This is what my father taught me.

This is what I believe.  

I am grateful to all the people in my life who surround me with love and support.  

NO MATTER WHAT.

Dad told me that once.  

We are family,

we love,

we fight,

we are always there 

for each other.

 NO MATTER WHAT.

ART IS LIFE - LIFE IS ART

It has been a long summer, even though it's just August.  I am feeling a sense of relief and deep LOVE in my heart.  The two people who I owe everything to, my mom and dad are in a  HAPPY place.  Mom has just

moved into the nicest retirement complex.  It's beautiful, it's safe, secure and peaceful.  All of which she will

flourish in.  Since my father died, it has been so difficult for mom.  I don't think there is a day go by, without mom missing dad immensely.  I know my dad is feeling her joy as well.  

It was so touching to hang these two portraits in my mom's new apartment.  They were such a beautiful

couple.  I think mom FALLS IN LOVE with him even more every time she sees his picture.  He reminds me 

of Henry Fonda, when Fonda was really young... like in the Grapes of Wrath.  Especially the eyes.  

Mostly, my art has been set aside this summer.  I have had time to do some, but more importantly, I have

been focusing on helping my mom.  For someone who had a strong shoulder to lean on her entire life, having dad gone, has really been difficult.  But she is rallying in her new apartment. YELLOW is her color and she will fill her apartment with JOY!   Having her own space, doing as she pleases is already bringing a spark to her eyes.  And I love that she has so many social options open to her now....outings that will keep her busy.  

Friends that can now come over and sit and have tea with her.  

Plus she can sit on her balcony and look at the beautiful mountains to the west.  She will love it even more this fall when the days become cooler.  Everyday will be new and fun for her.  How wonderful for her!   It's her time to have a lightness in her soul.  She deserves it.  And I know my DAD agrees!

ART IS LIFE... LIFE IS ART.

how true.

May has blown by  and here  I am already running fast  in June!!!  My kids moved back from Hawaii.. a wonderful blessing.  Having them here has been fun, busy, crazy and lots of giggles.  They are now nesting in their new little house and I am getting my space back.  Still lots of time with my sweet granddaughter is like dessert everyday!

The Glenwood Downtown Farmer's Market starts up next Tuesday.. and I will have my booth..  And I am doing a booth this year at the Strawberry Festival which starts a week from this Friday.  So I am very busy gearing up
for that.  Currently have art hanging at the Smithy's in Carbondale, after hanging art at the Lizzie's Coffee House in New Castle for the past two months.  Maybe a few shows on the horizon for summer.. but I have to keep my energy focused on the business.

Power Thought for the day..."I am willing to let go.  I release others to experience whatever is meaningful to them, and I am free to create that which is meaningful to me." I love when it is so spot on.

I am turning 61 this month.   Last year turning 60 was shocking for me.  But I have embraced my age now, so much, that I am letting my silver hair come out. Feel it's time.  I have lots of plans for the summer.  More ART, more family time, and more gratitude for life.  And watching the garden grow.  How dearly I love summer.  Feel the sun on my face, that smell of the honeysuckle, the strawberry plucked warm from the garden and popped in my mouth.  Reminds me of the vegetable garden my parents had when I was a kid.
Fresh picked tomatoes in the garden tasted like heaven.  I am growing my veggies in hay bales this year.  Wish I could share with Dad.  He so loved gardening especially when he had time after he retired.  He savored his garden.

and now time to step out into my garden and pick some lemon balm.

ta

CHARLIE'S GARDEN

A mixed media assemblage of found objects.  I have been wanting to do a "recycled garden" for a long time.  I have a nice pile of collected things..  been saving odd bits and pieces for years.  Yes, it piles up.  Yes, I should clear it out.  But being an artist who loves to repurpose it just is hard to get rid of the treasures.  In my dreams, I would love to spend a week sorting and categorizing everything.  Then store in clear containers clearly labeled.  But then I wouldn't always experience the serendipitous discovery of reaching for an element (not knowing what I was looking for) and ta-da there it is. 

 Perfect!  

