Mystery Travel

This man just arrived after a long journey. He got right out of his boat and walked onto the beach with his trunk. (just his boat is in the picture) As usual, it's unfinished... but am thinking it needs to be complete. Painted it from a vintage photograph from the late 19th century. Don't know if it's an American beach or ?? Love the mystery of old photographs... where did he come from and where was he going? They can be a bit creepy too - a la 'The Others'.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We are putting up our tree today by order of the 2 children who run this house :)

Bed of Beach Rocks

Trying to set aside some time at the easel today to finish up this painting... all this holiday stuff is getting in the way of making art! It is such fun though. This year for the first time... we'll have mom and grandma in our neck of the woods. Very exciting :) Have a great day.

Christmas Kitty

Been working on a few Christmas cards... I had so much fun using my 'crafty sewing machine' to sew the prints to the cards. They were feeling a little bland so borders were added - made of paper and some are fabric. There are a few more images to come (drying in the studio) but these landed in the shop tonight. Happy hump day!

PS Got some good news today... I'm having an April solo show in 'Twilight country'...

Port Angeles, WA! Yay! Best part - lots of friends and family that live in the area.

Turkey and the First Snow

We had our first snow on Friday... it was actually quite beautiful and only a small amount. The kids are thrilled with it! They donned all the snow gear and ran out to the back yard to play and chase the dogs. Once inside, requests for hot chocolate filled promptly.

The turkey is felted wool and from a kit. (sorry, can't seem to find the envelope to share the designer with you - will post when found!) It's a smallish penny rug for a table or even to hang on the front door. He's in need of some eyes and a few other bobs and fobs. It's been tough finding Thanksgiving decorations... seems the stores have tons of Halloween and Christmas. We are going to brainstorm and just make our own. Any ideas out there...? We'd love some if you'd like to share. Have a peaceful Sunday.

Winter Owls

Here are just a few of the owls and birds I've been sewing for the local artist's Christmas ornament show. (at Tinman Artworks) It was so much fun getting these fowl together... mostly for the embellishments! (getting out the felting machine is always big fun too.) If there are any left... I'll put 'em in the etsy shop in time for Christmas shipping.

Two Ladies...

Here's a new painting started last week. I really like this one and hope it will 'paint itself' without too much ado. Went back to my old way of sketching with thinned paint (purple) as the under drawing. (have been using pencil and doing more detail... but I want to get away from all that detail and move towards a looser approach.)

I'm off to see if anything's on Masterpiece Theatre tonight! Happy Sunday.

Oh, the Feeling of Failure!

Look at my bread machine bread. Fallen like an old lady who can't get up. Don't know what went wrong... anybody have any advice? My husband received the machine in September so we're not that familiar with it. Anyway, it's a laugh ; ) Happy Friday.

Meet Millicent

Here's a little girl I painted a few days ago...love her braids and how she's holding the doll against her face. (oops, need to fix the black lines on her shirt!) She landed in the shop tonight (but I'll secretly fix her shirt and re-post the photos tomorrow...shhh, don't tell :)

Chapel Chairs

A new little drawing I did last night. My daughter fell asleep early (rarely happens!) so I was able to do some drawing and painting. Was so attracted to the 'crowd' of empty chairs... somber yet inviting. The bottom photo is the start of a picnic party painting. (8 x 10" very small for me so, it's a challenge.)

Feels so good to get back into a groove. It's hard to resume a routine though when reality has pushed you in a different direction. Just now starting to get to work after a summer and fall full of family and friends staying with us. Nothing like a quiet house to get the creative juices flowing again. :) Wonder why transitions are so difficult no matter how old you get?!

How do you get started again when you've hit a 'speed bump?'