Misty Mawn

love, peace, & silliness

"it is a happy talent to know how to play"   - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

it was 81 degrees here today, a summer day in November, how strange.  of course i loved it and spent most of the day outside playing and working.  

and i  L O V E  my new polaroid camera...the instax mini by fuji & the cute little mini photos it takes.  i love tucking these mini polaroids in places for others to find.  my kids love it, too...it's magical watching the image appear.  they both took turns taking photos today & i loved watching them enjoying it.   {thank you jennifer for telling me about it} 

for those of you taking my online workshop... if you haven't been to the site yet please take a minute to visit.   i have started uploading posts about this & that. and again, if you haven't received an email from me & have signed up... please let me know.  thank you.

{ fall } ing into place

only the first week of november and i am already noticing signs of winter here & there.     brrrr.     

i am also noticing my many moods & just  how easy it is to make up a story in my head & believe it completely.  it's amusing to me how surprised i am when it turns out not to be true.   made up stories that make me question too much,  stories that sit on my shoulder and poke in my ear, pull my hair, and grind their teeth.   i don't know why i let them get there in the first place.   i am trying more and more not to let these stories consume me, but sometimes they put up a fight, even the miniscule ones.   it doesn't help that the melancholy of the season is settling into my body, slowing my thoughts down just enough that they start to mix with each other and sometimes get distorted.  i think i need to be more faithful about taking care to not let these things happen.  that is why art is very important for me, as well as reading, & long walks in nature, it's these things that are so powerful that they keep me from getting too caught up in what isn't true and focusing on what matters.    all that mixed in with lots of time with my family & friends and i should be good to go.  

i really do appreciate most of what this time of year brings, with time to reflect, slow down a little,  and be very, very grateful for every single extra warm day we get until winter arrives with it's drab hues and burly overcoat.  

yesterday in the mail i received a box from my dear friend john, we had talked on the phone last week and he was telling me about this book he loved and thought i would enjoy, so he sent it off to me.  (don't you just love it so much when a friend loves something so much and wants to share it with you, too...i sure do)  i tore into the box, put on the water for a pot of white earl grey tea  and pulled the kids next to me with their art journals & started reading.  already i love this book.  it's been too long since i have been into reading, mostly because i have been too lazy busy, but i am going to change that, i am!  i also started reading the principles of uncertainty, at first i wasn't sure about this book, but a few pages in & i love it & all of the quirky illustrations on each page.  

okay, off to put on some loud music & make art!  have a great weekend!  

yes, i changed my background yet again.. and banner, too... surprise.   there is no use in trying to help myself... it's a bad addiction. 

happy november

so far november has started off as beautiful as ever with temperatures in the 70's here.  where the earth's floor has been gently covered with a blanket of orange & yellow leaves.     each and every time i look or go outside i am reminded again why this season is so spectacular.  but i don't like that it is so dark come five o'clock, that is going to take awhile to get used to.

 

another page in my sketchbook...

if you have signed up for my online workshop & have not received an email from me, please, please email me & let me know.  I have sent out all the confirmation emails and haven't heard back from a few of you.  thanks!!!  

   

hope you all had a great halloween!  thanks for the well wishes for my girl...they worked, she was back on her feet for a little while today, long enough to dress up, yay!  :) 

picking flowers

 

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.  ~Albert Camus

and that alone is reason enough to me to fall so madly in love with this season.

thank you to all of you that have signed up & taken interest in my online workshop.  i cannot even express how excited & grateful i am.  this is going to be so much fun, i just know it!   i can't wait to start!  

Happy Halloween!!! 

 hopefully i shall be back soon with photos of  carved pumpkins & two smiling - candy overloaded children.  my girl has the flu ( & so does much of her school)  we are praying she feels all better very soon. take care & happy treating! 

late journal pages, big birthdays, & finally....

