Original Art by Lynette Clay

2011-11-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

Crescent Moon ~ The other night we were driving through the countryside (going to town for some fastfood) I'm tired of cooking at home arrgh; and I saw the thinnest, most delicate crescent moon way up in the sky like a delicate jewel. I told my muse it was time to get back to work and do some more paintings!

2011-09-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

'Softly Twilight' 3 1/2 x 5 inches, acrylics and charcoal pencil on watercolor paper.

Crazy happenings this summer in Virginia ~ I experienced my first earthquake ever on Monday, August 22nd. I had stayed up late the night before and was sleeping in late when I dreamed I was in the 'Exorcist' movie. I woke up with my bed shaking all around, the walls shaking and rattling. At first I thought the washing machine had the worst unbalanced load ever and was dancing across the kitchen. I ran down the hall and freaked out when I saw the washing machine wasn't even on. About that time, Rob and Suzie the dog ran in the kitchen and Rob hollered 'earthquake'! The house shook and rattled with a deep rumbling sound another 20 seconds before it quieted down. Scary, I know lots of you brave souls have experienced earthquakes, but I pray that's the last one I ever will, they are scary as &^%$# !! Five days later, we had hurricane Irene come crashing through. She raged here for over 12 hours. We got lucky because we only lost half a tree in the front yard but our nextdoor neighbor lost a whole tree in the back yard. There's still lots of damage evident in the area and after a week, everyone in the area got their electricity back on. We got lucky, ours was only out for 2 days. Here's some film images I got of the hurricane. I'm ready for fall now!

Our house and front yard

more destruction in the area, soo many trees uprooted and fallen. :(

2011-07-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has a fun, safe awesome 4th of July! Happy Birthday America!!

Twilight Farm Series ~ Here's a series of aceo size paintings I've done lately. I've been on a farm kick lately. Growing up in Kentucky and living in Virginia so many years, I love the countryside.

2011-05-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day ~ to all the wonderful moms! My sweet daughter gave me this glass window hanging and I treasure it!!

More Abstracty Lynxie Trees ~ I added to two of the big sky landscape aceos below

2011-04-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

I tried to place this in the post I just made but I'm too much of a tech dummy to figure out how to do it. I heard this F-4 tornado back in '93. I was at work in Old Town Petersburg, Virginia and the tornado was only two blocks away from us.

2011-04-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tornadoes! ~ My heart goes out to all those who were affected or lost their lives in the tornadoes in the U.S. this week. We had some pretty scary weather here in Virginia too and I got a couple of pictures of how the skies looked.

Skies ~ I've been on a sky kick lately, these three paintings are acrylics and aceo/art card size on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

2011-04-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

New ACEO size paintings and pictures from last Saturday ~ Here is some more small paintings I've done lately and some weather pictures from last Saturday. Wow, what a scary day. The huge storm front moved through North Carolina and Virginia, spawning tornadoes left and right. We had a tornado warning and one touched down about 10 miles from us, it was scary! We were ready to head to the hall with a mattress over our heads a couple of times. Finally the storms moved east of us and surprised us with a wonderful full moon to the east. I was running for the door with my camera lots of times that day! Scary weather but it was good for picture taking!

2011-03-17T20:22:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ~ I hope you all had something green on today. I dug out my old green jogging pants and shirt to wear today so I was safe and didn't get any pinches. I've been painting a few new ones lately, some 4 x 6 inches and most of them in aceo or art card size 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. The weather has been so nice it's hard to stay inside to paint. We mowed the grass the first time this week, we'll be cursing the grass and heat before too long though. :)

The Electric Tree

4 x 6 inches acrylics, charcoal pencil on wc paper

The Electric Tree Moonrise

aceo size 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches

Silver Moon Night aceo size

Ribbons of Blue aceo size

Blue Moon Lake aceo size

2011-02-25T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Old Apple Tree Song 4 x 6 inches, acrylics on wc paper

Two small aceo size paintings I did this week, acrylics and charcoal pencil

The Spring Frogs are Singing ~ That must mean that winter is almost over, yea! Since we're almost into March, we are having some really windy days...especially today, it knocked the power out for almost an hour this evening. I've been painting some here and there lately, I need to get motivated. Maybe when warmer weather gets here, come on spring!

2011-02-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Is Winter Over Yet? ~ I know it's almost over when I'm painting heart shaped trees and getting pictures of snowstorms moving out of the area with cool looking sunset colored clouds! Happy Valentines's Day! with lots of love and happiness!

2011-01-10T20:47:00.000-08:00

Brrrrrr ~ This has been one of the coldest winters here in Virginia that I can remember since I've been living here. I know spring is around the corner though. I usually wish for more snow, but this winter has granted my wishes and more. We're supposed to get around 3 more inches of snow and sleet tomorrow, ugh. I've been lazy at visiting my friend's blogs and painting but I'm hoping to catch up one of these days. I painted these two aceo sized ones (below) this past week.

2010-12-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

Getting in the spirit of Christmas ~ It Snowed last night! Well, just enough to turn the trees and ground into a winter wonderland but not too much! and...

Homemade Christmas Cookies ~I rolled, cut and baked these things for hours and there were sprinkles and icing all over the kitchen but we're enjoying eating them! and....

More small aceo paintings ~ I painted these last week. I hope everyone is having a great December, haha two more weeks till Christmas and I haven't even started yet except for some decorating and baking cookies...no stress yet, I still have two weeks! :o

2010-12-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

LAZY ~ That's the way I've been feeling about blogging lately and I finally got myself in gear and uploaded some more aceo's that I've painted lately. I did several moon themed ones and now I'm doing a snow and ice series. I can't believe how close we are to Christmas. I finally got the house decorated and plus I've been doing some scraping/priming and painting on the outside windows and woodwork in the bathroom. Trying to get the house ready for Christmas, ho, ho, ho it's right around the corner, yikes!

:D Check out Suzie ~ ...and how much she likes the jinglebells stuffed toy (below). I was getting dizzy with her chasing it, but she would have chewed it in a million pieces if she had gotten her teeth on it! She almost got my camera in that first chomp! :o :)

2010-10-22T21:44:00.001-07:00

Hunter of the Night, an aceo size painting in acrylics and charcoal pencils

Fall is here! ~ I've been painting some more small paintings aceo size and taking pictures of the colorful sky too!

2010-10-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Fall, ...aahhhhh... and some new paintings ~ It's been a while since I've made a new blog post and I have some catching up to do on my visiting! I feel fall in the air and it's soo nice. I'm getting in the mood for pumpkins, fall decorations, Halloween and lots and lots of candy! We had the most awesome orange harvest moon recently, I hope everyone had clear weather and a chance to enjoy it! Here are some of the small paintings I've done since my last post. They are all aceo size (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) in acrylics, some with charcoal pencil. Our Suzie dog is getting huge and she's a big hyper fun sweetie! When she stands on her back legs, she's almost as tall as me!

2010-09-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

Where did the water go??! ~ I took this picture (above) about three years ago at nearby Lake Chesdin, and I took the ones below two days ago. I'm starting to forget what having a rainy day feels like because of the severe drought and heat we've had this summer. We have been walking out on the dried up lake bed and it is nothing but acres and acres of deep dried up cracks with little shells, dried up tree stumps, and old tangled fishing line. I just know we will have some rain one of these days. At least the days and nights are getting a little cooler now.

2010-09-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

Suzie Girl ~ She's weighing at least 50 lbs. now and still trying to sit in my lap, best dog ever!!!!

Silvery Night ~ An ACEO size painting I recently did and...

The Western Edge of Hurricane Earl ~ I'm glad he stayed out to sea but we could've used the rain if he had stayed longer.

2010-08-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

New Small Lynxie Tree Paintings in acrylics, charcoal pencil and crystal glitter. Yep, I am still painting these small trees! Maybe I'll switch to another subject someday, who knows.

Scorching Hot Summer ~ This hot summer with lack of enough rain has really affected the water levels at Lake Chesdin nearby. Rob and I went there the other evening and it was really surreal to see what looked like acres of bright green growth where there was supposed to be water in the lake! We stayed until almost dark, trying to capture some pretty sunset photos.

