Japan Quake Appeal

An Etsy acquaintance, Rita from Surfing Silver, is participating in a wonderful raffle going on right now.  To enter to win one of Rita's beautiful pieces of jewelry, pictured above, you must make a donation to an organization helping to give relief to the devastation caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami. 

  

To learn which organizations to donate to and how to enter, please go to this blog post jojoebi.blogspot.com/2011/03/mothers-day-love.html.   The deadline is April 4th. 

The woman running the raffle is a Etsy artist from Japan.  While on jojoebi.blogspot, be sure to also click on the Japan Quake Appeal button.

Will you plant a garden?

We usually have a garden, but not this year.   Besides time flying by at lightening speed, the garden needs a serious boost of fertilizer.  We were going to plant a cover crop last fall, but that did not happen.  We are looking at putting in a spring cover crop, but need to move quickly on that too!.   So this year we will be visiting the local farmers markets to buy produce.  There are quite a few in our area so it should be fun.

The painting below was inspired by a photo in a seed catalog.  It took me much longer than I would have liked, but I finished it, something I seem to have trouble with these days.   It's not listed in my Etsy shop yet, but it will be soon.  

 

Seeing this bowl reminds me that Buddy, our yellow lab, ate a fair amount of our tomato harvest a few years ago.   We had left tomatoes on a tray on the breakfast counter one Monday after picking quite a few on a Sunday, NEVER thinking he would eat them.   We had so many we were both taking them to work to share with co-workers.   When my husband came home Monday night to find the tray empty he was a little put-out at me, thinking that I had taken ALL of the tomatoes to work.   When I came home and saw the tomatoes were gone, I asked where they were.  He made some comment about me taking them to work.  When I told him that I had not done that, we looked at each other and then at Buddy, lying on the floor sleeping.  And we had the same thought and both headed for Buddy's bed.  Sure enough, there were lots of tomato seeds dried on his bed.  We went back to the counter and there was no sign of any "disturbance".  A further inspection of the living room rug (oriental) revealed a few tomato seeds.  So this is what I imagine took place that day . . . he smelled them (? although I thought he liked chocolate much more) and put his front feet up on the counter to check it out, grabbed a tomato got down and ate the tomato on the living room rug.  Since that was so good, he went back for more but not wanting Darla to bother him, he starting taking them into the other room where his bed is.  He had about 15 tomatoes, but he didn't get sick.   Now NOTHING in the way of food or anything every having had food in it is left on the counter.

Blessings,

Colleen

One World One Heart Winner

The winner of the One World One Heart give way is Cathy Horner.  Congratulations Cathy - your cards will be on their way soon.  Check out Cathy's blog - http://cathyhorner.blogspot.com/.  Cathy is a OWOH participant and fellow artist.  And one of the many new followers of my blog.  YEAH!  thanks Cathy.


What an experience OWOH has been.  Thank you to everyone who visited my blog.  I read all of the comments.  People had so many nice things to say. I owe several people a visit and note.  I just could not keep up with it.   Someone responded who grew up on Pennington, as did I. I still have to get back to her.  If I find out that we went to grammer school together someone will have to come pick me up off the floor! 


A HUGE thank you to all those who visited and and big hug to my new followers.  The idea of all everyone giving away something was dizzying, but this is so much about what everyone has to share.  I found myself wandering through blogs (and countries), watching tutorials, marking things to go back to because there just isn't enough time and marveling at all of the amazing artists.    Lisa put together an amazing event.  And now she is going to Our World Our Heart next year.  I am so excited about that.   I think I'll take vacation during that time next year so I can actually get to visit all the blogs I want to!   There's are lots of friends I have yet to make!


In case you were wondering how I selected the winner  . . . I used random number generator.  I did think about asking my husband to pick a number but I thought possibly for my first give away I should use ever faithful random number generator. 

My Buddy, my pal!

SOMEHOW, I got him to sit still for this photo!

Our dog Buddy has been with us four 4 years today.   We braved a snow storm on February 13th, 2007 to drive to Moorestown to pick him up because we couldn't wait another day to have him in our home.   We met him in January at a pet adoption day at Petsmart.  He was being fostered by a wonderful lady thru Burlington County Animal Alliance. We talked to her for quite a while and she said if Buddy were a human she'd marry him.  She had me laughing with that one! He is handsome!  We filled out all the paperwork and had gone prepared with pictures of our other dogs (who had gone over the rainbow bridge only a month before) and of our home. It's quite an ordeal to adopt an animal.  They checked us all out and we passed.  So we set out in a snowstorm to get Buddy.  That was his name and we kept it.  It fit his personalty as we knew it and he truly is a Buddy.  The storm really wasn't that bad, but there are a few things I probably would have postponed due to the weather.   Picking up Buddy was not one of them. 
 

