Ahhhh…blueberries! Fresh, plump, ripe, oozing-sweet-yummy-lusciousness BLUEBERRIES!!! What’s not to love? Especially when they’re the first fresh ones of the season, the season being somewhere else of course because even though it’s been unseasonably WARM this winter, at least around here, it ain’t summer yet.
Look at these beauties! Winter oranges, berry goodness and walnut bits. A bowl full of organic sweetness. Each bite a tasty pleasure. And the berries are sale right now at the co-op. Even better, right? I’ve been going in every other day or so and picking up a carton.
Blueberries…the # 1 thing on my bliss list this week.
And because there’s NO WAY I can top that, I’m going to skip right down to #5 because it’s the BIGGEST, the BEST bliss of all…I’m being nice to myself tonight. I’m tired. So I’m not going to write anymore. I’m going to shut down the computer. Turn off the TV and Go. To. Bed.
Worked all day doing technical computer stuff. Which means I sat on my butt. And stuffed my face with salty things. I got up from time to time like they say you’re supposed to. You know, stretch. Run a mile. Walk ten feet to the kitchen counter and snag more Cheezits.
Well, one outta three isn’t bad. Depending on which one.
So when five o’clock came around I was more than ready to head down to the studio and shake some things up. Like my jiggley parts. I put on my newest CD from Putumayo, African Beat. And then I followed that with some Anderson Family Bluegrass. Because my taste in music is as eclectic as my taste in junk food. If it’s in front of me I’ll either listen to it, eat it…or paint it.
This time I got two outta three. And they were good for me.
Here’s the Anderson kids. They’re local, even though this was recorded in Nashville. I’m into plugging the local talent.
Speaking of local talent, I’ll show you what I did tonight. Oh, it’s very much a work in progress but if you’ve been wondering every time I show you another canvas loaded with layers WHAT is she going to DO with that thing…and I wouldn’t blame you for questioning that because, quite frankly, so was I…well, tonight I just grabbed one of the 2X2 background canvases and had at it.
This is what it was when I began.
I turned it every which way. Squinted. Danced around with a paintbrush in my hand and discovered…ponies! Somewhere on the canvas was a mark that told me horses live here. Even as I drew them I continued rotating the canvas. So they’re every which way. Upside down. Backwards.
But it was confusing with all the energy bouncing off that canvas. Ponies everywhere. Dots. Squiggles. Lines. I needed to block in some areas of c.a.l.m.
I began blocking out some background areas. This is where I started getting a feel for the composition and the style of the horses.
This is where I left it tonight. I changed out some of the original horses and will no doubt change out one or two more before it’s done. This is still early days, maybe 50% finished. Maybe 40. Really, I. Don’t. Know. And I won’t know until I get there.
So that’s how I spent my Wednesday. Not much studio time but enough to go to bed feeling like I accomplished something. And I always sleep better when that happens.
WHOO-HOO!!! Today is the first, the very first ev-ah…. RANDOM ACTS OF ART WEDNESDAY.
Or, to keep things simple, RAAW!
If this is your first visit to Arty Life you can read about it here.
The rest of you gather round. I’ve been spreading the luvvvvv around town all week. Here’s the proof.
This one is under a bank of mailboxes.
In front of the water district building.
My vet’s office. Had a little front office SWORN TO SECRECY help with this one.
Haha…this one looks like a simple windowsill but no no no no….not just ANY widow. This one is in a GALLERY. The current show? The Art of Love. There’s something oh so delicious about this particular placement, don’t you think?
A bus stop. And…
“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” Buddha
Here’s one from my friend Amee, passing along the rock I gave to her.
Here’s what Amee said when she sent the photo. “I had fun ‘planting’ rock. Inspires me to want to paint some too and keep them in my pocket for the right time and place… Who knows what could happen if people all over the world started to pass this along….I spent time putting love into the rock before I left it hoping the one who finds it ‘needs’ it.”
So my sweetums, It. Has. Begun. The ultimate Easter Egg-Art Token-Magical Mystery Scavenger Hunt. The Johnny Appleseed planting luvvvvvvvv challenge. And it doesn’t have to be rocks. It can any mini-art token. It can be words of encouragement rolled up and tied with pretty ribbon. Use your imagination. And every Wednesday be here. Send me photos by Tuesday to make the post. Or post on your own blog and link up down below. Link signup closes on the 25th at 11:59 PM PST. But opens again the following Wednesday.
Help spread the word. Like this post on Facebook. Tell your friends. Let’s make this into a MOVEMENT!
I’m sorry. So sorry. Please accept my aplooooooogy….
