Blue Moon Rising!

Check it out! We just walked in the house from an afternoon visiting with some neighbors, and this is what the view was out of our back patio windows! Isn't this beautiful? It's the Blue Moon rising! I was very lucky to be able to capture this! Enjoy!

New Art!

Here's some art that I created yesterday and today. I read about a postcard swap sponsored by the magazine "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" with the theme of inspiring art, and it just reminded me of all the times I'm in a creative slump and just aspire to do any art. So, I started playing around, and these are a couple of the postcards that I came up with. Neither of these is the one I'm going to be submitting for the swap! I'll be posting that to the CPS web site in February, so you can see it then and there.

For those of you interested in such things, here's technical how-to info. I decided that I wanted bold, primary colors to be used, with red for the letters I used bright yellow tissue to get started (on watercolor paper), and then added acrylic paints of green and blue. I also used some dictionary pages that I had colored for another project, but hadn't used, and cut up some pieces of a map, just for some other interest. Now, once this was done, I decided that the colors were a bit too disjointed and bright and needed to be toned down a bit and somehow brought more together in terms of melding, if you will. I then took some sewing pattern tissue, and laid that down over the entire postcard. Some of the print on the pattern tissue added some graphic elements that I liked as well. I then added the rather stern young man because he reminded me of the inner critic we all have that tells us we can never do what we intend to do or want to do, and the little girl as our inner muse, who is just full of spunk and spirit, and, at least for me, is always telling me to have fun!! I stamped on some exclaimation marks over the critic's head, and the instructions of my muse to have fun, and then added some inspirational instruction. The quote that inspired Start Now is from Marie Beyron Ray, and is"Begin doing what you want to do now." And, isn't that true? We frequently find ourselves planning to do something after we do something else, and suddenly, we're in a non-creative rut! The quote that inspired Try Something came from a quote from FDR - "Above all, try something." Now, I don't think he was talking about creative endeavors, but good advice is good advice. When you're stuck, just try something. If it doesn't work, try something else, until you land on something great. Oh, and of course, along the way, have fun! (By the way, the little girl who is my muse, is really me at about 2-3 years old or so! She still lives on, tho, deep inside of me!)

Enjoy! Nadine

Merry Christmas!

Well, this is what Christmas in New Mexico looks like! I just love the look of the cloud hugging the top of South Mountain! We actually had snow the day before I took this photo (which was Christmas Eve). But, it didn't last, as you can see!

I'm off for a week now, and plan to do a bunch of creative stuff, including the not so creative, but very necessary, cleaning off of my 3rd work table in my studio - the table that I want to put my tools on. I can't right now, 'cus I dumped the extra stuff when we moved in on that table! I've been creating ATCs like mad, to be sure I get things done on time for the swaps I"ve signed up for! And, in reading my favorite creative magazines and some other books that I've recently bought, I'm very inspired to try some different things! I've got over a week to at least start on some of these!! Take care - enjoy!

Nadine

It's Winter in New Mexico!

Isn't this a lovely shot? I was lucky enough to see this view out of one of our kitchen windows and took it before the ice fog disappeared - 10 minutes after this shot, it was gone! Yes, that is snow on the ground. We're having winter here and on Thursday about 4" fell throughout the day. The roads were very icy, and I couldn't get into the office, so I just worked from home. They are predicting more snow for tomorrow, so who knows what that may mean in terms of getting into work then - we'll see!

I feel so lucky to be living here. What a great place to live and be a creative soul. And, it's ironic how colorful this desert landscape frequently is! The ground may be sandy or terra cotta, but the big sky is incredibly colorful. Patches, our next door neighbor's horse, seems to be enjoying the view, too, doesn't he?

Well, onto creative pusuits for today. I joined an internet group - www.atcsforall.com - that is specifically for trading ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), and I've signed up for 2 of the swaps (there are tons out there!) - I need to mail off the ATCs for the swap due in December, and start working on the January one. They both call for using photos, so from my perspective, it's the best of both worlds!

Take care - enjoy your day! Nadine

Winter Morning Walk

Woke up this morning to some snowy dusting around the airpark. I went for a morning walk with Miki, our German Shepherd, and took these photos during our walk. The top photo is of a friend's horses and barn at the end of our little airpark. I just loved the snow on the fence, and the moody feel of the image.

The second image is of an house that we originally looked at to buy. I certainly love our house, and wouldn't trade it for this one, but the snow does look nice on top of the adobe fence and archway into the front yard of this house.

The third image is one that I took as Miki and I walked along side the runway looking north. It, too, is just such a moody image I just loved it on this winter morning. It's kind of rare to see this sort of moody weather here. We mainly have sunshine and blue skies, so an occasional overcast day is a nice change-up.

