TALL FLOWERS 7.5x20 Acrylic on Paper GIFTED

It's Spring. Flowers are everywhere. Just look along the sides of the road as you travel and see the beauty of the season.  In Private Collection

WHITEWASH 8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

This one is my new favorite. Another "paint over" with the texture showing through from underneath.

FLOWERS 8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

Learning and trying new things is GOOD. I painted the flowers, didn't like the way they looked so I painted over them. They were still there so I outlined them and liked it. I'm having fun and really enjoying the outcome.

MOONLIGHT 8x10 Acrylic on Canvas

It's been a while. I have a new job and have been very busy learning and very tired when I get home. Getting ready for a Trunk Show in June (more details to follow). And....waiting very impatiently to find out if I have been accepted for my very first art show in Dallas. I'll let you know.

ASCENDING 21x39 Acrylic on Wood Vaneer It is often a challenge to pull yourself up out of the bad places in your life. And if you are the person who is trying to pull others up, your ascention is twice as hard. You need to realize that not everyone who comes into your life is here for you to save. Rise above the clouds and journey to new and unexplored planets.
Release the fear.
You are brave.

UP AND AWAY 2 11x15 Acrylic on paper
This is the result of a painting "play date" with a good friend and fellow artist.

EARTHLY GUIDES 15x20 Oil on Paper We all walk our paths on this earth together, yet we are separated by bodies that don't allow us to feel the connection with each other easily. We come in contact with many souls who are at different levels of enlightenment. In this painting, the souls are represented in their varying levels using color. Most of us use the imagery of dark to light to symbolize the bad or good times in our lives. Therefore, the most troubled souls in this painting are Black, those filled with anger are Red, and the White ones represent the souls who recognize that the way to Light, Higher Energy, God or Spirit is through Love. And if we're lucky...we will realize the white ones are there to guide the rest of us on our journey.

UP AND AWAY 11x14 Acrylic on Paper

New style. I have been studying different artists and differents ways to express myself. This is a beginning of a new way.

GAZING 16x20 Oil on Canvas It wasn't until I set this one up on a stand to find it's name that I noticed the woman on the right side gazing up at the red sunset. I am always pleasantly surprised and amazed at how many times I experience "happy accidents" in my creative endeavors.

TRANSITIONS 16x20 Acrylic on Canvas At Church, the minister talked about one of the beloved members who had "transitioned." It took me a minute to realize she was saying the woman had passed away. According to Wikipedia, the transition state of a chemical reaction is a particular configuration along the reaction coordinate. It is defined as the state corresponding to the highest energy along this reaction coordinate. Therefore, when we transition, we move to the state corresponding to our Highest Energy, Light, Love, God.

MUSIC WITHIN 15x20 Acrylic on Paper



This painting started with the desire to try mixed media. The only thing added is a piece of sheet music from an old violin lesson book. Playing the violin has never been one of my abilities but ... I can sing and I love music of all kinds. I played at the guitar for a while but was never able to master it. The Native American Flute is my latest instrument of choice. I may never play it in front of an audience but my heart and soul grow calm from the sound as I play it for myself, my partner and the cats.

SHEKERE - Handmade West African Percussion Instrument These Shekeres have been made in the traditional manner using hollowed out gourds. The nets are plastic beads on either black nylon string, natural jute or jute cord. They can also be "beaded" using seeds or shells. The larger the gourd, the louder the sound. The large red one in the back is so loud it hurts the ears. They are for sale at $45 for small and $65 for large. At this posting, the two red ones and the blue one are available. The two in the back have yet to be beaded but will also sell for $45.

They can be shaken, twirled or rapped on the bottom to produce different sounds. They are a delightful addition to drum circles.

PLACES 5x7 Oil on mat board I've been to many PLACES throughout my life and have seen many things. I grew up 10 minutes from the Atlantic ocean and dug for clams on the Massachusetts beaches. I visited the Pacific ocean and walked the windy beaches of San Francisco, California while attending a convention. I traveled with my girl scout troup to Niagra Falls then up through Canada. I sipped coffee in NY City and choked on the powdery beignets in New Orleans. I've walked through caves in Lauray, Virginia and Austin, Texas and dug for diamonds in Arkansas. I looked with awe and fear from the roads edge on Bear Mountain and collected bits of pyrite in the streets of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. I changed a flat while crossing through the Everglades, Florida and drove the 750 miles back home on the donut. While in Nashville, I pulled weeds in the gardens of Opryland Hotel and fell in love with a city and country music. I've been to many PLACES.

