If This House Is A Rockin'...Come on In

My house is like a big ole boom box this morning. I woke up the kids who were camping in my backyard. They couldn't find an open campsite and my backyard is like the wilderness so they set up tent. I told them to leave it out there a few days so I could pretend I was camping too. We have no street lights and the stars are bright. You're never too old to play! haha Our neighbors are patient people who have never complained about the outdoor speakers on the patio, the stereo, or band practices. Several are musicians themselves but we haven't met them, only hear them playing. Californians, unlike people on the east coast, live in their own fenced cocoons and rarely just drop over without calling first. Part of me loves my cocoon and the other part of me longs to have the casualness of people just dropping by because they were thinking of me, coming to see me regardless of what the house looks like, or what I look like.

I can't pull myself away from playlist.com, picking out music! My husband went to church alone and I wrote him a check for my tithe to give on my behalf. I'm bad. I have to admit that in the past when I click on a blog or site I have found it sometimes annoying to have music blaring but it's growing on me and now I gotta give it a try. I have a new appreciation for people's playlists. It's hard to pick out songs from the endless array of choices. With my eclectic appreciation for so many genres of music it's sucking up my day and driving me crazy.

I am a huge fan of Leo Kottke. I would have to say that he is at the top of my list for guitar players. So it was hard not to put a lot of his music in my list to share. In November we are going to see him again in Southern California and it will be the first time one of my best friend gets to see him live with me. He may start to recognize me. haha It was 1976 and my husband's guitar player John came over to the house, (he didn't call first) we were all talking, hanging out, having fun, a few more people popped by, then John pulled out a slide and started playing Vasaline Machine Gun and I was mesmerized & hooked. I made him play it over and over again until he refused to play it anymore. LOL John liked to drive fast and unfortunately because of this he is no longer with us. Every time I hear that song I think of his beautiful fun loving talented spirit and miss him & what could have been a long lasting friendship. He will never know how much joy he added to my life just by playing that one song for me.


I grew up with a piano in the house. My mother was a wonderful pianist, who studied for years, and taught when I was little. I married a musician and both of my sons turned out to be fantastic talents on drums & guitar. I don't play an instrument. Oh I can pick & pluck on the piano but never had the patience or will to sit and practice to become good at it. However, I can hear a mistake when it's made from a mile away. This play list I have complied is by no means all my favorite songs, favorite bands or artists, it's just a drop in the bucket and a little bit of fun. I have to get up and get on with the day besides my butt is asleep from sitting in this chair so long!

So I hope you like some of my selections and don't find my play list annoying! If so, please feel free to turn off your volume!

Thursday in a Tizzy!

I'm in a tizzy today trying to get everything done and some things I didn't even know about! Here are my nominees for the "I love your Blog" Award. Grab the award and pass it along, I think to 6 people. It was tough picking because I love so many!

Sunny at http://vineyardpainter.blogspot.com/

JenJ at http://jenzone1.blogspot.com/

Laurie at http://www.lauriebethbeggin.blogspot.com/

Gina at http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/

Laura at http://lwgodsilsjadisjewelry.blogspot.com/

Kimberly at http://calamitykim.typepad.com/

Teri Martin requested that I do some angel aura cats for her gallery/shop. When she first asked what ran through my mind was "No I can't do it!" Cats have been painted & drawn for thousands of years, and there is so much fantastic cat art out there, how could I possibly do something different? Well she had me going, so inspired, that after the call I hurried upstairs to my studio and painted a funky cat. I didn't like it. It had no personality whatsoever. It was just bright and funky. I'm painting over it. Then later they came to me. Meow! I pulled out a piece of wood instead of canvas to give it another try. I was up until almost 2 am having so much fun! These are how they came out...

I think these little guys are full of personality!

This One Takes the Cake!

