Sleeping Completed

Sleeping...completed! She has actually been completed a while. The picture is a little blurry, so apologies~This is a collage on a 16 x20 piece of canvas board. I had originally started this for an Italian themed exhibit, however didn't finish it by the deadline. In the 1800's Italian artists often portrayed their female subjects reposing, partially clad, in a dreamlike state. Among my favorite Italian artists are Boticelli and Micheal Angelo.

This is what I give thanks for today.

There are some days that I just have to say to God..thank you. Thank you for this beautiful earth you gave us and all the degrees and shades of colors that I am able to see each and every day. And thank you for whispering in my ear...don't forget you camera today! The sun and shadows that I saw dancing over the snow this week just left me in awe. This scene was a picture before I even took it. All I did was click my digicam.

I was running up a hill in town and spotted the sun shining through trees..and it took my breathe away. It appealed to my love of colors, shadows and emotion. This has been edited..due to my preoccupation with just that...editing, but the original picture is just as stunning..the scene really needed no alterations.

Well in appreciating all the colors, I sometimes wonder what I would do if I couldn't see them. Am I too dependant on the colors of the world? Are they my crutch..do I rely on them and not pay attention to the other senses.....perhaps I do. Perhaps...but for now I will continue to let my eyes devour the colors, because I can.

One World One Heart

It is almost over! Today is Wedsnesday..tomorrow is it!! Fortunately for everyone, or not so fortunately for me, I am working a 12 hour shift tomorrow and will not be back on here until around 8pm! So my contest is open unitl 7:30pm upstpate NY time! I will pick a winner between 8pm and 9pm on after the closing!

Update....!!!!! I am writing this little blurb on February 7th! At 2oo comments I will be adding another giveaway! How can I not! This has been a blast so far! Thank to everyone who is participating.




I am participating in a special blog giveaway, along with numerous other blogs! You can find the details on this link: http://www.oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/

And this my my dears, is my give away! It is a little heart I made from clay...thanks to the inspiration of another blogger friend I have, Mimi and Moes' Mom! A while ago she sent me, for no reason at all, a sweet little clay bird that she had made. I was instantly infatuated with the little bird. She then posted her how to's on her blog...and thus some beautiful inspiration. I found it fitting to have my inspiration come from a blogging friend who shared something she made, with me. So here is my little clay heart pendant, that I will be giving away after drawing a random number on February 12th. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win. Don't forget to click on the link above to see all the other fabulous bloggers involved!

Oh wait!!!!

Did I say I would be adding another giveaway at the 200the entry? Hmmm, why yes Jenn, you did! Well, here it tis! Two fine, and I mean fiiiiiiiine, art photo prints of photopraphs I have taken., will be given to the second number drawn from my handy dandy numeral genrator at the end of all this! Each measures 4 x 6 inches, will be printed on Fujicolor Crystal Archive photopaper, and will be sure to delight the eye. (uhg..don't mind me, I am in a sort of cyncial, but humorous mood)...so comment away my friendly bloggers, and send all your other friends who are friendly bloggers over also!

Some lovely bluebirds......

and 'swooning' roses from my garden...

also come visit at:

http://distressingdelilah.etsy.com/

http://shabbyaccumulations.blogspot.com/

The Journey....

The Journey
One day you finally knew what you had to do,

and began,though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice--

though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night,and the road full of fallen branches and stones.

But little by little, as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burnthrough the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,

that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world,

determined to do the only thing you could do--

determined to save the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver...The Journey

Preciously So

I took this photo this week on very cold morning! The little birds on the lines where apparently so cold that they didn't want to leave their perch! Lucky me..most of the time they take flight as soon as I pull my camera out. Actually there were many more on the line, and most of them did take flight...but a few chilly posers remained. Why didn't these little birdies fly south when the getting was good!

This is a picture of my stepdaughter Marissa that I took last summer. We had taken a ride up north and went for a nice hike up a small mountain...Kane mountain. On the way back she wanted to stop and cross the river by stepping on stones. Well, she never made it across..but we did have lots of fun watching her try! Aren't the little braids the cutest!?

Thank you Something Sublime!

A guilty pleasure of mine is drooling over new issues of Belle Armoire..or any Somerset publication for that matter. I read an article in the most recent issue featuring work by Deryn Mentock. The article gives easy instruction on how to create these wrapped beads.

