9 things

that made me happy today.
1.I got to sleep in and slept until 8:30(I usually get up at 6).
2.My best friend J.
3.Getting answers to questions I have been asking.
4.My wonderful, fluffy animal kids.
5.Discussing life with my mom, sometimes we don't see eye to eye, but we still love each other, so that makes it okay.
6.A yummy mug of hot cocoa.
7.Working on a drawing.
8.The color blue. You know that wonderful sea mist, robin's egg blue. I am soon going to paint my bedroom that color.
9.Being free to do whatever I please :-).
What made you happy today?

Spring

That is Taos mountain in the distance. This photo was taken out where I run, but the snow has melted this week and it is pretending to be Spring, but you can't fool me. I know we can still get snow here even in April. :-).

Art Love

Photo of a drawing I finished this morning.

Today I am in an art frenzy. I don't care about much except art right now. Making it-You name it, painting, drawing, collage, clay. I am reading about art too, Art in America and a wonderful book by Norman Mailer called "Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man". Watching DVD's about art, a series called "Art in the 21st Century", very inspiring. So, for me right now, it is art, art, and more art. On that note I would love to know your favorite painters, living and dead. Please share.
Happy Sunday.

Writer's block

Photo of me taking a picture of Taos mountain.

No idea what to write about. What do you all do when that happens? Do you struggle to write something or forget about it? Hopefully this dry spell won't last long, but if it does I will just keep posting photos :-). Happy Friday. XOXO

Yes!

What I said yes to this week, so far:Taking a dance class. I have not actually signed up for it yet, but I will. I will because I am very afraid of it and I will be BRAVE and do it as my blog friend Eliezer recommended it and it sounds wonderful even if I don't dance and even if I hate group activities :-). I am shy when it comes to dancing. I will work up to doing this class though and then I will probably love it :-). I said yes, to finishing my book. I finally picked it up and started. It is slow going, but I would really love to get it done. One baby step at a time. It is hard because I have limited time and I have so many art projects calling me. I actually should be working on it now instead of writing on the blog, but it can't be all work and no play and I hate that word should :-). Okay, that is only two things I said yes to, but the week is only half way through, so there will probably be more :-).
In other news...I hate to bore you with this, but I had a weird dream last night: I dreamed I moved into a dumpy trailer with Robert Downey Jr. I love him and dream of him often
(Robert, and Johnny Depp are always making guest appearances in my dreams :-), but what can it mean??? I don't do well with dream interpretation unless it is something really obvious.
Okay, I have wasted enough of your time. Hope you are all well and happy. XOXO
P.S. Tell me what you said yes to this week.

Some Taos Beauty

You know how sometimes you just don't have anything to say?

Well, that is me today, so I will share a couple recent photos and

leave it at that. First photo, a scene at sunset and then a Taos mountain photo right after is snowed.

You could tell me what you did today, though, that would be fun.

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a wonderful day everyone.

I spent yesterday making yummy cupcakes for my posse, three lovely men who are coming for dinner tonight. My best buddies. I have to ask, where is everyone? I am about to whine about the lack of comments, I miss you. I love you all anyway

and wish for you a day full of joy :-). XOXO

Philippe Petit Wire Dancer

Photo by Jean-Louis Blondeau

Philippe has been a hero of mine for about 30 years. Passionate and brave he is a poet in the air. I watched "Man on Wire" last night and I was so blown away. If you don't know who he is (I bet Mary-Laure knows :-) Philippe is a wire walker from France. In 1974 he walked from one twin tower in New York to the other on a cable wire. He has done many amazing walks in all parts of the world, but the twin towers is the most incredible. The film will inspire you. It will teach you how to live. You can read about Philippe here, this is also where I got the wonderful photo by Jean-Louis Blondeau. This film goes on my top ten list. Happy Friday!

Starlene's interview with me part III

These are the last two questions, so here goes:

4.) Where is your absolute favorite place on earth to be? If there are too many places to choose from, then just pick one I guess. Tell us about it.
This one is easy, the Oregon coast(see above photo), really any coast will do, I also love Carmel CA. As long as there is beach and ocean and I am there I am in heaven. When ever I go visit family or friends anywhere near the coast, they know I have to go. I love Taos, but I had no idea I would miss the sea so much, I had always lived near it, so I took it for granted. Now the longing gets stronger every year I am here, landlocked. The hard part is I would miss Taos just as much if I left, so I need to make loads of money so I can have a home here and on the coast. A girl can dream...

