Remembering an angels birthday.

When my daughter married in 2006 I gained not only a son in law...but I became a part of a lovely extended family. 

I am a HUGE family gal.  Family is the most important thing in my life...I feel like I can never express to each and every one how much their happiness means to me. Nothing could have prepared us for the tragic heartbreak of losing the littlest member in August 2011, she simply went to sleep one night and never woke up.

Little Aubrie Noelle was the light of so many lives.  She was (my grand baby in-law (?) whatever)...a beautiful little girl and although I never got to meet her (they live in Washington) I ooed and awed over every photo and tidbit her beautiful mommy shared with all of us.

This month she would have celebrated her 3rd birthday.  She has a new baby sister who is a miracle in every sense of the word (but that's another story...this post is for Aubrie).  I feel blessed just by having seen what a light shown through her and how much she has made our family closer.  The painting below (which is about half complete) is a gift for Aubrie's mother Hollie, her daddy Brandon and baby sister Jaelyn.  

Happy Birthday Lovely Angel Aubrie - butterfly kisses.

March 1st

I am amazed that it is already March 2013.  This year just seems to be flying by.

I am looking forward to Spring, here in the south daffodils have already popped up and I can't wait to see more green. I grew up in Northern Nevada which is beautiful country but it really is a big cat box. Dirt, dirt and more dirt.  Oh and sage brush.  lol

Well to finish of February, I finally re-upholstered my dining room chair cushions!!! This is a project I first started planning out last Spring so I am thrilled I finally completed.  I am still working the rocker I keep sanding and changing colors on it...maybe it will be a never ending project.  

This months projects:

• rocking chair
• sand big rocking chair and design pattern
• cut spring wood projects
• paint paint paint!

This and That

Hello all,

I've been keeping busy playing in my studio, and now I have a few photos to share.  

The sunflower painting was Java Paint Night at Coffee Tree Books & Brew in Huntsville, instructed by Deborah Taylor.  I've included her website link so you can see more of her art and learn more about my friend.

The butterfly painting is a gift for my neighbor.

The two photo frames were just quickie designs for fun.

I'm still painting the children's rocking chair.  I keep changing my mind on color and accents hopefully I be done soon because I have so many other projects I want to start.

Please leave me comments and don't forget to visit Deborah's website.

New Pics Posted

I came across a couple memory sticks of mine with pics of some paintings I've played with - I believe these were mostly from 2010, and so I thought I might as well post 'em to the "Some of My Art" page.

I'm currently working on a crochet project, home projects and getting ready for my son's wedding in October.  Maybe after that I will slow up enough to spend time making a few pieces of art :)

Butterfly...restoration part 1

I picked up my butterfly this past weekend, she has a lot of damage from being in the garden all spring and summer.  I am glad I outbid everyone.  I would be mortified to have someone pay several hundred dollars for her and find out after the fact that she is damaged.  I wonder how the other butterfly winners feel about the damage on their butterflies?  We looked at a lot of the butterflies waiting to be picked up and most had moderate damage. 

The base on mine has the most damage as she was located in a mostly shady area with lots of humidity and moist soil.  I haven't decided if that part is worth restoring - maybe I will just bury the metal pole that the butterfly sits on in the ground?  Too soon to tell.

The butterfly needs some TLC.  The seal I put on did not weather well.  I'll need to carefully sand and seal with a boat type of lacquer/sealant.  I haven't determined what if any other restoration on her is needed.

Regardless, I'm happy to restore her and give her a grand spot in my yard.

I won my HSVBG Butterfly!

Call me silly but I couldn't resist the chance of owning the butterfly I painted for the Huntsville Botanical Garden earlier this year. 

The garden set up an online auction for all of the butterflies and it has been open for about 30 days now.  Maybe I should have bid on someone else's butterfly, or let my monarch slip through my fingers but I just wanted her back.  That's the thing with creating a piece of art...sometimes the piece speaks to your soul and you just can't let it go.

Regardless I am happy to say my butterfly will be returning home and she will be a permanent piece in my own art collection :)

Good Wednesday Morning

Today I am visiting the Huntsville Botanical Garden for the first time.  Regretfully I have put this off but the time is perfect.  The weather is in the 60's, which for me is lovely...it gets so hot here in summer.

I am actually meeting with one of the directors to discuss an art project for one of their tree houses...I can't even put into words how excited I am to volunteer my creativeness!!!  The tree house is called the "Dogwood Diner" how fun...my inner child is running and skipping and singing.  I hope this will be the start of some other creative opportunities.

...in other news, I have been busy doing Spring cleaning and home projects this month so I haven't finished any paintings.  I do have one painting in progress and I am loving it - it's about 2/3 complete.  I will try to remember to get a picture of it posted. 

Greg and I completed a makeover of our foyer HOORAY!  And we did it in a weekend!  the original eggplant color is now a warm fawn/tan and all of the molding is a fresh warm white.  We added a little table, mirror and floral arrangement and VOILA!  Greg also revamped the french doors so they now stay open or can be properly closed...before they were hung but could not close due to missing hardware.  It really looks fabulous!

The master bath is still in progress but we pulled down the 3 huge mirrors over the sinks and the walls are now primed and ready for paint.We also need to replace the bathroom window, tile/grout the shower and buy the panes for the enclosure.  On the bright side art is now on the walls in the master bedroom!

Next is the main guest bath (which is hideous).  Pull out the carpet and lay down new indoor/outdoor carpet (because this it the bathroom that connects to the back patio and pool...this way no one will slip), Greg is picking up a new sink vanity and toilet, a coat or two of fresh paint and new towels and misc accessories and it will look AWESOME!

So exciting to see the house becoming more and more our home :)

Feeling Artsy!

Well it has been a great week of meeting new people and making friends.  Now if only Mother Nature would turn up the heat a little! Brrrr and I live in the south!!! (Of course I'll be complaining about the heat and humidity come May or June...but that is what the pool is for!)

I've been so busy doing this and that, that I haven't painted at all this week.  I'm headed upstairs to get creative and tonight going to "16 Main" for a painting class.  I am so happy, it seems I've finally found my creative spark again. Yippee!