Beach Babes

“Some people say there is magic in believing. Our expectations are powerful; they are self-fulfilling, in fact.  And if our expectations are generally negative, we’ll find the circumstances of our lives pretty dismal too.

The good news is that when we expect better experiences, we’ll also find them. How does this work? Surely it requires more than just believing. But it really doesn’t. When we look for the good in every situation, we quite selectively see it. Making the choice to live this way means we’ll regularly see opportunities for opening doors to better lives.”
–Karen Casey

So true!!!

Sunday in Eufaula is the peak date (according to monarchwatch.com)  for the monarch population here (Latitude 35),  as they migrate to Mexico.  Keep your eyes open, as the population will be smaller than usual, due to weather extremes over the last several years.


 
Beach Babes – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

You may remember seeing this before.  In honor of the monarchs, I was searching through my stash for a painting of a butterfly and I don’t seem to have one… so I am giving you a painting of some butts in stead.    he he he

Saturday is  Eufaula Art Walk and Car Show.  I’ll be at the Main Street Studio from 8-11 am, so stop by and say hello if you get a chance.

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Karen Casey, Ph.D., a Naples, FL resident since 1991, published Each Day a New Beginning, her first book, in 1982. This daily meditation book for women in recovery has sold more than 3 million copies. The 25-year Anniversary edition of Each Day a New Beginning was released in August, 2006. It was closely followed by The Promise of a New Day, in 1983, another daily meditation book for both men and women in search of serenity. It has sold more than 1.2 million copies. Following on the heels of these two books, Karen has written 22 additional books with more on the way. In fall, 2005 she published CHANGE YOUR MIND AND YOUR LIFE WILL FOLLOW.  In April of 2006 she published ALL WE HAVE IS ALL WE NEED and she published three more books in 2007. SERENITY was released in March. BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE, in April and in December, a companion book to CHANGE YOUR MIND AND YOUR LIFE WILL FOLLOW, called  ITS UP TO YOU: A PRACTICE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE BY CHANGING YOUR MIND.  In late July, 2010, LET GO NOW: EMBRACING DETACHMENT  was released.  Currently Karen is working on her memoir.
Karen is married, a grandmother, an occasional golfer, and an avid bridge player. She and her husband, Joe, own a home on Prior Lake which is adjacent to Minneapolis, and they recently built a log cabin outside of Lafayette, Indiana which is her home town.

Cheesecloth Cat

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of it’s sorrow, but only empties today of it’s strength.”
– Charles Spurgeon



Cheesecloth Cat – 4″ x 6″ Mixed Media

Okay… I know… corny.  Just sharing fun with cheesecloth that I did the same weekend that I did the bug from yesterday. 

Have a great day!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) was England’s best-known preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1854, just four years after his conversion, Spurgeon, then only 20, became pastor of London’s famed New Park Street Church (formerly pastored by the famous Baptist theologian John Gill). The congregation quickly outgrew their building, moved to Exeter Hall, then to Surrey Music Hall. In these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000—all in the days before electronic amplification. In 1861 the congregation moved permanently to the newly constructed Metropolitan Tabernacle.
Spurgeon’s printed works are voluminous, and those provided here are only a sampling of his best-known works, including his magnum opus, The Treasury of David. Nearly all of Spurgeon’s printed works are still in print and available from Pilgrim Publications, PO Box 66, Pasadena, TX 77501.

Texture is a Bug – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Mixed Media Painting

“All the arts we practice are apprenticeship.  The big art is our life.
– M.C. Richards



Texture is a Bug – 2.5″ x 3.5″ Mixed Media Painting

This little bug is done on a small ATC sized canvas.  The legs are string, the body is spackle and the wings are spackle and cheesecloth.  All of it is painted with acrylic.  What I ended up with is a painting a little boy might like. 

I am inspired so much by mixed media artists, yet I rarely dig in and play.  This was done quite a while ago and even though it is quite ugly, it makes me want to try it again. 

M.C. Richards
Artist & Philosopher (1916-1999)


Mary Caroline Richards had a richly diverse life, which began in Weiser, Idaho on July 13, 1916.  She was raised in Portland, Oregon and later went to Reed College to earn a degree in literature and languages.  She wrote poetry, and when she became part of the faculty at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, she taught writing and produced plays.  At Black Mountain she also danced, studied pottery, and became increasingly interested in innovative teaching methods.  She helped create a commune in New York in the 1950s, taught and gave pottery workshops in the 1960s, and later worked in Camphill Village in Pennsylvania, an alternative educational community based on the teachings of Rudolph Steiner.  In the last decade of her life she began to paint as naturally as if she had been doing so her whole life.  Her art-of-many-genres wove together all her concerns, including community, agriculture, craft itself, and spiritual ideas. Always a poet, she regarded the end of her life – as physically limiting as it was – as another fulfilling adventure, “living toward dying, blooming into invisibility.”
- Margaret Wakeley

Tulsa Int’l Airport Plein Air

“A sense of humor… is needed armor.  Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
–Hugh Sidey

Right on!!



