Flower Power Wonders Getting Ready!

My cousin Diane working on a sample bouquet for Ellen's wedding at my house. They are going to be beautiful!! The hydrangea's are from a friend and we are also going to use the sedum and vines I have growing in my yard, they are all a pretty shade of green. The flowers will be purple, cranberry (to match the bridesmaids dresses) and a little yellow to make the colors pop.

It's hard to believe that the wedding is in 10 days. Sometimes it feels like a dream and other times it is very real. I go back and forth between trying to stay calm and feeling very happy for Ellen & Nat. They are more excited about being married than having the perfect wedding, and that is the way it should be!

Tomorrow starts the harvesting of all the flowers, the ones that I have been growing and the hydrangea's. Then we will decide what else we need to make everything. It is a tall order! 6 bouquets, 12 boutonnieres, 10 corsages, 20 centerpieces for the tables, 2 sprays for the ceremony and 3 big ones for the reception. I think we can pull it off!

The Flower Power Wonders Team consists of my cousins Diane (the designer) and Wendy and my sister-in-law Zina. They will be doing the actual assembling next weekend and insisted that I not help, as they know I will be very busy with getting ready for the big day.

When the fog ( that I'm sure I will be in) lifts - days after the wedding, we will have to all go out and celebrate. In the meantime I will just listen to what Wendy keeps telling me.... "Breathe ...... just breathe!" = )

Winning Flowers!!

My flowers on display at the County Fair in the Wednesday flower show.
Since I have been babying these all summer, I thought it would be fun to enter a few.
My two mixed bouquets (pictured) took 2nd and 3 rd place.
My Cosmos took 1st and the Oriental Lilies and Balloon flowers each took 2nd.

It was fun and very easy to do. Much more relaxed than last year when I entered my art. We brought our entries in on Tuesday then Gary and I went yesterday to see if we had won anything. His Lego creation didn't get a ribbon but he was okay with that, this was his first year and he really liked the one that won 1st place. Proud of him for trying and other fun things to do there.

Gary loves to talk to all the men who come to the fair each year.
We stopped and watched a blacksmith who stamped his name on a horseshoe after heating it up over hot coals. The wood carvers with their chisels making art out of logs. The metal engineers with their hand-made creations that move and remind me of miniature oil drills.
The farmers who let him turn a hand grind to get the kernels off of dried corn.

Then there are all the animals - he loves to pet them all.
His favorite is the pig races.
There is a little track set up and the pigs are put in starting blocks and race around to the finish line, where is waiting for the winner an Oreo cookie. The pigs have fun names like Arnold Schwatzenhogger, Hammy Sosa and Brittany Spareribs.

Had our traditional funnel cake and corn on the cob. Yes, a good year at the fair!!

Art Is Waiting For Me!

I feel it is more interesting to post a pic when I write. And since I haven't found much time to do art, I am showing yet another oldie but goodie! This is one of my very first acrylic paintings done on canvas paper. I think I named it "Misty Waters". I still like the look of it and can remember all the feelings I felt while working on it - which ran along the lines of ..." hey! this is fun...... surprise! maybe I can paint....arrg! why won't this part look right?....oops! should have left that area alone....... hey, this is Fun!"

I miss losing myself in the process of creating art. I am hoping that after this break, I can start again fresh... with new ideas and my art will be bolder, brighter, better!! Maybe take another class? Visit an art museum? Go back to copying pictures I like, as this one was, though I changed it? Take a vacation to somewhere new?
Ohh, like the sound of that one !! I've read of artists whose work was influenced after traveling - though (of course) it was to exciting places like Italy or Paris or even the desert. I may have to stretch that one and see what inspiration I can find in Wisconsin, as I have told my Mom that I will visit after the wedding.

The wedding of my daughter that is, which is now less than 4 weeks away. Everything is moving along, the flowers in my garden are growing, the reply cards are coming in, every thing is bought. Except my own dress, I am working on that one. I will know it when I find it and I remind myself that I only need one and it is out there waiting for me somewhere!

The waterfall reunion I wanted to plan with my family never got off the ground. A very busy summer for every one including me. Maybe I will wander out to the falls some day and take lots of pictures and then make art from those. I 'll bring a sketchbook along and just doodle as I sit beside them and see what happens. Like my dress, art is waiting for me somewhere out there too!

First Oil Painting

It was an exciting day for me when I first opened my new tubes of oil paints to try them out, 3 years ago. I wasn't expecting much - just exploring.
I chose my smallest canvas and put it on my easel. I squeezed out little blobs on to my palette and decided to try them all to see how they looked.

The colors were so rich and creamy ! It was a joy to run my brush through them and see how easily they blended. I went back and forth many times and it just kept getting better! It was like playing with finger paints for the first time.

The center colors looked like a flower so I carefully "pulled" out the petals with a few strokes of my palette knife. I was cautious enough then to quit while I was ahead. When I look at it now, I remember how fun it was to try something new.

Art is Healing

This is a picture I drew years ago with charcoal. I was feeling very sad about a loss in my life.
Sitting on my bed one day, I just grabbed my drawing pad and started this without anything particular in mind. I drew the tree and then the rest just flowed out of my heart. My emotions were so strong that I was crying as I drew. I imagined going to this place and leaning against the rock ( on right almost out of pic) to be alone and mourn. I named it "A Place to Weep."

I felt so much better when it was finished. It was comforting to create a space that was there for me, as I was feeling at the moment. Somehow in this setting I was able to accept the sorrow as a part of my life, the pain was softened and it was okay. The mountains in the background were like the future, where the sun was still shining and God was watching over me.