cabin fever.....severe. we were supposed to go on a road trip up the california coast but several things got in the way.  the pump at the ranch went kaput and, being that it is for sale, all attention had to be put on solving the water supply.  what bad timing.
ok, time to surrender.
so here we are, the last days of summer, anxious to GO GO GO.  i am not losing hope; the pump technicians are supposed to be here friday and by monday we should be able to make it happen.

 i am in desperate need of nature....our temporary condo as we continue our search for a house to buy, is beautiful and comfy but has a very small garden and an even tinier patio. so for an earthy woman like me, not having a garden has really begun to wear on my nerves. 

so, as is usual, i retreat to me art space and vent by creating something that will make it all right and turn the tide somewhat in the direction of the positive around me, or at least, within me. 

yes, being creative helps.  actually, it helps immensely, but there is an angst in my soul that needs healing.  what i miss the most are the breezes, the crackling sounds, the walks, the smell of eucalyptus and above all WATER.  ocean water, rivers, streams, putting my feet in it, splashing in it, seeing it glitter. and collecting little sticks and stones, leaves and anything in nature that will fit in my pocket.

so, as is usual, i retreat to me art space and vent by creating something that will make it all right and turn the tide somewhat in the direction of the positive around me, or at least, within me. 

"girl in black velvet dress"
i have continued my experimentation with faces and recently venturing into full 
size portraits although i am still having trouble with hands.
i swing between the whimsical and the formal acts of creating.

"mujeres"

 here is a corner of my bedroom where i have hung my latest mini painting 

midway down the wall in between a vintage needlepoint embroidery of a bird and a hook bird heart by mary stanley.

                                                  

this is the cover of the handmade book i am working on.  the flowers are real, from right outside our french doors, having been captured under a layer of beeswax.

for audrey

             b.    n.        

stitching between painting and reading a terrific biography of lytton strachey with lots and lots in it about dora carrington.  i love her paintings, especially the portrait of lytton holding a book with his long long finger.  carrington remains my favorite of the bloomsbury era painters above vannessa bell and augustus john.  what a group they were, how totally interesting and liberated.

recuerda mi corazón

we are all a gift to each other.....

inspiration has been slow in coming. nevertheless.......i managed to finish a madonna named "la virgen de huayalolen" named after my best friend's  love of gardening, especially gardening with roses. www.casadulcehogar.blogspot.com 

 i would like to share this post with "recuerda mi corazón" since i just discovered her blog through lynne hoppe

and lloved it.

the rest of the week has been spent mostly exploring the backroads near our home, bicycling, and experimenting with digital art with several neat apps.

i love how this santos cagedoll turned out with a frame from flickr's "playing with brushes".

with this one you can see i got a wee bit ambitious, using several layers and all sorts of editing.

what do you think of our backroads? we live in an area surrounded by farmland, mainly orange and avocado groves.

and this is my largest painting so far, 12x16 on wood panel.  it now hangs in my bedroom to remind me that if you really set your mind to it, you can do it; it just takes patience and perseverance. 

with no formal training, i have read and studied other peoples work, sifting through subjects and techniques that i like. then, i just went for it....trial and error, over and over and over until i got the hang of it.  but most importantly, i realized that it is the process that i enjoy even if some of the results are poor.  being in those creative moments are some of the best moments in my daily life.

when i paint, or sew, or knit, or collage.....i enter a zone, a deep spiritual zone where i find a great calm.

art is so therapeutic....so freeing and to create beauty such a reward in itself. i feel these faces coming alive, smiling at me, thanking me even, almost like i've given birth. 

after three weeks of dis-comfort and malaise, taking antibiotics and almost listless, i am back in full swing. what a scare....nausea for days on end, blood in my pipi and an uncertain diagnosis had me thinking the worst.  but GOD is good and brought me through it.  ill health really makes you think, and value.  so i am trying to make some changes, bought a bicycle and am determined to smoke less, eat better (although i cook really healthy anyway)and go to bed earlier.

the weather suddenly shifted today, calling for the  indoors and reflection, a message to myself to put a little order and play catch up.

