Soul Humming

watercolors in the moleskin

since i've been away i've tried to paint a few times in my moleskin with watercolors. i've certainly discovered that watercolors are very unforgiving. if they hit the paper, that is exactly where they will stay. but it has been a good exercise for me to paint even when i haven't felt like it in the least. otherwise, i find it very difficult to start up again. so here are a few of the pages for you to see...

she was started before i left home and finished up here.

she was done while on the plane with a cup of melted ice.

the lily pads and koi were painted while sitting next to the little fish pond in the heat being assaulted by a multitude of loud, flying bugs.

this was painted while riding down the Bluegrass Parkway on the way back from Lexington. i had no water nearby so i used some Sprite that had gotten watered down by the melting of its ice.

this fellow and the accompanying sentiment were painted while lounging in bed, late one morning.

she love you bunches.

Riding

And God took a handful of southerly wind, blew his breath over it, and created the horse. - Bedouin Legend

Statue at the grave of Man of War at the Lexington Horse Park

A Friesian, at the Horse Park, which is a rare breed,   

with only about 1000 in North America.

If I weren't in need of serious butt-transplant surgery, I would tell you how much fun I had riding over the hills and rocks of Southern Illinois for four hours straight today. It was amazing but I am in fear of having to sit on the plane back to Cali very soon. My hiney my never recover.

My sister and brother-in-law are serious horse people.

My dear sister, Beth, on the trail

My wonderful brother-in-law, Philip

They love to ride for hour upon hour. I love horses and grew up with them.

But I haven't ridden that long, at one time, ever in my life. Four hours over rocks, through creeks, and under a canopy of glorious green trees. It was heavenly. Except my sister forgot to tell me that Spirit, her horse I was on, is terrified of mud after getting seriously stuck in it up to her chest once. I realized this hard fact when one minute I was on the trail then the next minute I was eating tree limbs. We worked it out, she and I. I had to snap out of my leisurely state and remember how to ride a huge, frightened animal, with a mind of its own. It was a bit of a job for a little bit but I love a challenge. And my sister told me I did a good job, so that was nice. Doesn't everyone like it when their big sister approves?

And, of course, Cowboy Tom, was there...

boy, i sure think that my husband's cute! :0)

 

Cherokee and Tom

 

And the adorable Martha Jane led us on the trail. She grew up near where we rode and really knows her way around the woods.

and sweet Daisy, my sister's dog, stayed right with us every step of the way. even when we came across a rattler in the middle of the trail.

It was a perfectly lovely day. I may never be able to walk again, but it was fabulous. Ooooh! My mama just brought me an enormous banana split. I may feel better sooner than I thought!

i miss you

i like blogging. i enjoy talking to everyone and meandering through the fluff in my mind. but while i am away i can't seem to manage it. forget the fact that i am on the road constantly and having adventures every hour. the problem is this wonky computer. it shuts down the internet connection sporadically, takes about three minutes to load one image, and is in my mother's library which is part of her bedroom.

so i am sorry to everyone who has left a comment but hasn't heard back from me. i just can't swing it. but thank you all for keeping up with me when i can't even seem to keep up with myself.

now...on to bigger and better blog things. have you visited my delightful friend julie's blog lately? julie is offering the most amazing classes right now. seriously!

julie is offering two classes, Super Nova One and Super Nova Two, that will teach you everything you want to know about art journaling. think of keeping a diary on steroids. think of a lucious, juicy color-filled book of dreams. that's art journaling to me. and julie does it with gusto and then some!

In the first class you will learn to make these three gorgeous books. She has awesome videos and personal assistance to teach you the basic of bookbindings. You will love, love making your own journals. Think of the lovely, personal gifts you will be able to make for your friends and family!

And, in Super Nova Two, you will learn all manner of awesome techniques. To quote Julie, "Some of the techniques we will cover in class are: mono-printing, quick painting techniques, my "mummy"  technique, ghost writing, spray painting, collage and brayer use!" It really sounds like an amazing class. Run on over there and sign up, friends!

SPW - Rust

do you remember when you could sit with your legs folded underneath you on the hard floor for hours and then get up and actually walk around in a normal fashion? in my mind, i am capable of this. in my 45-year-old body, i am not.

i think that my bones are starting to rust. i am not one who is prone to running or exercising. so when i hurl myself up rocks and mountains, i feel it the next day. still, i know my spirit is five years old. it's my body that reminds me when i do this...

that it is slightly older than i imagined.

 

these days, most often i prefer to be stripped of artifice. i am trying to embrace all these spots i garnered by tanning too much in my youth. but secretly, they suck. i wish they were gone. while my friends may get botox and peels, i am still here with my newly forming jowls finding bigger sunglasses and more in life to laugh about. maybe, because i am in the town in which i was born, i am reminded more of my childhood. which, in turn, reminds me of how old i physically am.

i wonder how much of us is made where we were born. the person i am now recognizes the girl who lived here. but there is very little resemblance to her any more. i have stepped so far away and through so many evolutions of myself that it is curious to look back at her. it makes me wonder. and i will wonder minus mascara with a layer of aspercreme. go ahead and snicker. i am.

celebrate your five-year-old spirit today. forget your aches and find time to skip. it does a body good.

