>> Just a quick post here, as I've got to get the lining inserted into the handbag I photo-ed yesterday..or the other day..and I've got 2 other handbags woven up to take pictures of later this afternoon...there's just something about doing 2 things at one time that just will not go away with me...and here my Dr. told me to slow it down and not get stressed out...ha - shows what that guy knowz...

ANYway...I've got some canvases that are sitting over in the antique hutch that are crying out to me..they are all clean with nothing on them, so they most certainly need something done..I've got some ideas brewing around in my little pea brain, so those will get put to use. I had to go to the gallery down Ocean Highway - not one of my pieces got sold, and the gallery has gone thru some major changes..so my work was just sitting basically in the way..The collages.mixed media pieces were the only ones in the entire space that were Ocean related, and they did stick out like a sore thumb in the place...not like anything else, so there wasn't much enthusiasm over them, and too, the director was asked not to come back for a continuation of her contract..

So for somebody different like me, there wasn't much of a chance for me to make any headway. Ya gotta know when there isn't one word of encouragement in your direction, that it's probably time to call it quits, and go find something else to do.

That's why I got my loom out and started to weave some things again...maybe getting these out in the world will make a difference, I don't know. Things are just not moving in a positive way for me right now, so I gotta find some other way to make up for the negative tha's been surrounding me. The Festival made it clear to me that there needs to be a change for my self esteem, my sense of being an Artist, and a sense that I am in the right place for my going forward ~ There just isn't much in the way of any thing close to encouraging Anything here, so there has to be a change ~ I've got no idea where I'm gonna go, or just how I'm gonna get there, but it looks like there will be a pretty dramatic change coming up.

So tha's what's goin' on around here...uh oh..an' I gotta get off of here, 'cause Noah is rattling around out in the kitchen, so that means that he's probably ready to come stomping down the hall and into the studio to use this..an' naturally, here I am doing something I want to do...damn the bad luck...

I'm Gone.............


Lady of The Tulips

So if we may... Drum Roll Please ~ !! ~

Here is a picture of one of the new little goodies that I've created - a sweet little ladies handbag - handwoven with some yummy soft yarn...the colors are actually "painterly" - as the manufacturer has developed this yarn so that the colors look similar to a Monet painting...they come out so very nice, and with an equally soft yarn for the background, the bag comes out like a sweet little pick-me-up for a nice evening out, or a quick trip to the mall.

This is one of a couple I experimented with to see just how I wanted them to turn out - this will probably be the pattern that I'm going to use for all the rest of the handbags - they measure roughly 9" X 6 1/2 " - just the right size for a bit of money, credit cards and a tube of lipstick..maybe a little coin purse thrown in as well. I love love the color of this one, and the other yarns will be similar, but with just a slight variation in their blending - but they will all have some shade of blue/green/turquoise in them. And a couple will have some soft blues and greens as well...just not the same shade as this one.

I got a couple of people at the Bus festival to take a look at these, and they thot these were really good - that made me feel wonderful ~ ! ~ I'm going to make about 4 or 5 this week, then see where/what I want to do with them...any suggestions?? - I've got a couple ideas, but for now I'm just batting them around...

And the Bus Festival was wonderful ~ !! ~ The road up the mtn. is just breathtaking..the views are something else, and the park we stayed at was right along the New River..it flows toward Virginia, rather than down the state to the Sea..cold rushing water..lots of people out floating on anything and everything..lots of kayaks..canoes...little odd boats of every shape and size..but the river itself is what caught me. I was so relaxed listening to the sound of the water rushing over the series of little falls right outside our campsite. Heavenly.

Course, that was when most of the campers Finally called it a night an' went to bed..lots of party/party/party...shwoo..no wonder some of them looked like something the cat drug in the next morning.. !!..I didn;t take any pictures of the other buses..just some of the scenery right out along the campsite. I'll post some of those tomorrow. I hate-hated coming back home..especially when the temps coming off the mountain were in the 100 Degree range...I very nearly didn't make it...what with the Bus having no air conditioning...and the heat off the interstate...shwooo...don' wanna do that again..well....cept till next summer ~ !! ~ We may go to one of the Festivals in the fall, but we'll have to wait an' see about the $$ for that....

We are now back to the grind...I'm gettin' ready to weave up 2 new bags in the morning, and get some work done on a canvas at the same time...don' wanna just sit and be bored..no No ~ !! ~ an' it's back to hearing noah bellyache about Everything Wrong and other daily thangs...lawdy my hair's turning grey ~ !!! ~

Gotta go for now tho ------ le' me know what ya'll think of the new little handwoven bags...