2010-08-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

Two More Lynxie Tree ACEO Paintings and the Antics of Suzie (below) ~ I made these two paintings with acrylics, charcoal pencils in both black and white, and crystal glitter. I didn't even know that charcoal pencils came in white until my recent trip to Michaels to get more brushes. I used the white charcoal in the aceo below. I haven't felt much like painting recently because of the rotten summer cold I've had this week. Rob and I both have been sick and coughing for over a week now, blah!

Flying Dog! Nope, it's just Suzie jumping high into the tree to prune off a few branches out of the yellow tulip poplar in the backyard. I caught this picture through the window and all you can see is her back leg hanging out of the tree, she can really jump high! Below she is running back with the trophy she captured out of the tree.

Payback LOL! OK Suzie, I guess this is my payback for not letting you chew up my potholders in the kitchen lol!! We let her inside on those days when it got unbearably hot outside and she was like a big rambunctious 50 lb. toddler, always trying to find something new to chew on. She had already gone through all the old shoes in the house, so I let her have this old leather work glove (below). This is how I found it laying under the microwave cart the next day...

2010-07-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Two more Lynxie Tree aceos ~ I painted both of these in acrylics on watercolor paper...

Suzie Says "arf, arf Hello" ~ She is the biggest baby and the sweetest dog! We brought her inside on those days when it got so hot outside. She decided she liked the chair in the kitchen by the computer. For any empty nesters who miss having the kids at home, I recommend getting a black lab...it's almost like having another big kid! :)

2010-07-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

Frank Campagnone ~ You were a dear and kind person, teacher, friend, and co-worker for fourteen years and you will be so so so very sadly missed! Rest in Peace Frank! :(

2010-07-05T20:21:00.001-07:00

Nightmares Falling ...in the land of midnight purple...

Three More Lynxie Trees ~ I painted these with acrylic paints, black ink, charcoal pencil and crystal glitter. Each is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches in size.

... Sunshine and Snow...

...Fairy Tale...

2010-07-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

I need to work on my fireworks picture taking skills, I got these photos tonight when we went and watched the fireworks...

My g-g-g-g-g-Grandfather ~

(I copied this out of the ancestry site, I hope that was ok to do) Joseph Preston Yadon was born in County Down in Ireland. When he was 12 someone in his family died, and it upset him so much he ran away from home. Later, he came by boat to the new American Colonies and fought with General Burgoyne in the Revolutionary War on the side of the British. He was only 18 years old when he played the drum in the fife and drum corps under General Burgoyne. When General Burgoyne's troops were captured, so was Joseph Yadon. The conditions in the prisons at that time were horrible. The prisoners were given very little food. Some died of diseases or starved to death. Joseph was young and wanted to live. When the independent Americans told the prisoners they could be free if they changed sides and fought for the Americans, Joseph did. Now he was a drum major for the Americans. His friend, by the name of Pennybaker, played a fife. Even though Conrad died, Joseph Yadon got to be friends with the Pennybaker family. [I hope I don't have this story wrong. I can't find Conrad in my database. However there are so many spellings of Pennybaker, I may have just missed it. If you can straigten me out, please do.] Conrad had a pretty red-headed sister that Joseph married and settled down with after the war. He lived in Tennessee in his later life. He actually inherited a large fortune in Ireland, but couldn't go back to get it because he would have been hanged for being a traitor to the British cause. In America, he is honored because of his service to his country during the Revolution.

http://emolnar.com/gen/showmedia.php?mediaID=33&medialinkID=44

2010-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

Diggity Dog ~ This is an aceo size painting in acrylics and charcoal pencil of Suzie doing one of her favorite things, digging! I entered it in this month's ebay Nibblefest Art contest and the theme this month is 'Dogs World' ARF! Check out my friend Babs and her wonderful entries of Rosie and Spotty Dotty, she created some adorable canine magic with her clay and acrylics for this month's nfac!! To see all the entries, all starting at .99, just go to ebay and do a search for nfac. Below are some fun photos I've taken the last couple of weeks...

Mr. Bumblebee enjoying some pollen

Puddin', NO, that is not something you can play with, leave it alone!! I wasn't getting too close, but this looked like a harmless black snake and it finally went up a tree.

Eww, the joys of the macro setting on my camera. This large bug is called a robber fly and it preys on other insects by catching them, sticking a straw in their backs and sipping the contents, ick! He was sitting on the outside of the glass door.

2010-06-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

Avoid this plant like the plague ~ if you see it! ~ Because I found out too late that it's poison ivy! I was out there about a week ago wondering what this kind of pretty but fast growing vine was growing all over the fence in one spot. I was out there, without gloves, cutting and pruning it down and carrying the branches off to the burn pile. A few days later, the itchy blisters was appearing on my left hand, both legs, and tonight I have some new blisters up my left arm. Ugh, I can't believe I didn't recognize poison ivy and all my life I knew to beware of plants with three leaves! My daughter's boyfriend came out today and sprayed it with something to get rid of it.

Two more Lynxie Tree aceos....I keep on painting them.....

2010-06-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun Too! ~ That's what Suzie seems to be saying as she's playing in her little pool! It's hard to believe we've had her a little less than two months and how sick she was after we first brought her home! She is rowdy and rambunctious now and she has sure found a place in our hearts! We went shopping at Petsmart yesterday and got her a couple of new toys and a new pink glow-in-the-dark collar!

Here are two new Lynxie Tree aceos I finished this week, done in acrylics, charcoal pencil and black ink. The first one was inspired by all the lightning bugs (or fireflies) flashing right at dusk in the backyard. We used to have so much fun trying to catch them when I was a child...they made warm summer nights seem magical!

2010-05-30T21:23:00.001-07:00

CORNHOLE BOARD PROJECT ~ My daughter and her boyfriend asked if I could paint some wooden cornhole game boards with an abstracted design. Of course I said "sure, bring them over". Ha, I had no idea they were each 4 ft. tall and 2 ft. wide and very heavy too! I've been working on these for over a week and now both of these are done and they can varnish them and then throw beanbags into the holes. I was happy with the way these turned out since I don't think I've ever painted anything this big before! I think I may have to learn how to play 'cornhole' now lol!

Another small abstracty Lynxie Tree, this is number 61 in the series in aceo size. I'm not sure how many of these I will end up painting.

2010-05-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

'Monochromatic' ~ That is the theme for this month's Nibblefest art contest in Ebay. That means only using shades of one color. Well, I couldn't make up my mind which color to use...soo, I made three aceos to enter in the contest. Each of these are made with acrylics, black ink, a medium charcoal pencil and the sparkles of sparkly crystal glitter! You can find all the cool monochromatic entries this month if you go to Ebay and do a search for NFAC. They all start with bidding at 99 cents!

SuzieQ ~ Doing her favorite thing, digging and chewing! She is really growing and she makes us smile every day. We had her spayed and she got her shots last thursday. She is still a puppy and already weighs 40 lbs. She is going to be a big one when fully grown!

2010-05-17T21:26:00.001-07:00

More Lynxie Tree aceos with skinny crescent moons ~ I haven't been doing a lot of painting lately, but I did finish these three aceos. I love using the black ink with a spray of water to make interesting shapes, the light reflective acrylics, my medium charcoal pencil and the crystal glitter. I make these in stages and after putting a layer of gloss or matte medium as a finish, I sprinkle the crystal glitter only on the areas I want to sparkle. For some reason, I am fascinated with the trees and the moon and painting these are just soo much fun!

2010-05-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Puppy Love ~ They weren't looking when I took this picture of Rob and Suzie today, talk about puppy love! Suzie was so sick just a couple of weeks ago, but now I'm thinking her stomach must be a bottomless pit because she eats sooo much and she's soo hyper! I've painted another Lynxie Tree to share and I hope everyone is having a great week!