5.) Everyone is an expert in something. Sometimes that something is rocket science and other times that something is names of Sesame Street characters. What is your technical expertise? Do you get many opportunities to use your talent or knowledge? (I have a feeling it may have something to do with art, but I may be wrong.)

No, Starlene, you are right, but I would say I am really good at all things concerning art, but an expert, I am not so sure. I am actually good at many things, like organizing and cleaning and giving advice and I make a really good apple pie, but I don't consider myself an expert at anything because to me an expert is laser focused in one area, I have too many interests to be an expert :-). I do get the chance to do all the things I am good at on a daily basis. Except making pies that is :-). I think I am lucky to be able to do that.

That's all folks. Thank you Starlene for your fun questions!

Starlene's Interview with me Part ll

This next question is a sweet one:
3.) I am totally stealing the idea for this question from Moonshark but since I loved answering it so much, I thought you might too. Tell us the love stories of Max, Zeus, Mr. B., and Spike.

This is the only photo I have of all my boys together.

Mr.B

Spike

Zeus

Max

First came Mr. B and Spike. About six months after my beloved cat, M&M died, I went looking for two cats. I knew I wanted two and I wanted them to be boys and I wanted them to be brothers. I had a thought about black and white or orange kitties. I went to the shelter in Taos not expecting to find much. Boy was I wrong. They had a bunch of black and white boys, and a bunch of orange. Now I had to pick just two, which was hard, but I finally pointed to a mostly white and black kitty in the top cage and the one in the cage with him was cute too, so I told the lady I would take them both, when I told her this a mostly black and white kitty came running up to the front of his cage which was just under the two I had picked and he was yowling like crazy. I decided that I would take him instead of the other kitty with the mostly white one. That is how I ended up with Spike and Mr. B. I picked Spike, but Mr.B picked me :-). And they turned out to be brothers too. Spike is smart and very sweet, he has a catnip habit and eats too much, he is an addictive personality :-). When it is cold out he snuggles under the covers with me and warms me up. He is also a watch kitty and once alerted me to a peeping tom. Spike is magic. Mr. B is sweet, but he only wants loving when he wants it, does not like to be picked up or cuddled. He can be coy and likes to bat his eyes at you. He is a very special, delicate little guy.

About five years after I got Spike and Mr.B, I decided I wanted a dog, I knew I would know the right dog when I saw it. One day I was reading the Taos Newspaper and I saw a picture of a lovely looking male, border collie who was at the shelter. I went right away to see him. When I walked into the shelter all the dogs were barking at full volume, except Zeus. He was up in the front of his dogie cell and he was Pleading with his eyes for me to please take him. We went for a short walk and I knew I had to take him home. It was clear he had been abused and he needed lots of love. Border collies need a job, so he took on babysitting the cats :-). He is a wonderful dog and he loves to smile and run. He is getting older so he does not run as fast as he used to. Zeus is ever at my side when I am home and a better friend I have never had. He gets along with all animals and all people. Zeus is a gem. Last, but not least is Max. A year and a half ago, in July, my neighbor knocked on my door holding a tiny stripped kitten. She had found it in our drive way and her daughter is allergic to cats, so could I take him? What could I do, but say yes. I thought I could find a home for him, but after 5 minutes I knew I could never part with him. Max is a bully and a trouble maker, but he is also a genius and a comedian which balances out his bad qualities :-). Sweet and sour. Max is extraordinary. That is the love story of my four wonderful boys. I still have two more interview questions, but that is enough for today. XOXO

P.S. I have no idea why this post looks so goofy, it looks fine before I publish it. If anyone(Willowtree) knows what the trouble is, please help.

My interview with Starlene

Starlene from the wonderful blog, Return to Myself, interviewed me. She asked five terrific questions and here are the answers to the first two questions. I will answer the rest over the course of the week.
1.) At the beginning of the year, you posted a blog with Three Words for the New Year...Freedom, Kindness, and Joy. How have these three things become more incorporated into your life or what are your plans to embrace them (being it's only just now, the second month of the year)?

