mysteries of life

when did they stop putting cotton in bottles of pills?

 

which of our neighbors put their leaf pile in front of our house?

 

who put this ear of corn at my back door?

 

what does this note to self mean?

 

how much time do i waste in a week sorting thru this mess?

 

 why can't i clean up after myself?

here's hoping your weekend mysteries are as benign and humorous as mine!!

seeds of friendship

i'm just thinking this morning about all the seeds of friendship you all send out on your blogs every day. they swirl and blow throughout the world, spreading hope and cheer. i catch a handful of your seeds every day; they lighten my heart and sustain the wind beneath my wings. i am truly blessed by your seeds of friendship!

my empty nest

my empty nest is

overflowing

with creativity

love

ambition

soul-searching

quiet moments

of reflection

frantic moments

of inspiration

courageous moments

of learning

fears faced

battles won

successes celebrated

i am a strong

independent

50-something

woman

who faced

the empty nest

and came out

the other side

happier

stronger

fulfilled

my message

is there doesn't

need to be

anything empty

about the empty nest

it's your choice

decorate it

celebrate it

fill it

any way

that helps you

find the hidden you

just waiting

to be born

into

your empty nest

rustling leaves

rustling leaves

take me away

to a magical world

of glorious color

exotic scents

lyrical sounds

rustling leaves

rejuvenating

exhilarating

soothing

mother nature's

tranquil spa

the art of a loving dog

 

recently i read the art of racing in the rain by garth stein and i loved it!! it touched my heart and opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking from a dog's perspective. although it is fiction (and very well-written fiction) it struck a truthful chord with me. i would highly recommend it!

of course, it had me thinking of my sweet presley. i miss him so!!! the overwhelming hurt is lessening but i am still caught off guard daily by the loss of him and our wonderful routine. he truly was my most giving friend. if you've ever had and loved a dog you know what i mean. they love selflessly and whole heartedly. just the way it should be done!

dead tired friday night

these photos say it all!!!

happy weekend!!!!

i believe

i believe in

the goodness of people

the healing power of sunshine

a child's sweet smile

i believe in

giving back

letting go

looking ahead

i believe in

big dreams

small fears

huge hearts

i believe in

laughing til it hurts

crying out loud

showing my feelings

i believe in

me

you

us together

i believe

we can

change

the

world

one

blog

post

at

a

time

who out there is with me?

pocket full of dreams

"wings to fly"

mixed media collage

(c) 2009 julie king

i've been a huge fan of kelly rae roberts' art for a couple of years now. i love her art, her blog and her wonderful attitude about life. her taking flight book was not only inspirational but also just a delightful hands-on creative experience for me. i created the above piece with kelly's art in mind. it won't be for sale but i'll gift it to someone special one day. the copy reads "wings to fly, pocket full of dreams".

if you recall i asked here if anyone could recommend a good class on painting faces. thanks so much for the suggestions. i decided to take the pursuing portraits online class at creative workshops by pam carriker . i'm all signed up and my art supplies arrived from dick blick today. this will be my first art class ever, well since i was in the 8th grade. i'm really excited about it!

for some reason, i've had wonderful luck selling art in my etsy shop lately. today was the 4th day in a row that i sold something -- the together little folk original collage featured here. i've decided to make it the first in a series of little folk original mixed media collages. look for more to be featured here soon.

the bogo sale is still going on in my etsy shop. buy one print and get one free!!

and finally, i've had a pocket full of dreams myself for a couple of years now and that is to be able to do my art full-time. thanks to all of you for your sweet support, kind words and encouragement as i try to make my dream come true!!

foggy lens beach

 

 

we were sitting on the beach under our beach umbrella last wednesday morning while a thunderstorm blew over. it was only misting rain from dark clouds with lots of wind and no lightning at all. i was afraid it would blow up a hard rain so i put my nikon in the cooler to stay dry. after the storm blew over i took my camera out and shot these wondrously soft hazy photos. these are sooc -- straight out of camera!! i did not do a bit of altering. what is the secret to this wonderful fuzzy look? the camera lens fogged up when i took it out of the cooler and the warm humid air hit it. i'd like to spend an entire day at foggy lens beach. imagine the photos i could take!!

new art + a blog feature

together

mixed media collage

12 x 12 x 1.5 gallery wrapped canvas

(c) 2009 julie king

i thoroughly enjoyed making this piece! you can't really tell from the photo i took late last night but each of the elements is built up with layers of crumpled tissue paper under the top paper design. so the house, the dog and each of the people has a textured 3-d effect. it is so cool and i'm very pleased with it!! i'll list in on etsy soon. in the meantime, if you're interested leave a comment or e-mail me.

 

"sweet whispers of friendship"

mixed media collage

14 x 14 x 1.5 gallery-wrapped canvas

(c) 2009 julie king

you probably recognize this piece that i featured a couple of weeks ago but i've added the text "sweet whispers of friendship" and listed it in my etsy shop along with a few other new things. 

today i was featured on amy anderson's mod podge rocks blog!! i love visiting her blog and seeing all the creative ways that ingenious crafters use mod podge. it is a must have in my art room; i buy 3-4 bottles at a time!! check it out and tell her julie sent you her way!

batteries recharged

i'm back from our week in destin, florida with my batteries recharged and creative juices flowing! the above photo is the last of 779 photos i took during the week. gorgeous weather, beautiful sunsets and fun ocean swims have me feeling very blessed.

off to bed to dream of new art to be created and photos to be altered!

