Hammered tin bird

Found this at a shop in New London. I know it's different, but that's what I loved about it! I thought it was quirky and fun and, well, it had a bird on it. So it has to be fabulous!

My husband walked by it for a week and didn't notice it. Actually, he also walked by me for a week and didn't noticed that I cut my hair...a lot.

Hmmm

Anyway, he finally noticed the bird and said, "Well, that's different!" Ha ha ha! That is man language for;

"Yuck!"

I love it anyway. I will be painting this room a beautiful warm color called Beach Walk by Behr. I think it will look wonderful.

Perhaps he will think my hair cut looks wonderful too. :O

We are all moved in

Well, we are finally all moved in and I have to say, it is gorgeous here in southern CT. We moved in just before the season's first hurricane. Here is a picture of my son Ian watching the waves roll in the day before! The beach was gorgeous, all wave tossed and windy. The air was saturated with moisture and smelled all fresh and salty. Oh, have I missed the ocean.

My Neighbors clothes line

My neighbor, soon to be not my neighbor since we are moving, recently had a clothes line installed. I thought the towels she hung out to dry looked so much like a painting. So I photographed them and played around with the image! I really loved the effects. Ahhh spring!

Last Crow Photo

This is the last of the altered crow photos. I especially love the effects and colors of this one.

Little boat

I am thinking of the ocean a lot lately. We are moving to a town very close to where I grew up in Rhode Island. I miss the smell of the ocean (not at low tide), and the sandy beaches and the little terns hiding in the foot print depressions in the sand, all facing into the wind. I am trying to be brave and not depressed over leaving a place I have grown to love.

Hope your day is filled with Joy!

OMGosh!!!!!! Packing to Move is WORK!

Well, yesterday I cleaned out all my art things...paints, canvases, yarn, beads, just mega loads of stuff from my "art room" and prepared it for our move. I am not kidding, I was amazed at how much stuff I had!!!! You know how you get inspired to do some craft/art project and go buy the stuff and maybe do a little project and have all this left over stuff? Rubber carving stamp materials, beads and threads, watercolor pads, paints, pastels, books, carving tools, neat shaped glass jars to hold water or whatever...man o man!
Hope I survive this! Anyone out there done this recently? I could use some hints, comfort, sage advise...
Please?
This is a little photo I altered. I love these birds. But I think I told you all that....a dozen times. :)

Altered Crow

I love crows. Something about the way they hop around and relate to each other. I think they are amazing in their fortitude and cleverness.

Ok, well, except the way they can get into my garbage containers no matter WHAT means I come up with to secure them. You can see them laughing at my efforts to thwart them, in the large tree by my home...

We are moving!

I've lived here in the Northern most part of New York for almost 22 years. And now my husband has gotten a new job. We are moving to the east coast of Connecticut for a new start. I am excited, scared, hopeful, nervous, but, sure it will all work out. Wish me luck!

Little Acrylic and Pastel Bird

A little painting I am working on....

Old Crow Recolored

This is an old watercolor I recolored. Love the way it came out! These crazy birds look at my garbage cans the same way each Friday.

Little blue and white "tile"

This is just a tiny little watercolor that I played around with on my Photo Draw program. It is actually multicolored... These programs are just amazing!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A little shamrock I painting on a scrap of watercolor paper. Happy Green Day to you all!

Illustration Friday...Subterranean

Rats!

Dogwood tree watercolor

I am loving painting trees right now...and a flowering tree is a thing of beauty!

This is my idea of a dogwood tree offering its blooms to any passersby.

I painted the tree and the background and then drew the flower. I then isolated the flowers and added them to the tree using Photo Draw. I love this old program.

You can change the original in so many neat ways. These may not look too clear here on my blog. The last one, in this series of three, is the original.