2010-04-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

More Lynxie Trees and a Suzie Update ~ I haven't been painting much lately, but I did paint three more Lynxie Tree aceos. Suzie the new pup has had some rough days since I last posted, but wow, look out now! She is looking soo much better and she is sooo hyper energetic lol! Her nose discharge finally cleared up and she has been eating like a little pig. We had to loosen up her collar a notch today. I'm so relieved that she is almost completely well now and my only problem is trying to keep her from trying to chew my hands off every time I go out in the yard, she's a little nipper! :)

2010-04-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Daughter Kristie and Suzie ~ My daugher has always loved dogs and came by to see our new puppy Suzie the day after we adopted her from the animal shelter. She's a 6 month old Lab mix and wow, what a week! We noticed that Suzie had developed a cough when we adopted her that morning. Well, she quickly got soo much sicker and really fast...the last week has included two trips to the vet with an IV and strong antibiotics. At first she was given a diagnosis of kennel cough, but on the 2nd trip to the vet, they suspected the dreaded distemper and gave her a 50/50 chance of survival. We were pretty devastated, but this post does has a happy ending. Since she was treated yesterday morning, she has improved so much! Yesterday and today, she has mostly rested, but she seems to be getting well fast and she's eating good again and even getting playful too. Go Suzie pup, we're keeping our fingers crossed!

More Lynxie Trees....

2010-04-06T20:37:00.001-07:00

New Lynxie Trees ~ I've been delving into the land of abstraction with these lately and it's been fun! These are both aceos on wc paper and I used everything but the kitchen sink in these-acrylics, including metallic gold and pearl colors, medium charcoal pencil, black ink, and crystal glitter.

Wash Me ~ Can you tell the tree pollen is just crazy right now? My car was washed (thanks to Rob) just a couple of days ago! It's like a fine yellow dust coating everything, including the pansy bloom below. They have bloomed out so pretty and just a few months ago they were covered in snow! The last picture is of a sunrise cactus I gave my mom-in-law for Easter. Her husband had to go through surgery monday but he is doing much better now.

2010-03-30T20:37:00.000-07:00

Colorful Sunset and more Lynxie Trees ~ We've had some really nice colorful sunsets lately and I was glad to capture this on my camera this evening right before the sun went down. I liked how the headlights showed up in the picture

to give it some extra interest. I'm still painting the Lynxie Trees and I guess I'll keep painting them until I get tired of doing them I'm still having fun with the acrylics, medium charcoal pencil and crystal glitter. Wow, it seems like winter is finally done here and we may be turning on the AC soon. After tomorrow, we are going to have a spell of days in the 80's! Woohoo, summertime is right around the corner and we'll be putting up the big old swimming pool out in the backyard!

2010-03-17T19:54:00.001-07:00

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! ~ And if you're not wearing at least a little something green today, here's a virtual *pinch* for ya! :p

Here are two more 'Lynxie Trees' done in acrylics in aceo size. I've slowed up on painting them but with the nice weather this week, we have been out in the yard doing some work. Tearing down old fences, putting up new...ouch my aching back! Things are starting to bloom and the grass is greening up, I love it!!

2010-03-11T16:19:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Trees and a Colorful Sunset ~ Ahh, I can hear the spring frogs singing at dusk now and that means that spring is right around the corner! I am so glad, this has been such a long cold hard snowy winter for so many here in the U.S. I know we got way more snow than usual this winter so I'm ready for spring. Back to daylight savings time, don't forget to set your clock ahead one hour this weekend!
Here are three more 'Lynxie Trees' I've painted. I used acrylics, white gesso, medium charcoal pencil, black ink and crystal glitter for the sparklies in the branches. Also, we had an intense sunset the other evening and I had to grab my camera to capture it. That sunset inspired the pinkish sky in the third aceo. I hope everyone is having a great week!

2010-03-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Tree ACEOs ~ I keep saying I would like to paint something larger but I've only been painting these small ones lately. I love using the light reflecting gold and pearl acrylics, the medium charcoal pencil, black ink and crystal glitter in some of these. I've been having fun with these and listing them for auction in ebay. I hope everyone had a great weekend; they're forcasting snow for us here tomorrow night, bleecchh!! At least it's only going to be around an inch but Wednesday morning will be a mess.

2010-02-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Trees and dreaming of spring ~ The weather has been pretty awful and cold and now they're talking about more snow this coming tuesday and wednesday...I know spring is coming right around the corner though, so that's one thing to look forward to. Spring, are you coming soon?! TGIF and I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

2010-02-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Tree ACEO's ~ Why am I painting all these little trees? Only my muse knows for sure! I'm enjoying doing them, but hoping I can get inspired to also paint something larger soon. Our snow is melting fast, but there's still piles of it out there and plenty of white areas on the ground. My husband said I jinxed us this year because I'm always wishing for snow. The fact is, we're usually lucky to get 3 or 4 inches the whole winter but this was one to remember! TGIF, I hope everyone is having a great start to the weekend!

2010-02-07T21:26:00.001-08:00

Bundle up in your warm coat and snow boots ~

This is a horse barn believe it or not (lucky horses) and so pretty with the snow! I took this picture from my car window as we took a drive

Heavy snow coming down in the front yard. I think the road disappeared.

The swing in the backyard is looking a little chilly

We attempted to get to Lake Chesdin to take some more pictures but the road was closed

There were kids with sleds way out in the distance, looks so fun

Pretty curvy road in the snow

A scene we saw on our ride up the road

Berries looking bright in the snow

All that snow made me want to paint some! This is an aceo size acrylic painting with crystal glitter to make it sparkle. Listed in ebay tonight, it's #24 in my Lynxie Tree series. I'm keeping the trees coming! Here's the listing. I'll see how this one goes, hopefully everyone isn't tired of the snow yet!

2010-01-31T19:36:00.001-08:00

My Treasures for Today ~ This beautiful heart made of clay which my dearest friend Babs surprised me with for my birthday...a very talented artist and author of the blog Off the Wall Art Babs, you know I will treasure this and thank you from the bottom of my heart, it's precious!!...and yikes, am I really 56 now? The years fly by so fast!
and the photos below ~ a single pansy pushing through the snow (I rescued the rest of them), and deer tracks in the snow all over the backyard today. We got about a foot of snow!

2010-01-30T19:54:00.000-08:00

Big Snow!! and more Lynxie Tree aceos~ It's been snowing solidly here since about 1 a.m. last night, but the storm has finally moved on tonight (whew)... after dumping at least a foot of the white stuff on us. (but it's sooo pretty!) I'll be out there tomorrow shoveling snow off the deck, porch and the sidewalks, and ha that will be some good exercise. In the art department, I've been painting more of my little trees in aceo size in acrylics. I really like the metallic pearl and gold acrylics and I've been using charcoal pencil and graphite pencil as well. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, and hopefully some nice weather too!

2010-01-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Trees, New Blog Designs and a Gorgeous Cresent Moon the Other Night ~ Yes, I'm still painting a Lynxie Tree ACEO almost every day now (I've missed a couple days)...I'm keeping up my New Year's resolution and hopefully keeping my muse happy too, she keeps trying to sneak out on me. I think it's a good exercise in creativity and helps keep me motivated and more focused on my art. I've been listing these in my Ebay.
WoW, check out the new wonderful blog designs in Bab's Off the Wall Art and Kate's Kate's Corner blogs!! Ladies, I love your new blogs, they look stunning and I'm gonna be picking your brains so I can give my blog an updo...I'm getting tired of my blog's old black background and the same old look! I'm such a dummy and so scared to mess with my blog, afraid I'll totally mess it up!

I captured the beauty of this delicate glowing cresent moon the other night with my camera!

2010-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

More Lynxie Tree ACEOs and Cool Sky Pics ~ My New Year's Resolution this year was to paint an aceo every day...so far so good, because I've kept up with it thus far...I figured painting every day would be easier than promising to lose weight, quit smoking or exercising! :) I've been listing all of these Lynxie tree aceos for auction in my Ebay (link to the right).

Strange Ropy clouds in the sky this evening surely means rain on the way! ~ I hope everyone has a great weekend, it's supposed to rain here all day tomorrow, so it will be a good day to stay inside and work on my New Year's resolution, more aceos coming up!

