Memorial Day Weekend and Fleur De Les

 Hope that you all had a great Memorial Day --Mine was very good.  The Fleur De Les show was Saturday and I had a good show.  Yesterday I woke up with a horrific headache.  I took some ibuprofin on an empty stomach and got sick.  Went back to bed and stayed there for about an hour and woke up feeling great.  It really was a relaxing day.  I don't have any pressure or stress about getting ready for upcoming shows because I don't have another show scheduled until October.  How great is that? I got to go out to my studio and do what I wanted to do without being pressured to get something done.  I really enjoyed that.

The pieces on the left are the latest ones to have been completed.

The first one is called "Find your Passion"

 This one is called "On the Wings of a Dove"

This one is "Sundance"

This one was a custom order.  I had done one very similar with green eyes.  A vendor at the show had asked for one with blue eyes for her daughter.

Hope you all have a great Monday--I am off to create!!

Do you feel Guilty

 I have this wonderful old friend who feeds my "salvage" hunger.  Whenever he comes across something old and rusty, he thinks of me.  He brings me some of the most beautiful rusty things.  Items that most people would discard because the newness has faded and it has no sparkle left.  He brings me things that have the patina of time and life.  All of the dents and scrapes that it picks up on the way show up in its rusty skin.  All of this rust covers a mystery and shrouds the item in a cloak.  Where has it been and who did it belong to. Was it once a once loved piece which has now been discarded and replaced with something "new", something "better".  I prefer the old, rusty things with the air of history and mystery over the stamped out, over sold, cheaply made and imported "new" things. Maybe that is because it reflects "life".  We go through life getting bumps and bruises along the way.  Our  outer beauty fades, but internally we become more beautiful.  We acquire a depth and knowledge that we didn't possess in our younger years. We lose some of our sparkle but we take on a patina.  You can see life etched in our faces by the hands of time but there knowledge of who we are and where we have come from.  We begin to know what we want and desire.Maybe this is why I like old, rusty things.......


  That brings me back to the pieces that I have included in my blog today.  These pieces are composed of rusty old barbwire, old jewelry and cedar boards.

I made some of them for my upcoming shows.


I have a show the last weekend of May and have been busy trying to get some things done for them.  I love the shows, but I feel like I let them dictate my life.

Getting ready for them consumes my time and I have very little time for housework, yard work, etc....... That leads me to this--Do any of you ever feel guilty because you spend so much time on your art or your craft??  Am I alone in feeling that I am not pulling my weight around the house because most of my spare moments are spent on my art. 

 I know that I work full time, cook when I can, clean when I should and take care of the critters- but how much more do I need to do to "feel" like I am doing what I should??  Why do I feel so guilty??  Is it because I spend so much time doing what I love and my husband picks up all of the loose ends that I leave dragging??  Don' get me wrong.  He NEVER complains about the time that I spend on my art.  H mows the grass, helps with the animals, does all of the odds and ends that come with living out in the country and he seems to be fine with it.  It is me who has the feeling that I don't put in the hours that I should be.  That I am inadequate as a house keeper and do not have flower beds to rival Better Homes and Garden.......

 I don't have any small children to run after--they have all flown.  So, why can't I shake the feeling that I need to do more.  Do I need counseling???  Who knows.  I am not expecting answers here.  I am just wondering if anyone feels this way.

My life if full.  There isn't a spare moment in the day. When I leave work I go home.  Sometimes we eat on the way home, sometimes I cook.  Some evening I go up to the studio and try to squeeze in time but it is so difficult.


Are there answers???

Well, we have made it to Thursday!! One more work day to go!!  This is a picture of "Dove", she is my latest mixed media piece.  She is done on a gallery canvas so she will not need to be framed.  I finished her this weekend and started several other pieces.

 My "Twisted Monas" have had the pastels added, now the additional layer of paint, fabric and texture have to be added.  The kids love these--teenagers in particular.

 Yesterday, we had a meeting down town and while we were close went to the Sci Port and looked at the "Bodiies Revealed" exhibition.  It is so interesting.  These are actual bodies that been preserved and semi dissected to sow various parts of the inside of body.  If you are into science you would really enjoy this. For those of you who would like to see more, follow this link http://www.sciport.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=BODIESREVEALED&category=Exhibits_and_Galleries&submenu=Exhibits_and_Galleries

 When we left the exhibition we walked downtown and viewed the new art that was placed.  This is called "Safe Harbor".  It is a sculpture from Deedee Morrison.  You can follow this link to read more about it.http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20120414/NEWS01/204140338/Oversized-sculpture-unveiled-riverfront

These are also at the Shreveport riverfront but I  am not sure of the artist's name who designed them.  They have a back light of many different colors at night.  They are really beautiful.

These mosaic picnic tables are at the Riverfront also.  They are very nice.