I was notified on Myspace today about someone who has copied my art and sold it as her own. I've blogged about people copying art in previous posts but this one takes the cake! The woman even had the nerve to put a copyright watermark over it and state on her blog "This piece is an extension of my True Colors series" This is my original painting above... and below is her copy of my painting... Most of her art is copies of someone else's work. I am going to pray for this woman. Pray that she will start creating from her own heart, isn't that what art is all about? And pray that she finds her self. Pray that she finds enough integrity to stop. Only then will she find true joy. In the meantime people ideas, hard work & a tiny bit of their souls are being stolen. I found out who this person is, I've seen her blog with lots of "familiar" art. I am so tempted to contact this person.

Today I spoke with Teri Martin from Tristan's Gallery, Cocoa Village, Florida. She inspired me to paint a colorful cat angel! So I spent most of the day on that little guy. It was lots of fun popping out of my bubble. I won't be posting a picture tonight.

I haven't forgotten I have to pass along the blog award. I am still giving that some thought!

A New Blog Award!

Thank you Lance at Crescent Hill Designs! http://crescenthilldesigns.blogspot.com/ What a nice surprise that was! I finished up some paintings I had been working on and listed some new

paintings on Etsy today! I will be passing along the blog award and posting my canidates soon!

A New Throne!

The new chair (throne hahaha) my husband bought me is awesome! So I did computer work and painted, painted and painted some more! That's what I did all day and it felt good! I ended up working for about 12 hours. I read a lot of great blogs today too. So I am settling down to watch Saving Grace. I love that show. The commercial for it earlier said it was the season finale ??? What?? I seems like it just started! I will post a few pictures of the work I did today tomorrow. I painted angels. One I did I really like, one I think is just ok. I am going to list her anyway, as mentioned in a previous post, sometimes these are the ones that others really like. I actually had this conversation with a young man I met while at the casino in Nevada on Saturday. He sat next to me for a while and had a Red Bull & Vodka. Yikes. He was visiting from New Jersey, and an illustrator and art student at Rowan University. Sweet kid. He had an angel tattoo that he had drawn and had put on his forearm. It was beautiful. He also said that the things he doesn't particularly care for others buy and like. We were both laughing about it.

Am I A Hooker? Yes & No Way!

Friday night I suggested to the Swell Sister knit/crochet group that we needed a new name besides boring "knit/crochet group". Something fun. Like Needlebugs, Yarnies, etc... Then Terry hollers out " The Hookers!" It was so funny, everyone was laughing and I think everyone agreed we would be "The Hookers".

Yesterday, after my post, my husband found out that he would have to drive alone all the way to North Shore Lake Tahoe to play a show at the Tahoe Biltmore Hotel & Casino. (He' s in the orange shirt & jeans.)My back was feeling better, I'd just have to sit there and possibly drive home, so I decided to go. I dressed in black jeans, a cute, buttoned up, 3/4 sleeve, very light, white, gray & black leopard print sweater, one of my favorites, it's cold there at night, black Clark sandals. I put a little blush on my cheeks and mascara, I'm a plain Jane, don't ever overdo the makeup and rarely wear shadow. Actually dressed how I would if I were back working in a cubicle on a business casual day. We were 1/2 way to Tahoe when I realized I forgot my rings on the counter after putting on some lotion. I felt naked.