2010-01-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

Puddin' in a Basket ~ Now here is someone who knows how to stay warm...no washing these rugs tonight because Puddin' has taken over the laundry basket for her naptime, it's warm and snuggly in there! I can't remember the last time we have had a day over freezing temps and I know it's been so much worse north and west of us. Brrrr!

I've painted soo many of these little tree aceos I have finally given up on even trying to give them a title. So I'm calling them my 'Lynxie Trees' (haha) and I'm starting with #1 and #2 pictured here! These are both aceos done in acrylics with the crystal glitter and metallic gold and silver spots here and there. I hope everyone has a great weekend and stay safe and warm (like Puddin')!

2009-12-31T23:41:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2009-12-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Another page for the traveling sketchbooks and more snow pics ~ This is my last page for the traveling sketchbooks and it's been so fun...thanks so much for starting this wonderful project Kate! I love my completed book, which had traveled wide and far, and arrived safely back home full of wonderful pages done by such creative artists! This page (above) is for Auntie Mim's book and the theme for her book is 'home'. I used a collaged acrylic painting on heavy yupo paper and added some metallic gold touches and black sharpee ink and a sparkly gemstone on the window. I hope you will like your page and I will get this in the mail this week so it can make one more stop then be on it's way home to you!
Our snow is almost all melted now but I have more photos to share with you below. It was really wonderful to have a white Christmas this year!

2009-12-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

A Holy Night, Decorated for Christmas, and A Winter Wonderland

ACEO size paintings (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) in acrylics, graphite pencil and crystal glitter on watercolor paper

I Wish Everyone Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Christmas! ~ I think we are all ready here...tree decorated, gifts all wrapped and ready to be opened, dozens of cookies baked...so we are just waiting for Santa now, ho ho ho, impatiently I might add! Hurry up Santa so we can open the presents! We are going to have a white Christmas this year since a big nor'easter storm hit us last weendend with lots of snow. Some of it's melted but the ground is still white, I love it and can't remember having snow for Christmas in many years.

Babs posted one of her favorite Christmas ornaments in her blog 'Off the Wall Art', check it out! What a great idea and I got some pictures of some of ours which I enjoy seeing every Christmas. From the gingerbread house ornament that my daughter painted when she was younger, to the special rocking horse ornament which we got when she was 2 years old. It's hard to believe that little pink horse has been decorating the tree for the last 21 years!

The 'shooting star' sled has been hanging on the tree many years too. My daughter's elementary school class made these little treasures out of popsicle sticks, string, and felt.

Christmas cookies to share!

Big nor'easter blizzard, this pic is from last Saturday night when the snow was coming down hard. We got about 8 inches of snow. The cardinal below was waiting his turn at the feeder.

Happy Holidays to everyone ~ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2009-12-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

Small Abstract in Green, Orange, and Gold and a Strange Looking WIP ~ Not much going on lately...feeling uninspired to do anything creative, I'm starting to think I have the holiday blahs. Ha, then I have to remind myself that we're barely into December and it's time to shake off those blahs and paint something! The other night I grabbed my medium charcoal pencil and started to doodle on an aceo size piece of watercolor paper. After adding some of the acrylics in green, orange, red and metallic gold and silver and a sprinkle of crystal glitter, I was sort of pleased with the way it finally turned out!

I don't have a clue what this one is about (photo above - 8 x 10 inches, acrylics on a stretched canvas) and it's been sitting in my painting room for months and months. I just add a little to it here and there and today I was thinking that it was starting to remind me of a large bug or some sort of sea creature! I guess I'll finish it one of these days!

2009-11-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

New ACEOs and Gobble Gobble! ~ Oh boy, I've been so guilty of neglecting my blog lately, but at least I have gotten these three aceo size cards painted this week so I can share them. They are available on ebay and two will be running in the nfac contest in ebay this week. I couldn't resist painting a couple for the fun theme of 'holidays'. I was trying to get inspired this week to paint something, anything. I was starting to think my muse had run away with the turkeys and gone in hiding! These three are done with acrylics (including the shiny gold and silver), charcoal pencil and some sprinkly sparkly crystal glitter. I'll be up to my elbows in sweet potatoes this week. I always make a huge bowl of the sweet potato casserole with pecans and brown sugar and we head over to my MIL's on Thanksgiving Day, loaded up with yummy dishes.

Happy Turkey Day!!

'Christmas Mystery'

'Christmas on Mars'

'Midnight Mystery'

2009-11-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Tropical Storm Ida ~ "Ooh look at these pretty, wispy feathery clouds!" That's what I was saying on Tuesday as I took the three photos above. Little did I know that we were about to be clobbered with around seven inches of rain, flooding and high winds for the next three days, thanks to tropical storm Ida! We were one of the lucky ones though since we didn't lose power... although it almost went off several times. I had the hurricane lamps and candles ready. For the photos below, fast forward to Saturday evening a little after 5 p.m. ...what is that reddish color on the tops of the trees across the road?! Yeaaa, it's the sun, which we haven't seen since Tuesday...and I can see the stars up there tonight, so I know that Ida has finally traveled out of central Virginia! Yeaa, sunshine tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing it again, whew what a soggy week!!

2009-11-11T21:59:00.001-08:00

New ACEOs, and one last morning glory ~ These are some of the latest aceos I've painted and the one on top is one that I've reworked several times but it really, really is finished and done now. I think all it needed was some snow on the ground and some holiday decorations added.

I found the last morning glory of the year (probably) almost hiding under the steps in the backyard and of course I had to get her picture with those pretty colors of purplish blue!

The D.C. area sniper was executed last night at a correctional facility, not too far from where I live here in Virginia. It brought back the awful memories of those three weeks back in '92...he was shooting people in the area not too far from where we live and I can still remember the eerie and creepy feeling I had as I walked from my car into the grocery store during the weeks before he was finally caught. Everyone was on edge and wondering who it was. Walking across the parking lot, I had a strong uge to duck my head and hurry inside. It was a scary three weeks before he was finally caught and it boggles my mind how any human being could do such a horrible and evil thing!

2009-11-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

Jiminy Cricket, Fall Colors and another Girlfriend's Traveling Sketchbook page finished! ~ The trees have really been colorful the last few weeks and here's a few of the photos I've taken here and there... well, mostly in the backyard here. I also finished another of the sketchbook pages this week and I have it ready to mail. Karen M., from the blog Beelieve, wanted a bee theme for her book and I really had fun doing her page! I used a collaged print of a sketch I did several years ago, metallic gold and silver acrylics, black sharpee pen, sparkles and an old pendant I found that reminded me of a honeycomb! Karen, I have your book ready to mail and the bees are coming home to roost soon and I bet you will love your book! That means I only have one more page to do and that is for Auntie Mims book!

2009-10-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ~ I hope everyone has a fun, happy and safe Halloween! I've been enjoying eating the candy and watching the trees turn gorgeous fall colors this week!

Here are some ACEO paintings I finished this week in acrylics and... Wooohoo, I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday! My completed Girlfriends Traveling Sketchbook arrived and it looks unbelievably awesome! My book has traveled all over the country and even to London, UK! Thanks so much girlfriends, I love it and I'll always treasure my book!! I also have another page to work on for Karen M's sketchbook and then only one more to go, which will be Aunt Mim's page! My book was so long, I had to stretch it across the carpet just to get a picture. Thank You Kate for starting the Girlfriend's Sketchbook project, you're much appreciated my friend!!

2009-10-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Fall Colors ~ Our crepe myrtle hardly bloomed at all this year, but she is putting on a fine show of scarlet color right now! Looking out at the back yard, guess who is going to be doing a lot of raking real soon...me! I enjoy it though. I don't have any new art to share, my muse has been on vacation lately. I think she's finally telling me to get in there and paint something tonight though, yea, about time she came back!

House on Fire! ~ Last week, we had soo many sirens go past the house at about 6 pm Thursday evening...Next the police were blocking off the main road and detouring traffic down the side road next door! Someone's house had caught on fire and omg, I'm so thankful nobody was hurt. The couple who lived there wasn't at home when the fire started but the house had extensive damage inside. So scary! I took this video (below) from our front door about 2 hours after all the sirens went by!

