of late, it has been all about finishing projects that have been set aside, many times with just a tiny corner to be stitched or painted.

and framing some of the work i want to display in our home.

and listing a few others in my much-neglected etsy shop.

you see i have so many varied artistic interests that i sometimes get sidetracked launching new projects.

so i have started a pad with a list of the things i REALLY want to make. ofcourse, i continue to stray once in a while, as when i stopped one night to sew this indigo beaded moth.

it ultimately went on to win an award on flickr's explore with over 12 thousand views worldwide.

or when i stopped to paint this sympathy note for the tragedy of MH 17 for my dutch friend Hans Peter.

i have also been putting together some packages to thank a number of friends who have sent me some wonderful handmade gifts, such as lynne hoppe who sent me a couple of originals

and rebecca brooks who sent me the most gorgeous saughtered double-sided shrine ro hang from my ceiling fan

in turn, her gifted prompted me to stitch these scapulars

but i've also been catching up with the garden

and walks on the beach

and still hanging up pictures in the house

and tidying up the studio

i need more time. lots more time because

just love love to create.

what do you think of this new technique i ventured into? my daughter and son are both modernists and i wanted to make tatiana something for her apartment. what a contrast to what i usually paint huh?

i leave you with this beautiful creation from my friend Julie Ippoliti

proof once again that we are all a gift to each other. 

as my friend hans peter so wisely write to me the other day

"This 'us & them' finds its roots, i believe, in the illusion that there is a separate 'me'. The older I get, the more i realuze: i am you, i am this bird, i am this tree, i am this stone."

as i wander through my favorite blogs i come across works that take my breath away. jan created this piece for the Anne Bulles Dorees "dans ma maison il y a du blanc"challenge http://www.dansmamaisonilya.blogspot.com/ and i can't stop looking at it. ofcourse i had to give it a try and came up with a little whimsey too, stayed up too late actually and in the process erased my previous blog entry. so here i am patching up the mishap.

then everything turned white and i began painting every tag i could find white and making little affirmations to placce on a tray in the entrance of my home.

Back to creating MIXED MEDIA ATC ACEO

Back to creating MIXED MEDIA ATC ACEO
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

I love this gift of silence today. Jonathan is at work most of the day and then off to record and Tatiana also at work and then putting in a few hours at the gym (she claims she ate far too much this weekend). So the house is calm and quiet as the kittens take their afternoon nap. amazing how much one can achieve at peace.

My first impulse was to delve into my new art supplies but I decided to start with putting some beauty into the house. My pink roses have bloomed into a plethora of clusters and the white ones are starting to give a few new flowers too. Poor cosmos, on its last leg for the season.

I have so much catching up to do with calls and e-mails. I haven't checked my emails in days and avoid the ban account altogether. I just want NO stress at all. No idel conversation, no uneccessary worrying, just calm.

Art Journal Pages

Art Journal Pages
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

My continuings of an 80+ page spiral journal I have committed to finishing before CONVENZIONE, if possible. It has taken alot out of me. Each page requires hours of manipulation, but the results can be so rewarding. Just the color coordination and the choice of images and where they should go on the page are feats in themselves. The journalling, harder than all the previous since I tend to go blank once the visuals are ready. I just don't want to copy poems and quotes only, I really want to spill muy guts.

"Off to the County Fair" Mixed Media Work in Progress

"Off to the County Fair" Mixed Media Work in Progress
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

And so it goes all these creations popping out of my hands and head. Picking up a lot of new skills and materials and reading those instructions as well as watching all those U-Tube tutorials has really helped to put those techniques into practice.

I have been trading rather than selling lately since I notice sales have suffered on etsy. Must be that dark cloud hanging over US, literally.

Living in Wonderland

Red, White and Blue Button Bag
Originally uploaded by peregrine blue

I've totally regressed to childhood in the past few weeks. Even my sleeping patterns have changed. I have yet to suck my thumb. I look in the mirror and, in spite of a few wrinkles and discoloration of skin, liver spots on my legs and grey hair, I see a child. Maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe I want to be pampered, maybe I just want to curl up into the fetal position and just return to my mother's womb where it was warm and Daddy played Dvorak's New World Symphony for me on the record player. All I know is that it baffles me. Even my art is becoming more and more naive. I pick and choose where and when to go out and it's usually to surround myself with the innocent of heart. I just refuse to see any darkness around me.

And believe me it's getting pretty dark. No belief in the politicians or religious leaders anymore. An egotistical, hedonistic youth draining us, taking it all and giving very little back. No new frontiers. A world gone mayhem, with no clear priorities, each to his own. Yes, it all means shielding ourselves and be part of the survivival of the fittest. So I choose Protectionism, my own.

That is why I keep re-inventing my English Cottage in the style of Tasha Tudor and Beatrix Potter even though it be in my imagination. What could be better than a paradisiacal garden, a pot of tea on the cast iron stove to welcome friends and neighbors, the hand-knit quilt strewn over the bed for a welcoming nap, a fireplace at dusk, scones and apple pie on Sunday? I can think of no other happiness like it.

People may judge, laugh, giggle at me but I have made that choice to remain the Nerd in Wonderland.

....and the beat goes on......

Something's in the air. Changes, Hope with capital letters. I feel it in the streets, when I go to an eatery and see people coming alive again. Our country needs it so deperately=the human element after a diseased addiction to consumption and a rancid philosophy of greed versus deed.

Bernardita came to spend the weekend. Because of the gas crisis she decided to take the train. How refreshing, plus I have an Amtrak station so close to home. And then we hopped in my car and went everywhere, did everything we could in three days (Garage sales, Thrift Stores,

Bookstore, Japanese Restaurant, back to bookstore for Coffee and Carrot Cake, Craft Store, Mexican restaurant, then to my bed where we listened to oldies on the cassette player (Raul Di Blasio) and got all nostalgic about Chile and decided to drink to it. Salud.

LIFE IS GOOD. And tomorrow will be even better since I finally get my bottom teeth. It has taken two years of surgeries and casts and molds and finally they will be in for good tomorrow. I am so happy. I will eat cashew nuts at last.

It's getting better all the time

So what I have been up to? Something weird is happening, I have this voracious appetite and have been eating more than I usually do. I'm hungry all the time, unusual for me who always eats bird-sized meals. I sure hope it doesn't settle in all the wrong places.

Well, went for the interview yesterday and in two weeks I will know if I have been selected for round 2 which would mean another interview with the Board of Directors. I am crossing my fingers, I really want this job. It is perfect for me.

Thanks to www.jperegrineart.typepad.com/ I have picked up my art journal again and have been painting and collaging away. It is so challenging to see other people's work. It makes you say, I CAN DO THAT. My room, being so cluttered, has suffered with all the papers and paints spread out over the floor but it's been worth it. I really love some of the things that have resulted. I guess it's OK to give myself a pat on the back, isn't it?

Letters from Claudia and Peter and Lucy and Sourdoughs #7 with Richard keep me happy. Scott is back from Chile and that makes him happy.

Martin and Andrea are planning a camping trip in about two weeks and I so want to come. I haven't gone camping in years. Apparently Erika and Tyler and other members of the family will be coming so it will be fun.

Turquoise, Mixed Media Collage Journal Page

With my upcoming trip to Chile in March, I thought it would be great to take a journal with me. So I set out to buy one of thos black paper notebooks and began my first page yesterday. I began by taking my favorite colour and collaging in a stream of consciousness fashion. Doodling also on some pages which has led me to find old photographs of Primrose Hill

where I grew up in England to use as a center point.
Black and white doddle drawings in the journal.