Hauntingly Beautiful!

Check out this hauntingly beautiful new original work of art by my friend Kim!
Click HERE to see it on her blog.

And please check back later for my updates on the February Photo-a-day challenge. I'm falling behind again. Hehe.

Day 14 ~ Heart

We love to try new foods around here….and we love it SPICY!

On the evening I took this photo, it was my first attempt at making Pho at home.The local Vietnamese restaurant serves this yummy noodle soup, garnished with all this good stuff. My home-cooked version turned out to be pretty good, but I’d much rather let someone else make it!

Day 13 ~ Blue

I love the moonlight. It makes everything seem so mysterious and transports me to a world withinin my imagination.

I created this 8 x 10 in. abstract painting a while back and recently decided to sell it in my etsy shop. You can take a look in my shop by clicking HERE.

Day 12 ~ Inside My Closet

 

Um…are you sure you want to look in there?

 

 

You might find a little skeleton in my closet!

Day 11~ Makes you Happy

 

 

 

Well, I know what DOESN’T make me happy….It’s when I typed out this whole post and it got deleted on my computer before I could publish it. ACK!

 

So, anyway, as I was saying…*deep breath*….

     I was comparing my “homescape” to the landscapes I tend to love. I can appreciate the beauty of the desert, but I wouldn’t want to live there. (funny thing is, I pretty much DO live in the desert! ) And, I can appreciate the beauty of a simplified home environment….but I wouldn’t want to live there. I prefer a setting where there is a new mystery around every bend in the path. Like a woodland, I like my homescape to feature little vignettes of treasured items around every corner.  When I stop to admire my little treasures, I think of the beautiful people who gave them to me or linger in the memories of the joyous events these objects conjure.

 

Above, you’ll see a bracelet I bought from an artist on Ebay, made from typewriter keys and a real bit of dragonfly wing in the last link. There is also a perfume-filled locket which I adore from my friend Kim of Gerusia’s New World. It reminds me of our trips to the High Voltage Tattoo shop and the Wonderland Gallery. That’s were she caught me fondling this and sneakily bought it for me! These lovely things are displayed against the backdrop of an original work of art by Kathryn Pinkham. She offered a “Magic Envelope” to her Facebook friends, and I was lucky to get this gorgeous dragonfly with sparkly wings.

Below, are photos of friends and family, a heart-warming portrait done by Charlino Kukino, and various trinkets.  I would show you more of my little groupings of magical  stuff, but I haven’t had time to dust lately. Someday, I’ll show you around some more.

Ooooh, Baby!

I just listed a photo in my etsy shop of the baby hummingbird who grew up in our rose bush last year. I hope you like it!

Click here to see it.

I'll get caught up on my Photo-a-day challenge pics tomorrow. Busy, busy!

Thanks for stopping by!

February Photo-a-day : Day 10 ~ Self-Portrait

Here’s a silly self-portrait that I did as a challenge from another artist.

And, here’s a digital photo collage I did several years ago.

Below are my first attempts at "Scanner Art"!...with a little digital manipulation because I just can't leave well enough alone. :)

This one is a clip form a painting video I made.

…and I made this one after my goldfish died.

Many times I make self-portraits when I am feeling vulnerable or sad. It seems to help me work through things.…

I don’t know what I was working through here! HAHA! This is me as an M&M….

…and as a Simpson.

…still a Simpson.

Finally, a self-portrait of me (the redhead) and my best friends from high school…all born in the year of the monkey. I made this to celebrate our 40th birthdays.

February Photo-a-day Challenge: Day 9 ~ Front Door

 

 

I am trying to decide whether or not I should let you all in on a HUGE secret. Hmmm.

 

Okay, I’ll show and tell. But, be forewarned. If you already thought I was nuts, now you’ll have NO doubt!  And, if you are a door-to-door salesperson, please don’t read any farther…further? …farther. Whatever.

 

Here it is. It’s a wasp nest above my front door.

“What’s so crazy about that?” you might ask. The thing is, that wasp nest has been there for a very long time, and I like it that way.

Here’s why:

     One day the door bell rang and I looked out the peep hole to see who was there. Ehhhhhhhhhh, somebody wanting to sell me new windows, or trim my trees, or something. I don’t really know because I didn’t open the door. They just kept ringing the doorbell.  I just kept watching them.  That’s when I saw them in the “ho-hum-waiting posture”…looking up as if they were on an elevator waiting for their floor. All of a sudden, one gasped and pointed. The other looked up and saw the wasp nest and they both ran off across the lawn faster than lightening. It was hilarious. So, I guard my little watch-wasps from the hubby and they chase off unwanted guests. (Actually, they don’t chase anyone. It’s just that people who stand there long enough to notice the nest and get scared are usually not people who have been invited over.)  It’s a great relationship.  Unlike past front-door transactions, with happy wasps I won’t get stung!