I'm Gone ******


Lady of The Tulips

~ "Relax...Enjoy The Good Life" ~ 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Here's a little something that came along just when the weather started to turn a little warmer...I was thinking of going fishing for about 4 days, but then realized, that for whatever reason under the sun, noah hauled off and threw out all the old tackle and tackle box...no advance notice to me...so it was a good thing that I didn't just go over to the edge of the water on the next street over! ~ The Fish & Game people would have had a field day with me - no license? - No tackle? - look lady..just what are you doing over here?? ....sheesh, I can see it now..

So instead of risking Life and Limb, I made up a little something with a fish in it..along with some tropical goodies just for giggles. I love love the 7Gypsies papers, and any more I'm getting to where I always start a piece with at least one of their papers included in the work. Force of habit almost. The texture on the background maybe doesn't show up too much, but I had to wait for an afternoon for the stuff to dry ~ And I didn't even make it as thick as I was going to! ~ Next time I'll make it up earlier in the day so I don't have to traipse back and forth from the kitchen while making dinner, then go down the hall to the studio to check on the canvas..poor timing on that one~ !! ~ Oops..~

So I can't make this too long - Tom has his first day off today, so We're gettin' the Bus ready to head up to the Blue Ridge - he and noah "had" to go to the hardware store to get some stuiped thing or another...always ALWAYS that boy has to get to the hardware store...I asked him if he is considering buying stock in a couple of those companies, 'cause by GAWD with all the money he spends with their products, he sure as #%^%$& should get something BACK..

Sorry- minor rant...

Anyway, I gotta print out the directions so tom has something more to go on than just looking at the map...he knows 90% of the route to where we're going, but these GUYS ~ they have to have it printed out. Any reason ANY body knows??? - And Do Not Ask for directions...EVAH...
I see something smoking around my head in the near future..Oh! - it's my last good nerve twinging at Tom saying, "OH! I KNOW where we're suposed to go!!"....(this from the guy who once drove us thru a residential neighborhood in Lincoln Neb. in the tractor trailer...he "knew" which part of the street to turn down, but went the opposite way instead...to say the people running out of their houses to stare at us was a bit uncomfortable is an understatement...)

So, yes, I'll print out the directions for the guy..heavens to Betsy!!

I'm going to post some of my new little goodies probably when we get back - not enuf time today to get those on here...I think they are kinda cute..an' I usually don't want to make too cutesyy of things, but they are!

You'll See ~ !! ~

I'm Gone>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Lady of The Tulips

~ "Love Is All" ~ 2010 ~ Spring Bay Studio

Here's the piece that I was talking about last week...I know, I know...it took me like For EVAH to get it posted on here, but the last week has been one of those times that I'd truly rather forget...

Actually it hasn't been all THAT bad - just some irritating things from the-son-who-lives-here...basically running his mouth at the most IN-appropriate times..(lawdy, an' speak of the devil, he just came slamming in the back door...)

But the weekend made up for any bad and negative things that happened earlier in the week..matter of fact it happened to be Tom & my 34th wedding anniversary..an' no, he didn't go and buy me any great big ol' anything..but he DID get a couple steaks that were to DIE for...and cooked those suckers up just right and tender...makes my mouth water all over again just thinking about it - we didn' do anything in terms of celebrating...I played hookie from church, so tom made me some belgian waffles..ohhh YUMMM -- totally NOT what I'm supossed to be having, but they were so slap good, I really do not care how bad the Dr. would have yelled at me...it wasn't HIS anniversary, so THERE ~ !! ~

So now there is a TOTALLY different project nearly done over on the work table this afternoon..nothing to do with painting, canvases or anything like what I "normally" do..not something close. However there are some beads involved and some other things that I have been known to use..so those are still around..

An' no, I'm not going to give out any other secrets 'till I post the picture..an' I'm not sure when that's going to be, 'cause tomorrow Tom and I are going to start packing up the Bus ~ !! ~ We're headed up to the mtns., where it will DEFINETLY be cooler...and the exciting thing is that there will be a weekend BUS FESTIVAL ~ !! ~ Whooo - Boy ~ !! ~ The guy who sold us the Bus told us about it, he'd gone to the festival for 3 years in a row, and he & his friend both told us that we absolutely HAD TO BE THERE ~ !! ~ so that 's that, don' ya know?? !! The info. that I've read about the campground sez that since it is up in the Blue Ridge Mtns., that it does get chilly at night (whodda thunk after steaming away down here>??) and that we need to bring some warm clothes...plus there is a Big Ol' river running alongside the whole place, and I remember from camping alongside a similar place in the mtns of Arkansas that it got REALLY cold at night..so even tho outside right now it's 98 Degrees w/ a heat index of over 102..up there it's nearly 20 degrees cooler, and a lot more at night..

