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Having a free Monday is a treat for me. Most of the time Mondays are a big clean up or finish up of the weekend. Not that we throw thrash and things around but you know those last dribs and drabs that didn't get done?With not too much to do around the house I gave [...]

Absents does not always make the heart grow fonder. I have not been back here for a very long time....again. I think it was August 2012. Little did I know that someone sent me a message and I did not see it. They wanted to feature my blog posting about my trip to Taos, NM. I was [...]

As I have said many times before, it's been awhile.  You know how it goes. Minutes turn into hours; hours turn into days, and before you know it, it's been months.   Sigh.The last time I wrote here, I had just come back from an intensive art study in Taos, NM. I was a bit frustrated back [...]

On April 21st. a fellow artist and myself left for an intensive art seminar in Taos, NM.We were told to bring every little thing you might need for 8 days of creating. There are no art stores in Taos anymore. We filled a midsize SUV with our supplies, snacks, and cameras.Views in AZWe arrived in Santa [...]

For the past two years I have traveled to Santa Barbara for an art workshop. I am taking the workshop again this year. I enjoy the presenter so much. He is Skip Lawrence. A great watercolorest plus he makes learning fun. Every morning before we start to paint he gives a lecture and slide show. [...]

Time seems to go so fast. It's the middle of March but it was just December, right? I find that I can get myself into too many things so fast that I am drowning in papers, photos of my work, and business. I have to work very hard to keep on a schedule. It's a habit [...]

As promised, photos of some of the papers that were created. The students said that they had a good time and now want to use the papers they created, in a project. So next Thursday which is our "Painting Day", they will bring their papers and a sub straight to create a collage.  I am [...]

My hubby and I spent the day setting up for my new class, Collage Paper.Four people have signed up for the class and I am so excited to share all the ways to make papers for collage.We will be altering brown paper bags, newsprint, newspapers, card stock, tissue paper, Mulberry papers and National Graphic Magazine [...]

 Some friends/fellow artists kept asking me to teach a class. I wasn't sure and was a bit worried. But I got over that and did it. After a failed attempt a few months ago in a different venue I decided to try to teach this class here at my home. The students made two framed [...]

 After a wonderful vacation in Brookings, OR on the coast I was ready to get home. We were gone for 9 days. My husband and I drove. Well, I drove and he was co pilot.  We were with his family in OR. They had rented a big house on the beach and we all enjoyed [...]

You know the way you pack a suite case when you are leaving on a trip? You make everything fit. But when you go to re pack your stuff to come home it's hard to make it work. You didn't even add anything and all your stuff just won't fit. This is my story of [...]

Friends love you no matter what. You can be away from them for a long time and when you get back together you pick up right where you left off. It's been awhile since my friend Laura and I have got together.  Today I went to Laura's place. I say place because she lives on [...]

After a day and night of creating I thought it would be good to take a break.Getting ready for an exhibit, show or art sale takes it's toll on my brain and body. I still believe that art can heal and it does have restorative powers. I am living proof. Creating all day and into [...]

Updated some links and added some new ones that you all might like to check out. Would like your constructive criticism on my new format of the blog. 

Working with an a coach can get you going. They have fresh eyes. They listen, or they should, to your ideas, hopes and wondering how to put it all together. I have tried a few coaches. Some not so good. I think a coach needs to be patience. I know that one I worked with [...]

It's been awhile. Things happen. Things change. Things get in the way.I have been going non stop with art this year. I have some good classes under my belt and some great times sharing art with friends. The classes have a side benefit. You meet new people or you reconnect with people you have met [...]

I took a soldering class yesterday. I knew how to solder before but had not used my tools or created anything for about 2 years. Showed up at Garden of Beaden in Upland, CA with tools to create a decorated old bottle. Being the over zealot art freak that I am I decided to do [...]

I just bought some new art books. Not too exciting for you maybe, but for me it was. One is titled "A Daily Creativity Journal 365 Make Something Every Day And Change Your Life". The author gave himself a task of creation an original artwork every day for a year. He chose to make Skulls. [...]

I can see that life can get too too busy. I get on the ball that is my life and keep rolling along as if something would happen to me if I just stepped off. I could. Don't know why I don't.I remember a time when I first had my skate board. In the 60's. [...]

I did not want this birthday. I knew it would still come, but I thought that maybe I could stop it or head it off for a year or two I'd feel better. Deep down I knew it was coming and there was not a thing I could do. So I mourned. It is what [...]

The benefits of hiding a key outside are many. You can be gone and know that the cleaning people will get in. You can be out to lunch and know that the contractor can let himself in and keep working on the house. AND the biggest benefit is when you get locked out you can [...]

"Leave my loneliness unbroken!"~The RavenI was a big scardy cat when I was a kid. Many things would set me off. A fear would run through me and no amount of talking to myself could calm me down. Most of the time it was at night. The house was still, the parents turned off the [...]

The trip was a "long and winding road." I will now be writing and continuing making art.The road that I've been on has included writing and art but the path took me many places.I will write. I am committed to Creative Infusion. It has been said before. And the commitment has been here before also. [...]

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.— Robert F. KennedyHello Writers,Life happens as they say. Whoever "They" are.Things have kept me from my writing and art. It is hard to let things go because life gets too crazy or things, (again with the things) get in the way.Summer held the idea [...]

Good morning writers."Eighty percent of language lies to us."--Deena MetzgerI have a tendency to over extend myself.I over booked September and entered 4 art shows and signed up for two extra art classes. Plus all the usual stuff that goes with life. So I dropped one show and one class. Sometimes I get so wrapped [...]

Happy writing to all Writers."It is the first shower that wets."--Italian ProverbI might have used that quote before but I thought it fitting after our rain."When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean--neithermore nor less."This is a quiz. It is from something that Lewis Carroll wrote. Now we all can [...]

Good morning Writers.Heres to a great weekend and try to write every day."I love the solitude of reading. I love the deep dive into someone else's story, the delicious ache of the last page."--Naomi Shihab NyeHave you all read and finished "Self Storage" by our Gayle Brandis? If you have and want to discuss it [...]

Good Afternoon,Hope all had a good weekend. We have a CWC meeting this Saturday the 22nd. Don't forget to enter our contest. Deadline is Sept. 29th"Writing involves a commitment greater than illness."--Bernard MalamudOur back door was always locked. It was in the kitchen and opened onto the screened in patio. The screen door on the [...]

Hello Writers,"The words! I collected them in all shapes and sizes, and hung them like bangles in my mind."--Hortense Calisher, Extreme MagicMy grandfather continued to do some work after he retired. He had been a carpenter by trade and when remodeling was done in downtown Chino the contractors called him for the "fine" work. He [...]

Good evening Writers.Hope everyone had a good weekend. I took a little drive to Idyllwild. I haven't been in the town before. It was so pretty. Beautiful weather! I felt inspired as I walked the town and through the galleries. I had lunch at a cafe with very good food."Oh for the wonder that bubbles [...]

Hello Writers,"I tell a story the way some people eat an Oreo cookie."--B. E. ZalmanDid your parents want you to be something? Did they want you to be, say a math teacher and you wanted to be an astronaut?Write about who you were and who you wanted to be.My parents told me that I couldn't [...]

Good morning writers."When we lived closer to fire, when our lives depended upon the careful tending of the hearth, we had before us a symbol of the need for nourishment that lay deep in our souls."--Anne ScottOne of my chores at a young person was to not only take out the trash but to burn [...]