25 years strong

Here's the fella that's put up with me for over 25 years---Tuesday is our 25th anniversary, and life together is better now than ever! He's the person I'm most comfortable with, he knows me, gets me, and we connect in so many great ways---it's so terrific to be married to my best friend! He played too much this past week so is spending most of the weekend working and catching up. I'm trying to figure how to honor our 25 years...what to give him that's not just a token gift but something that shows the love we've shared for so long. With him out in the shop working I can try and create something that would be easy to tuck away when I hear him come inside (which he does a lot, heating water for tea, getting a snack, needing some connectivity...). Toying with a small mini album, but being a procrastinator, not sure I can pull it off in less than 3 days. I'll see what photos I can find---wonder if we have a shot from each anniversary...time to start my research. Happy Memorial weekend!

Prom is over

It's the day after and the "princess" is snoozing upstairs in her castle :). She had a blast at dinner with 9 other couples, a terrific time at the dance and popped home to change before going camping at a friend's house with a pack of buddies. Back home at 7:30 she promptly fell asleep and is still sawing logs at almost 2:00. Looking forward to her awakening for more evening details. In the meantime, here are some photos before she left---without permission I'm just including a suggestion of her date---he arrived all dapper with a lovely corsage in hand and damp freshly showered hair. As we started shooting photos he ran out to his car to get his Mom's camera---she'd requested pics. Lucky her, he forgot the tickets to the prom so they had to zip back and pick them up, so she got to see both kids in their finery too.







This last one shows some of her goofy personality...she was boogie-ing with a friend to some music sifting out the shop door...

Mother's Day, Prom, what's goin' on...

Dress shopping, (she looks like she's about to grab someone's rear...random shot!). We love this dress, it's cotton, just below knee length & can be dressed up or down depending on the accessories (denim jacket would be adorable w/flip flops, or fancy jewelry & high heeled sandals to spiff it up). She's so excited to go to prom mainly because of whom she's going with! She's been to several other formal dances, but this is the first I think that she's going with a true "crush" & the feeling is mutual :).




The flowers are from Mother's Day (along with a darling baby iPod which has become motivation to go walking!). Had fun shooting photos outside of the flowers---nice little digital camera my oldest daughter loaned me for the day. Sun is gone today tho, first threat of rain in weeks---we can use a good soaking.

Hair appt. for youngest daughter tomorrow morning, starting the prep for Prom. She's having dinner at friends cooked by another senior boy---they're all supposed to bring something to share---her date is bringing lasagna. I love the idea of high school kids doing a potluck! How cool is that? Should be fun!

My latest finished painting

Finished this up a bit ago---first time I've worked on Ampersand Claybord (no it's not spelled wrong!). This is their "Textured" surface which works well with watercolor. I sprayed the finished painting with a UV sealer several times (it didn't make the watercolor bleed at all :)) and then painted the blond birch wood frame with black acrylic paint (two coats of thinned fine art acrylic paint, one coat of black acrylic house paint---I like the more opaque house paint with a touch of shine). First photo shows the painting from the front, second photo shows the frame. I've been wanting to try a system that eliminates the hassles of framing with glass---think I've found it! Now to order some more in a larger size :)

It's finished!

Ok, I'm excited---I'm officially in business, have my website set up, and will be adding more paintings this week! If you get a chance, go take a peek, let me know what you think :) The website address is: www.peak.org/~jaybird
Thanks!

Inspired

Ok, not a fan, rarely even know the music, but was nudged to go watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRzYIZBEkGU&search=Black%20Sweat) and this is the result---first time I've paused a video to do a sketch! Amazing what technology can do. Loved the sideways glance, so had to capture it forever---what do you think?

Estate sale finds!

My brother was running an estate sale today and yesterday, so ran by this morning to see if there was anything left---found come cool things to use in art projects! A cash book that could be altered (and the ledger pages used for collage!), an old 1915 date book---with some amazing maps, writing, etc. and lastly an envelope full of letter rub-ons! Here's photos of the goodies---can't wait to start playing! Might use the cash book for my new "dream journal".