  

 

 

i had no idea there was a theme assigned to each sketchbook/journal when i signed up for the project ( i am sure if i would have read the instructions i might have seen that, alas...) so after a few others mentioned their themes i looked to find my theme... can you guess it before i tell you?    i started working on a few pages with the theme in mind, but i already can tell i won't be very good at sticking to it the whole way through.  elephant in the room is my theme.   i am really loving this project, i took my journal with me last week when we traveled back home to celebrate two birthdays, but i didn't even open the journal... like always, i take with me more books & journals than one needs in a month, let alone a few days, and like always, they stay right in the bag i pack them in until i get home & unpack them. lots of catching up to do.     

the main reason we went back home was to celebrate my mom's birthday, she turned 50 this year!    happy birthday mom!    it was the most beautiful ride up to Pennsylvania ever, we left early morning so we would get there with enough daylight to spend with my mom & dad.    it was a perfect day for playing outside, so we took a walk into the woods that i grew up playing in, there i snagged this precious photo of my mom & children that i will forever keep tucked in my heart.  later we celebrated more with a few friends & family and called it a very good day!
 

two days later someone else turned six years old.  sigh   while back home we went to the theater to see 'where the wild things are' and i couldn't help but be reminded of my own son when watching max.    i laughed out loud when seeing his bedroom with the fort, pictures,  & the toilet paper roll stashes, looks familiar... and my son likes to collect & revamp tp rolls, too (maybe we will have to make these  ;)   but max seemed much older, i cannot even imagine my little boy to be that big...and yet here he is... growing up so fast.

  

and the beat goes on...  already mid week & i still have another halloween costume to make (pippi longstocking is ready to go ;)  and a late birthday/halloween party to prepare for and who knows, maybe even some art. 

i am loving scarlett johansson's voice... here & here, mixed in with the loud, pouring rain that is coming down outside tonight.  

update:  my online workshop is full ( i set a max to ensure that i will be able to keep up with emails, everyone's progress, & posted work,  not to mention life)  thank you all so very much for signing up.  if you have signed up and have not received a confirmation email from me please let me know.  thank you... my heart is so full tonight & i am so very much looking forward to these upcoming weeks.   i am still working through my inbox & hope to answer as many emails tonight as i can.  thank you.  xo

 this beautiful collection of Poetic self portraits combined in one book has just been released, please check it out here.    I cannot wait to see it in person.  Helenina has put so much of her heart & soul into it.    All proceeds of this book will go to a charity that helps children in Nepal.  

 

i am so excited to have joined in on this project... can't wait to get started in my new journal that just arrived!  i think you still have time if you want to join in, too.

 

guess what we adopted today?  my son spotted it on the floor at the grocery store & we couldn't just leave it there.   can't wait to see what kind of jack-o'-lantern it turns into and neither can they!   have you seen these silly pumpkin faces from angry chicken's blog?  i know what we will be doing during our afternoon hour tomorrow! 

  

my boy & i are feeling so much better today, thank you.  it feels so good to feel better!  i even made it off the sofa & into the woods for a little fresh air & play, i took along my two favorite playmates.  the skies were so blue and the leaves, gasp!   so breathtaking!  i love this time of year so very much.  

thank you for those interested in my online workshop.  

a tiny bit about it...  it's called Painting Layers.  it will be a four week class starting sometime mid November.  we will cover backgrounds, collage, & face painting... all in one class.  there will be a video each week, assignments, step by step photos with written instruction, a flickr group to post your work...and more!   i will be sure to post all the details once i get everything pulled together.  i can't wait, i am really excited to be offering this class here!  

~

loving this song..over & over & over again.  

i found my dreams but the moon took me away... 

i saw how my heart had fallen on your path

  singing a song

 ~ rumi

where did the weekend go?   my little boy & i have been under the weather for a few days, but i think the fog is lifting... tomorrow is a new day, here's to hoping it's full of sunshine & fresh air  because i am really craving some!

while i didn't get much of anything accomplished this weekend i have been thinking about teaching an online workshop coming this november... as soon as i get back on my feet i will post more details.

