rainy day walk

Hooray for rainy days and long walks through woods, meadow and swamps sipping warm green tea! I was able to hide under my umbrella and meander around.

Sunday…

Spent awhile searching for one of these little guys, knew I would find a dear jack-in-the-pulpit…

Large, large leaf! Skunkweed grows wild and free in the swampy areas of the woods.

Filling my pockets with magical little heart rocks and shards.

Sweet meadow pond swans

fairy grotto!

Another rainy day bits of me

oh yeah!

tiny dew droplets on very small violets…

…are fairy tears indeed. And fairies do cry, often.

found on the very wet woodsy floor…

Yesterday I found my vintage peachy dress for next weekend’s sweet gathering at the maypole! Layed it down in the lush bed of moss that grows outside my door. Last year (and every year for that matter) I had such a fun time!

May Day is upon us! I would like to thank the enchanted Ulla for getting me all inspired by all her sweet fairy tale posts as of late! Ulla, your blog never fails to inspired and enrich me!

And, other things that inspired the past few days:

The way the sunlight pours though my windows, my every growing ivy plant and the fact that my thumb may actually be green and a small sketch of favorite things:

♥ paints and messy palettes
♥ soft candle light
♥ horses in meadows
♥ house plants

And I spent some time pushing paints around on this oval panel. Browns and blues, the very beginings of a densely paint-layered piece

☮

Whoa it’s been awhile!

I can’t believe how time flew by! A little break turns into a month of nonposting. For me this spring is a time of new directions, capturing ideas….

What a beautiful Earth Day! Today I walked for miles to sit by the pond and gaze into the water and just be. The water’s surface was like a giantic looking glass for the sky, the tree branches and red-winged blackbirds. Their song is my favorite. Look below and you might see one on the tree’s branches.

Things will unfold…

Sitting on the roots of a willow tree I picked dandelions and little yellow flowers and played with configurations on my hands like henna designs that came alive. As the tiny buds floated across the water I thought of things that hold me back, keep me from being creative, keep me from painting. From there I ran the whole way home. And I painted the afternoon in my sketchbook with watercolors and in oils on a wooden panel. It’s a start.

These have been sitting in my studio for some time, new directions I set up in an inspiring little shrine-like fashion. . I am so excited about all of these.

Painting the grisaille layer in burnt umber and titanium white this afternoon.

Everyday small pleasures

♥ moroccan mint green tea, iced
♥ the sound of silver bangle bracelets (like little bells)
♥ blues, greens and grays
♥ rubbing magnolia petals between my fingers til they tear apart (they are so soft!)
♥ the beach and searching for shells and shiney things in the sand
♥ being 29!

And yesterday was my birthday so we spent a beautiful day together roadtripping. The beach being one of our first stops, then searching for thrift clothes (hooray I found a pretty dress and some shirts!) meandering around the campus at Princeton and then to a sushi dinner. Yesterday, a perfect gray beach day:

The first full day of being 29 was beautiful!

little purple flowers and pen nibs

…and ships on cigar boxes and the sea. Everything is so incredibly lush! Little purple flowers were the perfect backdrop to my old cigar box stashed with pen nibs from decades ago. I have been writing and sketching lots in my journal. The feel of the nib running over the smooth surface of the watercolor paper is sooo addicting! Just a few more days til I have some time off, my birthday and a much needed visit to the seashore and more walks in the woods…perfect timing as spring is in full bloom.

closing my eyes and breathing in spring

It’s been soooo long-awaited. The warm sunshine and the crocuses sprouting up signal it’s arrival. Been spending most of my free time outside in the semi-warm sunshine and making sepia washes in my sketchbooks, looking inward and not too worried about outcomes. I dug up some very old fountain pens and it feels so much nicer dipping the pen in and out of the ink for my little sketchy notes and things, slowly. Mmmmm…

And this was before the lace was glued into my tiny inspiration-filled watercolor moleskine, a mistake as now it does not close properly!

I found the above little treasures in an old box (the magnifying glass) and out in the garden bed (the rose shard).The locket is a recyled (but not truely vintage, I think) one that will be in shop soon, along with two others (poppy themed!). The sketches, well those are for me!

busy bee weekend

Weekend sketches in my giant deckled-edge thick-textured page book…my favorite (but very heavy) one to tote around right now:

Oh what a very busy (but wonderful) weekend! Friday night we went to Tarrytown to the most quiant, magical old theater to see Neko Case and it was fabulous. We were on the balcony but the space was so cozy that it felt very close to the stage. The theater was like stepping back in time. I was mesmerized by the antique feel of the place, and in combination with Neko’s voice it was bliss! The lighting fixtures were pure magic with their graceful silhouettes and sepia-casting glow. Like like forest spirits dancing all around us. mmm…..a peek!

