Connection

"Your heart and my heart are very, very old friends."

-Hafiz

"Connection"

Mixed Media

Original available here for $85.

12.75"x4.5" on wood leftover from a friend's woodworking project.

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

The Sun Also Rises

New beginnings abound for the sun also rises.

"The Sun Also Rises"

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Eruption

Volcanoes symbolize creativity, rebirth, energy...as well as destruction and violence. As will all things, all people, all experiences, there are at least two sides.

Through October 20th I will be donating 50% of my original art sales to the Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL), Texas 21 Chapter. More information may be found here. Let's make the climate great again!

"Eruption"

Miniature easel included in the price of the painting.

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Love and Whimsy

When David and I were in Oregon recently, love and whimsy defined our days...made possible in huge part by our dear friends and hosts. This tiny piece lives there. Lucky little canvas!!

"Love and Whimsy"

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Once Upon a Time he was but a Twinkle in his Father's Eye

I've got a soft spot in my heart for father/son relationships.

"Once Upon a Time he was but a Twinkle in his Father's Eye"

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Joyful

Layers upon layers upon layers. This was a wonderful revisiting of the whimsical style I first fell in love with. Such joy!

 Click here to view my gallery 

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Rae Missigman).

So, Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

We've had chicken problems lately. Escaping chickens, that is.

More times than not, lately, I've arrived home to find several of our chickens hanging out in the front yard. This means they got over the fence in their chicken run and then over another fence to the front yard. While it's all fun and games for my chickens, this chicken mama was starting to fear for their safety...especially when the little guy and I were leaving on an errand and had to stop a bit down from our house because one of our chickens was, yes, crossing the road. So after breaking quite a sweat rounding her back home, completing our errand, and getting home only to find chickens out again, I decided we had to do something.

On the scene came google and "chicken wing clipping". After I sorted through a number of articles on cooking chickens, I found what I was looking for. And twenty minutes later our birds with the flight risk each had a lovely one-sided trim. Take that, girls!


So, if you're wondering why the chicken crossed the road...well, it's just like the joke always ended...to get to the other side.


P.S. While this painting is of Phyllis, she is one of two chickens who did not receive the trim. My favorite girl would never want to run far from home.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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Keeping Close

My sweet old lady dog, Scout...

I took her to the vet today for a bit of blood work to make sure she could continue taking her incontinence meds (old lady dog problems). As we sat in the waiting room, she to my left looking away, she kept scooching backward, inch by inch. I found myself moving to the next chair down the line three times as she scooch, scooch, scooched.

My precious girl, keeping close to her mama. Love....

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

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Surrounded by Love

Last weekend I attended a reception at a gallery where some of my art is on display. It was incredibly wonderful. The most delightful folks were there...other artists (my mom among them) and folks that appreciated art (my husband among them). It was positively blissful to be in a space filled with such a love for art.

Honored, humbled, and deeply grateful....

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Thankful

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for accompanying me on my creating/blogging journey.  It's been three-and-a-half years of absolute bliss for me and I plan to continue well into the future. To celebrate my gratitude I'm going to have a HUGE sale on my art.  Everything on my DailyPaintworks site will be 50% off through the month of December.  There's no way for me to mark everything down on the site or to provide a discount code, so just contact me via DailyPaintworks or on this blog site and let me know which one you'd like and I'll alter the price.

Thank you, thank you!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Cookie Love

I've always rather liked rewards.  You know, simple stuff like crossing things off of a "to do" list, the few coins I find in the washing machine after doing a load of the family's laundry, and hugs.  Hugs are always good.  But lately the main reward I've been wanting is cookies.

Yes, I'm Kali...and I've got a problem.  A cookie problem.

It seems whenever I eat my lunch or dinner, my tastebuds collaborate with my brain and they all say, "We deserve a cookie!"

So do I indulge them with a fabulous chocolate chip cookie?

Do I present them with a whimsically decorated sugar cookie?

Do I give them a meticulously criss-crossed peanut butter cookie?

Nope, nope, nope!


No...because they're stuck with me they get an amazing gluten free ginger snap cookie...or five.

And they are SO happy!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

 

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Going Goth

When the kid got his mohawk the other day, it seemed to release my inner goth chick...who had remained dormant for almost thirty years.

Did I go overboard?  Did I dye my hair black?  Did I dig out my old black trench coat?  Nope, my inner goth chick did battle with my inner minimalist and they settled on black fingernail polish.  And I'm lovin' it! 

Except for the ridiculous number of times I've seen my nails out of the corner of my eye and have been convinced that there's a cockroach or some such unwanted thing on my hand. 

Gadzooks!

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Following Directions

I'm feeling so proud of my husband. 

He's the kind of guy who is likely to say, "I don't need no stinkin' directions," whenever we're installing something.  He likes to just figure it out as he goes and, by golly, he manages to guess correctly most every time.

