Always looking for new art mediums and techniques

 I'm loving the big detailed amazing dot mandalas posted on my facebook page by other artists and featured on Pinterest (check it out).

Of course I had to get all the tools and try it for myself.  I have plenty of acrylic paints so it wasn't too costly.

I have no room for the large mandalas nor do I wish to create and sell them, as I will never become as proficient at it as those already offering them up.  Besides, my space is limited.  But ... I'm happy to be dotting my Spokane river rocks and other little pieces.

A few are decoupaged fabric (ladybug) and paper (upper right checked)

If you live anywhere near me, you may find one hidden in your garden or among other rocks!

It's fun and something anyone can do.  Believe me because I am just a beginner.

I hardly ever recommend a book

 because everyone has their own preferences in what subjects interest them.  

When I go to the library for some good reading, I always pick up two books (in case one of them doesn't thrill me).  Usually I choose a novel by an author I know, and then there is a back corner of the room where I seem to always find a book from an author I've never heard of.  In that corner are real life, historical books and biographies.  "Miracle in the Andes" was a favorite as well as early American history about Native Americans.

Just finished a book that really drew me in about a woman who speaks of herself in such a raw honest way before and during an ill-planned hike through the Pacific Crest Trail.  Cheryl Strayed lost her mother and divorced a man she loved, got into heroin before she decided to test herself on the trail.  I loved this book from beginning to end.  Don't usually endorse a book, but this one is well worth the read.  

My favorite movies and books are all about survival and revival.

In difficult times, you move forward in small steps.

Do what you have to do, but little by little.

Don't think about the future, or what may happen tomorrow.

Wash the dishes.

Remove the dust.

Write a letter.

Make a soup.

You see?

You are advancing step by step.

Take a step and stop.

Rest a little.

Praise yourself.

Take another step.

Then another.

You won't notice, but your steps will grow more and more.

And the time will come when you can think about the future without crying.”

- Elena Mikhalkova

(Image of Tasha Tudor, American Illustrator 1915-2008)

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Struggles

Some may call it a waste of time, but when time is all you have, you fill it with the most mundane of inessential goofing off.  Over the years I have admired the works in "Galloping Pony Studio" (check it out on Pinterest) and the way Virginia Cole adds bits of quilt pieces, buttons, quotes, sayings, etc to her collages. I especially like the little Dresden plate pieces and wanted to replicate them in miniature as she does.

At first I tried making paper patterns of what I thought would work for the pieces it takes to build the plates . . . big mistake!  After spending nearly a day trying to figure that out (with the help of the internet), I gave up and ordered Marti Michell PERFECT PATCHWORK TEMPLATES.  Just exactly what I wanted to make a 3.5" plate.

The first one I struggled through didn't turn out the way I really wanted . . .

 I ended up having to glue the center down over the wonky petals.  Not at all happy.  But I have plenty of time as I said.

As always happens, you learn from the first try and, if you are as stubborn as this blogger, you try again.

Better . . . much better.  This time I made a little yo yo, turned it upside down and glued it in place.

Then I looked closer at the Pinterest offerings from Virginia's site and saw that she made another Dresden plate pattern than the one I had been struggling with.

What a difference the pointed petal made to save time (although I have plenty of that) and picky picky work forming the curves.  This one went together so quickly, I feel like I have to make more of them.

Although there were more petals in this version it was so much easier to turn each one. The next one will look even better!!

These were made from the tiny pieces of vintage fabric I have been collecting for years. It's a small thing, but I feel I have accomplished something new for myself.  

I 

Four Pin Friday ~ Olga Boznanska Impressionest

 Polish painter Olga Boznańska (April 15, 1865 - October 26, 1940) was a notable female painter in Poland and Europe and was stylistically associated with the French impressionism. Boznańska was born in Kraków during foreign partitions of Poland. She was the daughter of a railway engineer, Adam Nowina Boznański, and Eugenia née Mondan. Boznańska learned drawing first with Józef Siedlecki and Kazimierz Pochwalski locally.

Another in the series of female artists we should know and give attention to.

Words to live by

Found on Pinterest this morning

Please please please vaccinate your babies

This is an urgent pitch for everyone who loves their child to get them a measles vaccination!!!

In the decade before 1963 when a vaccine became available, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years of age. It is estimated 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year. Also each year, among reported cases, an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 1,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain) from measles.

I was one of those children who suffered from measles.  My mom almost lost her first born but, of course, took pictures of the whole process.

 Down and out 

in a sitting position but still not having it!

on the road to recovery

New to me!

Daughter Kim gifted me with the yummiest lotions and soap for Christmas scented with lavender and sweet tonka.  Tonka!! Never heard of it before. 

Wikipedia tells us it comes from the beans of a  tree grown mainly in Venezuala and Nigeria.

 "Tonka beans are used as a vanilla substitute, as a perfume and in tobacco before being banned in some countries.  They are used in some French cuisine (particularly in desserts and stews)"

This product is advertised as a sleep aid.  The last two nights I've slept like a baby after a hot shower using the soap and lotion.  Besides, I smell damn good!

One great female photographer

I was sent these photos through my email account from a very good friend and want to share them with the world (well ... my little world anyway).  If you have Pinterest and love these pictures as much as I do, you will find more examples of her fabulous work there.

They were taken by a Russian photographer named

Elena Shumilova

Captivating!

Arteza

I am not a spokesman for nor do I hold stock in the company, but I've found Arteza to be a great place to order art materials.