2009-10-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Headed Duo ~ I worked some more on my dancing scarecrows with pumpkin heads. I think I'm going to enter them for the ebay nibblefest contest on the 2oth, since the theme this month is 'Halloween'. I can't wait to see the entries this month, it should be fun!

I found this big yellow poplar tree leaf on the ground today and oooh, it looked so pretty next to the pansies I recently planted. I couldn't resist getting some photos to share. I hope everyone has had a great weekend! We've had cold rain and drizzle, clouds, and wind for almost a week now, ugh I think winter seems to be coming early this year.

Beautiful Blue Pansy, she's showing off her colors.

Velvety Red, she likes being next to the bright yellow leaf.

A close-up of the leaf, what incredible patterns you can find in nature. This could inspire an abstract painting!

2009-10-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Colors of Autumn ~ This is two new aceo size paintings I did this week in acrylics. I have them both listed in ebay. I've been really feeling the mood of fall...especially since the temps have dropped and we are turning on the heater at night now, brrr!

I'm so proud of my daughter, who is so very busy...working and going to college classes to someday become a pharmacist. She had a break today before classes and found time to visit her dad and me and have a cup of coffee and a visit.

All day long, we haven't seen a speck of sun. It was gray and drizzling all day. Then right as it got dark, we look out west and finally see the sun right as it was setting in fiery colors!

2009-10-10T21:08:00.001-07:00

A Solid Black Pansy ~ Who knew there was such a thing, I sure didn't know! We went to Home Depot in search of mums and pansies yesterday. The year before last, I had them planted out front and they looked so pretty and grew really well. I knew I wanted to try them again this year. Soo, I bought all kinds of colors including red, purple, blue, white, yellow...and right when we were getting ready to check out, the guy at the register showed us 2 pots of solid black pansies he had on top of a shelf. I was surprised because I didn't even know they came in this color! I couldn't resist them because they looked so unusual and were such a deep velvety color. I thought these pictures would be perfect for fall so I'm sharing them with youall. I've been really slow making art this week. I did start on another pressed blue wildflower aceo/atc with a pastel purple background and I hope to finish it and make some more. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

2009-10-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

Scarecrow Pumpkinhead Boogies in the field and More Blue Wildflower ACEO/ATCs ~

Sometimes I think I have a weird imagination to paint something that looks like a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head dancing around in a field! Maybe it's because Halloween is almost here, a fun time of year!

I've been picking those little blue petals out of the flowers in the fence again and I've made a total of 6 of these so far. I researched, and finally found the plant I've been picking on. They are called Asiatic dayflowers and each of the little blue blooms only last for one day. I'm hoping the petals will last a whole lot longer than that in my aceos, since I have at least 3 thick layers of gloss medium over each of the cards I made. Numbers 1,2, and 3 are gone but 4, 5, and 6 are available and listed in my ebay (link in the upper right of my blog). I am going to try and make some more to list in my etsy store this week! I'm thinking of trying out some different pastel colors for the backgrounds. These have been so fun to make and I may try to make some as Christmas gifts this year.

2009-10-04T16:53:00.001-07:00

My Experiment for Today ~ I was sitting on the steps and picked one of the little petals off of one of the blue wildflowers (actually weed) which grows in the fence. I rubbed it between my fingers and it turned my fingers so blue! I thought hmm, what would happen if I painted an aceo with light yellow acrylics and then press the flowers into the wet paint? That part was tricky and delicate. I got some of the tiny little orange parts and a couple of leaves in there too. I then painted a layer of clear gloss medium over it all and sprinkled in a little bit of the crystal glitter. Next I used a black sharpee for the stems and red acrylics for the ribbon, with a dab of irridescent pearl in the middle of the flowers. When it was almost dry, I pressed a piece of yupo paper which made some neat textures. My experiment is almost dried and now I just wait to see if the plant parts will turn brown (oh no) or if the lovely color will stay this way!

Harvest Moon Sparkle ~ With fall colors...I love fall so much but it seems to be the sneezy, coughing season for me now. I've had awful allergies the last week and haven't felt much like painting. I did get this aceo done last night though and it's done in acrylics and crystal glitter over the moon and water. "aachooo" maybe I'm allergic to the crystal glitter, lol! I hope youall had a great weekend!

2009-09-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Bridge in the Sky ~ This is the 6th aceo/atc size painting I've made of the New River Gorge Bridge. It fascinates my mind to paint something so tiny of something soo huge! This isn't a very good picture though because I waited too late in the evening. I'm hoping to get a better photo tomorrow.

2009-09-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Morning Glory Beauties ~ I started to yank this vine out that was growing up the old lily stalks and now I'm so glad that I didn't. The sun was shining though the blooms and I captured the intense color before the blooms folded up for the day.

More ACEOs ~ I've been painting more little paintings in acrylics. The one above is titled 'Softly Through the Mountains'. I remember how it looked all hazy, soft and blue when we drove through the mountains in West Virginia...that title just jumped in my mind and I think it suited this one fine.

'Earth and Sky' I and II. I was ready to throw these two aceo's away until I mixed some blue and white for the sky. They seemed to take on a new life and I liked how they turned out.

'Get Outta My Nectar' ~ This is another aceo which I did for the September nfac (nibblefest art contest) in ebay. I really enjoy painting themes, it's a challenge and fun too! The theme was birds and bees and I painted the problem we had with our feeders, which is the bees were hanging around and actually chasing the birds away. I hope everyone has a fun and creative weekend!

2009-09-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Old Bridge on the New River ~ I just finished this aceo/atc size acrylic painting on watercolor paper last night. I picked and picked and finally had to tell myself to stop and call it finished. I painted it from a photo I had taken when we went to the New River Gorge bridge back in July. We were thinking about going out again for official 'Bridge Day' on October 17, but there are going to be sooo many people there for that extreme sporting event. We may go the weekend before. I hope so, it's an amazing place! Haa, of course we were just going to watch the people parachuting and bungee jumping off the bridge, not join in! :o

Is it a hummingbird!? ~ Standing in the front door as dusk was coming, my husband called and said, "hurry up and come look at this and bring your camera!" It turned out I didn't need to hurry because this large hummingbird moth took it's time at all the flowers in front of the house. I used the flash on the camera to get these pictures.

2009-09-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

The page I made for Kate's sketchbook and...

... and pages reversed (how it looks in the mirror)

Another Girlfriend's Traveling Sketchbook Page is Done ~ Yea, I finished the page for Kate's book last night! Check out Kate's inspiring blog at Kate's Corner. The theme for her book is 'I believe' and the pages in her book so far are looking incredible! I went with 'I believe in imagination and I believe in dreams'. I had found an abstract acrylic painting on watercolor paper that I had worked on a while back and I worked on it some more to finish it up. I cut the painting into two sections and collaged these on the pages, painted in gold and silver acrylics, along with some 'backwards' writing. I love writing backwards, it exercises the right side of your brain. It's even trickier to read but easy if you hold it up to a mirror. Kate, I hope you will like your page and thanks for starting the traveling sketchbooks project, it's been so much fun! Also, there's a tiny gemstone hidden somewhere on the two pages. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! It's starting to look like fall here and boy do I miss swimming in the pool. I guess I'm going to have to open the plug to drain it and store it till next summer...it's back to the treadmill for exercise, blah.

2009-09-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

You can see the sparkle effect in the pic above

Snowy Day Sparkle I & II ~ More ACEO/ATC size paintings done with acrylics and crystal glitter, I love using the sparkly stuff just on the trees and snow!

