I have some new pieces that will be sold through Oopsy Daisy soon -
A new Creatures and Critters growth chart -
A new garden lampshade -
And a new wall piece - a whale revised from this
hippo image -
Also - you may have noticed a name change - No, I am not a newlywed, in fact - far from it, married many years but finally got around to doing something I have wanted to do for a long while and so happy about it.
There is no explaining why color has always been so important to me, but I have been thinking about my beloved box of 64 Crayolas when I was a kid. Funny thing is, my favorite colors then, are my favorite colors still. And the same is true with my least favorite colors.
My favorites were melon, aquamarine, goldenrod, periwinkle, and scarlet. There weren't too many colors I didn't like, but maroon was one of them.
Which are your
favorites?
It is difficult enough keeping up with one blog, I admit. But I do love documenting the progression of my work and sharing it with you. I am continually working on my split personality of what I call my fine art self and my commercial art self. What is the difference? Well, many differences. If I truly want to make a decent living in the creative arts, meaning dependable income - which I do, then I have to sometimes work with some very specific art direction. Which, by the way, has mostly been a pleasant process. I do yearn to reconnect to my artsier self however - there is a sense of abandon I have let lie dormant and it is time to shake it awake. My new
blog is for me, a place to pay attention to this desire I have - I left this path before I was fully formed - had a family, got seriously ill but recovered, and then went to work full time plus. I am really curious to see who I am as an artist. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, because I do still clock a lot of hours with my current work. But I have agreed with myself to take as much time as is necessary. I probably won't post often, but I am hoping to participate at an art show here in Atlanta a year from August. I invite you to stop in from time to time to take a peek.
Every year I get new salt and pepper shakers on Mother's Day to add to my collection. You can see some of my favorites in my collection here. I am crazy about these sweet deer salt and peppers that I got this weekend! And perfect for Mother's Day, don't you think?
Have you ever listened to
StoryCorp? There is a
new book out for Mother's Day that I know I will have to pick up. This morning I woke up and went onto the website and just started listening to some of the stories and five minutes later I was running for the Kleenex box. I am a real softie, I readily admit it. I cry when people win on game shows, okay, I have even been found tearing up during commercials. I am bad.
When I graduated from college I worked as an Occupational Therapist for about ten years. I loved meeting new people every day and did meet people in the midst of difficult times, a lot of heart wrenching stories and stories of heart, courage, and strength. I learned a lot from my clients, from holding hands during rough jags and their stories stay with me. I do wish sometimes that there were at least four more of me so I could find the time and energy to do everything I want to do - don't get me wrong, I love my job, but if I could do it all, top on my list are learning animation, being a nature photographer - I mean full tilt with the mega zoom lenses, being a competitive ballroom dancer (I know, I know, but doesn't it look like fun?), but mostly I want to be a documentary filmmaker and record people's stories - who knows, it may yet become a reality.
This all brings me to Mother's Day. We all have meaningful stories to share about our moms or about being a mom. After you listen to the stories on StoryCorp, it makes you realize that it is the love we carry in our hearts from our respective (and collective) stories that gets us through each day.
Have a Happy Mother's Day!
xoxoxo
I took a walk around my neighborhood yesterday and was overcome by spring, the day was sleepy still, an occasional bird call, the sound of running water, and the sweetest smells when a small breeze hit. Tree tops shaking hands getting ready to share another summer of sky.
(yup, I am feeling all poetic after reading e.e. cummings:) - see below)
(for maximum enjoyment click on the photos to see super sized)
ahhhhhh, Wisteria
yup, this is my home, somebody pinch me!
sleepy stillness on the lake
it was a six turtle day
greens and pinks abound
what's happening in your neck of the woods?
I love this poem about spring by e.e. cu
I follow @LiveStrong on Twitter and just read a tweet that had a link to the LiveStrong blog asking this simple question, "Can cancer be a positive experience?"
