Let it Fly

Hey there!

Life is pretty full over here this week. My daughter has her singing and speaking role debut in our town's production of Prince and the Pauper. My son is preparing to make his first communion. I am researching the possibility of Consumer Supported Agriculture in our town, which basically translates to having certified organic produce delivered to a location in our town all summer for those who would like to purchase a share in the farm for 15 weeks. I bet some of you have heard of this practice already or are already participating where you live. Many of the people who have already showed an interest in our town, have mentioned friends and family in California, Maine and also other parts of Massachusetts who are participating in thier local communities. I really hope to get enough interest to make this happen where we live, and have been working hard to get the word out.

If anyone is already doing this where they live I would love to hear about your experiences!

I have been drawing alot in my sketchbook which is what I do when my other responsibilities keep me from the studio. Hoping to get some sunshine tomorrow so I can take some good photos for my next post, and also some for the Friday Archives post that I am starting this Friday!

Hope all is well where you are...

One more thing....

Claire over at Loobylu has come up with a great idea for Friday posts. She's calling it "The Friday Archives" and will post  photos of old artwork she's created (high school, college, whatever) each Friday. She has invited others to join in and I love the idea so I'm in. Keep your eyes peeled next Friday for the first trip down memory lane. Check out her site if you would like to participate!

Now to go dig up some old work to photograph...should be fun :)

Take Care.

Words to end the week :)

Leafing through that Maya Angelou book again this week. Have I mentioned the name? Well, it's called "Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey Now". I've read it all the way through several times and still manage to find something new. I guess it depends what is in your own mind or what is going on in your own heart at the time. You can always find something new to take away.

Today, the following paragraph stayed with me... I hope you enjoy it too. She talks about a time when she was a child working at her grandmothers' store. Her grandmother had no tolerance for people who complained continuously and shared her views one day..

"Sister, did you hear what brother so-and-so or Sister much-to-do complained about? You heard that? I would nod. Mamma would continue, "Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. Sister, those who expected to rise did not, their beds became their cooling boards, and their blankets became their winding sheets. Those dead folks would give anything for just 5 minutes of this weather or 10 minutes of that plowing that person was grumbling about. So, you watch yourself about complaining Sister. What you're supposed to do when you don't like a thing is change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it. Don't complain."

Enjoy your weekend :)

vacation

School vacation week, a horse farm, a baseball clinic and the sun. My kids are enjoying thier week so far!

Hope to get some drawing in before this day is through. I've been getting spoiled by all the sunshine for the last 4 days and hope it lasts a bit longer. I missed the warmth and am glad to have it back.

Hope you can enjoy the sun and beautiful weather where you are:)

be back....

Takin' a break

Hi everyone! My kids are on school vacation this week so the posts will be few. I did take some fun photos of our trip to a horse farm today and will upload and post tomorrow. A very good friend has started horseback-riding lessons and we went to watch her lesson and ended up staying there for 2 1/2 hours petting, feeding, riding and just plain loving all the beautiful horses! We have been lucky to have the sun with us since Friday of last week and we are in no hurry to see it go. I think we can hope for a few more days.....

Here's wishing you peace and creativity this week.....

Back soon.

Another kind of painting

It's Friday! This week seems to have been going by so slowly, which is odd since there has been so much to do. Household projects, school obligations, trying to further my artistic career...the usual :) We've been living with this hole in our kitchen wall for about two years now.

It was one of those little things that got pushed WAY down on the priority list. Especially after I hung a long, thin painting over it. Out of sight, out of mind. But, I've been inspired to sew up some loose ends and decided to get this.....

....prime and paint it.....

and get ready to attach it to the wall when it's completely dry. I was thinking of printing one of my lino blocks on the surface to add some interest but am not sure if I want to draw attention to it or not. A decision for another day.

Since the primer was already out, I re-painted this old mirror that was in each of my children's rooms at one time or another when they were little.

I know. The color looks almost black but really is a very deep navy blue. My 8 year-old son was not thrilled with the star, moon and nursery rhyme theme that was on it before. His room is moving towards more of a sports theme and this will definately fit in better.

I found a new blog I wanted to share too. This artist is working in the Boston area and designs wrapping paper, gift tags, etc. The best part is that she shares all the steps she has been taking to become a full-time crafter/artist. She has posted some great interviews in her archives and is very generous with links to sites that address lots of business and design issues. I've been finding it very helpful and encouraging when artists and crafters are so open and willing to help each other. You can find the blog for Riffraff with this link. Enjoy!

Road trip for me this weekend to spend quality time with my mom and dad. Can hardly wait to get on the road :) Have a great weekend...

Sketchbook

Recent faces from my sketchbook.......

My husband and I had a conversation last night about trying to draw a face from someone elses' memory. In other words, could you really get a good likeness of someone through another person's description of their features. More specifically, could I draw a face purely from my husbands' description of someone he knows and have it look at all accurate when I have never seen the person before?

Well, we gave it a try and he says he can see a likeness. It was a fun experiment and one I want to keep trying. It makes me have alot of respect for police sketch artists, their listening skills, and their ability to interpret what someone else has seen, in a drawing. I tell ya, there is talent everywhere to learn from :)

Hope your week is going well. Back soon....

Watercolor kit

Good Morning :) A weekend that was supposed to be a rainy wash-out actually turned out mostly sunny and beautiful where we live outside of Boston. The Red Sox had to endure a rain delay during Saturday nights' game, but thankfully the storm came and went quickly.

I posted last summer about a certain watercolor/drawing kit my sister gave me awhile back and it's been coming in handy again. It's just the perfect size to slip into my bag and keep close for when I feel the need to get something on paper. It has two large sleeves on the sides for the pad of paper and watercolor tray. Four pen/pencil size slots and even a one inch wide slot that holds 2 charcoal sticks.

In this instance it came in handy for one of the many faces I seem to draw everywhere. I love looking at peoples' faces and try hard to remember the details for future drawings. There have been many times where I've wanted take a picture of someone who has particularly striking features but I feel odd asking a stranger if I can take their picture. I think you need to be fearless in so many ways to be an artist. It's like wearing your heart on your sleeve 24 hours a day. Don't think I'm there yet, but I'm making progress ....

Here's to feeling brave today!

Have a good one :)

Deep Red

These tulips that I bought a week ago seem to be turning a deeper shade of red everyday.

And this one, the rebel, takes a different route than the rest.......

Spring has started to wake up and flowers seem to be on my mind and all around. Here's a patch I made for an old pair of super-soft, faded (and favorite) Levi's. An iron-on patch trimmed to resemble petals, pink thread, and a pink flower button was all it took to add some personality to my "studio jeans" :)

a last note for someone special.......... I love you........and you know who you are...... :)

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Thinkin'

Hey there! I'm thinking alot about how/where I can show some of these pieces when I've hit my number (at least 20 by the end of the summer) and I've come across this gallery and a drawing show that will be juried this Fall. My goal is to read my digital camera manual and brush up on pixels, lighting, (what the heck is a dpi anyway ? ;) so that I can get better at photographing my work.(some examples of bad lighting depicted above :) It seems many galleries are moving towards jurying images through the internet and e-mailed jpeg images so I'd like to make sure my work looks as professional as possible, while considering my limited budget!

Don't think I'll make it to the studio for the rest of the week, the schools in town have 1/2 days all week so it looks like I'll be stitching at home and keeping my sketchbook close.

Enjoy your day!