EEEEEEEEEEK ~ I went out on the deck last night to have a cigarette and saw something crawling on the window out there and it wasn't a moth! Needless to say, I smoked under the stove fan the rest of the evening and I'm too chicken to go out on the deck tonight! I believe this is a Japanese hornet and we have seen them out here in the county where we live the last couple of years and they're becoming a problem, especially when I can't even go out on the deck at night and Rob is scared to mow back there. When the weather gets cooler, we're going to see if we can find the nest (they build them in trees) and look for an exterminator! I don't mind harmless creepy crawlies but these things give me the shivers! btw, I took this pic through the safety of the window, it was like he was trying to find a crack to crawl through...thank goodness we had all the windows fixed up last fall! :o :o

2009-09-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Moon Sprinkled Pumpkins ~ aceo/atc size in acrylics and crystal glitter

Winter Sparkle Redbirds ~ This is acrylics and crystal glitter on 4 x 6 inch watercolor paper

Sparkly Sprinkles and a New Abstract Painting in Blue ~ I've been getting into the sparkly sprinkles again and not only is it going on my little paintings, it's also going in my hair, all over my hands, desk, floor, etc. I love using the stuff, especially when I'm trying to paint in details of frost or snow. I've been working on a larger painting also, 8 x 10 inches, acrylics on stretched canvas. I may work on this more or I may just call it finished, I'm not even sure yet. I think I'll hang it on the wall a few days and study it some more. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, I can definitely feel fall in the air here!

2009-09-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

Girlfriends and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks ~
I've been working on and off for the last couple of days on two new sketchbooks...and having lots of fun doing it! I recieved both Karen's and Suki's books this week and I got them both finished, yeaa! Check out Karen's blog at: Threadstory
and Suki's blog at : Paint, Poems and Ponderings .

For Suki's book, titled 'Fire and Ice', I collaged a painting on two pages and glued a really cool old button that I had found in my box of odds and ends. I love the little things encased inside the button and it has a mysterious look to it. I wish I could remember where I found that button and it looks just right on the painting!

Detail picture of the button

I titled Karen's book 'Grandma's Quilt Pieces'. I really had fun with her book too and I know she loves fabrics and sewing. I am a real fumble-fingers when it comes to sewing and then...aha, I remembered something I had sewn over 45 years ago, talk about vintage lol! My Grandma had boxes and boxes of fabric scraps at her house and she taught my sister and I, when we were about 10 years old, how to make quilt pieces. Well, I had so much fun matching colors and patterns and actually sewed up a quilt piece a couple of feet wide. I never finished that quilt but I still have the section in my drawer and the material and thread is stong as ever! Well, I took off one square of that old quilt and placed it in the little pocket (made out of yupo paper). I collaged in buttons, a real needle (point dulled), a piece of fuzzy thread and used metallic gold and pearl paints for the background. I also glued an art card that I had done and cut the edges. OK, I'm ready for the next 2 books, which I've heard are heading my way. I'm going to let the glue dry overnight and get these in the mail to Karen M. in the next day or two.

2009-08-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

Apples and 2 new ACEOs ~ When the apple tree is so loaded with blossoms in spring, it can only mean one thing...

Lots and lots of apples...Apple pie, anyone? The last two evenings, right at dusk, I've been bravely going back to the jungle at the back of the yard to pick bags and bags of apples from the two apple trees. During the day, the trees are guarded by yellow hornets the size of B-52 bombers, which also love the apples! But thankfully, I haven't encountered any bees if I wait till dusk for the apple picking. These three bags are going to my Mom-in-law's house tomorrow so she can make some homemade apple butter and pies, yummm!!
It seems the deer are enjoying the apples too because I saw one running along the fence back there the other day!

Moon Sparkle I & II, yep I'm using the sparkly crystal glitter again. I just finished these two aceos last night and I'm having an urge to paint some sparkly snow ones now!

2009-08-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Another Bridge, NFAC entry and a red-headed visitor ~ Here's another aceo painting of the New River Gorge Bridge...I've been on a roll with these and this is my fourth one painted from our trip to West Virginia last month. The technical illustration class I took waay back in college sure came in handy when I did this one.

The theme for this month's ebay nibblefest contest is 'rivers and trees'. One of my favorite themes! I painted this one and called it The Peek-a-Boo Tree. It's 5 x 7 inches, acrylics and charcoal pencil on watercolor paper.

Wow, my husband took a picture of this red-headed visitor early this morning. We have these huge woodpeckers which like to visit the two pine trees in our front yard and it looks like he was resting before his climb up the tree.

2009-08-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of ACEOs and a poplar tree leaf mandala ~ I had already finished these two aceos with the purple tress (or so I had thought) but they were lacking something...some pumpkins! These are titled 'Purple Night Pumpkin Patch I & II. I think naming art is a big part of the fun and creativity for me. Look what I found out in the backyard today. These poplar tree leaves were on the ground and had a mixture of the prettiest colors so I couldn't resist picking them up. I arranged them into a poplar leaf mandala on the stone bench and added some fossil rocks and a passion flower. One of the rocks reminded me of an alien's head, especially with those eyes. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

2009-08-12T18:06:00.001-07:00

I'm really getting in the mood for...

FALL and pumpkins and spooky stuff and the leavess turning on the trees and cool crisp nights! ~ Here's some aceo/atc's I've done in the past and I'm getting in the pumpkin painting mood again. I've been working on some paintings of the New River Bridge but nothing worth sharing yet...stay tuned!

2009-08-03T21:57:00.001-07:00

Beauty after 4 o'clock and a new ACEO ~ My dear friend Babs of Off the Wall Art (thanks Babs!) sent me some flower seeds last year and - oh boy did they turn into some gorgeous flowers this summer! They are called 4 o'clock flowers and they bloom late in the evening...night owl flowers which suit me just fine. The fragrance is heavenly and they are such a hot pink lovely color!

The New River Gorge Bridge ACEO/ATC ~ I am on a kick of painting from photos I took in West Virginia on our trip. I just finished this one yesterday and it was fairly tricky to get the perspective and hazy distance in a painting so small.

2009-07-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

Clouds, rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun...then a rainbow right at sunset ~ This is the weather we've had today here in central Virginia. I see others posting skywatch friday photos and I have some good ones to share this week. I hope youall have a great weekend!

These are the two aceos that I painted from our trip to West Virginia. I had these prints in a frame to give to my daughter and her boyfriend, who went on the trip with us. I was so excited...a lady whose husband helped participate in building this bridge back in the 1970's is the one who bought the original painting of the gorge! A very nice lady, she's been telling me some of the details of when the bridge was originally built...exciting stuff and I'm in the process of painting an aceo of the bridge now!

2009-07-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Yet more photos from our trip this month to West Virginia ~ I wish I had a new painting to share but I am working on one tonight, yep I am. I hope everyone has a fun and creative weekend!

2009-07-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

Catching the Light ~ This is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches acrylics on watercolor paper.

I did this little painting from a photo I took last weekend at the New River Gorge.

2009-07-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ahhh it feels good to paint again! ~ The two paintings above are aceo/atc size and painted in acrylics. The top one is titled 'River Wilderness' and the second one is 'Chasing the Light'. I may enter these up for bid in the upcoming nfac art contests in ebay. The one below is 'Fishy Mutants' and it's 6 x 6 inches on a stretched canvas. This is one I just reworked some more but I'm still not sure I'm happy with the way it turned out.

From our trip last weekend ~ If you are wondering what it looks like to drive over the New River Gorge bridge, this is a photo I snapped as we were going across!

We went down countless steps (my legs were sore for days) to get these views of the bridge. Can you see the vehicles going across the top?

I've never been afraid of heights before, but I've changed my mind after seeing my husband and daughter standing on this rock last weekend! I refused to get on that last rock but did manage to lean over a little to get a picture of the huge dropoff right in front of where they were standing. My hands still sweat just looking at these pictures and seeing how close they were standing next to that edge!

2009-07-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

Playful Otters...
A scene at Virginia Beach...a sparkly blue dolphin statue...

Oh boy, I knew sharks were fearsome creatures but to see one swimming so close through the glass, yikes!!

A big old sea turtle...

A restored mid 1800s West Virginia farm at Twin Falls State Park in West Virginia. A park ranger lives here. We stayed in one of the cabins for two nights.

Another picture of the old farmhouse. I read that the inside is fully modernized for the people living there.

I loved that old dinner bell!

Tire swing fun at the family reunion...see where I get inspiration for my paintings!

You can tell that lots of kids have enjoyed that swing!

Lucky number 13, this is the cabin that we stayed at for 2 nights at the Twin Falls State Park in WV. Saturday night we actually saw what we think was a small bear walking across the front of the cabin next door!

White water rafting at the New River in WV

Green West Virginia countryside

eek, what a drop! This is next to the New River Gorge Bridge.