This is done on a cradle board.  I painted the background then started compiling the flowers.   I have a lot of the old molds that I have collected from thrift shops and garage sales.  I hammered these flat, snipping some 

to allow the bowl shape to spread out... which added a petal look.  Old spoons were hammered as well and I had a nice stash of red bottle caps to pop a little color on the spoon flowers.  An old zipper, an old

electric cloth covered cord, some carpenter's rulers and wire created the stems.  I decided I needed some dimension at the base of the flowers and found an old purse at the thrift shop that was green with printed

xoxo's  and hearts.  So I cut out strips and nailed them to the board creating the depth I was looking for.

The one flower with the red bullseye is special to me.  And it does stand out prominently.  The red disk was something I found in my husband's garage trash.. he had cut it out of metal.  The center white is a big old washer from my dad's stash that I gleaned from his garage after he passed away.  He was a tinker and had boxes of goodies that I have been rationing into my art.  The blue and yellow pieces of tin are from a windmill that Dad had made.  He made several of these.  When I got them, the little motors no longer worked, but I knew I would find a use of the propellers someday.  The leaves on this flower are old screen

from some old screen door with lovely old paint and rust.  So after I was done with this piece, I decided to

call it Charlie's Garden.. for my Dad.  He loved to garden after he retired.  

I have a show coming up in a few week with some very fun talented ladies: Whimsical Women of the West.  It's our Spring Show..and I need to pump out as much fun art as I can.

wish me luck..

I need TIME to create.  And that is not always an abundant commodity for me!!!!!

JUST LIKE ME

Finished this new one.. so much fun creating a whimsical gathering of birds.  I love doing birds.. something 

so sweet and comical about the little birds in the spring.  Hopping around, busily looking for yummies to eat.

I hang a bird feeder outside all winter and it's a little sad to pull it down in the spring.  Bears love feeders.  So the birds on are their own for food.. thankfully  there is more to eat now.

I have a great local outlet for my art... a friend's shop in the downtown area who loves my art and let's me hang as much as I want to bring in.  She only charges me a minimum fee for sold work and it's fun for her to hang up the art.  She likes the quirky and colorful which is my favorite choice to do!!!  

And I have another hanging in June at a great popular breakfast place in Carbondale for the month of June.  So I have a lot of art to do.. plus with shows and markets coming up this summer, I want to build my inventory as much as possible.   

I have been neglecting my morning art time.. which has been sorely missed.  Always seeming to find "more important things to do" and duh... my daily art time is really critical for me.  So having a lot of commitments for my art will get me back in the groove.  It's magical to come into my studio and sit at my art desk with my birds chirping over my head and immerse myself in my art.  

This year I am determined to create at a steady flow.. for many reasons least of all my SELF.  I will be posting here more often and hope to soon restock my empty etsy store.  tsk tsk.  

Funny how I become more stagnant in the winter and when spring rolls around, a time when I have a ton of chores in the garden, I wake up with wanting to do art all the time!!!!!  But I do a lot more reading in the winter..  which is lovely.  

so that's my game plan...

plus my kids are moving back to our valley in a few weeks.  and I am giddy with excitement.....

ta

NEW ART

This was a new fun art for me.   Such great FUN!!!

I started out with a multi wash of color.

I love watercolor so working on this wood using very wet acrylics

is as much fun for me as doing watercolors.

After this dried,

I started adding some wispy plant designs.. again with a wet brush dipped in

watered down acrylics, but with enough color to show up.

Drying time again.  Sometimes I speed this up with my heat gun.

Next I stamped some designs with paint.. for added elements.

And then took an old plastic dollie and used it as a stencil to spray paint over.

This really gives a nice lacy garden feel.

Next came the blackbird and the branch.  And lastly,

the collaged dictionary pages for the poppies.

Lastly the berries.. which I loved.

Now my artistic juices are flowing,

and I want to do MORE!

ta for now

WORK IN PROGRESS

Favorite jeans... slowly evolving into an art project.

Happy jeans.  Happy me.

Work in Progress. 

Funky chicken.  Using boards cast off from local cabinet shop.  I like the feel of

the wood and especially when there are knots and rough edges.  