I had to really think about this as truth be told I have not been working very hard on the words, except for Joy. Perhaps that is where I really needed to focus. As I said in that post, I had let joy slip away somehow, probably due to some events that had happened during the past year. I have made some effort to bring it back into my life and I feel lighter everyday. I am spending more time with friends and I am blessed with the best friends in the world. I am working less and making more art(this one I had a little help from the Universe on :-). Slowing down and really enjoying every moment of my day. I have a joy list that I plan on ticking off as the year goes on.
My list:
1. Go to Paris, failing this I want to go visit my friends in my old city, San Francisco.
perhaps both! Miracles do happen after all.
2. Finish my book!
3. Run more
4. Keep spending time with friends, let my hermit self go a bit.
5. Open back up to romantic love.
6. Work more in clay! This gives me enormous joy.
7. Eat more healthy foods.
8. Read ( I do this a lot, but you can never read enough :-).
9. Watch great movies (same as above).
As for Kindness, I do pay attention to this on a daily basis, though it has not been a focus lately.
Freedom is really what my life is about and I do feel very free, there is always room for improvement though :-).
2.) I see you're from New Mexico AND you're an artist. I also see some pictures of Taos Mountains on your blog so I can only assume you're somewhere in the Taos area. I have always fantasized about moving there or at least visiting to see what it's like...the earthships, the art colonies, the beauty. What do you like best about the area? What are your favorite things to do and see?
Yes, I live in Taos.
Taos mountain is my very favorite thing about living here. I have lived around many mountains, like Mt. Hood(I actually climbed Mt. Hood when I was 20) and Mt. Shasta, but Taos mountain is by far the most powerful mountain I have ever seen or lived near. Hiking and running with my dog Zeus is a favorite activity. I love to visit a little town a couple miles from Taos called Arryo Seco and I always have great fun going to Santa Fe and visiting galleries on Canyon Road (this is a famous place for art lovers to go). Sad to say there are only a few galleries in Taos that have art I really like, landscapes just don't do it for me, nothing wrong with them, they are just not my thing.
Wow, this is harder than I thought :-). Stay tuned for the rest of the interview. XOXO
Photo is Taos Mountain getting snowed :-).

New items in my Etsy shop.

For more photos and details, please go over to the side bar and visit my Etsy shop.

Happy Saturday! XOXO

T is for Tree

I received an alphabet letter from Sizzle and my letter is T, I am then supposed to name ten things I love that begin with the letter T, so here they are:
1. Trees: all types, shapes and sizes. I love all trees, but my favorite trees are the giant redwood trees. I have a dream, most likely not to be realized, to climb a redwood and explore it's canopy.
2.Twilight: there is a magic that happens right when the sun comes down and the stars come out, we all know it and we all feel it, don't we?
3. Taos mountain: When I first moved to Taos the mountain moved me to tears every time I saw it looming in front of me.
4. Texture: one of my favorite things in the whole of the world. I love it in paintings, furniture, material, it adds so much richness to life.
5. Tigers: I am a huge cat person and tigers (besides my 3) are my favorite.
6. Tangerines: I eat one a day :-).
7. Thunder: I love thunder, it never scares me, I adore the lightening that comes with it too. In the Summer we have many beautiful sky shows here in Taos.
8. Travel: I have not done much, but I have dreams of many lands I wish to visit, starting with Paris.
9.Toy Tops: I adore tops, especially brightly colored ones that spin forever.
10. Tangiers: Next to Paris it is my top place to go visit before I die.
If you wish to join the fun, ask me for an alphabet letter and I will send you one by email.
Happy Thursday everyone. XOXO

Worry post #2

Wow. Right after I got done saying that so far the financial crisis had not really touched anyone I knew yet, it started. One friend got laid off. Then I got my days cut from 4 to 3. Now today another friend got laid off from a job she has had a long, long time. I feel badly for my friends, but I KNOW they will be fine and as for me, well I have no idea how I can afford to work only 3 days with very little art selling, but you know what? I will. I am grateful I still have 3 days of work. I am also expecting to sell art, yes, I do indeed :-), so I will now have more time to make art and I must admit I am happy about that, it is what I live to do. I WILL NOT PANIC! This is my mantra. Life in this moment it very good. I want to send love to my friends and all the folks out there reading that have lost a job recently. I will leave you with this photo of magic Taos mountain. Be well.