Stained Glass Altered Watercolor

There is so much you can do with an old painting. I "cut" it up and placed it into small frames, all haphazard, and I really like the results. Of course I did this on the computer... But maybe, now that I see it, I will cut up the original and try it that way....

a little award

Joanna has sent me this award. It is my first. Thank you, Joanna! (Not janet!). I really enjoy this woman's site.
So, now the rules state that I must post this award, and nominate 7 blogs I love. Then I have to supply a link to those favorite places I get inspired, and tell you 7 things about me.

Here are some of my favorite sites: These are truly talented and interesting women.

Raluca, Beth, Karen, Iris Z, Suki, Tif, Kirsty, and Ida . I really love to follow all of your blogs. You each inspire me by your words or your art or both.
Now, Seven Things About Me (or more than you ever wanted to know)

1. I live where it is very cold for a long time each year. (But shorts are over rated when you have less than ideal thighs. )

2. I love to play with all things art...you name it, I want to try it! I am often found at my local art store a mess of paint and pajamas, because I was overcome with the urge to try something I lack some supply for...I'm not exaggerating. (sometimes without a bra)

3. My housework can get neglected when I am playing. So at around 4ish, I run around like a mad woman cleaning, scrubbing, so it LOOKS like I was about this all day.

4. I have about 1,000,000 unfinished art projects, painting, embroideries, carved stamps, collages, all over the house. I counted. Can't seem to get them to look the way I want. Sometimes, I throw them out.

5. Nobody has ever bought any of my work...I don't sell it...but one of my biggest paintings somehow got hung in the big cancer center next to my house. My friend saw it and called me. Ha, makes me want to go check it out incognito!

6. I love God! Yes I do! Pray all the time that He would help me with ( #4 above) and for a lot of other things, and to thank Him for my life.

7. I have had some sorrows but more joys in my life of 44 years. And I wouldn't trade away any of those experiences. The joys put color in my life, the sorrows gave me understanding. I am well satisfied...well except for #4 above.

Wow! Did you get to the end? You must be drinking some strong coffee! Have a wonderful day. And check out my blog list above. They are really terrific!

Birdy Gardeners and Their Plantings

I have these two little parakeets, Mung and Sammy. They sit by a sunny window and make quite a racket! All day...

When they are eating they like to fling their seeds all over creation! I have a small cactus plant near their cage and recently many little green things began to sprout out of the pot....hum? I can't wait to see what they will become... In the meantime I think the cactus looks hysterical on my...c l e a n staircase!

Altered Crow Photo

I got some great photos yesterday on my walk. Among those were some wonderful crows that I photographed high up in a tree. My husband is letting me borrow a camera from his work (don't tell anybody)! What a powerful zoom it has. These birds were waaaay up there. Making quite a racket

Walking with my son

I walked my youngest son to school this morning. He's 11, and so you can imagine his thrill at having mom walk him two blocks to school. I told him I needed some exercise and wanted to take some photos. He looked at me skeptically, and said, why don't you call one of your friends and go with them?" LOL...

So, getting my way, I trudged along with him camera banging against my stomach...which could use a little downsizing, and we had a really wonderful time. He talked, I listened. On the way home, I took some photos.

Now I love a pretty picket fence. How about you?

My Grandmother In Law

I met my husband when I was 17. He was living with his grandparents, Joe and Mildred, in Lincoln, RI and going to college. Where I met him!

His grandmother was amazing but she didn't quite like me at that time. I couldn't blame her since I was an awful brat, and really didn't show her the respect she deserved. This past spring, May, she passed away at 85. She was the matriarch of a family with five daughters and too many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to list. I would be hard pressed to list her many talents and skills as well. Mother, athlete, cook...

This morning I was looking through some pictures on a disk, and was struck by her youth. Here she was in these old photos, younger than I am now, alive, full of dreams for her future...life is fleeting...

My oldest son told me about a site http://www.myparentswereawesome.com/ This is a site gathering old photos of parents...maybe I will post one. She was really like a mom to my husband at times...

Aren't all good grandmothers?

I like to believe by the time I was an older mother myself, she maybe looked upon me as a good wife and mother. One can only hope!

