Cupcakes and Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy checking to see if there's any pizza and cake left for him.

Hey, I have a handy hint today! I was looking for a box or something to transport the cupcakes to school and found empty pop boxes... they each hold 12 cupcakes perfectly. Love when I can think 'outside the box'. :)

We had a fabulous birthday party for our son who turned 6... Star Wars party stuff and a Batman pinata. Plus, cake 2 days in a row - what kid doesn't love that? I can't believe my baby is 6 years old. But, no matter how big he gets, he'll always be my baby. Happy Friday!

Brand New Polka Dot Pears...

Look at this cute pear fabric designed by Robert Kaufman. It totally reminds me of something me or my mom may have worn growing up. I'm sending it to her and she's going to make a long nightgown for me :)

Dreaming of Sunflowers

More show and tell of the 'Winter Seedlings' paintings... I love painting eyes but it was nice to have an 'eyes closed' lady too. Wish I could've made the seedling mini border a bit more detailed... but ran out of time.
It's a beautiful day and we've spent the morning cleaning off the deck and kid/adult furniture out there. Calls for an al fresco lunch!

Farm Stand

Here's a fresh woodblock print that's so very summer! In the rush to complete all the work for the show I ironed the prints between 2 papers to speed ink drying time! (Thanks Gretchen... she gave me the tip and it does work if repeated over a few days and no steam) Anyway, ink had to dry before painting could begin.
This print makes me yearn for the farmer's market... should be opening in a week or 2. Inspires me to grow a veg garden! (have only done basil and tomatoes thus far). I love wandering around those places with the warm weather, acoustic live music and all the colors of the stalls. Usually, the only thing I leave with are fresh flowers and kettle corn :)
My son's 6th birthday is coming up and he wants a pinata in the back yard.... we'll steal away today and start gathering party stuff while he's at school. The hardest part is finding a hiding place - he's got epic gift radar :) Happy hump day!

Winter Seedlings

At long last I delivered all the paintings and prints to the gallery today, wa-hooo! I'm so glad to be finished with this project. It was really fun to do but a crunch as well. Decided to name the show 'Winter Seedlings' ... here is yet another one of the ladies.

Now, I'm actually looking forward to cleaning up the house and doing some quilt projects that have been beckoning.

Tree Church

As we were driving to 'visit the ducks' as we often do at our local park, we drove through the tree lined streets of Manito Blvd. The leaves have finally come out and it's a bit surprising to see all the green. My son (5) says from the back seat, "Oh, it's a tree church, Mama." I was amazed and so impressed. It's kind of like what my fave art history professor used to say... "Throughout time, people walk into a cathedral and they just get it." (they feel small, humbled, surrounded by something much greater...) I just love those little moments and wanted to share it. Happy Friday :)

A Few More Tweaks

This lady was originally set in a (favorite) purple background.... but I changed her up and now... she's appearing near the garden gate. In her pearls not less! Just need to paint in some vine flowers and she'll be close to being done. Haven't named her yet - anybody have suggestions? :)

Field Trip

Got lost in the country looking for an estate sale which is not hard for me because I'm directionally challenged! (blame it on the dyslexia!) So, we never found the sale (in search of ephemera, old linens.... rickety typewriters) but we did find a stellar perennial garden nursery. Here are a few scenes from our outing. It was set near a small little brook in the hills above Spokane. I love the bucolic setting. Nurseries inspire me to paint. Kathleen Elsey (a California Colorist artist) who won an award for a beautiful painting of a nursery. Visit her here.

Alasdair and a Gift on the Windowsill

Meet Alasdair... he reminds me of a character in one of the Roald Dahl books. This is a state print, the nose area got cleaned up a bit. It would be fun to do several children's portraits in groups of 4 or even more because I'm a sucker for repetition.

I found the above scene this morning when the house was quiet and the morning sun shining on the newly green grass in the back yard. These little arrangements are such a joy to find... so sweetly set out on display by one of the kids. Makes me smile on the inside :) Happy Friday.

Clouds

A few weeks ago we took a drive to one of my favorite little quilt shops ever, The Buggy Barn about a 1/2 hour out of town in Reardan, WA. It's a converted small barn and is located in the middle of farm land. (rolling wheat fields)

Anyway, after painting all these portraits for so long... I'm planning on painting some roadside landscapes. The car window is a fabulous viewfinder. On this day, the clouds were so beautiful - we need to get out to the country more often!

Addendum...

I was mentioned at a lovely blog yesterday and wanted to say thanks to Karen.

Farm Stand Crayon Rubbing

A new woodcut started yesterday... I'm almost done but need to figure out the lettering for the fruit stand sign at the top of the image. Think it'll look nice painted. I have a few more in the works too... and when I'm all done with this show, all I wanna do is knit socks and make a quilt!!