I decided to give the project a try...and what fun it was! These are my creations, pictured above. I then went and visited Deryns' blog and told her I had made some earrings from her instructions, but had to yet to purchase earwires..she responded ..."why don't you make your own?" and proceeding to tell me she had a link to a tutorial of hers on her blog. So that is what I did.....and that is what you see! My first handmade earwires! They were very easy to make..I did improvise however on the tools...but plan to purchase the appropriate ones, as I feel they would work much better. Thanks Deryn!

http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

On another note..the weather..oh yes the weather. A frequent subject lately. It is freezing out! I didn't really care though this morning. I have been feeling very unmotivated lately and thought a run outside would cure me. I usually do run outside, regardless of rain, sleet or snow, but have been a little wimpy lately(well, maybe 10 inches of snow and the glaring ice on the roads had something to do with it.) and have been working out inside instead. So, I bundled up and threw my digicam in my pocket, put the headphones on, overwhich went the earmuffs...and I was off. Let me tell you, I ran very fast...thinking I could get home faster. But silly me, everything I see, I want to take a picture of, mostly trees, sky, birds..today at least. The sky was so blue, with wispy white cotton clouds, the bare trees made such a gorgeous contrast against it. There where sweet little birds just sitting on the power lines. So of course I had to take about ten pictures, and hated five of them..so they were deleted. Dumb idea. The picture taking. Happy I did, but standing still was not good in the frigid temps! Finally I said enough and headed home. It did work though. I really, really needed to 'see' again. Meaning just moseying, or not moseying, along on a run and appreciate. I think my mind was so used to being treated to that every day, that it was going into withdrawl. So I will try to not be a wimp, if only for myself..and run outside more. I realize it is what keeps me sane, it is therapy, my psychotherapist, time with god and myself.

Bring in the Light

"With forgiveness your victim identity dissolves, and your true power emerges-the power of Presence. Instead of blaming the darkness, you bring in the light" A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle.

I started reading this book last year. At that time it seemed difficult to wrap my mind around. I never finished it, but recently decided to give it another go. Maybe some people just need to read it twice..but I really am understanding it now and am very glad I picked it back up. I so agree with the sentence above. Carrying around a burden, that burden of anger takes so much energy and precious time away from you. I tried to think of people I may need to forgive. The thing is I don't get angry with people too often, but even harbring ill thoughts can require forgiveness, no matter how minor you may think it is. And there is light after you let it go. Like I said I really didn't have many 'hang ups' regarding this, but am being mindful of it, and believe they are words to live by. If you haven't read this book, I would recommend it. It really makes you take a look at yourself and how you respond to life. It brings you back to what is import, the presence. Which makes sense, it is only here for a moment and then it is gone. Why not be there instead of in the past, and concentrate on what is at hand. To enjoy the moment. To be totally there at that time. Why not? You have everything to gain from it. Bring in the light!

Glimpses

" I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly." Mary Oliver, Sleeping in The Forrest.

I have been working on a new piece for the past few weeks. This is just a glimpse of part of it. I cropped it and created a little digital picture.

Happy New Year!

Wishing all my readers a wonderfull and blessed new year. A new year brings new beginnings, new thoughts and wishes, new goals and dreams. My goal for myself this year is to just be a better person. Who could not benefit by trying to be a better person? I already excercise to a fault with my almost daily runs, and I pretty much eat right...except when provided with gobs of buttercream frosting. Those seem to be the two most common resolutions ,eat right and exercise. Mine is not going to be absolutely only about me this year. I want to affect other people in a positive way. That means staying in line with positive thinking, and rereading and reviewing The Secret, which I have found so inspiring in the past. I remember right after I read it, and even quite a while longer than that..my thought process was wonderful! What I want to do is to go back to that. Nothing good seems to ever come from negative thoughts about anything..people, places..things. Really if you think about it, that is so true. You are not helping yourself feeling and thinking that way. I have stopped myself in the past few weeks, here and there when I was feeling bad and examined what my thoughts actually were...and then turned them around as best as I could. The past month has truly put this to the test.

Did you know that the first words you say in the morning set your mood for the entire day? Think of that when you wake up tomorrow. What will be your first uttered words? Try to make them positive words...whomever you speak them to first....and then sit back in your mind and watch how your day progresses. Sure sometimes bad things will happen...but how are you going to react, how will you change that? That is the question! Here's to making our lives more positive and fullfilling this year, not only for us, but for the ones we pass each and every day. Happy New Year!