subway art

i am enough art print

enchanted hour art print

 

i am a lone tree art print

she loved books art print

i've been playing around on pinterest alot lately and one of the things i've been most attracted to is the abundance of subway-inspired art. so late at night when i'm bored and feeling a thirst for creativity i've been playing around in photoshop creating a few subway type art prints of my own. each of these features my original poetry or verse and some are available in more than one background color. the titles will each take you to the listing in my etsy shop.

now i'm off to hang out with photoshop some more. hee  hee

jae jean vintage

jae jean nester no. 704 - color me red!!!

SOLD!!!!! thanks, kelly!!!

jae jean nester no. 706 -- spooled!!

jae jean nester no. 703 - poacher

jae jean nester no. 705 -- star

SOLD!!! thanks, jennifer!!!!!

jae jean nester no. 701 -- shiny

jae jean nester no. 702 -- fluted

introducing my new etsy shop: jae jean vintage. on a whim i bought a drill and a dremel tool. i felt the need to go all 3d and get my hands dirty. i went looking for something to create and stumbled onto this idea. luckily i work at an antique mall and get first pick of all the inventory the dealers bring into their booths. it is so fun to find all these rusty vintage lovelies and then marry the pieces together to create something new and useful and unique.

once these first 6 were done i had a brainstorm to call them nesters. they are the perfect little nests for holding art or sewing supplies or for displaying a vintage collection. i can see them in the bathroom holding little soaps and crocheted cloths or in the entryway filled with family photos and a few trinkets.

and did i say that i looooove drilling and dremelling?!! it gives me a total rush and feeling of sat-is-fac-tion! i can't wait for spring/summer when i can start going to yard sales and flea markets.

dad's water spigot

reaching to 

turn on the spigot

an image of my dad

floats to the surface

of my mind

i lay my hand

where his hand

must have laid

a thousand times

i close my eyes

and imagine that

i can feel his energy

pouring into me

as water seeps

into the ground

after a gentle rain

so his quiet guidance

permeated my life

and even though

the spigot of his life

no longer turns

i still see his artistry

in the bricks of this house

i hear his voice

in the swaying trees

and i feel his hands

guiding my novice hands

as i humbly try

to carry on what 

he nobly built

so many years ago

truth

i went to see we bought a zoo in the movie theater today. i went alone, sat alone and was quite content in my own company. well, i was sort of ok with it. near the end of the movie i had an epiphany, what oprah would call an aha moment. like a rapid-fire slide show i saw my life as i'm choosing to live it and knew i was not really living at all. i've isolated myself from the world and humanity in so many ways. the truth is i've been hiding out. hiding from failure and disappointment. isolating myself from challenges. filling the precious hours with joyless tasks. honestly, i just don't know what i want to do so i do very little. there i said it -- i do very little.

one of my dearest and closest friends sent me a one line fb message recently. it read: "you are the bravest person i know." i cringed inside and said to myself well i have one person fooled. i know what she meant. so many women have used the b word (brave) in connection to my decision to leave my 10 year marriage and my corporate job. as it turns out the leaving and the quitting were quite easy compared to the moving on. for years i had created a story in mind. it went like this: 50-something free-spirited woman's creativity is being doused by a claustrophobic marriage and a  corporate job. all her dreams will magically come true if she can rid herself of these chains. guess what friends? i've not yet found the magic wand that will make it all happen quite so easily.

it's way past time for me to face the truth and dare to dream new dreams!

truth -- i am a rudderless boat in a slow-moving stream and the view is becoming quite boring
dare -- i dare myself to do SOMETHING -- take a class, join a book club, learn to belly dance, train for a mini marathon, anything. for god's sake, woman (that's me!!) you are rotting on the vine.

truth -- i isolate myself from joy
dare -- i dare myself to sing and dance and laugh every day!! sing out loud to the shins, dance the pony to some old time rock and roll and laugh to old movies like tootsie and trains, planes and automobiles.

truth --i need a real job with real challenges and real benefits
dare -- i dare myself to drag out those big girl panties, think outside the box and get it done already

many bloggers pick a word as their mantra for the new year. words like grow and shine and learn are popular. i've decided that for the month of january my word will be truth. i'm going to look it square in the face and stare it down. once i've peeled back all the delusions and exposed the bare naked truth, then maybe i can move on to a new word in february. i'm liking the sound of thin and young and sexy. hee hee

and now a little art!!