We got her to autograph a few albums at the end of the show. She was so nice! I tend to get very shy around celebrities but my husband made me wait in line and on the way out I was happy we did!
Saturday was spend sketching a bit, taking a long walk and lots of other chore-ish things. I have been thrifting like crazy (in person and on etsy) and I had a pile of delicate dresses and cardigans from last week to wash. Last week was the best thrifting week in a very, very long time. I got a baby blue typewriter that I am going to display on my shelf with my blue book collection, two very pretty blue vintage dresses, red gollashes, some cardigans from the early 60’s, and a billowy floral sundress for summer. Lets see…oh and on a Sunday morning flea market trip with friends I found the most wonderful little treasures! (all of it below minus the giant lockets but more about that later)

I am going to wear all of it! Little nature-y pins and things, handpainted wooden pointy shoes (to wear pinned to a cardigan) a pocketwatch, skeleton key pin, cameo, and a lucky horseshoe! There were tables and tables of these little treasures and it was so fun to root through it all. The pocket watch is acting stange…it was broken when I bought it but the minute I brought it into my studio room it started to tick-tock and hasn’t stopped since. The best part of the flea market was a stall with a woman selling piles of vintage clothes from her old shop. I bought a sweet gingham dress with a matching cardigan and a sweater that looks like a garden is growing all over it! Also, this bag, which is also a minature embroidered garden…

The bag didnt fit into my scanner but it is so pretty and now I am stocked for the spring and summer…if they would just get here already! I am dreaming of wearing a garden with animals and birds wanding amongst it’s strange made-up flowers…

And I haven’t taken this off since I got it’s parcel in the mail last week:

A sweet dictionary-page glass necklace from found and made on etsy. I’ll have to take a picture of it on because the glass orb pendant is very bit and its just so cute! Also swiped up this shirt on etsy for spring:

Its so soft in person and since most vintage things usually aren’t I was so happy! I am super excited becasue I have been busy making necklaces with assorted giant-sized vintage lockets and old ribbon tied in bows, which I will offer in my shop very soon. They are going to all be one-of-a-kind with mini prints of my paintings inside. Oh, the lockets I found are just so darling! Please come back to visit very soon!
xoxox

Glimpse

The past few nights have been spent painting…dreaming of vibrant gardens with made-up plants, lush mossy greens, garden dresses and imaginary fox. Here is just a small peek at part of the painting, which I hope to finish in a few more stretched-out sittings…maybe this weekend? The girls face need to be adjusted a bit…her eyes maybe. I spend so much time on my faces and sometimes I can’t see what I want to repaint until the scan. It’s usually somewhere in the eyes. For the support I used 30’s floral walpaper with magenta and blue blossoms glued to a panel. The wallpaper has a story all its own but I won’t get into that right now! And my previous post, yes, the objects were found behind my house but the picture of the moss was taken in a beautiful state park in upstate New York. We went hiking there this past weekend. I have another picture which showcases the flourishing wall of moss on a side hill. Love, love, love moss.

AND…there will be another giveaway very, very soon! One that is quite different than the others…

I am obsessing over vintage dresses. Ones with rich patterns and full skirts that can be layered. I just spent a long time over the sink washing out my newest finds. There’s something about hand washing that I enjoy. Tell me, which vintage shop is your favorite on etsy…or ebay…or anywhere for that matter?!

wandering

Spent the weekend meandering, hiking and painting! And I am feeling much like a magpie during my woodsy walks…

Collected more rose-printed chards of old teacups and saucers, pinecones and rosehips for inspiration. Yum and I found some old books for a dime each that are already cut up to shreads! Yesterday we had a bit of a snow squall and the mountains in the morning sunlight were glowing with frostiness. Mmm…winter inspiration is tops.

mossy slippers

Before the temperature here hit the low teens I was outside in my moss-inspired slippers. The real moss was so lush and beaming with the most beautiful shade of green with little twig-like things embeded throughout. Soft and full of cushiness! Mmmm green… I love green!

Slippers that are supposed to be for inside only

So as part of a way to keep more organized and journal a bit I altered spiral bound calender. Nothing fancy, just gessoed a few pages and glued in bits of things that inspire such as embroideries and little tears of paper. It’s a reminder for me to use all the pretty vintage things I already own. I have so many boxes of lace and papers from my treasure hunts. Before I go and search for more (Oh SO addictive!)I would like to make do and recycle a bit in my art. I think that using vintage pieces really does bring more of a story and energy to the art as well. The embroidery on the right came from a dusty shoebox at a yard sale.

seas of lace

I covered the gessoed cover in old sepia lace from a old dress shop. Sometimes fragmented sentences and phrases come to mind and I have to write them down.

fragments

I almost forgot to show this off! yummy plate

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Merriness and other little bits of joy

The last few days in pictures…
My feet in the rainy, mossy snow:

Leftovers:

Newest find, closeup:

The sweet, sweet pair:

Sketchbook inside cover, shards of old plates and teacups found during scavenger hunt and the most whimsical little bear bottle top bought the other night at anthropologie. They had a bin of these little creatures.

I hope everyone had a merry, merry holiday.
Now its raining and I am sitting here dreaming up new ideas. Very, very excited about the coming year.
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