happy birthday Nick!

Happy birthday to my 24 year old-

We love you Nicholas!

happy Monday!

Have an awesome crow-filled day!

finally a heart rock

one of my students brought me this rock at recess,

then threw it on the ground...

hmmm i couldn't just let it sit there 

as i never find heart rocks...

so it now sits at home happy as a rock.

on spring break this week

and my brain is definitely on spring break - 

'nuf said.

I try not to slurp...really I do

 The sun is OUT,

and this cappuccino sits before me

in a quintessential Seattle coffee house

teasing me to go slow...

but I can't.

Nothing sadder than an empty cup.

Did I mention the sun is a 

glorious yellow disk

radiating down on us?

Oh lovely day.

Just loving the ScratchCam app...

can't get enough grunge in my photos lately.

please play with your food...

It's been a hard week...

After the storm ended our heater went on strike,

so we got a new one ($$$ sigh)

and then the power went out again.

Our yard looks like a bomb went off in it - 

looked kinda nice when it was covered in snow,

but now the two broken trees look really sad.

Well this link to the photo above and many more

cheered me up so take a look if you need a smile -

and who doesn't?
I will be back later with two new kiddo projects
and some happy art news too.

sometimes I feel like this

sometimes I feel like this...

a happy cow

in a field full of green grass

who's just been made queen for a day.

Well my dad is visiting,

my son is graduating this weekend

and we have lots of parties and festivities

so I just can't get to all the blog posts I have started and  

I feel guilty and must not stress I tell myself.

you will be patient,

and after all,
 cows do not worry,

especially if they are wearing crowns.

simple pleasure

Limitations live only in our minds.  

But if we use our imaginations, 

our possibilities become limitless.

Jamie Paolinetti

(the photo is one of my favorite collections...

the quote is from Carla Sonheim's wonderful book 

Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists)

What limitless possibilities

are you imagining today?

mermaids in my head

logo #1...

became logo #2 this week...

became logo #3.

well I have some explaining to do...

my dear, sweet husband makes the lattes around here,

and he often adds a little extra

to the outside of my to-go cups.

thought this was hysterical and just wanted to give him

a big 'thank you'

for all the little things he does.

btw he is a really good artist -

this was a quick 30 second sketch.

I have the sicko thing in my chest -

along with a come and go migraine...

day #5 but who's counting.

Cowboys, Yogi Bear, and an Eames chair

another gem from the Selleck archives...

and I thought I did not like guns?

well obviously at one time 

I did enjoy a little point and shoot action

of the cowboy kind.

my brother's expression is priceless.

and did you notice Yogi Bear seems to be putting 

his arms up in disbelief 

while happily sitting his furry tush 

on an original Eames wire chair?

ahh childhood...

smile

hmmm...

maybe I will ham it up for the photo -

321 'smile'...

found this photo of me at my dad's last week.

can't believe the quiet, reserved child 

that I remember myself to be 

was actually a diva at heart?

but I do remember that this is as close 

as I ever got to having fun at the piano.

and trust me - you don't ever want to hear me sing...

crayons were much more my thing.

drumroll please...the famous mustache belongs to Tom Selleck

here is Tom Selleck

and his famous mustache...

and here is Tom Selleck too

with his famous whiskers.

the first is my second or third cousin

and no I've never met him.

and the second was my kitty who was a huge stray tom cat 

when he came to live with us during the Magnum PI era -

hence the name.

so we have four winners of the contest from the last blog

thanks to Malia for the first accurate guess,

then Erin, Patsy and Dinnard for tagging along.

Your cards will be sent your way soon -

wish I could get Tom Selleck to deliver them.
and I almost forgot, my name is Pamela Selleck Holderman
and my son's is Nicholas Selleck Holderman.

true love

Matteo has fallen hard...

for Misty Mawn,

well that would be the way she quickly paints

and adds collage 

and swirls her brush just so...

keeps him occupied for hours.

she suggested I get him a brush.

well I would but he has a bad habit of chewing on them.

news flash - he just stole my gum eraser and is stealthily slinking across the floor 

with it perched neatly in his mouth...

i am the...

i am the...

i am the

hope of winter,

the ugly brown burst forth with life,

the perfumed headiness of spring,

the hope for tomorrow.

i adore these paper whites sprouting in my kitchen.

i am in misty mawn's on-line class

and each week she has a writing assignment 

(this week it is 'i am the...')

along with drawing and painting.

i am so behind

and basically haven't even begun to draw or paint,

(just putting together art lessons for the kiddos

and coping at present)

but that's ok...

i have grace and 

i will begin when i am ready.

there is always hope.

meow meets moo...

needed a little giggling this afternoon...

maybe you do too?

What are spots on black and white cows?

Holstains...


What do cows wear in Hawaii?

Moo-moos...


What do you call a cow that has just had a calf?

Decalfeinated...


I made this cow about 30 years ago so she is getting on in years.
She resides on top of my pine armoire 
and oversees the comings and goings...
knew it was going to be trouble when Matteo noticed what I was doing...

