I live on a farm ... — Life
Bittersweet
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Bittersweet. I look outside my studio window as I write, viewing a great bounty of lush green growth. Trees, green grasses, flowers, an abundance of life that is breathtaking in its simplicity and rustic charm. Several Amish families in open, black buggies pulled by elegant dark chestnut colored horses have passed by on the road, their children wearing straw hats in the bright morning sun. I am blessed. I look over at the watercolor painting I am working on with two swans I photographed on our river last year on a perfectly gorgeous June day. It is amazing to...
A spring full of creativity
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We have been very busy, very productive. Last week I was not able to blog because I was working all out, day in and day out to prepare two full-color two-sided brochures for the now annual Artists of The Oak Art Trail the last Saturday of August. This is the third year that our artist group has organized and held our own Art Trail event. The first two years we worked with a local arts organization but this year we have struck out on our own. My husband and I are the Art Trail organizers, and I felt strongly that...
The return of the rabbit
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Three springtime's ago I did quite a lot of needle felting, during the last trimester of my daughter's pregnancy and for a while after my granddaughter was born. Needle felting at that time was a substitute creative release for me, because I was on hiatus from oil painting for a bit at the time. I am a professional writer and fine artist by trade, but there are many crafts I have enjoyed over the course of my lifetime, beginning with learning to knit and crochet when I was a little kid. I was recalling the other day how much...
Chocolate. Coffee. Whiskey.
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Remember seeing photos of the cookies I make with chocolate, coffee, and whiskey (among other things) in the ingredients? I love making those cookies at the holidays and sending a dozen each to various family members and some friends. I love photographing them also, because they look so scrumptious and photograph so beautifully. Sometimes I make a second round of them at Valentine's Day, adding a drop or two of red food coloring to make the icing pink and again, send them out a dozen apiece to family who I sorely miss. What makes me sad, however, is that I...
Today in our life ...
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I'll be writing more a little later, and posting a blog in the morning. In the meantime, I wanted to share this with all of my readers. My son's Etsy Shop (FlyingJunction.Etsy.com) is offering free shipping this week. If you haven't seen his work before, he painstakingly designs authentic looking, vintage inspired subway signs and bus scrolls featuring neighborhoods in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Paris, Seattle and more. He can personalize any of his offerings, or make a custom sign to your own specifications celebrating important places and "subway or bus stops" from your own life....