Button friday

Friday rolls around yet again, and today's button offering is Pixie's tongue. This velvety pink nubbin of a tongue seems to spend most of it's time on the outside of her mouth rather than in it.

I'm not sure if it's just a small dog thing or whether it's more of a chihuahua thing, but when she is happy and content it just comes out! Sometimes it's a tiny pink nail polished sliver of a thin tongue, and sometimes it's a chubby mallow nub of a tongue, but it is amusing to see.

This week I passed through the lounge room to see her in one of her favorite spots (her bowser bed) and saw an un-presidented amount of pink, so I grabbed my camera and took a couple shots, so her tongue could be shared.

IF: Cracked

This weeks Illustration Friday word is 'Cracked'. I thought eggs, I thought Humpty Dumpty. And then I thought nuts: A squirrel cracking and eating nuts - walnuts. So here he is. Always one to kill two birds with one stone, I made it as a circular design. I may one day turn this into a stained glass panel, similar to the 'Morris rabbits' that I already posted here.

Bath time for Boo

Here is another finished painting in the 'Bunny and Boo' series. It's Bath time for Boo, and he doesn't look best pleased about it. But there it is, we all need to wash sometimes! This is another painting based 'on actual events'. It's not that Cookie and I actually take a bath together, but when it's bath time, she does come in the shower with me!

Like Boo - she's a little scared of the water, so I take her in the shower, so I can at least hold her whilst I wash her. Then she sits at the end of the tub whilst I wash, then I bundle her up in a towel and dry her. She curls up in my bathroom sink in a towel and I blow dry her there, all tucked up. Then she goes crazy and runs around the house - all poofed up fluffy black and white. Then she gets a treat for her troubles!

Button friday

Sometimes they really are like little old spinster sisters. Here they are at a Santa Barbara motel last year. I'd opened the door to our room for a moment, then became distracted by something, next thing I knew - they were gone, so I wandered out in the sunny courtyard to find them, and there they were, sitting in these two chairs up against a sunny wall.

I almost expected to find them making crochet dollies and muttering about bingo, but maybe they were just thinking about those things instead.

A ghost at Potterton Marsh?

Is someone living in the little stone cottage at Potterton Marsh? No sign of boxes or curtains, but flutterings and mutterings make me wander outside. No faces spied, or footprints trodden, just traces of energy felt and perfumes smelt, if someone is there, I'm sure they'll let me know when they are ready.

But I can't help but be curious.

Bunny and Boo

I have started work on a new painting in the 'Bunny and Boo' series, here is the pre-paint sketch. This one features bath time, with a reluctant looking Boo staring at the soap in Bunny's hand. Cookie is a reluctant bather too, so I can't blame Boo. I think it's a small dog thing.

Speaking of small dogs, I had a peculiar conversation with my husband in the middle of the night, it went something like this:

C: weird! I just had a dream that had a dog the size of a breadcrumb, walking along the branch of a tree. He was called Mr Wellington.

J: OK, I like the sound of him, what was he up to?

C: Well, he stopped to let a caterpilla cross. Actually , he was more the size of a crouton.

J: Sounds like the kind of dog that would live at Potterton Marsh. Hope we see him again.

So there we have it. Incidently - for a while I did have an imaginary dog called Mr Buttons (co-incidence?) who was a serious fellow with his own suitcase. This was before the arrival of the real buttons: Pixie and Cookie, and possibly inspired my looking for dogs that small (Mr Buttons was diminutive in size) Mr Buttons has been known to visit us in America, but travels extensively, so we really don't see him often.

Well - who knew that story would pop out the magic bag today!

Oh - just realized there are no faucets on the bathtub, oops!

Illustration friday and the need to perfect

Well, it's about time I joined the fun. So this week is my first attempt with 'Illustration friday'. This weeks word in 'Contagious'. I think the illustration friday thing could be contagious. I also think it will be a good discipline for me, as I am trying to draw and sketch more. And by that, I mean I am trying to casually draw and sketch more, without turning whatever I do into an overworked finished piece, as, lets just say - I can be a bit of a perfectionist (ok - I'm downright anal)

So - forcing mayself to sketch, and post, without messing with it too much should be liberating. Also, I can just use the drawing practice, so I'm trying to sketch when I have a spare moment - especially the dogs, as they are there and tend to move, which means one has to capture them quickly and not be too precious about it. So sometime randomly, I'll post those too.

I'll shut up now :)

Shiny red apples and tags

Towards the end of May, glass apples become popular at the studio, as they make good gifts for teachers, and last much longer than their organic twins. so I have been making a few. They are the kind of apples that comes from fairy tales, red and shiny, with a little leaf, but too hard for Snow Whites 'pearly whites' so I don't think they will put anyone in a coma.

Also, I was tagged! by Sascalia (Thank you) so now I must tell you six things I love and tag six others:

Love:

Cardamon tea

Cinema and all things film

My buttons(especially Cookie)

My bunny (Colin)

Adventures (especially magic ones)

Books, wonderful books.

Tagged!:

Creating Pictures in my Mind

teesha's circus

An Illustrator's Life For Me!

Magic Lantern Show

We Three, Ginger cats tales

Wild Somerset Child

And now those marked by the tag must do the same: your 'love' list, and pass the tag along to six others.

Button friday

Well - it is friday! Cookie and Pixie found this sun spot on the lounge rug. They moved with it all morning, until it got smaller and smaller, and they got closer and closer together. Eventually it disappeared, so they went in search of other cosy and warm places to snooze.