Can I have this please?

I know what my sewing machine 
and I would be making right now 
if I had all the time in the world...
just love House Beautiful magazine - always find something I adore.

got talent?

Talent, if it is anything, is a gift, and nothing of the artist's own making...

Even at best talent remains a constant, and those who rely upon that gift alone, 

                      without developing further, peak quickly and soon fade to obscurity... 

Talent is a snare and a delusion.  

In the end, the practical questions about talent come down to these:  

Who cares?  

Who would know?  

and What difference would it make?  

And the practical answers are:

    Nobody, Nobody and None.

Admittedly, artmaking probably does require something special, 

but just what that something might be has remained remarkedly elusive - 

elusive enough to suggest that it may be something particular to each artist, 

rather than universal to all of them.  

But the important point here is not that you have - or don't have - what other artists have,

 but rather that it doesn't matter.  

Whatever they have is something needed to do their work -

 it wouldn't help you in your work even if you had it.  

Their magic is theirs.  

You don't lack it.  

You don't need it.  

It has nothing to do with you.  

Period.

more gems from Art and Fear...

just love that book.

I've been back to work this week and off to Spokane this weekend to see friends.

House chores go undone, 

art lays in waiting, 

art lessons need to be prepared for kiddos.

C'est la vie!

Have a blessed weekend !

I am famous... hee hee

I am featured here today.

thank you Malia -

what fun to read about me!

eat, drink and be merry

My book club came over last night...

After I put out the food and drink,

Zoe went into guard mode for me...

and guarded this yummy spread of bruschetta, grapes,

 and cream cheese layered with chutney and hazelnuts

(so easy and simply the best).

Our book of the evening was Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

As it pertains to Frank Lloyd Wright I went with the architecture theme.

So I put down blue prints as a table cloth (thanks Doug)

and displayed this petite building complex

created by architect Kim when she was a student.

Then we had a lively discussion while sipping wine on the patio 

and enjoying the beautiful Seattle evening...

doesn't get any better than this.

Guess what?  Monsieur Nick is in Chicago on the second leg of his journey

and will be home this evening...tres bien.

This morning I went to the finger doctor and she said I can begin using my digit - 

at 5 1/2 weeks I never expected to hear that.  Yippeee!!! Our bodies are amazing!

Have a truly wonderful weekend -

I know I will!

sleepless in Seattle

Spent the day in Seattle on Monday 

with my husband - 

We called it a vacation day and only went to new places

and pretended we were explorers far away in a new city...

sometimes just looking down can be the best...

just love stumbling upon sidewalk art -
oh I so want to wear a poem right now...
I want my life to be creative
and instead I feel I am in limbo,
or maybe artistic purgatory...
finished Kelly Rae's class (which was incredible and I honestly do plan to share with you)
and I feel like a race horse at the starting gate but...

feels sorta like I am in this bottle (at Cafe Flora) looking out at my world 
that I want to explore but can't 
because I can't really hold a pencil 
or paint brush 
or scissors,
or prune 
or plant
or cut with a knife
or butter toast 
or...

so I am feelin trapped - maybe like her (found at an antique store in Pikes Market).
She was made to honor 'a saint'
and be at a party or procession
and instead she spends her time behind glass staring out at the world...

or maybe this is how I feel -

he seems to be patiently waiting for his owner,

feeling a tad rejected and left out.

I am not waiting patiently,

just ask my husband...

Even the store I wanted to visit was closed.

OK enough of this pity party 

now for the positive -

I can click a camera

I can type (with the finger raised high) for a little while

I can dust with my left hand

I can pet and hold my animals,

I can enjoy the sunshine (95 today yow!)

I can read 

(The Girl who Played with Fire and 

Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water, reflections on faith and art at present)

and I can love my family (really lovin' skyping with Monsieur Nick in Paris)!

and I got the stitches out yesterday (a big ouch #*!#**!) so now just 5 more weeks

of patience for the bone to heal.  sigh... 

Zoe's a tad upset with me for letting Matteo be a guest blogger 
so I promised her that she could blog next.
She's working on the post now 
and promises to ignore Matteo's comment about her 'aroma'.

wonder what she will write about...

an award from Erin

Erin gave me this award a long time ago and I am finally getting around to passing it on.
She has a beautiful blog that definitely lifts one up - please check it out.
So I am supposed to pass along this award to blogs I love that put 
a little sunshine in my life...
and I think we could all use some of that
(at least around here when I look outside at the rain right now ... sigh),
but there are so many blogs I adore that I feel bad just naming a few - 
so please don't feel bad if you don't find your name here -
just know I love you!
I am planning on listing all my favs on a different tab later this summer
with a little photo by each.
Hope you enjoy visiting these for now - as they always give me a lift!


art by erin leigh

kimberly renee

sandra juto

flora douville

dottie angel

ishtar olivera

misty mawn

be yourself everyone else is taken

mossiere

the essence of the good life

The finger is healing miraculously each day, but I am sooo tired... so I guess I need to rest.