Bidding Summer Goodbye...

 Autumn is in the air. I knew it was coming, the big yellow school buses were a tip-off. But everything has been so green and my begonias are shaking off the burning heat and thriving in the cool shade, lush with new blossoms .

Some part of me must have thought it wouldn't happen. Silly of course, seasons change, year after year, for millennium, but hope springs eternal, even in the heart of the weary. 

  But last night, I stepped outside to admire the full moon, and there it was. That smell, the crisp clear chill. Ozone perhaps? I don't know what to call it, but it smelled cold.

 The leaves on the trees are still green, but it won't be long before they begin to turn the most amazing shade of gold and drop over night. For a couple weeks it will be glorious! Green, gold, rust and smokey blue, as far as the eye can see. I love this time of year, it appeals to all my senses. But it also marks an ending, we are fast approaching winter, faster every year it seems.

So now is the time for one last push, finish up projects and tidy the acreage. I will miss my beautiful lawn, but not the weekly mowing. Soon the snow will cover my unfinished projects, giving me a reprieve until Spring.

The subject for this weeks Every Inchie Monday is "boat". In keeping with my fall clean-up theme, the tree is beginning to turn gold, there is already a skiff of snow on the mountain and my boat is pulled in off the lake, ready for winter storms.

Until next time...enjoy!

Family Time and Summer Schedules...

Well we have had a busy week around here, graduations to attend, family visits, friend visits, my birthday and Father's Day kept us jumping all over the place. Our work load, both at home and outside, hasn't lightened any at all.

Mr. How2 is wrapping up his construction project, and that means some of my days are spent doing detail work at the job-site. Cleaning, hauling, grouting tile and final creative approval is my prerogative, and some adjustments had to be made, including knocking out a wall and expanding the master bedroom. (I wish we would have thought of it before he hung the drywall and painted!) But everything is coming together beautifully, and it will be a lovely home for a small family.

 My time in the studio was limited, but I had to finish this 8" x 10"canvas, the image was just calling me;

I was a bit conflicted about the gold swirls in the petals of the leaves, and here is a trick I tried to "test drive" the idea. I simply printed out a color copy of the painting, and drew the swirls on the copy first, to see if I liked them before I committed to their addition in the final piece. I liked what I saw, so went ahead and added them. I wasn't trying for a accurate representation of a sunflower, so the whimsy of the swirls appealed to me.

The garden is continuing to grow, I am picking the first handful of fresh strawberries this week, they will be in full production as soon as we get a few sunny days in a row. We are already getting tired of lettuce, spinach and assorted other greens, and the radishes are trying to bolt. I am very pleased with how the flower boxes and planters are filling in, but am especially delighted with the pot full of violas, they are volunteers from last year, and I have never seen them get this lush!

I may just have to paint them!

Our week has been full, but we will hopefully get a chance to slow down soon, and enjoy a bit of the summer. I keep telling myself that summer hasn't officially started yet, and I have plenty of time, but...I don't seem to be listening! Until next time...enjoy!

This week's theme for Every Inchie Monday is "animal" and I decided to paint Storm, my Tabby Point Siamese. Since she won't sit still, I used the photo of her that appears in my page banner;

When we first got Storm, she was quite a handful, and I blogged about her introduction into our family in a previous post called "Summer Storm", go take look if you would like to know more about her.

Painting While the Sun Shines...

This time of year it is so difficult to stay indoors and work in my studio. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weeds are growing... but I am so driven to continue exploring this new style of art, that I am afraid much of my outdoor work is being neglected. I did stop long enough to combine these two passions, and created some flower baskets to sell at our local nursery...

  I collect vintage and unusual containers through out the year, 
and make them up in time for spring...

But I am still drawn back into my studio to pursue my first love...

This is a series of four Artist Trading Cards I made for our
Flygirls ATC Group trade this month, "May Flowers"

I will just have to figure out a way to better mange my time... until then, enjoy!

Garden Inchie for EIM...

Happy Spring!

Yes, I know, it is a bit too early for that, but the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and my cats are shedding, so...

Today I decided to get back to doing Every Inchie Monday. This week's theme is "Garden". I have let it slide for a few weeks now, but needed a break from my other tiny art that I am working on for the Art-0-mat project. Since I am currently trying to learn my way around Photoshop and Gimp, which are both digital editing programs, I thought it might be fun to try my inchie digitally. Above are the results, a hand painted background, and a graphic that was scanned and duplicated. I love the results, and this project was fairly simple to create. However, as I prepared to submit it to the group, I realized that they may not allow digital art, I mean really, the challenge is making such tiny art, and isn't it cheating to use the computer? I wasn't sure, so I sat down again and made another, in the more traditional cut and paste method...

I think both turned out cute, though the second one doesn't scan very clearly, because of the brad in the center of the flower. I will wait to hear back from the group, regarding digital art. Now I must get back to work, I am about 2/3 way through the required 50 pieces of art. I am getting faster as I go, and streamlining some of the process, but it is still hard work. I guess the garden clean-up will have to wait for the next sunny day. Until next time...enjoy.

Dirt, dirt, dirt...

Today I moved dirt, nothing else really. Nothing creative, artsy or even fun...

You see, we have this very under utilized storage shed, complete with power and water. But it has never had a floor in it, just dirt. It started out as a goat shed, so I guess you could say I spent the day shoveling poo. Ancient poo. So old that it doesn't smell bad, just smells like dirt.

 So I came up with the idea to put a floor in it. The shed I mean. So I could use it as a wood shop, for building frames, benches, birdhouses, what ever...

  Little did I know, to build a floor, you need floor joists, actually, I did know this, but I didn't know we would have to dig down 12" in order to install them...

  Because the building has four walls, all we could do was bring in a wheelbarrow, and fill it up shovel by shovel and haul it away to the garden. (I wonder if the dirt would grow veggies well next year, it is certainly composted after all this time!) So we dug out all this dirt, and drilled into the concrete perimeter to attach ledger boards. One of the walls was calcified and porous, it wouldn't hold the anchor bolts. We will have the pour footers underneath. We now have half the joists installed, and plan to get the others in tomorrow. Sometime in and around cleaning out one of our rentals that was left a complete mess...

  In the mean time, I am sore, stiff and sore and hoping someone will come along and help me out of my chair so I can hobble off to bed and sleep a very long time...Night night, all...

Series of Seven Garden Haiku

by Sally Rose


Early morning crisp.

White billows with every breath.
Frost still under foot.

Dry leaves and dead plants,

Crocus already in bloom.
Go and find the tools.

Shovel, rake, and hoe,

The wheelbarrow tire is flat.
Pail, basket and trowel.

Sun warms, and brings life,

Bird song trills the day awake.
Cars start, tires crunch,gone.

Traffic noise fading.

Insects awaken and add
their voice and chorus.

Bow head, pray for strength.

Turn to the unending chores.
The days are too short.

In gratitude kneel,

Work in a private vert world.
Alone for the day