Floral Paintings and Gypsies

I LOVE to travel!!! I don't know if you have a wandering heart, but I think I was supposed to be a traveler. There is a show on TV called "My Big, Fat, Gypsy Wedding" and I'm not talking about that kind of "traveler". When I was young I was cursed with motion sickness and really hated driving anywhere more than an hour away from home. THANKFULLY I out grew it and have gone on many wonderful trips. My in-laws love to travel and have taken us on many amazing international travels. I always want to buy a few things but I also try to collect things from nature at each place.  I have made a small shadowbox with some of my beachy collections. The pics seem a little blurry to me so forgive the photography...it might just be my eyes ;-)

 Sand dollars and Sea Shells

 I am also going to show you some of my paintings I have scattered around the house. I am not very confident about my work but I do REALLY enjoy painting. It takes me away... I don't know how to describe it ... so how about a couple of quotes?

"To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage."  Georgia O'Keeffe

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Pablo Picasso

"Art allows us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." Thomas Merton

"I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." Vincent Van Gogh

To make art you have to-  be brave, be a kid, lose yourself, and love other people.   I will MAKE ART!

 Most of these paintings are in my sunroom with 7 windows and glass framing so I couldn't get rid of the glare in the photos. You may have noticed a FLORAL theme. I think I need to push myself to branch out a little-  Dontcha think?   

Art Room update:  I am diligently working on the chaotic, cluttered, confused, jumbled, littered mess that is my art/craft room and will be showing some pics soon of this HISTORIC, EARTHSHAKING, MOMENTOUS Work In Progress. (It needed lots of adjectives!) 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I would love for you to say hello! Also, if you would hit the G+1 button I will know you visited. Thank you, Thank you.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Grandmother

I was blessed with 2 wonderful grandmothers. Both were great at many things using hooks and needles. Today I am showing a treasure that my maternal grandmother, Agnes Elizabeth,  made specifically for me, and I watched her sew almost every stitch by hand. You see, she and Grandaddy lived across the street from me as I was growing up. My mom is an only child and when my Grandaddy retired from the ministry in Dallas, Texas they hightailed it back up here to Tennessee, where they were from originally. Grandmother was always reading the Bible, cooking, or making something with her hands.She was a germ-a-phobe and a whistler. Always the same song and under her breath... sorta whisper whistling. She was more than I could possibly describe here in a few sentences so I will just share these pictures of her handiwork.

Grandmother's Cathedral Window Quilt

 
When I was younger I didn't like all of the colors that were in the quilt.  Now, WOW! I ADORE all the crazy colors, and it will always go with whatever decor I have at the time.  There is NOTHING it doesn't match. Now that I am older, and try to make things myself, I cannot imagine doing this quilt by hand. I remember all of the little squares that she cutout and each cathedral window as it was made. I just had NO IDEA what she was doing. When she was part way through she said that she was going to give it to me when she finished.  I wasn't very appreciative. Nope.  I didn't get it, then.

Now it is one of my most prized possessions and thankfully I know that Grandmother, in Heaven, knows how much I treasure it. 

Thank you, Grandmother.

Ravishing Rhodos and Blithe Bumblebees

OK.  A little too much alliteration in the title, but when you see the pictures you will GET IT. Rhododendrons are one of my favorite things in the yard because they remind me of The Great Smoky Mountains . They only bloom in the spring but
 OH, WHAT A SHOW! 

The bees LOVE THEM!!  When I think of "drowsy" bees I think of BUMBLEBEES.
 BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ... slow and steady wins the race (or in this case, pollinates the flowers). They seem so... lazy? yet they are on a life or death mission that is planted deep in their soul. Gather up all the SWEET STUFF they can before the sun goes down. Sounds good? Yep.

 I am also showing  a teensy weensy peek at my back porch, but right now it is COVERED in bird seed, pollen and Tulip Poplar blooms. After they quit falling I have to pressure wash it all and switch from regular bird feeders to the hummingbird feeder.  I haven't seen any yet, but they have been looking for their SWEET STUFF as early as March in the past. I'll be watching for them!

