HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

To change one’s life:
1. Start immediately.
2. Do it flamboyantly.
3. No exceptions.
—William James
:-).
Have a most wonderful and joyful beginning to the new year. Love. XOXO

Sparkle and Shine ( Happy Christmas!) And Hanukkah!

Snow is my Christmas decoration :-). I love how it sparkles and crunches under foot.

After I relaxed and focused a bit I was magically able to get all gifties wrapped and sent, all cards mailed and all gifts delivered. I am done!!!!! I now have this week to visit with friends, call family and basically have fun.

I will miss my family this year. Though Bella is much better with the kitties, I would not want to leave a pet sitter with her this early in the game, so I will be staying home and having Christmas with friends. Friends are the next best thing to family, don't you think?

This year was rough, I lost 3 of my furbabies, and many friends to illness. But I know they are not really gone and that is a comfort, though I miss them. I also found out how strong I can be when I have to be and that is a gift.

This year was also full of abundant blessings.

New friends,

Lots of painting sales,

Lots of work with wonderful clients,

A shift in my painting,

Growth,

Much joy

I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for all of us.

I am excited! I hope you are too.

To all my friends (bloggy friends included) near and wide, and all my family, I love you, I am glad to know you. Have a most wonderful Christmas and New Year and Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends! XOXO

How to Stay Sane When You are Crazy Busy

I thought I would take a minute to share a photo I took the other day of Taos Mountain.

Christmas is looming and coming fast and I am far from ready, but I am trying to keep the holiday cheer, so I have decided I can't get everything done, I will settle for the most important things, like:

Staying in the moment and doing my best,

Connecting with friends and family,

Giving my self quiet time,

Lots of hikes with my dog Bella,

Taking time to always see the beauty around me,

Giving gratitude for all I have,

Meditation,

Getting into the spirit of Christmas and not stressing over it.

Doing what I can, with what I have from where I am.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Happy Saturday! XOXO

In a Nut Shell

Whatever the present moment contains, accept is as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.
—
Eckhart Tolle

This is my spiritual practice in a nut shell. I brought this over from my Tumblr blog for my bloggy friends that don't do Tumblr.
P.S. My 15% off all items in my ETSY shop is going for one more week. Check it out here.
Happy Thursday! XOXO

Home

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and weekend with friends, one of the best I can remember in recent history, but in the mist of all that joy there was a bit of sadness. The bloggy world lost a shining brave angel by the name of Vicki or Nolly as I and others called her. If you did not know her, I am sorry for you. Nolly, you will be sorely missed. Fly high darling. XOXO

Gratitude

I am so thankful for my life. Here is a small list of what I am thankful for today:

My health

My family

My friends (including my bloggy friends)

My sweet furbabies

I am ever so thankful that I am an artist

My talent

My passion for the things that spark me

ART

BOOKS

MOVIES

NATURE in my back yard and all around me in Taos

Taos mountain (my guiding light)

Having plenty of food and shelter and heat in the Winter (I am reminded that many people have much less than I do).

The knowledge that my life is perfect just as it is.

There is so much to be grateful for and most days we forget how much we have, look around there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for no matter what. Love and joy to you all.

Happy Thanksgiving! XOXO

Time

Dandelion ceiling by Regine Ramseier

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease. -Eckhart Tolle

I love Sundays and today has been one of relaxing, hiking, varnishing and attempting to get photos of two new paintings, but I was unable to get the good photo, so will have to wait for another sunny day, as they are now they bare no resemblance to the paintings :-).

I have also been figuring out what to make for Thanksgiving as I am cooking for a friend or two, I can not believe that Thanksgiving is already next week, does anyone else feel that time is speeding by at an alarming rate?

And I have been thinking about life and death. A neighbor/friend passed away this Thursday, suddenly. We never know when our days are up and it is important for us to live our lives from our hearts and to be true until the end. I want to live each day as if it were my last, I fail miserably, but I do try :-).

I thought I would share a couple things from my Tumblr blog (see side bar) that have moved me in the last few days. Have a wonderful Sunday!XOXO

P.S. My ETSY sale is still going, 15% off all items.

SALE!

I thought I would have an early before Thanksgiving sale on my ETSY site, it has been a while.