Buddy's Throne!

Once we had Buddy in our home for a few weeks, we realized he needed a friend.  We had had 2 dogs and had every intention of getting a second.  But decided to move a bit quicker.  My March 17th we had a second dog.  I'll write more in March about Buddy's buddy Darla.


Buddy is just the sweetest dog.   But really all dogs are sweet!  When we got him he was between 1 and 2 years old and we were his fourth owner!   He started out as a pup with a couple station at Ft. Dix in New Jersey.  When his people were deployed to Afganastan, he went into the pound and a few months later he was adopted by a 70 year woman. Mind you, he's 90 lbs and although not at all mean or aggressive, it is Buddy's world and he kind of does what he wants.   She quickly discovered he was a bit too much for her and back to the pound he went.  His next home was to a man named Ross, who as I recall, trained police dogs.  Ross taught Buddy some better habits (which I have not followed thru on, sorry Ross!).  Ross had to have heart surgery and could not give Buddy the attention he felt he needed so with tears in his eyes, he brought Buddy to the rescue agency we adopted Buddy from.  We were lucky in that we were able to communicate with Ross before and after adopting Buddy.  
   

I left a package of paper lunch bags on the counter.  Won't do that again!

It took a while for him to settle in.  No surprise there since he had moved around so much and had little stability in his life.  We had to learn what we could and could not do.  Leaving food, out, especially chocolate, was a no-no.   He got in to lots of things because there were there!  He had a package of potato rolls, a loaf of bread, he's chewed on several travel coffee mugs and had a few packages of chocolate chip cookies.  I caught him one morning with a bag of dark chocolate dipped marsh mellows, individually wrapped.  He was  SO intent on eating them he didn't even know I was there.  I totally surprised him.  And all that was within the first year.   Because he is so big, he can put his front feet on the counter and reach far.  So it is a challenge to get things far enough away or high enough.  

Then there's all the fun he had outside when we first got him.  After he was here a few months he took a liking to rolling in ground hog poop.  That was pretty nasty.  He had lots of baths and he and my husband had a bit of a difficult time developing a bond.  But, that habit passed quickly and they became good friends.  Buddy is Chuck's shadow, both inside and outside.  Outdoors is not his favorite place to be.   Unless you are outside.  And even then, he might decide he's had enough.  He has a fear of anything that buzzes.  So although he would love to lounge on the deck in the sun in the summer, the flies drive him absolutely crazy.   I can't seem to reason with him that maybe the grass would be better?   We try to spend early mornings on the deck with coffee and a book.  Some days he digs little holes and eats dirt or grass.  Boys will be boys! 

As you can see below, Buddy love the sun.  And he shares the little spots of sun with his best friend in the world, Darla. 

Happy Valentines Day!

One World One Heart 2011

It’s the end of January and while I'm trying  to stay warm and marveling at all the snow we have here in central Jersey, I'm also dreaming of the spring and my garden (and the mud!).  But before I go too far off into thoughts of spring, I am taking a little trip through the blog world, courtesy of  One World One Heart.  Doesn't the name just sound wonderful?!  In its fifth year, One World One Heart is an amazing event organized by Lisa Swifta of A Whimsical Bohemian, who I might add is a very talented artist and she must not sleep because I just cannot figure out how she has time to do all she does as well as OWOH.  Of course, there is the possibility that all of the characters she creates come to life in January and February to help her?

I am very excited to participate this year.  Last year 1,088 bloggers from 40 countries took a two week whirl wind tour of each others blogs.  What is OWOH?  It brings together bloggers across the globe who share a common interest.   For me, three things make this fun, first there is this long list of blogs (1,088 last year!) that I can meander through, visiting people around the world, knowing that they all are connected by One World One Heart.  This is better than the random visiting I seem to do.  Second, everyone has a door prize and you can leave a comment to enter to win!   And finally, I am hoping to make some new blog friends.  Here's my door prize.

Handmade note cards from original watercolors

Three handmade blank note cards (and envelopes).  The images on the cards are from my original artwork.   The note card on the left is the Bar Harbor Shore Path, the top right is Long Pond, Mt. Desert Island and the third card is a sure sign of spring, Tulips.  My medium of choice is watercolor.  I’ve tried pastels and colored pencil, but always come back to watercolor because I love the freedom.  My favorite thing to paint are landscapes and typically I paint somewhat abstractly.  I’ve recently started to look for other things to do with my artwork.   These note cards are fun.  Adding the different papers with the images is kind of like framing artwork.  I’m also experimenting with jewelry and fabric but both of those endeavors will require a bit more time.  Before the end of OWOH I may have a few more cards to add to this bunch.  