As many of you who follow my blog know, I battled Hodgkin's Disease (successfully, I am happy to report) in 1989. I think it took me all of one minute to reply to this question - maybe it is a little on the heavier side of things, but maybe you are reading my blog today and you aren't having a particularly good day or you are troubled by something and this might inspire you even if it is just for one moment. Here is my reply to the question.
Where do I start? An appreciation for sleeping in my own bed at night, loving mundane tasks like folding laundry, everyday activities such as eating and combing my hair, deeper things like knowing who loves you, knowing how strong you are, knowing that dying maybe isn’t even the scariest thing that can happen to someone, understanding what love means, looking back and knowing that you lived, that you didn’t miss one second, being proud of being a warrior, knowing who you love and why, learning to love yourself, feeling real joy in the silliest of things, laughing from the bottom of your belly, and crying meaningful tears, knowing what hard work means, understanding the miracle of life and the wonder that anything exists at all, seeing beauty, stopping time, making peace, meeting extraordinary people. And I have only just begun.
Here is my spread in the book, it is such an honor to be included in this project.
I have had several conversations with close friends lately about this topic. This photo was taken in Charleston, SC on a recent trip there. I love how these air plants choose life in such an unlikely place, a cracked brick wall in a darkish alley. Not only surviving, despite the odds, but thriving.
I relate to these plants and feel their struggle and success just looking at them. Yet they are designed for such conditions and adapt to them as well, with grace and style and little complaining.
One can learn something from a plant. We all have our stories, obstacles, hardships, challenges, whatever you want to call them. And we all have our goals and our desires. We live in such a success oriented society where what is accomplished is more important than how. I like to think of the how a bit more - I think it deserves some applause. We succeed everyday when we show up, when we lend a hand, offer a smile, listen to a friend.
When I was in my early thirties and a young mom I had to battle a diagnosis of Hodgkins Disease and all that goes with that. I was so frustrated at the time with all the things I had to put on hold and felt like I was watching everyone else get a shot at life while I only prayed for mine to continue. I remember my dad saying to me that if I didn't accomplish anything else in my life that I had already done so much at 32 years of age. What a gift that was!! He settled me down and I started to slow the engines, take stock, and appreciate the littlest things. I learned so much at such a young age and sometimes I look back and think I was wiser then than I am now. I hope I use what I learned.
I can't speak for others, but I can share that one big thing I learned is that it is not the destination but the getting there and none of us know how much time we really have to get there so we best take a look at the now.
Like the air plants, we are finding a way - thriving - adapting - and succeeding each and every day.
Thanks everyone for your great comments for the giveaway. Two winners will be announced on Friday.
I received a really nice e-mail that really touched me. It said how little girls will remember their special outfits sewn with my fabrics. I get a lot of feedback from customers and some really kind comments about the fabric collections, but this one really moved me. My fabrics are mostly used for kid's clothing and accessories, but I haven't really made the connection to how kids are appreciating the fabrics. It got me thinking about some of my favorite outfits when I was young. Although it is not in the picture above (in which I am sporting a really cool boat print top which I don't remember at all!), I had a favorite rainbow dress. So here I am with my two best best best friends from ages 2 to 9 (I moved away at age 9). We had a big crowd of kids in my neighborhood, but Judy was my closest friend and the hunky guy with the great bangs is, well was, my very first boyfriend (I guess he went for taller girls). Are those plaid socks he is sporting? I believe they are.
Okay, so back to the rainbow dress. There was this great street game in New York called "Johnny May I Cross Your Golden River?" Basically it was like Mother May I? All the kids would line up on one side of the street and "Johnny" would stand on the other. You would ask one by one, "Johnny May I Cross Your Golden River?" Then "Johnny" would answer, "Only if you are wearing the color _______." Johnny would choose a random color (or a color his/her best friend was wearing) and if you were wearing the said color you got to take a giant step forward. Whoever reached "Johnny" first became the next "Johnny" and so on.
