BLUE

Blue...such small things make me happy.

Natural thoughts

This image reminds me of O'Keeffe's Green Lines and Pink (below). Strange thing is that the lines are blue. O' Keeffe always mixing the color of ground and sky... I guess green is in the eye of the beholder.

More Florida color!

Happy New Year!!!

New Years resolution...do things for myself. If you know me you know this is not selfish. The photo is from the walks I am taking with my daughter. Hope you like it... more to come. Oh yes and one more resolution is to be happy... it's harder than you think.

Florida Color

It has taken me a long time to feel that I am part of the true nature of what makes Florida, Florida. It is a beautiful place with its green and lush surroundings and its never ending sunny days. I guess for most people it would be utopia, it wasn't for me for a very long time. I missed the type of green that turns different colors, colors like burnt umber and orcha. I miss the type of light you can see on cool mornings at dusk when the light transforms fields of high grass covered with dew into something that only for a few moments sparkle like diamonds.

I have been taking walks with my daughter every morning since we are both on vacation and both got cameras for Christmas. I am trying to reveal to her the beauty of the not so obvious, of the things that are not hidden but just have to be looked at with an open mind to see it's beauty. Even as a small child she has always had an amazing sense of composition and is enjoying seeing the world in a deeper more emotional way.

The image above is a photo I took on our walk yesterday. Yes it was a warm, sunny day, perfect weather but we were not looking for pretty flowers we were in search of our Florida. The colors of this fallen palm frond are silvery gray with hints of green, a color so reflective of "my Florida". The fronds stay dry and hard and don't decompose as quickly as fallen leaves up north. The color is unique because of its surroundings, unique to a place that I didn't fit into. Now, slowly after so many years I am enjoying the details of what makes Florida so beautiful, to me. Colors do change here with the seasons. I just have to love where I am so I can see the Florida that is uniquely mine with all it's many faces and colors. This is true about any place we live, even if we didn't choose that place. I promise you, you can find beauty in the places where you think are void of it. Simply open your mind and heart and it will reveal its self to you.

North Carolina Day Dream

I miss North Carolina. I never really lived there but I own a piece of property that is truly a piece of heaven, which I go to when ever I can. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains when the clouds are low it's as if you are floating on a cloud. All you see is white and I can feel the wetness on my cheeks. Water falls and streams run along the property and I have my secret spot which I sit and listen to the water running over the rocks and branches which have fallen into the water. It is a silent place, a place of absolute beauty everywhere you turn. The sparkle of the water when the light finally finds it's way between the thick brush above... is magical. These are the thoughts that filled me as I made this piece.

I hope to post more often, it seems easy now that I have some time off from my day job, but how I yearn to be free to create what is in my soul.

Images of Inspiration

My two favorite gifts I received for Christmas are a camera and a book, Georgia O'Keeffe An American Perspective. I have been reading the book and I am falling in love with both Georgia and her work, what an amazing woman. I thought it was ironic that I got both the book and the camera at the same time since Georgia was basically discovered by the amazing photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

The image below is a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe of Ranchos Church No. 1 . Painted in New Mexico where she spent a part of almost every year until Stieglitz died. After his death she moved there permanently in 1949.

This image is one of more than 300 images Stieglitz made of O'Keeffe between 1917 and 1937. He continued photographing Georgia until he died. Both these amazing artists had the same sensibility and simplicity for what they found to be beautiful.

Can you see the similarity of the graceful lines and the amazing composition?

I am completely inspired. The image at the top of my post is the first I have taken with my new camera. This image is a reflection of who I am and the beauty I find around me. This is one of my pieces made of antique material from the 1920's, linen and felted fiber. I have moved the piece around several times in my bedroom and when I woke up this morning and saw what the light was doing. I was so moved by it's beauty.

Checkout the amazing work of both Georgia and Alfred and be inspired. I was.

Broaching My World

Shattered

The Hole Truth

Day Dream

Pussy in the Woods

Here is the first of a series of brooches I have designed using found objects.

I work in two studios, one, a small space I have in my bedroom and the other, a space I share with my husband. He has the downstairs and I have the upstairs. I love wandering around in his shop, finding objects that have fallen to the floor after he has ground a piece or has spun something wonderful on the lathe. I also pick pieces off the shelf which he has crammed with all sorts of amazing raw wood.

I so enjoy mixing the textures of different objects such as wood, felt, stone, coral, sand paper and fluffy yarn.The brooches incorporate objects around me, using pieces I find beautiful in nature that have fallen to the ground. When walking in a park or walking my dog I look at the most miniscule things that have fallen to the ground. I know these things I find are already dead but I see so much life still yet to be lived. What amazing textures and color some of these objects have.

Mixed media is the best way to express the world I live in. A world that is hard, soft, textured, layered and is forever changing. I like it that way.