new art to share....

felt art by - patty benson of papaver vert

i thought i'd feature artists and their works that i come across over the next month.... holiday shopping has been on my mind.... searching for the perfect gifts and handmade pieces, of course... be sure to check the different artists in the left column for wonderful works that are offered and that i recommend from the past... and remember, with fall starting up and holidays right around the corner these artists can easily be sold out rather quickly.... so give them a call...

i don't know how many of you are familiar with the site, etsy.com - i love this site, and love surfing looking for unusual art, home decor and jewelry... many of the wonderful pieces are being made by artists that are also working full time, until they can make it on their own as an artist.... many show on the festival circuits, setting up their wares, rain or shine, and many, like i had, can be found at their kitchen table creating their crafts while their children sleep....

it's a good feeling to be able to help support these artists, their dreams and their families, and to perhaps give them the boost, that every artist needs, and to show them that their work is loved and appreciated.... so hats off to etsy for getting this site out to the masses....

patty benson (aka papaver vert), is from the west coast and has always been a designer of sorts... from making barbie clothes at the age of 6, and admittedly always forgetting to leave an opening for barbie to get into... to painting and drawing her way through school, knowing from a young age that she wanted to create and share her creations... she creates a natural and modern line of hand felted decorative pillows and accessories for the home.... i crave her bowls and vases.... wonderful to give as a gift or to have for oneself....

using an old-world technique to create a natural and modern line of hand felted decorative pillows and accessories for the home, Papaver Vert means Green Poppy in Latin and French. as of yet, no green poppies exist making this a rare thing indeed. this could be seen as the basis of Papaver Vert. Each pillow is hand made from scratch using the ancient and labor-intensive craftsmanship of hand felting wool from its semi-raw form.

the pillows are made from 100% merino wool, which makes them not only luxuriously soft but a renewable and eco-friendly material. the felt making process is a laborious one that creates a truly unique piece of art, making each one of her pillows slightly different from the next.

about the Wool Bowls - The felted bowls are made in a different way than the pillows. They are first hand crocheted using either 100% wool or 85/15 wool/mohair yarn, then wet-felted through several wash cycles, dried around molds and finally steam blocked. I am very happy to say that the yarn used for her felted wool/mohair bowls is processed and dyed in the U.S from sheep raised in the U.S, now that's pretty neat.

hand crocheted with 85/15 wool/mohair blend in a mix of heathered browns and greens, these single bowls were wet felted, dried around a mold to create their shapes and then steam blocked... before they are wet felted, the crocheted bowls are waaaayyyyy larger in shape but the process of felting them causes them to shrink into a tight, sturdy, felted fabric...

patty's process, in itself, is so fascinating.... painstakingly time consuming and the finished piece is.... well, beyond words... her colors are wonderful, you have so many to choose from and she happily can meet your custom order needs....

you can find patty's pieces at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5108727

or you can go directly to http://www.etsy.com/, and type in Papaververt to find her....

start your week with a smile....

i get some great videos from friends and i file them away thinking i must add them to my blog... today i thought i'd start my week with sharing these amazing videos with all of you... i hope you enjoy them... and if you have some great videos, send them to me so that i can share them on my blog...

listen while you catch up....

ok....enough about me....

lindsey cero

papersnack...

http://papersnack.com/

you know when i find something that i just love love love.... i must share it with you. whether it's travel, food, fun or artists, i must pass on the 'news' to all of you... it is amazing what a little blog can do for another artist if seen... and i just LOVE lindsey cero's work.... these are amazing....

lindsey is a local here in the appalachia mountains and she labors her work with a combination of humor, graphics, color and obviously it all is mixed with a light heart. it bring to me the long ago memories of making paper dolls at the kitchen table as a little girl.... can you just imagine the craft, patience and creativity that the very complicated piece above must have taken?

i would suggest....REALLY suggest, that if you love lindsey's work, snap these pieces up... i have a very strong feeling that she will be lifted off her feet and we will no longer have her available to us.... she falls into the 'best kept secret', but i must share this secret with all of you...