~ be well

slow groovin'

  

i don't know why it's always difficult for me to jump right back into my life after being away.  even when i come home feeling renewed & ready to create it still takes time to find my groove.  every single time i come home i feel this need to rearrange my studio and sometimes the rest of the house.   this has been going on since i could move furniture,  if you are like me and are a 're-arranger', then you get it, if you aren't...well, i can't explain, it's just something i feel compelled to do.    whatever the reason, once everything is moved around, rearranged, and settled down  i feel inspired and ready to make art.  it's like creating a new space to start fresh.    so my studio is now in my foyer,  :)  which is perfect, since it is brighter and warmer in our foyer than it was in my studio. 

on my studio table is this journal that i made as a class sample for  the   be present retreat,    light & shadows, a four day retreat that will be held on the beautiful Oregon coast in february of next year, i will be teaching a workshop along with liz & darlene.   during the retreat each student and instructor will be exploring the theme of light & shadow through art, photography, poetry, meditation, yoga, and video... how amazing does that sound?  i am so very much looking forward to this retreat.  i will be instructing my students how to create their own hand painted journal like this one that i have been working in and will continue to work in for many months to come. there are still a few more spots open if anyone wants to join us, we would love it if you did. 

 

the last of the wild phlox

sigh.   sweet child of mine

spreading milkweed seeds

working on her first novel, as her editor hovers

 

i want this smile tattooed on my heart

daddy love

 

breathtaking view after a good climb 

leaf gazing

kissed by the morning sunlight

finally, i have loaded 2 folders on the sidebar from my classes at Valley Ridge & Art & Soul, so much amazing artwork!  if i missed your work and you would like it to be added please, please let me know.   

i am still playing catchup from being away, i just can't seem to keep focus on anything for too long, nor have i been very productive.  been feeling very moody & much like the weather, one day i am very sunny & warm and then the next cool & dreary with a hint of sharpness, which is fine, really...it's no different than any other time, i just feel very aware of it lately.   the good thing is that i have been in sync with the weather and that helps.   yesterday we took a hike in the mountains,  all of the leaves were glowing & the sky was a brilliant shade of blue, it was just what we all needed!   getting outside is always the best remedy!     today?   i had a few cups of tea, worked on an article,  enjoyed our afternoon hour (everyday, after school,  for at least one whole hour,  we stack up pillows & blankets wherever the sun is coming in and sip tea or hot cocoa while we read, write, draw or talk...  no television, no toys, no computer, no music)  and that's about it. 

 tomorrow i hope to be more productive. 

loving this live version of skinny love, bon iver

this angus & julia video, wasted

& this live version mykonos, fleet foxes

'art is a deliberate recreation of a new and special reality that grows from your response to life, it cannot be copied, it must be created.'  ~ unknown

12 days

just a week ago i was in portland, teaching at art & soul and a week before that i was just outside of madison,  teaching at valley ridge.  i was gone for 12 whole days, seven airplane rides & many hours spent here & there, with beloved old friends and dear new ones.    just like that i am back home again with the ones i love so very much,  like always, i did not want to leave.   and as always i came home feeling so grateful for the time away, and so happy to be home. 

i love this photo of katie & me, with the big goofy glasses that i couldn't pass up at the madison thrift store.  i found them right after beth & i said "see you soon" to jennifer,  for 50 cents i grabbed them, knowing they would be perfect for my kids dress up collection at home, little did i know they would be the perfect accessory in portland for an impromptu dance/dress up party...  i look at this photo now and it makes me smile, somehow we went from sitting around the table talking,  to making crazy silly videos, dressing up, dancing, and painting our faces with acrylic paint... all without any wine involved, now that says it all!  (either we are just plain silly or we know how to have fun! and why not? i am finding that life really is about these moments!) 

my whole time away was made up of memorable moments like this, some more serious than others, from getting a night with heather at beth's cottage, to getting lost on the back roads to madison on our way to this magical place, to a long morning walk with kathy, from playing in madison with beth & jennifer, to my first afternoon in portland with jen & katie, and getting mehandi on our arms to celebrate katie's birthday, and to making a hilarious video with stephanie to this song, to sharing conversation &  laughter with lk & judy... and and and... there is much more,  and i haven't even mentioned the whole reason for going... my students & classes.  i taught seven days worth of classes while i was gone and i loved every single second of it.  i love my students, and i love walking into a classroom and seeing many familiar faces and new faces as well.  i really do love teaching and all that it brings.  so often i question myself, if this is what i should be doing, if it's what i want to continue to do and even though next year i won't be teaching as much there is no way i am ready to stop.  someone told me she heard i was going to stop teaching,  noooo, no...  as long as i can i will keep on sharing what i love.    i have armfuls of photos to crop & share of my students & their work, i am thinking of making a video of all these photos or a folder here so i can share it all...   i want to create a blog for just my students, too... some of you i mentioned this to.  

