I did not fall off the planet

Just in case you were wondering...

Time is crazy, isn't it? Like Houdini, it is a master of escape. And escape, it has.

Let's see, what have I been doing? Not blogging that is for sure. I am ready to settle back in if you're willing to join me again. I am just about ready to make the big switch to Wordpress. I will make a tutorial for those who are unsure if they can still follow from Blogger (you can).

I have been to Florida, one of my family's most favorite places. Talk about time escaping, jeesh. We did cram in a lot though, the short week we were there. I'll share more on that later. I will say, I've not ever been so inspired as I have been than on this trip. I feel the want, the need to paint, paint, paint!! I've got a million ideas in my brain waiting to fill my canvases with their imagery. Tune in to find out what has got me so fired up and inspired.

Temperatures are dropping and that also means time to dust off and clean out the greenhouse to get it ready for my plants again. Soon too. The temps are supposed to drop to 41 degrees F Tuesday night. How can this be?

I did paint a couple things right before Florida that I shared on Facebook, but not here. So I'll post it again here. I've been painting in oil again and these have been drying while I was away and are ready for more work...

I hope everyone is fairing well since I've been MIA. I promise to be visiting your blog soon... Till then...  See ya!

School has begun and a new fall painting

Today my little man had his second day of school. He is in the first grade and I can hardly believe it. You may be wondering why I'm showing the 2nd day of school picture instead of the first. Well, that would be because the bus came ten minutes earlier than he said he would yesterday! He was honking his horn as Asher was getting his shoes on. So here is the first day... running late.

I didn't even get a "bye Mom" or a kiss or nothing. He didn't either. All he got was "run, baby run!" haha

So today we had a re-do. Here it is...

there goes my baby

He was up in a flash today. Good thing, because the bus came 5 minutes earlier than yesterday! But he loved riding the bus, although I can't imagine it will last. He is on it for a long time, about 45 minutes I'd say. Then he has to wait around in the school for it to begin. I'll probably soon be taking him, once the newness has wore off and he wants to sleep later.

In other news, I have managed to paint a fall painting. I haven't named it yet, but am thinking of Dreaming Amber... not sure. What do you think?

I also want to mention to my Blogger friends that I am soon leaving Blogger and moving over to Wordpress in order to get all my art business related stuff together on one site, you know things like my website, shop, etc.. I sincerely hope you will come over there and continue stay in touch with me. I'll have a link to get there, more about it later. It's a work in progress at the moment, but it's coming soon. I've even got a newsletter in the works. Busy times.

Dreaming Amber?

Well with all this new found time, I'm off to do more creating! Have a happy day...

Finished pup has new owner

My painting of "Can I go home with you?" has a new owner. I didn't get to meet her, but I tried. She left before the winners were called. I hope she likes it, well obviously she likes it or she wouldn't have bid on it ;)  But what I mean is, I hope she is happy she won and likes it even more now that he is hers. 


I had a few people tell me they wanted to buy it as I was making my way up to add it to the items to be auctioned off, but of course it was for the benefit. But I did list it in my FineArtAmerica.com shop, here. Where are all these people when I am at an art show? haha Maybe I've hit a soft spot here with the pup. He is a cutie, and who doesn't love dogs?


My face painting gig went well. Lots of happy kids, which makes me happy. I got lots of cute pictures of their smiling painted faces (and an arm!). Here's a couple that I think turned out great...

New Acrylic Painting + Kitty update

I've been so busy outside I haven't done much painting lately, but last night I went into the studio and had a pretty productive couple hours. I've got a face painting gig on Saturday and they ask for a small donation for a silent auction and I've decided to donate this little guy. The art and craft show is to benefit a local no kill shelter in my county called Posey County Pound Puppies. So I thought a cute little dog would be perfect for the auction and I actually planned on painting this just for that purpose. I hope he gets a good home :) I think I'll name him "Can I go home with you?".  He's not quite finished, I need to add just a few little things. 


My poor kitty Glove is hanging in there. She started looking quite a bit better then all of a sudden I noticed she stopped drinking and eating again and I thought oh no, this is it. But Wednesday morning I got up and was petting her like normal and noticed this icky smell. I got to looking and she had an oozing wound on her little back end. I called the vet right away to get in because I knew in her current state she might not be able to heal very well. So I took her in and she had an abcess and they cleaned her up and clipped it away and discovered this giant hole! Turns out she had been bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider! I'll show you a picture at the bottom, so beware. Not a close up though.


