Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Yes, A Snake!


My husband was coming in from walking the dogs when he spotted this and brought it in for me to see. It's a Northern Red Belly snake; it was sunning itself on the edge of the driveway. He knows I like anything to do with nature and we had never seen this particular snake since we moved here.



haha, bet you didn't know it was this small!



The red belly of the Northern Red Belly snake.



They only grow to 8.5 inches long!



It was very calm and friendly.



It's a very beneficial snake, eating slugs, soft bodied insects and worms. It should be hibernating before long.



Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Mixed Media Painting

I finished this piece, which had been started a while back, then put aside:

This ....
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.....became this.
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Painted on a 9 X 12 canvas panel, the base is acrylic paints. I then painted some areas again, attached a scrap of paper, a large scrap of patterned tissue paper and an old photo I had in my stash. I don't know who it is, and it looks like an old high school photo from the 1960's. I stenciled, and did some writing and did some rubber stamping. I also used some water soluble oil pastels and attached a 3D fabric flower. 

I know that I haven't published any Tuesday Stories lately. My health has been up and down, and I find my energy is severely limited. Then again, maybe no one reads it and it's not a big loss. I do have more stories in my head, if anyone is interested in reading them. Let me know in the comment section!


Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!


Friday, October 21, 2011

Such Colors!

Lately, I've been trying to walk a certain distance 3-4 times a week, since the weather is so nice. Last night we had temps down in the high 30's which meant heater time and close the windows! This morning, I brought these back with me:








I would love to be able to reproduce these colors God created! Or at least come a bit close.

The walks tire me a great deal, and to do them I must give up time in the studio. But I know it is good for me on several levels and my husband encourages me to continue. So, I hope I am able to do that!


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Playing With Color

I'm having fun seeing just how many paint colors I do have available by building a Color Library in the class Color: Beyond the Basics . It's time consuming but once done I will have a wonderful reference library.





Compared to what's available, I have a small assortment of colors, and because I had two different brands, some of the colors are similar. 

But when in the class, you see how to stretch what you have into a marvelous mutli-rainbow of colors! I was surprised when I realized I only had 3 reds, because I use so much red in my painting, but now I see why it looks like I have more. This is a great class, for beginners and seasoned artists alike!

Just starting here, I have a long way to go!




With the leftover paint, I made background pages in my art journal-
now another project awaits to create something on these!


Be sure and see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!




Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Trying to Decide Isn't Easy

This week I had to say goodbye to hosting Tag Tuesday. I just don't have the energy and once I have used up the allotment for the day, then everything else must be dropped. Hosting a blog challenge took more time and energy than I thought it would and I knew I had to let it go. Because of the cyclical nature of this illness, I never know when I will be drained and how long it lasts. It was not an easy decision for me, and someday perhaps, if I improve enough, maybe I can start it up again.

Meanwhile, I want to focus more on doing art just for myself, and to share. With that thought in mind, I altered a postcard I had received earlier.

This...

...became this.
(click for detail)

I had originally received it from Germany, and I removed the stamp, added papers, scraps and paint and the postage stamp to the front, and attached some cardstock on the back so that a new message can be written. Now, I must send it off to somebody. Actually I made it with my sister Judy in mind. She just had back surgery and I wanted to lift her spirits. 

Hey Judy!! :)



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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Tattered Romance Tag; and A Story -A Home For Jennie Mae

Today's tag was Tattered Romance 


(Click For Details)

For details on how I made this, or to join in on the challenge, please go to 



A Home For Jennie Mae 
34th in the Tuesday Story Series

When John would travel in his former job, I would usually accompany him. As I owned an antiques business at the time, I would often haunt the local antique and junk stores to find hidden treasures. Many times I would find photos of people, priced relatively inexpensively, and I would pick up some that looked interesting. Sometimes the names of the people are on the front or back, and I often tried to locate their families when I could by posting on different genealogy websites. But the majority of the time, there wasn't enough information on the picture to make finding a family possible. In fact, usually there was nothing. And each picture was a snapshot of a person who existed, who was important to someone, and it sadden me to see them all just tossed out at an auction. I guess no one in the family cared about them, once they were dead and gone. And that is sad. Many of them now show up in mixed media art work, I've done it myself, and it at least gives them another chance to be seen by the world as important.

This story involves one such photo, which had a happier ending. While rooting through things in an antiques store in small town in Oklahoma, I came across a lovely photo of a young woman, dressed in a World War ll era Navy uniform. It read "Loads of love always, Jennie Mae ______ (last name omitted for privacy). It also said "To Mom on Mother's Day" and her initials, and the place and date where it was taken. I belong to the genealogy website, ancestry.com and when I returned home, I logged in and began making a search for this woman. I found the name in a family tree and contacted the tree's author. I described the picture and asked for her address to send it to her. She was thankful and asked me how much postage would be, but I told her all that I asked was that if she found other photos from time to time, she would try to find their rightful owners.

Once she received the picture, she contacted me and told me that Jennie Mae's mother had passed away in 1934, and Jennie Mae had then started calling this lady's great grandmother "Mom" and the picture was for her. The new owner of the picture lived in California, and asked me if I knew how the picture came to be in South Carolina, since her great grandma and Jennie Mae lived in Oklahoma. I told her about my visit to Oklahoma, and we both felt that someone evidently sold the household goods at auction once great grandma died. 

It was a good feeling to be able to connect a special photo with family, and the recipient was thrilled to find a photo of a relative. Of course it's just a drop in the bucket, and most of these old photos will never find a home. 

Here's just two of my collection of old photos, and I would love to see them returned to their descendants:

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What a beautiful wedding party! And the only information I have is that this large photo was taken at a studio in Indiana.



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This is a gorgeous family! At the bottom of the photo is written the 1st names of the individuals beneath their places in the photo, but the man and woman are only know as Daddy and Mother - no last names. Nine beautiful healthy children and all I know other than their first names is the name of the studio is located in Hampstead N.W., not even the name of  state.

If you have old photos, label them! Your grandchildren will thank you!






Be sure and see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!