Simple Stems

Spring is just around the corner.  The garden is showing signs of perennial life.  It wasn't such a bad winter here in the Pacific NW, thus far at least.  Winter is a time to paint new things for the farmer's market season coming up.  Life is getting in the way...as usual.  A couple of new card images have been accomplished.  Art-Startz #4 is coming up here shortly on February 27.  I am totally enjoying the time of artful exploration.  Can't wait to see what they paint next.  I hope they're doing their homework.

This painting is one of a series I plan to do, exploring refraction of stems in water.  My market "neighbor" displays her wonderful dahlias and lilies in these wonderful blue jars and I haven't been able to resist taking tons of photos.  Glass and water....what a challenge.

Bright Future

I'm intrigued with the idea of applying artwork to the OUTSIDE of a snail-mail envelope.  I'm pretty tired of all the window envelopes that fill my mailbox day after day.  Maybe my friends would appreciate a creative envelope once in awhile too.  It would tie in well with collage using my own artwork.  Hmmmm, another tangent.

2011 - Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year! December kind of flew right by...like it does every year. With the new year comes renewed energy for projects. It seems like the perfect spot to make a new start on all the goals I didn't accomplish in the past year... or the year before that. This is the Chinese year of the rabbit. I have a feeling this is going to be a great year for the Whimsical Rabbit. I've already concocted several new artistic endeavors to pursue. Never mind that I won't make a dime from them or have no time to carry them out. It's the scheming that fuels my zest for the creative life.

Many Thanks

With the Thanksgiving Day festivities behind, I'm compelled to reflect on how very much I have to be thankful for. Twenty-two of the 24 members of the Dahl clan braved the snowy weather to gather and share food and fun and plans for midnight Black Friday shopping sprees. I'm thankful for the gainful employment that will prompt me to arise at 4:45 a.m. tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I won't be going on a midnight shopping spree tonight. My mother wasn't there, having passed away a decade ago, but her love and laughter was there amongst us. She is the reason we gather and enjoy each other's company as we do. I know she's smiling somewhere on the other side. Thanks Mom.

White Stuff

It's coming...again. Earlier and earlier every year it seems. Maybe we will see an ice age again. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of winter? I'm never sure if I've stashed away the right stuff. Dog food---check, cat food and litter----check. Candles, batteries, extra water, sunscreen...no, not sunscreen. Well, I'm off to try to get to my cubicle dwelling. It hasn't even started to snow, but I'm way ahead of the curve in worry.

This image is from a larger watercolor called "Sheep in the Woods".

Holiday in Full Swing

My first show of the holiday season was a great one. The Covenant Woman's show is always like a big reunion for me. Lots of familiar faces and catching up to do. This year I tried several new artful ventures and a couple of them did well. My collage fridge frames and my new line of photo cards were both a hit....wish I'd brought more of them. I also connected with more people interested in coming to an Art-Startz session and picked up a commission. Pretty nice for one day's work.

Going Home

Home. The word has a lot of meanings. Whether it's a real place or simply a vague imagining, I think it's a place we're all trying to get back to. I was going to post this yesterday in remembrance of Veteran's Day, but ran into computer issues. The sentiment is still the same the day after. A big thank you to all the people who have contributed to the freedom we enjoy in this country and around the world.

This piece was one in a series of collages I made using copies of my own artwork.