i would just love to receive the very fun birthday card above...a thoughtful gift in itself... and i would certainly frame it...




last week, my sis from florida snatched up a piece, regards to her cats...but the hard part is to decide which piece...so feel free to get many... the cards that she makes make a special special gift in of itself, ready to be framed.... i can envision several of her pieces framed together or in a grouping...



but be warned....she IS taking off in the world of art... don't they just crack you up? her prices begin at $6.00 for a original card.... yes i know, you need to order many...(the one below just kills me!)...she also has larger pieces, 8 x 10 matted pieces starting at $25.00.

we have a winner!

in july, to help me celebrate my birthday, i wanted to give everyone a chance to win a bulls eye game board...

over 100 of you emailed to enter...

and it was indeed, diane stewart from salt lake city who won in the drawing! and this is what she had to say...

"I am sitting here with my mouth open and my eyes as big as quarters!"

~ I do not have the bulls eye and am so excited! I love your work and can't wait to own an original piece by you. I am hoping to add to it because there isn't one thing you have done that I don't just love! I can't wait for my husband to see your artistry. He'll become a fan as well. I'm still in shock!!!! Thank you so much! I can't wait to hold the bulls eye in my own two hands! You are wonderful!

so congrats to you diane, mom and now a new grandmother who made her very first quilt for little luke...(isn't that something how little grand babies can teach us something new from the start?), so keep up with the quilting!

i'll do another drawing this fall for another piece.... it was so much fun for me reading your 'pleading....let me win!" notes... and maybe this time you will win a piece for yourself...

oh my....

oh my.... it's been weeks and weeks since i've blogged....i will try to give a catch up of my summertime adventures...

first, i went to florida to visit my parents... a surprise birthday party was thrown for one of my older sisters, so you know that i just couldn't miss out on that! a fun time was had by all, and even more fun to see her older than i, yes sis, you are!

then back to the mountains.... trying to negotiate work and child rearing....hmmmm.... it seemed easier last year....

so pretty much gave up.... and swam the summer away.... sometimes you just have to choose sides...and join them...

then i was able to work a couple of weeks nonstop while summer camp was doing the entertaining...

then off to the beach....

and back to my mountains...

and now that school has started.... i'm back in the studio and it is so wonderful.... as i'm painting i'm also pulling out the gees' bend book planning new boards.... delighting in the extra time to clean and organize my studio, and learning spanish on tape....(thanks mom and dad!)

gee's bend.... new game board introduced...

#3 of the gee's bend inspired game board is now being introduced....

Titled "Work Clothes"
in a 4 block strip pattern...

original design of quilt by Loretta Pettway


16" x 16" - checker board
edition of 15 only
$200.00

Colors:
Chocolate
Olive
Turquoise
Linen


This is the 3rd Gee's Bend Limited Edition Game Board... so far, i think this piece was the most fun to create, adapting loretta's pattern into a checker board pattern. I tried to create the motion of her quilt through color, layout and free hand painting, it was by far, the most difficult to create.

Original Quilt Design by Loretta Pettway (b. 1942), page 74, and story below taken from "The Quilts of Gee's Bend", Tinwood Books, Atlanta.

Loretta said, "I made all my quilts out of old shirts and dress tails and britches legs. I couldn't never get no good fabric to make quilts, so i had to get the best of the old clothes my peoples wore or old clothes I got from other peoples. I get the best of the shirt sleeves or whatever part of the pants wasn't wore out-like the back of the pants legs, 'cause the knees mostly be wore out. (we pick the cotton on our knees.)

Some people would give me old clothes, and some of them my kids couldn't wear, and I would tear them up and make quilts. I ain't never made a real pattern. I just made what my grandmama had made back in those days - Bricklayer, Housetop and stuff.