WHATTA RELIEF ~ ! ~ it's gonna be realllllly hard to get me back down from there, I'm tellin' you right now !!

So I'll get my little project photoed (is that even a word..??) an' then it'll make it's debut ..later...not sayin' when...

But for now I gotta go get some laundry done so I have some clean clothes to wear..yee gads...I didn' even remember to do that till almost too late...tha'd a been nice...all the way (over 400 miles) up there an' discover I don' have any clean clothes....oooppppssss............


Lady of The Tulips

>> Just a quick note here, as it's getting hot outside, and now the breeze is blowing in thru the studio windows..which is how I know that it's getting hot outside ~ !! ~ <<

I've got one piece finished over on the antique hutch, and have one canvas with the first coat of paint - nope, make that 3 coats of paint on it - I got a little paint crazy the other day..le's see...yesterday and the day before. Something just MADE me do that! So I went with it, and made something pretty snazzy ~ ! ~ I'll take a picture of the finished piece later this morning, but for now I wanted to say that we FINALLY HAD A GOOD RAIN STORM ~ !!! ~

Whoo - boy~ ! ~ It really came down early this morning - naturally right when Tom was gettin' ready to go up to virginia - but he didn't mind, as it's been so awfuuuul dry and the grass was starting to crunch under foot when you walked across parts of the yard - yikes ~ ! ~ So it was a welcome rain - lightning - thunder - the whole 9 yards. (why nine I got no idea, but you get the gist...) And the breeze comin' in thru the windows was so wonderful - that great smell of rain..wet grass...pine trees...ahh, a good way to start the morning ~ ! ~

That, however is NOT to say that @ 3:00 a.m., I am up and doin' stuff around the cabin - OH NO ~ ! ~ this lil' girl has a great tendancy to just roll over an' fall right back asleep ~ ! ~ An' with the breeze that was comin' in the window right over the bed...absolute heaven ~ !! ~ And I could hear the tires on tom's little honda car, crunch-crunching along the dirt road...slowly makin' it's way over to the next road...('course that's not to say that he was driving slowly 'cause of the rain..he ALWAYS drives slow...much to the irritation of ME an' who-ever else has the luck to come up behind him ~ !! ~ ) Quite peaceful.

So now I'm up, workin' on a the newly painted canvas..I've been listening to some old old concerts from Grateful Dead...70's shows, an' some 80's mixed in. And the weather is just turning warmer, so I need to get my stuff finished before it gets too hot in here - Oh, and right now I can hear the pair of Ospreys that live somewhere down in the farm across the street from us - the farm's been there for over 100 years, and it goes straight to the edge of the water...so the pair of birds must have their next in one of the old, old trees along the shore. It's so great to listen to them - they accend (sp) up from the water after they catch something..their little cry drifting over the trees. Every once in awhile, one of them will fly above the dirt road...looking like they are using the dirt road as a guide to where ever their headed to - and LOW too - kinda scary when I happen to look out the window an' see this BIG bird flyin' along...LOOK OUT ~~ !!! ~~

I'm tellin' ya, never a dull moment around here...

An' did I ever mention the HUGE turtle that Noah an' I had to drive AROUND?? This big ol' DINASAUR (oh hush, it's spelled bad...blah...) lookin' thing..walkin' down the road like it OWNED the place...noah told me to slow down (as IF I'm gonna go racin' past this big ol' thing...) an' when I did, he said he could hear the nails of the critter crunchin' along the road...LAWDY ~ !! ~ I actually got kinda scared..I DID NOT want to get NEAR that thing ~ !! ~ What if it decided to try an' take a bite outta one of my tires?? what if it wanted to take a bite outta ME??? --

I'm Tellin' Ya ~ !! ~


Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Another little something that happened along while I was looking out the window...

I've had fun changing up colors - using shades that I "usually" don't apply onto anything..the paint jars just sit by themselves feeling alone and blue..then they haul off and get all dried out in their little plastic homes.

