MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

WISHING EACH OF YOU A BLESSED AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS!

Welcome - First Day of Winter

JOURNAL - WELCOME FIRST DAY OF WINTER!! I sat in the dark this morning, a single candle illuminating my journal page as I wrote .. coffee, a warm blanket, and a bit of light to welcome the Winter and the return of the sun ....

Splash and Splatter Holly - a page from my journal

Journal - #Worldwatercolorgroup

I love when snow dusts our holly trees ... haven't seen any yet this year -- but it's coming ...

(Note: These small works are stapled into my writing journal. The paper I"m using for my journals is not suitable for water.)

'Tis the Season

No snow yet here, but the cold has definitely arrived.  Winter has hit hard!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hope you have a most wonderful, gratitude-filled, Happy Thanksgiving!

This Old Barn

Journal - I've been painting this barn in different seasons each year. For some reason, I really love the feel of it. But as the years have passed, it grows more and more broken, and the plants around it take over more and more of its structure. Still, like an old friend, it makes me feel like home.

Season of Squashes

Journal -- This time of year I am absolutely in love with squashes! Small pumpkins, large jack-o-lanterns, gnarled and bumpy ones .... they mirror the colors of the leaves ... and say FALL!

Praise Song

Journal - Sometimes a poem will inspire a painting -- and this one by Barbara Crooker certainly did .....

Memories

Journal - More memories from Sunset Beach ---

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

On Sunset Beach with the Girls

Beach Journal - Finally having a chance to upload some images from my trip to Sunset Beach last

week ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

With Halloween around the color and the leaves really taking on color, I thought I'd share another collage/painting created during Karlyn Holman's workshop last month.

Pumpkin Time!

Our temps have finally acknowledged the change in seasons ... we're due for a week in the 70s -- fall weather at last!

Grapes

Harvest Moon - grapes ripening, colored leaves. Fall is fast approaching .....

A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods

Though in my part of NC we won't see this rich color until November, the yellowing leaves, bright blue skies, lower temps and humidity, have me in mind of that marvelous season.

Mixed Media- Gelli Paper Poppies

Something different -- taking some ideas from Karlyn Holman's workshop, I decided to try a gelli print collage - this time poppies ...

Northern Lights - 3

Last of the Northern Lights series ...

For the Table

Another painting from Karlyn Holman's workshop

For the Table

Northern Lights 2

Another from Northern Lights series...

Red Winding Path

Another workshop painting ... Our dive into abstracts ...acrylic paints, deli papers, on canvas

Northern Lights 1

Another from Karlyn Holman's workshop - From a series of the Northern Lights --

Fall Sunflowers and Fruit

Several friends and I are just back from a week long workshop at Cheap Joe's in Boone, NC with Karlyn Holman! The facilities, food, home we rented, restaurants and the weather couldn't have been more pleasant!!! And the best part was Karlyn herself -- FUN, informative, filled with new ideas, and megawatts of creativity! I chose fall for many of our project creations ... I suppose it was the incredible 60-75 degree temps, fresh mountain air, and the beginning of the color changes ...

Under the Grape Arbor

Getting Ready for the Upcoming Season

Herbal Art Retreat

Been preparing for this event for a few weeks.  Had a blast!

Menu:

Breakfast: Toasted Coconut, Banana and Thyme Muffins

Break:: Boursin Cheese Mix with Herbs

Lunch:
Tortellini with Sage Butter and Olive Oil
Garlic Bread
Herbed Salad with Herbed Vinaigrette

Dessert: Citrus and Rosemary Popsicle
Chocolate Mint with chocolate bits Popsicle
Mint Chocolate Cookies

For the ride home: Aztec Chocolates

Drinks: Coffee, Unsweetened Tea, Herbal Teas, Citrus Mint Punch, Lemon Balm for flavoring tea, Water

For Planting: Basil, Chives, Cilantro, Thyme, Dill

Artwork coming soon ...

Through the Queen Anne's Lace

Journal -- The view of my neighbor's farm through the Queen Anne's Lace.....

Courtyard at La Romita, Umbria, Italy 2009

I'm participating in a month of journal writing and watercolor.  This is one of this month's entries.  The prompt was "Where would I have liked to spend more time?"

 Journal ‪ #‎NaJoWriMo‬ ‪#‎WorldWatercolorMonth‬

When I think back about a place I had to leave too soon, it would have been the courtyard at La Romita, Umbria, Italy, 2009.

There was something mighty special about that flowered courtyard -- flowers, pots, benches, chairs,fountains, brick and grilled beautiful windows and inviting doors, olive groves behind it, welcoming aromas from the kitchen, the sound of baa-ing lambs and sheep on the farm behind the courtyard, sunlight and shade, a sense of peace. Such beauty -- blue hills behind tawny-hued buildings, birds butterflies -- an oasis - a slice of heaven.

Found Flowers

Been a mighty busy summer. Hope eveyone is having a great one!

Gardenia

Journal - HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE! My single gardenias are finished blooming, but those prostrate shrubs that have sat idle for several years have finally bloomed -- and they doubles! Now to paint those!

OmniJournal - Rhododendron

OmniJournal - Rhododendron - So much rain lately ---!!!!

Old Oxford Homestead

Journal - Pen and Wash - There's an old homestead near my home that I just love to capture in each season. The family has built a new home also on the property, but it always warms my soul to see these older buildings still standing.

This free-standing sheet will go into to my looseleaf journal as it is too large for my spiral-bound journal ...

Field of Daisies

Journal - Field of Daisies --- I really love when the daisies fill the fields ....

The Hummer

Been a busy few weeks - painting -- The Hummer ....

Golden Iris - #Omnijournal

Journal - It's been an intensely busy few weeks -- but I hope to return to my journal soon!

Home-made marbled paper, painted Iris (still blooming in my yard), image and hand-made textured paper.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! WISHING EVERY MOM, SISTER, AUNT, AND THOSE WHO ARE MOTHERS TO THEIR PETS AND FRIENDS AND OTHERS ...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! MAY IT BE FILLED WITH JOY AND LOVE!

Hot Springs, NC - Journal

Journal - Didn't have much time to sketch while away, but did a couple. These are some of the journal pages I created when I got home.

Great memories!

Phlox and Corn Flowers

Omnijournal - Blues - The phlox has filled all the spaces under my thin sprawling shrubs making such a delightful view; and I found these bachelor buttons (corn flowers) in a field I never saw them growing before. Truly sweet surprises.

(Cardstock, paste paper envy made years ago, stickers, craft paper, dragonfly button)

Viburnum and Crimson Clover

Journal -- After spending MUCH time on sorting and divesting many of my art supplies and now knowing where I can find each item I've kept!!, as well as being inspired by the work of Yippie Cahier's 'Omnijournals-- I thought I'd try to incorporate some of the BOXES of collage, stamping, ink and ephemera I still have into my journals.

Here's my first attempt ... I did a pen and wash of the wonderful Vibrunum abloom in my yard and the surprise Crimson Clover blossoms that popped up after 6 years since I planted some..I used card stock, watercolor, ink, tags, cut-out of tag holders and 'flowers' given to me years ago by a dear friend, some art paper and some clear 'words'.