God have brought me from a mighty long ways. I prayed to the Lord when I was growing up that it won't be this way always. I am looking for a brighter day, a better day. And I say, "Lord, let my last days be my best days, and he have fulfilled it.

When I was married, I didn't have money. My husband would give ma fifty cents. I get my own check now. My daughter had to show me what a twenty-dollar bill was when I was fifty years old.

I can remember working a whole day in the fields and getting twenty cents. I used to work all day and when night come I was sick all night. I couldn't sleep and didn't have no appetite to eat, but I can thanks the Lord now and say that he has reached way down and picked me up, made my life better.

I have food, money, a roof over my head, my health and strength. I I leave today, he have fulfilled the dreams that I ask him for down through the years. And my last days will be my best days."

If you would like to have one of these pieces, please give me a call or email me...

amazing...

i recently read in the newspaper that a huge number of employees are spending their time on the office computer shopping, personal business and chatting with others, along with the predictable - playing games..., and i'm talking 2 hours and more a day...

i was really disappointed to read this and talked to my dad about it. i realize that years ago companies implemented new programs in their offices to scan or drop in on their employees computers occasionally to make sure that the employees weren't fooling around... this was years ago.

it is very difficult for me to understand that an employee who is paid each and every minute would be spending hours a day doing things that weren't in favor of the company that they worked for. i was always the one early to work, skipping lunch and doing extra anything to help my place of work. i guess i was a team player, whether i liked my job or not...

maybe we are needing to be entertained ALL the time..., people say the world is sooo fast, instant gratification has been a problem, low wages... i'm thinking each and everyone of us need to look into our lives if we are feeling rushed, and see what we really could eliminate... do something with our mind that brings us joy, or our hands...

check out what you can do with a $ bill... amazing... and look closely, some of them have eyes.... if i were a boss, i'd much rather walk in on an employee doing something like this, than being on a computer... now i may roll my eyes, and tell them to 'knock it off', but i would do it with a secret smile inside...

ahhhh.... decorating....

well spring fever has come and gone, but i have accomplished so little in the decorating of my family room.... we finally have chosen a color for the walls....it took months and months...a neutral is very difficult for me to pick out....

you would think if i'm an artist it would come so easily... and it does pretty much, if it's all about me! but hubby and i have made a deal... he is conservative and i am not... he likes traditional and dressy....i like crazy and bright... so we met in the middle...

we went shopping together and picked out a couch, chair and ottoman... he goes for the traditional look and comfort... pillows had to be attached on the back, for belle, the beagle loves to climb down in them and smoosh them...and we had decided that i would be in 'charge' of choosing the fabrics and decor... and end tables... his request only was a neutral for the couch...

i chose a camel colored couch.... so comfortable that you don't want to get up in a chenille fabric (i just love!). for the chair and ottoman i wanted something 'crazy' and there weren't many choices for this where i was shopping... i would've liked a polka dot or a burnt velvet... or even zebra.... but i settled on a huge floral with a chocolate background.... i thought it looked like something that would've been in my grandma's house...

when it was all delivered that was the first thing he said, that chair looks like it cam from your grandma's house... i don't believe he met it as a compliment, but secretly i thought, perfect...

so it's on to the throws and pillows....

now i must admit, my friends know about my obsession with pillows.... you will find so many stacked in the laundry room, shelf to ceiling, seasonal, jewel tone, bright and cheery, etc... and it wasn't like i really needed MORE pillows.... but off i went, buying and returning...and finally decided to stick with chocolate.... fringe galore too....the more the better i say... and of course, they mostly are burnout velvet... my favorite...with my favorite pink velvet pillow from anthropologie, my favorite place to shop...

we hung a dark wood and metal mirror above the couch... framed large photos of the kids and carefully placed part of my collection of kitty b. of earth angels art work...



