Soul Humming

A Charming Exchange Book Signing

 

I will be signing copies of A Charming Exchange along with my friend and co-author, the ever-so-talented Ruth Rae, on Sunday, March 22nd, at 2:00 p.m. at The Garden of Beaden. The Garden of Beaden is located in historic, downtown Upland, California at 313 N. Second Ave. 

Ruth and I will also have some of our jewelry and artwork for sale. And we will have some pieces from the book on display for your viewing pleasure.

If you are in the area, please stop by!

it's my birthday

that face pretty much sums it up. as a little kid i don't think i liked birthday parties too much. they were overwhelming and too stimulating for me, and they still are.  everyone always makes you wait to eat cake and open presents. isn't eating cake all anyone really wants to do on their birthday as a kid (and maybe as an adult, too)? but i do love small gatherings of dear friends and family for my birthday. i'm looking forward to that tonight and then some.

today also marks
my second anniversary
of being Cancer-free!

that is surely worth celebrating. every day i step farther away from cancer, i think it gets easier. i begin to forget the pain and worry. the shadows recede and my life is beginning to feel like my own again, slowly but surely. i am so very grateful to have a birthday. that was the only reason i agreed to have my mastectomy on my birthday. it was the first day available for the surgery and i thought it would be wonderful to keep having birthdays. so i said yes, let's do it. so there is much to be thankful for.

my friend, kateri, is having a mastectomy today. it was a very odd coincidence/ magical miracle when she told me her surgery was scheduled for the same day i had had mine. i'm praying for her and i hope you will lift her up in prayer, too. she is a precious, precious person and the prayers of many are sure to help her. she is a fantastic poet and has a lovely blog. click on her name above to visit her site and follow her journey.

lastly, my birthday is a little bittersweet today as my dad fell yesterday and broke his hip. he was already barely mobile so this especially difficult. he had surgery yesterday evening and will be in the hospital for several days. it is hard to hear more bad news about my daddy. he is in such a fragile condition and he surely deserves a reprieve. so i would be expecially appreciative if you could please say a prayer for his healing. i guess all i want for my birthday is a prayer or two. :0)

thank you to everyone for always being so kind and supportive. this lovely community is ever so encouraging and uplifting. your sweet words always brighten my day.

 

Sunday

Top 10 Reasons Sunday is
My Favorite Day of the Week

 

10.      All the church doors are open with all the people singing and praying together.

 

9.        Sleeping late

8.        My honey makes a big breakfast with pancakes, bacon, and the works

7.        No school  

6.        No baseball  

 

5.        Family Hikes

4.        Painting, dancing, reading…doing whatever I like for big chunks of the day

3.        Baking cupcakes

2.        Going to the museum

1.        And the number one reason I love Sunday (drumroll)

         It's a great day to be ALIVE!

"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive." - Eleanora Duse

Ideas Flow

every once in a while i have so many ideas flowing through my head that i feel like i may drown in them. i wish this happened more often than it does. but, i have a hard time harnessing the ideas at the same moment when i have a block of time to create them. often, i will be so intensely interested in seeing them come to life but have no time to work. and by the time i have the time, the passion has cooled and i feel flat.

this morning i have some wonderful ideas for new paintings, different sorts, for excellent projects, many projects. i want to pull out at least three canvases this morning and start to lay down the belly of each one. i'm afraid they will slip away if i do not just put the brush in the paint and begin.

i have much to write about and lots of new artwork and beautiful gifts to show you, but i have to Paint! i hope you are having a gloriously creative day whatever you are up to!!

Seeing Red

i once had a very favorite coat. it was long. it was red. it was very fitted in the bodice and then it flared out into a full A-line. it had a gorgeous shawl collar in leopard print fur and big cuffs in the same. it was made by betsey johnson. it was perfect in every way. i even got it on deep sale. i cannot begin to tell you how much i loved that coat.

and then my evil, stupid roommate stole it along with many of my precious treasures. this happened many years ago. but, as you can see, i've never gotten over it. i have tried to move on. i know it was just a coat. i know it is silly of me to harbor anger over it. i have even scoured ebay in hopes that somehow my coat will turn up in some vintage girl's closet cleaning.

but it hasn't.

and i've never found any other coat that begins to compare to my perfect ,long, red coat.

and then, today, as i was blog hopping, i came across this piece of tremendous finery. and it is surely RED. it sort of shrieks at me. it coos to me. it calls out Kelly! oh Kelly!
and a lovely girl named kathleen (who MADE this glorious red crumpet) is giving it away here. i really don't want you to know about the giving away part as i so want this coat for myself. there. i've said it. confession sealed. but all is fair in love of crimson coats. so you can try for a chance to win it as well. but just know, it might be the one. and if it is the one, i will win it.

