For my son, Scott

I had planned a different post for today as I thought this one would be too personal to post.
Then I changed my mind,
I didn't want to pretend today was not today.
Today, for me, is the day that a lost my first child,
30 years ago when My first son, Scott, was stillborn.
He had long black curls and big feet,
And looked just like my oldest daughter.
5 years ago I had his footprint tattooed on my ankle, along with a white rose,
So now he will always walk with me.
The rose was added because
My husband and I each placed a white rose on Scott's coffin at the funeral,
and there is a rosebush at his grave.

Recently my other daughter told me she heard that when you see a cardinal in art it is often a symbol of a lost loved one.
Before I knew this I painted a watercolor cardinal a few years ago,
I ended up donating that piece to a local charity fundraiser called 'turtle beach'
Where a local person jumps into the freezing cold lake to earn funds for youth programs.
And I carved a red cardinal out of wood, and named it Fortitude, which is now in the home of a blogging friend.
I painted another one in a sketchbook when I was recovering from surgery about 4 years ago.
None of this is truly unique by itself as I paint and carve a lot of birds.
But, Almost everyday in the last month I have seen a cardinal,
Not in art but a real cardinal.
Now I know what I am seeing is just a bird,
But I have never seen so many bright red cardinals ever before,
I think I see the same one everyday,
he flies across the road in front of me in the morning on my way to work,
And he makes me smile.
And if I don't see him in the morning, I have seen others in different spots later in the day,
Is it just because I am looking for them now?
Or have they always been there for me?

more alphabet kids...

This week I was back to drawing and painting alphabet kids.

whatever I am working on I am obsessed with working on...

until..

I am not. 

then I move to the next all encompassing thing. 

I did these for about 5 days and have even more than I am posting here... I couldn't wait to have a spare moment here or there to draw a few more, my new sketchbook is 1/4 full.

then I moved on to the novel and that is what I am working on the last two days.

Kara is actually the result of a dream. I dreamed I was getting remarried and hadn't planned the wedding or my clothes and people were arriving so I threw on a red leather fringe skirt (which truly I do not own) and red boots and a friend who saw my crooked veil, quickly glued a ceramic house on top of it to cover the faded flowers and down the aisle I went...
I have no idea what this dream could mean?!?
But it gave me an outfit for Kara....

 
I liked Opie but did not like his owl so I started over. The replacement is even worse in my opinion so I will do it a thrid time...
I liked the second one's sneakers better but everything else I hate.
argh!

Gotta run...

Painting pouches....

Months ago I turned my mandala paintings into little meditation cards on Moo.com

I made a post of it here...

they are the size of a business card but squared with rounded corners...

then this week finally, I decided what to do with them. 

I made a little pouch out of the extra white fabric that comes with an order from Spoonflower...

then I painted a mandala on it in acrylics...

 

I added details with a black sharpie then a white gel pen....

then I put in 10 cards each...

I am healed by nature

I have all that I need and want

Share your love with someone

I am totally unique in the universe

I am at peace

Just this is enough

I am loved

My world is full of wonder

Everything is and will be alright

and

my favorite....

something wonderful will happen today 

just because if you think it long enough it becomes true!

On the back of the cards is this...

So finally I added a bright drawstring, and I have a handy little pouch of meditation cards.

 One for me and two for my etsy shop. 

I stick the cards around my work desk to remind me of things of like

 "everything is and will be alright!"...

But you could also tuck one in someone's purse 

or pocket 

or lunchbox

Or...

put one on the bathroom mirror 

or in a journal 

either glued down or as a bookmark

or...

you could just draw one out each morning as a reminder then tuck it back away for another day.

or...

if you do meditate you could use it as a focus point.

I am sure if I keep thinking there are more things you could do with these...

post on a vision board

 build a card house of them

leave one with your tip the next time you eat out at your favorite restaurant

or even

use the pouch as an end of the year teacher gift.

You could make your own set with any of your artwork at moo.com by following  this link... 

or you can get mine in my etsy shop...

Have a great week!

One part of my world

Thought I would show some progress photos of a recent custom order I did for my Mini Muses...

It was a warm day so I was working at my desk on my upstairs side porch....

(right now I don't have a permanent space for art, lots of times I work on the dinning room table, but as my son, Wade is moving out in June, that should change soon!)

First I carry out a drawer of paints, cheap bottles from Walmart for the backgrounds, which as you will see I later mix with artist grade tubes of acrylic for some stronger pigment.

 Plus some matcha tea for me, some napkins to wipe paint on, and an old paint cup....

and Pandora (Dido radio) on the Ipad...

and lots of bright sun.....

I also have a paper where I sketched a possible muse on for practice, which I did like and decided to follow. I had also first lurked. Lurking being a big part of custom muses, I think!

I sketched a quick guide on the mini canvases and started smooshing the background on with my fingers...lots of times I work straight from the bottles and tubes, doing the blending right on the canvas....

 

Going back and forth between two canvases, so parts of each could dry in between...

Starting a few details....

I had the help of one of my daughter, Brandy's, cats, that I am still cat sitting for...

Her name is 'dirty popcorn', but she calls her 'Dirts'. 

She got loose one time when she was living with Brandy in Cortland, and Brandy found her months later when she was on facebook and someone who was a friend of a friend or something like that, posted a photo of Dirts, saying this cat had been hanging around. The cat is from the Humane Society there and even has a chip implanted in her so she could be found if anyone had taken her back to the Humane Society to have it read, and yet Brandy found her through facebook instead!

Now Dirts never even tries to get out. 

I guess she has had enough of the street life.

Starting the details with a fine line sharpie, some details are also added with black paint and a liner brush...

And all done.

although I did change the shape of the lady muse's face just a touch from the way it started, not sure if you can tell. It needed to be a tad thinner...

Then they were ready to pack up...

 I took some advice and worked on how I want these to arrive, thinking how I would want to feel when I open a present to myself!

 But I don't have a photo of that yet.... 

I really did enjoy doing these and hope to do more. It is wonderful knowing a tiny piece of my art is out in the world, making someone smile!

If you want one of your own Mini Muses; I will put a listing up on Etsy for a custom one. You can choose between child and adult, hair color and style, background colors, words and even a simple symbol if there is something you really relate to...

From my piece of the world to yours.....

Have a great week!