August 31, 2008

if you can't find me, I just might be hiding in here

It's here
the book I've been waiting for
and it's
signed
by
her
the wonderfully talented
Kelly Rae Roberts
artist, writer, author
extraordinaire
and now
I get to meet her in person
at
SQUAM
~~~~~
does it get any better
~~~~~
time
for
a
happy dance

August 30, 2008

floating with hopes and dreams.....

I took a L.E.A.P last night
and bought airline tickets
at the very last minute
for
an
art retreat
~~~~~
I leave in 10 days
for
SQUAM
~~~~~
this is not like me at all
I don't plan anything at the last minte
just ask those who know me well
~~~~~
I plan everything in advance
I make plans to make plans
I don't fly by the seat of my pants
ever
~~~~~
but
maybe that's going to change
maybe this is the start of something new
maybe I'm coming out of my shell
turning over a new leaf
and all those other old sayings
~~~~~
or
maybe
I'm being the me
I wish I'd been all these years
and finally now
for whatever reason
I have the courage to do it
choosing to do what I want to do
instead of worrying
about doing
what others think I should do
~~~~~
so right now
I'm feeling a little shaken
a little nervous
but mostly I feel
right here


August 28, 2008

it looks like this when I write it out......

Lately
I've had many conversations
with just me
in my head
and
I've been hoping that nobody can see me
talking to myself
~~~~~
Lately
I've been a bit of a stop sign rebel
I see them
and
I slow down
but on the roads where I'm sure there's nobody else around
I tend to use them as yield signs
~~~~~
Lately
I've been loving my shopping trips to
whole foods
I bring my own bags
so that
"I'm one of them"
yet
I can't bring myself to taste any of the dips or hummus
they have sitting out to sample
and
I get completely wigged out seeing other people
cram their chips into the bottom of those bowls
to snatch the last little bit of
creamy stuff
~~~~~
Lately
I've been watching my baby grow up
watching him
do all of his
back-to-school-clothes-shopping
with
his sister
or
his
girlfriend
and
being thrilled that they all have such great taste
yet sad
that I haven't been needed
~~~~~
Lately
I've been surprised at my reaction
when I hear someone mention
2009
I'm just not ready
yet
~~~~~
Lately
I've been looking for my authentic self
while wishing
I could touch the center of my dreams
~~~~~
what have you done lately ?
{this is one of my cottage prairie photos}

August 26, 2008

I was thinking.....

maybe sometimes you just need
to hang on the side of a wall
to see the world with a different perspective
or at least catch your breath
while you're there
~~~~~

August 23, 2008

I love her, but nobody gets to wear my crown

This is my new friend Ollie and I love "him".....well, maybe "her" as "it" is still too little to have "those parts" ummmm, recognized. She belongs to Cate, but lives here at my house, because I guess if I understand it right, her apartment is only big enough for Bella, the cat. But I don't have any complaints....except that everyone thinks she's so sweet and cute and furry and adorable..... so I'm going to take this time {and the space on mom's blog} to remind everyone that I was the first queen in this palace and I will forever wear the crown....everyone got that ???

August 22, 2008

because sometimes I listen to others.....

after I played with itbefore I played with it
I think I love playing with my photos
{thanks Trixie for pushing me}

August 19, 2008

"part two with Misty"....grab a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy

When I filled out my class evaluation for VR
~the day after my workshop~
I had written it with hopes of really
being able to
convey to Kathy how wonderful
Misty had been
~~~~~
I'm going to reuse some of what I wrote
in hopes that many of you can feel
just a tiny bit
of
what I felt in the two days
I spent with Misty