We have Brown Recluse Spiders everywhere in my house, it's a constant threat for us. I worry about all the time. We have our home sprayed 4 times a year. God forbid my son get bit. But I never thought they would get through an animals fur, but then I remembered she has just had a lot of her fur clipped away due to all the matting. My poor baby! So it's been a couple days of anti-biotics, and I've been pampering her and feeding her with a spoon (she is so spoiled) and she is doing a lot better, Yay! She is eating, and wanting affection and I guess she has used up another one of her nine lives.


She also had some sort of colon clogging problem and the vet had to give her an enema. Ugh, I'm glad they did it and not me... lol. I left her there for an hour, so she wouldn't have a blow out in the cat carrier... haha  She's all unclogged now and he said it's soft food for her now for the rest of her life. No problemo, other than it stinks to high heaven, but she's worth it.


Here she is, hole and all the first day. It looks like it is healing pretty good now.

brown recluse spider bite at base of tail

IF you are a little morbid, like me and want to see a close go here.

Finished Oil Painting of Magnolias and sugar bowl

Hi everyone! I'm joining in PPF again :) Glad you could make it here. Today I'm sharing my first oil painting that I think is finished. I think. I fixed it from the first time I posted it - at least as best as I can now. (See the first jacked up one here) I'm loving the oils so far.

Have you tried oils? Or do you work in them often? I'd love any tips and/or advice you can offer :) Make sure to visit all the Party Goers at Paint Party Friday. Woo Hoo!

Stay safe today all my peeps who are in the large area that is expecting strong storms today with tornadoes (which includes me - YIKES!) Unfortunately, some of my near by areas was hit by the Leap Day tornadoes where people's lives were lost. My prayers are with the people suffering through devastation right now. They are in the storms path again. Harrisburg, Illinois is just 54 miles from me and they were hit hard with a F4 tornado and Newburgh, Indiana which is about 37 miles away got hit with an F1. Thankfully no lives were lost there. I have many friends living there. Keep an eye on the sky.

Have a great weekend.

First attempt at oil painting

This past Saturday night, my friend Amelia and I took an oil painting class. It was an absolute beginners and neither one of us had a clue as what to expect.


We had a really nice teacher and this was her first time to teach to adults. She is an art teacher for either middle school or high school, I can't remember. There were about 8 of us in this tiny space and sitting at card tables, 4 to a table. It was tight. So tight in fact that I was afraid to scoot my chair back for fear of knocking over things behind me.


So she taught us just a few very basics, handed out canvases, pencils and directed us towards a still life she had set up. It was so close no one really could see it and there was no room to get up and get closer to draw it. Luckily, she handed out pictures she had taken of it. Unfortunately, they were taken from a still life that she had practiced setting up in her home... haha it was kinda dark. But it worked.


This is what I was able to accomplish in the short 2 hours that it lasted. I sat so close to my canvas and held up my picture so close to it that I was unable to even see what I was drawing at the bottom of the canvas. My foreshortening is all wrong. Had I been able to stand up and away from my drawing I think it would have turned out better.


Oh well, I'm pretty happy with it. It was great fun and took the mystery out of oils for me. Who knew how easy it was?! Not me. I've been scared of them for ever. Not any more! I plan to paint more on this and hopefully I can correct the little sugar bowl and its wonky distortion. I'm up for any critques or advice =)


I am just about sick to death of Roses for the Dead. I haven't even really worked on it for a while, but now I'm all fired up for the oils but need to finish this to get it out of the way So it hopefully will be finished very soon if I can make myself do do it. I'm sure I can, I get into it once I get started. I'm anxious for it to be done. It's one of the largest pieces I've done. I'm ready to start going big!

Italian Beef sandwiches

I made Italian Beef sandwiches with this new recipe last week and had to share it with you all because it was so yummy and fairly easy.

I got the recipe from my friend Amelia but cooked it a little different. She used her crock pot and I used my pressure cooker. Super fast that way. Otherwise they tasted the same. So if you have the time use your crock pot and if you're always planning what to eat like 2 seconds before you jump right in like me, then the pressure cooker will save you. My time management skills are lacking.