I first tried their ink brushes on a river rock.  It was a bit difficult to blend but I pushed it until it did.  The ink is very stable and the colors true.

I'm not discouraged and will work with them again . . . maybe on watercolor paper.

I have also purchased a box of 48 fineliner pens.  They too are water based ink.

Quality products from a company that delivers!!

Four Pin Friday

My all~time favorite movie in pictures from Pinterest . . .

I could (and have) watched it over and over

and I find something new each time

So many life messages to take away

Maybe that is why it has been offered so many times on tv.  If you haven't seen it, you really should.

A Day on the Lake

There is nothing better to make my day than to spend it on the water!

Derek and Dawn gifted us with a wonderful Lunch Cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene . . . the second largest lake in Idaho.

And what a beautiful lake it is.  We started out at the Gem of Cd'A . . . this gorgeous hotel.

It was an hour and a half tour of the lake with homes to die for!

I was in such awe that I didn't take photos of the ones on the other side of the lake that were only accessible by boat. But this one and several others had lovely beaches and were so picturesque.

and golf courses so spectacular it almost (almost) made me want to take up the sport.

 Tubb's Hill, near the hotel, with rocks to climb and dive from and trails that go on forever.

Osprey nest high on Tubb's Hill.

The cool lake breeze made the 90 degree day bearable.  The lunch was great, and I am so thankful to Dawn for setting this up.  Her generosity always amazes me.

Four Pin Friday

A few ideas to finally give you the courage to cut up that already damaged vintage quilt

Add an old piece of embroidered trim for the cuff

I love this last one.  Print out a few sayings, quotes or special messages to stitch on to salvaged patchwork scraps.  And leave them where your cherished recipient will find them!

One Thousand White Women

This book begins with a real event in history that Jim Fergus deems the “seed” that grew into a novel. During a peace conference at Fort Laramie in 1854, a prominent Northern Cheyenne chief requested one thousand white women.

Through a fictional “Brides for Indians” program, the central character, May Dodd, is sent to marry the great chief Little Wolf, along with quite the cast of fellow white women who band together to form an entertaining group as they too enter into marriage with Cheyenne men. 

The program is completely voluntary, and May decides to go because she has nothing else to lose – after all, she has been committed to an insane asylum for having children out of wedlock with a man who is considered beneath her family’s worth. 

What a nut, right? Right… women as brides for his young men. His reasoning? Because children are born into their mother’s tribe, the chief believed that procreating with white wives would be the perfect means of assimilation into white society. As you can probably imagine, in real life this request was not well received in Washington, and the white women were never sent to the Cheyenne people. In Jim Fergus’ novel, they are.

I would never have picked up a book or entered one in my Kindle titled "One Thousand White Women".  But my cousin, who is always giving me reading suggestions liked it and, knowing my love for American historical novels, thought I would too.  She was right! I picked up so much information about the Cheyenne people and their everyday life (especially the women's busy days) in the 1870s.  Sad ending of course as these people who lived off the land were forced into white agency life (aka the reservation).

Stone Calf (1803-1883) was a Cheyenne peace chief who brought his small band to the agency in Indian Territory in 1870. He worked to bring other bands in as well. 

Four Pin Friday

A definite highlight of our trip to Florida . . .

the colors and creativity of Leoma Lovegrove!!

Here is the entrance to her gallery on Pine Island

I couldn't stop taking photos in her wild and whacky back yard.  It is just crazy and a must see for anybody travelling to that part of Florida.  Here are only a few of the many Pinterest offerings from her gallery . . .

You get the feeling that whatever doesn't move, she applies her artistic talents to






If these pieces grab you, please check out her amazing artwork on Pinterest.  It will brighten your day and give you a feel for that part of the world!

Crackers and Milk

In two sittings I read this little soft cover book sent to me by my cousin Sara. The perfect read just before Thanksgiving or any time you feel life has given you more than you can handle.

I was surprised to see it offered on Amazon only because it almost appeared to be self-published.  It was signed and given to my cousin Sue by the author . . . Arlene Nelson.

"Crackers and Milk" retells Arlene's mother's amazing story of an unusually tarnished childhood wherein she was the oldest of five children growing up in the early 20th Century in rural Midwest (actually took place mostly in the same area I grew up in).  Her struggles to keep her sisters and brother together without parents will break your heart.

Thank you Arlene Nelson for gifting it to my cousin Sue who passed it on to her sister Sara and then she to me.

Ice Painting

 Wishing I had some liquitex paint today as I'm stuck inside with the AC going full blast.  Climate change has struck the Pacific Northwest!

I found the most amazing tutorial on Aunt Peaches blog this morning.

If you need further inspiration, here are a few more examples I found on Yahoo Images . . .

word of the day . . . sussurus

I'm currently reading a book aptly named "Boundary Waters" which takes place in Northern Minnesota in a region of wilderness straddling the Canadian and United States border.  It's a modern day story about the tracking of a woman through that vast network of waterways by a group of men led by an Ojibwe boy.

Living my first 17 years just a bit south and west of Duluth, I enjoyed hearing the names again of familiar towns and lakes.  

But, I digress!  The word "sussurus" stopped me from going on midway through the book, and I just had to look up its meaning.   Sussurus (of the stream) is whispering, murmuring or rustling.  Don't you love it when the sound of the word is the same as its meaning.

"Boundary Waters", along with other books by William Kent Krueger, take place in this part of our beautiful country.  This is my first book by this author, but I will be reading more of his novels.