Tulsa Int’l Airport Plein Air – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor Sketch

When I was waiting for my departure from Tulsa, to go to Jackson Hole, I did this little sketch.  Before I even finished drawing the plane… it backed out and left!   So, to continue, I just made stuff up. 
Sunday afternoon, I resumed my flying.  I haven’t flown in three months because it’s been so dang hot!  They are selling the plane in Muskogee, so my instructor  met me in McAlester and flew with me, so he could re-endorse me for solo flight.  I did great!  I had some beautiful landings and even got a compliment from my instructor.    (Those do not come freely!)  It was a great day.

I’m ready to get busy and finish this thing up and get my license.  I’ll be doing a lot of studying and very little art, until I am done.  I may post some older paintings for a while, just to keep my little positive quotes in front of you.  I’d hate for you to forget to wiggle your butt. 

Hugh Sidey  1927 – 2005

Hugh Sidey, who covered the White House and the American Presidency for TIME for close to half a century, died in 2005 in Paris of a heart attack. He was 78. Born and raised in Iowa, Sidey came to understand the presidents of the last 48 years as well as anyone. He was with Kennedy in Dallas and Nixon in China. He was the iconic insider, staying close to many presidents even after they left the White House, becoming great friends with Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush.

A fourth-generation journalist and son of a country editor in Greenfield, Iowa, Sidey never became a prisoner of the Beltway. He’d often go home to Iowa to listen and learn what Americans were thinking. He was among the first print journalists on regular television, appearing on the late Agronsky & Company. As he scaled back his work for TIME, he continued to be deeply involved in the life of the White House. He was active in the White House Historical Association and co-wrote a book, The Presidents of the United States of America, that is a good history of the men and the office.

 

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1133407,00.html#ixzz1Z9nhKftW

Sock Monkey or No Sock Monkey

“To keep your character intact you cannot stoop to filthy acts. It makes it easier to stoop the next time.”
– Katharine Hepburn




Art Walk Poster – 11″ x 14″  Watercolor

You may remember that I did the poster for this year’s Eufaula Art Walk & Car Show.  The only thing they asked for was to put a car in it.  I also put a sock monkey in the car and well…. that didn’t go over so well.  They asked me to photoshop it out, so I did.  That’s okay.  Not everybody likes sock monkeys.  (what?!  Really?!)  he he

The prints that will be available for sale at Art Walk will be the ones without the monkey.  They will be auctioning off the original (with monkey) at their silent auction.  I still haven’t seen the posters with the Art Walk advertising on them.   That is why they have so much blank space on them… for the words.

Be sure to stop by the Main Street Studio, 201 S. Main, in Eufaula this  Saturday, October 1st.  I will be there from 8 am – 11 am, and the auction will run all day.   They are also offering several workshops in the studio.  Around Eufaula, there will be a car show, a golf cart show, an Indian Exhibit, over 30 local artists, kid events and food everywhere.  The hub, so to speak, of the event is going to be at Bank of Eufaula, inside and out.   (They always have coffee and really good cookies there, too.)
I have around 25 small paintings at the Main Street Studio, too, so don’t be shy.  They are all available for sale. 

Remember, there is only one painting with the sock monkey in it, the original, available at the silent auction.

About Katharine Hepburn

Gutsy American actress Katharine Hepburn was ranked the greatest actress of all time by the American Film Institute for her roles in films such as The African Queen and The Philadelphia Story. She was born in 1907 in Connecticut. Early in her film career, RKO took away her overalls, demanding she dress like a screen icon, prompting her to walk through the studio in her underwear. Her romance with Spencer Tracy led to their delightful verbal sparring in films like Adam’s Rib and Woman of the Year. She died in 2003.

Scarecrow in Fall

“Since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same.”
– Lois McMaster Bujold



Scarecrow in Fall 
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor and Sharpie ATC

Ryan, over at Asmalltowndad’s Weblog has initiated a small ATC exchange for fall.   If you look at his post from September 19th, you’ll see the one he mailed to me yesterday.  I can’t wait to get it.  It’s beautiful, don’t you think?  I hope this little ATC brings a grin to Ryan’s face.  That will make my day. 

