Art Show Thanks

How do I even begin to say thank you to all the people who have supported me and helped me through this big art show?

By taking horrible pictures of us together and posting them, for one...

Sue...you totally rock.

My friend, Sue. This gal volunteered to do the show with me. Not only do the show, but get up at 5:00 a.m., and start setting up at 6, and talk and network and get contacts and information and water and bathroom breaks and help sell, and bring laughter and, and, and until tear down time at 5:30. 

I seriously could not have done it without her.

brave girls are friends forever!!!

Thank you to people like my sweet Brave Girl Sister, Julie, who came out to say hello and encourage me. Like Rachel and my sister, Sue, and Mary Beth and Wendy, and Libby, and and and...for all the HUGS (and strawberries!)

my heart is full.

Even with all the hard work, it was a blast.

It was a stunning beach day, and I met so many people.

Like my new friend,  "O". Or as he put it, "Oh!! Oh, oh oh!!"

Short for Owen.

He told me aaalll about his life. Some of which I believe, some of which made me wonder if Oh! was on the loose from his retirement home. Either way, I had a blast talking with him.

I'm not sure which got me more-the socks or the pajama shirt.

This was our spot. This was not our yacht.

But we like to pretend. The spots were 20ftx3ft.

Yes, 3 feet wide, and it really worked well and it was nice to be able to sit on the sea wall.

This is what is on the other side of the sea wall.

As you can see, Brenna had a great time at the show!

Today I really ought to be putting artwork away, doing laundry and 100 other things, but for the most part, my view today has been this:

new issue of Country Living

I had a lot of people at the show asked if I have my artwork up on my blog.

I'll post some of what I have available today and will have a new page or something that you can clickon SOON (as in this week, THANK YOU, Karen Valentine)
  and view what's for sale. Until that gets set up, I will keep adding items during the week.

Feel free to email me (contact button on right side bar) or by visiting me on my Face book page.

Many thanks to all those who inquired during the show!

8x8x1 3/4 wrapped canvas. Mixed media. Vintage papers, free motion sewing on vintage pattern paper, acrylic and watercolor crayon

$50

one inch painting soldered on 12 inch drop chain. Vintage wallpaper on the back.

$15

.

Various 8x10 Matted vintage children's book pages.

(5x7 opening)

$15

let's go on adventures every day-sold

9 3/4x8 wood block. (one inch thinck) Mixed media. Acrylic, free motion sewing on vintage pattern paper, ink, photo on tissue, vintage papers.

$50

mixed media 12x12 wrapped canvas, 1 1/2 in.  thick.

acrylic, ink and watercolor crayon.

$100

12x12 mixed media wrapped canvas. 1 1/2 in. thick.

Vintage book pages, acrylic, ink and watercolor crayon.

$100

Mixed media 12x12 wrapped canvas 1 1/2 in. thick.

Acrylic, pen, ink and watercolor crayon.

$100

Sharing Time With Paint

Catchy title, no?

I didn't think so either, but I do kinda like it...

ANYWAY.

I decided what I wanted to do this week!

It has to do with paint. And sprays. And little, tiny spray bottles. 

I started by wanting more Glimmer Mists, so, being the cheap skate that I can be, I looked for a tutorial on how to do this myself.

I found several that were very handy. Until I learned from the last class I took from Christy Tomlinson that these can be combustible when make with alcohol inks.

oops.

Plus, after taking her class, I used Dylusion Sprays.

Oh, man.

When you want fabulous, rich color, go purchase these.

Or, be a cheapie like me and look on the internet on different ways to make sprays with a lot of color.

When you do it this way, you also have an added benefit of finding really cool blogs.

This tutorial I tried came from Julie Fei-Fan Blazar.

*edited note, this post was a guest tutorial, and not written by Julie*

It's super easy.

You put paint and Mod Podge in a tiny spray bottle and add water.

Done.

Or....

You think more is better and don't really pay attention to Julie's directions and you put just a tad bit too much paint in the bottle and have trouble stirring it up.

But.