Illustration Friday... Brave

Brave or foolish, it's hard to say!

Celebration of my first year post.

Last year, Feb 27 was my very first post. I just realized it yesterday. Here is a little celebratory painting for that occasion! I'm a little late. But, anyone that knows me even a bit, will understand what a surprise it was for me to stick with anything for any length of time. The anniversary took me by surprise.

Thank you to all who follow and leave such wonderful and helpful comments. I do love them.

Warmest Regards (read: smooches and more smooches) to you all,

Diane

Vintage Bird Pictures

Vintage...what is the definition of vintage anyway? Does it mean; old?
These bird prints are old so I suppose I can say they are vintage?

Sometimes, I feel vintage, but... I digress.

Well, these hung in my grandmother's house and my mom's as well, which adds to their charm over me.
They hang in my living room now and I love to just look at them. I cropped the living room picture to remove the dusty floor. What a novel concept in modern house work!

Eating Crow...

My powers of perception are really quite dim. May I explain? This morning I was driving the kids to school and there were crows hanging around, as usual. Perhaps they are plotting something after my last post? Anyway, as I was looking at them it dawned on my brain, under the influence of a gallon sized cup of coffee, "Aiigh! That bird has a black beak!!!"

I was appalled to only just realized this obvious factoid. My previous painting...you know, the "seagull trying to be a crow" has a yellow schnoz. oops!

Really, it's just embarrassing. Sorry to all the crows out there who I misrepresented! This little doodle is for you. So, if you are plotting some revenge...please don't poop on my car...please?

Crow, in progress

Just working on a watercolor of a crow. I do love these birds...except when they are opening my garbage containers and spreading the contents on the ground for all to see! I started with blue and layered over it with black...but after a few hours, the blue is coming through too much. Maybe I need to add another layer of black?

Oh well, so much to learn... I did scan it and play around a bit with it, but it's still too blue.

Illustration Friday Perspective

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.

Well, maybe ignoring would be better than this...

I do love my cat!

Fabric as Stained Glass

I took a portion of a previous post picture (of the quilt) and played with it on the computer. I pieced together a portion to make a larger picture and then had some fun in Photo Draw. I really liked the way it looked like a piece of stained glass.

This is the original photo. I cringe everytime I type in the subject PhotoDraw. My oldest son, who is graduating this year with a BFA and a degree in Graphic Arts, rolls his eyes and tells me I am using a dinosaur of a program. That I should have Photo Shop.... His voice is in my head...oh well.

Under a blanket of heavy snow...

Despite all the snow that fell on my poor little gardens yesterday (6-9"), I am still dreaming of spring and gardening. I would love to have a fenced in front yard, with a garden and chickens roaming around... I know those aren't chickens in my drawing...but...that's the gist of my dream.

Spring Painting and a Snowstorm

I started wishing for spring.
The weather has been unseasonably warm. Yesterday it was almost 40.
So I started on a drawing of a young girl, in a spring dress, dancing around a tree in blossom.
There's a bird flying high and a nest of eggs...

This morning, the schools were canceled because snow is falling in huge, heavy, clumping, globs!

But I love it! I got outside this morning, in my slippers and a house coat, and took photos of the bending trees

and found some silly sights.

Cathedral Window Quilt

I played around with some gorgeous children's fabrics and made a tiny cathedral window quilt a while back. It's just been hanging around. I love how the colors shine through the white fabric.

I was way too impatient to do a full sized version of this quilt. I wanted to put it all together quickly so I could wash it and get that beautiful puckered look. You cannot believe how easy this project is!

It is mostly hand sewn. Mostly!

Luucy...I'm home!!

This is Lucy my 8 year old cat. I didn't make the bed right away this morning and came home to find her burying her toys amidst the covers and blankets... yes, this is why mom tells us to make our beds right away.... She looked so cute that I took a chance to photograph her. Usually she resists this. The photos came out nice. So I put two, the original and one...you guessed it, enhanced.