now it's on to the drapes... sara has taught me a lot about placement, after all she does have a DEGREE in this, which doesn't stop me from telling her she must be wrong still.... (we both are ALWAYS right!), but i'm torn as to picking an accent color, which i can really do without because of the wild chair.... should i take the dark color of choch. and have drapes to bring up the dark color to the ceiling?, or use an accent color... i have also picked out a rug, zebra, as the final ta dah.... remember a couple of years ago when zebra rugs were so hip?, well i'm always late in doing, and see that i still LOVE these rugs, so therefore, the idea is a keeper... even conservative sara agrees that it would be the perfect "diane" ta dah for the room. it was pretty difficult to find a zebra rug in the brown, but pottery barn came through...

so.... here is what i've learned...

if you have something large on one end, needs balance on the other....
if you have something dark on one end... needs something dark on the other...
an undersized rug in a room makes the room look smaller....
a huge rug in a room, makes the room look larger...
if you don't LOVE it, don't buy it, you will tire of it...
you CAN be a rule breaker.... love where you live!

my new favorite show is - Find Your Style... i just love this... we all know that decorators can come in and make miracles happen, but this show teaches your how to do it yourself... how to take 2 different styles and blend them...i have learned so much in just 4 shows and wish it was on more than once a week.... you can check out their site and see when it is on and get tips.... I also love to watch Vern Yip, he has a new show too...

and what i do is print off pictures of what i love from on-line, (love this site....Shop Style) run upstairs and place them throughout the room to see what looks good... i cannot tell you how many bad decisions i've avoided by doing my decorating this way.... and plus i can just stick them in a folder so that whenever anyone comes over i can make them suffer going through my ideas with me...I love the shop style site... it's easy to use...and shows you what is in different catalogs...

so i think in time i will be able to blend both of our tastes, traditional/dressy for him, a kick to make me feel at home...

well... it better be off to work for me... i'm going to need some free time this summer to make a collection of game boards for one of the family room walls....

oh my....

sara turned 27 and we had a birthday cookout for her... but little did we know....

after dinner the 'boys' went to the family room to challenge each other at a football video game... sara and i proceeded to go sit outside where the weather was amazing, rolling our eyes at each other over the commotion of shouts coming from the family room...

time went by and we talked and talked about her upcoming trips, our gardens and what needed to be done at work. the sun was setting and it was so peaceful.

now, let me fill you in about sara.... sara is stubborn, bossy, hates most 2 or 4 legged animals, terrified of spiders and snakes, and thinks she is always right (and usually is), and we just adore her. she's a perfectionist and takes proper care of herself, physically and nutritionally.... loves to read, travel and her favorite movie, well of course, gone with the wind, she is a debutante after all. she's newly married and was so lucky to be able to buy a brand new first home... she's been busy for a year painting and decorating, refinishing furniture... and now it's garden time so she's landscaping... she is never at a standstill and i am in awe of her energy....

being that sara is not really 'rodent friendly', as we were sitting outside, slight breeze, blooming dogwood above us, swaying bird feeder... she sweetly said, "there's a chipmunk on the bird feeder", well it was strange enough that she said it sweetly, being that he is rodent like, but i new, run! she ran after me, we slammed the door and peered through the glass... to our amazement there was some creature (surely from another world, or undiscovered), swinging on the bird feeder, munching down. I being older and not as stupid... told her to grab something long and go turn the feeder around so we could see what this thing was.... she didn't take the bait, instead she said, "YOU DO IT." hmmm...

we watched for at least 1/2 hour and noticed that it seemed to be blowing these white things out of it's side, much like the lizards at my parents house, pushing that guitar pick thing out of his throat as a warning... so we were sure that it was very angry and warning us... i told her that i'd go get the flashlight.... so i pulled out the ever ready, which in my whole life has never been ready; either batteries worn out, missing, dog has chewed one end... and as i suspected, it took a couple of hits to make the weak light stay on... we were able to see that it seemed to have some wing like things.... and that the white thing going in and out and warning us, was simply his stomach, and him moving side to side.... sara said a bat! i said, couldn't be... she said, it has ears!, i said it was creeping me out... whenever it would move we holler out ewwwwww.... after 15 minutes of this the boys wondered what we were up to, but not enough to actually come and see.... but after much more ewww's they came.... i said it has to be a flying squirrel, but i hadn't seen one for many years out back, so it had to be something else... but then i'm not really a nighttime kind of person.....