This is where being a Starbucks addict comes in handy, because you have a little stopper handy from your last cuppa joe and it fits perfectly into the bottle.

I love how this turned out.

It's not runny, it's color is fairly strong and it's a bit thick, which works well for me.

Sorry for the lousy photo.

I had so much paint on my hands, I was trying to shoot left handed while actually holding my camera with my left hand.

Yeah.

Don't ask.

I wanted a soft, soft look for this canvas.

Just a touch of pink to cover. Which is odd, as I am so not a pink person and neither are my canvases usually done in soft, soft colors.

 Which is why I think I really messed up this 30x30 canvas, because I just can't leave well enough alone and the next thing I knew, I had RED all. over. it.

But that's a different story for a different day.

 Check out the tutorial, make some sprays and let me know what you think!

what do you want

What do you want?

A question that has been asked as far back as I can remember.

What do you want for dinner?

For lunch?

What do you want from me?

What do you want to play?

new life for an old canvas

What do you want....

to do?

My answers have been pretty straightforward...

good food

a sandwich on home made bread and some chips

to be loved

anything fun and in the sun, next to the water.

Then the last one.

What do you want....

To DO?

I am stumped.

If it was all open to me and readily available,

what do I really, really REALLY want to do?

layers and layers and layers of paint and paper, ink and color

If I could pick and choose?

I have had the fun thoughts:

travel the world

live on the beach

hit every flea market in Europe

sing back up for a huge singer 

(I can't do harmony worth beans, I just want to be on an enormous stage)

free motion stiching

Then the more subdued thoughts:

live a boring life

to be able to make sure my child will never be sick again

have more energy

to get the stupid to do list done-forever

Then the whisper comes again-

"No. Really. What do you want to do?"

"what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

               ~mary oliver

It's getting a little more clear as time goes on.

It's centered around

 art

encouragement

truth

beauty

living with my hands open

Sure, I'd like to be featured in a gallery, or have my art on pillows.

But what makes my heart race and gets me going is...

 Sharing the message behind my art. 

 To women in particular.

To share the art making process and help unlock the answer to that age old question.

the half way point...it's becoming clearer

  What do I want?

To do?

I would like to share this with the women who are facing a time in their life where they are unsure. Maybe the future is looking a little bleak. They don't know how to express their longings, their heart song.

Women with too much change going on, not enough change, women who feel 30, but the face in the mirror says they are (a little) past that age.

Things I have experienced- am experiencing and learning...

Speaking Truth, even though our voices shake.

Joy.

Working through the hard stuff.

Loving with everything I have. And then some.

Being enough.

Becoming brave.

Giving myself permission to put what I am learning on the canvas until I have exhausted the learning process.

Then start again with something new.

There is a lot swirling in my head that will help me do just this.

As always, I am more than impatient to get it going. But man. It takes time and intention. Which is better in the long run. Especially when you couple that with fun.

It's pretty amazing to me that the learning process never ends.

So, keep checking back.

Maybe we can learn something together!

Graduation.

I won't bore you with hundreds of photos of my eldest walking to receive her diploma.

But I might tell you how proud we are of her.

I do believe she was a little excited as well!

And that, yes, I did cry. 

Big fat tears rolling down my cheeks as I soaked it all in:

the day, the weather, the back drop, smiles, friends, hugs,  family, the accomplishments....

  

I'll tell you that she is one happy girl.

Oh, my word. These people are just the best.

I'll  tell you that it was a TON of fun,

and that she isn't quite sure what the future holds....

proud dad..

But not many of us do.

What she does know is that she is loved.

A lot.

photo credit: Carol Shobert

Friday Ramblings

You know what I love?

Watching my children sleep.

They are 22 and 18, but I will never, ever get tired of it.

I still get the chance to watch Brenna sleep and it never fails to stop me in my tracks when I do.

It's the most peaceful picture I can ever hope to remember.

No worries of the day,  no frustrations, just peaceful sleep.

And the smell. Oh, isn't it just the best? Sure, clean laundry and cucumber melon are great scents but kids sleeping? It out does all of the popular smells in my book.

