Altered Flower Book

This afternoon I created a very little altered book. I altered a small address that measures 2 inches by 3 inches. I wove pages together, sewed on buttons and used sari ribbon. It was a very fun little project.

Digital Creations

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

How Does Your Garden Grow

Pretty Maids all in a Row

Tiny Dancer

For weeks I had been imagining a tiny dancer poised on the tip of a flower. I could just picture a small dancer among very large flowers. One day I stopped imagining and I started creating. I pulled out my trusty Golden Paints and started painting. I watered down the paint to get drips and splatters and I liked the effect. I focused on the background and then worked on the dancer and the flowers. I especially liked painting the background. After the background was painted I could see where to put the flowers and where to put my tiny dancer.

She was so much fun to create that I couldn't stop. In business I have always started a project with "the end in mind". I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I had a goal to meet.

With my new series of paintings I didn't. I painted the backgrounds of several more canvases and let the drips, dots and splatters lead to the focus of the painting.

It was so much fun and a great way for me to take off the pressure of painting a specific image.

Hello Again...

I cannot believe how fast this year is flying by and that I have not posted in over three months!. I have spent a lot of time traveling to wonderful places. I have been inspired from St. Augustine, Florida to Washington DC. Art and creativity are everywhere!

Museum visits of inspiration included The Visionary Museum in Baltimore, The Smithsonian Art and Portrait Gallery Museums, the American Folk Art Museum in Colonial Williamsburg, the Lightner Museum in St. Augustine and Ripleys Believe It or Not Showcases (It is hard to go to any destination without a Ripleys...believe it or not...).

Quiet places of speculation included Savannah, Edisto Island and Alexandria, Virginia. The best part of my travels included my dear friends and family. So many special memories!

Now it is time to create. So many ideas and so little time...

Special Memories

Today my friend Dolly and I met with a group of women to share how we incorporate special items from the past in our art. To set the stage the centerpieces were comprised of old picture frames, ribbon, pictures, baby shoes, dried flowers and buttons to create memories of family treasures. I was amazed with the reaction to the objects we had placed as centerpieces on each of the tables. As the women gathered and found their seats it was pleasing to hear the delight in their voices as they inspected the items. Their memories were sparked as they shared stories of their past with new and old friends.

It is a shame that as we move from city to city or downsize our lives to prepare for retirement those special items that we saved and mean so much to us end up in boxes, in storage or in photo albums to be viewed or brought out only during special occasions.

Keeping family items up front in the open has always been a part of our family. My great grandmother Ritzi was the society editor for the Long Beach Press in California and kept scrapbooks and plenty of pictures. As kids we would go through those books and imagine Ritzi's glamorous life. She rode elephants, dined with John Barrymore and wore the most fabulous jewelry. Today her pictures are so precious to all of us and the stories are priceless. Altered art, mixed media and collage are great ways to showcase those special treasures and to fondly remember those family members and their stories. Pull out those items and artfully display them so you can remember those stories of the past and share them with your friends and family.


Go and create with the ones you love!

Goodbye Christmas

Today was the day that I finally took down the Christmas decorations. As I was boxing them up I remembered this holiday season fondly. Wonderful dinners and parties with friends, exchanging gifts with my special artist friends, singing beautiful Christmas songs and carols with the St. Margaret’s choir and reliving special holiday traditions. As I contemplate the New Year and the adventures to come I am excited. Art gallery crawls, new art creations, artist retreats, singing songs of joy, making new friends, getting together with old friends and celebrating life.

As my friend Wan reminds me often... be in the moment, celebrate the little things and keep creating.