COLLAGE

 
I've not attempted anything much larger than a post card in a while and this was a very fun, very soothing piece to work on. The colors just seemed to flow well and her face is so peaceful. It's really a very personal piece that reflects my own gathering of special things for my nest. The place where I find solace and comfort no matter what is going on in the day-to-day. The project was inspired by wonderful background instructions given by Misty Mawn in Cloth,Paper,Scissors. 

ART EXPLOSION

 
After attending Art Unraveled in Phoenix, my dear friend, Lyn, stayed a few days with me for a fun-filled, (tears rolling down our face from laughing kind)artfest we entitled "Art Explosion". This is Lynnie working on her 'Portals Zine' inspired, artdoll. I will post the two of them side by side on my next blog entry.

While the fun of a gathering like Art Unraveled can be so inspiring, there is nothing quite like having a good friend over for a huge p.j. party type of arting. We were able to play off each other, share techniques, and just totally fill our days with friendship and art. Can you think of anything better? Remember back when you and your best friend got together and played Barbie dress up, or paper dolls? THIS WAS EVEN BETTER!!! Memories to last a lifetime. 

DESERT STORMS ARE GORGEOUS

 
As I drive home from work each day I now have my digital in the left hand and simply snap random photos while I keep my eyes on the road and drive. When I get home I plug the camera into the computer and see what I've captured. Most, while surprisingly are in focus, are not "keepers". But it only takes one to take your breath away and this is one. A summer storm that we typically see every day at this time during the monsoon season here in the sonoran desert was brewing. Part of the vast sky was gorgeous blue, part was dark and ominus. The kind of "scary" you just have to love. I hoped to catch a lightening bolt or two as they streak across the sky horizonally as well as straight down, but no luck with that. However, THIS picture is a stunner. 

DESERT EYE CANDY

The Sonoran Desert is an intriguing place to live year round. Unlike the snowbirds who come to enjoy the glorious weather from October to May, there are many "Boilers" who call this home year round regardless of the triple digit temperatures during the second of two seasons. So on this August morning as I leave the house for work I am "gifted" with this amazing eye candy across the street. This menacing looking cactus that stands taller than my 5' 3" has produced, overnight, these luscious blooms that are larger than a human hand. The universe in her magical and humorous way has created this juxtaposition of sharp and rigid with soft and feathery.

To say that my spirit has grown weary of the parched, dry wind that is reminiscent of an open oven door on Thanksgiving Day (my daughter's words on her first visit here) is most likely an understatement as I begin my 8th year here. I find more days than not the increasing longing for gentle rain and the pungent, earthy fragrance of the deep woods. I dream of walking barefoot in real grass (not the golf course kind!) and feeling that cool, dewy sensation that I never tired of all those years on the East coast. And peonies, lilac, and lily of the valley. I miss the weeping cherry that my husband and children presented to me on one Mother's Day after repeated requests for such a beauty. And just when I think I might not be able to bear another day that burns my fair skin or makes my eyes feel like they just might fry...I am gifted with this glorious, eye candy. And those few moments of bliss, now captured forever, refresh my spirit and I am thankful and able to BE...and open that gratitude door that most obviously had been closed. And once you reopen that door it's like a floodgate or an illumination on everything you have to be grateful for. Your heart is open and soft and ready to remember all that is good in your life. From rigid and sharp to soft and open. What a truly amazing, creative, universe. What a beautiful gift!