autumn

Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. -Stanley Horowitz

Thank you, Father, for delighting us with the beauty of Your creation everyday of the year and so sweetly giving evidence of Your existence and unconditional love.

nesting

Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast-approaching and I feel as if I just wrote these same words a few weeks ago...but it was last year. Time really does fly. It is nice to be able to capture a moment in time and hold it for a while.

Wishing you bountiful blessings and special moments this holiday season.

gingersnap

This is my little calf, Gingersnap, nibbling at the rose bushes outside my studio. See why I can't get any work done?! One animal or another is always doing something cute and causing me to get side-tracked.

tufted titmouse redo

...and here he is with his new yellow/green background.

moth

This huge moth was in our backyard and my husband, knowing me so well, called me out there to see it. I couldn't wait to paint it. When I showed it to my 96 year-old great aunt, she identified it, but I will need to look it up to see how to spell it.

brave little wren

This is kind of a stylized wren, but I think he's cute and has spunk. Wrens are some of my favorite birds because they are so brave and friendly. They sing a beautiful song, too.

look up

This sweet little bird was on my bird bath and serves as a reminder to look up. It just so happens to illustrate a verse my friend, Beverly, sent to me this morning, "He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart." Ecclesiastes 5:20

When life gets you down....look up.

blake's toms

Another pair of TOMS. These were for a teenage girl who loves music and these colors. I'm so thankful for my girls who are always available to advise me on younger, hipper looks than I would be able to come up with. Thanks, Lily!

tufted titmouse

I am feeling pretty smart right now. My paintings are small enough that I can scan them - I don't have to photograph and download them. Maybe I will post more often. I can see that I will need to crop the shadow in the future. I'm not sure I love the pink background. It was blue and I didn't love that, either. Any suggestions? We have lots of these little birds at the feeders and they are so sweet with their big, bright eyes.

technical difficulties...

I really have been painting and working hard, but the problem is that the only pictures I've taken have been with my iPhone. And it is beyond me how to get them from there to here. So...until I figure it out or take more pictures with a different camera, I thought you might enjoy one of the loveliest things I've ever seen. This lily pond is in a friend's backyard (thank you for sharing it, Janice) and the dragonfly and lilies are real! Beautiful, is it not?

priorities

Peachy Keen, 6x6 in., oil





Stacked Up, 6x6 in., oil



More Cherries, 6x6 in., oil



It's been a busy, busy summer, but I'm managing to paint some. Whoever came up with the idea of setting priorities was onto something. Like right now, my priority is to post on my blog and eat the fresh, Texas-grown cantaloupe we bought from the nice man beside the road. And...I got it done! Lots of things don't get done, but the really important ones do. More priority paintings coming soon!

pretty pepper

Roxanne and I are challenging each other to paint everyday. We've done pretty well so far. The first day, I painted this and texted it to her, calling it 'Not a Pumpkin.' She texted her painting back to me and called it, 'Not a Pepper.' She had painted a pumpkin! Neither of us had any idea what the other was painting that day. So funny!

dana's toms

Dana and I were friends in Dimmitt Elementary School. We haven't seen each other since those grade school days because she moved away. Now, we're facebook friends and she saw the Toms I posted there. She, who must be a really fun shoe-person, immediately ordered some and had them shipped to me. She gave me free reign, but said she liked bright colors. Dana is a school teacher and I want her to have them for the first day of school. Even though we were little, I knew that Dana was a true-blue kind of friend and I can only imagine what a blessing she is to her students. I hope her new shoes lighten her steps and take her to fun, happy places.

three of a kind

Three of a Kind, 6x6 in., oil on linen

Finally! Once again, I've let life throw me completely out of rhythm and gone way too long without painting. The two attempts before this one were not good and I really believed I had forgotten how. I've been stewing and agonizing for weeks, just to give you an idea of how happy I am right this moment, and am so relieved that 'I'm back!'

more toms

I am having fun with Toms! And, I especially love the fact that a child gets a pair every time I buy a pair.

toms

My friend's daughter, Meredith, wore white Toms in her wedding. She asked me to paint on them and here they are. This was a fun project and I'm going to buy myself a pair today. The hard part will be deciding what to paint on them.

If you don't know about Toms, click on the link to find out more. For every pair sold, a pair is given to a child in need. A very cute way to help. And, if you want yours painted, I'll do it!

my "new" house

After an outdoor painting session, Roxanne and I headed into my house for something to drink and I mentioned to her my dissatisfation with my furniture arrangement. I have one of those large, open spaces that I just couldn't get to "feel" right. Well...that's all it took for Roxanne's creative juices to start percolating. The more she looked and talked, the more excited we both got. She came out the next day and spent the entire day gathering and rearranging my things. We didn't buy a thing, just used what I had plus a couple of branches that we went down the road and cut. It was so much fun! Being with Roxanne when she is in creative mode, which is all the time, is like being at Six Flags. It's a thrill. And, I love how my house feels now. I'm enjoying all the things I've collected over the years in a whole new way. Thank you, Roxanne! There is more to show you and I'll post more pictures soon.

anna's wedding

Here are a few photos of the wedding on the photographer's blog. Such a wonderful, happy night. Oh, and when you're on her blog, scroll down to see the bridal portraits.