COMMUNITY GARDEN Mixed Media Art Quilt 12x12

This art quilt traveled for a year in the 2008 Breaking Traditions Art Quilt Exhibit. The theme: With One Voice, benefited Virginia Spiegel's Fiberart for a Cause, raising $1,085 for the American Cancer Society.
"It is With One Voice that so many will plant, sow and harvest food for the body and flowers for the soul. I participate in a community garden and am proud to be one of a team that stretches across the nation helping to feed those in need. The feelings experienced after delivering the fresh produce to various shelters in the community are food for my soul. I salute all those who take the time out of their busy lives to help feed the hungry by actually tending the gardens."

GHOST SHIPS Oil on paper 15x20

This one started out in one direction and completely changed course on its own. I was looking to add to my STREETS series when the pirate ship came sailing through surrounded by the ghosts of ships it conquered. So...I added the crows nest and the seagulls and stepped away.

BEAUTY Mixed Media Art Quilt 4x4

This art quilt started with a piece of left over quilting from a stole I created for the minister. I added wire, beads, cord, fuzzy yarn, a magnetic word, buttons and a touch of paint. It was then sewn to a piece of denim cut from an old favorite pair of jeans I couldn't bear to throw away.

STREETS #1 Oil on paper 11x15

I like to work more with a pallet knife then a brush. I scrape on the color, step back and let the painting tell me what is next. Similar to allowing the characters of a novel to write the story. The colors are my characters.

We have these amazing flowers blooming in the evening on the side of our home. They are called Moon flowers. A friend of mine said they are also called Belladonna. A fact I was unaware of when they were being planted. How can something so beautiful be so dangerous. We have taken picture after picture trying to preserve their outstanding beauty. They only bloom at night. Each popping open before your eyes and slowly spreading to about 8" to 10" across when fully opened. They are a brilliant white. The fragrance is soft and soothing. Another impossible fact of something so dangerous.

Relay For Life - Team: Sweet Success

Friday, April 24, 2009 American Cancer Society Relay for Life
Sweet Success - the name of the team. A group of 10 co-workers and a friend. We had 3 Survivors in the group, 3 caregivers and the rest - people who just care.
The entire event raised $85,000. Our team raised $9,278. Our goal was $1500. I am impressed and very thankful for all they did.
The theme this year was "Cancer doesn't take a vacation." We toyed with a couple ideas. First we wanted to do Las Vegas and have a casino night. Somebody else had already chosen that one. Next we thought about Alcatraz Island and have a jail. We had two teammates who each had a cop halloween costume and I wanted everyone elso to wear black and white striped shirts. I think I was the only one who was up for that one. We talked some more and places like Bora Bora and Jamaica and a few others came up but we couldn't figure what it was we could do with those places that would give us an on-site related fundraiser. Then....CANDYLAND was suggested. Everyones eyes lite up. We had a Winner. And, it matched our name, Sweet Success. So CANDYLAND it was. We decided we would sell candy at the site to raise more money. We would have a Lollipop Pull. I had never heard of it. We made a "tree" for the pops to be displayed on. Painted the bottom of the sticks with a highlighter and made a chart for the colors. Red got them a Garfield Coffee cup (donated two years ago by the Company), Blue got them a bag of 6 mini chocolate chip cookies, Green got them a bag of 10 peices of candy, Purple got them another pop, and white got them one extra piece of candy and, of course, they got to keep the pops. I think we kept a lot of kids going all night long with the sugar highs. We also had 18 giant chocolate chip cookies and icing for them to decorate. The decorators had great fun with that one. Our sales total at the end of the night was $202. We had $73 in votes. We gained $21 for the Brookstone card and $50 for the beautiful Candyland Cookie Bouquet both of which were part of the evenings silent auction. The rest of the total was from on-line donations from friends, family, co-workers and the bosses.
We got some great pictures, had some big laughs, played some games, walked some laps, shed some tears, didn't get any sleep, grateful there was no rain, and most of all we raised money for the research and aid to find the cure and assist those dealing with Cancer.
I AM A SURVIVOR!