 

amish laundry on october day

 

 rusty relic

happy hen in garden

 vintage clothespins

 dewey dancing hyacinth

 tumbling toadstools

 deathly abode

 two too tulips

dancing daisies

bewitching willow

i've been working on altering some of my photographs in photoshop by applying a watercolor filter. it is so fun to see how the photos come to life and resemble paintings! above are a few that i've listed in my etsy shop. if you click on them you can see all the luscious watercolor effects i've added. click on the titles to go directly to that listing in etsy.

in other news, i've decided to create a second blog called butterscotch farm. it will focus on all my farm activities so i can go back to dedicating this blog to my art.

also, i've been scoping out farm animals in the area to photograph. recently, i've photographed llamas, piglets, donkeys, mules, amish work horses, goats and painted horses. i've hooked up with a couple of artists who paint or collage from photos and they've been purchasing some of the photos. it is THE most fun i've had in a loooong time. laying on the ground to get good shots of piglets and letting the llamas sniff my face to get acquainted makes my heart swell with happiness. so far my client list includes elizabeth st. hilaire nelson and kimberly kelly santini. they are both amazing artists and i'm proud to be providing them with creative images for their work.

everything's coming up EGGS!!

what you lookin at?

 always outside looking in

searching for grub

majestic beauty

we continue to get eggs every day . . . the total count is up to 26 eggs!! we lost a hen last week so now we're down to 10 hens total. so sad and disappointed when one came up missing. no signs of hen feathers or remains anywhere just poof she was gone. the thrill of reaching into the nesting boxes and latching on to a fresh egg has not waned. gathering eggs is pure happiness!

aaaaah fall!!

last evening my daughter megan and i took the kids for a walk on the cardinal greenway. it was such a lovely day. ben ran and ran and ran!

he picked flowers for us!

jenna rode her scooter sitting down. it was slow-going but she was determined.

cheese!!

we got to see the soybeans being harvested.

and lots of gorgeous scenery!

zip, zip, zip!!

almost back to the car. it was a 3.4 mile walk round trip and i loved every minute of it!!

ben started out in the stroller but that didn't last long. so proud of my beautiful daughter and the woman she has become.

 

a flower and a kiss for mommy!

amish horses in the field beside the trail.

i can't wait to get back out on the trail again this evening!! everyone have a gorgeous day!!

funky fungi

all the wet weather we've been having is spawning some really strange fungi around the base of old stumps. i promised myself i would spend my day off on monday pulling all the weeds and dead vegetable foliage in the garden. but the nice weather and all the autumn loveliness called my name. off i went to the woods with my nikon, a song in my heart and a spring in my step.

gathering eggs -- finally!!

yes, we are getting eggs from our hens!! we got 2 on saturday, one on sunday and one today. it feels like forever since we got the baby chicks in may. how gratifying to finally be getting eggs. the above photos are from sunday. jenna and i were doing a craft for her school project when it was time to let the chickens out. as you can see it is get out of the way time when we open up the barn door.  i swear they would run you over in their excitement to get outside. the eggs have been found in a different nesting box each day. we can't tell which chicken laid the eggs but the golden one shown above was very vocal when we left the barn with the egg. jenna's little brother ben is 2.5 and he was confused when we said the chickens laid the egg. the look on his face was priceless.

as always, life is good here on the farm!!

she breathed in all the possibilitties of a new day

 

she breathed in the cool morning air letting it fill her body with all the possibilities of a new day. off the dogs ran to the corn field hoping to round up the chickens. but it was way too early for the chickens to be out and around. she headed for the garden, noticing that the bouncy yellow/orange flowers were glowing in the golden rays of morning. the acorn squash and butternut squash glistened with dew while the zinnias danced a happy jig on the breeze. she reminded herself that the green beans and roma tomatoes would need to be picked. she was looking forward to making chili sauce with the romas and the beans would be fixed for sunday dinner.

the dogs rushed forward happy and energized by their romp in the cornfield. she wrestled them to the ground and joined in their joyful exuberance. then off they went to explore all the early morning smells lurking in the woods. she heard squirrels chattering away in the top of the beechnut tree. her feet rustled thru the first of fall's dried brown leaves. passing the giant spider's web hung between two trees, she reflected on how delicate nature was in all its glory. as the sun warmed her face she said a quick prayer for all the blessings in her life.