I think as a Christian I am called to more than JUST this (more on that in another post), but I think the Lord gave us all the beauty in this world to ENJOY. His glory is everywhere and sometimes I feel like a bumblebee trying to gather all the SWEET STUFF I can before my sun goes down.  With the creation story in Genesis 1, the adornment of the Tabernacle by Moses in Exodus 25-30, the building of Solomon's Temple for the Lord in 1st Kings 6 it is clear that God loves beauty. Gather some SWEET STUFF of God EVERYDAY!

Happy Hexagons

 Hi friends,

I am SO excited to share some photos of my new HAPPY HOOKEY WIP that is a real stretch for my usual color palette of greens and browns. After some inspiration from Lucy at Attic 24 and her amazingly KALEIDOSCOPIC hooking projects I decided to EMBRACE THE COLOR! I am so surprised at how fun it is to crochet bright colors!  It is the trend right now in all things at the mall... BRIGHTS!
 So put on your sunglasses and enjoy the pics! I hope my photography can do it justice ;-)

I haven't joined them together yet, but I have tucked all the loose ends.

The pattern is called Granny Graphic Afghan by Katherine Eng but instead of going with the 5 hexagons in the pattern I used 8 colors and have been doing them randomly. It is a little more willy-nilly, but I like it! I have 26 out of 60 made so far. I have been doing about 2 hexes a day and really having FUN, FUN, FUN. The real question is "Where will I put this scrummy, yummy blanket when I am finished?   Family room?  Bedroom?  Back Porch?" Hmmm...  We will see, but I will probably just carry it around with me wherever I go like Linus. Hopefully, I will be able to make some more blankets and then I can have one in every room! I'll keep you posted as I go....

Thank you to my friends old and new who have left comments for me. I am so THRILLED when I see there is a comment and I promise to reply to ALL of them. It is so motivating to share the things I do with friends in "blog wonderland".  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

A Little piece of Heaven on Earth

 When I go to my "Happy Place" I am always at the Little River in Townsend, Tennessee, "The Peaceful Side Of the Smokies", as their welcome sign reads. I have visited this river every summer since I was born and it makes me... whole, calm, peaceful, closer to God, HAPPY! The cabin we are staying in belonged to my Great Aunt Maurine and her presence is felt everywhere here. Especially in the garden. Today I have been raking leaves and trying to find some of the wildflowers that she transplanted to this hillside. It bears noting that she didn't move here until her late 70's so you when you see the pictures you will be impressed with her physical abilities.

This is the street side and is nice and flat.The back of the house has a large screened in porch that overlooks the river.

THE backporch

Plenty of rocking chairs for rockin' the day away.

This shows how steep the backyard gets.

The far end of the porch has a swing and a daybed.

The view from the swing.

The beach area for swimming and sunning.

The beach in relation to the cabin.

Some Maidenhair ferns that Aunt Maurine planted.

 Where is your "Happy Place"?  It is my prayer that everyone has somewhere they can go to get away from it all. We all need a little piece of heaven here on earth! Thanks for visiting today!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Well, Here it is!

I have to say, I'm a little bit nervous about posting these pictures, but I'm going to face it   HEAD ON!    THE ART ROOM!

Well, let's not rush into this...

First, I have to show you a few pictures of the neat parts of my house so you won't think I'm a complete SLOB. As I said in an earlier post, I love order but am prone to disorder. Here is my kitchen and you will see BOTH.

Order

I think the Flylady calls this a "hot spot".

Order and disorder together!

Now for my kitchen cabinets-   They're GOOD!

(sorry about the poor light)

Even my pantry  is okay  - Not pretty, but we can find everything.

Now, here we go...      UPSTAIRS....  THE ART ROOM OF DOOM!

I can't even get in the door!

There are some really good workbenches under here that I made a few years ago.

Now you know the ugly truth.

Here is my PLAN. I am visiting our family cabin this weekend so I am going to get started on this next week. I really AM, because I've said so on my blog! Tune in as I go.

My next post will show a few things I have made with HOOKS and NEEDLES.

Thank you SO MUCH for joining me here at home and please leave me a comment to let me know what you think. Talk to ya soon.