PLAY IT LOUD.

I'd say there is a 100% chance that I'll be painting and playing this in my studio this evening...beginning to end it's really, really good.*

*i'm especially loving this tune right now

Hello darkness (and light)...

Contradiction, I so get it. While the days are nearing their darkest, I am loving the warm glow of holiday lights inside and festive white lights strung in the yard near the chicken coop (over what will soon be our 1st ever skating rink!). And, I am happily preparing to say goodbye to 2011 (such a difficult year) and opening my arms wide to what 2012 has to offer. Over the past week I've been away from the blog, the camera and the studio. My parents were back in town for my 13 year olds performance in a local production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (which was so, so good) and my in-laws arrive on Thursday to see next weekend's performances. We hosted an unexpectedly large sleep over for five 15 year old girls and still managed to get the tree up and the pantry restocked for the week on Sunday. The time away is filling up my creative bucket and I am and doodling ideas in my notebook and clipping bits of this and that to use soon. And while I may find a bit of time here between house guests, baking, making and wrapping I expect that most of my ideas will patiently wait for the quiet of January to make their way into the world. I love everything about this time of the year, don't you?

Let the cooking begin...

I love Thanksgiving. I love the traditional dishes, the family gathering, the moment of reflection on the good parts of very tough year and the smells which fill the house and take me back to all the other Thanksgivings I've ever celebrated. We spent a busy weekend cleaning and reorganizing parts of the house for our six house guests who will be arriving Wednesday. We also spent a little more time cleaning things up outside and going through tubs of winter gear to see who needs what this year. The house is in good shape and I'm turning my attention to the basics of the Thanksgiving Feast starting early this morning with the gravy base. I find gravy to be the lynch pin of the meal and the one thing that can throw off the rhythm in a kitchen full of people. I was so happy to find this make ahead gravy recipe in the NY Times a couple years ago and have used it every year since. That gravy base and this method for cooking in just the turkey (in just 50 minutes!) have turned my holiday into a pretty stress free event with delicious results. Our guests are bringing homemade rolls, pies and snacks and lots of love and laughter and I'm looking forward to their arrival. But right now there is work to be done so I'll see you back here next week and no matter how you celebrate or what's on your table I hope that it is fabulous...Happy Thanksgiving!

oh and....free shipping in the shop now thru 12/17!!!

New girls...

::so beautiful::

::the surprise of memories::

::lost in wonder::

:: finding the poetry::

::growing strong::

::only in dreams::

::no sleep for a beauty who seeks adventure::

These little mavens hold many messages which I have gathered over the last few weeks. In the past I have created small groups of Party Girls (party hats) and Glamour Girls (crowns) but this time I added a few Dream Girls (black caps) to the mix. Each of the girls wears a dress of inspiration and carries a golden heart filled with love, patience, kindness and forgiveness. I love that no matter how many of these girls I create over time they all have something different to say. The four girls in the top row are 3.5" x 4" and the three girls in the bottom row are a wee 2" x 3.5". I'll be adding them to etsy later today or first thing tomorrow. I'm off to runs errands and tie up loose ends...what are you up to on this gorgeous Tuesday?

Block Party...

Block Party

(it takes all kinds)

Not much to report today except that I'm happily busy painting, baking bread, trying to finish Annabel (the curse of the simple sweater is that it allows your mind to wander and so I found myself repeatedly making mistakes and having to pull stitches back), folding loads of laundry, giving the chickens some free range time and starting on a weekend of yard clean up with three kiddos who had no school today. I finished the painting right up there very late last night and am loving the colors, the mood and the energy in this piece. I know which house in Block Party would be mine the question is...which house would be yours?

lost in wonder...

The first snowflakes drifted through the air this morning so light and sparse and beautiful. It was yet another reminder (along with darkness at 4:30 pm) that autumn is behind us and we are heading gently into winter. Right now as I try to write this post, four men are cutting concrete and using a sledgehammer right outside my studio window. I'm not sure what they're doing or how long the mind numbing noise will go on but luckily I have a field trip planned. I'm heading to Owl Lumber to pick up a few large boards and some hopefully lots of scrap wood for painting. The collage I put together in my last post led me to an a-ha moment about a way to work larger and I'm super excited to get started on something. I was planning to start on a group of Party Girls and Glamour Girls this morning and have my wings, words and blocks all ready to go but they will have to wait until this evening. They are very patient girls and I realized yesterday just how long they have been missing from my shop. I worked late last night and have almost completed my 2nd 6" x 22" painting and will share that tomorrow. I've got beans in the slow cooker for dinner, just ordered lots of the best bacon ever to put in the freezer for soups, pots of beans and sunday morning breakfasts which is another sure sign of winter is upon us. Stay warm, be well and may you find yourself lost in wonder today.

In between dreams

in between dreams

6" x 22"

(a closer peek at in between dreams)

You know that time of the night in between dreams when rogue thoughts randomly appear and interrupt your slumber? This piece is kind of about that chain of events which changes the course of your thinking ever so slightly but just enough to matter. This is about those visual or verbal morsels which hang over your dreams like a cloud waiting for a break in the action to make an appearance. They can come from your something you saw, something you heard, something you meant to do. They can be from just yesterday afternoon or from your childhood. But, they are like a string to unravel and follow, a key to what you know to be true, a treasure waiting to be discovered.