Nothing drives me more batty than to realize that my paints have dried out! - I was going to do some cleaning out at church where the library shelves share storage space with old paints, papers and assorted goodies. I mean, one woman told me that the paints were in the storage cabinets when she moved down here in 1994...yet when I was talking with another woman, she very loudly told me, "Why! There's nothing wrong with those! Their perfectly fine! Those aren't toxic, and their something we use with the children! You just leave those alone!"...and while I take a quick peek at the jars, you can see where the paint has dried out and left spots of dry paint on the sides of the jar...yuck...

But my paints aren't that old! I have used most of mine in the last year, and actually am getting ready to go by more! - Well, not right away, but within the next couple weeks. Gotta make sure bills are paid first! Then it's time to order some nice shades and go from there...

I've been told this morning that I "have to" go get some sodas from the grocery store for Noah..his father was going to pick them up yesterday, but for some reason left them at the store..the things didn't even make it into the shopping cart! ~ And I'm suposed to buy some Fava beans to plant for fall..now, I love love to buy seeds to plant, and then the harvest is wonderful in the late fall/early winter. But for the life of me, I have NO IDEA of what fava beans are..?? Anybody help me out here?? Are they soup beans? Fresh Eating Beans??? do I dry them on the plant? Hang them to dry? Do I leave them alone and hope they'll hop the next freighter outta New York for parts unknown????

Well anyway, I better get some things finished up an' get outta here before The Wrath Of Noah comes slamming in the back door...I swanny, that poor door...I should shake the hands of the people who put that sucker together...it gets slammed more times during the day than anything autta get slammed...poor innocent door...

I'm Gone -


Lady of The Tulips

"Gleaning Memories" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

The piece that had been on my work table the other day, that kept altering itself it seems, by the minute. When I thot that it was just about "done", then some other thot would come in my head telling me, Nope, add this...hold it - change this around...By the time I finally got the last bit of paint added, and the last of the beads set, it felt like I'd worked on this for the last 3 months instead of just over a week.

And why does it seem to take so long? - I read of people who just whip work out on a canvas like there's no tomorrow - 5 in one day, 7 in a matter of 3 days...WHAT??? - How the tar do these people do this? - Do they not have nagging family members who bother them with irritating babblings..getting them sidetracked every other hour??? Do they not have a husband who insists of rattling their last good nerve, by calling 3 times in a row, 'cause the bum is stuck in traffic, and has to call 3 said times in a row, telling about the rotten kids stuck in a car in the next lane...screaming and bouncing around the inside of the car, tho they should be safely secured by a safety belt???

Well, obviously it looks like I must be having much more fun than I thot, 'cause I'm the one getting the off-the-wall phone calls...have-another-person-living-here driving me all over creation and back..then over somewhere else. By the time 5:30 p.m. rolls around, there are days where I'm about slam exhausted and ready to go to bed.

But anyway -

I just take longer to work out something on a canvas than other people, thats just all there is to it. But at least I'm satisfied with the results, and don't go grumbling about the house, saying, well, I SHOULD'VE done this...REALLY should do THAT on that length of the canvas...

Nope.

Once it's done, buddy, it's DONE!! - An' there's no turning back...well, cept maybe to polish up a bid of smudged matte medium (I discovered a blob on a piece the other day ) but tha's all. For the overall work, it's fini.

And there is yet another piece that will make it's debut hopefully tomorrow - maybe monday, 'cause I just remembered that tomorrow is saturday, an' once The Husband is home, there's no telling what kind of mayhem he may rake up around the house...certainly not as much as a friends husband...who one day suprised her, by having his girlfriend show up at their house, just before he got home from work...

Yup - that'd rate right up there with MAYHEM written all over it. The ensuing battle was pretty interesting too, with tha couple..and believe it or not, their still married ~ ! ~ Wears me out is what it does, listening to things like that ...

But for now I have to go do a quick read of a couple theology books that I bought for the church library...sadly 2 of our members have passed away in the last month, and I need to make some donations to the library in their memory. And with that, are new additions to the non-fiction portion of the shelves. The books look very very good, and if I can remember, next week one day I'll make sure to post a comment about them.

For now tho, I have to get to where there is either an open window where a breeze is coming in, or find a spot under the fan...80% humidity today, light rain...but for the moment all the breeze has stopped. And I'm slowly melting into my office chair...uh-oh...this may not be healthy..If I melt, who's gonna fix dinner???


I'm Gone ~~

Lady of The Tulips

Within The Sea - Spring Bay Studio 2010

I know I'd talked about some new work that was over on the table..lets see..clear last week, but as things happen, Life Happens, and there suddenly went the week ~ ! ~ I honestly have no idea where the week went, but I think there was a holiday somewhere along the line, some sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing, and then too, some Buying Things Related To Art...