....back to that girl in the goofy glasses, it's so wild to think just a few  years ago she was so  terrified to get on a plane, speak in front of people, or leave the comforts of home all by herself... and although i still feel that way every single time before i go i am always so grateful when i return, filled to the brim with goodness,  the reward truly is the journey.  and my heart sings that old familiar tune...  something like the theme song to the 'golden girls'  ~ thank you for being a friend, traveled down the road and back again...  

now that i am home i plan on showing up here more often...  :) 

today i am listening to this song, i love it, thank you stephanie.  i can't wait until our next session.  :D

thank you  thank you thank you thank you  

that it was!  

Happy Birthday dear Katie 

me / jen

saturday afternoon at the tea house

thank you stephanie, for capturing these moments with your camera  

stopping to take a photo in the window's reflection

afternoon sunlight

the perfect cup

 

my favorite demo piece from class

stephanie

a gift from maryann, thank you.

 

street singer, all i can hear when i see this photo... 'oh when the saints go marchin' in' 

katie & jen

 

lk

Valley Ridge

it's true, valley ridge really is heaven on earth, well at least i think so!  i really love it at  valley ridge art studio in rural wisconsin.  i love the peaceful landscape, waking up to the morning fog, my beautiful students... each and every single one of you, my new & old friends i get to see there, the art that just pours out of everyone, oh, the amazing food & drinks, the hoots of the owls & the cries of the coyotes right after the sky turns black, and  i love how recharged i feel after teaching there, most of all i love the way Bill & Kathy make everyone feel like they are right at home. 

 i had a wonderful six days in Wisconsin, i am forever grateful & changed.  a warm & most sincere thank you to Bill & Kathy & to my students, who feel so much more like friends by the time the workshop is over than they do students.  thank you.   i have many, many more photos & thoughts to sort out & share here...but they will have to wait just a bit, as i gotta travel on..... 

i got to spend an extra day in Madison before flying out, how lucky i was to share my day with these two very dear friends that i never would have found if not for valley ridge.  thank you, what a fun day it was!   and thank you beth for adopting me for two days and making my time in Wisconsin even grander! 

"we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." ~ winston churchill

tea parties, packing, art, & sweet plums...

this post has been sitting on the shelf for almost a week, photos waiting for me to add some relevant words so i can post it, perhaps maybe even add a song, a quote, a poem. ... what else?   i seem to be having trouble keeping everything in focus lately...

this post feels a little like packing...  do i need to add this?  what goes well with this?   do i have enough, too much, what did i forget?  is it too heavy? how will i ever fit it all in?  will i have to pay extra... yikes.   ;)   maybe it's because that is just what is on my mind.  soon, very soon i will be packing and heading out to teach again.... i cannot wait to be there, teach, connect with old & new friends, experience new things,  & then get back here with my family, to soak up the autumn days ahead.  

"fill your life with as many moments & experiences of joy and passion as you humanly can.  start with one experience and build on it"  ~Marcia Wieder

love this iron & wine cover , esp the doves in the background.

   i LOVE this site so much,  SO much inspiration here.

& how about one of my favorite poems...kind of goes nicely with the last painting  ;) 

This is just to say william carlos williams

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

   

a bit sulky

okay, maybe not sulky, but i like the way the word sounds when i say it.

feeling quiet, listening to wqln.org, i love that i can listen to my favorite radio station from back home & listening to Billy Collins & loving animated poetry.

thank you for stopping by, wishing you a peaceful weekend. 

