Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Signs Of Life

The year continues marching onward and
Nature's promise of Spring is renewed with
signs of life surrounding us.

Tucked in among the moments of this
past Saturday was the experience of
finding something a little unexpected...
Bird Song, harken the melody
wafting along the breeze
carried away down dreamy street
waking this cold heart from
the spells of winter's keeping,
a world reborn once again,
living a full life wondering,
what more could be given

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Quiet Beauty

It is hard for me to believe the days
of April are coming to a close, another
month gone. It seems like just yesterday
when ice and snow covered the Plains,
and I was nestled, all warm and cozy,
in this studio of mine, ready to brave
the Winter moments of January and
February.

Now, there are abounding blooms and
abundant sprigs of green everywhere,
with a population explosion of Robins
in my neighborhood, as I ready myself
for another adventure, this time off to
the east coast and the great state of
Virginia.

I am excited about my upcoming trip,
as this is my second visit to Art & Soul,
Hampton, where I will be teaching two
incredible painting workshops, A
Painted Pendant
, and Painted Nature.
I invite you to join me, as there are
a few spots still available.

Not only have I been preparing for classes,
but also for vending on Saturday night at
the fabulous artist market. I will have copies
of both of my little poetry books, which
make the perfect mother's day presents
or wonderful bits of inspiration for yourself,
several original paintings, and a few new
nest assemblages for sale.

I wanted to share these new assemblage
artworks with you because they are my
absolute favorites! Each one has such a
serene, quiet beauty about it that I
feel perfectly reflects the true essence
of nature.

I especially love the particular assemblage
with the bright spools of thread tangled
among the nest and branches. I can
simply imagine little birds carefully
weaving this burst of color into their
surroundings.










I thought I would end this post
with a quote I read on cnn.com
today. I think the journalist's
words are extraordinary food
for thought.

"There is grace, in being molded
by your own gifts. To allow yourself
to be molded by your own gifts takes
courage. You have to be willing to
stand there, exposed and authentic,
while the audience rolls their eyes at
you and sneers, expecting failure.
And then, of course, you have to fail,
laugh or cry, and keep going until,
one day, they stop laughing and
start clapping."


His words were in reference to the
newest singing sensation, Susan
Boyle, but oh how we all might apply
these same words to our own selves,
those extraordinary gifts or the quiet
beauty residing in each one of us...
waiting for applause.

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Best Laid Plans...Oft Go Awry

On any given day,
at any given moment,
if you were to glance
at my desk, you would
find one, two, maybe
even three miscellaneous
bits of paper lying about.


Scribbled across those pages, you would
discover some sort of words assembled
into the makings of a "list".

To say that I live by a "list" is an understatement.
Maybe it comes from years and years of
being in the corporate world and carefully
following the daytimer practices of Franklin
Covey, but I find list-making quite an
invaluable tool when it comes to organizing
my thoughts, my time, along with important
bits of information that do not want to forget.

Most often, I am very good at working
through tasks that are carefully added
to my "lists". However occasionally, I
experience days when I don't accomplish
anything I had set out to complete, and
this previous Saturday quickly became
one of those days...

when a box from Dick Blick
made an earlier morning arrival on my doorstep.

Of course, it was filled with all
kinds of yummy art goodies
that were just begging for me
to IMMEDIATELY stop what I was doing and use them. And
HOW, I ask you, could I resist such a siren call?

These particular products are actually being
incorporated into a new series of artworks
I am creating, so I thought it might be fun
to share some sneak peeks of what I did
actually get done on my Saturday play day.








Monday, April 13, 2009

Discoveries, Surprises & Celebrations!

It's a special week for me, as I will be
celebrating my birthday.

I'm looking forward to spending my days
seeing friends, enjoying their company,
sharing laughs and good food, hearing
from other long distance friends and
family, commemorating the occasion
with a few surprises tucked into the
moments... here and there.

I have asked my sweet husband to take
me on a sort-of progressive dinner
Thursday night, which is my actual day
of birth. We plan to dine at one of my
favorite restaurants, topping the meal
off by having a decadent dessert some
place different.

And what a FUN way to start this birthday
celebration week, by seeing a sneak
peak of my art
for an upcoming article
in this incredible magazine.With the
added bonus of finding a few unique
little treasures today in my favorite
antique store, like the most intricate
small needlework landscape I have
ever seen and a beautifully illustrated
flower book...
with a handwritten message to the original
recipient on the inside cover, making this
petite manuscript even more endearing.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

At The Heart of the Matter

This beautiful artwork by artist, Bridget Benton,
is just 1 of 27 INCREDIBLE pieces that were
created during my two ArtFest workshops,
Of Nested Visions and The Art Of Nature.

Bridget's work seems to perfectly capture the
essence of this blissful experience for me. An
experience that cuts to the heart of all things
good.

Even after five days at home, I continue to wear
a wide grin across my face, remembering each
and every precious moment, basking in the warm
glow of this soul-a-fire, feeling once again...
energized and renewed and overflowing with
creative passion!

What a marvelous antidote for the Winter Blues,
Economy Blues... whatever Blues. I can hardly
wait to participate in the other retreats I am
planning to attend this year. It is DEFINITELY
a sure way to fend off any negative energy.

I invite you to check out the other AWE-INSPIRING
assemblages and paintings from these two classes.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

ALL SMILES!

I am home from Artfest, and to say the
experience was MAGIC is an understatement!

This is my first day back in the studio,
so while I organize photos (in order to
make a proper blog post), catch-up on
emails, handle miscellaneous what-nots,
and urgent to-dos... I thought you might
like to see the heartwarming smiles from
just a few of the INCREDIBLE friends (both
old and new) that inspired my days.







After seeing all those beautiful, radiant faces,
you just can't help but be happy too!