what a day in the studio!

i don't think there was any part of my work that i didn't do today...from painting, sanding, waxing, sanding some more, waxing some more, staining, drawing and cutting wood...and of course all the paperwork and computer and phone stuff... it was truly one of the most hectic days but in the end so satisfying because i have soooo many boards coming out to you this week and next! and i'm happy with the way they are turning out... there were so many "gypsy kings" to make (above), which are really fun to mold.

i have a collection of new paint colors out in a row to inspire me to create a set of new boards...i'm thinking i would like to paint some lighter colors with three boards to the set... but who knows what will really happen when i get my eyes on black!

tomorrow up early...lots of shipping to do and sanding... it stormed so hard today that the ground is finally moist again, just perfect to set out my new ferns...

memorial day...

why am i blogging all the time....

you have probably noticed that i am blogging much more than usual...and changes have been made on my website... the truth is, i dropped some wood on my foot, ouch. sitting was much better, but then i was made to observe the chaos around me...and was tempted to shuffle about trying to fix it...so i decided to turn my back to it and it was a good time to write...then my hubby shared his virus with me, we just love to share everything! but i'm back up and flying into gear...so quit making fun of me!

there is a blog game going on....it's called tag...well i have been tagged by lana from honeysuckle www.honeysucklelane.blogspot.com i believe what i am supposed to do is add this to my blog and then tag somebody else...and i know just who that would be!

the closest book to me page 28, an excerpt...(this is the instructions)

Reading Lolita In Tehran - Azar Nafisi

"It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom. We felt when we were together that we were almost absolutely free. This feeling was in the air that very first Thursday morning. I had a frame for the class, and had selected a number of books to read, but I was prepared to let the class shape me; I was prepared for the violin to fill the void, and alter it by its music."

i just loved this book, i list it as one of my favorites... i am so curious about the middle east and the customs, the differences and the similarities. i found in this story that when the people were stripped of the obvious differences to me; clothing, customs.... then there were so many similarities, so basic; wanting not to disappoint family, falling in love, wanting to learn more about other places, wanting to travel and just wanting to read what interested them. the basic human emotions are the same, different place, different people. i guess if you strip everybody of the differences on the outside, customs, religion, culture, then we are left with the likenesses of people, human emotion.

so now it is my turn to play tag with somebody else, and as you know i love games! and tag was certainly one of my favorites, i was fast and little.

so here is to you my painter friend, jennifer lanne.... www.jenniferlanneoriginals.blogspot.com i just couldn't resist seeing what you will do...and i certainly want to share both of their blogs with you; honeysuckle lane and art on the farm and these names say it all... so have fun everyone!

off to work, i have a very serious meeting this morning and must pull off the "business" look... wish me lots of luck on this.

my artist friends....

in order of appearance - sorry i had to do it this way- makes it complicated for you, but i just wasn't able to figure out how to put their names beside their pieces!

liberty - mary myers

puzzle purse - lana manis

sheep - jennifer lanne

bear - lori ann corelis

folk painting - jesse lavon

carvings - sande elkins

their sites are listed to the left if you would like to check them out...also, there are many other site links on their sites.....you might get lost!

my sam has arrived...

one of the things i love MOST about being an artist is all the other artists that you meet... as you have seen i list my friends sites (to the left) so you can see their different crafts. you meet wonderful people in so many ways; shows, online, articles, other artists pass on your name....and it is so much fun to meet the other artists.

since much of our time is in the studio or for many traveling, email is a godsend. i love to hear what everyone is making, but also what's going on with their 'life'. and each and everyone of them has their special voices and touches me in different ways...

mary myers, for example, talks about her family and what we can do next as far as work goes and we struggle through the computer stuff together, she's my wise friend and always makes me laugh...

and i just received my wonderful sam (above) carved nutcracker from her for my studio, but it's looking really good on my table...hmmmm...

sande elkins, cracks me up...she's always got some new funny drama about us getting older...and tells me about her life on the farm, and her carvings show her fun/wow personality...

lana manis, is the sweet one and always leaves with a positive note, and by her work she shows a kindness and love of family....and i've shared her pieces with my mother and they touch her heart...

jennifer lanne - makes me smile when i just see her mail in my box....her paintings are like her, bright and alive.....

jen o'connor, earth angels - well she is one of my bosses (but my friend)....she is pure energy....she makes me remember the days when working 12 hours (or longer), raising kids and taking care of hubby and home would still leave me with plenty of energy to paint a room...(and by the way i just shipped her tons of boards!)

and lets not forget lori corelis, well lori has led me through all the muck of computer, and $, promotions, and all that business stuff. she's the smart one.

and that is a list of my 'regulars', and it makes everyday fun...and there are so many more that i love to chat with too, everytime i pick up the phone i get to smile...you can't beat that!

p.s. be sure to look at all their sites, listed to the left!

whats in my name....

for 47 years i have acquired different names, dropping names, adding, reversing etc. for 8 years i have had two different names. these two names separated my life....work....family. it was easy to separate the two by just listening to what name somebody called me.