This bridge is almost 800 feet above the river and it's famous for people bungee jumping and parachuting. They have a 'bridge day' every year and close the four lane bridge to traffic for the brave jumpers. No way, not in a million years would I bungee jump off that bridge, it's so high!

The New River in West Virginia...what a stunning view through the overlook window at the park!

From the ocean to the mountains, what an amazing and busy week! ~ Last weekend we drove to Virginia Beach to see the Virginia aquarium and science center, then this weekend we drove all the way to the mountains in West Virginia for Rob's family reunion. Lots of driving and traveling and we were so glad to get home last night! The Virginia aquarium and science center was definitely worth the drive, although it was so packed with people. We saw seals, otters, sharks, native birds and all kinds of critters native to Virginia. It was educational and we had so much fun! But, I have to say that the most awe-inspiring sight of all was when we drove to the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia on our way back home from the family reunion. This bridge is most definitely not for those afraid of heights and it's famous for the bungee jumpers (eek, no way would I try that)! We drove across the bridge, which is almost 800 feet above the New River, then we drove all the way to the bottom, going though many, many hairpin turns with sheer dropoffs which would take your breath away! I've taken so many photos from these two trips, I had a heck of a hard time choosing which ones to post in my blog so I'll just put a buch of 'em in here. I haven't had a chance to paint anything this week but I'm sure feeling inspired after all the sights we saw this week.

2009-07-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

'Let's Go Play on the Tire swing!' ~ Babs, I was influenced by your wonderful 'inner child' series of clay sculptures and reading about your memories of playing in the woods with your friends as a child...Here's my page for your book and I hope your inner child is gonna like it! :)

'Daydreaming' ~ Here's my page for your book Lynn. I did a lot of cutting with my old exacto knife and did some collaging and painting. I even put a little piece of silver ribbon for a window curtain. I hope you'll like it, this has been a fun project!

Girlfriend's Traveling Sketchbooks ~ I got a progress picture of the books today.

OK Girlfriends! ~ You can tell what I've been working on this weekend and they are getting ready to travel again! I'm getting all 3 books in the mail tomorrow and off they go to Karen! I had already gotten Soulbrush's page done and this weekend I got Lynn's and Bab's pages done. All 3 books are looking fantastic so far and I couldn't resist stretching them all out to get a picture of the books in progress! I hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July! I didn't do much here, but I did get to see some fireworks through the trees. Tomorrow, we are going to have major fun though...we are planning on going to the Virginia Beach aquarium and marine science center! I hope to get lots and lots of pictures to share!

2009-06-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

A new page for Soulbrush's book ~ There are pages and creativity flying through the mail, thanks to the Girlfriend's Traveling Sketchbook project started by Kate of Kate's Corner. I got mail from Cathie yesterday and I recieved books from Joss (Soulbrush), Lynn, and Babs. I was chewing my nails, wondering which one to start on first and how to make the pages, then I though...OK, calm down (ha no stress here) and just work on them in the order that they are on the mailing list...so I studied Joss's book and it's full of wonderful bright color and designs and I knew I had to use some vibrant colors and do something fun. Soo, I ended up painting a crescent moon and stars and painted a red border all around. I hope she is going to like it, her book is looking great, and so are the others! I'm inspired to start on Lynn and Babs books now, what a fun project this has been!!

This is something I've been fiddling with and it's 8 x 10 inches, acrylics on a stretched canvas. I sort of laid it aside for a few days to see if I want to call it finished, or work on it some more. I picked a bouquet of photos out in the yard (photos below) to share with y'all! My camera has been busy the last few days. Babs, lookee at my oreo seed plants, they're growing great so far!!

2009-06-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

Untitled WIP ~ I just started painting this last night and it's 8 x 10 inches, acrylics on a stretched canvas. I used the pearl acrylics for the dots and I'm seeing a sort of gate or fence so far. Who knows what it will look like when I'm finished though. I've been having such a hard time getting in the mood to paint lately (where are you muse??) and it's so frustrating. Wow, such sad news today, first Farrah Fawcett dying, then Michael Jackson, which was a complete shock! I can still remember my Mom saying, when a celebrity died, that the deaths usually come in 3's. She was right since good old Ed McMahon from the Johnny Carson show also died the other day. RIP Ed, Farrah, and Michael. :(

Yikes ~ This fearsome looking creature in the photo below really wasn't so scary...he was actually probably less than 2 inches in length and was sitting in some flowers. I believe he is going to turn into a lovely orange butterfly someday. I used the macro setting on the camera and I couldn't even see the metallic blue colors on those fearsome looking hairy spikes until I opened the picture in the computer. Nature is so neat!

2009-06-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

Little Red Kitten and Big Blue Swimming Pool ~ This mischievous little red kitten is an ACEO done in acrylics and black ink. He's my entry for the June NFAC (nibblefest art contest) in ebay here: Little Red Kitten

We're having a pool party at the house and this is what has been occupying my time for the last few days. This big blue bubble holds 5,250 gallons of water (yes, that makes me a little nervous) and it took lots and lots of hours for this thing to fill up. This is actually the 2nd quickset pool we have had and the first one lasted 5 years. Ahhhh, water here I come. The floating duck, which I nicknamed 'Disco Duck' is actually the chlorine tablet holder. Ya'll come on over for a swim!

2009-06-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Saga of the Incredible Girlfriends Traveling Sketchbooks ~

Yea, I got my sketchbook page done for Cathie from the Clevelandgirlie blog. I worked on it last night and finished it today. Her sketchbook has a theme of 'words of wisdom', so I remembered a favorite old poem and tried to intregrate a few words from that poem along with a 5 x 7 inch acrylic painting I had done. Some things I used for her page are the acrylic painting (with a sparkly gemstone inset in the sky), a goldleaf pen, gold and pearl metallic acrylics, crystal glitter, matte medium, and permanent black ink. I used that old poem as a calligraphy project way back in college days, but I have never been able to find the original author, even after lots of google searches last night. It's possibly one of those that have been around forever and the original author lost. I always thought of that poem as a reminder of hope, that no matter how bad things are today, they will get better. I'm hoping to have this ready to mail to Karen of the blog Beelieve by tomorrow, 'heads up' Karen! :) Also, I forgot to add that since Cathie's page was made of fabric, I used a piece of gessoed canvas for my page for her book.

My calligraphy skills weren't that great but I still passed the class! I did this over 25 years ago.

2009-06-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Dramatic and colorful skies tonight ~ I don't have any new paintings to share, but instead I'll share the fantastic skies that we had right at sunset this evening! Thanks to a bunch of storm cells popping up all around us, the sky looked so amazing I was running for my camera! Now if I could capture all those colors in a painting! TGIF and I hope everyone has a great weekend!

2009-06-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

Catching Twilight 1&2 and Hummingbirds zooming by the front door! ~ Some new ACEO's I painted last night...

Last night I was out on the deck looking at the magic purple of the evening light and was inspired to do these 2 ACEOs above. They're both acrylics on 140 lb. watercolor paper.

We've been having such fun watching these little 'hummers' feeding. I put the feeder right next to the front door and they are noisy little critters, fighting and chirping and zooming around. It's amazing how they seem to defy gravity!

2009-06-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

'Birdcage' ...(photo on right showing the sparkly)

'Whirlpool'

'Pinwheel'
~ I had a huge sheet of semi-transparent yupo paper and I've recently been trying acrylics, black ink and sparkly crystal glitter dust for texture. I really like the effects in these ACEO size ones!
Puddin' must be one of those 'lol' cats I've been hearing about because I sure had to laugh at her playing 'hide and seek' under the bed last night! :)

2009-06-03T22:35:00.001-07:00

Cherry Tree and the Traveling Sketchbook Project ~ This is a 6 x 6 inch painting in acrylics on a stretched canvas and ugh that glare, I just noticed it but at least the colors look ok, better than the first pictures I tried to get of this one.

Check out Kate's Corner and her awsome idea for the traveling sketchbook! I hope I did this right, since this is a new kind of project for me... here's my first page, acrylics, glitter dust, and butterfly stickers on semi-translucent yupo paper, that I mailed to Karen who writes the blog Beelieve and she's the person who is on my list! This is going to be fun!

