Roses, roses everywhere!

Still working on the Spring Fling stuff but there is light at the end of the tunnel... which is fast approaching. See the light on the roses? That tunnel end is in sight!

I'm a Little Teapot, Short & Stout

This weekend is the Spring Fling luncheon, a fundraising event for our local painting chapter (CACF). I truly need my head examined this year because I volunteered to do not just one table but participate in two!! My friend, Penny B, and I are collaborating on two very different themed tables - and I have stuff in various stages of completion spread all over my kitchen and dining room. One table is called "Harvest Rose" and contains elegant roses & lace. The other is "Whimsical Teaparty" and is more vintage & funky. These little teapots are ceramic pins that will go on the whimsical table.

I have a scary amount of work still to be finished before Saturday, yet here I sit posting photos & blogging. I must be nuts!!! Why do things always sound great in the planning stages & the execution of said plans sometimes ends up feeling like - an execution?!?

Will post photos (if I survive this) of all the table stuff, so check back after Saturday if you want to see how it turned out, what we did, and if my sanity is a total loss.

Butterfly Dreams Part 2

OK - Maybe just a bit more... this turned out better than I anticipated & I just can't resist! This design is on an ACEO that has been sent somewhere special. More about that later...

Just got back from 10 days in Mexico and I am still trying to get caught up. There is a lot going on right now! Our chapter Spring Fling is May 2nd and I am painting furiously to get stuff ready for TWO tables - photos to follow on that. My friend, Penny, and I are collaborating on two very different tables - should be fun.

Also, the deadline looms for the SDP certification boards - May 18 is the deadline!!! I am working on a master floral board this year - keeping my fingers crossed!

April Fool

In the spirit of April foolishness, here is the outside of a new little piece of art I just finished. Can't show the inside quite yet so this is just a little bit of a tease... more to come shortly.

The spring holidays are upon us. One of my most favorite memories is hunting Easter eggs in my grandparent's very large yard. I don't know who hid all those eggs but all the grandkids would gather together & have a fine old time of it!

My husband's family celebrates Passover and I can remember some special dinners with his family when we still lived in California.

However you celebrate the season, Happy Spring!!

Spring Tulips

The warm sunshine has been a tonic this week - lots to do and much accomplished! I decided to make a jacket that I have had planned out in my head for several months. It uses several fabrics from my stash - most notably some of the wonderful batik cottons brought back from the last trip to Hawaii. There was an amazing quilt store (looked like an old barn it was so big) on Kauai that I only had a few minutes to shop in. I could have spent a LOT of money in there as it was stocked full of batiks & Asian fabric. What I did bring home I have hoarded until now & some of this is worked into the jacket - photo coming but it is not ready yet.

Here I am talking about a jacket & Hawaii - so what is the relevance with the photo above? Not much I guess. However, I am planning my flower purchases for my pots on the front porch & back patio. These pink tulips were painted from a lovely large pot of flowers I put on the back patio several years ago & couldn't help taking photos of them. They were lovely, reminded me of spring growing up in Tennessee, but sadly are only found here in Florida in captivity! It just doesn't get cold enough (except for this winter maybe!) to grow them in the ground here.

But they are Spring Tulips! What says Spring to you?

Spring Will Come

One of the things I like best about living in Florida is the "usually" warm winter. This year has certainly been an exception! Now I realize that most everywhere else has been freezing but we aren't used to that down here. This winter has been much colder and managed to freeze all the vines off my back fence. Normally a little freeze doesn't bother them too much - the top layer might turn brown but there is green underneath and the first sign of warm weather encourages new growth. This year, the damage was so deep that hubby had to cut back all the vines off the fence down to the main root ball. Our fence looks bald & naked like a really short buzz cut.

Still, there is something to say for the promise of new beginnings. The weather will soon be warming up and those vines will begin to reestablish themselves on the fence. It will be interesting to see what survives and how the new growth shapes itself. There are several different types of vines - jasmine, bleeding heart, passion vine, clematis - and over the last few years the passion vine has covered over pretty much everything. The bleeding heart has cowered at the base of the fence. The jasmine peeks through at the beginning of the bloom but quickly gives up the fight. The clematis has its own space on an arched bench but managed to find its way up into neighboring trees and along a side fence, trying to outrun the passion vine.

So now we have a more level playing field. Everyone has room to grow & thrive - if they can survive the cold weather & severe pruning. The similarities of the vines and the current state of the world is not lost here. This is a time for reinvention and is something that we can do with a little help from one another... and Spring will come.

Happy Valentine's Day

Even though I live on the outskirts of a major tourist destination (the Mouse in all its glory - 4 theme parks!!) there are still pockets of a slower way of life in evidence. One of those pockets is just a mile or so from my house in the form of a pick-it-yourself strawberry patch called Pappy's. If the weather cooperates there are usually fresh picked berries starting around Christmas all the way up until late April/early May. There is nothing like a fresh picked berry right out of the field. What passes for fresh berries in most markets doesn't even come close!

These were picked yesterday and had a little chocolate bath this morning. Margot's spring Art Experience starts today and these beauties are on their way over to her house to be enjoyed by her peeps. Of course, a few fell off the plate and will be enjoyed by my sweetie tonight.

Happy Valentine to all &

Hug someone you love!

New Work for 2009

Lots going on but not a lot I can post about right now. However, I do have a newly finished piece that I can share. This is a new painting I just finished for my husband for Valentine's Day. Nothing says you love your man like giving him a predatory creature of the deep!!! This shark is from one of his underwater photographs. Love ya toots!!

Time Flies to Christmas

Wow - where did this year go? It seems like we just got back from Europe yesterday and here it is December & almost Christmas. This is the part of the year that time seems to hit hyperspeed & there are just not enough hours in the day for everything!

Last Saturday was my painting chapter Christmas party which turned out to be one of the best we have ever had in my opinion. Our theme this year was Angels and there were lots of "angels" in attendance. Even with a half hour delay in set-up, we were done in record time & even had time for a group photo before opening the doors. The Christmas Committee provided the angel table decorations (some of us did multiple angels even) and it was a lovely presentation. Here are a few of them.

Traveling the World

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth - it only felt that way! We have been traveling and the photo might give a hint of where we went. (hint... lots of wine involved!)

Yes! We went to ITALY and parts nearby. Spent nearly two weeks on a cruise ship starting in Rome, then on to Naples (& Sorrento, Positano & Pompeii), around the boot to Dubrovnik (Croatia), over to Venice!!!, down to Sicily, back up to Barcelona, then to Monaco, Livorno (Florence), and back to Rome. Yikes! We are tired!!! And it was all amazing.

I have lots of photos to share & stories to tell... more to come!