hubby came and assured us that yes, indeed it was a flying squirrel and look at how cute it is.... i think only he and the other 'boy's thought it was 'cutish'... sara and i were grossed out and as always boys will be boys and thought it was cool....

so i spent some time looking up flying squirrels so that i could add a picture.... well, to tell you the truth, after seeing all of these pictures, i don't think i will sit in the dark anymore...

now the first picture, he could be considered cute.... the 2nd horrific! and now i read that the southern appalachian type are more AGGRESSIVE, and i'm terrified... and i don't know why they didn't use all caps or underline, even highlight that AGGRESSIVE word in the following description...

"The Southern type is smaller than its northern counterpart. It is found usually in deciduous forests and appears to be rather dominant and they are also more aggressive than the Northern type. The animals are characterized by large eyes, prominent ears, and a bushy tail. "

if you ask me, he sounds like a killer creature.... look at those BIG eyes!!! there is no way you can sneak past him....!

this is for you mom...

hmmm.... well it was just late last week when i got an email from mom.... it went something like this --- "you keep me off your blog (you might want to read past posts regarding diane sawyer), i mean it! you are starting to make me look like a stalker". later last week.... the same, but by phone...

i defended myself (slightly, it is mom), and said, hey, david lettermen, ellen, they always have their moms there. she wouldn't go for it... she said, "well, just quit writing about me". of course, i do not put myself within a million miles of their league, but i was trying anything to win this cause, after all, it is so fun to talk about her...

well, i was torn. (fun or not to blog my mom) it is my mom, disciplining me.... and i hate to get 'that look' that she does so well... you know, the look that could probably mean in just a moment you will be killed? sometimes i am grateful to be a thousand miles away....

yesterday, she called me.... "you have to tell everyone to vote for Syesha. Now if you don't know... american idol is down to 3. one more will go home this week and then it will be left between the 2 remaining.

she continued.... "today is Syesha Day...", I'm like, "what, you have to be kidding", (i am so not a supporter of syesha, i like david cook... "oh yes," she continued, "she will be going back to her hometown school and doing a mini concert, appearing at another place, she's on the front page of the newspaper and they are even having a parade!". well honestly, i was rolling my eyes...., you know, being a fan of DAVID COOK, and reminding her again of that!....

i asked mom - wasn't it just the other day when you ORDERED me to stop talking about you?, and on and on i went (so rarely get to do that with her). i told her to send me a picture of the newspaper, better yet, a picture of her holding the newspaper so that all can see my mom! and then, me being me, ran off to work and i totally forgot that i should've been blogging about this Syesha.

this morning there it was in my email.... a picture of the newspaper.... (thank goodness i was reminded, she would've killed me with that look she has)....and what can i say, thanks dad?, i bet she roped you into that one!

so for all of you out there reading, please do vote for her tuesday night for my mother and for the town! here is a video of her last performance, which i thought was pretty darn good....it gave me chills, and even simon loved it....i will be voting for syesha tuesday night, even if i don't want to, and i would advise all of you to do the same unless you want to get that "look" from her...

but the good thing is i guess this means that i still get to chat about my mom, my VBFF.....

special 4th of july piece...

it's a political year, and the 4th of july is just around the corner. that brings thoughts of red, white and blue. picnics and cookouts. games and fireworks. reading and relaxing.

if you would like a piece to remind you of this historical time i am able to make several of these 4th of july penny pitches and have them to you in time to hang in your home by early june...

a special price of $210.00 - regularly $230.00...., for this celebration.

if you would like to order, just send me an email or call.... 828-265-0977.

late at night....