So it's been the kind of week where you finally get a chance to sit down and say to yourself, Well, just what the #*^*)^ happened here? -

So, this picture is at least one of the things that did happen - not like what I usually work out, and that's what made it something of a challenge for me - I don't remember the last time I used a lot of green in anything, let alone yellow - but this evolved into a Sea Wave of sorts - moving along and within itself something like the currents out offshore do - I took my time with this, as each color needed to make it's presence known, and I didn't want to rush with it. I had the most concentrated time getting the blending and attacking of the colors - sometime along about the 3rd day of painting, and changing this that and the other, I finally felt like I could go ahead and layer the papers.

Tom was very suprised with the color - at first it didn't have much else besides green..."It's veryyyy green...", he sez while popping his head into the room...

I sorta stood there looking at him with my paint pallette in my hand, asking jus' what the #$%&)(+ that was supossed to mean...he just said, "That's all..."

Is there a way that any of you know, that I can either invest some money into the manufacturer of Tums, Rolaids, or any of those companies? - Or, if not that, maybe have a nice sweet truck driver deliver a full 53' trailer FULL of any of those wonder products???

'Cause my husband is about to DRIVE ME OFF THE DEEP END...

'k - tha's my rant for the morning..

But I do want to say, that despite The Husband and Noah rattling my last 4 nerves to their breaking point, I also have managed to paint and paste and glue and cut papers, attach beads, ribbons, stickers and some other innocent bystanders onto some other canvases that I'll show starting tomorrow - I've been busy in spite of all the running around that I seem to find myself in day after day...

But now I'm wondering what the weekend will hold in store for me..we went up to the city on the 4th for a big ol' BBQ at Danny's condo..he stuffed us again with some steaks and some goodies...I probably gained 15 pounds just from that one dinner. Then on monday Tom took me over to the dreaded Wal-Store, 'cause I was totally out of canvases. And I needed, of all things, one stuiped bottle of white paint.

You'd think that finding these things would be easy..yes? - HA! ~ I walked up and down what's called the "Craft" isle, and looked high and low for what I needed...the amount on the shelves has been cut by at least 75% in the one store closest to us..it looked like somebody had to really think hard on how to stretch out what few items there were, to fill in the long shelf near the floor in the isle. I was, needless to say, Unimpressed....And since that store is one of the least liked stores for me, it made it all that much more of a headache...

Then by the time I finally found close to what I needed, I had to hunt tom down...naturally he was over in the automotive section, ready to pay $30 for some part that he insisted we needed RIGHT NOW, for his honda car....

Remember the above request for the trailer load of tums/rolaids///....

Yeah..the sooner the better...

So, I am happy to say that we walked out with just the art supplies in hand, minus the $30 car part (it's not needed after all...just a bottle of gas treatment did the trick...at .99 cents...) - And now I'm going to try out the new canvas.

It looks so sad all empty..clean...nothing all over it...

Whoo- Boy ~ !! ~ That's gonna change in about .1247 seconds ~ !! ~

I'm Gone.............


Lady of The Tulips

"Untitled" - 2010 Spring Bay Studio

Another one of the pieces that I've been working out over on the table - this happened kind of in fits and spits, but it wasn't as difficult as I thot it was going to be when I started out -

I got all worked up over some of the paper, and when I started working on the texture, I thought I'd really taken on more than I'd bargained for. But once I decided how I wanted the color to go on, then it started to get a little easier for me to add the other elements.

I got some of the paints buried (I keep doing that - buying bits of paint here and there, an' being REALLY good, I put them away, planning on using them on a later day...) and discovered them when I was looking for something totally different - Does that ever happen to you? - Go to look for one thing, an' lo and behold, there is something else you'd forgotten about..yikes...drives me crazy!! `

But anyway - here it is - an' it is just a little different from other things I've done - an' it's kinda fun!! ~ Plus, the one that's just getting dry on the antique hutch is done with colors that I don't normally use - with some of it being brushed on a little thicker than I'd do with other pieces. It felt pretty good doing that, too - Really slapping the paint on, making a mess of me, the work table, and whatever else happened to be in the line of fire...weeeee!!!

And now, right when I was in the middle of having some work getting under way, noah meanders in an' tells me we have to go to lowes RIGHT NOW - or else the earth will cave in, time will stop, and certain parts for the well house and pump ABSOLUTELY have get bought NOW~~~ And he did a fine job of totally derailing my train of thot...#$%^& - an' here he comes in again....grrrr......

So -

I'm Gone.................

Lady of The Tulips