What inspires you?

Ok, this question was posted on another blog, and I just had to start making a list of what inspires me! Think about it for a few minutes, and let me know what inspires you---maybe some of the things you list will become inspiration to others too :)
Here's my list:

I'm easily inspired :),

*clouds---I love painting clouds, capturing their many faces
*seeing artwork I love, whether in a gallery, online, at friend's studios...
*my friends Scott and Lisa, they always seem to be just finishing up a home project, teaching project, woodworking project, or something that is so cool!
*other artists---photographers, fine artists, scrapbook artists...
*magazines
*books stores
*books
*photographs
*oak trees
*lighting---the glow of an evening; brightly lit trees with dark purple rain clouds behind; tree shadows falling on a sparkling stream; warm lamp lighting on a childs face reading...
*color
*silence
*traveling---seeing new things, places, architecture, people...
*unique shops
*greeting cards
*art galleries
*autumn
*the beach
*Ikea
*texture---old brick walls, multi-layers of peeling paint with flashes of different colors, mossy concrete...
*paper
*notebooks and journals
*sketchbooks
*new art supplies
*a finished painting
*people watching
*reading journaling on scrapbook pages
*love
*connecting with my husband and children
*flowers
*farmland...

Survived the weekend & two days off from school!

It's "Monday!" (yeah, I know, it's actually Wednesday, but feels like Monday since my youngest was out of school the last two days so they could have conferences...).

The funeral was sooooo sad, I've never seen so many grown men cry...it was positively painful! They had an open mike so people could come share their memories, and holy cow, so many people had to talk, cry, reminisce. It's so hard to maintain any semblance of composure when that much anguish is displayed! Especially tricky when your 17 yr. old daughter is sitting next to you totally dry eyed...Oh to be young and less sentimental! I just felt so bad for his wife and grown kids---such a sudden death---he was so young, seemingly fit, worked in the woods... *sigh. Sad day, but it was nice to see family we haven't for years. We took back-roads all the way home, and saw beautiful clouds, sunshine, storms---even drove thru a blizzard! Snow in April is so rare around here!

Finished my painting yesterday---working on textured claybord is a whole new process for me---like that the claybord is all set to hang once the piece is finished, varnished with a wire attached to the back! I'm thinking I'll stain the frame part tho, to match the colors of the painting better. Here's a link to see what the claybord looks like: http://www.cheapjoes.com/art-supplies/5446_claybord-textured-inch-deep-cradle.asp

If I get a chance I'll post an image of the finished painting. Was a bit nervous about spraying a sealer on top of watercolor, but it seemed to go well. Was also unsure of using a gloss spray, but since it was what I had I just went for it!

I'll finish the frame and photograph it, then post the painting---time to go to work!

Good Friday, grateful for life

Free coffee at Borders (coupon if you become a borders member!), nice lunch with my husband, almost finished painting (maybe it is finished? Need to study it & see if it needs any fixes), so far "it's all good"!

A big cloud tho is the sad death a week ago of my dad's cousin's husband...she is closer in age to me, so she's more like my own cousin, and her husband was only a few years older than I am...his funeral is tomorrow. Not going to be easy. They never are, but this was a shock to everyone. Keep thinking of her, him, their family all week...

This is for you Rod, spring is a time of renewal, but it can also be a time of death...hope you're happy where you are...miss you.

giving it another try

Well, it seems to be working, but not sure if the actual site is able to be opened. Still working out glitches! Here are some Eastery photos from years ago when we had baby bunnies!

Art, Life, Love, Peace, Spring!

First message for this blog---hoping to enjoy a better experience, didn't like the ads that started showing up in the body of my previous blog, so am giving this a go. Hoping to share favorite paintings, photos, musings and life experiences as I go. I'll keep this short, but share a favorite image to kick this off. Enjoy!