you might find me late at night surfing the internet, viewing youtube. i often look at art videos that have been added for viewing and came across this one.... thought you might enjoy this sand art. obviously, the hungarian artist, ferenc cako', has amazing insight...

the thing about youtube is that people who are great, wonderful, even amazing can broadcast their art - from music to demonstrations that one wouldn't be able to see otherwise.

it's the saturday music show... turn it up!

it's been a month or two since i did the saturday music show, so thought i'd better get back on schedule again.

so i thought i'd do two music videos.... you know how i'm always searching through native american music to listen to the flute? (that i'm still not good at playing!) but i've found so many sites where i can print off music and have learned so much... i came across this video that i wanted to share with you... i loved the combination of shots, land, custom and modern. it wasn't long ago when i was talking to my dad and telling him that eli is starting to use some 'southern slang', and that i said that he had to learn 'proper english' first. my dad said that he hoped the south, through schools, didn't cause the southern lyrics of the language to die... i guess this is a lesson to us all, to keep our customs close to us or they may disappear.

a friend of mine was raised on a reservation up in wisconsin. she talks about riding bareback and shooting deer with an arrow. i asked her if the 'healer', who was her mother, really had power... she said, yes. it was an amazing upbringing that she had. her mother and one other person on the reservation are the only 2 people that know the language of her tribe, and they do not seem to want to write it down so that it can continue or be remembered... a whole language being put to sleep. that is a sad thing to me.

i think it would be a good thing if we could learn to stop ourselves from judging others and learn from our bothers and sisters...

the video and music above are by Sacred Spirit - Yeha Noha

i don't know what has happened this year.... but i'm not watching american idol.

boy, since the very beginning i was hooked. but i think it must have run it's course with me, like survivor and all my children. but i still do have my favorite, david cook. i think he is just amazing, love the texture of his voice, it gives me chills. I also love his artistry of making his own arrangements, he's amazing. i would buy his album, or cd, that is. i'm betting he will win.

now i remember the big days of this album, thriller... 1982. it seems that a song will take me back to what i was doing exactly at that time of my life... 1982, moved to houston texas and started working at a brand new radio station, kkbq... when we hit the air waves the first song that was played was hey jude. we took over that town with our music and talent in no time and enjoyed the fun of being part of something so big and new that had succeeded... champagne and limos... yes,1982 was a wonderful year... this is david's version of the famous song, billie jean, and he made it his own...

it happened!!!

well... all i can say is if you dream big enough and hope strong enough, something might just come true!

i heard back... you might want to hold on to your chair.... from..... (drum roll please)... diane sawyers peeps! yes, it's true.

the story goes... i blogged as you know about diane and christiana (certainly we must now be on first name basis), back in march. rene, who is one of my readers, and lover of game boards, just so happens to work there and be a friend of diane's... rene, you are so funny! her email to me was sooo funny.... so,

rene let diane know of my blog with the best friend request. diane's peeps wrote back to me and this is what they said:

This is Kristen from Diane Sawyer's office-- she wanted me to pass along that she saw your blog and loves what you wrote!!
Have a great day. And the game boards look really great.
Take care, Kristen

WOW! hubby said the other day that the world is connected by 6 people, he had heard that somewhere... and so it is so.... me connected to rene connected to diane sawyer... that is a really small world we're living in...

well that was truly some excitement for me this week, and for my mom too, who holds the number one position, but is willing to play with diane if invited... (she's hopefully going through her closet looking for something to wear)... and diane, if you do read this again, just FYI my mom will be in NY in September.... around the 8th i believe if you want to play....

and back to my life, my reality.... i'm sitting here in my robe covered with paint drinking cold coffee and wondering in the back of my head where eli's baseball pants are for the game in less than an hour and if i was to bring snacks for 10 boys....

knitted music video....turn it up

Watch this beautiful animated video for the Quebec, Canada group Tricot Machine (tricot means knitting). The video is for the song "Les peaux de lievres" where overl 700 frames are knitted. It's simply breathtaking! I also love the design of their CD cover below

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!