And, finally, I think this piece is done.

Using a child's chalkboard easel works great for me.

I just kept playing with colors until

I was happy with the outcome.

Feels good to be doing art again.

It's been a long time for me.

ta

PINTEREST

I usually come around.

Eventually.

A little bird told me about Pinterest.

I have been seeing it around.

So I finally looked into it..

found it fun.

Though it can be a time sucker.

and that....

I.  don't.  need.

but will start slipping some fun things onto my boards...

fun.

can't so no.

ta

EMBRACING ART IN TINY INCREMENTS

Gave myself 2 minutes to play!

January was basically a write off for me.

Sick nearly the entire month.

THANKFULLY

what I was being told was a serious chronic illness

WAS NOT!

So art, business, life in general

was very minimal for me.

But I am RALLYING!

Wearing my pink Born flats this morning

scored at the local Thrift Shop yesterday.

Made me a healthy smoothie this morning

and decided I needed to not only attend to my health

but my ART as well.

Even if it means only a couple of minutes of art time...

I am taking January and shoving it aside.

The good part that came out of all this

is a renewed sense of JOY 

in my life and of course

GRATITUDE.

LIFE

is

a 

GIFT.

My

art 

is 

a 

gift.

and I am using both to my best advantage.

NEW WORD FOR 2012?

EMBRACE.

GETTING IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

LOVE IT.

Now the real story of this design..

First came the lips/leaves.. like 8 years ago?

then last year I added the heart background.

liked the combo, but it wasn't IT.

Then I was working on backgrounds for my kitchen rules designs.

I created the red polka dot with turquoise blue inset.

and then I worked on heart flowers.  

and then all of a sudden...

(here's where you picture cupid appearing over my creative brain....

and tada...

it all came together

and shot arrows straight through my heart.

I am smiling.

and 

SMOOCHIE MAMA

was born.

another day in my life.

ta

REPURPOSED APRON IS NOW CURTAIN!

My apron.

I have had it hanging around for over a year.

A little too frilly for me.

I don't do ruffles, frills, etc.

Lots of bad memories of my mother dressing me in lace, frills etc.

when all I ever wanted to wear was my jeans and red cowboy boots.

But that's another story!

I decided to make a fun curtain for the kitchen out of the apron.

Day photo..

too much back lighting.

Night photo.

Ahh

this is better...

Now you can see it.

Those triangle ends are the crisscross bib from the apron.

I used only two ruffles because I wanted to keep the curtain short.

The felt balls I added for whimsy.

That chicken in the window?  I bought at a craft art shop.

The chicken is felt and is sitting in a wire nest that is atop an old bed spring.

The child's rubber boot makes a fun planter.

The chicken towel hooks on the side cabinet was originally 

painted dark colors.  I repainted it with the bright colors.  

Fun.

RUN AWAY DAY FINDS

It feels good to run away.

Yesterday, I lured a friend to run away with me.  We went to Grand Junction, a place I know well!

Well, sort of.  I grew up there in the 50's and it was a nice quiet town.  No more.  The traffic is

huge and most places crowded.  Even on a Tuesday!  I won't go there before Christmas because it's CRAZY!

After we stopped in Palisade to check on my one account in town, we had lunch at a great cafe and for "dessert" we visited the local Blue Pig Gallery.  It was wonderful and I was inspired.

Next we went to Hobby Lobby and I found some FABULOUS duck fabric plus I had a 40% coupon (thank to my girlfriend) and bought some yardage for some oh I don't know exactly what yet, but I had to have this fabric.

It's happy happy.. and I loved the way the flowers pop off the black background!

So here's what I have done so far!

I recovered the stool here in the entry way.
This photo shows the true colors best.  I love the turquoise
in the print.
:)

Next....
I had a couple of mix matched cushion/pillows in the little rocker.  And decided
this would look great with these happy new colors.
Note:
The carpet is not black.
here's a better view showing the unusual color of our carpeting.

See the blue in the patch rug?  The one patch with the yellow bird?

It's that blue.. and whenever I try to take photos, the rug turns a strange color.  

