Getting Outside

So I had my first surgery on June 8th and I didn’t get around easily with my walker. Using the walker throughout the house was ok I just kept bumping into doorways and getting through doorways to go outside. We had some good friends stop by last week, they brought a favorite Italian restaurant for dinner and homemade apple crisp. It was fabulous to see them and the weather was nice so that some swam and others sat around the pool. Thank you for good friends. I wheeled my walker out with the help of Tom, he has been the best through this.
Yesterday on Fathers Day I decided that I was tired of walking with the monstrosity walker. I tested the leg and it didn’t hurt so I practiced walking by myself. It was working ok but I got pretty tired. I had some food to make for the holiday, scalloped potatoes, double thick chocolate brownies, hamburger patties with seasoning, cut up melon with blueberries. Got that done and sat and rested, everyone else took care of what needed to be done. I decided to just go back to my cane for the moment and it is easier to go outside. It feels great to be more mobile. The hip replacement has been easier than the knees. I am having another friend come tomorrow to take me to the doctor. Its a big day because I am getting my 31 staples out. We are then going out for a nice lunch.
This morning I went out to take pictures of flowers that I love and are so proud that they are blooming. The first picture above, I was shocked that the tiger lily was blooming. I think I planted it two years ago and didn’t see it last year and thought it was a goner. I saw this bright orange color in the landscaping and was happily surprised. The next picture was the hydrangea I planted last year and was happy that it made it and it looks like it will be pink. The next picture of the blue flowers always delight me when they bloom. The next picture is my husband Tom yesterday just enjoying himself, sitting back and doing what he wants to do.

It was so nice to all be together and I love this picture of my guys. Sam -Tom-Kevin. I hope you also had a great Father’s Day.
The next two pictures are made with Acrylic Ink and High Flow paint.
I love the color in this one and doodles with Poska Pens and white acrylic ink.
The last is just imitating some Georgia O’Keefe. Her painting is on the right and mine is the left.

Thanks for checking in.

April 8, 2022 – Paintings, Buttonhole Sunflowers and Show Schedule

I had planned to create two paintings for specific places on my walls. These two that you are seeing are the ones that I came up with. In March I started an online workshop with one of my very favorite artists Carrie Schmitt. She is from Cincinnati but now lives in Washington State. She had to move somewhere that has a cooler climate because she has a heat allergy. It is becoming more pronounced as time goes on, for example she had to get her car windows tinted recently because she couldn’t drive around without having a reaction to the sun. More than 10 years ago when this allergy started rearing its ugly head, she was bedridden and was trying to decide what direction her life would take. She decided to start painting and her style is loose, intuitive, colorful and really wonderful. I have taken two in person workshops with her, one in Portland Oregon and one in Cincinnati Ohio. I really dislike flying and I hopped a plane for four hours and flew to Portland for a three day painting workshop. It had so many wonderful women from all over the US, good food, flowers and flowers and togetherness to be with Carrie.

Each month a flower is chosen plus different techniques. The first month finger painting was brought up and an artist that uses that technique was introduced. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with the one painting. It is going to be on my fireplace to cover up cords from the television on the wall. I like hydrangeas and they are easy to make with finger painting. I wanted something in a bold pattern and it is perfect in the spot. I love the way the pots turned out with the different patterns and I just kept adding layered colors on the flowers until I was satisfied with the look. The painting is permanently in my home but I will have prints and cards available to purchase. I have titled it something unusual :)”Hydrangeas”.

This painting will be on a wall above a living garden wall we are putting up. Since my cats like to chew my plants and destroy them, I decided to get some items from IKEA that work perfectly for a living plant wall. I have repotted my succulents into these containers, and it will be my husband’s task to get them up on the wall, because he’s the best. I have to varnish these two paintings and then they will be ready. The flower for March was Iris and they were really fun to paint, more than I expected. In fact I have a large painting in process of iris to be completed soon. I have put a couple in this painting and also the inspiration were wooden flowers that I purchased from an artist a few years ago which will also be nearby. When it is done you will see the whole shebang for sure.

Another topic for that month was painting a chair and decorating it in flowers. I love the way this painting turned out with all the patterns and I will be keeping it too. It was so fun to make. I will also make some prints and cards to make available. Some of Carries paintings have been turned into fabric and then a company called Chair Whimsey has recovered some chairs with them. If you have gotten a recent HGTV magazine the Chair Whimsey house was featured in it and also some of Carries Paintings. She also was a speaker on a zoom meeting and she is a fun person, very upbeat. I took this month by month online workshop because I wanted to get new ideas for painting for my upcoming art season. Since my knee surgery I was kind of slow in getting into the beat again and this has helped immensely. You do not need to know how to paint, some people just use what they have, cardboard for one. If you would like to step out of your box or just get some new and fun ideas I would recommend signing up for this. She offers so much and you can pick and choose what you want to do. If you would like more info about Carrie and The Flower Painting Club click here.
This is called a buttonhole sunflower. Another woman I follow made these to raise money to send to the World Central Kitchen helping to feed Ukrainians. Here is what she wrote about these little gems. “I came up with the idea of celebrating our connectedness with the suffering people of Ukraine by wearing a Buttonhole Sunflower. I crafted these sunflowers from my friend Barbara’s cashmere sweaters, hand-dyed wool and a wooden button plus some stitching.”

This is the back of the sunflower. I am sorry but I couldn’t get the picture to resize. I understand that she sold enough to send over $1500.00 to the World Central Kitchen plus some extra sunflowers. So, if you see anyone wearing one of these you know where they came from. I met this person through a different workshop and she is very interesting and always has something going on. You can find Cindy on Instagram @bacibear.

Show Schedule (So Far)

  • June 4th and 5th….Village of Winona
  • June 25th and 26th….Covington Art Fair
  • August 4th and 5th….Chesterton Art Fair
  • August 13th….Bloomfest
  • October 1st….Artist Studio Tour
  • October 8th….A Renaissance in Roanoke

I am getting my Show Schedule in order and adding new shows all the time as I hear from them. You can find the list on my webpage click here.