Sunday night/Monday morning. You know what that means….TaTa…It’s time for Show & Tell. Time for construction photos of The New. The Amaaaaaazing. The Soon To Be Finished STUDIO GRANDE II!
Except, umm…not today. (Hit it, Brenda!) The weather was fine. Mr. Spouse made progress. All the outside walls are up now. I can (and did) walk around inside and actually get a feel for the size. For how I want to arrange things. Got a lot to think about, you know. Work space. Storage. A comfy corner to sit and think. Did lots of brainstorming about that with Mr. Spouse and then I left him to his carpentry while I went down to the soon-to-be-decommissioned Studio Grande to paint.
I painted away the afternoon. Painted away the daylight. Painted away the chance to get a photo or three. So no construction pics until tomorrow.
And no art pics either. Because what I painted sucked. Bummer. Forgot to check my ego at the door. Stupid ego started talkin’ when I was working. No no no no no!
Tomorrow, tomorrow I PROMISE pretty pictures. Of the studio-in-progress. Of paintings. Pinky swear.
Meanwhile, because I KNOW you want a visual, here’s one of Precious Man Dog. Enjoy!
Arty Life is getting a makeover. Imagine that. Gonna pretty up this blog o’mine. Check out the home page. Notice anything? Like three columns now, instead of two. And my picture on the left because…well because the whole damn leaf moved there when I switched to three columns and I was so busy trying to fix the size of the center images, so FRUSTRATED that things were behaving BADLY that I said okay, picture on the left works for me.
Sometimes design by default isn’t such a bad thing.
Why am I doing this? Because I can. And because this blog is in the early days. Still figuring things out. Still growing. But mostly because when I went live with this sucker back in October I considered it a work-in-progress. Like those layer canvases I’ve been showing you. Not a painting yet but a start.
I imagine Arty Life will go through LOTS of changes as I grow into my blogging britches.
And not just design changes.
I just finished Liv Lane’s classHow to Build a Blog You Truly Love. Six weeks of discovering passion and purpose in cyberland. I’m dizzy, POSITIVELY DIZZY, trying to sort it all out.
It’s BLISS day, my sweetums! The day when I share the little things that rocked my world this week. And you can share too, in the comments. Or by clicking on that button over there, the one on the right, and linking up to the Little Bliss List blog party.
So here’s what did it for me this week. Things that put a smile on my face, made my heart go all soft and awwwww…
Number one. Numero Uno. The kids at the local high school (Nevada Union, Grass Valley CA) BLEW ME AWAY with the election of a special needs Home Coming Queen. The election of Rachel Bristol, a senior with Down syndrome was the SECOND time this academic year when a special needs student was elected to the Home Coming court. The first was last fall when Colin Pierce, another Down syndrome student, was elected Home Coming King.
Here’s the link. Unfortunately the local paper is now a paid subscription online. Copying the URL doesn’t work. Never fear, you can read it on my facebook timeline.
I read about this in the classroom where I teach, maybe a ten minute walk to the high school. My students are developmentally disabled adults. Many of them went to that same school. The day before the newspaper ran the story, one of my students, a young woman in her twenties, was talking about how unhappy she’d been in high school. How mean the regular ed kids had been to those in special ed.
And now they’re winning the biggest popularity contest of all…Home Coming.
While I was reading about Rachel Bristol, a young man just a couple of years older than her was dancing in front of an easel a few feet in front of me–and I mean dancing–while he painted on a 3X4 canvas. He’s Downs and there’s NO ONE who paints with the joy that he paints with. He’s relatively new to us and already several pieces of his have been accepted for a show in New York City.
Bliss indeed.
Number two good thing full o’bliss…the decision to launch Random Acts of Art Wednesday (RAAW). You can read all about it here. The response was AMAZING!!! I can’t wait to see what you link up with on Wednesday. Because you WILL be linking up, won’t you? Remember, if you don’t have a blog just send me a photo and I’ll post it. Need to have the photos by the Tuesday before.
Number three…a little hint o’winter. Just a tease from mother nature, considering she’s held off on WEATHER this year. Don’t even know if you can call it snow when the grass is poking through but still, waking up and seeing this was a good moment.
Number four. The arty cathedral in the woods, AKA the future Studio Grande. Mr. Spouse is a good man with a serious building habit. And right now that’s making me a very happy Mrs. Spouse.
And number five? Hours and hours of studio time this week. Music! Layers! Big canvasses!!! A couple of small ones finished. Perhaps next week I’ll have something to show for it.
So that’s my list. Now it’s your turn. Can’t wait to read what turned you on this week.