Pillows, blankets, sweet dreams, warm skin and a slightly musty tang. It's enough to make me cry. 

I loved to sniff my kids when they were little when they first woke up and say, "mmmmm! You smell like pillows." sniff, sniff, sniff. "mmmm! And blankies!!" sniff, sniff, sniff (preferably the back of the neck or right below their ear.) "mmmmm!!!!" By then they would be giggling and I would be burrowing my nose further into their neck for just another whiff of childhood.

she looks sound asleep, right? yes. that is a Justin Bieber pillow case.

I took this photo in the morning, thinking that Brenna had not woken up for school yet.  So much for assumptions.

I heard her mutter, "What do you think you are doing?"

I was caught red handed, so the most obvious thing to do was to get a good whiff of a sleepy child. It's a nice way to begin the day.

Sleep:

"to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension,complete or partial, of consciousness"

Unfortunately the partial suspension of consciousness was my fate early this morning. I had the strangest dream in which I had made gluten free pancakes and some little boy in my house did not care for them. So began a long, tortuous, non-ending dream of agonizing over teaspoons and measurements and flour and something about baking powder. It.was.exhausting.

To top it off, I was fully wakened by a quivering mess of a dog. Her shaking was so bad it had my bed moving.

Miss Party is not partial to strange noises. Air horns, smoke alarms, the signal for low batteries on a cell phone and fire works pretty much have her come unglued.

This morning we learned that low battery signals from smoke alarms have the same effect.  It's a lot of fun.

I'm counting my blessings in that we are warned of low batter events.

She's much more relaxed in the car. Maybe I should just put her in the car every night.

Moving on....

I had my last exam this week.

It was yet another cat scan with contrast. I do believe I will rent myself out for Halloween this year as a safety light for kids when they go trick or treating. I could make some really good money.

For this fun exam I had to slug down three bottles of water before the test. Then the "largest needle" was inserted intravenously. The "largest needle" is used because the dye goes in all at once. So nice to have that explained. It helps me not look at the "LARGEST needle" when they put it in. It does help that the person inserting that horrifically (geez. that's a hard word to spell) large needle does it very well. 

I was instructed to drink a lot of water for the next 24 hours so I can flush the dye out of my system. I don't know about you, but I needed some help wanting more water, so I enlisted the help of peanut M&M's. 

you should have heard my husband when he saw me taking a photo of an empty bag of M&M's.

I always want water when I eat these. Here is where I will give some advice.

As much as I think I neeeeeeeeeded a treat after having the LARGEST needle inserted into my vein, and I neeeeeeeeded some help to drink more water, I should have (should is a nasty word.) eaten only four or five M&M's. Much better to do this than to inhale the whole bag (which to me looked rather small) and then down more water.

It's kinda smart to heed advice when it has been learned the hard way by someone who does not usually eat peanut M&M's but really does love them .

Just say'in. 

ooh.

But I think I have made a new discovery in the form of Washi Tape.

I think the hospital used some just for me to make me feel better.

Okay, enough talk of hospitals and exams.

Let's ramble about horses.

And friends.

And hot days.

(I'm so sorry for those of you still suffering spring snow. I think there should not even be such an expression.)

Unforgettable. Isn't she a beauty?

I took B down to the stable to help her friend Janelle, give her horse  a bath, a good brushing and some treats in the form of an apple and a couple of tangerines.

Huh. 

Maybe I should take a lesson here regarding treats.

whatever.

I don't know about Brenna, but I thought it was so, so nice to brush a horse again.

apples. not peanut M&M's. check.

Hey, guess what? I found out the meaning of "Winner, Winner, Chicken 

Dinner" from my friend, Linda!

She says:

 The term "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" is from right here in Vegas.. Years ago every Las Vegas casino had a 3 piece chicken dinner with potato and veggie for $1.79. A standard bet back then was $2.00, hence when you won a bet you had enough for a chicken dinner.

How cool is that?!

I'm off to buy a large box of kleenex to put in my suitcase for graduation this weekend.

Have a happy Friday!