IS IT THE MOON?

I haven't posted in a few days for a couple of reasons. One, DH is out of town and I have been spring cleaning! I can always seem to work better if he is not here, so I took advantage of his trip. My house is squeaky clean. Hmmmm, wonder how long it will stay that way.

Another reason for not posting is that I have not been very creative this week at all. Have not been in the mood; maybe it's the moon again! Instead, I have been doing a lot of reading. Which is a good thing. I got out of the reading mode for a long, long time. Could hardly read a couple of paragraphs and was bored. Several weeks ago I read a book that Gemma recommended, and I loved it. Then I went out and bought another book and I couldn't put it down til it was done. Today I went to Borders and bought another book and browsed for probably an hour. I wanted to buy more but I had to watch the pennies! Thank goodness I have my reading mind back. I have missed it.

I did order some Angelina fibers in wild colors. Have no idea what I will do with them yet.

DH has gone to Miami to be part of a peaceful protest outside a hotel that is hosting a travel fest. Of course, Aruba is represented there trying to get tourists to come to their beautiful island where the government is corrupt and people disappear. Anyhow, he is not actually protesting anything, but rather he and his group are simply making people aware that Natalee Holloway is still missing....from Aruba....and that it is coming up on two years, and that she should not just be forgotton. They are getting a lot of "thumbs-up" from the people of Miami. Ironic that in yesterday's news, there was an update on the case, and they are now finally searching on the property of the person who was the main suspect in her disappearance. I hope they can find out what happened to her, and bring closure and some sort of peace to her mother. I can imagine how I would feel if it were my daughter.

So anyway, since I didn't have any new art, I decided to post some old art becuz this is, after all, mainly an art site. This painting is one I did in oil on canvas paper awhile ago. It's good to pull out old work and critique it. I can see now why I put it away. Can you? What in heaven's name is the purpose of that half-circle tree branch hanging over the brook? It doesn't even have shape or form. It's just a "thing" slicing through the scene. Lesson learned!

Hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful!!!

RAKU

I couldn't resist these Raku hummingbirds when I saw them in the pottery studio. They are attached, obviously, to a wrought iron encased small mirror, and a couple of blue gems were added for some sparkle. They are prettier in real life, because the Raku colors don't show up really good here. They are gently gorgeous!

MONDAY, MONDAY!

Mail Call!!! I LOVE getting special things in the mail! Today I received this beautiful ATC from Ang at Altermyworld (see sidebar link). It's one of the 12 she is sending to me each month to go along with the little blue book I got from the auction Peggy at Hidden Haven had to help out a friend. (Whew, that was a mouthful!). I was the winning bidder for the little blue book. On the back of each ATC she writes something very special. This one says "Let your heart be filled with miracles and joy and above all peace. May we all be touched by that peace, one person at a time" How can you not love that glitter sister! Thank you Ang.

This is the little blue book I talk about. Some of you have seen it before but for those who have not, feast your eyes on this little treasure. Ang had taken a small photo album, the size just fits ATC's exactly, and altered it. It's one of my most cherished possessions.

On another subject, today I received an email from John Cheer (April 9 post). He read the blog post about his work and the art piece I purchased from him, and he also said he read all the comments. He said he was very glad that everyone liked his work! Just thought you would like to know.

Yeaaaaa! Tomorrow is Tuesday and I don't have to work and I have no plans and I am going to..um..well...geesh, I dunno yet! Seeya! xoxoxo

EARTH DAY

Mother Earth's Question: WHY?

THE DAY BEFORE.....

I wanted to show the bracelet I won from Aimee's site www.4theloveofanimals.com/blog which I received a few days ago. Aimee does wonderful work for animals and I hope you will visit her site. There are some great stories there that will make your heart feel good! On the bracelet it says WILDLIFE WARRIORS. I will wear it proudly, if I can ever bring myself to take it out of the package. This Wildlife Warriors is Steve and Terri Irwin's project to raise funds to help wildlife worldwide.

TOMORROW is EARTH DAY, and we can all help protect our earth by not trashing it and helping to keep the air clean. This Greenhouse Effect is reality...and it is affecting our earth a lot! Adults and children alike will appreciate the antics of Robert Penguin and Sophie Minnow in their Web Of Life Adventure video The Bio DaVersity Code at www.worldwildlife.org/earthday/connect.cfm

I am working on an Earth Day painting which I will (hopefully) post tomorrow.

ENJOY YOUR DAY AND THINK ABOUT THIS GREAT HOME OF OURS, OUR EARTH! It's the only one we have! xoxoxoxoxo

PARROT LADY IS BAAAAAACK!!!!!

This picture says it all. This is one-half of a drawing I did back in July of last year. It still reins true. I find myself spending more time than I have left in my life in front of the computer, so I closed the Art Room for a couple of days just to gather myself together, force myself not to blog or visit other blogs, and concentrate on other of life's realities. It was good, it was refreshing, almost like a trip out of town.

But I'm happy to be back!!!! And I missed you all!!!!! :)

Remember Olive Girl? I found time work on her, and I promised color. Color it is! Olive her, a little. She's wondering how she can get that other golden olive.

SORRY, WE'RE CLOSED

PLEASE VISIT http://greatday.com SCROLL DOWN THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT, AND CLICK ON THE RIGHT NOW PRESENTATION. Many, Many thanks to Ralph Marston

AWARDS DAY...well, sort of.