How to win? Leave a comment and your e-mail before midnight, February 16th.  The winner will be selected using random number generator on February 17th and announced the same day.  The cards will be mailed shortly thereafter.

Thanks for visiting.  Hope to see you again.

Blessings,
Colleen

A FUN Visit to the Library of Congress

It will be fun, and you can visit from the comfort of your home!  I discovered a while ago that the Library of Congress has an amazing photo collection.  Once in a while something jogs this poor little memory of mine and I check out the photographs.

Take a quick peek at the Library of Congress main page and when you have time to explore, go back to look for pictures of your state or town or something in particular you might be interested in. I also discovered they have a Flickr photostream.   It's not organized, at least not that I could tell.  I got a bit lost looking at pictures.  There are over 650 pages.  Needless to say I did not see all of them, or come any where close to seeing all of them.  I did see a picture of Connie Mack.   Anyone know who that is?  He was a rather well known team manager for the Philadelphia Athletics back in the early 1900s.  There was a stadium named in his honor.  It was demolished in the 50s or 60s.

Here's a few things I found in the Photochrom Prints:

Orange Grove, California

South Dome, Yosemite

Cromwell's Bridge, County Cork

Nassau Hall, Princeton University

Detroit, Belle Isle, Forrest Drive

The Art of Fern I. Coppedge, 1883-1951

Fern I. Coppedge was one of the Pennsylvania impressionist artists and part of a 20th century art movement  centered around Bucks County Pennsylvania, mainly New Hope.   The movement was often referred to as the “New Hope School" or the "Pennsylvania School" of landscape painting.  The artists of the movement came to prominence in Bucks County after 1915, or after two popular shows, the Armory Show at New York City’s 69th Street Armory that introduced New Yorkers to modern art and the Panama Pacific International Show a World’s Fair In San Francisco.

The Road to Lumberville

Although there were three notable artists from the New Hope School, John Fulton Folinsbee, Walter Emerson Baum and George Sotter, Fern Coppedge was quite well known.  Fern was born in 1883 in Illinois and dreamed of becoming an artist from her early teenage years.  She found inspiration in the reflection of sunlight off of snow and sea.  She learned on a visit to her sisters’ watercolor class of the wonderful possibilities that paint would provide.   She later attended the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Students League of New York, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.   

The Delaware Valley

Fern was also a member of a group called the “Philadelphia Ten“.  A group of ten women artists who exhibited together, both in Philadelphia and in traveling exhibitions, most of whom had studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women or the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.  It's believed that while at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts she met and possibly studied under Daniel Garber, another well known Pennsylvania Impressionist who introduced her to the New Hope area.  Fern painted the villages and farms of Bucks County mostly under the cover snow.  She also painted harbor scenes from Gloucester, Massachusettes where she spent summers.  She worked directly from nature, tying her canvas to a tree during winter storms!   She was not a studio painter.  She painted outisde in the winter in a bearskin coat, with earmuffs and gloves. 

Backroad to Pipersville

In the book Pennsylvania Impressionism by Brian H. Peterson there appears the following quote from Fern

People used to think me queer when I was a little girl because I saw deep purples 

and reds and violets in a field of snow.  I used to be hurt over it until I gave up 

trying to understand people and concentrated on my love and 

understanding of landscapes.  Then it did not make any difference.

Lambertville Church

I love her use of color in the winter scenes.  She brings an otherwise white, somewhat bland landscape to life, without it looking unreal.   She captures those colors that are truly there if you only take the time to look.   She also helps us see the shimmering colors and changing light, which we all too often miss as well.  She captured the beauty of the area.  Luckily for us, it's still just as beautiful here.

New Hope is still an artist colony and tourist area. It’s just across the river, and up a bit, from us.

Blessings,

Colleen

An ETSY Treasury inspired by the snow

It snowed again last night.  We did not get as much as NY!  But we got enough!   I love the snow.  It's the cold, windy weather I'm not so fond of.  It seems you can't have one without the other!   The sparkling of the snow in the sun inspired me to create an ETSY treasury.   What is an ETSY treasury?  It's a collection of items (a treasure chest if you will) with a common theme.  It's serves many purposes:

• I get to "window shop" looking for fun things and inspiration and ideas.  It is AMAZING what's out there.
• I get to share what I find with you - always fun.  
• I sent a short note to the artists whose items are my treasury.  It's a way to meet artist, so it is a little networking tool.
• But really most of all it's just plain fun.    Music is playing in the background and in between songs, there is the music of doggie snores!  
• And people do this for you so it's nice to reciprocate, or pay it forward?

Here is what the treasury looks like.  If you click on the link below the Treasury you can then click on any of the  individual items to view them or go window shopping in the shops.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d2e6d90b98a8eef61d10a7a/snowy-icy-sparkling-january

Blessings,

Colleen