mr. moon

one of my favorite things to do is sing songs with my grandkids. jenna and i like to sing the "ants go marching" song over and over. she thinks it's funny to come up with made-up nonsensical words that rhyme with each of the numbers. layla likes me to sing the mr. moon song to her as she swings her legs in the car or dances in our living room. ben likes to lay his head on my shoulder while i rub his back and sing just about anything as long as he's curled up in his grandma julie's arms.

the appearance of that big late summer, early fall moon in the sky this week inspired this mixed media piece. it's an old piece of pine covered with dap spackling paste. i used rubber stamps, binder clips and a pencil to carve shapes in the wet paste. the house and the moon are covered in tissue paper and then painted and chalked with pastels. i love creating like this -- all loosey goosey, adding lots of texture and layers and being totally spontaneous.

i have several more of these spackle paste pieces in process. therapy -- art therapy -- who knew it came in a plastic tub of dap paste!

apples

this is the second in my fall sepia series shot at the arboretum. even though this apple tree looked rather scrawny and heat fatigues it had several nicely shaped and ripening apples.

hubby is building shelves in my art room to help reign in the chaos of  my large scrapbook paper supply. other than that, we're having an easy, lazy weekend.

sunflowers

insomnia + restless creative spirit + 5,657 photos in archive = delicious late night photoshop creations!!

i can't sleep. my knee is better but still makes walking a bit tough. so i've gotten out the trusty bike. when the sun starts to set and the air gets a bit cooler i hop on my bike and ride like the wind. amazingly, my knee is just fine when i'm riding. in fact, i think the motion is helping to relax, soothe and heal the torn meniscus. after my bike ride i'm wired so sleeping is postponed until i've unwound with my main man mac and his trusty side kick photoshop.

the above started out as a full color photo i took at the arboretum at lunch on monday. it was 90+ degrees that day and let's just say i was less than fresh at work that afternoon. but that's another story. back to the photo -- first i turned it into a black & white photo. then i opened color balance and added lots of extra red color. i had no idea that i could create a sepia-toned photo that way but you can and i did and i love it! next i used the stylize filter to add glowing edges. the font is potrzebie regular with the opacity pulled back to 82 so that the text blends into the background a bit.

i'm thinking that this is the first in a series of fall-themed sepia photos. who can guess what object will be next in the series? hint: it starts with a and falls from a tree.

i shot this photo on saturday! the first hints of autumn are peeking thru. now if we can just get a break in the weather and have some cooler days and nights!

hubby had the last 2 days off work so he did some sprucing up in the backyard and on the patio. he placed our patio firepit right in the middle so we're all set for a nice weenie and marshmallow fire the first cool weekend.

my high school class lost a wonderful classmate and christian family man this week. he'd valiantly fought cancer for a few years and was such an inspiration to all of us on how to live with grace and love and a lighthearted sense of humor. his passing at 57 has me thinking that we never really know if what we think of as the fall of our life will be the end of our life. hug your partner, tell your children you love them and live, live, live every day to the fullest! life is full of blessings to be had, for sure.

((hugs)) 

verdigris

verdigris

dawn kiss

soothing mist

garden bliss

my contribution to willow's magpie tales #26. click here to read more of the creative posts with the watering can image as the inspiration.

weird

did you lay on the ground to take that photo

why yes i did

you're weird

why yes i am

i don't know anyone else like you

thank you very much

that wasn't a compliment

oh but it was

bohemian girl

i like it when someone asks that philosophical question "what do you want to be when you grow up?" it seems to me that no matter how old we get we are still growing and changing and trying to become our ultimate selves. i want to be a bohemian girl, throwing out the strict rules of society and living free, just for me. i'll grow my own food, raise chickens, gather eggs, bake my own bread. my feet will be bare or in sandals; my body clothed in well-worn, multi-colored hand-me downs. what little money i'll need will be made by creating art, writing and taking photos. i'm working hard to realize this dream of mine. one day soon, one day soon.

the above is my original collage on 9 x 9 x 3/4 wood. i covered the entire top and sides of the wood in dap spackling paste, using an old credit card, a palette knife and my fingers. i left lots of ridges and bumps and used bottle caps, a pencil and some rubber stamps to press shapes into the paste. i let it dry for a couple of hours and then used a very wet brush to add acrylic paints -- rubbing the color right into the still damp dap. i adored how the colors changed as they soaked into the dap. loved it so much! after a couple more hours i was able to start adding the paper collaged pieces. i had no plan at all when i started this piece. i simply dug in and let the muse lead me where she may. the next morning the dap paste had cracked, giving this piece tons of texture. i added all the other elements with charcoal, pastels, more acrylics, rubber stamp images on a vintage dress pattern and some stamps.

it's been sitting on art table for a few weeks, just waiting patiently for me to pay attention to it again.

today i snapped a few photos and started playing in photoshop, using filters and backgrounds to add extra texture and pattern to the piece. the copy reads "living simply free to be". in essence, that's what i want -- to live simply.

in this version i used curves to brighten the entire image up and thena dded a layer from my gravestone texture collection. this one reads "let me wander free a vagabond life a gypsy filled with creativity".

i have 3 more of the dap paste boards painted, waiting on collage and inspiration to be applied. can't wait to get my hands covered with glue and paint!!!

promises

he promised to adore her

she promised to make him happy

we promised to be there for them

they promised to love us always

i promised to pass along great books

she promised to teach me to make sweet potato pie

she promised to be the best mommy possible to layla

jenna promised to always think of aunt amaris as a princess

promises

so easy to make during

happy moments

let us each remember to

hold promises dear

to our hearts

during

good times

bad times

happy times

sad times

always

photos taken june 20th, 2010 at the wedding of our son jon and his lovely bride amaris. our hearts overflowed with joy and love on this beautiful day. and, seeing our two granddaughters, jenna and layla, dressed alike and walking down that sweet bridal aisle was priceless!