Hope you all enjoy your day, whatever the weather is in your neck of the woods !

Beautiful Sunrise!

Isn't this a beautiful sunrise? We went camping at City of Rocks State Park in southwestern New Mexico (near Deming) and this was what we woke up to Saturday morning. Jeff let Miki out and then poked his head back in the rig to tell me to raise the shade and check out the sunrise. I did, and then quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera and what a beautiful sunrise we shared! I don't know what the plant in the foreground is, but it's really not that tall - I just knelt down on the ground to get it in the sky.

What a great weekend we had, too! City of Rocks is a natural formation of some pretty large monoliths that just rose up out of the ground in the middle of no where! It's rather amazing - apparently, there are only 5 or so similar formations throughout the world. It was cool, in that the state park campground has the camping sites set in and among the formations, so you've got some really private sites that are somewhat surrounded by some of the formations. Our site also had a couple of trees growing there, so we sort of had the best of both worlds. And, you could climb and hike up into the rock formations up on a rise. It wasn't so huge that you were afraid of getting lost among the rocks, but it certainly was cool!

Ah, tomorrow's back to work for me! This week, I'm working 4 days (instead of the usual 3) due to some meetings that I sort of need to attend. Next week, tho, I'll only be working 2 days, so that will even things out!

Enjoy your week!

Happy Fall!

Isn't fall great? We went camping last weekend, and the trees were starting to turn the beautiful fall colors. Some folks from back in the Midwest were thinking that I wouldn't get to see any fall colors when we moved to New Mexico. Ah, but this is the beauty of living in the high desert - we actually get all 4 seasons. The seasons just aren't as extreme as they might be in the Midwest (harsh winters) or southern New Mexico and Arizona (blistering hot summers).

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. It sort of reminds me of beginnings - sounds odd, doesn't it? Still, I think of going back to school when I was a kid, and how excited I was about that. I used to love having new kids in my class, new teachers, even new books! I wasn't a particularly nerdy kid (at least I wasn't in my memory!), but I did enjoy school. That's why fall means beginnings of a sort to me.

Fall also gets me feeling energized. That's quite an accomplishment today, since I'm suffering from a slight cold, but I am energized about getting out into my studio and doing some work on some collage items. I've been working on getting a photo book put together from our vacation in September, but today, I think I'll focus on collage. I finished the vacation photo book yesterday, and altho I have another one waiting (based on our recent trips to the VLA and the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta), I think I'll take a break from photo work today.

Enjoy your day - go out and enjoy the fall, whatever it's like in your neck of the woods! Nadine

I'm back!

Finally!! I'm settled in enough to begin to get back into my blog. It's been quite an eventful few months - we are now moved and settled in our new home in New Mexico. it was quite an adventure, but well worth it. I'm now sitting in my wonderful studio/office, looking out at South Mountain in the San Pedro Mountains - the smaller, narrow photo is what it looked like this morning as the sun came up and the clouds were still hanging around from a rainstorm we had last night. The top photo was of the sky this morning just as the sun was rising - at about 6am or so! Isn't it fabulous? I feel so grateful and happy to be here! Life is truly good!

This past weekend, we went exploring in the Jemez Mountains just to the northwest of us, and on Saturday, we took in the New Mexico Indian Art Market. The artwork was just beautiful, and it was very interesting to see the differences between the art created by the various Native American tribes. I found I repeatedly was drawn to the art created by the Navajo artists. Perhaps I'll find a piece in the future to have a place in our home!

More later! Enjoy the day! Nadine

Mountains of Boxes !

The move date is drawing closer and closer! A week from yesterday we will be heading out in our little caravan to our new home in New Mexico! And, when I look around almost anywhere in the house and garage right now, all I see are mountains of boxes and other things we've got loaded with our stuff! So, what could be a better photo to reflect our mini mountains than a picture of one of my favorite mountain areas, Mount St Helens in Washington state! This image was taken on a backroad sort of behind the mountain. We were attempting to find a back way to get to the crater, and sort of stumbled acrosss this wonderfully beautiful lovely scene! The backroad we were on quickly turned into a very rough dirt road and we weren't able to continue on it in our little RV, but it was worth the detour just to see this area and capture this image.

In terms of our moving, I think we're doing really well. I can hardly believe it, but we really seem to be under control, so that we're not having to make ourselves crazy with last minute packing! We were even able to stop and see a movie yesterday - Angels & Demons with Tom Hanks. Good movie - however, I'm glad I hadn't read the book first. I think it might have ruined the movie for me, knowing the ending!

Enjoy your day!

