Ooops I Forgot Something

  How could I..............forget my Sadie's first birthday.  I'm a bad dog mama!

  I have been so busy with all the hub bub surrounding my daughters move and my grandson's birthday, that I completely forgot my Sadie. She is such a sweet animal, always by my side and has to sleep under every blanket on the bed, as close to me as possible. Happy, Happy first Birthday Sadie. I will take you out for gifts and make you some yummy hamburger pie today! I think we will even go play with the ducks.

A Gift Of REAL art

 Sitting here, sipping my morning coffee and listening to the thunder rolling in. It has been wet, foggy and cold here for a week and "they" say it will continue through the end of the week. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the cool, tapping of the rain on the roof but, I have paintings to finish that need to dry and a hedge that needs to be cut down outside.

  In the meantime, I have kept busy creating a painting for my daughter and her hubby that they wanted so badly. They had seen a painting similar in one of the chain stores. It is a bare tree painting. Just a silhouette of a tree with a colorful background.

  I have seen a lot of these tree paintings around, all with subtle, little variations to them, and my daughter really wanted one. She chose one that had a price tag of $50.00 and was just a print on paper with a simple plastic frame around it. Now I DO NOT CONDONE copying other artists work. As artists, we work really hard and put a lot of time, effort and heart into our paintings. But I did tell my daughter that I would paint one of these trees for her as a gift. I just couldn't see her paying all that money that they need so much for their move to Texas, on a fake piece of commercial art.

  You see, they have just acquired their very first apartment ever that they don't have to share with room mates. A really nice one bedroom in Texas with plenty of space for my grandson to play in. They want to decorate it with art.

 Just look at those beautiful floors!

So, I finished up this painting for them yesterday. They haven't seen it yet but I am sure they will like it. I gave it a great textured background as the one they had seen had just a flat one-shade background. I adore lots of texture in my paintings. I also created this painting as a tryptich, (a three canvas painting).

I have my grandson here with me for only two more days so I am making the most of it. We are playing and spending some quality time together as I won't see him again for awhile. Thank heavens for Skype!

Weekly Intentions Monday

It's a rainy, cool day here in California. I have a painting that I am so anxious to pour resin onto but with this damp weather, I am afraid the resin won't set up well. Hopefully by the end of this week, when the temps climb into the 80's, I will be able to get it done. "Winter White" is the name of this painting, it is acrylic and graphite on Aquaboard. A simple, soothing work. I really like it.

  I also need to complete a commissioned piece this week as well. A beautiful bare winter tree painting for someone very special to me. it is going to be a tryptich (three canvas painting) and I am excited just thinking about the possibilities with this one. 

  I feel that posting what my intentions are going to be for the week really helps me to actually accomplish them. Just announcing them to the blogging universe kinda seals the deal for me, making me feel more committed to the work.

 My daughter and my grandson will be leaving for Texas on Friday. there is so much I have to help with to get them ready to leave. We still need to pack some stuff up and make sure loose ends are tied up here. My poor baby boy has a cold and has been very grumpy. I think he knows something is up even though he is only a year old. His birthday was this weekend and he was a real trooper. He enjoyed the park and thankfully the weather held up nicely for the occasion.

  I think I will leave it at that for my weekly "got-to-do" list. I think it's enough for now. Just the emotions that are going to be on the surface this week will keep me busy enough! I will keep you all posted as to my progress this week!

My Birthday Boy!

  I can't believe that my sweet baby grandson is one year old today!

This year flew by so fast. I still remember bringing him home from the hospital, so tiny, so new and full of promise. Now he is an actual little boy, walking and playing and loving life. Getting into all kinds of mischief and keeping his mother running constantly.

  He is going to grow up in Texas. I only have him with me here in California for two more weeks. I am going to miss him terribly. The sound of his laughter, baby laughter is the best! His little arms reaching up to me to pick him up. His constant adorable baby babble.......everything, I will miss it all.

 We are having a birthday celebration in the park on Saturday. All his little friends and family will be there to welcome in his second year!

  I love you Shane.........with all my heart. Happy birthday baby.

Weekly Intentions Monday Once More

Happy Monday..........Yes, Happy Monday!.......I know it's the start of another long week, with deadlines and "have--to's" but I am really starting to look forward to Mondays.

  I now look at Monday as a new start. A new week to make into anything I want it to be. It may sound silly but I am welcoming new weekly challenges. I did accomplish most of what I wanted to do last week and now I have a whole new list of  things for this week.

