warmest wishes!

The warmest holiday greetings to all! (and I do mean warm, it’s icy and chilly here!) Staying up tonight and painting! It’s nice to have some time off.

Winter walk from yesterday, mittens by a very old tree with little animal tracks in the snow, reflections in an icy woodland pool and lighting the candles on the third night…

And finally, a full photo of the vintage Queen Anne’s embroidery from last post (I thought it deserved to be viewed in full!)
It’s so pretty and textured and I can’t wait to hang it up in my studio (for now it just lays on my painting drop cloth).

Have a magical holiday season everyone!~*~*~

This past month

While I have been away….

Dreaming of wintery things and taking long solitary walks through icy fields and woods.
Dreaming of ancestors and lace, ice and wildflowers, little gardens that withstand the snow and cold, honeybees and the sea…and art (this is where I tie it all together!)

And it’s not even winter yet! The iciness is lush to me, lusher than the greenest well-kept garden. And I love the color grey so winter and I along just fine. Today:

It was too cold to walk and daydream at the same time today, which broke my heart. I thrive off of long walks and daydreams.

A section of a delicate embroidery wall hanging that I found last week. I can imagine this the Queen Anne’s Lace is covered in icy and frost. A frozen field of wildflower remains.

Like this…

An abandoned nest covered in snow in a wild rose bush. I came home the other day with bloody hands from taking these photos. The thorns tear right through the mittens and destroy anything wool!

Personal imagery from the sketchbook. Been working with these particular images for some time now so we’ll see where they go. I normally don’t feel comfortable posting images from my sketchbooks/ journals but I think it’s important to show parts of the source, the process, the innerworkings…

november

A golden November day, the sun poured through my windows like honey.

Found the prettiest vintage butterfly locket broach on ebay to house a mini print of one of my prints, but I don’t know if I can part with it…

With old Japanese faux pearls and a velvet ribbon around my finger to remind myself to sell it one of these days. Its golden, has a butterfly AND a locket for goodness sake!

A favorite crisp, clean part of my painting room (except the growing feather collection in the windowsill) I keep running out of places to keep my little finds!

And, new treasures! The little oval shaped framed portrait was given to me by my aunt, its so delicate I love it! Some acorns and pinecones from my forest walks, two new lockets to fill with mini prints for my etsy shop, a little ceramic wasp trinket box from anthro and other little things to admire..

A new painting I’ve been working on. I am loving this one and I am so anxious for the glazed layer in the background to dry so I can proceed. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon. There’s another element to this piece but I’ll keep it a surprise for now…

On a more grim note (but appropriate for this time of year) I wanted to share some very old folksy headstones just a short walk from where I live. The cemetery is so old, with headstones dating from the early 1700’s! I went there today to admire the stones for the millionth time since I move here. These headstones fascinate me to pieces!

Mr. Aaron Burroughs. Born 1655, died 1755. I can’t believe he made it all the way to 100, back then. I love how they portrayed the wig!

Rebecca J. Bourroughs. She died in 1796. She has sort of a Martha Washington look, doesn’t she?

Poor Jonathan Darling. He only made it to 13.

A very bad attempt at cross bones from 1771. The lettering is pretty though.

This is my favorite. The folk art design, lettering and style is exquisite.

Yesterday was spent at my parents house Halloween Party. I was a kitchy little sailor girl (again). Today I worked on cutting watercolor papers for my new sketchbook (for my doodles and writings) went for three walks, painted, and sorted through my antique photos. Sundays are the best, as we usually don’t go anywhere and have the day to ourselves entirely!
Daylight savings. Hello dark late afternoons, endless grey and frosty windows. Hello November.

Tell me, what is your favorite part of November?

almost quiet

It is the time of year before everything sleeps. It’s so cold here, already! In the morning frost blankets the ground and I actually wore my winter coat a few times. I’ve been in a bit of a hibernating mode this week. Rose hips in the sun from last weekend.

I’ve been tagged by marmeecraft to list six random things about myself! This is sure to break my silence this week. I tried to pick little tidbits that you wouldn’t know by reading my journal here, but are very me. Here it goes…

♥ I love horses. This obsession did not occur when I was young (think of the girls who collected Breyer horses) but in my early 20’s. My dream is to have a few eventually. On the path where I walk is very nice historic victorian barn full of them. I often sneak off the trail to peek through the rose bushes to get a peek! This photo is from last weekend, peeking at this incredibly majestic white horse through the bramble:

♥ One of my dream homes (I have a few!) is a simple, classic saltbox. I think this house style comes in #1 for me! I like flat fronted houses with simple lines. I love the roof slope on the saltbox, as odd as it may seem. They originated in New England in the 17th century so I think their history gets me as well. Here’s the home of Rebecca Nurse, near Salem. I love Salem and have visited many, many times! The front view is the winter and the back view is the summer. Look at that garden!

♥ I like licorice! Only the natural kind. Running Rabbit is one of my favorites. I usually opt for the cherry but the black kind is good once in awhile.

♥ I live a few miles away from one of the headquarters of George Washington! This makes the area where I live rich in history in so many ways, which I love. I love exploring historic places. He and his men camped in the woods where I explore.

♥ I live behind a Whole Foods. My husband was looking for a place for us to live based on the location of this store. Yes, I am there everyday. It’s a little crazy. Sometimes I go twice. I try to eat mostly organic.

♥ My parents house has these fabulous stained glass windows! Here they are around one of the windows. They frame about 26 of the windows in the front of the house, it’s such a magical place!

My favorite thing to do was (and still is) peek though all the colors to the outside trees! Let’s peek, shall we?

So thats that. what have I been up to? I am working on another painting, some sketches, gosh I need to get going on my art! Halloween is already next Friday too. I’ve Look forward to more posting this week, as I have a few things to share. Been thrifting like crazy, I bought bags of some of the nicest stuff this past week, all vintage. A pretty white (and very warm and fuzzy) capelet, a patent leather purse, little black oxfords with tassels and lace ties, a high waisted woolen skirt, dainty yellow gloves, hair bows from the 40’s, an elegant beaded 50’s cardigan, a gingham apron with little flowers embroidered about…I wish I had time to photo it all. I find all my dream clothes while thrift shopping, it’s really quite amazing. And, I have the best thrift shops between my house and my afternoon commute. I am obsessed! Have a good week!

xoxo sarah

mountain love!

♥ An amazing, otherworldly fall weekend was spent in the mountains for our 5th anniversary! Stayed at an 1860’s mountain inn that was absolutely gigantic (and to say it was gigantic is an understatement, there were over 250 rooms!) Climbed tree houses, had picnics, wandered into bear caves, rode horses, collected acorns…
♥ The meadow full of wildflowers, monarchs and heart shaped trees a few miles from the inn.

♥ Autumn treasures. There will be many handfuls more.

♥ Serendipity. First the heart trees in the meadow, then this! I was blown away by this heart-shaped patch of moss on the tree, discovered while walking up the mountain path. You see it?

♥ At the tippy-top of the mountain was a castle-like lookout tower. We climbed to the top.

♥ Expansive view from above. From the Appalachian mountains we could see the Catskills. I even spotting a far away mountain where my parents house is, and I used to live.

♥ Went horseback riding through mountain paths.

♥ In a treehouse in the garden

♥ Doodles in my book along with collected blackbird feathers…

Thanks for visiting here and sharing in the autumn goodness! Speaking of, I will have a very pretty moleskine in my shop tomorrow, along with a special one-of-a-kind double cameo. Both feature Seafaring Heart so please do stop by!
xoxo sarah