simplicity

simplicity

soft

as a tender

pink petal

fragile

evocative

of earlier times

a feeling of lightness

and of joy

let us lay aside

our worries

and live

a life of

pure

simplicity

faith, a strong foundation

i feel blessed to have been raised in a loving christian family.  i have so many fond memories of our little country church, where the majority of my dad's family attended. i can close my eyes and see grandma and grandpa farmer at the end of their favorite pew. i can feel the wiggles of my younger brothers during the long sermon. spring brought lovely rays of sunshine through the stained glass windows and bird song from the big tree outside. as a family and a community we gathered there for simple sunday afternoon weddings. and as we laid our loved ones to rest we raised our voices to praise our maker with the words of "how great thou art". i was raised on faith, a strong foundation for living life with courage, dignity and humility.

and for that, i am most grateful!

ode to a leaf

such a short life you live
budding out in a fresh
coat of green in the spring
spreading your wings
to unfurl and grow

summer finds you
dancing in delight
on the gentle carress
of a june breeze
reveling in splendor

cool fall nights
awaken your coat
of many colors
your moment of glory
has arrived

you cling to the branch
determined to make
your moment in the spotlight
last as long as possible
you are worshipped

your last hurrah arrives
your hold is loosened
and you fly away
to join your fellows
in a crazy quilt of color

choose today

all life's colors appear when we choose today! forget the troubles of yesterday, the angry words spoken, the regrets, betrayals and petty frustrations.

choose to live today! 

embraced by autumn

 

i sit on the bank

watching the leaves

go flowing by

reflections of clouds

bounce off the still

pools of water

tinkling melodies

invite me to draw

ever nearer

crouched at the edge

my heart in my throat

wanting so badly

yet frightened

a deep breath

a silent prayer

a leap

onto the closest

red, red leaf

and i am off

on my most

merry way

floating and sliding

over the rocks

exhilarated

alive

embraced

by autumn

photo and poem

(c) 2009 julie king

vintage polaroid fun

 

 

have you stumbled into rollip yet??!! it is THE most fun site where you can convert your photos into vintage polaroid-looking photos. i could get lost playing around with this.

the above photo are part of my water fountain and water spigot series. i have no idea why these fascinate me so much but they do. so i shoot. and look for more specimens. and then i shoot some more.

how'd she do that edition 2

 

for those of you who asked how i made the photo on my previous post, here you go. above are the 2 photos i used in their sooc (straight out of camera) mode. the top one is red leaves in a bird bath at the arboretum. i pulled it into photoshop and used the curves tool to intensify the color and darken the black water. i pulled the red color balance up to get the leaves to pop more and added a bit of contrast. then i added a new layer to my file and placed a cropped version of the stump photo; it was also taken at the arboretum on saturday. i decreased the opacity on the stump layer so that it faded into the background and the leaves layer had dominance. all of the text is added in separate layers so i could control the color and the opacity of each layer.

i used to find photoshop quite intimidating but i've slowly befriended it. i set challenges for myself and then just experiment and play around to learn how to accomplish my goal. as i like to say about mixed media collage, anyone can do this. it just takes a bit of patience and the willingness to make mistakes and learn from them.

it was a stressfully long day at work and i think i've earned a nice hot bubble bath.

what do you do to relax after a bad day?

leaves float like memories

leaves float

like memories

bright today

faded tomorrow

(c) 2009 julie king

remember when you were young and every memory was crisp and vivid? remember how you vowed to hold dear every nuance of that so special moment -- the smell of honeysuckle on the air, the warmth of the sun, the laughter you shared? i've been thinking about how my memories are altered by all the layers of my life's experiences. instead of viewing the vivid realistic film version, i see hazy random snapshots of past events. or maybe it's more like a slide show with some photos clear and others cloudy and out of focus. i hope that some of the cloudiness is because my life has been so blessed and rich that i can't hold every moment in crisp clarity all the time. some have to rise to the top and then eventually sink below the surface to be replaced by others, more vivid or recent. 

as i'm typing this the song tapestry by carole king comes to mind. i have so many rich memories of the year that album was released -- 1971, the year i graduated from high school and headed off to college. and now looking back over the 38 years since then i can say "my life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue". some of the memories may be fading but i still hold every one of them dear to my heart.

fall wedding

as we reveled in a gorgeous day at the arboretum on saturday we stumbled upon this couple having their wedding photos taken before the ceremony which was to be held later in the afternoon. i took this from quite a distance away behind a grove of trees, not wanting to interfere with their special moment.  after a close crop i added a ghosted back photo of a rough rock to give lots of gritty texture. sometimes i think it would be fun to make a living out of capturing people's special moments in life. but for this one small moment in time, it was serendipitous to just get to capture this one blissful photo.

window vase

 

there's a vase on my window ledge. i often sit and watch the clouds dance along in the sky thru the vase. these are reflective moments in my art room when i'm trying to find a bit of inspiration -- a rhyme for a poem, the perfect color of pastel chalk for a collage or the answer to one of life's mysteries. it's a view i love and never tire of seeing; it's ever-changing and tranquil.

what do you see out your window?

words of hope, words of love

words of hope

words of love

live them

be them

believe them

words of hope

words of love

flea market on a budget

markings says "germany eglantine"

 

markings says "victoria carlsbad austria"

 

 

marked "made in japan"

we went to a local outdoor flea market a few saturdays ago to browse around and enjoy the sunshine. i gave myself a $10 budget, knowing i would find lots of little inexpensive things to add to my collections. i'm collecting cup and saucer sets and miniature tea sets for my granddaughters. i got all of the above for $10.50. i allowed myself to go over the limit because i just had to have that tiny little set in the middle -- i gave $1.50 for it.  i asked jenna which she liked best and she said "all of them". that's my girl!

the light and sunshine coming in my east windows was glorious this morning. i love it when the sun shifts around this time of year and i get beautiful light and shadows. and we all know that the light in fall is the very best of all.

we're off to the arboretum today. happy october all!