  Of course, there are paintings waiting in the wings to be started. These are paintings that have been floating around in my head for awhile now and I just have to get them onto canvas. I also have an online class that starts today and I  am sooo excited about it. You can check it out here. Wyanne Thompson is an incredibly talented artist. I love her use of vibrant, rich color and the emotions that come across in her work. As artists, we all have so much to learn and share with each other.

  I also have more to do around my studio this week such as, more "letting go" of stuff. I am trying to simplify as much as I can. I think it will make my life so much easier to gain some space in my home and studio.

  I also made these...........

  I LOVE how they turned out and they were so easy and quick. Just grab some inexpensive clay pots from your local gardening center. With paint and some decorative papers, you can whip these little pots up in no time! I bought a beautiful little Ficus tree for mine and I still need to find more tenants for the other two. I also added a pair of handmade vintage Swarovski crystal earrings to one small pot, to dangle over the side and a handmade beaded stickpin to the larger pot. These little pots make me smile and will fit right in the scheme of my new home redo. Kind of a Bohemian, vintagy, cottage look. I really don't know what to call "my style", it's really a combination of many styles and it is so me!

  Well I had better get crackin if I want to get all this done. have a great and creative day!

Artful Gifts

Good morning!............Sitting here having my coffee and deep in thought about what it means to live a more "artful" life".

  I want to do and create things from a much deeper place. I'm REALLY not a writer so sometimes it's difficult for me to find the words to express what I'm feeling. You would think that being an artist would just naturally mean I could communicate in a written way, but for me , it just doesn't work that way. I'm working on it however so hopefully my blog posts will improve with time.

  I picked out a pretty little gift for a friend. I searched high and low in my studio for a beautiful way to present this gift to her. A store bought, commercial, run of the mill package wasn't going to work so I really wanted to make this gift special. I wanted to create a unique meaningful gift.

  I have been trying to sew a little lately. Now remember, sewing is a foreign activity to me. I have a hard time just threading my machine! So gathering up all my reserve, I sat down at my little machine and started to make a tiny gift bag to hold my friends treasure. Using some pretty Japanese fabric that I have been hoarding for some time now, I carefully cut out a piece, ran it through my machine and voila!, I had actually made something! (can you hear the trumpets blaring!), and I didn't break my sewing machine either!

 Yay!............Go Me!!

I took some unbleached muslin fabric and using a french text stamp, stamped the words onto the muslin. I then attached that to the little bag and added a vintage button. I completed the bag by attaching a handmade tag and there it was. I love it and I think my friend really loved it too.

I think handmade, artfelt gifts speak volumes to the people we care about. I am going to continue to "gift" this way from now on. This is just one small step in living a more "artful" life". Paying closer attention to those we care about and taking extra steps to show how we feel. I enjoyed creating this gift and I enjoyed using my sewing machine. I think I will make some pretty pillows for my nest. I saw these pillows at one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie 

 Now, granted, I don't think my pillows will turn out looking as good as these but I am going to try to make something similar. I think I will start out with just a plain ole square , simple pillow. I just need to go pick out some pretty fabric in my favorite Bohemian style. I will let you know how it goes! 

Weekly Intentions And New Work

Here we are again.....another Monday and time to fess up about what I didn't accomplish last week and what I mean to do about it this week.

  Last Mondays Intention of the week post claimed that I was going to be more productive in the studio. Was I?, no, not really. I can come up with a lot of excuses as to why not like, "It was sooo hot and I have no air conditioning" (true, but no excuse), or "My dog ate my paintbrush", but to be honest, It was just plan ole procrastination.

  I DID finish up some art work though...............

New Cards........

And a NEW painting based on my new cards

  I sort of made up for it over the weekend however. I am going through the studio and getting rid of un needed stuff. You know, the kind of stuff that just magically finds it's way into your house and takes over every nook and cranny. Where does it all come from?

  I really made a dent in my studio I am happy to say. I can now move around without tripping over stuff. I have paper racks and cabinets to sell off and other things that I want to paint and freshen up. I am letting go..........of all that hinders me and holds me back from creating.

  This weeks intentions are:

Paint, Paint, Paint !

Continue to purge unnecessary stuff

And just be myself

  I will let you all know if I stick to my intentions or not, but I am going to put some real effort into it this week!