what is your favorite food?

i'm sitting here at the computer feeling oh so sorry for myself.... sick, somethings getting everyone from here to florida... my mind is thinking what do i have that would cheer me up... what little sweet something would help me have a pity party for myself... i will raid the freezer first, looking for ice cream, then the frig. to check if anything there, then onto the pantry, at this point i must be desperate... halloween has come and gone the children have gathered all of their sweets and left me with a bowl full of everything i'm allergic to.... it gives me even more grief for my pity party.... if you had a magical cook that would fix you anything in the world right now to eat, what would it be? me, i'd go for the mousse above....

eerie.....

i wanted to show these wonderful pictures that my friend and fellow artist sande elkins sent to me.... she's touching a new field and i just love these pieces.... perfect for the end of october on the spooky day...also, enjoy the old disney clips below....

my view... take a walk with me...

it always amazes me...

year after year, it happens... and i'm always amazed that yet again it's happening... i look at this time like a little kid, it makes me wonder about the process of nature, i slow down and ponder the different shades of yellow, orange and reds. the rustle of the drying leaves blowing down the hill and the sound of them crunching under my feet during my morning trump with my beagle, belle.

it has been a little unusual this year, however. i have been repeatedly attacked by falling acorns... where one would feel like sitting outside and enjoying the crisp weather and the every changing leaves...it isn't a peaceful or romantic thought at all right now... the fact is that on my deck i fill like a target waiting to be banged on by acorns that i'm sure are aiming for me..

my friends cringe and watch them plunging at us at rocket speed, banging on the roof, deck or pinging on the roof of my car... i have never seen an acorn act like this, for it must surely mean a bad winter is coming...

but for now, i will put that in the back of my head and try to enjoy this most nervous fall weather....

i'm off....

it's one of those weeks....well several weeks blended together.... finishing game boards and packing them up to arrive to your homes....

be back soon....

what a fun time

what a fun week it was...!

... jan karan who writes the wonderful series of books about a small town, characters of the town, the minister and his wife cynthia, came to town to celebrate mitford days...

the town was turned into a replica of mitford, which didn't take much doing since she wrote the books here and used the town as her imaginary mitford. over 15,000 people came up the mountain to attend, from as far away as california... everyone wants to live in mitford, don't they?

breakfast at the local diner, parades and an orange marmalade cake contest was held... and jan is just as sweet as her books.... (i DO have a little inside info. on that), she's delightful to listen to, funny as all get out, and very surprised and humble about the hoopla she has created with her wonderful imagination.... i heard through the grapevine that it will become a yearly event, so you might just want to check that out so you too can come and enjoy mitford. this month she will start a new series about father tim...and she mentioned that she sure did meet some characters at this event that she will be able to draw upon....

(the top picture is of my dear hubby....and little one in the back, ((they drive in every local parade, which the town believes in having parades for any old reason!)), with aka rodney underwood, the local police officer).

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.

it's sooo hot.....

part of the country is flooded, part of the country is suffering a heatwave....it seems that whoever i talk to their state is suffering from weather...

we have been caught in this heatwave, schools are canceled, power flickers from the drainage of the town...one can only think of the cool water or snow...a cool movie theater for the day, which restaurants have a/c....a draught is upon us, restaurants may be forced to switch to paper plates, we can't spare the water...

so i've added a cooling video... sorry to my texas friends, i know you don't want to see more water...

i was raised on an island, so surfing was a part of our island life... we would love to hear that a hurricane was moving in, to us, that meant waves... having surfers in the family, now passed down to the younger generation i thought this was a fun video to watch since i can't be there myself to watch my nephew....

sara's art....

www.portraitsbysara.com

a new addition....my sara

i have a new addition to my studio.... sara bell... sara has taken on the insane task of organizing my work and home life....well, i do wish her well... but i'm finding that she can be quite bossy around the studio areas... after just one week she has been creating a notebook of all the designs, measurements and colors that i use on a piece... for 12 years now, this process was something that was always "new" whenever i sat down to start a piece... and yes, i think her way will certainly work much better... she is eyeing the shelves and i can see her mind ticking away... hmmm....

sara and my family go way back to when she was renting a room next door going to college for her design and art degrees... i remember her racing her car up the driveway just like it was yesterday. she soon became an accepted part of our daily life helping care for my youngest, running errands, doing dishes... we were so sad when she graduated and left the mountains, back to her coastal life style...

but she just missed us all to much and returned after her internship was over... we snatched her as quickly as possible, after all who loves to play on the floor with children and animals more than her? eventually she started to swing her life from our home into the studio, helping here and there where needed... and now, she is in the studio part time throughout the week....

sara is not only a gifted organizer but she is an artist as well... so this opportunity was perfect for her, she is able to continue with her highly sought after paintings... her work carries the coastal views of her childhood, fishing boats and the sea... she commissions paintings of clients homes, college portraits and pets... i've included a link to sara's site so that you can take a peek... after all, if we keep her busy in "her" art, then she will be able to afford to stay with me!

check her out at... http://www.portraitsbysara.com/ christmas is just right around the corner...

painting painting painting

i've been enjoying the week of painting...i think i have used or mixed every possible color...and yes, that does include purple....racks and racks of game boards in their final stages will be moving over to make space for another group of game boards...it is a constant process, as some are being painted, others are drying, while yet more are in the woodwork stage...

people ask me, what is my favorite part of the process....hmmmm...i really think it is just what i'm working on in the moment...because there are so many different processes and they are spread over several weeks, it's always fun to move on to a different phase of a piece...

i've also been drawing my limited edition piece and hope to have it up for you to see in a couple of weeks...the edition is limited to just 20....

we are all having the dog days of august....school continually is being canceled in the afternoons...it seems we are trapped in this heatwave....thinking of snow.....

locking down the studio....

yes, it's happened yet again...juggling, juggling, juggling... i am thrilled that last week is over and i'm starting a new week...planting zinnias in my garden which always reminds me of jennifer lanne's work (link to the left), (and check earth angels too, (link to the left), she just received a new shipment)...refilling the birdfeeders, which actually are for the squirrel family that lives in one of the oaks...and dug up some clay from the yard to make some clay art with my youngest.... still hot, but know it's much hotter everywhere else, so won't complain to loudly....and will finish up the evening with a cook out....

i'm shutting down this studio again for the week, have lots of catching up to do, many orders going out at the end of the week, and many more next week....school is starting this week so things will quiet down, that is until 3:00....

and my words of advice for the week, don't trust a cow, no matter how cute they look....(and yes, i am aware that this is a bull, but i have to admit....i just love a cowboy)