when your name is your business, your art and all the people you have met along the way, you have to consider the downside of this change...will you get lost in the shuffle if you change it all the way. so i decided to start with a hyphen... allison-stroud. for if it weren't for my family and all the sacrifices they have made to keep me in the art world i wouldn't have been able to get to where i am today. believe me, there were a lot of late nights with hubby buffing boards. and i'm grateful for that... so it's time to honor who i really am, and i am part of this southern family with a strong southern name.

diane allison-stroud

it will be interesting to see if i will be able to know which "me" somebody is talking too on the phone...and i'm sure eventually i will be moved to shorten to just stroud...but that is going to take some time...time for everyone to start seeing the change and not be shocked at once. but i believe when all is done, i won't be two people anymore, just one whole one...that could be interesting.

now as you can imagine it's not easy to be married to an artist. my mind flies in so many directions at the same time....a conversation is started out of the blue as if it were being talked about in the previous moment. a person could get whiplash just trying to follow what i'm doing or thinking about...or what i thought i'd already told you...or what i'm talking about, or or or...but he's perfect, perfect for me...and he deserves a lot of credit for helping me be who i am...tolerance i would say is his biggest gift! for we are opposites...

the picture above was when i dragged him off to do a show with me....he would die if i put it on the blog...but he never reads my blog....so i'm safe.

be who you are fully.... diane allison-stroud

still cold...

how can this be....frost warnings again for tonight. i pulled out my boots (again) and knee high socks and any wool sweaters that i could reach. my outfit was a little more out there this time since i was in such a hurry this morning....so winter fluffy boots, knee high striped socks with shorts...topped off with a wool hoodie that my friend just passed down to me...and off to the farmers market!

now i know spring can be a taunting season but up in the appalachians we only have three months to plant those pots and window boxes, and then the cool falls begin. so when the market starts saturday morning it's one of the best places to grab onto some beautiful flowering plants. but we were sooo late, that i was only able to buy a fern for my fern garden, but what a beautiful one it is. the fern that i bought came from some old friends that raise all these wonderful baby plants, love and tend and then market. i love that they are able to live off the land, along with plant raising comes some woodwork. many people in this small town are apt to have several jobs to make ends meet...that might sound horrible to somebody who works full time, but most of the jobs are very interesting and fun to be doing....they look at it as, i get paid for all this fooling around in the garden?

i was able to land some incredible lemonade, strawberry rhubarb jam, cheesecake, and an amazing piece of pottery where the artist used old lace from ireland and imprints onto her pottery...it is amazing, contains her history which moves me and is so different from other pottery, that i had to snatch a piece...

the growing season hasn't produced to much in the way of food, either too early, or too late a freeze...i will have to hike to the strawberry man next week, he's parked between my town and the next to get some of the best. yummy enough just to pop in your mouth.

as far as the studio is going!!! i have at least 40 boards in different stages, drying, waxing and finishing. sometimes things just land like that, no matter how hard you try to finish up a group and move on at some point they seem to merge together.

the bird nest outside my door is doing well, i was attacked again by one of the parents today. yesterday i climbed up to take a peek and i think it was one of the most interesting shapes of nest that i have seen. it was obviously created to keep the weather out, a long tunnel curved over and down. i haven't heard a peep from there so they are sitting patiently...when they are long gone i will pull it down and add it to my other amazing nests collection.

before me...

the women before me

are ingrained inme

a well worn path

to follow

as i d a n c e

down their path

witness to

their triumphant gardens

i too

will bend down

clearing the earth

with my hands

for the others

for i am rose's

daughter

hazel and dorothy's

granddaughter

loella and jessie's

great granddaughter

emma and mary jane's great great granddaughter

this poem was written by me one early morning....i was moved to write what i felt the many generations of women before me had done so that i can choose the life that i have created today. if you would like to read more about before me, please check out a previous blog - dated march 29th. i hope you all have a wonderful mothers day. the photo above was taken of my grandmother hazel geiger...on her wedding day.

birds everywhere....

no matter where i turn, which door i go out of...there are birds everywhere! after the initial return of my feathered friends from their long vacation in florida i become accustomed to be awoken at dawn by their many songs blending together. now, weeks later, no matter which way i turn or which door i leave from there are birds building nests everywhere!

they have taken over my only form of a/c....the one window unit...and built a nest. i have chased two out of the kitchen, no i have no idea how they got in. a nest was being built today in my newly acquired plant outside of my studio today... and even a small bird is currently trying to find his way out through a bedroom window, (the cat had carried home earlier)...

at the end of the hectic day i'll sit on the deck to cool down and am buzzed by what seems to be a million hummingbirds all trying to sword fight to protect their territory of one little feeder. the feeder attached to the window today, not only fed many a bird, but i noticed a very fat squirrel lying down eating the seed, obviously he was not in any rush.

so soon i will be hearing the tweets of all the madness that is occurring in every corner and take some time to linger and watch them take flight...