop, including the blue cut-out words. That was then glued to decorative papers and highlighted with oil pastels, stamps, hand drawn letters, and vintage buttons. The word “dream” is hand drawn. The yellow heart is a piece of broken tail light that I found in my driveway.
My next task is to curl up on the couch in front of the woodstove with a cup of hot tea and my new Quilting Arts magazine.
Here is what I have been doing for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Not much art work, but a lot of tile work. I put my skills that I have learned doing mosaics to practical use tiling the bathrooms and kitchen of a house that we are building in Murfreesboro. As you can see, there is still a lot to do. The outside photo was taken right after our stone work was completed. The roof is now cleaned up and we are getting ready to do the landscaping after all of the underground utilities are done. The photo of the kitchen shows the tile counters and backsplash that I just finished. We still have to do the trim work on the cabinets. My son Zach is the contractor and his website is www.avantgardehomesllc.com if you would like to check it out. Tiling was fun, but I’m glad to be back home into my regular routine. I’m trying to get back in the creative mode at home. I have at least 2 paintings and a mosaic game table planned to start on if I can drag myself away from the computer.
Well…this is a little bit different kind of job than I usually do. I got referred to a man that wanted a mural. I was thinking some kind of scene or something, but it turned out to be this sign. I designed the logo for him and he liked it, so thus began my adventure. The sign is about 15 feet off of the ground so I had to use a scissor lift to get to it. For a person who doesn’t like heights, that was a stretch. I was apprehensive about the height but once I got up there, I loved it. It was such a blast! So many curious people came by and talked to me about the sign. It was like an art performance with an audience passing by all day. These photos are in reverse order. The hand points to where the entrance for the small studios is. It is a little shiny because I took it with a flash before the paint dried. The finished photo was taken by Kim Huff, the owner of the art gallery in the building.
In addition to the gallery, the building houses a recording studio an, and several small studios that are rented by various creative people. The gallery owner, Kim Huff, may put some of my work in her studio. This is at 116 N. Walnut St. in Murfreesboro, TN. The gallery is scheduled to open at the beginning of December.
This is a flamingo themed blog. I just finished two flamingo projects and I read today that the factory that makes the classic flamingo is closing Nov. 1. Will they become collector’s items? Anyway… mine are recycling projects. One is painted on an old window and the other is made out of an old golf club, nails, and metal washers. My daughter-in-law, Christina had the idea to make the golf club ones, so one of them is hers. The last photo is the designer of the original birds surrounded by his creations. I’ve been trying to get more in touch with my pink side lately.
I think that this is an interesting concept. A man named Lars Kraemmer in Denmark came up with the idea of Art Money . Click on the link to read his story. People from around the world have created their own art money. You must send 3 of your money creations to the BIAM
(Bank of International Art Money) where they post examples of each artist’s work. You can send them others which they will sell for you. Each art money starts out with a value of 20 Euros ($24 US) and increases 5 Euros per year for seven years. You can spend them with participating businesses for a percentage of your purchase or redeem them with hosts around the world for one night of lodging per art money. Sounds like fun. I couldn’t resist. Here is the page with one of my art bills and my profile.
I submitted a piece to Artitude Zine for one of their challenges. I didn’t make it into the zine but they published it on their website in the gallery. Artitude Zine It is a wooden book box that is collaged inside and out, so there are two photos of it. The theme was “Books” so it has words and art pertaining to books. On the inside is a picture of my son Zach when he was about 4 and he had fallen asleep with his book. The next challenge theme is “Trees” and is due November 7 so I think I may try to come up with something for that one.
I got a couple of new art magazines the other day and that always inspires me to make something new. One was Quilting Arts, which is not anything like your grandmother’s quilting. Every issue has amazing new techniques and pages of beautiful pieces made by their contributors. The other magazine was Step by Step Wire, which is about making wire jewelry. There was a beautiful bracelet on their gallery page by a women in Murfreesboro, TN, which inspired me to make my own similar bracelet. This photo is how it turned out. It took me about an hour and a half with materials that I had on hand. I think I’ll make more of these.
This is a collage of our weekend at the Tennessee River. The weather was cool and the river wasn’t too crowded. It was good just to be together. I discovered a sign that read, “Tennessee River Art Village” I was totally intrigued but didn’t have time to stop and check it out so when I got home I looked it up on the internet. This is what I found: Tennessee River Art Village
I am absolutely going to go there next time we are at the river.
Have a blessed day!
I have just begun this new blog as a place to post my new art. My other blog is for my found art. Click here to check out that site. I will begin posting art this week.
