Spring /Free downloads

I'm SO ready to  Spring forward!

Did you know you can get free downloads from Flickr? I downloaded the picture above from here.

Wouldn't a grouping look nice on a wall?

Everything's Rosy

Is it already the middle of the month? One month left until Valentines Day?

Things have been busy here - my mom had heart surgery last week, so I have been preoccupied with that. It'll take a few months to see if the surgery corrected her problem, but it is looking good so far, and we are hopeful.

My project this year (as is every year) is to organize, finish and purge. I am very tired of all the unnecessary stuff I have saved for "just in case". I am also tired of all the pictures sitting on floors waiting to be hung, and all the unfinished projects laying around. I want to "do" more than "wish" and "dream". 

My oldest daughter has been the recipient of my focus on getting things done. I've started hanging pictures on her wall that have been sitting in a bin for months since her room was repainted. Here's a sneak peak of the in progress. We're planning a floor to ceiling art/photo/poster wall. Please excuse the mess!

Have a fantastic Monday! My focus for today is trying to stay warm! :)

Finger Painting

I went with my daughter to her first out of state soccer tournament in Arizona. Instead of downloading a book onto the ipad, I downloaded the Inspire-pro painting app. My first attempt at finger painting on the ipad:

I absolutely love the fact I can create without having to bring my paints, colored pencils, etc. when trying to save space! I am determined to get better at this!

I spent all weekend taking pictures (photo post-processed in photoshop):

Field Trip

I chaperoned a field trip to the Denver Art Museum yesterday. This sculpture below was amazing. See our tiny children on the right? Each child in the sculpture represents a different race:

(Sometimes I feel like my feet get all big and swollen like that! :) )

It was by this artist:

Happy Friday everyone!

Joan Mitchell

I love the art of abstract expressionist painter Joan Mitchell. There is so much depth and feeling in her work.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!


Images from rivian-shareart.blogspot.com and askart.com

A Wintery Mantle

This year, I decided to go for a more Wintery scene for the fireplace mantel. I painted a mountain aspen scene, with lots of texture. I pulled some of the chartreuse and blue colors from the painting and purchased some velvet chartreuse colored pillows ($10 each at Cost Plus), and used some silvery-blue pillows that I already had.

To go with the Winter theme, I used some leftover crystals from the chandelier project on some branches I cut from our trees. Here’s our mantle last year:

It’s a completely different look this year. It’s a nice change from my traditional red that I’ve always used. Here’s a closer up of the mantle this year:

I’ll probably teak it some more as the month goes by. For now, I like the more simple look. By the way, I’ve linked this post up to Layla’s mantle party. Click here for some more holiday mantles!

Happy Friday

"Sincerely" Fine Art Photograph on sale on Etsy. Click here to view.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Music Lessons

"Music Lessons" -print for sale on etsy. Click here to view.

My children all take piano lessons. My son loves it - he is fantastic - he is the musician in the family. My oldest daughter, although a good player, does not play with the passion my son has. She would rather be out on the soccer field. My youngest likes it, but lacks the discipline to practice. Music lessons, although tortuous for some, has been found to be beneficial for young kids' brains. That's what I keep coming back to anyways, when my daughter keeps wanting to quit. Though, after 10 years of lessons, and many more years of playing the piano for my church, I'm not sure I've been "thankful" for those lessons like my mom kept telling me I would be when I grew up. :)

Anyhow, I really like the combination of the above collage of my vintage music, the pears, and scribbles from my old piano teacher. I'm not sure why I combine fruit and music, but it makes sense to me.

Two of Hearts

As many of you know, we go up to Beaver Creek, CO quite often. I love to visit the many art galleries while we are up there. A couple of years ago, while visiting one of the galleries, we learned that the artist Steve Kaufman was going to have an opening later that week. Unfortunately, we would not be able to attend, as we were going to go back home before the opening. The gallery worker, though, was so charmed by our well-behaved children, that she gave each of them one of the many hand painted embellished Steve Kaufman editions that were to be given away the night of the opening. Here are two of them:

I will profile this artist at a later date, but in a quick summary, Steve Kaufman is an artist who was an assistant to Andy Warhol. He has quite a resume of celebrities, corporations, and others he has worked with. He has also helped thousands of people through his charities. In my opinion, the charity work is his greatest accomplishment!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!