au revoir

Nick has wanted to go to Paris

since he got a beret 13 years ago.

...and today his wish came true.

He is studying French film 

for the month of July in Paris.

 10 credits -

mais oui!

I am already missing him but so excited 

to vicariously experience the City of Lights

through his photos and blog

 (if he can stop having fun long enough 
to share that is).

I will share the good stuff with you too.

a demain...

pink as a poppy

the crinkly dress of the salmon poppies have

finally unfurled to lay bare their velvety center...

ahh how lovely -

summer is finally here...

and underneath this patch of beauty in the garden 

is a lone egg nestled amongst grass and 

its mother greets us each time we come near - 

she doesn't seem particularly panicked - 

just reminding us to keep our distance...

never seen a nest on the ground -

will keep you apprised of the situation.

my finger hurts today and I have laid low and tried to rest,

but that is so hard with so much beauty to see outside

and places to go and things to do - you get the picture...

 my  dear husband encouraged me follow through and send a painting  

off to Somerset Studio so he wrapped it, 

addressed it and delivered it to the PO.

Ok I will be good now and sit back on the sofa 

and keep my hand elevated and quiet...

sigh.

ever have one of those days?

This serendipitous photo was captured by me last fall...

I quickly cropped it and placed it in a blog post 

to wait for the "right" day to post it...

well 6 months later I'd say I found that day -

remember how I blogged here about how great our hands are?

well yesterday let's just say my poor right pointer finger

 just happened to disobey me while I was hedging the boxwood

 with an electric hedger...

I know - you are starting to squirm...

this was the result and now bed rest for the finger for 7 weeks...

so amidst all the trauma there was a "life is good" moment
as the surgeon today said we didn't need to do surgery as scheduled 
and we will just wait and watch to see if it heals correctly.
So there goes all the summer cleaning and yard work plans...
drat, guess I will be sitting on the patio drinking iced tea 
and hopefully I can learn to paint while my finger takes a vacation.


Oh yes and remember our mountain biking friend 
who was posing in the photo above ?
 We just heard that he had a bad jump and landed in the hospital 
for a couple of days, but is healing...
sheesh ... life takes sudden turns without using its turn signal
(as in a card I just got).


Hope you have a safe summer without unexpected turns...
anyone want to finish pruning my boxwoods for me?
Iced tea is on me.

summer sedums

"In the Garden, my soul is sunshine."

sedums always amaze me with their resiliency...

they can survive freezing temps,

sizzling heat,
 little water,

and still keep on doing their thing...
my kind of plant.
they seem to have an inner strength
and even bugs don't mess with them.

seriously wish I was more like a sedum right now...

feeling a little overwhelmed switching gears 
with school out and summer starting...

 soo much to accomplish around here and no summer weather in sight...
will have to keep repeating that quote to myself as I weed and prune...
my soul is sunshine, my soul is sunshine...

supplies slumber...

All is quiet...

the aprons are abandoned ...

pencils are piled and no longer penciling -

the crayons  aren't crafting -

scissors are slumbering -

as she surveys the scene...
( I know I have put her in before but don't you just adore her!)
sigh...
all is quiet here,
but before we finished up the year
we made some final masterpieces...
check out our sorta summer Tuscan scenes -

our ode to what was really happening with the sky around us -

and finally the last day each student got to paint whatever 
he/she could dream up... 

Aren't they the best?
September can't come soon enough!

A Sunday Blessing

Just saw the Israeli movie Lemon Tree -

In the movie one character says

"Bless your hands"

when a gift is offered to him.

Isn't that the coolest expression?

Hands are truly amazing  - 

they can paint, play the piano, sculpt a topiary,

create a meal and reach out to others.

I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 63: 4

So next time someone brings you something from the heart, 

why not say to them "Bless your hands."

Try it out - I bet you'll get a smile!

Bless your hands and mine!

oh my, messing with the blog...

OK just so you know, I am currently messing with my blog design.  Why is this so painful?  I wasn't able to get my photos to fit in the other format and the color green was beautiful on my screen but not on others...  and I wanted the lettering to be larger so I could read it and could not get that with the old format.  So bye to my old friend and hello to new possibilities... I am trying and tweaking and it does not seem like home yet.  I am adding tabs too in hopes that it will eventually look more like a web site.  I have For Sale items listed but that is all so far.  It will take time to slowly fill these pages.  Not sure what else to do - any ideas?

old frames find second lives...

These frames 

are finally getting second lives -

This beauty is becoming home to this textural hand...

love the background texture on this painting - 

not sure yet how the rest will look -

I think the hand will hold a card with a quote

and maybe some jewelry ...
What do you think?

and this will be a bucket of red, juicy summer berries

spilling over onto the table...

Oh yum!

or maybe some white roses 
will cascade over the sides instead -
oh too many decisions...
Do you have an idea for me?
and I do believe I will give the frame
a boost with some gold leaf -
that should make him (?) happy!

Finished my last kiddo class -

will post their beautiful art in a few days

as it will be your last kiddo art fix until September 
when class resumes again...
I am already going through withdrawals ;-[

a Sunday Blessing and a Glimpse

find more here...

if so...

then I guess...

I am feeling close to God today.

If I can't run away to the sun...

I am ready to leave home...

well at least the rainy dark weather we have been experiencing 

here in Seattle.

So what's a girl to do?

Why paint of course!

Art is the only way to run away 

without leaving home.

Twyla Tharp

My dear son took some photos of me as I have virtually none of me

being creative...

I was hoping to give Gritty Jane's self portrait a try,

but would much rather paint my alter ego

{which the dictionary says is one's alternative personality or other self}

so I started two painting with that idea in mind...

I adore flowers and can think of nothing better than a huge,

overflowing bouquet spilling over...

and you all know my fixation with crows...

So here are the beginnings of my 'alter ego self portraits' 
(with me looking much younger in the crow painting)

and I will keep painting and sharing the process.

This will become a vase bursting with white flowers...

and pink roses will spill out here.

I have one rose blooming in the yard and it is curled up with mildew...

Oh summer where are you?

Our new patio is even green with moss!

At least art is not dependent on the weather.


Anybody else out there having weather issues?
Any new paintings you want us to see?
Leave a comment and your site link.
I'd love to visit
and get away from this weather ;-)...