Embrace Change!!

I received an email today from Natalea that she got my package and canvas yesterday! She loved her's too- which makes us both EVEN!

Her topic was "embrace change." We all need reminders to do that, right??

It took me awhile to find a quote that I liked. I originally wanted to take the "one door closes, another opens" route, but I couldn't really solidify the total image in my head. I thought about a building with lots of doors, different shapes and colors, but the canvas took a different direction.

Some art comes fast and furious, some not. This was in the latter category. And not in a bad way, either. It just took days and days, layers and layers of glue and paint. I first painted the top of the canvas blue. Then glued the green grass (patterned scrapbook paper). Next came added paint in blue, white, and yellow. I edged in brown ink, outlined in black ink pen.

The drying time actually gave me time to reflect and move the canvas along. In the end, I was very happy with the total picture. Eventually I built each little house, without gluing anything down. That my friends, was the key for me. I switched houses, women, even roofs, until it finally was finished.

Enjoy! And remember, nothing is static. Everything and everyone changes- how you react to that change is up to you.

Art Swap Goodness

So, my friend Natalea and I recently did an art swap. We gave each other a topic, and planned to work on an 8x11 canvas. Mine turned into an 11x14, simply because it's the only size I could find. Short of ordering on online, or driving and hour to Michael's, this was my only choice. What a challenge and opportunity! I've never done anything that big.

I received Nat's package a week or so ago, but I didn't open it. I wasn't finished mine yet, and I didn't want to be influenced by her's. I just mailed it yesterday, but here is a little peek. Nat's theme was "embrace change."

My theme for Natalea was "shine." After the roughness of the last year and a half, I felt like this appropriate! Here is my new art!

Seriously!! Wonderfully warm colors, textures, and glitter! Look at the strength in this woman's features.

A lovely necklace, which I'm sure Nat made:

And this FAB-U-LOUS collection of paper. I love paper, and it's fun to receive someone else's stash.

SIX vintage French vocab cards- I am a HOARDER when it comes to flash cards and game cards.

These would make amazing covers for journals- if I knew how to hand bind... ah well, that's another project!

MANY MANY thanks Natalea- and when she gets hers in the mail, I'll post pictures too!

Somerset Apprentice Volume 4

As you can see from my new badge on the site (and a previous post), I have a piece in the new issue of Somerset Apprentice.

Somerset Apprentice provides a more basic and thorough understanding of techniques and includes easy-to-understand instructions and close-up photos. Kelly Rae Roberts, Donna Downey, Traci Lyn Huskamp, Bethany Kartchner, and 16 other talented artists are featured in the Autumn ’11 issue of this popular magazine. Each artist takes you on a step-by-step journey with them as they complete a work of art! In the From the Pros section we offer tips & tricks from successful artists – this issue showcasing Nathalie Kalbach, Pam Garrison, Julie Bergmann, Angela Harris, and more. From layered collages to assemblage art, you’ll find all you need to stimulate your creativity!

It is the cover from the Lyrical Intepretations round robin that I put together a few years back- gosh- years?!????

Anyway, this project was a lot of fun, and pretty easy to set up. I contacted a bunch of friends with my idea, outlined the time table and rules, got the mailing list going, and voila! ART.

Blogging-artist friend Marilyn Healey submitted Interpretations book, from which my Bound By Love page was chosen. Being enthused, and a bit of a copy cat, I sent my book in too. And my cover was chosen.

I'd love to show you more pages, but Stampington still has the book (click on the link above and go to the Flickr site). Cross your fingers that they pick some other pages, from my artsy friends, to be highlighted!

Love and all that

It's the 10 year anniversary of 9/11- the horrific terrorist attack that forever changed the United States. It has become the defining question of my generation. It's not "where were you when they shot JFK?" but "where were you on 9/11?"

I was at work, and I watched TV all day, which in hindsight was probably too much. I saw each building burn, each fall, the Pentagon on fire. Being in DE, we sent equipment and personnel north. The hospital was put on alert. No one came. No one.

I suffered from anxiety for months. Had trouble sleeping. The whole nine yards.

It makes me weep to this day. I'll never understand the radicalism behind these, and other, attacks. God. Buddha. Allah. Isn't the bottom line the concept of agape? Of true and deep and undying unconditional love from our Father?

I'm going to go hug my kids. Call my husband and tell him I miss him. Call my parents and check in. Love you.

What a Week!!

We lucked out with the crazy New England storm this past weekend. By the time it reached us in Maine, it was a tropical storm. We were without power from Sunday afternoon until supper time on Tuesday.  It was a little scary, sitting in the glassed in back porch (where the last light of the day was), surrounded by bending trees, eating PB&J and cheese sticks. The wind was coming from the opposite direction, or we wouldn't have been out there at all. We were lucky, many Mainers are still out of power.

My in-laws didn't lose power. So we spent some time over there on Monday and Tuesday. I babysat some friends' children on Tuesday, and we spent the majority of the day over at the pond. Luckily, when we came home that evening, the power was on. I lost all of the refrigerator, and some stuff in the freezers. But we still made out OK, as my father-in-law brought a generator over on Monday and got the freezers and frig back up to temperature.

The wind blew out a window in the old milking parlor of the barn. Having picked up all of the debris myself, I must confess that it probably didn't take much...

The one to the left is completely gone. The whole fram and all three windows came down. Now it's just a hole.

And then there was the very-urgent trip to the vet on still-powerless-Monday, after Duchess our dog got into a fallen hornets nest (I think). Her face swelled up, her skin (all over) turned almost purple, and she vomitted. I was scared. Maybe I should get her an EpiPen... Anyway, she's fine now. But as you might imagine, my last nerve became VERY FRAYED at this point. Oh, and did I mention hubby was stuck in NJ, which was essentially closed down???

I am proud to say I only cried for about a minute. Really.

Then Wednesday came and Jason went back to school. Adam and I took the bus to school and visited his Kindergarten class. Yesterday was his first full day, but I missed it while I worked. But his super Grandnan took care of it and made sure he hopped on with no problems. Jason, being the good big bro (for now, anyway), has been sitting with Adam on the bus. Watching them go today was sweet, and bittersweet. My babies are getting big.

How 'bout you? School? Kids? Storm?? Do tell.

hugs, Lee