Misty is
talented and warm
extremely genuine
silly
unique and honest
~~~~~
She is immediately approachable
and was "there" for all of us
consistently making us feel that our talents
were reachable
~~~~~
She guides with a passion that opens your heart
and makes you feel awake
and alive
and takes away that
"yes, I think I can be an artist"
and replaces it with
an
"I AM an artist"
attitude
~~~~~
I walked away from class
feeling confident.
Not only in my art
but in my life.

This photo is from one of her demonstrations
which you need to see to believe
as she moves at a speed
that needs its own word
~~~~~
I could say lightning or warp
but honestly
it's "misty speed"
and I've never before seen anything like it
~~~~~
She works with everything wet
mixing and layering
moving and changing
gluing and painting
drawing and detailing
almost always
by using
only her fingers

And this is the beautiful
finished piece
and if we had used a timer
I think it might have said

total time:
30 minutes

The hands of a real artist

At the end of our workshop
I didn't have my art journal with me
for Misty to sign
so I slipped her an old piece of ledger paper
and instead of just signing it
she made me a little piece of
Misty art
that I will cherish forever
after Misty's 30 minute demonstration
I challenged myself to do the same...
NOT EASY PEOPLE
as
I don't work fast
or messy
I like my fingers to be clean
I like things to be perfect
and
faces
are really, really hard


but I will say
I was kind of impressed with myself
when I was finished
~~~~~
BUT
I don't think I'm done
as
now that I'm home
I want to keep playing with this piece
adding more layers and paint
{this is called misty disease}
And here are the photos of my
background pages
and I love them
as
they were much more in my comfort zone
than the faces
~did I mention faces are hard to paint~
~~~~~
she taught techniques for the backgrounds
and landscapes
that
I had never used before
and I'm now in love
with razor blades
~~~~~
{and right this minute
I just pressed the wrong button
and somehow blogger
just ate my last two photos}
~~~~
So I will share
my other background
photos and our class picture
in part three
but I'll leave you with the
words that I had already written
~~~~~
so that was
my wonderful experience
in the hands of an angel
and
even now
I'm still walking
with my head held high
atop of
the confident path
Misty helped me find
~~~~~
and I plan on staying here for
awhile

August 17, 2008

"part one with Misty"

Usually on the first day of my
Valley Ridge art retreats
I don't take many pictures
as I'm so busy soaking everything in
~~~~~
But by the end of day two
there are more photos on my camera
than most humans would ever even want to look at
~~~~~
so if you want to see my ART pictures
you'll have to wait until
"part two with Misty"
but for now
I still think you'll be entertained
with this little ditty
~~~~~
The above photo shows you
the ranger
that Bill and Kathy
use to drive around their land
at Valley Ridge
~~~~~
and a few us were lucky enough
to get the land tour
at the end of our first day
Bill, Kathy and Misty

The beautiful trout stream

adorable and fun loving Misty and me

adorable and fun loving Misty
trying to push me in the trout stream
{way to catch that picture Kathy}

Misty and Mary Ann taking
photos of the cows on the hill

This is Misty's new friend Arthur
{don't laugh, this is what she named him}

and now this is funny
~~~~~
here is Misty holding a stick
with the inch worm that Linda found
this is still the inch worm
starting to realize that maybe
we are dangerous
predators
so what's an inchworm to do
when he feels like he might be in danger??
become one with the stick
{seriously, the tall part sticking straight up on the left side
is still the inchworm, completely camouflaging himself}
~~~~~
So this is how day one ended
out in the fields
with bugs and creepy crawlies
and more laughs than
you can ever imagine
~~~~~
stay tuned for part two










August 14, 2008

hanging onto hope

I'm leaving for
valley ridge
again
~~~~~
this time with
misty mawn
~~~~~
and
yes
painting
~~~~~
and
I'm a little bit scared
~~~~~
I don't really
paint
I mean I paint
but
nothing like how she paints
~~~~~
I don't paint faces
or
hands
~~~~~
so this class will really take me
out
of my comfort zone
~~~~~
but
I'm putting my trust into misty
as she is a soft soul
and I know
she'll take my hand
and
gently guide me
~~~~~

August 11, 2008

patience, learning and life

there are days
when my shell is soft and tender
yet I can't come out
and
share myself
there are days
when I feel I've bitten off
so much more
than
I can possibly ever chew
and I wonder
how
I can put some of it back
there are days
when I feel that staying in my nest
is the best thing I can do
for myself
there are days
when I
don't want to be
one
in the crowd
there are days
when I feel like everyone
can see right through me
as I have no where to hide
there are days
where I hold on tight
waiting until I'm strong enough to let go
again
~~~~~
this is how my day was yesterday as I fought a migraine
so today
I will be
breathing
and
moving
oh so carefully
in hopes that I can ward off a rebound migraine
~~~~~
the photos above were all taken by me
with my new and wonderful macro lens
that my sweet sweet
hubby
surprised me with for my birthday
and as you can see
I'm still learning
so please
if you have any pointers you want to share with me
I'd love to hear from you





August 9, 2008

fun:part 2

at the end of my two day class with Nina
I waited excitedly for Kim and Julie to arrive
at the studio
as they were coming in to take
Nina's next
two classes
and
since they're already
great friends with Nina
well you can imagine
~HUGFEST~
all around
in between classes
Kim and Julie
had a two day break
and I was thrilled to keep them entertained in
madison
~~~~~
we started at starbucks
{shocking}
and
we shopped
at
antique stores
st. vinnies
and
a great bead store
we walked and shopped
monroe street
and
state street
and fell in love with a little shop called
"anthology"
~~~~~
we had dinner and drinks at
jolly bob's
{fabulous pina coladas}
snacked on
cheese & crackers and chips & dip
at my house
and
lunched on indian dishes at
chautara
{yummy bean patties and flat bread}
{me and kim outside my new favorite restaurant}
we laughed until our cheeks hurt


we laughed at Kim
as she was always looking for something

usually her camera
which insisted on living at the bottom
of her bag

{I was laughing so hard here I could hardly keep my camera steady}
we tried on scarves and headbands
wanting to look like
Nina
{which is a trick we've decided that we don't think we'll ever be able to pull off}

and by the end of our last day
which was my birthday
we were still
telling stories
and
laughing
while
drinking
margaritas
~~~~~
and
knowing that having tired feet
{at least mine were}
was a small price to pay
for having had this
much fun
{thank you kim and julie for getting me out of my shell and making my birthday an extra special one that I'll never forget}

August 8, 2008

oh, the fun I had.....

what can I say?
I love Nina
~~~~~
she was everything I expected and more
she's the type of person
you want to spend a day with
drinking tea
on a sunny porch
just talking
and
listening
~this was her gatherings class~
the same one she taught at
artfest
this is my cover

and now my inside pageswhere I used lots of
my flea market finds
secured on old book covers
using ribbon and twigs
and eyelets and wire
and mica
and carpet tacks

class photo

she teaches

she acts
and
she cleans
~~~~~
thank you Nina for making my
weekend at Valley Ridge
WONDERFUL