But even he knows better than to try that with something from IKEA.  Yup, that awesome dude of mine worked through the assembly of our new dining table and chairs step by step with those crazy picture directions. 


Me:  "Need any help?"

Dave:  "I don't need no stinkin' help."


Works for me!

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Seeing Spots

I had to pick my kid up early today from his high school physical conditioning camp.  Nothing...nothing...could have prepared me for it.  Now, don't get me wrong.  It was a bunch of sweet high school kids, mostly boys, one even came up to me as I walked in to see if I needed anything and he immediately fetched my kiddo for me, but the smell.  The smell!

I hang out with chickens a lot.  They have a smell.  It's a farmy kind of smell and I actually rather like it...or at least I don't find it offensive.  We have dogs.  We love 'em, but they definitely get their funk on.  I hug them anyway, of course.

But the smell of fifty-ish kids using heavy weight equipment in an un-air conditioned environment that likely doesn't get much cleaning, in very tight quarters, well, I turned around and waited by my car. 

And I must've looked pale or something...I was definitely seeing spots.


Little guy:  "That smell hit ya like a haymaker, eh, mom?"

Me:  "If that means I got hit in the face by something really big and hard, yes."


And then we drove home, me sweaty after a long walk on the trail and my little guy who admitted that he'd not had a shower in two days.

Dave had no idea of the haymaker that was barrelling his way!


P.S. I still haven't added a layer to the larger piece I'm working on.  Perhaps tomorrow.

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A Quick Change

I had a long list of "never do"s today...that I did.

- wear ironed clothes
- make-up on
- hair held in place with hairspray
- addition of one bobbypin

I'm usually wrinkled, pale, and out-of-control frizzy.  But since I had an audition I decided to put my best professional foot forward.  Just as I was leaving I went to my little guy's room to say, "Bye."


Little guy:  just staring at me, saying nothing.

Me:  "Do I look like myself?"

Little guy:  "ish"


And off I went.  And then I came back.  And within five minutes of getting home I was my wrinkled, pale, out-of-control frizzy...and very happy...self.

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Love in da House

One of my favorite things about summer is that I'm around to see so much more.  And one super sweet moment just happened.  Tommy, our kitten cuten was asleep on our bed.  Hazel, our 85 pounds of pure love dog was, too.  My little guy came in, carefully picked up Tommy and lay him atop Hazel, and then leaned into them giving them both a big hug.

Little guy:  "So much adorable packed into one hug!"

Love!

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Summertime!

OK, I'm feeling the life of luxury coming over me.  I just wrote my summer "to do" list and there are only six things on it!  Now, I didn't put anything on there that I'd normally do anyway, no, just the things that are out of the ordinary that I must take care of.  You know, things like my annual physical (sorry, TMI), getting my car inspected, and getting the kid a passport.  So my plan is to get all six things done by early July so I can settle in to my unscheduled life of hanging out at the pool, laundry, hikes, dishes, playing with friends, and housecleaning. 

Bliss....

I love summer....

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It Means Love

My boys are both alike and different in so many ways.  But one way they are absolutely, positively alike is one particular way that they acknowledge me.  And I'm not a fan.  While on the surface it seems good.  They aren't being mean.  They aren't saying bad words.  They aren't even being defiant.  But every time they do it it gets my hackles up.

"Uh-huh."  Yes, I know it sounds benign, as they say it all the time in completely non-offending ways.  But there's that certain tone, that certain slowness to the utterance, that certain something that always, 100% means they're nicely telling me, "Yes, mom...you're so stupid."

But really, I should be celebrating this.  My boys are being kind to me.  They're taking great care to not actually call me "stupid".  I think they deserve to have a new value put on that "uh-huh" of theirs.  "Uh-huh" now officially means "Mom, I love you so much!!!"

And now they'll wonder why I respond with a big toothy grin and a celebratory clutch of my heart.

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Hammer Time

So it turns out that if the guys are out hammering in the back yard it's absolutely, positively not received well when I break out into song with "Hammer Time".

Furthermore, it's absolutely, positively, without a doubt not received well when I break out into dance to go along with it.

And now I'm consumed by the urge to get some bloomy pants.

This painting has been donated to the Carver Museum as part of a benefit for them.

It will be auctioned off to benefit the museum.

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My Inner Slob Lives Here

I'm a slob.  I absolutely, positively cannot get through the day without getting some sort of muck (food, paint, beverage, mud, etc.) on what I'm wearing.  So when I decided to have spaghetti for dinner tonight, I changed out my black and white striped shirt I'd worn to work for a little T-shirt I'd picked up at a thrift shop.  As I was walking back to the kitchen it occurred to me that I was now wearing a white shirt, albeit a cheap one. 

So I sat down to eat, grabbed one of our cloth napkins, i.e. a bandanna, tucked it into the neck of my shirt, and proceeded to down my delicious spaghetti.  And I must say that basically wearing a baby bib was absolutely fabulous.  I think it might just be my new thing.

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