Sunflower

I'm having a tough time getting to sleep tonight, so I thought I'd play around with filters in PhotoShop. Here's a sunflower image that I took in the Southwest a couple of years ago. I applied a colored pencil filter. I think it looks rather abstract, but still like the sunflower that it is. I guess it sort of fits my mood at the moment. I think the reality of how quickly our move is coming up is sticking with me tonight. I'm excited and looking forward to it, but the "it" is rather abstract. I know what the basics of our life will be, but there's so much that's unknown, and abstract when I try to imagine some details. I know, I know, I get to make those up and create a future, but, right now, my imagination about it isn't clicking and I'm feeling a bit anxious about all the unknowns and uncertainties. This will pass, I know, and I'll embrace all the unknowns and just let the creativity flow. I just need to keep the faith, and embrace whatever is next! Enjoy!

Zelda

Good morning! I just visited my friend and fellow artist's blog - penandpaints.blogspot.com - and was inspired by her background for her Alphabetica piece to use the photo I took of my finished Alphabetica piece & use that for today's entry! Our group actually first did the Alphabetica theme a year or so ago, which is why my piece is already done while she was still working on hers.

Given that my last name begins with a Z, it was seredipity when I blindly chose the letter Z from among several for my inspiration letter. It took me a while to land on the theme of the piece. I remembered the old sort of song that we used to sing when I was a kid that involved our ABC's - A, my name is Alice, and I come from Alabama with a basket full of Apples, etc.. I decided to do a variation of that for Zelda. My little Zelda (and old photo that I came across some time ago, and scanned so I could use her over and over - I love her spitir!)came from Zuni (a pueblo in New Mexico) and is depicted in the piece by a torn piece of map with Zuni circled on it. She has a suitcase instead of a basket and it has zucchini in it (the transparency of the photo allows the definition of the word zucchini to show thru right under her suitcase!), along with some zinnias ( a fabulous flower beginning with a Z). She also has brought a zebra with her!

The background of the piece was various torn pages of an old dictionary at the Z page, a telephone book (also a Z page) and some zip codes! I did a wash of a sort of sienna color over the background, and then added the fun items. I also included some fun tags, crests and even a stylized postage stamp all with the Z theme! I did end up using a handmade paper strip, so that Zelda's transparency would show her off in a good fashion.

Thanks to Marge for reminding me of this fun piece! Enjoy!

Social Butterflies

Howdy! I came across this fun ATC that I created a while back, and it just seemed like a good theme for today. I'm heading out to lunch today with my friend, Jeanne, so I'll be a bit of a social butterfly. I also need to do more moving prep stuff today. I've got a couple of boxes that I want to pack today to get closer to being totally done. Jeff will be off on his pre-retirement vacation this week, and he plans to really get down to business in terms of packing more stuff, including his stuff. Our move is really getting close now. Three weeks from today, we'll be almost all the way to New Mexico & the beginning of our new life together there.

Mom's Day was really nice yesterday. The weather cooperated, and we were able to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the day and our cook-out meal! Very nice. I will miss this next year...sigh....perhaps I can get Mom out to New Mexico for Mom's Day next year, tho!

Well, on with the day! Have a really great one - enjoy!

Beascochea Bay, Antarctica

Good morning! What a fabulous day I feel like this will be! It's pretty humid and foggy this morning, and when I skimmed thru some photos, this one jumped out at me. Probaby because it's of water & clouds, which could be some sort of mind-connection to humidity and fog - who knows?!? This image was taken at Beascochea Bay in Antarctica. The bay is one that we were told was not routinely explored by expeditions to Antarctica. The icebergs there were just breath-taking and magnificent!

Well, we're in the final weeks before our move to our new life in New Mexico. Packing is underway, and I think I've finally gotten everything that's going to be packed at my old house packed up! Now, there will still be the decorative items and things on the walls that will need to be packed once the house is under contract, and we've got a few furniture pieces that we need to take now, but I'm feeling like we're pretty much complete with what we can do for now. We've got more packing to do at Jeff's house (which is where we now live), but that's coming along well. I think I'm going to start "wrapping up" the packing for various rooms starting this weekend or next week for sure. I know what's left can be done fairly quickly, so I'm not making myself too crazy over it!

Better get going with the fabulous day! Enjoy!

For Jeanne

This collage is one that was inspired by my friend, Jeanne. She has hard a rough time of it over the past several years, and has endured some great sorrows. However, she is one of the most resilient and positive people I know. She is truly brave and courageous in light of what life has thrown at her. This piece is inteneded to reflect the sorrows in her life (the upside down heart shaped tears) that serve as nourishment for her new life with her children and friends who care so much for her (flowers). And, the basis for life, as I see it, is the ability to dream and envision better days.

