Joyful Bloom

Just what this crisp, cool, and windy day needs. 

"Joyful Bloom"

Acrylic and Ink

Original available here for $18.

2.5"x2.5" on a 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.

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.

Smile

"A smile is happiness you'll find

right under your nose."

-Tom Wilson

"Smile"

Original available here for $18.

4"x2.75"x.5" on wood leftover from a friend's woodworking project.

Edges painted and ready to hang. 

Prints available on request.

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

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.

Primal Feminine

Sometimes a random India ink doodle goes all wildly expressive, wildly feminine...primal feminine. And sometimes a dear friend sends you a perfectly timed article.

"Primal Feminine"

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.

In Flight

I had the close encounter with a mosquito today. It was in the school's bathroom flying around. As soon as I did my business and flushed I tried to get that mosquito. Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Miss...miss...miss...miss.

I gave up and left. And then I had to explain to the woman in the workroom outside of the bathroom that I was not, in fact, applauding for myself for a job well done.

I think she believed me. Maybe.


This painting is another in the style of Marie Laurencin that I've worked on as part of a class I'm taking. 

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!

Revealed

We made the decision to have our chickens live free range in our back yard. We love it. They love it. The cats love it. And even our dog loves it. Seriously, there's nothing quite as adorable as looking out your back door and seeing six chickens standing over a peacefully sleeping cat. 

But one interesting thing about having free range chickens in the back yard is that in the process of all the hunting, pecking, and scratching they do in what used to be our lawn, they have excavated years and years of buried kid toys. They've dug up matchbox cars, playset tools, parts of balls, and tons of scraps of unidentified material. They've even found toy soldiers (my kids never had those, so these must be from previous families' kids). They're digging up stuff that's been buried up to 25 years ago or more!

And what have I done with these treasures? Well, I've rather unceremoniously tossed them in our trash.

This painting is another in the style of Marie Laurencin that I've worked on as part of a class I'm taking. Such fun!

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!

A Following

It's the most delightful thing. Every day I go outside with our chickens, and every day they tag along right behind me. Now I know they're ever so hopeful that I'm about to spread yummies all about. A good guess as I do do that sometimes. But I still like to pretend that it's just that they love me so and want to be wherever I am. Love my feathered ladies!

And this painting is inspired by Joan Miró. I'm taking another online painting class, one that I'd registered for before I was incredibly lucky enough to have won that last online class. I'm super excited to keep learning and being challenged.

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!

Houses of Love

I make mom threats. It's true. And a lot of them are empty. You know how it goes. And here is one of my biggest ones.


Me: "You need to put all your clean clothes in drawers, not on the floor or in a pile on top of the chest, or I'm going to stop doing your laundry!!!"


And their clean clothes just kept right on not being in their drawers and I kept right on cleaning 'em.


But something has happened lately. My big guy has started doing all of his own laundry. And it's not like he's just throwing it in the washer and leaving it there (instead of not in his drawers) for days on end. Nope, he's staying on top of it, switching it to the dryer, and then taking it to his room. It's awesome!

Now just when I'm starting to think, "Hey, responsible wonderful kid, stay a while longer," he's getting set to move out.

And the words, "I'm not going to come home to do my laundry because I'll have machines in my apartment," make me just a bit misty.

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!

Helpful

While my kids are really quite helpful (they really, really are), they tend to take their time when it comes to getting them to start being helpful. Unless...


Me: "Will you please help bring the groceries in?"

Little guy: "I'm hungry, will you make me a sandwich?"

Me: "After you bring the groceries in."

Little guy: "I'm too hungry to help."

Me: "Everything to make a sandwich in out in the car."

Little guy: "I'll get the groceries!"


I love my helpful boys!

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!

A Fabulous Day

What a fabulous day! Let me tell you all about it....

The little guy and I went to a new gym today just to check it out. After our brief tour he went one way and I went another. I hit the treadmill and then when I was just sitting down to do my regular routine with the weight machines my little guy appeared.


Little guy: "Come work out with me. I need a spotter."

Me: "Me? I'm too little to be your spotter."

Little guy: "Let's just try. Come on, let's go."


So with great reluctance, trepidation, and a considerable mumbling of protests, I followed.

And we did it. And it worked pretty well. I continued my undercurrent of negative commentary as he pushed and pushed and PUSHED me harder than I've been pushed in many years. And I was actually able to spot him effectively though he likely wasn't pushing himself as hard as he was pushing me...you know, for his safety and all.

So while he's promised me that my upper body will be really really sore in the morning, I'm super excited to go back tomorrow for the leg workout he's got in store for me.


Me: "I promise I won't gripe so much tomorrow."

Little guy: "Oh, you'll gripe. You'll have a lot to say about how sore you are." (Pretty darn sure he looked more than a little happy about this.)


I cannot wait!!! Really!

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!

Big Eyes

Dave's been using our family as his guinea pigs lately for his photography. It's actually quite fun. But one thing I'm noticing is that if I'm smiling, as I'm apt to do, I squint...like crazy! So I figured, why not try not smiling and see how it goes. Well, my eyes were still not what I'd hoped. So I tried opening them a bit more, you know, just to see how it'd go. Did I look like a supermodel? No way. Nope. Not ever, really. But I looked like a cross between a lemur, Marty Feldman, and Crazy Eyes.

"Big eyes" fail.


P.S. Yes, this wee one looks sweet...that was so not the look I pulled off.

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!

Aroma

The poor little guy gets blamed for everything!

...or at least his feet do.


I was in the car with him and freaked my freak because he took off his shoes. This is not allowed because his feet, well, stink. There, I said it. But off his shoes were and totally stinkified was my car. So I opened all the windows...and the smell got even worse. We must've been driving by where someone had dumped a bunch of maneur. Then the smell shifted to skunk. And up the windows went.


