quilts and paintings

Ten of my favorite pieces, not in any particular order.

 1. "A Bird's Nest"

The title refers to the back of the quilt. When free motion quilting, if you don't carefully tie off your beginning thread, it knots up on the back. This is called a bird's nest. The bird is painted and quilted seperately from the quilt, then sewn on, but floats nicely above the quilt background.

2. "Country Gator"

This alligator gets up close and personal. I would hate to really be that close.

3. "Quietude"

Quiet and solitude are nice when I'm on the water.

4. This was a watercolor study done for the next quilt, but I liked it so much I framed it and hung it on my wall.

5. "Road 9, Crandall Pasture"

Crandall Pasture, where I grew up, was and is a magical place to me. Accepted into a Summer exhibit at The Florida Museum of Natural History at UF in Gainseville.

6. Sunset Tree

Obviously I like trees. :)

7. "Hannah at the Beach"

Acrylic on canvas for a friend.

8. "Soul Windows"

I like painting people too! This is an early art quilt. I like the clean lines and the emotion.

9. "Precious"

Speaking of emotion, this little girl just melts hearts everywhere she goes.

10. "Tales at the Gate"

Dad doesn't melt hearts, except mine. He is a wonderful storyteller and has a style all his own. I think this quilt captures some of that style.

10 things I love about my sunroom

1. The transition from the house to the sunroom is framed in 200 year old timbers. Holes and All.

2. This tiny lamp that was given to my Mom by my Granddaddy's girlfriend a long time ago.

3. This cabinet that is new but looks old, and has safari animals on it.

These tiles that Noreen handpainted on the floor.

5. These gorgeous skylights.

6. The view of the creek and the marsh and beyond.

7. This big green vase.

8.My garage sale loveseat ($20), Trunk (free) and table ($25)

9. My bar. I made it myself.

10. The big ledge in front of the windows.

Observation

People who stick their fingers in everybody else's pie should not complain about having dirty hands.

How do you feel about Hip Hop?

Back story: My daughter is a wonderful, creative and talented young lady. She likes theater. She likes to perform and sing, not necessarily always on a stage. She is good at it. Always draws a crowd, she's witty and clever and quick. Her teen idol is not a hip hop artist you hear on the Pop radio station, nor is it a young, hot movie star. It's a theater kid. He is part of a group that originated in Michigan University Fine Arts department. They perform parodies on the internet and go on tour around the country. He is not an adonis. He is a normal looking fella. But she is gonna marry him someday! Oh my!


Turns out he is coming to Jacsonville as a featured singer for a hip hop artist, George Watski. Not your normal kind of hip hop artist, you know, saggy pants, gold teeth, ugly language? No, this artist does "spoken word" poetry and hip hop, a little clean cut white kid who defies stereotyping with his mad rap skills. I agree, in a moment of weakness, that this may be the only chance she gets to see Dylan Saunders LIVE, and I purchase the tickets.

I went to a hip hop concert. I enjoyed myself. These kids were extremely talented, not only was the material all original, it was thoughtful and in many cases meaningful. Then they sang the boobie song, but hey, sometimes ya gotta get silly. They played harmonica, french horn, trumpet, keyboard and organ (!), drums and (of course it's hip hop) heavy base.

 Jessie met, talked to and swooned over her future husband. He sang wonderfully and even interacted with her from on stage. We were right at the stage, so her view was unobstucted the entire concert.

She declared me the best Mother in all the Universe for ALL time, from beginning to end.

I don't know about all that, but for this day everything is good.

Intentionally or not, mean people suck.

Growing up in the country, I should have realized there is a gate that has to be opened before I can move on down the road. Sometimes the best roads are behind a gate. Just a minor setback, I'll be back in the saddle shortly.

Low Tide

I once told a friend, as he was enjoying our backyard view for the very first time, in a most apologetic way, that it was low tide and there wasn't a bit of water in the creek, just miles of mud. Sorry, I said, it's not very pretty this way like when the tide is high. His reply has stuck with me now for almost 3 years. "Maybe so, but I bet low tide is much more interesting."
Yes, yes it is.
At low tide there is no water. But you get to see what's underneath, all the way to the ugly bottom. Sometimes that is good.
Life works that way too, I suppose. Right now I feel like I'm at a low tide, but here are some observations.
Now that things are a low, I can see all the way to the ugly bottom. It's ugly, but it's not gonna kill me, so I need to face it and work past it.
It is interesting. Interesting to see where my support comes from when I'm standing in front of the crowd and each one holds a stone. Some support is expected, like family and some comes from surprising places, people that I didn't even expect to notice my duress. Just like low tide in the creek revealing things I can't see when it's full of water, I have the opportunity to see right down to the bottom of some people and know just where they stand.
And just like that; one day the tide will rise again, the water all flows back in, and it's all pretty and scenic once more. I hope I am better for having gone through this. I hope I can enjoy the view again, without worrying over the next low tide. One will surely come, but it won't catch me by surprise.
Very interesting indeed.