When we got there, there were lots of people at the bar and sitting at tables and filled a lot more when my husband's band began to play. I decided that I would keep myself entertained at the bar playing video $.05 poker rather than sit alone at a table dangerously close to the dance floor. I wasn't going to dance and take a chance on throwing my back out again! So I positioned myself in a spot that I could see the band and my husband could see me. I haven't played video poker much and was trying to figure out what to hold and not hold when I noticed a nice looking man hanging in the doorway. Then from the corner of my eye, I realized that he was possibly staring. (It didn't bother me, kind of used to that, see previous post on subject.) Within moments, he very quickly comes over and sits in the stool right next to me, as if he was in a hurry, there were 2 stools next to me, he could have left one in between us. He sees my coffee, yes I was drinking coffee, he asked the bartender for a coffee, turns to me and smiles, politely I smile back. Then he leans over next to me, into my bubble *uncomfortable*, appearing to watch me play poker, so I say "should I hold the King & the Queen?" He replies "Yes". Then leans even closer to me *uncomfortable*, so I lean away a little and he asks "Do you want to make some money?" Stunned. I look at his hand directed toward me holding a large wad of money, I look back at his smiling face and meekly say "No". He smiles bigger and says "Are you sure you don't want to make some money? I don't think I am that bad looking." Me in disbelief, shook my head, maybe like a bobble head doll I don't know, but as if to say no you aren't bad looking, but all the while I was probably looking like a retard, because the only thing that came out of my mouth was "unt ahh"!! Then tells me, as he looks back toward the door, he doesn't want to be caught in the bar by his brother-in-law and has to go. Takes a big gulp of the coffee, flips through his big wad of money, grabs a bill and pushes a 10 in front of me and bolts out. I was left sitting there thinking What the?!? I have to admit after the shock wore off in a minute or so, when my brain had digested what just happened, I found it a bit flattering and insulting at the same time. His $10 lay on the bar next to me for at least an hour, which was how long it took for me to lose my $2 I had put in the machine. I felt a little dirty *laughing* as I inserted it into my poker machine but I actually played all night on that man's $10!! My luck turned out to be pretty good, however, I can't say the same for the man's! haha

When the night was over my husband asked me to drive the car to the entrance so he could load in equipment. I started up the stairway to go get the car just as a Casino Security Officer was starting down, he smiled, I smiled, and as he past me he said "My girlfriend would love that blouse"! I said "Thank you", then laughed out loud and thought to myself "She can have it! I may not be wearing it again!"And perhaps a leopard print is not the best thing to wear in a Nevada casino!" LOL What do I have some kind of Hooker mojo now?! LOL

We got home at 4:30 this morning (over a 2 hour drive) so I slept in until 10:30! I finished my collaborative piece and did nothing else. I collaged a map, painted the poles & birds then covered with beeswax and ironed. Tomorrow is a new week, I'm feeling almost like new and I will be painting like crazy! Here's the before and after of my collaborative piece...

Breaking Down

My back is still out *misery* and I only managed to finish up 1 painting this week. My husband had to drive me to one Swell Sister (SS) Meeting! I had fun regardless but didn't go to the Capitol or to the park to decorate the "wish tree". I missed all that exciting fun which involved cops! Went to another SS meeting last night but left early. It seems a little worse today. May need to break down and go to the doctor! I have too much to do to be hobbling around like I'm 90 yrs old! This is my new Aura Angel. Hey she almost seems like she saying "help me my back is out!" LOL I love how the eyes turned out in this one. They are brown, blue & green and they follow you! I love how the google ads just magically know what I post. Every time I say something about the eyes in one of my paintings my google ads go from art to laser eye surgery. haha

I finished my Indie collaborative piece and got a new one to start on. Here's the before & after...

I added shading and some bamboo. I really had to control myself so that I wouldn't turn her into a mermaid! LOL

What's Happening!

Wow! Lots has happened since my last blog! Sorry if you've been waiting on the edge of your seat for my return. haha My back started going out on Saturday evening but I dragged myself out on Sunday and had a great time anyway at Windwalker Winery http://www.windwalkervineyard.com/pages/index.html . My husband's band played for their annual members picnic, I met dear friends, (the one that just lost her mother & her husband) and met some new friends. Alanna the owner encouraged me to bring in my art to sale and there was talk of my art on the label of their new wine! How exciting that would be! Even if that doesn't happened I am totally jazzed that she would even mention the possibility! Jim and I had been members there for many years so it was fun to see Karen & Eddie who rock at tending the tastings. Great people. I also met Nancy who owns The Cottage at Perry Creek http://www.eldoradowineryvacationrentals.com/ and she wants me to bring some art in to sale at her Cottages. It all came about from a little ACEO that I did & had in my purse which I gave to Karen. The wine was fabulous as usual and Alanna gave us a bottle of excellent Cab to bring home. Score! The weather was perfect, the music was great, the wine was great.......it was a great day! More exciting news...Teri Martin (her site is below in My Treasure Box) has opened a beautiful, fun, funky & contemporary gallery called Tristan's in Cocoa Village in Florida and wants to put my art in her beautiful gallery! I was also told by a new collector of mine that they want more paintings to give as Christmas gifts and will be letting me know how many this week. I sold a Mermaid angel and a Magical tree as well yesterday. I am overwhelmed & blessed by people's response to my angels and my art.

