I miss blogging ...

I'm still alive. I've been working long hours, of course. I warned you about that. But I have other excuses for not blogging. Like not having Photoshop on my new computer, which makes saving photos for web a real pain. And spending all my free art time making birthday gifts for people who read this blog, thus not wanting to show you what I've been up to. But really, for whatever reason, I was taking a break.

But I miss you, so now I'm back, and ready to share again. Here's some fun things I've been doing in the last month or so:

Playing (very briefly) with a macro lens Josh brought home from work (he is the prop master on Dexter for season three. This photo was taken with Dexter's crime scene camera.)


Visiting Descanso Gardens with Josh. Even though he has lived in L.A. his whole life, he hadn't ever been there. Whenever we spend a half day somewhere like this, he spends about ten percent of the time exclaiming "We have to do stuff like this more often!" Yes, indeed.

Spending a day with Penny and John. We walked through the Hollywood hills, and visited the La Brea Tar Pits and The Getty Museum. They taught me a lot about plants. We ate good food, and laughed a lot. Wonderful.

Planting a veggie/herb garden. I left it pretty late this year, but now it's done, right before a day of unseasonal rain. Perfect!

Being a parent. Ian and his friends went to a murder mystery birthday party. From left to right, they are John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, and George Burns. What a fabulous bunch of 17 year old boys. I love 'em.

Meeting Misty and Shari. Well, I had already met Shari once before, but this time I got to share a meal with her and commune for a few hours. Misty was on her way to Australia so that made our meeting even more special.

Cooking, of course. And reading. And sewing. And doing yoga.

So yeah, I'm still alive :-)

December views, day 13

Took a misty, drizzly hike in Franklin Canyon with my friend Gina this morning. Spot the bunny.

Bedroom Makeover

Whew. WHAT a busy two days it's been. I painted my bedroom at last. But I didn't stop there. I ended up with a complete makeover of the room. Come in and see ...



This was my room on Saturday. I'd done nothing to it since I moved in four months ago, with a bed, two bookshelves, a daggy old pine nightstand, and a trunk. The pale blue/grey bedding didn't go with the creamy yellow walls. It was stark. Ugly, even.



Here's another view. No wonder I didn't like being home. Ack.

But now ....



The walls are Pensive Sky, a little darker in the blue-grey family than the bedding. First up, I stacked the two bookshelves (need to strap them together, and to the wall; this is earthquake country).



I bought these curtains at Ikea. Sure, I could have made them, but I was going for the quick gains. I did line them with blackout fabric before hanging them. I have not been sleeping well since I got back from Australia, and I'm hoping that a very dark room will help. The strip of fabric on the pink chair was my inspiration for the color palette.



Here's the fabric again, made into a king pillowcase.



I painted the nightstand red, and (after spending a little time lusting after Anthropologie draw pulls) covered the knob with a motif from the feature fabric. The round red rug came from Ikea.



The lampshade, formerly green, I painted Indian Yellow. This turned out to be a bad idea, as it's now very opaque. A bedside light is not much use if it only shines up and down, not out. I'm going to have to rectify this situation.



The trunk still holds the spare blankets, but now it's sitting on the little blue rug that used to be beside my bed.



I have yet to hang art on the walls. This Misty Mawn painting is just sitting here waiting for me to get or create some larger pieces, then I'll figure out where to put them all.



One more thing: I made curtains for the little window in my ensuite bathroom. (Rhea, you will recognize the fabric.) I don't need them for privacy, but I like the cuteness!

I am quite worn out, but so happy with the results! Besides paint, the only things I bought were the curtains and hardware ($52) and the rug ($10). What a difference! I can't wait to go to bed tonight.

I think I deserve some new pyjamas now :-)

June 9

I have a long commute to work (75 to 90 minutes) but it's very pretty. I've been meaning to take my camera with me for ages, and at last today I did.
Ever since meeting Misty, I have wanted to show her how the colors I see at the beach each morning remind me of her. Don't you agree?

July 14

I painted a lot of backgrounds, and a lot of faces over the past two days. This is the only piece that I've declared to be finished, and Lauren fell in love with it as soon as I walked in the door. So I'll frame it for her room.

I really learned a lot from Misty, and I feel delighted and invigorated by the two days of intensive art. I have a feeling that the sewing machine is going to get a whole lot less attention in the coming weeks. Right now, I'm all about the paint.

Last views of 2008

We had planned a trip to the snow today, but the recent week of warm weather has melted all the local white stuff. So we decided to hike at the beach instead.Although it was sunny and warm at home, the coastline was chilly and misty. We climbed Point Dume, armed with binoculars, [some of us] optimistic about whale or dolphin sighting.To our delight, there was a pod of dolphins close to shore! I was especially happy that Josh was there to see them. He's never seen dolphins in the wild here, and has scoffed at my claim that I frequently see them on my way to work. A few actually did big leaps for us, but the only thing I managed to record was the after-splash.When we climbed back down to the beach, Josh sat in the car with the heater running (he HATES the cold) while Lauren danced with delight at the water's edge.

It's been a good year.

June 18

I am sitting here, awed, amazed, blown away, touched to the core, by what arrived in the mail today.

This:

Yes, I have here a Misty Mawn original, gifted to me, along with two CDs of her favourite music, which I am listening to and loving.

This art is SO much more gorgeous, delicate, and, well, just astounding, in the flesh, so textural (I touch it gently, as if it were a butterfly wing). I am bursting with the blessing of it.

::: deep sigh of joy :::

June 13

I spent today at Carol Parks' studio, a delightful place.



The talented and lovely Misty Mawn taught a dozen of us how she paints faces.


She's a good teacher. I'll show you my efforts after tomorrow, because yes, I'm going back for another day of it! Yay!