 

rainy day hues

first, 

...a morning walk 

 

then,

...& cozy up, doing what i love.  

 i was surprised to hear the sound of rain this morning when i woke, even though they had been calling for rain for the past two days, and for the next four, i hope they are right.  i love mornings like this, when the fog is so thick you can't even find where the mountains end and the sky begins. but already the fog has started to lift, the sun is trying to stretch through the clouds, such indecisive weather, perfectly matches my mood.  

last night on our walk the smell of autumn was so present,  how i love the smell, but it made me feel anxious and sad, i'm not ready.  lately i am so aware of time and how nothing seems to stay still for long, the only things that seem to stay still are those things in photos, thank god for my camera.  yesterday my daughter asked me, "can you go just one day without your camera?" i laughed, saying of course i can and i do, but i really don't like to... it's my only way of keeping things the same.  

don't get me wrong, i do like change.  i just don't like it to come before i am ready. 

  ... i wonder just how many photos i can store on this computer.  ;)

check them out:  I love what Beth & her friends have been up to, & Liz has a sweet new home, & Graciel is rocking out the week!

surrounded

what started out as a little magical place has turned into an amazing realization that all it takes to make something grow is a seed, an idea.... and from there anything can happen, maybe even more than you imagined.     remember this from not too long ago?  well, one beloved little fairy house has turned into a little enchanted forest. the fairies must have liked the house and told other fairies about it, because there are new houses to see every time we visit.  when my friend jennifer came to visit last weekend the fairyland forest was on the "must see" list... when we got there she was the one that spotted a house that we didn't even notice on the way in, perhaps the fairies were there while we were walking?  

this makes me think of Ruth Gendler's book that i just received in the mail this week (thank you Ruth),   "notes on the need for beauty"   where she speaks of beauty in its oh so many forms.  how many different ways there are to see beauty and how much beauty we don't see and how we need each other to see the beauty within ourselves.   i am loving this book and the sparks it is igniting.   i truly believe we all need to take time to see, feel, and surround our lives with more beauty.  

 

" ...walking in a familiar place with a new friend, walking in a new place with an old friend, walking with young children (is it because they are so close to the ground that they are willing to stop, explore, sniff out so much more than the rest of us? ) i am always surprised by what we say to each other and see together."  ~ ruth gendler

found beauty on our walk today...

thank you for your comments on my last post about adjusting to my children being back to school.    thank you    i think it will only take me about nine more months to feel fully adjusted...just in time for summer.  :)  

i love, love, love this song. 

sp + a day in photos

this was yesterday.  coming home to such a quiet house after dropping both of my children off at school sucks!  this week of adjusting has been tougher than the first week.  i think it is now soaking in that the days of having a preschooler, toddler, baby are behind me and i feel a sense of a kind of loneliness here that hasn't been in my life in a very long time.  i am trying not to wallow in it, but rather recognize it, understand it, and turn it into gratitude for what was and what now is.  and i realize just how important it is to have a handful of healthy distractions, joys, & things i love to keep me balanced.   

after i got home i grabbed my camera and took photos of things around the house that captured my attention, first my sadness, slowly i could feel is ease up a bit... feeling a little more playful, i then went for another take, this time with the straw hat, i love how it blurred...   (when sadness creeps in go for the straw hat, it's harder to take myself seriously when i am wearing a straw hat :)   -   then i found the enticing bowl of scuppernongs,  (i love these so much)   -   the morning sunlight hitting our bed so beautifully  -  that our caterpillar had found a perfect spot to go into a J, getting ready for the next stages of it's life   - then rye-rye, giving me that look, such a sweetheart  - and my collection of vintage books and leftover spines, all so beautiful.   after my walk around the house it was time to get lost in my studio for a few hours with found company,  then a break for a perfect cup of earl grey tea & some lunch, then it was time for my children to come home and play!   i love this idea...a day in photographs, maybe it's something i will keep doing.  instead of sp wednesday, maybe a day in photos each wednesday?  what does a day in your life look like?  

today it's much the same,  but less heavy, no straw hat & the caterpillar is now tucked away in its chrysalis.  change can be beautiful.  