Then later that night I was cooking up a Kali style snack.


Dave: "Dude, your feet stink! Put your shoes back on."

Little guy: "It's not my feet!"

Me: "I'm cooking broccoli."

Little guy: "You guys need to leave my feet alone."


OK, so his feet were innocent in this case, but believe me, they have not lead the clean life.

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!

Love it So

If loving my car is wrong...I don't wanna be right.


I had to do my monthly fill-my-tank-with-gas adventure the other day. It's always my opportunity to reset the mpg info on the screen. The big guy had used my car when his was in the shop and, by golly, the mpg was so much lower than when I drive it, so I was just itchin' to reset that booger.

34.5 mpg...RESET

Now I know this isn't terrible mileage in the huge scope of things, but I'm spoiled by my Prius. I have much higher expectations. And after three days of me behind the wheel instead of my apparently lead-footed nineteen year old...

47.6 mpg

Yup, I love my car.

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!

When the Internet was Down

You'da thought it was a national crisis.  The internet at the house was down.  And after the moans and groans died down to a small rumble, somehow everyone ended up outside.

Basketball was played, won, and lost.  Bicycles went up ramps and flew through the air.  And even I dug up my old muscle memory and realized that I could still do the BMX bike trick I learned almost thirty years ago.

Um, yeah, this mama's still got it!


Me:  "We should just get rid of the internet.  This is so much more fun!"

<insert crickets chirping and boys' eyes rolling>

Click here to purchase this piece.

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

Laughing Together

I try to not laugh directly at my kids.  I prefer to laugh with them.  But sometimes I laugh at them knowing full well that someday they'll think it's funny, too.  And that's OK, right?

So the other day the little guy and I were at a store in the shaving section.  His face had been dry and he wanted some lotion.  But he didn't want lotion that smelled like flowers.  Nope.  He wanted to smell like, well, a man.

He picked up one, unscrewed the lid, gave it a tiny squeeze, and took a sniff.  Not to his liking.  He picked another one up, unscrewed the lid, gave it a tiny squeeze, and BLUUUURP!  A glob of lotion splooshed out and went right up his nose.  Really not to his liking.


"I think the first one will do," as he used his sleeve to soak up the mess.

And I laughed "with" him...future tense, that is.

Click here to purchase this painting.

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And Sometimes I Draw with my Left Hand

I never know when it's coming, but when it does, it bubbles to the surface so fast, so furious, that all I can do is...well...switch hands.

And what happens for me is that it's like an instant access to my inner child.  Letting go of expectations, embracing the whimsy, doing something purely for the fun of it.

Bliss!

Click here to purchase this painting.

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

Back in Roman Times

Seems like we've gone back in time every few days.  The thing is this.  Our kitten loves catching cockroaches.  Really, it's a beautiful thing.  But he goes a bit ancient roman times on us and I end up cleaning up his mess...though I don't really get on his case about it.

From the evidence, here's what I've concluded he does at night:

- He spies a ridiculously large cockroach.
- He catches said cockroach.
- He takes the cockroach to the bathtub (which turns out to be a spot from which cockroaches cannot escape...his own personal arena).
- He"plays" with the cockroach for some undetermined amount of time.
- He gets in bed with me and wakes me up by tapping my face with his paw.
- I find the massacre evidence in the morning when I want to take a shower.

That second to last part really grosses me out after I realize what his dirty little paws have been up to.

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Got my Party Dress On

Well, not really.  Really I've got my skinny jeans on.  But, hey, it's my birthday, so I can pretend what I want, right?

I like birthdays.  I like getting older.  I like admitting how old I actually am.  And I'd like to think I still will when I'm in my eighties.

So...I'm rockin' forty-seven this year.  And what have I said today?


"I'm going to be odd this year."  To which folks have said/though.  Um, I thought you were already odd.


Oh, and since I'm forty-seven...and since it's a prime number in addition to being odd...this year I'm officially in my prime.  In an odd way, of course.

Click here to purchase this painting.

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Eclipsing the Moon

Of all the heavenly bodies, our moon is most definitely my favorite.  As a child I was convinced that the moon followed me.  As a young adult I was quite sure it could sense my every thought as I gazed upon it.  These days I'm pretty darn sure that both are true.

And maybe, just maybe she'll call to me in the wee hours to take in her majesty in tonight.

Click here to purchase this painting.

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A Walk in the Park

Managed to go to two grocery stores today.  And each boy went with me on one trip.  Kind of awesome that they'll still go shopping for groceries with me at 15 and 18.  I dig it.  Course one wanted some "say so" power about what I bought for the week, and the other wanted to be allowed to drive the car in a big empty parking lot on the way home...but hey, they wanted to go with me. 

Anyway, my kids know I'm totally uninterested in finding a parking spot close to the entrance.  It's really not even on my priority list, so when I parked today, here's how it went.


Little guy:  "Really, mom?  Here?"

Me:  "Gosh, I remember you used to really like long walks with me in the park."

Little guy:  "But this is the PARKing LOT."


I suppose he has a point.  I also suppose the looooong walk was not at all unbearable.

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World Travelin'

Costco style, that is.

After I worked out at the gym today I hit the Costco because we were out of everything.  Figuring there'd be no samples available, or at least none that I could eat with my finicky diet, I scarfed a couple dried pineapple slices from a bag I keep in my car for just such emergencies, and head in.

Well, I tell you what...I had the best Costco sample day ever!

Stuffed grape leaves, the most delicious lentil soup, hummus, and dried mango.  I was in Kali appetite heaven.

And now that I think about it, I didn't buy one thing I sampled.  Ya, I have no explanation for that.

Click here to purchase this painting.

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