This weekend I am hoping to get into the studio and finish my Mona's and a custom angel painting.  My next show is the last weekend of this month.  It is the Fleur De Les show in Natchitoches.  It will be my last spring show.  This will be a relief.

Update on Moses and Melrose Festival

 These are Moses' latest pictures.  I think that he is becoming a little camera shy.  I had to get him out of the box several times before he would sit still for his photo op.

 He is doing very well.  He still comes to work with me every day--I can't leave him at home, I am afraid that the cats would want to play with him.

 This is one of my latest pieces.  I call him "Patch".  His head opens up to reveal a circuit board and a light bulb is inside of it that reads "Inspiration" along with a ball that says "Dream"

This is the inside of  Patch's box.  It has a clay heart, gears, a ball that says love and his own story.

 This is a picture of Alma. She was a vendor at the Melrose show.  She is such a sweetie.  You never know what her attire will be.  In this photo, she was a Zulu Princess.

 This is a picture of the Big House at Melrose.  This plantation was established in 1785.  It is truly beautiful.

 A large live oak at Melrose.

The gift house at Melrose

I had a really good show at Melrose.  I always love going there.  It is one of my favorites.  We got there on a Friday evening.  They had a huge supper for the vendors.  Chicken, brisket, fruit salad, dirty rice, potato salad.........and so on.  And, for dessert there was banana pudding, fudge brownies, cakes, pies, fruits.  It was so delicious (are you hungry yet?).  We couldn't get right up on our spot with the truck because of the large oak trees.  They are trying to protect the root system and didn't want anyone driving on them.  We had to cart everything in.  We set up the tent and the grid walls and the tables, and kept the art boxed and on top of the tables.  We put up the sidewalls and left.  That night, it poured.   And it didn't just pour for a little while...........It rained a monsoon for HOURS.  I guess that the rain settled over Natchitoches and decided to stay there because I listened to it rain most of the night.  It finally stopped at about 3 am.  I was just sick.  I thought that most of my art was probably soaked.  After all, the tents are water resistant, not water proof.  The next morning driving into the plantation we seen tents toppled over and blown across the yard and I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I didn't want to see my tent or worse, my art.  But, to my surprise the tent did phenomenally well.  Two of my pieces got damp but all of the other pieces were dry.   I actually had a great show.  The jewelry that I made sold very well and I ended up with some orders for some custom mixed media angels.  I have one more show to do in May and then no more until the fall.

Have a great day!! F.

Abstract Thoughts and Moses

These are photos of the an abstract that I finished last weekend. I am on an abstract kick right now. I just love playing with the texture and color. I love bright colors and try to use as many as I can find!! I had an extremely busy weekend but got alot done for the upcoming show. I still have to get the camper out and pack up the art but I did get all of the pieces finished.




Here is the latest picture of Moses. For those of you who don't know--I found Moses several weeks ago on the job. His eyes weren't open yet and he had to be bottle fed. Guess he will just stay with me for awhile. I hate to think of his fate if I turn him out. What do you think--Free him or keep him??

There are so many owls and hawks and cats and then you have the mouse poison. He is not afraid of people either. What a quandary.

Would love to know your opinions.

Have a great day.

Faye

Melrose Plantation

House where Clementine Hunter painted





Looking in teh side window of the Hunter house.








Happy Friday the 13th. I have to admit that I lean a bit toward the dark side. I love the old horror movies, the weird and creepy and off-the-track stuff. I adore skulls and alot of the things that most people find disgusting. I am a little different but not in a bad way--With today being Friday the 13th, I just know that something good has got to happen. You know, maybe tonight would be a good night to get one of the old Vincent Price movies out, or one of the Underworld movies and sit down with a big bowl of popcorn and just "veg" out. I am a fan of Horror flicks though--The old Dracula movies, yeah, I love those. I am so ready for the weekend! I have a show next weekend so this weekend will be a flurry trying to get ready for that. I will be at Melrose Plantation next weekend. It is a beautiful old plantation house that old outbuilding surrounding it. It has been restored and is gorgeous. There is even a guesthouse on the property that once housed Clementine Hunter. It is in Natchitoches La. If you ever get the chance, it is well worth the visit. They have a big festival there every year. It is really great.

I am hoping to get a few more pieces out this weekend and what I have done will just have to do.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Faye

Flirting with Adventure

Here is my latest piece. I call it "Flirting with Adventure. Had a Great Easter Weekend. I got to spend two full days in the studio. I quit a little early Sunday so that I could make Easter Dinner. Ham and all the fixen's......It was good.





Flirting With Adventure










































This is my latest finding. I found him 1 week ago tomorrow. His eyes weren't even open. I was walking through the job site building and saw him on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Man lifts and people were walking all around him. I can't believe that he wasn't squished. I call him Moses. He is so sweet and doing so good. I was afraid that he was past gone when I found him, but he has proven to be very resilient. He isn't afraid of me but dislikes anyone that he doesn't know. More afraid than dislike, I guess. But he is so sweet.