I believe that dreams feed what will become reality. Another friend recently told me how proud and happy he was for the new chapter in my life that I'm beginning. As he put it, he saw that I once had a dream of what I'd like my life to be like, and it became a vision and a goal, that I worked to turn into a reality. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but I suppose that deep down inside, that's really what happens to most of us, whether we recognize it or not. That is, unless we're one of those poor souls who are, what I call, victims of their own lives. That, to me, is truly the saddest thing because it says to me they've given up and are just going thru the motions.

Here's to dreams - don't just go thru the motions!! And, thanks Jeanne, for being in my life!

Little Princess

Here's a fun little collage (ATC) I created a while ago. This little sweetie was an image that I used from a scanned cabinet card. She looked like such a little princess, I couldn't resist the crown! To me, she looks like she's just thinking that someday she will be Queen, so that's the text that I added. I'm really missing not being able to create via collage! I had to pack up my studio back in Jan because we were gone on a trip almost the complete month of February, and effective with the beginning of March, the house was on the market to be sold. Altho I thought my studio area looked pretty neat and organized, and it was in the realm of a creative space, to "normal" folks, I'm sure it looked anything but neat and organized!!! So, my creative things were put away. I keep thinking about how much fun it will be to rediscover them when I'm unpacking them in about a month or so. Our move date is now set for the end of May, so it really will be only a week or so after that, and I'll be able to at least start unpacking and creating in New Mexico! Yipee!! Enjoy!

This Morning's Beauties !

As I was doing the breakfast dishes this morning, I noticed the flowers were in particularly good form! Maybe it's because we're on our way to 80 degrees today - the first time since last October! These beauties just match my mood today - bright, sunny and full of optimism! Enjoy the day and all it brings!

Glorious Morning!

What a glorious morning it is outside today! I took Miki for an early morning walk, and I think she was extra-energized because of the great weather, too! It's one of those days when it's just wonderful to be alive. The photo for today is one of a flower that people generally don't want to see - a dandilion! We think of them as weeds, and pull them mercilessly. However, when we were camping last spring, I was wandering down the nature paths near our campsite, and the sun was shining so beautifully, the dandilions in the meadow just seemed to be little reflections of the sun in the meadow. I played with taking the photo while zooming my lens in and out, and this was the happy result! This morning just reminded me of that morning, where a humble little dandilion looked like a sun droplet! Of course, I still don't think I want them in my lawn.......enjoy!!

Napa Autumn Morning

I was playing around with PhotoShop the other day, and ended up with this very beautiful image of the early morning in Napa. We stayed at a B&B at Rust Ridge, which was also a winery. I just love this photo because it is very serene and restful. It sort of matches my mood this morning. I'm feeling very good and calm this morning because we got an offer on Jeff's house yesterday, which he accepted. So, here's hoping everything goes ok, and that the closing happens according to schedule. One of the other reasons I'm really happy is that this means Jeff will be moving with me when the house is ready in New Mexico. He was thinking he needed to remain here in the Midwest until it sold. I hated the thought of the beginning of our home together would be without him. Now, we just need for my place to sell, and the major checklist of things here in the Midwest to be settled will be done! I've got an open house scheduled for this weekend - hopefully, someone will see my place, love it, and make me an offer! This morning, anything's posssible! Enjoy!

Good morning ! It's such a gloomy morning today here in the heart of the Midwest. Rained most of yesterday, and today promises much of the same. When I thought about what photo I'd like to represent the day, I decided on this image from a creative photography class I took a few years back. The assignment was to photograph for one hour in a random spot, not straying more than 10 feet from your original starting point. I remember thinking that there really wasn't much of anything to photograph in the area where I ended up, and then I really started looking around. There were all kinds of beautiful things! I felt silly afterwards thinking that I originally was very concerned because I thought I was in a totally uninspiring area! How does this connect with today? Well, gloomy days sometimes makes one feel like things will always be this way, and never look up.....when it will! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed this morning, with all that's going on building our new home in New Mexico, trying to sell 2 houses here in this economy, etc., etc. Kind of like a gloomy day, or an uninspiring spot....look around and be patient. Things will work out fine, and all will be beautiful! Enjoy!

Just thought I'd play with posting one of my photos to my blog. Hmmm.....easier that I thought it would be. Hopefully, I'll remember how to do this again!

I really like to photograph nature, be it flowers or landscapes. There is such simple beauty and joy in the natural world around us. Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to my very first blog entry ever! This is kind of intimidating, but fun, too - at least, I hope it will be. I've never been very good at journaling, so this is definitely a new page for me. There are also so many things to figure out - like adding photos - that's a definite must, since I am a photographer, and budding collage/mixed media artist. Ah, well, the greatest journey begins with a single step - or in this case, the first blog!