My Heart

 

My heart is so full these days.  Life presents so much richness all mixed up with joy and sorrow.
This heart is mine.
It is a gift from my cousin who wrote such a precious note with it saying when I looked in the
mirror on the other side I'd see the face of love looking back at me.
It is hard to speak of this without tears because her time here is getting very short.
This heart is mine.
My sister's son and his wife are expecting their first baby, my great niece or nephew.  So I
will become a great auntie, to my delight.
Life starting again and bringing its wonders to us all.
This heart is mine.
And now I can share it with someone who knows what to do with it.
It is hard to speak of this without tears because I have waited so long.
Life is starting again and bringing its wonders to me.
This heart is mine and it is for sharing and I do
I DO.

Command Post!

This is the high point in my art studio. All can be surveyed from this step!
These are the basics of life....time, color and a fantastic pet!
Well, some of the basics!

The art of food presentation

The holidays certainly present us with much that pleases the eye AND the
palette.  This was the dessert my son and I shared just before we
went to a marvelous play at the Kennedy Center - my Christmas gift
to him (and myself as well!).


Sharing is also what this time of year is about and so here you have
my symbolic photo of sharing and a treat that is beautiful to look at
and eat.


Shortbread crust !  Yum!

Moonlight at Christmas

A full moon is working to outshine the Christmas decorations
and doing a very good job, I'd say!
Something rather enchanting about the dark cold nights
and the lights of many colors all through the streets
of my town.
Then to top it off is the big white moon in
her majesty.
Delicious.

Form and color

It was an overcast day and somehow it made the golden colors

of this tree even richer.

The mist adds to the dreamlike quality of it.

When the colors are gone we have to learn to love the

subtleties of greys and browns.

Can it be?

Oh my.

What you find when you go through old family papers.

These are from a stack of letters I wrote my parents while I was

1000 miles away at the State University of Iowa.

I loved it there.

But I missed my family terribly. We were very close.

If these had been emails, I wouldn't be photographing them today.

Nor would I have the chance to revisit evidence of how close we were

and how happy I was.

I think it is a very sad state of affairs.

Snow in October?

Yet another shot of the remarkable October snow here.

Poor mums are weighed down. But they bounced back!

Nature is resilient.

We're part of Nature!

The past, the past and the present!

The subject line for this post is full of layered meaning.

We have here an absolutely beautiful pastel done by an old friend

who is very dear to me.

This is Lillian Russell (no, she was not my friend!).

The artist once was my babysitter. Has to have been well over

sixty years ago, too long ago to count.

I just received this image in an email and HAD to print it out

and put it on my studio bulletin board.

There you have it.

Someone from the past drawn by someone from my past who is

now in my present.

This vase is loved

This lovely iridescent vase has been in my

family for many years.

I use it often and every time that I do,

I think of my Father carefully and

lovingly washing it after

the flowers that had faded away

were gone.

I can see him at the sink with his

hand down inside its narrow length.

Washing it oh so carefully so all the

spots of residue were gone

and no quick moves were made that

might break it.

Now I wash it with the same care.

And here it is for you to see.

It is about 14" tall and has such lovely

colors that play over its surface.

Behind it

on the wall

is another memory of

love.

All of a kind

 

Recently, when I decided to group all my stuffed animals and figurines of animals on one shelf in my studio, I had no idea that my Lucy was paying so much attention to my plan. She was!

Juxtaposition

 

Sometimes things present themselves unexpectedly. I was having lunch with a friend and was looking around as I always do....for compositions that might make a good painting. How's this!

Love Potion recipes

 

I can't see my photograph as I type this. I hope it is there! Just wanted to know if anyone has some recipes that WORK! Found this in Frederick Maryland.

Clouds Part Two!

Now you're talking!

See them galloping across the sky?

Cloud Pictures

I remember my Dad telling me that he loved his Grandma Wiggins very much.

He told me that she would hunt for cloud pictures with him when he was a little boy.

And so in these lovely summertime days, I think of my Dad and his Grandma as I

look up at the fantastic clouds all around me today.

What can you see in these?

A fat lady with a topknot beckoning?

A baby seahorse cavorting?

Look up.

Find the pictures in the clouds.

If you know a little child, show him how to do it, or

maybe he'll show you!

Summer glories

Ahhhhhhhhh the hydrangeas reign supreme on this early July day.

I am grateful for my zoom lens giving me this look into the intricacies of the center of

my beloved Lacecap hydrangea.

This started out in a pot as a Mother's Day gift to my wonderful mom.

Now it is huge and glorious.

Everyday I receive the greatest pleasure from its beauty.

Here' a little look for you!

Washing Machine Rant Saga

OK, first of all I don't have any beautiful photograph to show you this time. I just want to say that some days you have to run as fast as you can across the flat but shaky rocks in a fast moving body of water so you don't fall in. That is what I've been doing these past three days.

I've had all my 'spare' time taken up and then some, trying to get just what I need in order to replace my defunct washing machine. I went to Sears to buy a new one and they didn't have ANYTHING that would work in the space I have. The one I got from them is 'out of stock' and the salesperson didn't get me any information as to how long would that be the case and said she thought it had actually been discontinued.

No one wants to read all this nonsense. So I will do my best to not prolong all this annoyance I have had to contend with. Good thing, and VERY good thing indeed, is that with one exception, ALL the people (a LOT of them) that I have contacted (repairmen, store personnel, knowledgeable friends and family) have been so very very helpful.

My task is to try to keep all the long lists of data straight on the myriad post-it notes I have on my desk and then decide on a sequence of action. I may just have to spring for a dryer too, even though mine is working just fine thank you. The thing is, there are no guarantees that the old dryer will fit a kit that secures it to the new washer. AND will the men bringing the new washer even TOUCH the old dryer. I'm serious. Touch it. Much less take it off the old washer, and put it back on top of the new washer secured. Crazy.

But at the very least I finally found a top recommended brand that is the size I need to fit in my space. That was a big deal. Only it will take two weeks to get here from Michigan!

OK, before I just end in a huff, let me say that Tom at Lowe's in Gaithersburg rocks! He has been fantastically helpful and patient and funny and I am grateful for him today!

Family

My sister and my cousins at my 16th birthday party!

Such a long time ago and yet so sweet to see all of us in party clothes honoring the natal day of one of us. We did this for each one, but of course this is the one my Dad recorded and therefore I have the photo.

I'm feeling the presence of the older generation around me these days as I have delved into

many files of letters and photos.

We just held a small get together of some of us.

It was so precious.

Nothing else can substitute for family.

I would wish that everyone had the amazing one I grew up in.

Great Foundations!

My Mother and Father!

Full of mischief and good humor!

Lucky me and lucky sister!

It is a joy to me to see their smiling faces and how much this reminds me of the

best childhood ever.

I'm doing all I can to carry on what they did for me and how huge a difference it makes in

this world to see the fun in things and the pleasure of living.

Look Up (did I say this before?!)

We miss a great deal when we don't look up.

I found this out recently when visiting a museum presenting a retrospective of a

famous artist.

I was intent on the paintings until my son said to me,

Look up!

When I did, I saw marvelous quotes by the artist that had been put on the walls.

They were actually quite far up the tall walls, and without his nudge to look up,

I would have missed some great deep thoughts!

Here's one of my latest cloud shots from looking up.

It's a good summer here for fabulous clouds.

So start doing it!

Look Up!

The company of a cat

As I sit at my desk there is this window to one side of me.

Last year I got a carpeted shelf for my companion to watch the world go by.

Here she is, no doubt having spotted a bird in that luxurious tree.

She likes it and I love seeing her enjoyment.

Art and Life interwoven.