The photo above shows my screen door. I hand-painted the roses on it about 20 years ago when we first bought our house. I’m thinking it’s time to repaint!

 

Below is the entryway, showing some thrift-shop treasures, including old keys and a Frida Kahlo plate.

So, CONGRATULATIONS!  It looks like you made it past the front door!  WELCOME!

Day 8~ Sun

February Photo-a-Day ~ Day 7 BUTTON

 

 

As these photo buttons of my son show, the years have really ZIPPED by!

 

Day 5 came and went. Here’s Day 6.

Well, I was driving at 10 a.m. yesterday. I’m sure the fellow travelers appreciate that I was not fumbling with my camera while barreling down the highway!

So, here’s my cheat shot.

This is from 10 a.m. this morning. I’m actually thinning my little row of lettuce and will use what I pick for a baby-lettuce salad to go with our DINNER. I’ll post my dinner photo later, since that is really today’s theme.

By the way, I just discovered that picking fresh lettuce from the garden makes your hands smell really good!

UPDATE: DINNER ~ Trout Almondine, Baby lettuce With Vinaigrette, Organic Red Potatoes with garlic and Rosemary

Photo a day ~ Day 4 ~ A Stranger

 

There has been a stranger hiding in my closet for a long time now. Actually, we were very close back in the day. But, as time went by, we grew apart. We became like strangers …to the point that I completely forgot about how we were once inseparable. Gone are the days that we spent every waking moment in a comforting embrace.

 

Gone are the days that I could fit into this pair of my “skinny” jeans. 

 

 

So Many Words and Such Idle Hands.

Words are good. I like words…most of them, anyway. Sometimes the words pile up in my head. Then, they might spill out in a mad rush to release the pressure on my brain.

Beware: the floodgates may open at any moment….or not. I’m just going with the flow.

So, this February photo a day challenge I started two days ago…well, I feel like a failure already. I missed the SECOND day! Really.

But, I am getting caught up today. The DAY 2 theme was WORDS. I thought about all of my books, dusty on the shelves. I realized that I spend so much time online that I forgot about many of the books I tucked away to read someday or the many I would love to revisit. It’s quite an assortment….mostly non-fiction. I know it seems strange, but I really prefer non-fiction. I do, however, ADORE children’s books…especially the pop-up kind! I really need to make time to explore my bookshelves again!

This is just a teensy, random assortment of my favorites.

Now, with all of these words in my head and dreams on the back-burner I seem to have become rather overwhelmed. Do any of you ever feel simply paralyzed by the many things you want to do, to the point where NONE of them get done effectively?

This brings me to the next photo of the day…DAY THREE ~ hands.

As I sat and pondered my hand…pondering the paintbrush I held to identify myself…I realized I have not created art in far too long. But, I have so many excuses. Then my mind wanders to thoughts of all that I should be doing. I begin to wonder if I should set aside my dreams of selling art for a while. It seems to be going nowhere at the moment..mostly because of my questioning my ability, my goals, all of that. I feel as though I have tied my own hands. Then again, maybe it’s just one of those days.

Now, these hands had better get off of the keyboard and into some dish soap! Go with the flow!

My Dormant Dreams

I don’t quite know how it happened, but I know I used to have so many dreams for the future. I had cockamamie dreams. But, slowly I began to deny myself those fantasies.

In the beginning, I imagined that my garden would feed my family…even the landscaping would include pretty, yet edible organic plants.

For hours on end, I would scour books, catalogues, and magazines, learning all I could about xeriscaping and chemical free pest management.

I dreamed of a chicken tractor and a pet duck. I dreamed of a fish pond and a separate tank to raise crawdads in the backyard.

Over the years, some of those dreams did come true.

We dug a little water garden with a barrel fountain and koi.

The tangerine tree and grape vines feed us for a short, lovely while.

AND, I got my pet duck, Serendipity, eight years ago.

However, I gave up on the moveable chicken coop and green eggs. No longer did the gears in my head spin over thoughts of mini-lobsters out back.

Weeds choked out my garden and hopelessness choked out my imagination.

But WAIT, there’s more! Maybe it’s this crazy California weather, but I think I see a sprout of a wacky goal….a glimmer of crazy hope peeking out from my cold, dreary yesterday and reaching toward the sun!

So, once again I dream. In fact, I planted peas and lettuces and green onions, too. I’m scheming on how to turn an old trampoline into a chicken run. And, watch out, Hubby…we’re goin’ crawdad’n’ one of these days!

(Plus, I’m getting excited about some art related ideas these days. So, stay tuned!)

(P.S. My friend Kim, at Gerushia's New World, told me about this blog and the photo challenge which inspired my post today: Fat Mum Slim .)