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

gloria has challenged me to answer a few questions about my blog and what moves me and i will try my best to convey what it is that i enjoy most about blogging but also taking the time to mention the artists that most inspire me.

que te llevo a comenzar tu blog?
what inspired you to start your own blog?
i remember the first one i read, an Argentinian blog by the name of Bitacora de una Mujer Gorda, a hilarious soap opera about a middle class family. it was the first time i had heard the word blog. shortly thereafter, i began my own as a sort of journal, to keep a record of bits and pieces of my life. 

i believe fate brought me to it as with most of the blogs i love and follow, blogs that remind me that life is so interesting, that there are amazing people ALL over the world making a difference and adding their grains of wisdom.

que te aporta tener un blog?
what do you get out of having a blog?
ORDER, mental order.  as i said, its a sort of journal; it helps me to stay focused on what my true and higher purposes are. it allows me to sort through my photographs and poems and delete the ones that take up space.
above all, it brings me friendships from all over the globe.

planificas con mucha anticipacion los contenidos que vas a publicar?
do you plan ahead for what you are going to post?
not at all.  i live my week out, creating, taking pictures along the way and when i think i have something to share, i begin writing and sharing.

tienes alguna idea para tu blog?
do you have any new ideas for your blog?
the truth is, i haven't been blogging very much of late, distracted by other social media apps such as facebook, pinterest and tumblr. i would like to have another blog giveaway soon and a challenge such as the one marcela from colorin colorado had recently but my blog does not have a large following nor traffic so i feel i might be wasting my efforts.

cuanto tiempo dedicas a tu blog?
how much time do you dedicate to your blog?
i used to post just about every day,but now i limit my posts to once a week or bi-weekly.

cual es tu major momento del dia para crear?
what is your best time of the day to create?
DEFINITELY after sundown.  all is quiet, the phone doesn't ring, all the chores are finished, mouths fed and i can escape to my creative sanctuary.  

que lugar del mundo te gustaria conocer?
what part of the world would you like to visit?
st. ives, cornwall, devon, england, england, england, slovenia, poland and the parts of mexico i haven't visited yet.

pasatiempo?
hobby?
READING, above all! i am an avid reader, and despair when i am about to finish a book.  i have literally thousands of books in my home.
walks in nature picking tiny flowers, stones, feathers, leafs and seashells, flea markets, art walks, gardening, embroidery and watching English shows, i am probably the world's greatest anglophile. i love all things BRITAIN.

and my special addition to the challenge?
my favorite contemporary artists
lynne hoppe
jude hill
mary stanley
cathy cullis
Sarah Jarrett
joanna pierotti
jessie chorley
gentlework 
Julie Arkell
nina bagley 

and elena nuez

Thank you soliloquiando por inviting me, i enjoy your blog thoroughly.

Shaker Chair

today my good argentinian friend marcela is having us share our favorite chair.  being that we still have most of our belongings in storage until we find a "permanent" house, i wondered how i would go about participating since my favorite chair is actually a love seat covered in an off white matelassé slipcover by rachel ashwell.  but second to best is here with us, a black shaker chair originally designed by the amish in pennsylvania.
most of you know my love of folk art and this chair is a perfect example.  i truly believe common folk design the most beautiful things. when i decorate i choose things of beauty rather than monetary value and my house is also scattered with many handmades from artists all over the world.  our home is a blend, eclectic since we like to mix vintage with modern and whimsical always maintaining a sense of welcoming coziness.

 for what makes a house a home? first and foremost a home needs to look like its lived in, tidy yet messy, with a plentiful refrigerator, always a baked good or goodie somewhere, fresh flowers, hundreds of books, live music, and plants......lots and lots of plants and fresh flowers.

 and natural things....sticks and stones and seashells found while beachcombing.

 and handmades, my handmades everywhere.

 and collections of every sort honoring the past.

 and religious items.  this is my virgencita that i light a candle too every night.

 and chilean items i bring back with me such as this handcarved charango and bull horn canister.

 and birds ofcourse, chirping away outside our windows.

thank you marcela for letting us share a bit of our homes

Flufinness

after a terrible scare with the springs fire where we had to be evacuated from our home ans forced to stay at a hotel for a couple of days, things are pretty much back to normal.  may is a busy month; it is tatiana's birthday and richard celebrates a big one mid june.  so i've been in the midst of preparations, buying a piñata, preparing a raffle and games and getting estimates for catering.

clara's dress

i've also been working on setting up a reasonable work space for myself even though this remains our temporary home. we found the most charming shabby chest of drawers in one of Richard's old garages at hughes hill and i will finally have a place for my clothes other than a chair. 

funny how adapt to circumstances, i am perfectly content with the bare minimum as long as i have my art materials, plenty of coffee, access to netflix (i've been watching every english series ive missed) as i stitch away at a new series of mixed media dresses.

"memories of an english schoolgirl"

i'm totally enamored of several english mixed media fabric artists including gentlework and jessie chorley.  i had wanted to participate in one their coming workshops to take place in france but its absolutely filled up.
as you can see i have added one of jessie's signature bows to my birdie collage.

i love making these neo modern whimsical pieces, mixing vintage fabrics and adding a bit of whimsy by way of embroidery. 

hope your week has been creatively fruitful and happy and that spring has finally sprung; it sure feels like it's been late in arriving to the california coast.

hope to have more work to show you soon.

To Paint is to Love Again

among my love of folk art, ancient and new, is my love of religious art, especially the sacred heart.  i had always wanted to paint one having embroidered and appliqued quite a few so far and this is what i envisioned. 

it came naturally to me, except for the hands which I struggled with and even then they turned out strange since they were supposed to be cupped but I guess at least they look like hands.

spring has been slow in arriving here in california, even the strawberries are late and we never miss a week of strawberries.

its the light of spring I miss the most, being able to take nature walks and paint outside, so it has been a life spent mainly indoors of late, always with those English shows in the background. 

I have been trying to define what it is I want to paint, but when I begin the paintbrushes tend to do their own thing. 

like what resulted with one of my tags.  she had started out as a braided indian woman.  since april is poetry month and somewhere in april books are celebrated, I decided to make her bookish instead. I love how she turned out, one of my favorites so far.

it is funny how my romantic side comes out sometimes and others my love of whimsy, others my latin roots, yet others my british roots as you can see from "the may queen" below.

these last two paintings are reflective of the things i love: bottles and cups, tables and chairs, dried flowers, windows and of course birds.

lynne hoppe

inspired by lynne hoppe i have begun a small sketch book to practice in although it has fast become a catch all for pressed flowers and leaves and small clippings i find on my daily walks.

this was the first entry

practicing the hands

as lynne pointed out not too long ago on her blog

TO PAINT IS TO LOVE AGAIN!