I re listed some of my pendants and ornaments and will be doing so all week, I also have many non Christmas items for sale. I am giving 15% off all items. To get the discount just type in christmassale in the coupon window when it comes up at check out. Happy shopping :-). XOXO

Happiness is...

I have been thinking about doing this post for a while when Artpropelled did one and it inspired me to finally do this, I also borrowed this wonderful poem from her post (Thank you Robyn!).

From the tip top on down: Happiness is:

Creating, this is my newest painting, side view and close up, 5"x 5" mixed media on board "This is Why". I fixed it so you can enlarge if you so choose.
The Oregon coast, I miss it so...

Ravens!

Coyotes, this photo was taken a few Summers ago, but in the last 3 weeks I have seen 3 coyotes and as some of you know this always means major change is afoot for me.

My Bella, I have done some research and she is a Dutch Shepherd and has no lab in her like we once guessed.

My sweet Zoe.

My bad and wonderful Max.

Taos mountain with snow aboard.

The wonderful Fall colors that are short lived, but much loved.

I hope your weekend is full of happiness, make it so. Happy Saturday! XOXO

SO MUCH HAPPINESS by Naomi Shihab Nye
It is difficult to know what to do
with so
much happiness.
With sadness there is something
to rub
against,
A wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you,
you
have pieces to pick up,
Something to hold in your hands,
like
ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn't need you to hold it down.
It doesn't need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof
of the next
house,
singing,
And disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived
in a
peaceful
tree
house
And now live over a quarry of noise
and
dust
Cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
It too could wake up filled with possibilities
Of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
And love even the floor
which needs to
be swept,
The soiled linens and scratched records…..
Since there is no place large enough
To contain so much happiness,
You shrug, you raise your hands,
and it
flows out of
you
Into everything you touch.
You are not
responsible.
You take no credit,
as the night sky
takes no credit
For the moon, but continues to hold it,
and to share it,
And in that way, be known.- Naomi Shihab Nye

Animal Wednesday

This is Max and Bella on the sofa together, friends and pals. I wish I could say that Zoe is accepting of Bella, but she is not and I am out of ideas, so maybe time will change it, I hope so. Happy Animal Wednesday! XOXO

More New Work

This is the painting I finished today. 14"x 11", venetian plaster and mixed mediums on board "Red Calls Out Orange". The paintings are still in flux and some of them may get painted or plastered over. The thing is, is that I am changing and my work is changing and I am still finding my new voice with these pieces. Working with different mediums and trying out different things, I imagine that I will be changing things with each new painting until I hit it :-).

I am having fun and for the first time in years I am painting daily and it feels really good.

As always I love to know what you are thinking. Happy Monday. XOXO

Another New Painting

Close ups and side view as blogger will no longer let you enlarge (BAD BLOGGER!!)

12"x 12" "The Edge of Intent" mixed media on venetian plaster and board. I just finished another painting, but still have to varnish and I have 3 more in the works. I really must stop and make my Christmas list and start making cards. Perhaps I can just ignore Christmas, but probably not :-). I really am not a very got photographer, but I did the best with these photos I could. I always love to hear your thoughts on my work. Back to painting... Happy Sunday!!! XOXO

New Painting (Finally)

16"x 16" venetian plaster and mixed mediums on board. Titled "Unfettered".

It has been a while and this is not the painting I have been struggling with for 3 weeks, this one I started a few weeks ago and just finished last night. Now I will go and finish the one that has be frustrating me, I finally know what I need to do :-). I have added many detail closeups so you can get an idea what is going on and if you enlarge you can see even more. My paintings really need to be seen in person to really see, but this will have to do.

Love to hear what you think.

In other news, Bella is doing well and knows how to heel and is getting much better with the cats, I left her for an hour today and no barking, no chewing and no harming of cats :-). I think in a week she will be ready to be alone for a few hours. We are both in training and taking baby steps.

I forgot about Halloween until today, but Happy Halloween!!!! I will be painting :-).