Smelly Hippie

...having fun on our vacation...

see you soon!

Birthday Girl

my BFF had a birthday the other day. and if it hadn't been for another of my BFFs (who also celebrated a birthday recently) i would have heard about it through an unhappy BFF.

i'm the worst about birthdays. i write them down. i write them down incorrectly. i lose the day planner in which i actually write them down. every year they surprise me. i frequently mix up my childrens' birthdays by using the day of the month for one with the month of the other. i'm twisted that way.

so my friend had her birthday. i knew i had made something that she wanted a while back because she told me to put the something in my store so she could buy it (she Really likes shopping :0) but i never put it in my store 'cause yadda yadda yadda.

hence, i thought i'd send the something to her for her birthday. but as i had 12 projects due plus two projects due plus a vacation all looming in one week, i decided to make her something completely different. procrastination in the form of pleasure painting.

are you still with me?

a long while back i painted a portrait of a friend. i painted it for myself. 'cause i wanted to. it was more realistic than i normally work with. that's another reason i painted it for myself. it was actually of a living person and a living person that i know. as you may have noticed i prefer to paint people with either blue or green or yellow skin tones. it is what i like (did you hear me, mother? :0)).

but i sometimes over-think how a living person would feel about seeing their porait painted blue or yellow or green. and so i will paint them in a reasonably normal flesh tone with only bits of blue or yellow or green. at least that's what i will do if i plan to actually show it to them. my BFF had loved this other portrait and told me she would love it if i would paint one of her. i said it would be very cool to have a whole wall of portraits of my friends and family. and she said, i mean that if you painted me FOR me. and i said, oh no. that is not happening. if i paint you, i am painting you FOR me...'cause i wanted to.

but, since i was procrastinating from doing what i was supposed to be doing, and since she flat out asked me to paint her, and because she is my BFF, and it was her birthday, i painted her portrait in a fairly realistic style. which is a lot of work, i tell you. and a struggle. and it causes me to have to have many, many conversations with myself and put the brush down and walk away and come back and walk away. i've only done two in this realistic style so while i am pleased at the success of finishing this, i could have worked it to pieces over and over again. i do not yet have confidence in this style of painting as i am such a novice in it. so better to let it be and embrace it for its own self, for what it is, and what i know and like right this minute.

so after all that blathering, here's her portrait. it is 10" x 10" on a 1.5" deep gallery wrapped canvas..

and that was what i did for maija for her birthday. happy birthday, sweetie!

 

my mom and i are taking a two-day portrait class this weekend. i've never taken a painting class along with my mom. it should be great fun as we spend way too much time laughing and finding everything hilarious. i will have to behave myself and buckle down to learn something.

More Faces

Just as I'm ready to spring out the door on vacation, I've finished another envelope in the mail art round robin.

Here's Karen's envelope as it came to me...

 

I really like the color palette and texture she created.

 

I am the third person in the group to work on the piece.

And here are my additions.

 

I added three running horses across the bottom of the front.

 

And I added a colorful chief to complement the other figures on the back.

I've also finished twelve gifts for a gift exchange commemorating the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. That will begin at the end of September. I will have 13 gifts to open, one a day, leading up to Poe's 200th birthday. That's going to be excellent fun. I'll be sure to share the festivities with you. 

Speaking of birthdays, happy birthday to my friends Pilar and Mendy today! Two truly beautiful women born today. Wishing you both so much JOY!

And so, I'm off for a while. I'll pop in, I'm sure. I'm taking a painting class while I am away and have lots of plans for boating, horseback riding, learning, exploring and generally enjoying a vacation. With camera in hand I'm sure to have something to holler about.

Enjoy your beautiful life!

A Bright Idea

You can download a fabulous free earring project from our book today on My Craftivity. These earring include little dapped and drilled cups as well as tiny wire-wrapped light bulbs. But get over there quickly. The project is only available until August 14th.

'Have fun with it!

SPW

be who you are

for today

go away

  

and be who you are

with toes too long

and teeth too big

hair just right

or not right in the least

 

for today

dance along

and sing a song

all about you

and how you captivate

eliminate

and fall sometimes

in a fit of laughter

for right now

love

love

love

you

just as you are

post sleepover

it is a sleepy post sleepover morning here. i have nothing in my belly except tamoxifen and strong coffee. this is not the proper way to start the day. i am holding a canvas in my lap so i will not forget to paint (not the one that is above. that is an old something but i needed an image so that's what you are getting. you are free to make of it what you will). yesterday was a marathon day of laundry. have i lulled you to sleep with my most boring post yet? i'm preparing to head back to kentucky. but i have a slew of projects that need to be finished prior to departure. all projects that cannot be shown yet. what a bore i am. 

in other, more interesting news, my friend laura is well on her way to taking sign-ups for her class, multiple streams of income. today she's talking about one of the experts contributing to the class. i've had a class with this expert. she's fab, fab, super fab. be sure to sign up!

 

i may be slightly scarce for a while. life is busy. travel is quickly approaching. then the boys begin school right on the heels of our return. i have a couple of cool greeting card sets to put in my shop and a truckload of sunshine cloths. i'll do all that come september when i return.

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” - Jack Kerouac