A Joy Ride...

...Come on let's go!

Come Go With Me ...

...to Petaluma & The Great Pacific!

Last week flew by! Hubby's band played a big wedding in Sonoma on Saturday and so we took this opportunity to take a little weekend vacation. His great aunt used to live in Petaluma and on the couple of occasions we visited her years ago, we never went downtown, it was many many years later that we went through downtown Petaluma and it was then that I fell in love with it. Some towns have a good feeling to them and some not so much. Petaluma is a good feeling town. The people are very friendly, there are great restaurants, architecture, cute shops, lots of antiques, the river, and the weather seems to always be perfect when we are there. Next time we go I think I will spend more time taking photographs. While he played I kept myself busy doing a few pastel paintings which I will share soon. Petaluma is famous for it's chickens & eggs, another reason for me to love it. haha

You know how I love to drive, go places I've never been, fly by the seat of my pants with no plans, well my husband hates that. He's a planner. I used to hate that he's a planner but because of it, I have ended up with a lot of great experiences & we've got a lot done that we probably wouldn't have had I been in charge. haha I'd say we balance each other out. Him being a planner is what made yesterday so special because he didn't plan & we ended up going somewhere we'd never been! I love that & he knows it! We left Petaluma and headed for the beach. We ended up at Drake's Beach & the Point Reyes Lighthouse, the windiest spot on the west coast and the 2nd foggiest. Not sure how they measure that but that's what they claim. As you can see it was a beautiful cloudless, fogless day. We approached Tomales Bay on a 2 lane road with the banks covered in eucalyptus trees & wild fennel. The smell was instantly soul healing. It's chilly at the beach unless you are in So Cal so taking the 1/2 mile jaunt up the cliff to the lighthouse without a sweater was a little rough at times with that wind blowing. At the top we were greeted by a big whale skull & blow you over wind that rattled the chain link fencing like a musical instrument. I started down the 300+ steps to the lighthouse but had to gingerly turn around trying not to embarrass myself. I'm afraid of heights & with the ocean moving on both sides of the cliff, the tiny & ladder steep stairs, the wind, ugh, I got verdigo so badly that I thought I was going to fall down or have to come back up on my butt one step at a time. That would have been a sight! I would have been the main attraction! haha

I was surprised the entire day at how many beautiful plants & flowers there were growing on the cliffs and around the beaches. I had to stop & take pictures of them all. I've got too many to share in just one post. I may do a few in black & white to post on my black & white blog.

On the way home we went through the cute little town of Fairfax. I'd love to go back & hang out, maybe camp in the big grove of redwood trees that are just outside of town that we didn't know existed, at the Samuel P Taylor state park.

Awwwwww Yes he did! :)

He even let me pick out dinner... my choice Chipotle burrito bowl with lots & lots of their hottest sauce! Yum! (I ate the leftovers for breakfast) AND he stopped at my favorite produce place in Dixon on the way home! Until yesterday who knew eating cornbread, popcorn & beer bread was such a problem for people! hahaha

A Big Shout Out goes to Paigeweasel, LoftyAmbitions, DownstreamDiva, LuvZit, and WhatsHerName for including my artwork in their Etsy Treasury collections! Thank you so much! Please stop by their Etsy Shops by clicking on their names. It's sweet people such as these that make Etsy a truly special place.

A Mess Of Mine...

...SoInToIt recently left me a comment saying she would like to see one of my "messes" that I have been making instead of painting. So here's one! Oh how they glimmer in the dim light on this summer night! I picked these flip flops up at the dollar store, perfect for trying this project out on. They aren't really good quality but I'll get a few fun times out of them before they break. I mixed Martha Stewart's fine black Onyx glitter with Mod Podge. I put 3 good coats on and let it dry between coats. The last coat I sprinkled a little extra on top. I let them dry for a good 2 days before putting them on. Now that they are completely dry they don't shed any glitter (fairy trails) at all. I'm sure these would look great in all colors of fine glitter. I'm thinking I need a red pair. If I had a recent pedi I'd show you how sparkly & adorable these are on! Maybe I'll post one later. I plan on picking up some more glitter & higher quality flippies next time I'm out shopping to make a few more pairs, for me & a few other people who like to twinkle. You know who you are. :)

A Big Shout Out goes to Punkey Monkey, Terra Works & What's Her Name for featuring my art this week in their wonderful Etsy Treasuries. Please check out their Etsy shops!

So Excited!

My first tomatoes! I was so excited to see them today because I was worried I wouldn't get any, and not just because of my big purple thumb! I don't have a picture but we have a few old shoes around the veggie garden because a deer left it's hoof print right by a tomato plant that it nibbled the top right off of. So far it hasn't been back. I love to smell tomato plants almost as much as I like to eat them. A few years ago when I was concocting & designing fragrances, *one day I may sell some*, I bought some tomato essential oil to use as a top note. To my disappointment it turned out to be so nasty! Nothing like the growing plant smells!

