PUG!!!

Finished my first painting in a new series I am going to be doing. Hope to get at LEAST 10 dog paintings done by the Christmas shows......This one is called PUG . It was a lot of fun to paint because it happens to be MY dog, Pudgy. It is 24 X 30 and is for sale. $ 400.00 + tax

Spent a wonderful afternoon at the Speed Art Museum looking at the new exhibit. The painting of Impressionism Era. It was amazing to see the different artists styles and colors. Made we want to go back to the Metropolitan Museum and spends HOURS again. To be able to paint like them would be amazing. Also, went through the museum gift shop and got some GREAT ideas for a few new things for my art shows coming up. NOW, my brain is going in all kind of directions.....NEED to focus. Almost finished with a new painting - new series of dogs- I really like this first one and am anxious to do more. Also, in the middles of smocking my granddaughter her first Easter dress. Also , have some ideas for some cute pillows and jewelry ideas. TOO bad I can't work on art 24/7. Well - for tonight I am going to try to focus on finishing my painting .

Well, it has been a little over a week since my last posting. WOW how quickly life changes. In this past week I have sat by my moms bed in hospice while she lived her last days, watch mom pass away and plan a funeral with my brothers. My mom happened to leave us the instructions for her funeral , so she made it quite easy for us. As I was in Atlanta this week, thinking back over my childhood, going through pictures and memorabilia I realized how MANY things I learned from my mom. From learning to sew, quilt and my love of COLOR. I will always remember the week she let me skip school and stay home with her "quilting bee" and work on a quilt. Thank goodness, I still have that quilt. It will always be important to me. I hope to be able to pass these same things on to my grandchildren.

"Creativity is an act of faith and we must be faithful to that faith, willing to share it to help 0thers, and to be helped in return."

-Julia Cameron

Life

After spending a wonderful weekend at my daughters , with our new grand-daughter, Lila I was called to Atlanta to spend the last bit of time with my mom. It has really opened my eyes to how precious life is , and how we go out of our life almost as we come in. My grand-daughter is so precious and cannot do anything by herself. Sleeps most of the day and relies on someone to feed her and dress her. The same with my mom, who is now in hospice and living her last hours with her family by her side. She too depends on us for everything.. She is as helpless as an infant. I pray that she will soon make up her mind she is ready. Not sure what is going on in her mind, i'm sure she is ordering things in her mind trying to get everything JUST SO before she leaves.I know dad is waiting on her to get there and is saying like her used to "come on Jo lets go, everything is fine". I am so thankful for my mom, my love for being artsy I got from her. She taught me to sew and do crafts, and be able to make beautiful things out of almost anything. Thank you mom for this wonderful outlet you have given me.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Here in Kentucky it was cold but woke up to a beautiful snow. It is still snowing a little now and then and still cold, BUT the perfect time to start letting all my creative ideas get going. This year I already have lots of ideas running through my brain!!! Went to fabulous Antiques Market in Atlanta over the holidays and bought some wonderful vintage ribbons in every shade of sherbets imaginable. NOT sure what to do with it but it made me feel happy. Maybe tags for my paintings, maybe for collages, who know maybe some new jewelry ideas will pop into my head.

I have so many new ideas I want to try. Finished a 8' x 8' Barn Quilt for the cutest gentleman for his wife's surprise for Christmas. She is a master quilter and has always wanted one. I was very honored to be able to do it for him AND complete it by Christmas. It was a little stressful trying to get it completed - went to Atlanta to visit my mother who is not doing well during the time I had allowed for painting. BUT I did get get it finished and in plenty of time. I hope to have a photo of it hanging on their barn to post soon.

Now that I have my work schedule figured out and finally in some type of routine- I plan on getting LOTS done this year !!!

It has been a LONG year, lots of heartaches in our family. We have lost a horse this year and also our family dog, Chloe that we have had for many years. We have seen my mother decline rapidly over the past year and is continue to decline.

We also have had a very exciting year with the addition of our new granddaughter - Lila. She is absolutely perfect and beautiful. I am sure there will be lots of stories that will include her also in the near future.

Thank you for all my followers this year and I hope that this next year will be more exciting than ever. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

PEACE

PEACE.

it does not mean to be in a place

where there is no noise, trouble

or hard work. it means to be in

the midst of those things and still

be calm in your heart.

(unknown)

TIME

Time is long for those that MOURN

Time is short for those who LAUGH

but for those that LOVE time is an eternity......

yew dell gardens