Ingredients are simple:

3 pounds of rump beef roast

2 packets of dry Italian Dressing mix

8 oz jar of peperoncini's including juice

1 can beef broth

onions (optional)

olive oil (optional)

buns, I like hoagie buns

Trim all the visible fat off roast because once it's in there, it's stayin'. This next part is optional. Brown the meat in a little bit of olive oil and onions. Then I added the can of broth, the peperoncini's, and the 2 packets of dry Italian dressing mix. Stir it around a little to mix up the dry stuff and put your lid on either the crock pot or presser cooker.

The crock pot would take about 8 hours on low or 4 on high until the beef is done and tender. My method of using the pressure cooker took me only 35 minutes once I brought it to full pressure (which was only a few minutes) at 15 pounds of pressure. Cool off using the natural method which means you just take it off the heat and let it cool and the pressure escapes. Easy peasy.

Always remember to open the lid away from your face unless you want to melt your eyelashes together, not that I would know... ahem.

I pull out the meat that is still intact in the hunks I had cut it in and then I pull the beef apart with two forks. The meat is so tender, it's very easy and you don't need a knife. Then add the shredded beef back into the juices and stir it up. I didn't even need to thicken it. You could if you wanted, I guess.

I toasted my bread under the broiler with butter and provolone. Just pile up the meat on the bread and enjoy! This is a sloppy meal, but sooooo yummy.  You can adjust the heat with less peperoncini's or could use banana peppers instead. I would call this a medium heat only because my husband thought it was. My heat indicators must be burnt cause I would label it more mild to medium.

I got about 8 good size sandwiches with the 3 pounds of meat. I'll make a bigger batch next time. I got a good deal for the meat at $2.39 per pound, so this is a pretty economical recipe, too. I hope you give it a try. Oh and try not to melt your eyelashes, they take a really long time to grow back in. Just sayin'.

Ooo... on another note, the art show I'm in is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm pretty syked. I'm putting in 2 original pieces (the limit) and they are both for sale. I'm using "Sinister Feline" and "My Three Suns". I have since framed them but haven't taken a picture yet. Wish me luck!

Sinister Feline

My Three Suns

Roses for the Dead continued

Slowly but surely, I continue to work on my "Roses for the Dead" pastel painting. The work actually goes fast, but I've been doing busy work like painting frames and other things instead of working on this.


My local Blick Art Materials had some wing ding yesterday and was giving out pull tab cards with discounts on them. I pulled a 20% off which is good considering I didn't have a coupon to be begin with but the lady in front of me picked out a card that was a $100 gift card! Dang! Oh well, good for her.


I'm hooking up with Paint Party Friday Woo Hoo! Go and see all the inspiration and talent there if you get a chance.


For those of you that read my post from last Friday, I have an update on my mammogram that I had to have "further evaluation" on. I got great news yesterday. I had my mammogram redone yesterday and everything is fine. No cancer! I am so relieved. The doctor was pointing at these little lines that crossed over in my x-rays that he was showing me but it all looked the same to me. Good thing that's not my job! Anyway, thanks for all the nice things you all said and well wishes and prayers. I love our support group here in blogland.


Oh, also some of you may know about Google getting rid of friend connect (a way to follow blogs). I found through Inspiration Avenue an alternative by the same smart guy that brought us Mr. Linky. It's free, you should check it out and if you do it, I'd love it if you followed me through there, too! See my upper right hand corner for a link.


Have a great weekend friends :)

Pass the wine please

I'm working on a pastel painting at the moment, it's still of course a work in progress. "Roses for the Dead". You may remember seeing the drawing from some post from who knows when. I fall in love with pastels every time I use them. I don't know why I stop and go to other things. Paints for some reason just beckon me with their come hither texture and fabulous colors not to mention I find such delight in just admiring my palette. There's just something so romantic about holding a brush in your hand. Okay, I'm a little crazy.

But what  a fickle medium it is, I have these marvelous paintings in my mind and for some reason the end result gets hacked by either the paints, the brushes or technique. It can't possibly be me, right? haha Do you ever feel like you have no control over what you're doing?