"BIRD WHISPERER"

 feats: i finally got to make the miniature book i have for so long wanted to make with dominos.  it will be a gift to a loved friend.

finishing up a few of my fabric pieces, especially the ones i promised a friend in new zealand.

getting my chilean passport.

and new friends thanks to the internet, particularly nina bagley in north carolina, another kindred spirit.

in the midst of illness, an invitation not to be refused. what fortune.......to be invited by scott  to see thick as a brick 1 and 2 live at the greek theatre. ian anderson non plus ultra with the flute and all the other instruments he plays.  and the percussionist was also amazing. 

years since i had been in the los feliz area and the first time eating lebanese food at marouch restaurant.

thank you scott for such a beautiful gift for your father.

summer is suddenly upon us and how things take a turn.

at last, the beach with lombardo's famous sandwiches packed in the "good 'ol days picnic basket" together with kettle chips and antipasto salad, guacamole, peaches and cooling thirst quenchers. ofcourse i spent most of the time beachcombing and for the first time in years found tons of sea glass.

how i love beachcombing. 

another of my fabric mini dresses

and a few works in progress on the wall

and tucked in there, our fourth of july when i love to re watch john adams and ken burn's "the west", reliving america's history that i love so much more each year.

and as for my art......just a,little

Experimentation

how time flies, literally. maybe that's why i painted this bed; could it be my subconscious trying to tell me to get more rest.

things seem to happen faster and faster and faster. lately i feel I can barely catch my breath between events so have been purposely trying to slow down.

not, however, with my painting.

 

both of these paintings won recognition on flickr this week on EXPLORE, a gift to my creative ego. and i awoke one morning to find that i had sold seven of my originals in a 24 hour period.  a few hours later that number jumped to 9. every penny is being saved (GOD willing) for the dream cabin on my land in puerto varas since the central heating alone will be quite pricey. chile can get bitterly cold in winter.

 

friends arrived from puerto rico for more celebrations. the pace of slowing down picked up pace again as we wandered off to santa barbara's botanical gardens and then to the santa inez valley extending ily's birthday as much as we could before her parents moved on to new york where her brother will be taking a class in screenwriting.

KIKI

 

oh how my girl has grown

 

next week will be jon's 29th. hopefully we can join him in san francisco to spend it together; its been hard not having him near.

at least we had him down for a couple of days for richard's birthday, having come down on the Amtrak surfliner train, backpack and david byrne's book as sole luggage. 

we talked about art ofcourse and how to be independent in the art field and how to jump start a small business in order to have the freedom for "what really matters in life". 

i enjoyed him thoroughly as mother/son went for coffee and book browsing at barnes & noble, small walks and he exploring the surroundings on a bicycle and taking photographs which is his passion. 

 

ily & her brother luis gabriel, the one who loves film and will be taking a screenwriting class.

 

ily's mother Kiki, a real beauty and an expert triathlon athlete as well as jovial and very funny.

i have started a new collection.  can you guess? all handmade ofcourse. the one on the left is by nostalgia at the stonehouse (england, and the two others by mary stanley. which made me think i want to paint a giant heart filled with little nooks of words i love, people i love, little miniature paintings of things i love.  will i stick to it?

found on Pinterest ofcourse

 

what a month! plentiful to say the least.  in spite of a tepid spring and a not too promising summer by california standards, the season has been giving.
may and june and july are birthday months in our family; tatiana turned 26, richard turns 80 on saturday and we are in the midst of preparing his party and jon will turn 29 in july.  it is hard to believe that my children have grown up so fast and are leading independent lives.  both, i am glad to say, with very strong artistic inclinations, tatiana with her interior decorating and jon with his graphic design.

why it seems like only yesterday we were vacationing together in baja.
parenting has been by far my most interesting challenge and to see them unfurl even more so.  they are so different from each other, jon being a modernist and an introvert and tatiana such a go getter, such a hard worker and the best friend a mother could hope for.  i must have done something right....even though it was hard at times getting them to withstand the tough love years.

and richard, my darling companion for the last 8 years, the funniest, kindest, smartest partner i could have ever wished for.  the one who brings me fresh coffee every morning, the one who does the shopping for me (i h... to shop), the one who takes care of all the technical aspects of the home, the one who fires me up to keep creating, the one who comes up with the most endearing nicknames for me such as "my royal gorgeousness" and "my olivine beauty" or frau capitan when i am in my top dog mode.  in spite of the 22 year difference between us, we are true soul mates.

as i write he is deeply engrossed in watching the roland garros tennis matches as he nibbles on croutons and cheddar cheese.

 

i notice my blog becoming more and more of an art blog since that is what i spend most of my time doing.  slowly but surely i have taught myself to draw and paint.  who would have guessed that a fabric lover like myself could paint?

 seeing those faces coming to life, emerging slowly, becoming human is a sensation difficult to explain.  once finished they are alive on those stratums and i lay them against a wall to keep me company until they are ready to fly via etsy to their new homes.

last saturday i awoke to eight sales in a 24 hour period.  i couldnt believe it.....could it really be?  monday was spent carefully specially wrapping each one with love.  one package to england, one to france, the others locally.  i have yet to receive feedback from those receiving them, always a scary thing. 

a keeper for a while

Colette Copeland Blog

 as i write, i notice certain days call for certain colors

the one and only embroidery lately