For several days I have been trying to get here to post these special awards that have been so kindly passed on to me by the very kewl bloggers in my world. Philip, of Tossing Pebbles, has given me the THINKING AWARD. I was truly surprised, because I think I am sometimes an airhead, and thoughtless. But Philip thinks I think, um, is that good grammar? I'm thinking it isn't but I'll try to just not think about it. Anyhow, THANK YOU SO MUCH PHILIP, I am totally honored that you would think of me as a thinker. Especially as sometimes I rag at you about your own deep thoughts. Of course, it's just jealousy, because I can't think as deeply as you....(and your cousin too, may I add). I place this banner on my blog with pride.

As for passing it on, everyone I know is a wonderful thinker. I picture Mz. Tinker, who is always thinking of those wild and crazy and entertaining stories. And I think of Mz. Daisy, who tells those wonderful fairy tales, and Pamalalala who THINKS she makes me laugh all the time....LOL...and all of the glitter sisters who are thinking all the time about new things to create, and you know I could just go on and on. But I THINK, no, I KNOW, I have to award this to one very special lady who may already have it....I don't know, but that is Nici of www.artshapedworld.blogspot.com because this young lady has to THINK 24 hours a day with the handful of three special angels that our gods and goddesses and whatever spirit you follow has lovingly handed her. I can only be amazed and humbled at what she has to do to care for her family, and STILL FINDS TIME FOR ART!

Ms. LisaOceandreamer has sent me the BRIGHT LIGHT AWARD. I thank you Lisa. YOU are an inspiration to me! And let me say that ALL of the bloggers I interact with are bright lights in my blogging world. So please, visit these wonderful people whose links are on my sidebar. And feel free to take the BRIGHT LIGHT banner and place it on your blog so the world will know you shine! xoxoxoxoxo

BE STILL, MY BEATING ART HEART!

I'm in love again! Not with a person, but with a person's art. An artist's art! Beautiful creations that have a soul of their own, and have captured mine. Let me tell you about it. At the Arts and Crafts Festival last Saturday, a small show, there was a ceramist, John Cheer, whose work left me spellbound. When I saw it, I was immediately hooked. Totally, at once, no second thoughts. His creations captured my vision and I saw nothing else in the show. There was no question at all that I must own one of these beautiful pieces. I ran back to the office to get my wallet. When I got back...oh dear...there was some lady picking up the one I had picked out. She put it down. I sighed. She picked it up again. I cringed. But.........no, she put it down and stepped away, and it was mine!! Imagine my glee when this artist was awarded Best of Show for his delightful work.

I cannot explain to you how beautiful is this melding of stoneware, porcelain, and crushed glass. How it teases my senses when I run my fingers over the smooth coolness of it's surface. I wonder at the pride the artist must feel when his creation is finally lifted from the kiln and it is so beautiful as this.

And this is nothing! Visit his website, www.cheerclaystudio.com and observe the eye candy I could not afford. The Peacock, The Stingray. It is so beautiful how he incorporates nature into his work. In my most humble opinion, this man is to the ceramic world what Dale Chihuly is to the glass world. The world just doesn't know it yet!

A WORK IN PROGRESS

This is what I am working on now...already titled.......A Girl And An Olive Branch....but I don't know when I'll get back to it. I have to work tomorrow, and Friday, (drat!) .....and Saturday is our Arts and Crafts Festival so my presence will be there also. Maybe Sunday afternoon I can get back to it. I was going to do it all in sienna tones, but I can't.....I just can't! So expect lots of color! :)

FINALLY - CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING!

Today was a nice sunny day, and I went with a friend to visit an art exhibit done by some mutual friends which was exhibited at City Hall in a neighboring town. It was a really nice, small show, and while I was there I got some inspiration....finally....I wanted to paint again. So after we had a nice lunch, I came home and got out my paints and here's what I did.

These shoes are plain cotton canvas...six bucks at K-Mart ...and I used acrylic paints. Over some of the artwork I put sparkly mod podge. You might be able to see it shining in the checkerboard heel of one of the shoes. They are not painted alike. I like it that way. This is my first attempt at shoe painting, except for some flips, and I really like them and cant wait to wear those ol' number 9 clods!

If you have painted canvas shoes with acrylic, tell me...should I seal them with anything? I figured acrylic was pretty tough so I didn't bother. I'll wear them awhile and see how they do, and if they hold up any length of time, maybe I'll do some more. Yippee! Every girl likes new shoes! :)

A SHORT STORY OF A KINDNESS

At the art center where I work, we have a pottery studio, and there is a young lady pottery student named Andrea. Now, I don't know Andrea a whole lot; just to say hello to her and collect her class fees. A very pleasant girl. A few days ago, after I had been out sick for several days, Andrea came in and left me this plant, along with a card that she had made. The card welcomed me back and hoped I would soon be at 100% over my illness. The plant is a small bamboo, which is supposed to bring luck. The vase.....SHE MADE IT IN POTTERY CLASS!!! Just look how wonderful it is! Look at the beauty of the vase in the close-up photo. I have to tell you this small, totally unexpected kindness made my eyes well up and my heart expand. Such a lovely, thoughtful thing to do. I'm so grateful there are wonderful, kind people in the world like Andrea.

Now, on another subject, you know that little dove who wove that totally wonderful, intricate nest on my porch light? This morning I opened the front door v-e-r-y slowly, camera in hand. She had turned around on her nest, and there, for my delight, was......................................

a dove butt!!! HeeeeHeeeeHeeeeee