to the wanderers....mom and dad

whatever country you two are tromping through right now... we all wish you a happy birthday and we will eat some cake for you too...

it's the saturday music show...

"ZEMER ATIK" - PLAYED ON KING DAVID'S LYRE

limited edition...

i've been asked for years to create limited edition pieces of game boards... and the time has finally arrived... there are so many wonderful antique game board patterns that i would like to try my hand at making, but time is always the issue...

below is the mid way point of my new piece... still needing the waxes and finishes to age the piece, and the worn molding added, but i wanted to give you a peek at the process as i was going along...

this piece is yet titled... the name usually comes at the very beginning of a piece or in the final stages... so i'm sure it will come to me soon...

this edition is limited to 25 pieces and then it will be retired...reserve your piece today by email, or phone 828-265-0977...

and the angels cried....

i will never forget... the world changed on this day.... i remember i was in the safety of my mountains with my toddler at my knees... after days of pain and confusion i designed a game board called the prayer... i put my heart and spirit into this piece...to me it signified the things to be thankful for...i new i had to do something positive i was falling deep into a state of sadness....

this is the piece that i wrote...i chose not to mention God by His name, for the reason that i believe that all people around the world can share this one prayer...

let me see the beauty in the unnoticed

keep me nourished and sheltered

let me not be fearful of the

constant movement

of life

but be assured by the moon

and the stars for the tomorrows

let my heart be

loving and compassionate

my hands strong with

truth and faith

and my direction

wise

amen

davey's garden... happy birthday

working

his way

through the steps

sometimes having to sit still

to wait for his turn to move

forward

other times

jumping

ahead

s

l

i

d

i

n

g

by the obstacles

making his own special way

to the bloom of his center

dancing to not only a different drum

but to a whole marching band

of his creation of his

own life

this is my late summer son

with beautiful hands

how can it be?

my oldest sons 24th birthday arrived today. it will be the only time in our lives where we can double his age to reach mine... it is a time where you remember your youth, what it was for me to be 24 myself, where did i live, where did i work? who was i way back then...

and holding him for the first time, how little he was, wrapping my dreams around him like the soft blanket that kept him warm....stirring the lioness in me to keep him safe...knowing nothing would be able to hurt him if he were in my arms...

i'm very proud of who he is...i would chose him for a friend myself if i were to meet him as a stranger. he's highly intelligent, brave, makes me laugh, kind and has a loving heart. he works with the elderly in a home and says the best part of his day is talking with them...never have i heard him say he hasn't had a good day at work or that he is tired, he loves people and loves his job.

at heart, he is a musician...he composes music in his own code, never learning how to read music. he plays by ear, and i haven't heard an instrument that he couldn't play by just listening to somebody play it... it was just a few months ago when i spotted a piano on the side of the road with a "free" sign. i stopped by his place to let him know and he and a friend drug that piano home... i wasn't even aware that he played the piano, but he does. his music isn't at all what i would've guessed he would write, (not at all like the annoying music he listened to in his teenage years), it is more like movie scores with depth...intricate instruments woven throughout a piece...

after all the years of dreaming (what i find were my dreams) for my children...the peace that you find when you see your children happy with who they are, what they do and who they have as friends is really all a parent could wish for. it's not where they live, what they have, or how much money they make, sacrifices have to be made for those things to become who you want to be or to use the gifts that you have. my hopes and dreams for him were totally changed throughout our relationship, i finally realized, he does know what is best for him.

make a wish baby....

saturday music show....

i'm a girlie girl...

i've been doing some thinking lately on what it is to be an artist and what ones perception is of me while talking over the phone... i've been told countless times that my voice sounds like a child, perhaps it is a reflection of my heart...

i thought i'd take some space and give you an idea of how it all works in my studio... it is fun, it is a blast actually, and i wonder how i am able to get away with having so much fun at that four letter word, "work".

my home is set in the appalachian mountains and it is on the side of a mountain, i am up in the trees so it feels that i am living in a tree house....wonderful old maples, oaks and poplars surround my studio, and most often a breeze is blowing.

in the morning as i climb down to work i'm instantly picked up with all the colors, from game boards to purple, fuchsia and chartreuse walls... i browse for some fun music and dance around a bit, (my dancing "technique" is quite original i will admit) but it is my greeting to the day... my area is divided into 2 sides...and i dress accordingly... tomboy or girlie girl...

one being the fun side, painting, writing, phones, music, ideas after ideas... the other side is the dirty overall side, woodwork, sanding, stains, fumes, dirt and grime...the very serious side...

my fun side is the pretty side with girlie things surrounding me for after working on the dirty side it's nice to be reminded that i am a girl and like the frills of it all...and i get to dress up!

the dirty side has my stained and torn aprons, tools and boxes...and once a tomboy always a tomboy.

i am a big one for sparkle, so if there is glittery things, i must have them to hang all over the studio, or wear, tasteless is not in my vocabulary when it comes to glittery things...dinosaurs, birdcages, artwork by wonderful artists as well as my children are placed here and there, collages, books and a wedding cake topper, boxes of "things" that i will make something with someday....a mantle waiting for me to mosaic with all my odd things, old doors, antiques, baskets and lots and lots of black...and always flowers...

it is my happy place, an open book for those to see who i am inside and what i love... a peek into the many personalities that a woman carries inside of her, i'm conservative yet wild, peaceful yet high strung, love high fashion, as well as bohemian, love city shopping but get a kick out of big lots...mexican or fine dining...i'm not comfortable being in the middle, either extreme is just fine with me....

my loves are children, family and friends, seasons, birds and glitter...flowers with fragrance, and all people...chocolate chocolate chip ice cream, turkey pulled out of the oven, cheerwine floats... being a girl...

my love of people leads me to linger and talk knowing that each and every person has something wonderful to share with me, a permanent place in my heart or mind, that i will look back on.... i love teenage boys and their over sized bodies and undersized minds... loyalty, honesty and integrity...., my beagle jumping allover me in the bed, making me laugh in the morning light....driving the mountain roads just to see whats on the other side...music and old trucks.