Well I got the girls squished this week, Tuesday to be precise and then just yesterday I got the dreaded letter in the mail saying I have to go back in for "an ultra sound and further evaluation". Great. Just what I need, a week of worry and fret. I can't get back in until next Thursday. Pass the wine bottle please. I think I'll just stay drunk until then.

The chirpy girl on the other end of the phone was all "now this is all routine, it doesn't mean anything" Well if it doesn't mean anything then why the hell do I have to go back?!! I knew that technician was too good to be true. She didn't hurt me at all. She should've flattened those puppies out. At least now the pain would be gone and maybe now I would not be worried.

Ah so maybe I'm got a self portrait here...  just kidding. Other than that, I have tinnitus now in my left ear from probably coughing my head off and I just got back from having my eyes dilated. So I can't see a damn thing. If there's typo's I'm sorry but it's the doctors fault. I was sure I had macular degeneration. So far their just floaters, probably from coughing hard for so long. But I'm supposed to be looking for a black curtain, a sign of a  torn retina. Wonderful.

Let's see, is there anything else I can complain about? Not at this moment. Check back later though ;)

Happy Paint Party Friday! (I'm back!)

P.S. I've a quick question for everyone. Are the words too small and hard to read for you? It seems small to me, but I'd like your opinions.

UPDATE: I have an update on my mammogram that I had to have "further evaluation" on. I got great news yesterday (Thurs. 2/9/12). I had my mammogram redone yesterday and everything is fine. No cancer! I am so relieved. The doctor was pointing at these little lines that crossed over in my x-rays that he was showing me but it all looked the same to me. Good thing that's not my job! Anyway, thanks for all the nice things you all said and well wishes and prayers. I love our support group here in blogland.

New Inkings and paintings

I've been working on a few new pieces the last couple days. They are all on wood. I've got 3 inkings done and one of them painted and finished. This colored one is called "A Girl and Her Bird". It is inked with india ink and them painted with metallic paint mostly. The yellow is plain acrylic. The scanner just cannot capture the sheen to these and it looks so much better in person. So here's a photograph that shows the different metallics a little bit better...

Here's the inking:

This one I call "My Three Suns"

 This one is "Sinister Feline"

When I'm inking, the marks I make are totally random. I do not have anything in mind when I take my brush to the gesso'd wood. I don't sketch anything first. Once I get a few marks on the board, the story starts to come to me and the characters come out from hiding. It is always a surprise when it's finished. After I feel the painting is finished, I add color. I love to let the painting tell me what it wants to be.

There is going to be a local Art Show at my county's library that I'm trying to come up with something unique for. I'm not sure if everyone gets in or it's a juried event. In any case, I'm hoping I can get in. I've got until February 15th to come up with a masterpiece.. haha

Well me and the kid are sick at home again today. We just go from one cold to the next it seems. It's freezing outside and blowing the snow that is falling. I'm so ready for spring.

Later Taters,

New painting of baby barn owl

I haven't been in my studio much the last two weeks because of Christmas break, but I did manage to paint this baby barn owl right before Christmas. I thought it turned out wintery looking, probably the blue background. It is acrylics on wood (Luan).

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While I hate the word cute being used to describe art, this little guy is kinda cute, huh?

It's Paint Party Friday! Take time to visit the other artists and their work if you have a chance. Lots of talent!

Butterfly Housing

I've been working on painting a butterfly box for a Christmas present and I've got it finished except for the clear coats. I used acrylics and of course I had to add a little metallic paint and what perfect place to add that but the only colored butterfly on the whole box. It looks a bit like a hot mess in these photos, I took them at night. But it really does look better in natural light.

close up of metallic butterfly!

I've been sick this week and to add insult to injury, I fell down my very wicked stairs last night. I am so very sore. I couldn't even sleep on my injured side last night.

wicked stairs - see my slippers? that's where I landed.

Luckily, I landed on my very cushioned caboose and didn't break anything, bone-wise. It could have been very ugly. These stairs are wicked I tell you and there is a brick floor at the bottom. I was at the very top and took a step or two down (I had slippers on) and I felt it slide out from under me and down I went . I think I even bounced. I landed where you see the slippers, about half way down. Like I said it could've ended very badly. At least I didn't have an audience. I won't be wearing those slippers again. This is a good reason to try and talk my husband into a main floor studio!

Happy Holidays!