So I have so much to get done and was unable to paint much today because my back went out with a big bang this morning while just cleaning off my palette, a simple little thing. Couldn't sit, stand, or lay down for a while. Was just frozen. Misery. Jim bought me some of those heating pads that heat up by themselves this afternoon. ahhh Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I have 2 Swell Sister meetings this week and in addition to all the above painting I have to finish my collaborative piece & start on my piece for the gallery show in December at least figure out what I am going to do! I am NOT complaining this is the best job in the world!! It makes me so happy and my art seems to be making others happy too. What could be better than that?! A new chair in my little studio would be nice. Pain or not I am finishing my collaborative piece tomorrow and will post a picture of the before and after. I am trying hard to resist the urge to turn woman on the piece into a mermaid. lol

Haiku - The Darker Side

A Swell Sister started a thread on our site for Haiku. Fun! Also wanted us to think of our Indian name. hahah I chose mine. It is Runs With Brushes! haha Then another Sister suggested a new thread for the Darker Haiku. My "Dark Side" Haiku for the day...

Devoid of feeling
hearts in chards words unspoken
their tongues retreated

Everyone's are so good someone suggested a book! Not a bad idea! I think I will post a Haiku from the thread daily on my blog, not necessarily mine but share everyone's!

Perturbed, Painted & Perplexed

I think it's so easy for artists to fall into worry about what others will think and what buyers want, etc... instead of just creating art for art's sake. I must admit that I have, but I'm trying to learn not to and getting a little better at it. For example I am a bit anxious with the upcoming gallery show. I do paint & create things that I like and I am thrilled when others like it too, but it is easy for me to worry over a piece. I don't normally try & sell something I don't like, however, the painting that I mentioned the other day that I didn't particularly care for... well I have already had someone email me and say they love it! Go figure. So I might just go through some more things I've dragged my feet on listing! I can certainly use the extra space. I think when you do quit worrying about what others might think, say, react, you can really start to grow. But it's tough! There is always those "Them's & They's" out there that reside your head. Who are they anyway, who put them there?And why don't they move out? That same ugly worry may be part of the reason for some artists not approaching galleries or more galleries than they do. And for goodness sake why are so many artist statements & statements on pieces full of such pretentious deep thoughts and big words that you need a dictionary and an hour to actually figure out what they are trying to say? I recently read one and when I figured out what they were saying (and I'm not stupid), looked at their piece, I thought ...What the...?! You must be kidding! It totally changed my feelings toward the piece, the artist and not in a good way. I think because of those kinds of artist statements, and seeing large quantities of those statements, can really intimidate a young artist while trying to write their own. I like this one... "I paint things because I feel like it, I like all the colors, especially red, it would all look good over your sofa, I didn't think of any world issues while painting but if you want to interpret any of my pieces that way it's ok by me and I might agree with you". LOL No? I don't think that will work either.

There is so much art out there I realize it's hard not to be influenced by others, wish you'd thought of that(I actually say that all the time to myself & sometimes out loud!), or might like to try something like it, however, there are some that blatantly try to copy, changing little, to make some money too. I truly don't understand this! Doesn't their own art, art itself and their abilities mean anything to them? If you can copy why can't you can create? Where's their own mind that God gave them? Why not just sell something else if means nothing. There are plenty of other things to sell and Walmart is always hiring. It's really disturbing when I see it. Obviously I came across that today which prompted the rant.

Today I painted, packaged & mailed out my sold paintings and seriously stared at my new collaborative project on and off for hours! I still haven't decided what direction I am taking with it. It's fairly small maybe 12 x12 and there may be 10 people working on it, don't know how that will be possible but it was mentioned, so I can't be greedy with the space on the piece. I learned on the last project that after about 3 people work on it room is scarce.

BBQ, Pool party & some Little JJ baby sugar tomorrow! Have a good weekend!

I'm All Over the Place!