Hoping to be painting and blogging soon!

happily ever after

Our youngest daughter, Anna, was married last weekend in an outdoor wedding at our home. All the months of preparation and it was over in the blink of an eye. Just some remains of the day are left...and, most importantly, a happy marriage.

I'll post pictures soon.

introducing...

...Gingersnap! We went out-of-town last weekend and I left my neighbor, Becky, in charge of our little farmyard. She called me and said that our neighbor on the other side, Mr Cox, called her and said that our momma cow and her calf were separated and needed to be back together. Well, she thought what I would have thought...Cookie's year-old calf , Kitten, had gotten out. She came and checked and they were together. The next day, she got another phone call from Mr Cox saying that the calf really needed to be with its momma. Again, she came and looked and Cookie and Kitten were together. We were confused. Adding to the confusion was his comment that the calf was brown. Brown? Our cows are black and white.

I calculated the time between getting her from the sale barn til now....about nine months. Could Cookie have had a baby? The vet who checked her when I bought her said she was definitely NOT pregnant. But, if Mr Cox says there is a brown calf, there is a brown calf!

Now, I'm frantic.....a baby calf, not with it's momma. That is not good. Becky is on her way home from town and assures me that she'll go right over and look for it. In the meantime, I call Mr Cox who says, "You have a calf. I just saw it back on your side of the fence with it's momma." We have a calf!

When I got home, I went to the Cox's to take them more eggs (that's another story) and thank them for looking out for things while we were gone. He asked me how Becky got the calf back in our fence. When I told him that Becky didn't do it, didn't even know there was a new calf, he and Mrs Cox just about fell over laughing. He never knew that Becky (and us) didn't know what the heck he was talking about!

About the eggs...on my way out of town, I put two dozen of them in a basket on the Cox's front porch. By the time they found them, something had gotten into them and broken 20 of them on their porch. All over the porch. Do you think maybe the Coxes are wishing we'd move back to town? When I asked them that question, Mr Cox's pretty, blue eyes twinkled and he said, "No, this is fun!"

Do we have the BEST neighbors, or what?

Thank you, Becky, Jackson, Alvin and Ruth!

happy eggs

Just pictures today of one of my good chickens, Louella, and lots of pretty eggs. From the coop to the kitchen...pure goodness.

empty nest

"Empty Nest" 6x6in. oil

...what I am about to have....

ladybird

Since I don't have any artwork to show you right now, I'll tell you about Ladybird. We live about 3o miles out in the country and as I was driving home late one night last fall, I could vaguely see something in the road ahead. I slowed down and as I passed by, two big, brown eyes looked right at me through the car window. I pulled over and got out, but couldn't see anything. Before I knew it, this big Bassett hound had jumped into the driver's seat of my car and wouldn't budge. I tried to get her out to put her in the back seat, but she was NOT getting out. She was very upset...crying! There were no houses nearby and it was too late to knock on doors anyway, so I shoved (heaved) her over to the passenger seat and did what I always do.....I took her home. The next day, I ran an ad in the paper, but no one ever called to claim her. It was pretty obvious that she had been dumped, not an uncommon thing out here, sadly.

I really was not looking for another dog to keep at this time - we had plenty of pets already. So, I had her spayed and began looking for a good home for her. Months went by with no takers. Everyday, we got more and more attached, of course. She was a good dog from the start, except for being terribly distraught, but soon became one of the best dogs we've ever had. I can't imagine life without her...she is so funny just to look at and makes us laugh with her comical ways.

She's a good watch dog...

for about 10 minutes at a time.

She helps with chores...

Plays well with others...


But, this is mostly what she does....my kind of dog!

special gift

My blog friend, Flower, knows how much I envy her her woods and moss; something they have a lot of in Oregon and we have none of in West Texas. So she sent me a box full of it! As I opened it, the sweet, moist smell of earth and forest filled the room and I was transported. I've made a terrarium, something I used to do as a long time ago, and I hope it will last in this moist, humid environment. The white violets and johnny-jump-ups were blooming when it first arrived. They are thriving, so maybe they will bloom again. I doesn't matter, though. The joy of having this little world on my table, lifting the lid for a whiff of one of my favorite smells is plenty good enough for me. Thank you, Flower, and thank you God, for the beauty of your earth down to the tiniest detail, even the ground beneath our feet.

new piano keys

I thought it would be nice to try some other subjects on piano keys besides butterflies. These three are a result of that idea. I will definitely be trying other things in the future. The bird at the top was from a photo I took of a bird perched on an iron hanging basket on my front porch. It was back-lit in the photo and I liked how the silhouette looked so painted it that way. These will be available at The William and Joseph Gallery in Santa Fe.

I guess it's obvious that I'm ready for Spring........Spring-y subject matter lately. Today is supposedly the first day of Spring, but it couldn't feel less like it - freezing, windy and dark. Surely, not for long.........