Chickens of the World get a New Lease on Life......

Today we have a picture of a very happy chicken.  I am in the second week of radiation therapy.  So far it has been going well.  Not many major side effects except for one.  I have lost my appetite.  It has officially gone on vaca.  I have also lost the taste for Chicken.  My closest friends and family members know how much I love chicken. I am the Bubba Gump of chicken, I can eat it any way on any day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Well, not any more.

The chicken in the picture is dancing because it knows it is safe for a while anyway.  What have I been eating? Oh salads, tuna fish, soup and fruit smoothies.  It is all good and I am amazed at the fact that I do not miss the meat.

I had planned to purchase organic chicken and other meats to be free of all the things they are given to enhance their growth.  The type of cancer I am being treated for is related to the production of too much estrogen.  Since I am way past menopause (it came early at age 43) I did not think I was producing estrogen.  I realized today it was all that chicken made extra big and juicy with growth hormones which include estrogen.  I did research to make sure my thoughts were correct, so it is no joke.  If I had been a moderate chicken eater, I may not be going through this today.  I had the test, I am not carrying the gene, so chicken is the scapegoat for now anyway.

You have to be able to find humor where you can and if it has to be at the expense of my dear friend chicken, so be it. I cannot say if my taste for chicken will gradually return, but for now the chickens of the world can feel safe, because today, if there was just me and one chicken left on the earth, it would be safe.

Thank You Beautiful Lady

For as long as I can remember I have loved my Aunt Vera.  In fact I used to say "when I grow up I want to be just like Aunt Vera."  She is my Mother's only sister and her elegance is mesmerizing. 

Aunt Vera is an artist.  Her work exhibits her quiet elegance and for over 30 years she taught art in the Detroit Public School System.  Each year she worked to help arrange an exhibition for students at the Institute of Arts in Detroit.  She taught her students to love drawing, painting and collage.

We never really talked about art when I was a child, I just watched from the sidelines and could see how much she loved what she did.  She was the first person I knew who actually loved her job.

 On Aug. 4, 2006 my mother died quite suddenly and my aunt and I comforted each other.  Again with her quiet elegance we shared Thanksgiving dinner (it has been a custom for her and my mother to go to dinner on Thanksgiving and the first one after her death was especially hard). One of her paintings hung in my mother's house. When I sold the house, she asked if she could have it back since the spirit of her sister permeated its pores.

May 2007 I moved to Nevada-I just needed a change of scenery.  At Christmas that year I sent my Aunt a card I had made.  She called me and I will never forget the words "Girrrrlllll, you are truly an artist..."  Those words were so special to me---My beloved Aunt Vera appreciated my work.

During the past 4 years we have had many discussions about art and various techniques.  I send her samples of my work (Mother's day cards, Birthday cards, etc) and she continues to praise and validate me.

As I said earlier I always wanted to be like my Aunt, encouraging, loving, artistic and wise.

I love her deeply and will never forget the quiet lessons she taught me.

The picture today was painted by yours truly in October 2010.  My first attempt at still life, I can thank Aunt Vera for the courage to try.

Well I will be a Blue Nosed Gopher!!!!

I said that statement and had to laugh at myself.  Why did I say, "Well I will be a Blue Nosed Gopher?"  I am in the process of organizing my office/art studio.  I have so much stuff, excuse me, Art Supplies and I need to get some order.  I was placing and order for some storage drawers and decided to order a new set of drawers because the ones I have now are pretty rickety.  I found a good price for the drawers and as I was getting ready to click the add to cart button---my brain had the following conversation:

"Hey let's try and remove the wheels, maybe it will be steadier."  Right brain said "Sounds like a pretty good idea to me."  So off I went, moved all of the drawers, turned the cart over and the wheels would not budge.  Left brain:  Let's get something to pry them off."  Right Brain:  'Good thinking" (right brain is always so agreeable).  I run to kitchen drawer and get a screw driver because it is pretty heavy duty and may do the job.  The I look at the screws holding the cart together, "Hmmm, Left brain says, they seem a little loose, wonder what will happen if I tighten them?"  "Let's try", said right brain.

So I take the screw driver and start to tighten the bolts on the top and bottom, as I torn the screw driver the cart gets really steady.  You have to understand I have had this thing for nearly ten years and it has wobbled for that long, not once did left brain speak up.  To make matters work, I have two of them. Today I had decided to get new carts and throw the rickety ones out because I was fed up with them.  The more I tightened the sturdier it got, who knew?  When I finished  I exclaimed "Well I will be a Blue Nosed Gopher" and laughed.  In normal fashion, it takes me a while to get a clue.

I am happy, I love my cart and after I finished this post, letft brain has informed me that we need to do the same thing to the other cart  Hmmmm..... time to get busy.  The picture today is of my now beloved and colorful cart.

I am excited

This is a picture of a page I am thinking of using for the cover of my Art of Giving journal.  I am taking a class faciliated by a very talented and spiritual artist, Regina Lord.  Why am I excited you might ask????? Because except for the Blue Moon ephemera I collaged on to the page, I painted the entire page myself including the flower, thank you very much.

I have been spending the last two weeks working on my pages and I like what I have done.  I did find out that I like simplicity.  I do not like a lot on the page, but I do like what is there to stand out. 

The glossy middle of the flower is a glass bead I found, and I used a stencil for the words gratitude and faith.  Need to add a little journalling, after all it is a work in progress.  More pictures later in the week.  Take care and be creative

7 Months and Counting......

Fort Townsend, WA, picture of some of the buildings at night.  I mailed my registration today.  I am so pleased and excited.  March will be here before I know it.  I have started conceptualizing my trades for this year.  I am calling it "mixed bag" because it will be a smattering of different things.  I have 7 months to get them together so I will work a little at a time.

Life's changes

During the past week I have come to realize that I do not have to write a book to add thoughts to my blog.  What a relief.....I am taking the Art of Giving online class given by Regina Lord of Creative Kismet.  It is a 30 day class an we are creating an art journal.  The class is both thought provoking and a lot of fun.  I will post some of my pages later in the week.  So for today, I am posting a picture of tape that I made from adhive tape and alcohol inks.  With the Popularity of Japanese Washi take increasing, there have been a lot of suggestions to try and make your own tape.  I did and it was fun.

I promised myself in April, that I would spend this summer creating and so far I have been doing just that.  It is time to put all the techniques I have learned throughout the years to good use.  I am also keeping a word of the day journal.  I have the cutest little book called a Mnemosyne (bought it from Jetpens.com) and each morning when I sign on to the computer for work, I right down the first word that comes to mind.  Next I have to go back and decorate the pages.

Art tool I used today that I have had for a long time:  Xyron 150 Create a Sticker machine.  Oh man, I made my own stickers and used them.  Now I need to make more.  Hmmmm this will save me money.

Well, until next time.  Let me know what you are thinking.