The Swell Sister meeting tonight was terrific. We have a new Sister, Gale Hart and she spoke. Please take a moment to check out her website & her fantastic work it's listed below. She was awesome, funny, full of info, very inspiring and I loved her hair, all wicky wacky in a funky, free, surfer, skater, sexy I just got out of bed kind of way. Cute really cute. She owns a gallery and has been involved in the art scene for quite some time. One piece of advise was to stick to one thing. UT OH. That's a problem. I'm a Gemini. That's nearly impossible. I want to do everything! Try everything! I love it all! I haven't even put some of my clay work or altered art up for sale yet. So what do you think I should stick to? What do you like best? This is a big dilema!

I got my first Indie collaborative piece back tonight as well and will be posting a picture later. I think it came out great. It's a very fun & unusual piece!

Ok if you must know, it was hot, everybody was sweating! lol

Trying not to Sweat it!

I painted some today, got paintings ready to mail tomorrow, organized and got out the mystery spot, that looked like coffee or soda on my carpet that no one would take credit for... it magically appeared and why not blame on the dogs! lol

I would like to put a big shout out Thank You to Teri Martin who purchased some of my angels. Teri is an artist that resides in Florida, that makes beautiful painted boxes. I have added her to My Treasure Box below so please check out her work!

I have a big Swell Sister meeting tonight and it's hot hot hot today! This is NOT good. For some reason every time I go to a meeting I start sweating profusely. Sincerely gross I know. For the squeamish, stop right here! lol What is up with that?? All the hormones in the room bringing on hot flashes? lol Even my hair gets wet and it's very long and naturally straight so even curling it seems futile. I go in with my hair quasi curled, (because it goes 1/2 way straight on the drive over), a bit of make up on and I come out looking like I was just at the gym for a couple of hours. I don't feel nervous at all, very comfortable around these women, but maybe deep inside I am nervous and just don't know it? I do have a borderline social anxiety problem. This is the first time that I have ever joined a group and first time I've admitted to having a little social anxiety, although most people I know have probably figured that out by now. All my adult life I shy away from Tupperware, Candle and other type parties or get togethers. So joining Swell Sisters was a big step for me. I couldn't love it any more than I do. Possible reason for borderline social anxiety problem ? People seem to stare at me. No really it's true. This is not paranoia. My family has witnessed this for years. I'm not abnormal looking or anything, a lot chubbier than I would like at the moment. A plain Jane actually in my opinion. I really don't look like many people so it can't be that I look like someone else being the reason people seem to stare, or glance longer than they should. My husband says it's because I am an angel and I get very embarrassed every time he tells someone that, he actually says this seriously. I am no angel believe me! I became very aware of people staring when I was young and lived in Japan. I was the only one in my family with blond hair and blue eyes. The Japanese people loved touching my hair and they did stare. Everywhere we went people came up to touch my hair. When my dad would take us on car trips into the countryside there were actually Japanese people that had never seen blond hair and blue eyes. My mom being proud would encourage me to let them touch it. I love the Japanese people. They are so kind and polite and if I ever go back I will let them touch my hair again but it may be all Miss Clairol by then! haha Anyway, I hope the new meeting place has a good air conditioner, but even if it does, I'll probably sweat anyway. So embarrassing! I need some spray anti-perspirant for the meetings to and just fog up my room while spraying my whole body with it! For any Swell Sisters that may be reading this, don't stare at me while I'm sweating! hahaha

Wordy Wednesday!

Wow I've made 55 post already! Make sure you read them all haha! Time is flying! I completed some more angels that I was working on and will be listing them on Ebay later today. I painted another angel on an old LP record, which I think is becoming my new addiction! I even like the squeak the brush makes when I paint on it! I love melting the vinyl too. I am also listing one that I had already hanging around because she's not one of my favorites, however, I've learned that sometimes the ones I don't particularly care for others really like. So what the heck I'm sending her off to a new home hopefully.



