Here I am!

Is this not the CUTEST little frog family ever??!! I found these at my favorite thrift haunt today. Ooops! Sorry I haven't been around for a bit. I have been playing catch up for a few days. But this weekend, I have been a lucky bug! I found this beautiful needlework at the auction.
I found those adorable frogs and they really really make me smile. I also found these.A collection of victorian holy cards dating back to the 1890's. They are so beautiful. I love things like these. When I hold them, I wonder who held them, and what books and drawers they have lived in. Some of them are french lace paper and many are gold prints. They were all tucked away in an old Fannie May candy box. This is sort of an odds and ends post, lots of stuff I have been up to. Fact #6 - I am in love with folk art. The naive style is so quaint and honest to me. I most often paint from my imagination. I like the quality of work that I get from that. Soon, I will be able to post my paper dresses that I made for the dress swap. They were so much fun! I am sending them off tomorrow to my partner and I am so excited to see what she has in store! Well, I am off again! Have a great start this week! Jen

The almost weekend

I am busy in a relentless way. I am happy to say that I have a lot on my plate! I have had some wonderful developments in my freelancing business and I am about to begin a new endeavor that will be exciting and rewarding! I have much to do! I wanted to make a quick post. I sifted through some of my vector art, and found these cute little bugs.As you can see in much of my art, I am very smitten with pattern. Okay, so fact number 5:(sorry I started to forget that I had a list going) I am pretty much a workaholic. I get home from work, and continue to work most every night until I go to bed. I work a good portion of every weekend. Rarely, will you find me watching television or the like. I absolutely cannot stand doing nothing. The thought of going somewhere where I will not be doing something (like sitting, visiting with someone) is not pleasant. I know that I need a better balance, but I believe that I will make it to that eventually. Right now, I am trying to achieve some things that take the extra mile. I think it will be worth it. Today is the almost weekend. Ahhhhh...I am looking forward to the sun on my face on Saturday morning in bed. :) Hugs! Jen

March on

Hi, here I am again. I had a great weekend. We went to a huge neighborhood garage sale..that is really more like a flea market. It's called the Countrywood sale. It started out as a neighborhood yard sale and so many people came to it year after year that it grew into a different sort of thing. There were BBQ stands and hot dog stands everywhere. It was actually chilly in the morning and I was not expecting that! I got a few interesting things. Here are some terra cotta tiles I picked up and plan to use them for coasters.
I found 4 vintage hats, a christmas stocking, a basket for my embroidery threads, a strawberry shortcake outfit for my niece, a beautiful home made embroidered table runner and these tiles.
Then We picked up a good friend and headed over to the Cooper-Young Festival, a small art festival in Cooper-Young district in Memphis. This is a very happening place! It was there that I feasted on Italian sausage and funnel cake...argh! The bands were good, the art was awesome, the day was perfectly gorgeous. It was a great day. More pictures tomorrow. Have a great night! :)

Hero

I did this on brown postage paper. There is something I like about the lighter colors the way they kind of glow on this paper. I used watercolor, ink, colored pencil and graphite. I always romaticised horses when I was young, actually I think I still do. They are the most beautiful animals. I love the name hero for the horse I might have one day. A white horse named hero.

I have something I would like to discuss with anyone who cares to comment. I am really fascinated by the keen interest in the handmade in recent years. I have heard this called an art movement. I would like to hear your opinion. Is this a movement toward buying from "home", artisans, the good old bartering system? (If it is, it sure is beautiful to me.) Is it a keen interest in art, or the handmade? And for what reasons? I think this is an exciting time for artists. We can do anything we want...we can actually sell our work for ourselves and make a living. Art is affordable. Art is invading life.
I am loving every minute of it.

Trees

Something I am working on now. Trees. We should all be in love with trees. I am. I am a little tired tonight and I am busy drawing...YAY! So I don't have too much to say. But, I will give you weird fact number 4. I sometimes pick up things off the floor with my feet. (Is that weird?) I say, if you can do it, then you should! I have really long toes and they are pretty good at gripping. Have a great night everybody!