The photo reference I loosely used is by Artistammy, at the WetCanvas Reference Image Library.

I like that quote today.  I’m taking a flying lesson tomorrow, after 3 months off.   I’m a little nervous, since it’s been so long.  My instructor needs to fly with me in order to re-endorse me to fly solo.  My last endorsement expired a couple weeks ago.  It comforts me to know that no pilot was ever perfect, since there are no perfect people.  Of course, if you’re flying soon, I may not have comforted you much.  he he  

About Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold, the award-winning American science fiction and fantasy writer, is best known for her “Vorkosigan Saga” space opera, a series of novels and short stories which blend action with strong character development. She was born in 1949 in Ohio and began writing seriously in her thirties. When her best friend began publishing novels, Bujold thought, “If she can do it, I can too.” She has won the prestigious Hugo Award four times. She lives in Minneapolis and has two children.

Metal Mama I – 8″ Metal Art

“Luck? I don’t know anything about luck. I’ve never banked on it and I’m afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn’t.”
– Lucille Ball

Metal Mama I – 8″ Metal Art

This is the little metal lady I made for my mom.  This is my first one  and it’s a little spooky, but I liked using that weird pendant for her head.    No time to add hair, but that’s okay.  The next one I make will be even stranger, I imagine. 

About Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball, the beloved redheaded comedian, was born in 1911 in New York. She enrolled in drama school — where she was told she had no acting talent, so she became a model. That career led to her discovery by Hollywood. Ball and her bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, pitched a sitcom to CBS, which refused it, but they went on the road with it as a vaudeville act. The act — about a ditzy housewife and her bandleader husband — was a success, as was the ensuing TV show, I Love Lucy. The show made TV history when Lucy’s sitcom character was pregnant on the air. She died in 1989.

Metal Mama II – 8″ Metal Art

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe



Metal Mama II – 8″ Metal Art

Okay, I understand that she is a departure from my usual art, but I had so much fun!  I made her for my little sister. She is made from new stuff and some old treasures I had stashed.

Dona and her husband, John  rode their Harley to Idaho from Oak Harbor, Washington to be with my mom and brother while I was there.  This little gift didn’t take up too much room in her small pack.  I made one for my mom, too.  I’ll show you that one tomorrow. 

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the multitalented and prolific German author and scientist, is best known for the play Faust, which has been adapted into operas, films, and novels. He was born in 1749 in Frankfurt. An unhappy love affair inspired his first play; his similarly themed novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, created the prototype of the romantic hero. He also invented the color wheel concept of light and made important discoveries in plant and human biology. He died in 1832.

Stranded Iguana – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor

“Courage is the human virtue that counts most — courage to act on limited knowledge and insufficient evidence. That’s all any of us have.”
– Robert Frost

Stranded Iguana – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor

Li took the photo of this poor, stranded iguana in Belize.  She said the river came up after he was out there and she really felt for him.   I hope it wasn’t too long before he was able to get back to dry land.   Oh…  I took creative liberties with his coloring, since he was in no position to fight me on it.  he he 

About Robert Frost

Robert Frost, the influential American poet known for his rural settings, uncluttered language, and meditative themes, wrote the poems, “A Road Not Taken” and “Mending Walls,” among many others. He was born in San Francisco in 1874 and moved to Massachusetts at age 11. He ran a farm for ten years, selling it to move to England and become a full-time poet. After achieving his goal, he moved back to New Hampshire. His ambition was to write “a few poems it will be hard to get rid of.” He died in 1963.

Sea Turtle Watercolor

“Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
–Mark Twain



Sea Turtle – 6″ x 8″ Watercolor

I had a great time painting this.    Of course, just like I don’t have patience for tree painting… I’m the same way with the underwater plants, too.  I just made some up. 
This is painted from another one of Li’s Belize photos.

We had a terrific anniversary on Saturday.  We took the retro Tbird for a top down road trip to Van Buren, Arkansas.    We went to our favorite store, A Little Bit of Mexico, owned by Barb and Dave Little, to treat ourselves to some art.  We bought 2 pieces by metal artist, Andres Martin De Campo.  Here is a YouTube video with some of his work on it.   Here is a photo from Facebook of his shop in Mexico, where he uses live models to pose for his art.  One of the pieces we bought is a sea turtle trio, to go over our fireplace.

We had a great day, but couldn’t fit a single one of our purchases in our itty bitty little Tbird, so Barb and Dave delivered our goodies yesterday.   What a fun weekend.

Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain, is an American icon whose razor-sharp wit and inimitable genius have entertained countless readers for more than a century.  His many publications include such gallant childhood essentials as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, along with many dozens of other works ranging from airy magazine columns to focused, biting anti-imperialist satire.
He was born in Hannibal, Missouri in 1835.  The Clemens family consisted of two brothers, a sister, and the family-owned slave, Jenny, whose vivid storytelling was a formative influence on the young Sam.  As he was growing up, his parents explained their perspective on the nature of things in the established South, about the slave-owning tradition, and about ‘rough western justice.’  more…

Laundry Day Watercolor

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”
– Dag Hammarskjöld



Laundry Day – 3″ x 7″  Watercolor on Masa

I had so much fun painting this little dude.  It’s another photo of a Belize sight from Li.  The fun thing about masa is the amazing texture you can get.  Personally, I am terrible at trees!  Masa gives me more texture than I would have been able to get, when left up to my own tree laziness.  I just don’t have the patience for trees.  They have all those pesky leaves! 

About Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld, a Noble Peace Prize winner, was a diplomat who strengthened the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission. Born in Sweden in 1905, he followed his father’s footsteps into national government, where he coined the term “planned economy” before becoming a delegate to the U.N. and a two-time secretary-general. He negotiated the release of Americans captured by the Chinese in the Korean War, worked to resolve the Suez Canal crisis, and was on a mission to the Congo when his plane crashed in 1961, killing all aboard.

Dive Shop

If you’re dog-tired at night, it may be because you growled all day.
–War Cry

“Negative attitudes wear us out. Assuming the worst will happen, focusing on just our faults, constant complaining, are attitudes that bring us down. If we stumble on a flight of stairs and feel embarrassed, it’s going to feel even worse if we growl and curse. We’ll feel much better if we laugh at ourselves and see the humor.

People want to be around those who are cheerful. The good cheer we send out will come back to us from others who are healthy. We can choose these cheerful people as our friends, and our happiness will grow and blossom in this good soil.

Today let me try to say something cheerful to another.”
–Nancy Hull-Mast



Dive Shop – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor

Another Belize painting, thanks to Li’s wonderful photography.   I just had to play with it and make it a little goofy. 

Li was on the mainland, but where we were on Ambergris Caye, everything north of San Pedro town was only accessible by piers and water taxis.  When we were there in 2002, there were still no cars north of the little wooden ferry at San Pedro town.   Belizian men would pull the ferry back and forth with ropes.  Golf carts, bicycles or pedestrians were all it could handle.  They have since put a bridge in, to replace the ferry.

The water taxis were the only reliable mode of transportation, north of the ferry back then.   When we got married on the beach, 9 years ago this weekend, our wedding planner (a local requirement back then) and our minister came to us by water taxi.



What great memories we have from Belize. 

But… here is that dive shop again.  If I leave the wedding photo as the last picture on the blog, it will post it to facebook and I ‘m saving that for another time. 

Nancy Hull-Mast is a contributor for the following Hazelden Title: Our Best Days.
Our Best Days is a book of daily meditations for those who cherish the simple truths of recovery. Its clear and practical ideas-and spiritual themes-give daily insights into the process of change. Our Best Days has been cherished by those new to recovery as well as by recovery old-timers.

Colorful Porch

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
–William Arthur Ward



Colorful Porch – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor

This was painted from another Belize photo by Li at WetCanvas.  I’ll admit, I added some of this color and some of it was already there.  It did have pink railings.  he he 
Every time I come home from the Caribbean, I want to add more color into my life.  Our home has a lot of brown.  Our project for the winter is to infuse some bold color into our living room.

William Arthur Ward (1921–1994)^, author of Fountains of Faith, is one of America’s most quoted writers of inspirational maxims.

More than 100 articles, poems and meditations written by Ward have been published in such magazines as Reader’s Digest, This Week, The Upper Room, Together, The Christian Advocate, The Adult Student, The Adult Teacher, The Christian Home, The Phi Delta Kappan, Science of Mind, The Methodist Layman, Sunshine, and Ideals.

His column Pertinent Proverbs has been featured in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and in numerous service club publications throughout the United States and abroad. He is one of the most frequently quoted writers in the pages of Quote, the international weekly digest for public speakers.

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
If you can dream it, you can become it.
–William Arthur Ward

Safe Harbor – Watercolor on Masa

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,
confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace
for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
–Melody Beattie

WOW!  Good stuff!