I went to a Career Artist meeting last night which is a subgroup of the Swell Sister Society. I met some really nice women that I haven't met before! I feel so lucky to be a part of such a talented group of women. I posted a picture of my new Indie project collaborative piece on the Swell Sister site and below. I played around with my modeling paste. I can't wait to get started! Last time it was so much fun. I'm getting my final piece back, the one on the large piece of broken wood on Thursday night and can't wait to see it. I will post the transformation when I get it. The next few months are going to be very busy with the projects, meetings, getting ready for the gallery show and staying on top of my work! I saw my grandson yesterday and he is growing fast! He was so good and after his feeding stayed awake and alert for a long time. It was nice spending time with him and his mother for a little while. They asked me to paint some pictures for his room and I've been dragging my heels worrying about what & how to paint it, but after seeing his cute little room yesterday I have got to get busy!

I would just like to take a moment and thank all my buyers if you are reading this. I get the most wonderful emails, so many of you go above and beyond to send them to me and I appreciate and treasure each one. Also a thank you to all the people who comment on my art almost daily. It truly nourishes my spirit and keeps me motivated to keep going and not go back to life in a cubicle!

Tuned Out & Turmoil on Tuesday

My husband mailed out my sold paintings today for me, I went nowhere, did no painting, no knitting, about 10 minutes of crochet, watched no tv, listened to no music and don't have much to say. That doesn't happen often. Mama said there'd be days like this! Sorry had to say it, had to bring up another song! You're gonna start to like it. hahaha

Today was a very emotional day for me dealing with my 2 boys. I will spare you all the details. I'll just say that I will be on the hunt to buy some new ballet slippers. It's much easier to walk on eggshells with those on.

But something exciting did happen tonight! I found out I was featured in another Treasury on Etsy! You can view it at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=770. It's a great collection of beautiful items. Thank you Maclancy!! You can view her wonderful Etsy shop full of vintage photos and cards at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5277126 .

Tomorrow I have a Swell Sister meeting and I am going to go get some little baby JJ sugar love! I can't wait to see him and hold him! So it's already a better day tomorrow!

Sunday In The Park

"Sunday in the Park" is the title of my 1st painting on an old LP record! The LP was from Capitol Records called "Love Story". The back cover of the jacket has a big long "love story" and it says it is easy listening as a result of an ambitious international project conceived by California composers and produced in Buenos Aires featuring Vlady & his orchestra. There is no date on it but it smells old!! Looks like maybe 50's or early 60's. Too bad I never listened to it, got it at a thrift store, now I'm curious as to what this "romance music" sounds like! Anyway, I painted on Side One, and the 3rd song was entitled Sunday in the Park. I didn't paint over that and it shows through her hair. I melted & shaped the edges of the LP where her wings are with my heat gun. (You can click on it to see a larger picture) Then my heat gun just melted itself! arrgh Good thing I didn't start a fire. I can't live without my heat gun!! So I'm shopping tomorrow. She's now listed on Ebay.

I'm so Excited! I Just Can't Hide It!

Ok well another song title! You had to know I couldn't help myself and I'd do it again! I was featured in another Treasury on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=555 done by GenuineArticle! Her shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5547931 and she sells jewelry, photographs & art. Thanks GenuineArticle!

I was also contacted by the director at APW Gallery in NYC http://www.apwarts.com/Home.html to do some of my art on old vinyl LPs for their show Oct. 3rd. What a nice surprise that was! What!?! I just happen to have some old LPs that I got at a thrift store that I was going to melt in some way, so instead I'll be painting on them! My husband would curl up in a fetal position if I touched any of his collection! hahaha I've never painted on an LP before. Do you sand the ridges first? Leave the ridges? I'll have to experiment. You can see APW Gallery photos on Flickr.com.

My Swell Sisters are soooo sweet! They didn't meet last night because I wasn't going to be there. Now how sweet is that!?! So I didn't miss all the fun after all!

On a less exciting, more somber note, I attended my friend's mother's funeral this afternoon. It was a very beautiful and touching service. My heart goes out to her and her family. She has a hard time ahead of her for a while. All of her siblings live out of state so her & her husband will have to deal with her mother's affairs alone. I got to see a few people from my old job (we have been friends for about 17 yrs but we also worked together at my last job) and it was nice seeing them. Funny how even though funerals are horrible, hard & emotional, it's always nice to see people you haven't seen for a while and you can end up having a nice time even though the circumstances that brought you together are sad.