Well my dress had a criss cross plaid top part with a white skirt. It not only had every single color in it, it had every single variation of every single color. I not only had blue, I had turquoise and navy too. So, whenever I wore the dress, I always won the game. I had some other favorite dresses, one with strawberries embroidered all over it, and it would make me so happy when I wore it because I loved red food, seriously, any food that was red - tomatoes, cherries, strawberries, red jujubes, red popsicles, punch, and of course, red licorice. (hey it was the early '60s in NY - Unfortunately lots of junk food, tv dinners, and kool aid).
I do hope little girls will remember their little owl, snail, or bird dresses with fond memories.
I found out last week I won this poster from Nate Williams, one of my favorite illustrators. He also runs an illustration portfolio site, Illustration Mundo. I discovered Nate's work a few years back and his blog where he talks about his love of South America, his family, and his creative work.
The beauty of life is a theme in his work and this poster give away was in honor of his mother. I love how he describes his mom and I can only hope that as a mom I have given my own son the same sense of tackling his life with the curious and positive energy that Nate possesses. He describes his mom as giving him the tools that one needs to be able to live a full life which includes exploring and falling in love with another country and ultimately living abroad and immersing himself in a foreign culture.
I am about to head out to celebrate my son's graduation from college - he is an awesome kid, but of course, he is my son - hee hee. But if one can be objective, well, probably I can't, but let me just say, he demonstrates a huge heart for those around him and of all the things he does and all that he has accomplished, I am most proud of that. He is graduating with Honors from one of the most difficult colleges and was nominated the class poet - well I have to be a little bit of a proud mama. So it is going to be a huge event for us. After he graduates, he is going back to SE Asia, an area he fell in love with when he studied his junior year abroad there. He, like Nate, fell in love with a country, its people - food - language - and is going back to immerse himself in that culture and grow and learn and explore.
When I hang Nate's beautiful artwork up, it will remind me of all that I hope I have given my son to be able to head out in the world and celebrate his "Beautiful Life".
Nate was kind enough to feature me on Illustration Mundo's Spotlight. Check it out and feel free to leave a comment about the feature. Thanks N8, for your inspiration, your beautiful artwork, and your kindness.
I will be taking a little blog break until after the graduation - check back mid June for some fabric giveaways.
Here is another critter tale from a long list of my family's critter encounter stories.
My son was in the first grade, we had bought a hamster at the local Woolworths. My not so trustworthy hubby turned the hamster over and said, "Yup, it's a boy". The next morning we awoke and noticed about fifteen squirmy little worm like critters in the hamster cage..... yup, you guessed it, it was a girl, a new mommy hamster with lots of new babies and no nest. We managed to find homes for all the babies (I bribed a lot of people with new cages that I sprung for) and we decided to keep one.
Fast forward a few months. The baby hamster was amazingly crafty at getting out of the cage at night. One night, about 2 in the morning actually, I was awoken by a rustling sound next to my bed. The rustling sound was the baby hamster walking on top of a tissue box on my night table. I woke up my hubby and we got him safely back in his cage. The next night, around the same time, I heard the same sound and nudged my hubby and grumbled, "The hamster is out again". We groggily got up turned on the light and to my horror, instead of a fuzzy little cute baby hamster, there was a giant long tailed grey rat (a roof rat actually). I never screamed so loud in my life. The roof rats hang out up in the trees and this guy must have gotten into the chimney. After chasing him around the house with a broom, we finally chased him out the door. (My favorite part of the story was that the rat ran into my son's room during the chase and he slept straight through the commotion!).
I will announce the winners tomorrow.
I've never liked maroon either, I would say it's the worst colour!!! I don't know why I don't like it. I love red, pink, and green is my fave!
Periwinkle, cornflower, green-yellow, spring green, orchid and carnation pink were always my favorites. Isn't it funny how one remembers the names all these years later?
Midnight blue. Always.
i'm not sure what it says about me that i can't remember a favorite, but i do remember ALWAYS taking out cornflower blue and putting it directly in the garbage!
Indian Red - my mom still chides me for making her buy the big box just for that color ;)