The Magic Kingdom

Beyond the vale of Potterton Marsh is a place known as 'The Magic Kingdom' (at least, thats what my four year old neighbor calls it). It is a beautifully landscaped area, hidden by giant redwood trees, and has a lake, a tiny train, a tree house and many others magical things.

I am one of a fortunate few neighbors to the Kingdom that are allowed to walk there when it is quiet, and not hosting ceremonies or events. Most days, both before and after my work, I walk with Cookie and Dolly there, which is especially nice for them as they can run without leashes, and there are always squirrels and quails to chase, and graceful deer to cautiously watch through the peach and apple trees. Pixie occasionally comes, but Pixie 'doesn't do' hills, which, as we live on the side of a mountain, can be an issue. So if we carry her there, and carry her back, she is more than happy to waddle round the little pathways and over the bridges.

This morning, on my way back, I found wild strawberry plants, growing on the redwood lined path that takes me home. I collected a few, and have planted them at Potterton Marsh. It would be lovely if they grow, but also might provide some fruit for the cottage.

I'll post a few images from the Magic Kingdom, but it deserves so much more then one Blog post, that I shall certainly refer to it often.

Potterton Marsh

I finally had some time at the weekend to arrange the little stone cottage into more suitable surroundings. So it is now placed in a nice raised bed area of my garden, and I have decided to name it the hamlet of 'Potterton marsh'. It really needs a lawn of some sort at the front of the house, but I don't think I did badly for a days work, so that will have to follow.

Curiously, the 'for rent' sign has come down, and I feel sure there has been some movement of things - but I have not, as yet, met a tenant. So I will have to wait and see if indeed the cottage has become occupied. In the meantime, here is a photo of the greatly improved Potterton marsh!

Bee nice

This little panel is something I made a few years ago now, for a good friend celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary. This is the first time I have had a digital image of the panel, so I thought I'd post it here. It's actually one of my favourite pieces of work that I have created, mainly because technically it's very competent - it's a single piece of glass that has been sandblasted, painted (and fired) stained and enamelled, and engraved. It probably went through the kiln 7-9 times, so it was very labor intensive, but I think the results are good.

I know that a bumble bee doesn't actually have much to do with honeycomb, but bumbles are so much more interesting to depict than ordinary worker bees (sorry bees!) so I used a little poetic license. My friend Jane particularly likes bees, which is why I chose it as a subject matter!

Danced by the light

I have, at last, finished my 'Owl and the Pussycat' painting. Very pleased about that, so although I am getting into the habit of posting pictures of 'the buttons' on a friday, I think I will have to shake things up abit today. So here are a few pictures of my new work. Acrylic on board, 14x14".

Legion of Honor

On tuesday I travelled up to San Francisco to see a man about some work. I took the opportunity to visit a show at the Legion of Honor, in the Presidio. The work was that of Tiffany, Lalique and Faberge, and although my time there was snatched and short, I absorbed of much of it as I could: A cold bucket of water thrown in ones face, as opposed to a gentle swim in warm waters.

Because of that - I strangely had the feelings one associates with the above watery scenarios. That is to say I felt exhilarated and mentally alert, and ran about like a mad person, cramming visual information and thoughts into both the magic bag, and my magic brain. (All - I must explain - because the museum was closing) I saw some wonderful things, and when I came back outside, the view of the city and of Golden Gate bridge brought me down to earth with a pleasant thud. I stood, and stopped, and stared, as the cold gray fog rolled silently over the water, under the bridge and towards Alcatraz island. Meanwhile, the city was illuminated by sun, a spotlight from beyond the clouds, even though around it was darkened by the fog and cloud.

Here are some pictures to illustrate, The one that shows Alcatraz was taken from the window of the house I was visiting (the man about the job) and if you are not familiar with San Francisco propertys, lets just say that if you have this kind of view from your window - you probably have a very nice house, probably very big, and probably live in a fantastic part of the city!

Mothers day

I've really been wanting to post something creative for a few days now, but still haven't had the time to finish my 'Owl and pussycat' painting, and since that is what I have been working on, it's been a little frustrating. But I have been creative - I just didn't realize it! I've been blowing glass in preparation for Mothers day, which is this weekend here in the US.

After the success of the Easter rabbits, I decided to make minature vases with minature glass flowers in, and they have worked rather well! So I thought I'd post a couple pictures here. They only stand around five inches tall (complete with flowers) so I hope they will be popular. Meanwhile my master plan is still to stockpile some work so I might open an Etsy shop, so we'll see!

Also, I have joined 'Creative everyday' http://creativeeveryday.com/ which posts monthly themes to inspire creativity (similar to illustration friday) and May's theme is nature. So in a strange way, my little vases can almost count towards that too! Check it out if you are not aware of it yet.

Cottage available

It's been a busy few days, but I have managed to get the cottage into the garden, complete with 'for rent' sign. Now I will wait and see what responses I get. It really is a generous sized level plot, surrounded by a wall, so I am hoping that it will just right for someone. Hopefully that someone will like gardening! its terribly bare at the moment, and I have purchased a few plants to make it look nice, but will have to wait - maybe until next weekend, before I can plant them.

Button friday

It's friday, so time for a shot of The Buttons. They are in there somewhere - amoungst the blanket and cushions and dog bed. It was particularly chilly, so I gave them a blanket, which they loved!