PAWS for Charity Art Book

I recently learned about a cool project in the works that combines two topics very close to my heart:  pets and breast cancer research.

Sara Harley is the clever brainchild behind an upcoming art book that will feature a compilation of photographs and paintings from close to 40 artists. The subject matter for these works will be our furry companions, cats and dogs. And, money raised will benefit breast cancer charities. How cool is that?!

Sara is still taking submissions for the book. She has quite a gathering of talented artists already signed-on but is hoping to have a couple more submissions to fatten up the book.

Click on the PAWS for charity logo above for details or click on this link to visit Sara's blog and contact her.

And, stay tuned as the project progresses for information on how to obtain your own copy of the book. It promises to be amazing!

Milagro Prayer Basket

 

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I place my trust in Thee,

Whatever may befall me, Lord,

though dark the hour may be;

 

In all my woes, in all my joys,

though naught but grief I see,

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,

I place my trust in Thee.


 

picking a book

next month is my turn to host my book club. so i need to have my book selection ready by this wednesday. in order to choose, i've read this...

a bit of this

and this...

and then some. but none have proved to be what i am looking for. as of this moment i've narrowed it down, possibly, to one of these three...

the first book in robertson davies Deptford Trilogy. i read this many years ago and liked it a lot. frequently, my tastes have changed. but i've long remembered this book and would like to revisit it.

i've always enjoyed jane smiley's writing. this book is a particular favorite of her work for me. i don't want to say too much as i know a couple of my fellow book club members read this blog. tiny bit terrifying, this one.

lastly, there is this one,

bobbie ann mason is from my home town. i read feather crowns when it came out way back when. and now, the story is timely. it is about a kentucky couple in 1900 who give birth to quintuplets. i'm sure it would generate a good discussion, especially when combined with the recent multiple births here in california.

so which to choose? if you click on the book pictures above they will link you to amazon to read more about each one.have you read any or all of these three books? chime in, friends, and help me pick, please.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Can't you just smell the cookies? I just ate two for breakfast. Yay! Valentine's Day means my sweet mother-in-law is going to bring us a huge tray of her famous sugar cookies, made using her mother's recipe and lots of love. I think they are so beautiful.

I was trying to make a Valentine art video but the program bombed after I'd been working on it for about an hour. So, I'm sorry but no video today.

 

my grandparents on a Spirit House i made a couple years ago

While working on the video, it was surprising to me how many pieces I have with hearts on them. I had no idea...

 

I hope your day is full of JOY! Don't be afraid of anything today. Embrace the world and share your heart.

xoxo-kelly

Mary Oliver - two verses from A Little Summer Poem Touching on Faith

...And, therefore, let the immeasurable come.
Let the unknowable touch the buckle of my spine.
Let the wind turn in the trees,
and the mystery hidden in the dirt

swing through the air.
How could I look at anything in this world
and tremble, and grip my hands over my heart?
What should I fear?...

texture and inspiration

i've never been a big fan of pretty. i imagine you might have guessed that. pretty is nice. pretty is often cute. puppies are cute. but i don't want cute...or necessarily pretty. it just doesn't tug my chain.

i'm much more interested in texture. for instance, when i am going to dance, my experience begins with the music. it encompasses the beat, the volume, the voice, the horns, the strings. the experience wraps itself around the surface i am dancing upon, wood floors (swept or sandy?), soft carpet or firm indian rug, or a floor covered in debris. it all comes into play. and then there are the clothes on my body. soft, scratchy, heavy, clinging, unyielding patent leather, or parts that move (scarf, belt) and the jewelry (heavy, light, jingling, shiny).

all these elements blend and combat to create my adventure which might only be the duration of a silent sigh as it is unwoven by the voice of chris cornell or dave matthews or billie holiday.

these things catch my mind and my spirit and lift me up or settle me into a mood.

it is much the same with colors of paint, texture of substrate,

intensity of mood that devises the plan, and the outside players (dog, cat, child one, child two, telephone, commitments) that convene at an inopportune time or just at the right time to bring about a change in direction of the whole affair.

i am enamored with texture. it turns me on. and you?