Safe Harbor – Watercolor on Masa 3″ x 5″

Well, we have left Idaho behind and now we’re in Belize.  Li from WetCanvas had some great images to paint from in her WDE.  Li and her hubby recently spent 10 days exploring Belize.  The location is dear to my heart, because I was married on an island off the coast of Belize…   Ambergris Caye.    While Li enjoyed the ruins, the caves and the jungles, we loved the beaches and the quaint little town of San Pedro. 
The people are amazing, no matter what your vacation plans are. 


I think this one had masa written all over it!

Melody Beattie is the author of Codependent No More, published in 1987 by the Hazelden Foundation. The book was successful and influential within the self-help movement, selling over eight million copies and introducing the word codependent to the general public.^[1]

Following the success of Codependent No More, Beattie authored over a dozen other books, including Beyond Codependency and The Language of Letting Go. Her most recent book is Make Miracles in Forty Days: Turning What You Have into What You Want, published in 2010. Several of her books have been published in other languages.

On melodybeattie.com, she says this…  “They call me a self-help writer, but I’m not an expert or a guru.  I don’t give medical, psychiatric, or legal advice. I research, and then combine personal experience with what the experts say.  Then I turn that into easy stories for people to watch or read. Sometimes I show people how others (and I) work through certain issues and I suggest options, but I don’t tell people what to do.  I tell them they can do it, instead (a practice referred to as empowerment or permissions therapy.)”

That whole page is very interesting.  Worth a quick read. 

“Don’t look down.  Look up!  The steeper the climb,  the more important it is to laugh.”
–Melody Beattie

Elk Watercolor

“I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one’s inner life. And that too is a deed.”
– Etty Hillesum

Yeah!!



Elk Watercolor 6″ x 6″

This little watercolor was painted from a WetCanvas Reference Image Library photo by Westerngirl.    If you haven’t checked out the RIL, you should.  There are currently 9,609,260 images in the library.  I grabbed some before I left for Idaho, in case it rained the whole time I was there (or I just didn’t want to leave the cabin).    As it turned out, I was glad I did.

About Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum, less famous than her contemporary, Anne Frank, lived a short life of great courage. She was born in 1914 in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and a Russian mother. She studied law, Slavic languages, and psychology. Hungry for knowledge, she cut down on food in order to buy books. She went voluntarily to the Westerbork camp to help fellow Jews interned by the Nazis. Her letters detail her experiences; her more meditative diary focuses on issues of faith. She died at Auschwitz in 1943.

There’s a Bear in the House!

“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”
– Phillips Brooks

I LOVE that quote.  It’s so true!



There’s a Bear in the House! – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

I painted this little painting for the couple that own the wonderful cabin I stayed in on my vacation.  This is where I set up my art supplies and did a lot of painting.  The kitchen table became my studio.  Since the cabin is named 4 Paws and there are little bear things all through the house, I thought it would be fun to put a bear in the painting.

I mounted it on black canvas, and I’m going to put it in the mail to them today. 

About Phillips Brooks

Phillips Brooks, the American clergyman now mostly known for writing the words to the Christmas song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” was one of the most influential ministers of his time, with his sermons reprinted in major newspapers. He delivered the eulogy at Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. Born in Boston in 1835, he spent most of his life there as overseer of Harvard University, rector of Trinity Church, and bishop of Massachusetts. He died in 1893, and the day of his funeral was declared an official day of mourning.

View From Grand Targhee – Alta, Wyoming

“Always behave like a duck — keep calm and unruffled on the surface but paddle like the devil underneath.”
– Jacob Braude



View From Grand Targhee – Alta, Wyoming
4″ x 6″  Watercolor Plein Air

Yes…. I braved the ski lift to ride 15 minutes, up to the top of Grand Targhee with my watercolors.  My knees were shaking, yet I was gasping out loud at the beauty of what I was seeing from up there.    This little painting does not do it justice.

About Jacob Braude

American judge and author Jacob Braude was a fount of humorous and inspirational stories and quotations, which he used to regale the courtroom in Cook County, Illinois, where he presided for more that 35 years. His books of sayings, including Speaker’s Encyclopedia of Humor and Braude’s Treasury of Wit and Humor, have been mined by toastmasters and lecturers for decades. He was born in 1896 and died in 1970.


 

PHOTO NOTE:

The last one is the view, looking the other way, toward the Tetons.  Yes, that’s snow!  The Chamber of Commerce guy in Driggs told me that they had to clear 8 feet of snow away at the Targhee Resort (at the bottom of this mountain), to prepare for their 4th of July festival!  That’s the resort, at the bottom of the ski lift.

Click on any of the images to enlarge.