Crowned

This week I received a crown on my tooth. I feel like the Queen Mum.

ps….I cracked another tooth….I need another crown….and I don’t have dental insurance….and it is going to cost a king’s ransom…I am worried.

Requiem for a snake

….poor fella was found dead in the garden.

It is hard to put a snake on a stretcher, even a dead snake…

Oregano and lily of the valley were strewn upon the grave.

The cat was taken inside.

More fun in the garden….

When I added these finials to my pea teepee the bamboo was bright green and the lobster claws were very red. A year later they’ve both weathered to a lovely shade of gray. I think I like them better now.

IF: Seed

The Countess Flageolet… (a delicate light green bean) and some more seed sketches.

Sketchbook Month

In which we will complete a 100 page sketchbook during the merry month of May.

Field trip and miter box

This week I was a chaperone for my 4th grader’s field trip to a lovely farm. The weather was perfect. The farm was set up with all sorts of stations that were physically challenging (kinda scary) and designed to ” build children’s confidence”. It was especially significant for us as my daughter has just finished the last of her physical therapy after a bad fall. I started out a complete nervous nelly, but she was totally game! It was a great confidence building day for both of us.

The other “confidence builder” this week was a belated decision that I am glad I made. I had framed something for a show and was not thrilled with it. I used a thin black frame with the idea that it was clean and graphic and in keeping with what I thought might be an art director’s taste (I do need work!) In other words I was trying to impress someone else, even though it left me a bit flat. Then a little voice, well more specifically the echo of my friend Debbie’s voice, said “NO! What this piece needs is visual tension” Debbie is a genius when it comes to putting opposites together to bring out the best in each. Delicate porcelain on an old farm table….you get the idea.

The idea of starting over and cutting up the old frame was a bit daunting, but……

……out came the miter box and an old frame from the back of the closet. I am not usually one for ornate frames, but I framed up my little graphic illo in an antique gilded frame and I am so much happier with it.