XOXO

LOVE LIFE

This is how I feel right now, and I am doing it and I am painting up a storm, still and I promise I will have something to show soon, I hope :-). From my Tumblr Blog:

I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud.
And I don’t want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection
of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes.
I want to eat cold tangerines and sing out loud in the car with the windows open
and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down,
and I want everyday to make God belly laugh,
glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.
-Shauna Niequist-
Happy Saturday! XOXO

Animal Wednesday

They say a photo is worth a thousand words and this one says it all. My new, sweet Bella is hooked to the chair (I did this for a few days so she could not chase the cats) and the cats are up on their high perches, but they are all in the same room, so that is a good beginning. I now let Bella loose and we are all finding our way, I do not think she means harm, only wants to play. I have been taking Bella on my jobs as I still don't trust her alone with the cats, but this weekend I will try an hour here and there and see how it goes, I think in a few weeks all will be calm.

Bella is a dream dog, she is so smart (her Shepard part) she has already learned so much, I am teaching her to heel this week. She rarely barks and likes to play, but is really laid back (her lab part). She is a keeper for sure. HAW XOXO

My Week in Pictures

See that wonderful face up top, that is Bella, she may be my new dog, we are having a test weekend. It was not planned. Yesterday a client told me about this wonderful dog at her vet's that needed a home, so I went to visit her and fell in love and took her home. She has been unadoptable because she is an escape artist.

She will either be with me or in the car or house. I am not one to leave my dog in the yard for long as here dogs often get poisoned. I named her Bella and she is a wonder, she already knows sit, and no and come, and does so about 95% of the time she is a year and a half old, Shepard/lab mix.

Very sweet and very smart and she loves the car. We took a long run/hike this morning and she can totally out run me :-). The only question is if she will be okay with my cats, she does like to chase them. Max is unafraid and Zoe is terrified. I am attempting to teach her that it is

unacceptable to chase them, we will see. I am hoping that it works out. I will keep you posted.

I took the photo of the tarantula last year, but saw one this morning without a camera to catch it.

This is what the mountain looks like this time of year.

My painting station in the kitchen, very little cooking gets done these days :-).

I will have paintings to show soon.

Happy Saturday! XOXO

New Painting

This is a small 8"x 8". I finished it a week ago, but it has been raining so I just got this photo (I take all my photos outside now, as it gives the best light). I like the details of this painting better than the painting as a whole, so I may plaster over bits of it, this is the forth painting I have done on this canvas. I do that a lot and I think it adds so much to the finished piece. The new paintings are taking a while as I am bringing something new and since I don't really know what it is until I see it, it takes some work :-). I have 3 new paintings in the works and perhaps will have something to show next week.

Between blogger not letting me comment and the time spent painting I am sorry if I have not been around much. Painting has to be top priority right now :-).

As always I love hearing what you think of the work. Happy Monday! XOXO

Animal Wednesday

Look at these beautiful faces. This is Max (stripped) and Zoe (black) my two wonderful cats.

I have been working and painting, I am mostly down to just those two activities, my friends think I have died and gone to hermit heaven :-). I have been visiting some blogs and blogger won't seem to let me comment, it keeps eating them, so if you have not heard from me (Pam, Jos, Marion and others) this is the reason, please forgive me it is not my fault. Is anyone else out there having this problem?

Happy Animal Wednesday! xoxo

Kitty Update

I know you all must be wondering what is happening with the kitty, she is gone. I wish I could say I found a home for her, but after a week of trying my best I only had two calls about her and they did not work out. I called the shelter and they took her yesterday, they seemed so much better equipped to care for such a tiny kitten and to find a home for her. She is very adoptable.
I struggled with the decision for 3 days, but asked for a dream and guidance and got the go ahead. It was just getting too stressful for me and Zoe, Max was okay with her, but whenever I let her out of the bathroom, Zoe would attack her and when she was in the bathroom she cried constantly. She was not meant for me and this I knew. I know she will be fine and sometimes I have learned you have to take care of you. This is the seventh cat I have rescued since I have lived here and the first one to go to the shelter. I have rescued 5 dogs and one of them went to the shelter, so my record is pretty good. Please pray for little Tiny that she finds her forever home soon. XOXO

New Painting and kitty Udate

This is my latest painting, 8"x 8"

mixed media on canvas. No title yet.

Close ups and side views as well as front view.

I found out that neighbors put the cat on my porch and now they and I are looking for a new home for her, she is not my cat, nor meant to be my cat, I am simply her foster parent for now.

I would know by now if she were mine and I feel sure that she is not, plus my other girl Zoe hates her and I don't think they would ever get along. Please pray that we find a home soon as tiny is getting very attached to me.

I am squeezing a little painting in...

Happy Sunday!!! XOXO