"the ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been kindness, beauty, & truth.  ~ albert einstein

inspiration:  have you seen this? (thank you erin).   or this? 

a weekend in photos

{a huge thank you to my part time photographer, 

jennifer    aka dj j-dawg} ;) 

randomness...

my mom opened an etsy shop, hope you will check it out. 

  i love this version of come together so freakin' much!  & then there is this little bobby mcferrin piece of genius! 

i just discovered this site & love it!  yum! i made this friday night, perfect with corn on the cob. 

wishing you a happy week! 

here we go again?

pony girl

a sweet rain parade

looking out from inside

 i love these of my mom!

love this photo,

 but i never want to ride a spinny ride ever again!  

{a random collection of photo from our time back home}

i wanted to stop in and share a glimpse into our last days of summer vacation.  

  o' pensive sigh,  how quickly it all changes... 

 however, i absolutely love this time of year, when summer starts to fade just a little and the warm summer air merges with the cooler winds of autumn.  the cicadas sing all day and into the night, the sunsets a little earlier, everything seems to slow down just a tiny, tiny bit, and my alarm clock is no longer my children jumping on top of me to get me up, but a blaring awful noise that tells me it's 7 am and time to get my kiddies off to school.  yesterday was the first day of school,   my heart ached the whole night before and then again the next morning, as i watched my little boy with his new backpack, new shoes & outfit, and new stance head into his classroom.  i can still picture him as a little toddler, stumbling down the hall as i took my girl to her first days of kindergarten.  i love these memories that are still with me, i hope i can hold on to them forever.   i made it out of the classroom before the tears came,  when i really just wanted to tuck myself away in his classroom, just for one day?,  but i knew i couldn't, i came back to a very, very quiet house, and tried to find my way back into a work routine, anything to keep myself busy.  i know i will enjoy the time to work on art and get back into creating daily, but my favorite part of the day will always be seeing their happy faces after school.  

*

no sp today...maybe later, if i get the house cleaned... a friend is coming to visit this weekend.   ;)

hope you are well and enjoying your days!  

sp

yesterday, after a dear friend and her sweet girls left my parent's house, after my mom and the kids ran off to the cinema to see a movie, after my dad retreated to his favorite place to rest, and after many hours of grumbling skies....... a warm summer rain finally came pouring down.   it was the kind of rain that as a child i would have been outside as soon as the first drop hit the earth,  dancing in the fresh puddles, and hoping it would never end.  if my children would have been here surely they would have been outside doing just that, but it was just me, left to my own devices, what was i to do, play in the rain alone?   of course!   i felt like i was ten again, stomping & splashing around in the same place i played 20+ years ago, how sweet it was.... until i fell and had to go inside to be sure the mud wouldn't stain my favorite pants.  :)  (if only i had gotten a picture of that  ;)

i love it when it rains.

~

rain falls & the sky shudders

along the way

there

&

here

   

from the mountains to the lake, a hop, skip flat tire, & a jump to get home.  home to do a little night swimming, star gazing, stick collecting, sun bathing, beach roaming, papa & mema hugging,  feather chasing,  & still more days to soak it all up. 

~

i am not sure how long it will take me to get enough of moby's latest collection of songs, if you are a fb user you can listen to the entire album here!   if i had to pick a favorite song from this collection it would have to be this ....or maybe this.

*

one more excerpt from ruth gendler's book of qualities.   i so love her writing!  

pleasure

"pleasure is wild & sweet.  she likes purple flowers.  she loves the sun & the wind & the night sky.  she carries a silver bowl full of liquid moonlight.  she has cat named midnight with stars on his paws.  

many people mistrust pleasure, & even more misunderstand her.  for a long time i could hardly stand to be in the same room with her.  i went to sleep early to avoid her.  i thought she was a gossip and a flirt and she drank too much.  in school we learned that she was dangerous and i was sure that she would distract me from my work.  i didn't realize she could nurture me.  

as i have changed, pleasure has changed.  i have learned to value her friendship."  

walk with me

an early evening on the trail

a quick self portrait, night on the town

can you guess which one is my son? hint? the blonde

here we are again

a little art to keep myself in balance... chirp.  

