non-obligatory blogging

Found the following quote today in an interview with artist Geninne Zlatkis . Love her blog and her birds. :) Albert Einstein once said “The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind." It reminds me of a scripture that I've chosen as my life's goal..."Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands..." 1 Thes. 4:11

  Yesterday morning I had to take a photo of the warm glow that the sunrise cast on everything. I used to think the dead grass was ugly but over the years I've come to appreciate its beauty (even without the pinkish-golden glow from the sunrise). What a different look we woke up to this morning. I had to take another photo of pretty much the same view from the east end of the deck just to show the contrast. Let it snow. I'm ready for it now. Have a warm and happy winter everyone.

How did I miss this new magazine about studios? Probably because I missed a lot last year starting when I blew out my knee exactly one year ago tomorrow. I had a lot of time on my hands and began obsessing about my own tiny, cluttered art space while sitting with my leg in that brace for two months. I also became fascinated by other artists' studios during that time so I'm anxious to get my hands on this magazine now that I know it's available. The current issue is of particular interest because New Mexico artist Pamela Armas and her studio are featured in it and also on the Where Women Create Blog where you can see several photos of Pamela's amazing 22,000 sq. ft. studio and art space. My friend Yvonne (who does the annual Egg Show here in Magdalena) knows Pamela and we tried to visit her last year when we attended the Mountainair Sunflower Festival but were disappointed to find that she was out of town. We're still hoping to get back there one of these days

My son needed a journal/sketchbook for his cabinet/furniture building business and asked me to come up with something for him. Not sure this will hold up to being tossed in a backpack but it was a start. I'm working on a different flexible cover for it today. Maybe it will work better. (oh and try to ignore the puny elastic cord...I'm in search of some that's bigger but haven't had a chance to shop for it. Does anyone have a good source for bigger corded elastic in different colors?)

I can't believe we've gone so quickly from the fall beauty (shown in some lovely photos posted this week on Elaine's and Leau's blogs) to this. I don't love winter.

I'm doing art with my 5-year-old granddaughter, Haevyn, once a week. We made this yesterday. :)

Promise Lynn Doyal, 7 lbs. 7 oz., 20 in. long arrived today (June 20, 2009) at 2:59 pm. She's beautiful and looks so much like her mom! "And so, after we had patiently endured, we obtained the Promise." Heb. 6:15 (NKJV) (sorry for the slight alteration of scripture "he" to "we". :)

Hi, I'm Laurie and I'm a Chuckoholic. I have become obsessed with and addicted to a television show. Never before in my life have I done anything like this but I was vulnerable and in need of serious escapism and comedic relief in my life during the past year. I hate to sound so dramatic but the NBC show Chuck sorta saved my sanity even while inducing an insanity of it's own into my life. With all the drama associated with what has been happening with my grandmother's deteriorating health, this silly little techy fantasy (which combines comedy, romance and spy action and a tiny bit of drama with colorful, endearing characters that are surprisingly well acted) became my weekly escape from reality and a bit of a tonic for my mental and emotional well-being. I discovered it last spring while house sitting for my daughter in Colorado. I never would've seen it at home because at the time we didn't have local channels. After returning to NM, I watched online so we

. I feel so sad and relieved all at the same time but Gramma passed away this week on Wednesday. I didn't know it was possible to feel both emotions to this extent, all at the same time. What a fighter she was. CHF, diabetes, heart valve issues etc., and 95 years of age but man, such a fierce little thing. She actually had a fever of over 108 degrees before she finally gave it up the other day...it was crazy. Her nurse said he had never seen anything like it. She was always so fussy about her appearance and grooming she would've hated the way her hair looked that day. She was also very, very picky about her personal comfort. We were always fluffing pillows and changing her sleeping (beds, bedding, etc.) and resting (chairs, couches, recliners, etc.) accoutrements because it seemed her opinions about such things changed weekly. Her food preferences changed frequently also and she preferred a varied menu up until the last week or so. Except for a few standbys. If nothing else sou

. I guess that's what it is. Maybe, hopefully, it's just a temporary condition because I'm just so tired of watching my gramma die slowly, ever so slowly -- a little bit more of her gone every day it seems. It's very sad. And it's wearing me out -- draining the life out of me -- more mentally than anything. Her hospice nurse said that she had declined around 30% during the month of March when he visited last Friday and I'm not handling this prolonged, protracted dying process very well. I wish I had taken the beautiful photo above but I found it here and I loved the comment that one person made, "A very nice shot. I congratulate you for this picture and it really touch my heart because the water drops on it can't make her alive anymore." I can actually feel the reality that this photo portrays. Consequently, I'm not very creative right now. I feel a little brain dead myself and like I want to hold at bay all feeling and emotions. Too painful

Just got this one back from the framer in Socorro. This is an ATC (3.5" x 2.5") I did several years ago to use as an example of a hand-painted artist's trading card. I needed it in a hurry for part of a presentation to a group I was trying to interest in the concept of ATCs. Anyway, it was a quicky painting accomplished (again) by sort of cheating because I didn't have much time. I turned a photo of a tea cup (this one I had actually photographed myself) into a line drawing in photoshop or illustrator (can't remember now what program I used) which I then printed out on watercolor paper in a very, very faint light gray. Then, using watercolors, I hand-painted it using the original photo as a guide for the colors.

I got a call yesterday from someone requesting that I donate some art for a silent auction to benefit the local hospice program. How could I refuse since the hospice program has been such a benefit to us with what has been going on lately with my grandma. I messed with an art idea yesterday that had been on my mind to try but still didn't come up with anything appropriate for their "spring tea" benefit luncheon being held tomorrow afternoon. I was awake this morning at 4 am so I decided to try again and throw together something a bit more tea partyish. I put a "borrowed" photo through a bit of digital manipulation to make it little less photolike and then made a mask from the outline of the photo printed onto regular copy paper and adhered that onto watercolor paper cut to 5"x7". I then rubbed in powdered pigments all around the masked area and sealed that with matte acrylic. I flipped the photo in the program I was using (Illustrator), printed it onto

. Here's a photo of my cutie gramma, Leona. She's 94, going to be 95 on March 25 if she is still with us. Knowing her, I'd be surprised if she isn't. I call her the energizer bunny because it doesn't seem to matter what happens, she always seems to bounce back and keeps going. She has been living by herself for the most part except when (because of her health) she requires some extra help (like right now) and then my mom and I are there. She broke her hip five years ago and bounced back from that and several things since then. The last few weeks she's been declining in health and vitality and had a five day hospital stay. It was pretty serious the day she went in and we don't remember ever seeing her so out of her head. Turned out to be a sinus infection and from what we've been told, any type of infection can be serious for the elderly. It's been up and down since she went in on January 3. One day we think she's not going to make it and the next