My favorite color is RED

No not really. Fact Number 3: I do not have a favorite color. I have some that I lean toward, but I love all the colors so much that I cannot name a favorite. If you want to know which I lean toward, they would be green, red, purple, pink, and yellow. The color green that shows up when it has just rained hard and the sky is still dark and the sun is shining on the leaves that loved the water so much. The kind of red that is many layers like a tomato from August. The kind of purple that shimmers in the rich velvet robe of a king. The kind of pink that lines the inside of a tiny white shell on the beach. The kind of yellow that shines against a brilliant blue sky like a huge, happy sunflower. I am very attracted to bold and brilliant colors. My art reflects my taste in color. I seem to have a hard time paring down the color palette in a painting. Is it color addiction?

This is a bountiful harvest from the back yard. Our tomato plants are still producing these gorgeous things despite the sweltering heat. Mmmmmm...looks like salad is in order.

ADDENDUM: I thought about it and I realized that, if you ask me, I will name a favorite color. Most often green, but sometimes purple or pink..sooooooo, what does that indicate? (not sure) but I think that I really don't have a favorite....because another one of my very very very favorites is turquoise. That would definitely be my favorite. Except for robins egg blue. :)

Illustration Friday Momentum

Fact Number 2

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Fact about me number 2: I love Christmas ornaments. I buy them and collect them year round. I love old antique ornaments. I have ornaments hanging in my house year round.This is one my daugther gave me. It hangs to catch the light in the kitchen window.

mmmmm coffee

I was so excited to make some felt designs last week. Here is what I came up with. I don't know what they are yet, barettes, embellishments for jeans, pins? They were fun to make and they remind me of decorated sugar cookies.
I always buy a bag of Starbucks Guatemala every week. It is my indulgence. Sure, I eat a little chocolate here and there, but there is nothing like good coffee. I thoroughly enjoy it. My fabulous friend Kathleen (who is a phenomenal artist), passed a tag onto me a while back, and I was so swamped I never got to respond. It was 7 weird things about you. I did think about it, Kate! I think I will answer these a post at a time. Weird fact about me No. 1: I love anything tropical. Hence my odd collection of tropical kitsch. I love those Hawaiian girls that you put on your dashboard. Here are my salt and pepper shakers. I love coconut heads and buy them at garage sales and thrift shops. I love vintage hawaiian, fish and palm tree themes.
My vintage girl and swordfish salt and pepper shakers.

I am doing my first swap! A paper dress swap! Look at these adorable paper dresses. The lovely lady who runs Jeweled Elegance is the swap hostess. I love her shop, full of the prettiest things.

Illustration Friday: Alphabets

There is something mysterious about the word alphabets vs. the word alphabet. When I think about alphabet, I think of writing tablets, pencils and erasers and grade school.
When I think about alphabets, I think of ancient writings, possibly alien languages, language itself, communication, it has some sort of exotic connotation. There would be something very mysterius about a girl who could, while she was sleeping, learn the alphabets of the universe.

Whats To Do??

Media: Markers
I am so excited to have an extra day off! I don't know what to do with myself today. But my plans are to get to the fabric store as quickly as possible and get my thread and beads for my felt projects. I am still thinking about what I want to make with my samplers of wool felt, but I am leaning towards ornaments.
Six things I LOVE.

1) Mermaids
2) Christmas Ornaments
3) Dragonflies
4) Hummingbirds
5) Early Saturday Mornings with good coffee
6) Sparkly, shiny things

My Calling

I have been working on her for a while now. I was sitting in my studio this morning and her eyes were peering over the flowers and asking me when I would get back to her. She looks like her name should be Emma. Her face reminds me of the round, round moon. She looks like she would like to be painted holding those very flowers. I will get back to you Emma, I promise. Last night I made Pumkin and blueberry muffins. They were yummy, nothing like a blueberry muffin with butter in the morning.

Happy Saturday!

I am cleaning and working in my studio this afternoon. The feeling of fall is in the air. I am so excited after all of these excruciating hot, dry days. I can't wait for the pumpkins and red noses, apple cider, autumn leaves crunching beneath my feet, that sort of musky, burnt wood smell that fills the air when everyone starts their fire places, and that crisp, fresh air in the mornings. I love summer, but I am ready to say goodbye. I saw a shadow by the door this morning and knew that something had arrived that I have been waiting for.
The 100% wool felt that I had ordered from A Child's Dream Come True. I can't wait to make something with this! These are the most beautiful jewel tone colors. Have a happy Saturday!