Life In My Garden

Mushrooms that grew overnight

Thyme

Lonely birdhouse

Tiny blue flowers

My studio is finally clean and ready for me to go into and make art. I have never seen it so messy as it has been and I was a little overwhelmed when I first walked in. I have an oil painting to finish and a canvas to begin. So looking forward to it.

Summer has finally arrived and with it the warm temperatures and blue skies. Up until Saturday the weather has been quite dismal and depressing with only a scattered nice day. We have had a barbecue every night this week and nothing says Summer like the wonderful smell of barbecue. The black flies have voracious appetites and attack viciously as soon as we step outside the door which can be quite a shock if you're not used to it, but we've learned to live with it over the years.

I have been blogging two years today! :)

Beauty Is Everywhere

No time for art today except for gessoing a huge canvas for future piece. It's a start I suppose.

Sunny Day

Cherry blossoms against sky
Flower in my garden
Hermione
Me
Chives

Taking photos allows me to be creative when I don't have the time to spend in my studio. These were taken today around my house.

A Day At The Beach

Some photos I took while on the beach yesterday.

Painting In Progress

Here's the painting I started at the art retreat this past weekend. It's oil on canvas and I still have a ways to go before it's finished....

Art Retreat

These are some nature shots I took over the weekend during the art retreat. I had a really good time and I made some new friends.

Mixed Media Collage Painting

Mixed Media/Collage

9"x12"

This And That

I woke up this morning and did not want to get out of bed. Don't you find that bed is the most comfortable when you have to get out of it. One cat was asleep at the end of the bed, and the other on my pillow. I love waking up like that. The other two cats were up already and downstairs sitting on the back of the couch staring out at the birds.

I have lots to do to get ready for the art retreat -- make a frame to stretch the canvas over and make sure I have all the paint and brushes I will need and other things. Fun, fun, fun.....

Images above are: outside my living room window, apple blossoms, mixed media/collage with beeswax and lazy Cleveland having a snooze.

Cherry Blossoms

The cherry trees have blossomed and all is right with the world.

Peace And Quiet

Above images are of the crescent moon I took the other night and of Roman and Cleveland, who love each other very much. Roman has his arm around Cleveland, his father.

I'm very excited about an artist retreat I'm going on this weekend with my favorite local artist. It's from Friday to Sunday and I can't wait. It's practically in the wilderness, so lots of peace and quiet and lots of nature shots. I rarely go to art workshops, preferring to learn on my own, but I couldn't pass this one up.

Nicholsville

Nicholsville

The Wonder Of It

The Wonder Of It

24"x 24"

Oil on canvas covered wood panel

A few years ago I painted my daughter, Rebecca, using the grisaille method of painting. This established the values before I actually put down any color. I had a lot of fun doing this and I did several other oil paintings using this technique.

My daughter was watching snowflakes falling one day and she had her mouth open in wonder, I snapped the photo and created the painting from the image.

Yesterdays

"Yesterdays"

Gone! and they return no more,

But they leave a light in the heart;

The murmur of waves that kiss a shore

Will never, I know, depart.

Gone! yet with us still they stay,

And their memories throb through life;

The music that hushes or stirs to-day

is toned by their calm or strife.

Gone! and yet they never go!

We kneel at the shrine of Time:

'Tis a mystery no man may know,

Nor tell a poet's rhyme.

~Abram J. Ryan

Everything is starting to bloom and it's so beautiful and life is great!

Adown the valley dripped a stream,
White lilies drooped on either side;
Our hearts, in spite of us, will dream
In such a place at eventide.

Abram J. Ryan

The awards presentation was really enjoyable, and as I listened to the musical compositions and readings being performed, I watched the most beautiful sunset through the window.

Above images are a view through my studio door, and a pair of earrings and a beach stone spiral pendant I created.

Life has been busy. Renovations have started again and we have a long list to make our way through. John and I hope to finally get everything done once and for all.

I have been the recipient of an art award and tomorrow evening is the awards presentation and reception. As a result, my winning piece has been on exhibit here since May 10 until June 15. Very exciting. I'm a little nervous about going up on stage but I know everything will be fine.

I've been spending some time in the studio and over the next few days I will be posting some images of stuff I've been working on.

Above images are of a crow and a duck I took on my birthday while having a picnic. I love, love, love crows. I think they are the coolest creatures ever.

Playing around with solder. It took some getting used to but I really do enjoy it. In the top image you can see how I got better at soldering as I went along. I used glass slides that I found in the microscope box and I sandwiched photos of my grandparents, a window and a tree between two pieces. I then used copper foil all around the edges and soldered the whole works together. Adding the jump ring on the top was a pain, but doable.
The bottom image is of a beach rock that I used for a butterfly body and wire for wings. Lots of fun.

I can't believe so much time has passed since I last wrote. I've been very busy lately with work and life and getting into the studio sometimes, even for a few moments, is difficult. But today I'm devoting to just that. A whole, wonderful, glorious day in my studio. The image below is of an assemblage that I had so much fun making. I made the wooden box from scrap wood that I found and I painted and distressed it to make it look old and weathered. I added vintage newspaper from 1939 that a friend of mine found when she tore her floor up during renovations. Transparent images, rusty nails, rusty bottle caps, wire, a tiny bottle with messages inside, stamping with my favorite stamp, fabric, beach rocks and sticks are all used to create this piece of artwork.