summer daze...

In my recent memory, this has been the best summer in years...

the weather in the Pacific NW has been stellar...its the kind of enticement that lures tourists to visit...and to consider moving here...little do they know of the grayness that January can bring...

But it is July and the skies have been blue and sunny...and the weather warm but not hot...






I've not been very motivated to blog this summer...its hard to stay indoors...I want to soak up enough sun to last through those winter grays...taking our month long trip reminded me of summers long ago...freed from the shackles of school, summer days never seemed long enough to fill with all the adventure of the outdoors...its been hard to get back into a regular routine...

and when the breeze blows through the open windows, it beckons me to do nothing more than enjoy the whisper of wind...

I'm not much of a gardener but I always plant the flower box outside my kitchen window...back in May, as I prepared to plant I discovered that perhaps the recycled metal trough had served its purpose...and it was time for a new window box. Pumped by my prowess of remodeling my workshop studio, I figured that I would build a new box...

A trio of plants filled the box with color and texture...

As the weeks passed, the blooms have faded and shriveled (being left alone for a month with little attention will do that!) but I've been tending to it...and new life is re-emerging from the refreshed greens...ready to give one last push...stretching out the warmth of summer just a bit longer...

Joining the group over at kim klassen's Texture Tuesday...
all of my flower photos were edited with kk texture elevate...

Zen poetry

I'm in the throes of prepping for my upcoming art show, Fresh Paint...but thought I would show you a little diversion I had a couple of weeks ago...

Since my paint can lid message board in my workshop studio is such a popular re-pin on Pinterest, I thought I would make some smaller versions...

I still had leftover lumber...and plenty of paint can lids...and a supply of magnetic words...

So what does that get you...Zen Poetry Boards!

The overall picture makes it hard to read the words...so here's two up-close versions...

I'll have twelve of these for sale at my booth...along with lots of new art work...will show more peeks as the show approaches...mark it on your calendar...
August 16-17, Everett Marina...

humble beginnings

these vintage sign letters spell out the agenda for the party...

Last Sunday I felt like playing...so I put the call out to my friends for an impromptu Art Party...three of us got together...and though the group was small, the creative vibes were large...

I had been itching to try a technique that I saw on the Stampington.com blog...making recycled journals from corrugated cardboard and package mailing tape...I had plenty of cardboard and just so happened to have a roll of the suggested tape...so I was set...click HERE for the link to the complete instructions...



Once my journal was assembled, the embellishment could begin...lately I've become enamored of using magazines and junk mail for my collages...influenced by the fabulous junk mail collages posted daily by Jacki Long...incredible creations...



I decided to make my journal an ode to art girlz...
those of us who create whenever/whatever/wherever the mood strikes...

With peeling back the layers of the corrugated cardboard, a depth of texture is revealed...

I'll be working on finishing up this journal...as well as adding to my trip journal...at my booth at the Fresh Paint Art Festival.  Part of this cool show is that each artist demonstrates some aspect of their art in their booth...I'll be showing how you can create with the most meager of materials...stop by, say hi, get inspired...I'll be in booth 21...get all the details on the show HERE...

And these paper images...perfect fodder for jumping off point of a digital collage...check out what I create with this...I'll be posting on my Instagram feed...having too much fun on IG...so visual, so instantaneous, so creative...my user name is four corners design...follow me and I'll follow you back...

Look | See

Over the last two years, I've become more involved with photography...and it has sharpened my powers of observation...focusing my attention...gleaning the story that I want to tell...

It hasn't just been photography for the sake of capturing a single image...but rather how what I look at can be woven into what I see...an artistic journey that I want to share with others...

In the yearlong class I'm currently taking from kim klassen, 
be still 52, one emphasis is on the simplicity of the moment...the calmness...in essence, being still...in both mind and body.








While on our month long trip, I had plenty of opportunity to practice...
what common images/everyday occurrences do we rush by, never stopping to notice...

I've always been a big proponent that art is not just anything grand or majestic...but simple and approachable...
and present in everyone's life...you just have to see what you are looking at...pay attention for a moment...

these bits of nature...gathered on the lawn in the morning light and placed on the outdoor table...
the most lovely gray and green tones...

Linking up to kim klassen's Texture Tuesday...many more examples of the sublimity of the simple...
all of my images today edited with kk texture pinonly8...which you can download for free here...

Now we are home

The Southern Man and I have returned from our sojourn to the South...
and now that I have my computer fixed and running, I am back to blogging...

The opening photo, taken from my kitchen window, really sums up the essence of our trip...we left to visit family and explore alternative places to live...there's been a nagging idea that perhaps it was time to move...

It was a productive trip...fun at times...trying at others...but all in all...we came back with a firm decision...
to stay right where we are.

We visited quite a few possible cities and towns...and looked at real estate...walked through neighborhoods...
read the local papers...talked to folks in the community...

But there just didn't seem to be that one place that inspired us enough to move 3,000 miles just for the sake of change.

To catalog this adventure, I took a blank journal with me...along with a small package of art supplies...I've never been one to keep an art journal...but thought I might start. So in between the directions to locations, receipts for expenses and jottings of phone numbers and addresses, I decided that I would create mini collages using only the scrap paper/detritus/junk pieces that we came across each day.  I also had my smartphone with me...and used its camera constantly to capture moments and moods. Combining my photographic images with my junk paper collages provided me with a creative outlet...and really began to reflect the progress of our journey...

I found inspiration everywhere...from the tiled floor of the diner where we ate lunch in Athens, Georgia, to the antique shops in Atlanta and Richmond, to the quiet country lanes of Scottsville, Virginia, to the beaches and endless skies of western Florida...

It was a long journey...but a good journey...and now we are home...at last...

p.s. - as for the broken computer...after more than one expert told me to buy a new computer...Gerrit at Office Depot performed a miracle and fixed it...he could have easily sold me a new computer...but instead was my saint...still have some work to do in restoring saved files...but dodged a bullet for the time being...

Joining the group over at Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...where my find is - there is no place like home...

Circumstances beyond my control

Last Saturday the Southern Man and I returned from our southern sojourn...three weeks on the road...ready to share the highlights, I turned on my computer last Sunday...and...and...it was not meant to be.

So I have been computer-less while I figure the next step...I had been a PC girl...do I really want to make the switch to Apple?  I'm typing this on the Southern Man's iPad...which has it's limitations...

So in the meantime, I'm still posting to Instagram and my four corners design FB page (thank god for my smartphone!) so you can catch up with me there...

Wish me luck with this computer adventure...I hope to be back in full operating mode soon!