Friday & I'm Missing All the Fun!

You know that tv commerical where the big ugly bug knocks on the door delivering pizza and wants to put it on the table? Love that commerical. Gives me the creeps but makes me laugh. Well some kind of bug knocked on my door and I must have let it in without knowing! I've got a rotten stomach bug and I'm missing my Swell Sister Knit/Crochet group tonight. I didn't want to spread all this fun around so I didn't go. I've had it a couple of days now. I did manage to crochet a little while sitting in my husband's comfy chair, drinking ginger ale and water . I crocheted some funky rocker, biker, emo, cool wrist warmers with a crocheted ring attached. I listed them on Etsy. The pictures are awful but I just didn't have the engery to do any better at the time. I was looking forward to sharing all the things I have been making to the group tonight. Hopefully it won't be another month until the next meeting. I had been looking forward to it. It's a great bunch of women and so much fun!

I didn't get any painting done the past 2 days. I have a hard wooden chair and big bright light overhead in my studio room. Not too friendly when you're feeling lousy. I do have some ideas floating around in my head which is kind of cool because I usually don't, I just go in and pick up the paints. Today I was contacted by a gallery director who said they would like me to show my art on old LPs! That was quite a compliment!! LPs what a fun thought! I have some old ones that I bought at a thrift store to melt (I gotta try everything) so I'm going to try painting on one! I'll see how it turns out. The gallery is in NY so I would have to mail in my work. I'd love to have the money to go if I was chosen!

So I'm making myself another ginger ale and going to veg out in front of the tv and watch the Olympics!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

These beautiful photos of my new grandson were done by Alexandra Frankel. You can see more of his cuteness and her fantastic photography on her blog at http://www.alexandrafrankel.blogspot.com/

Very impressive in my opinion as newborns aren't the easiest of subjects!

Tornado Tuesday!

Well that's what I feel like! I painted today, made a video of me painting an Aura Angel and also made a big crab lasagna, beef stew(just beef & onions) & spanish rice for one of my best friends who lost her mother yesterday. I will be it taking over shortly. It was so horrifying & heart wrenching to find out that she found her when she went to check on her because she wasn't answering the phone. She was fine the day before but did have health problems. My heart is just bleeding for her.

I will be posting the video on youtube and on my blog as soon as it is edited. I painted the whole thing while holding the camera!!!! That was tricky! Its fun to watch her transformation.

These are the angels that I will be listing tomorrow on Etsy or Ebay. Two are on canvas, the middle is on wood. I really like painting on wood (the bottom angel). It makes the colors look more like skin with a transparentcy that is so cool. The angel at top is one that I did a video of. Her eyes follow you! I have a few more little tweeks to make on her before listing. These always look so much better in person than they do in the photos! I have to start working on my photography skills!

Sunday Sugar, Sales & Siesta!

I was featured in an Etsy Treasury again! http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=20470 . Thank you Sassalynne! Her shop at Etsy is http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5514188 . I sold a Bee Happy Zine Card on Etsy today, a print yesterday, & 2 paintings on Ebay. So I have lots to mail out tomorrow. I keep saying I'm going to paint and I am determined to get those brushes wet this week, leave the needles alone and get some more things listed!

We went over to my son's this morning and I got lots of baby sugar! He's so sweet & cute. I held him for a good long time. He's a sleepy guy and even sleeps through his feedings which is worrying his mama. My son & husband were putting together some shelving for his room while he was being fed and I slipped out on the patio and got so comfortable on the futon with a little breeze blowing that I had a little siesta! I can't tell you the last time I've had a nap! I'm not a napper at all! Even as a child I didn't nap - my poor mom!

