life is full!

the art i have created daily can be seen on 

instagram.  this a collaged and painted teabag.

an acrylic abstract painted on a page of a large book.

rust dyed papers done in a

weekend workshop with orly avineri.

atcs for my international group.

the them was to use a minimal number

of papers within less than 10 minutes.

i started with papers which were painted already.

and i hosted a birthday party for a 

dear dear friend.  i broke my own boundary by singing 

'you're the tops.'... and i cannot sing!

this week i tried using extra large images.

what do you think?  too big?

it rained in southern california! yay!  it has been a 

very long time since i head the sound of water on my rooftop.

it was like music to my ears.

last night the rain spoke to me

by mary oliver

last night 

the rain 

spoke to me

slowly, saying,

what joy

to come falling

out of the brisk cloud,

to be happy again

in a new way

on the earth!

that's what it said

as it dropped,

smelling of iron,

and vanished

like a dream of the ocean

into the branches

and the grass below.

then it was over.

the sky cleared.

i was standing

under a tree

the tree was a tree 

with happy leaves,

and i was myself,

and there were stars in the sky

that were also themselves

at the moment

at which moment

my right hand 

was holding my left hand

which was holding the tree

which was filled with stars 

and the soft rain-

imagine! imagine!

the long and wondrous journeys

still to be ours.

X O X O X O

posting with paint party friday, 

a weekly online party of creatives 

hosted by eva and kristen.  

since i take photos wherever i go, before i write a post

i scan the photo library on my phone to remind myself

where i have been and what i have been doing.  

it's a willey-nilly style of organization.  i like it.

how do you decide on your next post?

this week i attended the rubber-stamp convention

in carson with my art pal, lorraine.  we also too

a junk journal class with teesha moore.

here is a peek of the journal.   i continue to add more and more

until it is crammed full of stuff i love and words i want to say.

today is friday and i am linking this post with paint party friday

a weekly community of artists.  click the link to see what others are

creating. 

i have been on an adventure.

where do i start?  first, start with a

reunion of five art friends who met 

together one afternoon on my deck for a magical

afternoon of art journaling and our sharing lives.

john from a seattle suburb, terry from minnesota,

brian from long beach and jacki from orange county.

we were quite happy to be together as you can see.

john, terry and brian team taught an art 

journaling extravaganza.

                        

with thirteen artists for three full days and even 

some of us crazy enough to come back for more 

after a  group dinner out.    there were many moments,

memories, spectacular sunrise and sunsets.   the best

was the deepening of friendships old and new.  

now back to paint paint paint.  i have added a tab 

at the top of my page which lists all of the paintings 

to be shown at the third annual gallery in the garden

hosted by my friend, diane dunn.  i hope you have time

for a virtual visit.  

a journal spread.  t's orange influenced by jacki long

a wonderful weekend to all!

it's friday and i am posting with paint party friday

i am spending the weekend journaling in redondo beach with

katie kendrick and orly avineri.  we are integrating portraits.

when i showed them this sweet photo at the end of the day,

they both turned to me and kissed me on each of my cheeks :)

i started these yesterday with katie's lessons.  today

i will continue to work on them through orly's guidance.

i saw this on Tracey's blog who saw it  Marji's blogs 

and decided to jump in.  How about you?

* Pay It Forward Art-making Project for 2014 *

I promise to make a small work of art for the first five people who comment on this post and say "YES, I want in". A 'like' alone is not enough of a commitment, nor is a comment about thinking Pay It Forward is a great idea.

You must in turn post this as your status update and make something for the first five who comment on your status.

The rules are simple:
– It has to be your work, made by you, and the recipient must receive it before 2014 ends.
– It can be anything art-based: a drawing/illustration or a conceptual work of art, a photograph, a knitted item, cross-stitch, paper maché – or anything in between.

I'm paying this forward thanks to Jack Oudyn.  Yes, you can be on each other's pay it forward lists.

First five, GO!

PS. It doesn't matter if you aren't an artist, try something out, google/ YouTube how to make stuff, step out of those boundaries.

 Step 1Copy&Paste this (see below) as your latest entry on your favourite social website (in my case, its this blog) 

 
Step 2For the first five people who comment on your blog entry saying they want to participate, you will do an art trade with them that must be completed by December 31st 2014. I would count as the first person so technically you only need another four. If you find your friends are keen you can do as many as you want. 


Step 3All forms of art count including creative writing , photography, digital anything goes!

i have already received this beautiful folded piece from marji.

there is lovely sewing details, wax, painted flowers.  

thank you so much, marji for paying it forward.