Friday, June 20, 2014

day lilies


























I know they're like weeds, but I love their short-lived orange blossoms mixed in the jungle of green along the roads everywhere.  They go just right with steamy weather, bugs, thunderstorms, and everything that comes together to make summer itself.  Happy summer solstice!

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

pleasing things

 Every single picture is blurry... I accidentally threw my digital camera in the washing machine with my laundry, and I have yet to develop a steady hand with my phone camera.  Even though life is never about 'things', the things are usually indispensable in fostering what life is about.  These are some things that give my heart fluttery wings.  A new block of paper is a beautiful thing, full of the promise of paintings to come (and the orange and black and white are a sight for sore eyes if you ask me).
 While at the Goodwill with my Mimi I lost it a little bit and decided it was a great idea to buy this silver clam shell and these little golden clogs.  I filled the shell with water, and have been playing with them in a five year old's state of mind. The water is soothing, the little clogs clink together in a satisfying way, and it's really refreshing to empathize with the little lady who left her shoes behind and stepped right in for an adventure.  I need to know:  Why don't older people do stuff like this more often?

I don't think a person can ever have too much terracotta in their life.  Or twine.  These are from the outstanding Faulconer's hardware, and I got a lot of satisfaction transplanting a few things I'd been putting off for too long.
And this is the most magnificent parachute of seeds from some kind of weed I found in the corner of the yard and have yet to research. It's about six times bigger than a dandelion, and on the windowsill above the kitchen sink, it serves as a good reminder to make big wishes!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

at home, at the shop

































Dahlias on the balcony at home...
Afternoon sun in the shop window... 

Cows in the field on Sunday..


































Cutting board sprinkled with blossoms at the store...

Monday, April 28, 2014

oxygen


 April has been a beautiful month in so many ways, but also a hard month.  I'm exhausted!  And somehow I feel completely depleted and defeated and poor and hopeful and rich all at the same time.  Leave it to life to be complex and surprising, every day.  At the beginning of the month, I was so stressed that I couldn't take a deep breath... my lungs just wouldn't expand quite enough.  But the past week or so I've been able to enjoy delicious lung-fulls of air.  If nothing else, good old oxygen will keep you going!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

redbud branch


























Just finished painting this redbud branch.  I love how the emerging leaves are an orange-tinged green.  It is a beautiful afternoon, still and warm, with a soft blanket of gray clouds promising evening rain showers.  

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

my brother

I don't know how people live without brothers, or with bad ones.  Somehow I got a really, really good one who can make me laugh even when I feel terrible, and who is willing to come balance on a banister and hang up my shop sign after already working a long day.  Thank you, Trey!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

shop opening @ 132 East Main Street, Orange, VA!







I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't think it might be a good idea to be a shop keeper.  On March 20th of this year (the first day of Spring!), I'm really and truly going to become one!  Here are some messy photographs of the set-up in progress.  Regular hours will be 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Thursdays - Saturdays, BUT I've moved my sewing machine, cutting and ironing boards all to the shop, so it will be a workshop too, and the door will be open anytime I am there working.  Please come and visit me!  

132 W. Main St.
Orange, VA  22960
540-222-9644