I crocheted a little poncho for my nephew's baby girl while watching a movie last night. I took it over to my son's along with the hat and other things I'd made for him then forgot to bring it home! I also took a picture of JJ in his little hat below and forgot my camera there too! Maybe I was still a siesta head when I was leaving! Or maybe that's what happens when you become a Gramma! haha The hat fits him perfect and he was adorable in it!! It won't fit for too long. I used a pattern for the poncho shown on Uncommon Threads on DIY Network. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows/episode/0,2046,DIY_14255_45942,00.html . I altered the pattern to make it smaller. To make it in a 3 mo size I used a beginning chain of 17 inches & used double crochet instead of treble crochet, except for the bottom scalloped edge. It came out great and was super easy & super fast! So if you crochet & have any little girls in your life this would make a great gift!

Needles & A Movie

Ok I'm hooked! (very funny, groan) I can't stop knitting and crocheting! I know I should be painting but I can't put down the needles! I keep dragging out yarn I haven't seen for ages. Remember the picture of my coffee table while doing the altered art? Well it's full of yarn now! Everyday I think ok today's the day I'll put it away but I don't! I'm just zoning out with the air conditioner on! I knitted another little earflap hat for my grandson this morning, one that is tiny, he could wear it now til Christmas I would imagine. I also made a fun funky coffee cup cuff and listed it on Etsy. Looks like a sea anemome, it's really something different. I'm also hooked on those. I love using mine! My husband went and got us Peet's coffee this morning and enjoyed using it. It works so much better than the thin cardboard sleeves. I also use it on my ice water glass and it doesn't get all sweaty.


My husband is playing another gig tonight, so as soon as he left I grabbed the remote. Clicked off the baseball game and surfed my way through the guide until I came across Pretty Woman. Seriously! I think I've seen that movie no less than 100 times and guess what I watched again. I know every bit of dialog! I don't know what it is about that movie but it's irresistable. I had probably watched it 10 times before my young son pointed out that the hotel sign in the beginning of the movie where she lives had only the letters H & O lit up! Oh and the bottoms of her feet are dirty just after she gets out of the bath & jumps on the bed! I had never noticed! haha Overboard is irresistable as well & is a silly goofy movie but whenever it's on I have to watch it! I love the scene when they bring home clothes from the thrift store and she says "I was short, fat & and slut?!" hahaha Oh and Groundhog Day! My husband who rarely re-watches a movie once asked me how could I watch that movie over and over when the movie is basically the same thing over and over! I don't know but I think it's funny! After watching it a few times I'll admit I had to try sweet vermouth on the rocks! hahaha It's not bad but certainly wouldn't be my favorite drink! I do like romantic comedies but I also enjoy foreign movies, dramas, action, etc... I just don't like scary cut'em up evil movies. I had seen Shall We Dance, the Japanese version, and then they came out with the American version. I thought geez! Can't Hollywood come up with something different? They have to steal foreign films now! I think they did ok with it, however, No Reservations I thought was awful! I loved the foreign version, a bit darker, a bit more real. I thought Zita-Jones totally ruined it. She was so unbelievable in that role, it disgusted me to watch her in it, in fact most of her roles, she tends to overact in my opinion. So I was really disappointed when I watched that one. Another movie I can't resist watching that I've seen numerous times is The Birdcage and it still makes me laugh! So I'm gonna put on another movie I've watched already, grab my needles and enjoy the house to myself tonight!

Oh my Blog!

I am not able to view my blog but it is letting me post...maybe.... If you have been trying to view my blog and weren't able to I'm sorry I don't know what's up with that!

I mailed out my paintings today and sold another and have a bid on Ebay! Hurray! I didn't get any painting done, but I crocheted a cute cotton bib tonight. I just made it up as I went along and it came out better than I thought it would. I am going to make another and write down the directions so that I can share it! I made some new friends/contacts on OvationTV and Flickr today as well. I had the house to myself tonight as my husband played with The Spotted Dogs blues band. So it's been a good day! God is Great!

I read a lot of new blogs today on Entrecard! After all this time, I finally posted in the forum and ask about a quick way to view. Wa La! I knew there had to be an easier way! Now I can read til my hearts content! I haven't been reading many blogs lately and I made up for that today. I must admit it's addicting. Just one more, just one more, just one more. There are some truly fantastic blogs out there!