My sweet little garden helper!

More orange! hahahaha

Orange Ya...

...glad I'm not going to do a stupid orange joke? chuckle. groan. hahaha I visited Pictsy Art today and saw her beautiful orange-a-licious tree painting that she did for her mother and it got me thinking about my mother & the color orange. If I painted something like Pictsy's beautiful tree for my mother it would mysteriously disappear. LOL. With the exception of few Halloween items once a year, or food items, orange was a color that did not exist much in our house. If we even dared to want something orange, just the thought of it would drive her crazy, she would immediately tell us, again, how much she hated orange and try and convince us to feel the same way. As hard as I try I can't think of anything that I had growing up that was the color orange. I think she would be pleased if my sister & I, although grown, would continue not have anything orange. *Now that I type that out I realize how weird it actually is, but it just makes my Mom more adorable to me* Neither my sister or I ever insisted own having something orange when she protested that I can recall. There isn't a color that I don't like. Is there one that rubs you the wrong way? Despite Mom's efforts & orange protests, my sister & I like orange! Sis painted her beach house kitchen cabinets a beautiful creamy tangerine color and it is so different & pretty and you may remember from my Christmas Home Tour video in December that the guy's bathroom is a burnt orange color, I love it with bright white fixtures & baseboards. Rebels I say! I know for certain if she was able to visit that is one bathroom she wouldn't be using. Oh and if she visits my blog, she'll totally skip over this post. LOLDinner

Just Off The Easel...

I just completed these 4 pieces for the Marco Fuoco Gallery's Animal & Environmental Show. These are painted doodles done in acrylic & ink. The top 2 are remakes of old folk art paintings I did in the past that I think are fun. The bottom 2 were done specifically for the show in protest, disgust and sorrow due to the current oil disaster. To me it's not a "spill" and it infuriates me when the media calls it a "spill". Ok I won't get started, work myself up, then start crying again. I actually started crying when I was painting the flamingos. They get their beautiful color from the shrimp & planktin, I painted them black and I painted the pink part in their bodies to reflect their emptiness, as well as mine.

I will be selling prints of these in my Etsy Shop. If I say so myself these are so cute in frames. I dropped them off at the gallery this morning and once put into frames I almost wanted to take them back home! LOL

Big Shout Out goes to "Whatshername" for featuring my new mermaid doodle in her very cool Etsy Treasury!

My First...

...digital doodles are finished and I just listed them in my Etsy shop. I don't have photoshop, I have a very old program so it was a painstaking process but I enjoyed it. I have sold several t-shirts with a mermaid doodle like this one on them in my Cafepress shop. I am currently working on a crab & angels. I plan to revamp some of my old folk art paintings and turn some of them into digital doodles.
My right brain has gone on vacation. I can't paint a thing and I'm in mess mode. I am beginning to see a pattern. About every 3 months for a couple of weeks I can't paint. If I do I just ruin perfectly good canvas or paper. All I want to do is experiment, try different projects. I pull it all out! Glitter, paper, scissors, glue, needles, yarn, collage papers, sewing machines, etc... I make a big ol' mess. I having been working on these doodles in between messes. LOL Pictures may follow, we'll see. haha
I also started to sell (hopefully) a few of my photographs on Sometimes Things Are Black & White. I can't tell you how much fun I am having putting these black & white collections together. I love it. I added some videos too. I have a few more photographs that I would like to share/sell but haven't taken the time to load them onto the computer. Not enough time in the day lately, mess mess mess! Life is grand! I love to peel glue off of my fingers. It could be that I put on extra so that I can peel it off. Mercy Messy me!

Simple, Strange & Scrumptious!...

...I'm first in line for a culinary adventure. I love messing up the kitchen, experimenting, trying something new, a little strange, or out of the ordinary. This vegetarian salad is that! It may sound a little strange yes, but be prepared to be surprised at how scrumptious it is! It's cool & refreshing, sweet & tangy, bright & pretty, and so easy to throw together. 1/2 lb spaghetti cooked, drained & cooled *broken into pieces before boiling 2 packed Tablespoons of pickled ginger

2 Cups of undrained bean salad *this bean salad is not super sweet2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 green onion finely sliced2 Tablespoons of peanuts *adds tasty crunch

2 pinches of dried parsley *just for looks reallyServe cold with a sprinkling of fresh ground pepper.

I had a little photo help from Hubby (olive oil) before he left for his gig in Old Sacramento today. He loves noodle salads. When he gets home a cool dinner will be just what he needs. Grilled chicken breast & this salad. bye-bye salad. I will definitely be making this again. It's perfect for a summer party on the patio or packed into Chinese take-out cartons to take on a picnic.

Big Shout Outs go to Whatshername & Sharon Clancy Designs for featuring my art in their beautiful Etsy Treasuries! Thanks so much! Please stop by their lovely shops by clicking on their names above.

Wordless Wednesday

Party on the Patio last Saturday