 i feel so anxious to see that it is already mid august.   school starts in less than 2 weeks,  O how that makes my heart ache...  my youngest will be headed to kindergarten and i now have a 3rd grader? goodness! stop me before i turn into a pile of bittersweet tears & need picked up off the floor.  life is strange isn't it?  i am finding more often than not it is so hard to make sense of what happens in ones life. as much as i have tried it's just too tangled to keep trying at this point, and besides, i have other things i want to do.  perhaps later i will have time to carefully try to untangle my thoughts, feelings, ideas and lay them out perfectly in front of me and just maybe make sense of them.  {insert soft snicker here}   if only we could get a chance to do it all over,  knowing what we know now.  i wonder what that would be like.  i would love to go back to high school for a week (okay, a day) knowing what i know now, how amusing it would be.  how warped my thoughts were then, and yes,  i am sure they still are, just in a different light.  who knows!  nobody knows what life will bring, (i don't like to think about it too much, it scares me :)   what i do know though is that no matter what,  life keeps on going and in 100 years from now what will any of this mean?  will all of the memories, photos, thoughts, words, ideas i have held onto mean anything to anyone by then?  i like to think so, but i hope i won't be too disappointed if not.  :)     all of a sudden i am wanting a well behaved women seldom make history t-shirt in hopes that i can live up to it.  

ever since fb became a daily thing here in my life i keep having dreams of people i went to high school with, so strange how these people have resurfaced again, how  wonderful it is to see into their worlds and share a bit of mine, too.  it really doesn't take much to reconnect with someone again, a few words shared or better yet a few days!   i am so grateful that jenn and i have connected again, it felt just like old times to have her here, being silly, laughing, dancing, and staying up until 5am.  although, i had to compete for her attention, my family loves her just as much as i do! 

~

 listening to: this & this...

 dreaming:  about traveling to india, i am putting it out there...

watching: slumdog millionaire

reading: the book of qualities by j.ruth gendler... i am loving this book

here is a little excerpt from the page..

 beauty

"beauty is startling.  she wears a gold shawl in the summer and sells seven kinds of honey at the flea market.  she is young and old at once, my daughter and my grandmother.  in school she excelled in mathematics and poetry.  beauty doesn't anger easily, but she was annoyed with the journalist who kept asking her about her favorites - as if she could have one favorite color or one favorite flower.  she does not mind questions though, and she is fond of riddles. beauty will dance with anyone who is brave enough to ask her."

~

"the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." ~ henry miller

*

take care everyone, i am off for awhile, back to pennsylvania and where ever else the wind takes me. 

not fade away

 

not sure where the aquatic scene came from, but i enjoyed watching it surface.  

in this last painting i used

 Claudine Hellmuth's line of paints & brushes. 

i love everything about her paints, the vibrant colors, the way they paint, and the sweet little jars they come in.  they can be watered down like a watercolor paint and still hold their intense color, they are creamy & blend so nicely like oils, but dry like acrylics. & the brushes are just as lovely! 

*

my friend kristin and i exchanged some poetry books over a week ago and i found this poem that i love and thought i'd share my favorite part with you,

from...

what the artist taught me

...art seeps into all your crevices

like a low, soft river

or crashed through your blood

like whitewater. 

art is alive,

it grabs you at night, keeps you 

working until dawn,

in the morning keeps you 

looking, looking

seeing with your whole body,

keeps you open like flowers,

bursting like seed pods, 

keeps you speaking aloud

the truth you did not know

you knew

*

love this video/song i found on vimeo

listening to: bob dylan, not fade away  &  angus & julia stone

this one is for you Beth, happy birthday!!!

 

this photo of my little boy running with his handmade cape & his dear friend makes me feel all warm & mushy.  it's obvious that motherhood is my focus in life right now, that is just how i want it to be.  ;)  soon enough these years will be gone.  i want to soak in every last minute of this time now before they no longer want to dress up and proudly parade in and around the house like kings & fairies. 

i find it unsettling how life has a way of flying by oh so quickly, i swear it feels like someone hit fast forward and is just holding the button down.   people & memories fade in and out too easily, you can fall out of touch with someone without even realizing it and the years just keep passing on by...  

my best friend from high school  and i have kept in & out of touch over the years, but haven't seen each other in way too long,  but today? she is on her way here, to spend the weekend with us and i can hardly wait for her to get here!    

 

~

wishing you a beautiful weekend.