I like the blue -- it's different but's a pain to keep clean.  Dark carpeting doesn't show

the dirt, but it shows dog hair, and lint.  BIG time.  I seriously should vacuum every day.

But I don't.  

I also covered a little pillow and tossed it on the couch to carry the new fabric into the room

We also stopped at several thrift shops.  I found this wonderful bamboo cart with wheels for a steal.

I can use this to hold some of my cuttings and new plants that I start.  I sat it here in front of the huge windows in our dining room where morning sun is glorious.  This cart will also work as a side table for dinners both inside and out on the deck.  So I was pretty happy with this find.

So I have discovered that having my new sewing machine makes sewing a LOT MORE FUN!

I think over the years, any sewing I would do, using an old machine, was total frustration.

What a nice change having a machine that zips along, no problems!!!!!

♥have a happy day♥

ta

DAD WOULD BE PROUD

I love these jeans.

I love these sneakers.

They make me smile.

So when I tore these old jeans, I saved them to mend.

And with my NEW sewing machine, yahoo!!!!!

I  just mended these and am now wearing them with a smile on my face.

While I was sewing along, I thought of Dad.

He would take his work jeans and zig zag patch them and 

wear them like NEW!  He was resourceful and saved many things.

I could feel his energy while I sewed these.  

It's comforting to rescue an old friend.

 I am so blessed to work in my art studio here at home.

I can not tell you how wonderful it is to slip on my favorite jeans,

tie up my favorite sneakers and work surrounded by my birds, dog and cat.

It's crispy cold outside, and I have a fire burning in the wood stove here in the studio.

NICE.

Blessed.

Grateful.

Happy.

What a nice way to start my day!

NEXT?

art.

even better!

NEW ADDITION TO THE ART STUDIO

SOOO????

 me SEWING?

well, yes, but in an artful way!

Sewing isn't something I love doing.  I will, and I have, in the past.  When I was pregnant with my son, Chris, I made all my maternity clothes.  A nice friend and neighbor showed me how to sew.  I had so much fun and it saved me tons on money on maternity clothes.  Then after Chris was born, I started sewing his overalls.  I was an avid embroiderer then and I would embroider animals, etc on his bibs overalls.  I did the same when I was pregnant with my daughter and she wore girly overalls....  It was fun and I enjoyed it.  

Now that ART is my main passion, I don't sew much any more.  Just necessary mending, etc when I have to.

But my old machine stopped working a month ago and I decided it might be time to get a new machine.  And when I saw this Brother's with all those fun stitch options, my ARTISTIC JUICES STARTED FLOWING!

I can do collages and embellish with fun stitches on fabric and paper.  I use fabric in some of the collages and won't it be fun to give a hillside a fun border of decorative stitches?  And paint some image on dictionary paper then add some fun stitching to CRANK it up?     And since my business has prospered this year, I felt I could justify the cost.  Which seriously, these new fan~dangled machines are not all that expensive.  I think I paid way more for my old machine way back in 1975 then I did on this one.  Plus this one can do tons more!  

This machine has the over sized table that snaps on as you can see in the picture.  When you pull it off, it's a narrow arm that will be great for hemming pants.  Yes, I will do some traditional stuff like that.  But oh the 

POSSIBLITIES POSSIBILITIES with this new machine in my art studio!!!!  WHOOP WHOOP!  I had to learn how to 

thread this new baby, the bobbin system is unlike any I have ever seen or used, but I finally got it and was stitching merrily along this morning. I had worry dreams last night about the new machine... when I opened it up and saw how different it was, I thought OH no...can I figure this out.  I am not great at reading instructions, I am much better at visual instructions.  So I googled the how to video, and thankfully found one.. and TA_DA!!!!!

JANUARY is my special studio ART month.  When I have more time to work on ART and truly be in a blissful place.  No yard work, no holidays to busy yourself with, plus it's  cold and wintry,  a perfect time to immerse myself in projects.

I have an inspiration board here on the back of my studio door where I post ideas, images, anything that strikes my fancy.  It's a nice launching pad for my art.

Fun to have the visual candy.

or smiles..

I adore this face.

may you have an adorable day...

ta