2009-05-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

'City Kitty'

'Amusement Park Moon'

A couple more ACEOs and youuuu guessed it...another rainbow!! ~ I just finished these two little paintings, both in acrylics on watercolor paper. I've been wanting to paint something larger but we're going to have a mess in the house next week with some new carpet coming in. The first room to get the carpet will be the little room I paint in...yes a very large drop cloth is going to cover the floor in there after next week because I'll be so paranoid of any paint spatters getting on the floor now. More stormy weather produced this rainbow yesterday evening and of course I'm running for the camera again, pointing it at the sky. I hope everyone has a fun, creative and great weekend!

2009-05-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Sky Colors ~ The painting above is an ACEO size 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, done in acrylics on watercolor paper. I think I'll call this one finished although the one below, 8 x 10 inches acrylics on stretched canvas, is still a wip. It seems lately that my muse has been missing in action. I can start a painting but have trouble finishing them! I was thinking I would try painting a tree or two in the one below and see where it goes, hopefully somewhere good.
I hope ya'll have a wonderful Memorial Day! I'm remembering my dear Dad who passed away in September '99. He served in the U. S Army during WWII, under General McArthur, and was stationed in the Philippines all those many years ago.

2009-05-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Spiraling Into Blue ~ This is a wip which I worked on this week, 6 x 6 inches on a stretched canvas. I'm still trying to figure out what else, if anything else to add to it though. I painted it really fast, swirling my brush through the wet acrylic paints and the small art card below took me at least 10 times longer to paint!

Dotty Takes a Ride ~ in her 'souped' up toymobile...Just for the fun of it...I love entering the monthly themed (NFAC) Nibblefest Art Contest in Ebay. This month's theme was 'Secret Life of Toys' and I couldn't resist the fun! This is acrylics on a 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 watercolor paper and I used the metallic gold and silvery pearl acrylics which put the 'bling' on the toymobile and the painted ribbon decoration around the border. Here's a link to my auction.

2009-05-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

More rainbows and storm clouds ~ I took these pictures this evening and it's been more stormy, crazy weather here in central Virginia! I climbed under a tree to get the first picture and every time we have a rainbow (which is often, amost every time it rains here lately) I'm out there with my camera like a crazy person...I hope everyone has a fun and fantastic weekend!! I've been painting too but nothing worth sharing yet. I have to grab these photo ops while I can!

2009-05-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

More Rainbows and a Phoenix ~ Here are some rainbow photos I took in the stormy weather from last week and a painting that I can't seem to finish this week but I worked on it some more tonight. I keep seeing the Phoenix rising from the ashes in this abstract painting and It's 6 x 6 inches, acrylics on a stretched canvas.

2009-05-08T16:20:00.000-07:00

edit: I just now added this photo (above) to my post. I used a new setting on the camera to get these crazy color effects!

Yellow blooms, pink moon and a new colorscape ACEO ~ Pictured here is a bloom from the yellow tulip poplar tree out in the back yard (above) and a full misty pink moon sailing up behind the same tree...

Below is a new ACEO I finished today. I was mostly just experimenting with colors in this one. I wish a very ~HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY~ to all you Moms out there and I hope youall have a great weekend!

2009-05-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

Strange Little Creatures ~ I have 'see creetures' above, a new painting that's 6 x 6 inches on a stretched canvas and...

my oreo cookie seeds are really coming up! Last year Babs had sent me some of these seeds (thanks Babs!) and I planted them out in the back yard. Only one of them managed to come up through the thick grass and dry conditions out there. This year, I'm putting them up on the deck in a big clay pot and I can keep the grass out and keep them nice and watered. The sprouts are so cute and they made little holes in the dirt coming up. The seed halves look like they are ready to start clapping! I remember that the flowers are called grape hyanciths and they have beautifully colored vines and flowers later in the summer.

2009-05-04T14:16:00.001-07:00

Country Dreams ~ I've been painting tiny barns again. These are each in acrylics on watercolor paper and 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. It's fun to remember how the countryside looks where I grew up in Kentucky...the silver roofs shining in the sun and the lush greenery, crops and flowers! Maybe I should have put some teeny cows in there. I hope everyone is having a great Monday, it's been stormy here all day but everything is looking lush and green with the rain.

2009-04-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

One Rose ~ (6x6 inches acrylics on stretched canvas) To save the whole world....this idea came from the novels in Stephen King's Dark Tower series (pictured below). The one rose grows in a weedy vacant lot in the center of New York City and seems to be a key, door or portal to the Dark Tower itself. The Dark Tower series is mesmerizing and I felt inspired by the magic of that one special rose. I knew I had to try and paint my idea of what it would look like. Here's a wikipedia article link which explains more about the rose and the mission to save it. My dear friend Babs has been traveling through the Dark Tower novels too and she painted a fantastic work which depicts 'The Song of Susannah' in her blog 'Off the Wall'. Check it out!

2009-04-22T20:16:00.001-07:00

A Post Full 'o Colors ~ I have several photos of colorful things to share in this post. I have a small painting going on, but it's still in the 'doodoo' stage right now, so I'd rather just share these photos. :)

I had to really zoom in to get this picture of the bright yellow finch out in the backyard. He was sitting in our tulip poplar tree, as bright yellow as a canary.

Big blue sky with a jet stitching up the clouds. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago.

I took this picture yesterday right before it got dark. This pink rainbow (yes, it was really pink, this photo is unretouched) was to the south and the whole western sky was a bright hot pink! The awful weather we've had the last couple days have created some awesome looking skies this week!

2009-04-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

The Three Little Kittens ~ who lost their mittens and then began to cry... This was one of my daughter's favorite bedtime stories when she was a little girl and I read it to her countless times. She would always get so happy and relieved when the kittens finally found their mittens and Mama cat gave them some pie. :) I couldn't resist painting this when I saw the Ebay NFAC theme this month was favorite childhood stories. This is 6 x 6 inches, acrylics on a stretched canvas.

Thunderstorms! ~ We have had severe thunderstorm watches, warnings, tornado watches and warnings, and large hail warnings pretty much all day long. I took these pictures of the sky this evening. In one of these, the clouds separated and I could see what looked like a big star shape! We didn't get the tornadoes or hail, only threatening skies and a couple of heavy rains today.

2009-04-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ooops, I should have mentioned, the barn above is a close-up

detail from the picture below. The pearl paint was reflective and shiny in the light

in this picture.

Spring in the Country ~ I built a country barn and planted a blooming tree in the landscape I posted in my last post. I also trimmed it down to 5 x 7 inches. Today I realized I needed a roof on the barn so I painted it in pearl irridescent acrylics.

The pollen here is so heavy that my green car had turned powdery yellow today! Yes, I'm still aaachooing with allergies too. I hope everyone has a fun and creative weekend!

2009-04-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

Some new little paintings and an apple tree dressed in blooms~

I've been finding it hard to get inspired to paint until recently and I think it may be the miserable allergies I've had the last few weeks. It's funny how someone can go for most of their lives through the spring season with not a single allergy symptom...when...'wham' all of a sudden one year you find you are allergic to the pollen, flowers, etc. Thank goodness for the over counter medicines, they really do seem to help. Sneeze, cough, blow nose, take out eyeballs and scratch them, arrgh! :) That's what I feel like doing anyways!

The painting above left is one I'm working on but it's still a wip. I'm thinking about trying to paint a country barn and cows in there, but I'm still thinking about that one. Also, I've been painting some ACEOs (above right). All of these are acrylics on watercolor paper.

Our two old apple trees at the back of the yard have outdone theirselves in blooms this year, so hopefully we'll be having some apple pies later this year!

2009-04-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER ~ I took this picture of my daughter nineteen years ago at Grandma's house for the annual Easter egg hunt. Where do the years go? That year she discovered you were supposed to find the hidden colored eggs and place them in your basket, not step on them and crunch them, although that was fun too. :) Some of the eggs were special, made of plastic and had hidden candy treasures inside. I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Easter!