Few Words

This is an old drawing. I am still working in the studio on different projects. They are just long term ones.

Today, I have few words to share.

Do you have some fun weekend plans?

Art and Non-Art

Today is kind of a clean up day around here. Just a few things to note and asking for some help in understanding.

In a comment to yesterday's post, Suki asked if I might add a side bar providing links to the conversations held on this blog. I have done that, if you are inclined to access the conversations with these wonderful artists. And speaking of conversations...I know you have realized I have not had a conversation in the last little bit. It is NOT that I am giving up on them. Many artists are quite busy right now and fitting in the time to work on these conversations is not easy. The other issue is I absolutely insist the experience be a positive one and each artist is absolutely satisfied with the content and presentation of each conversation. So this takes some time, but you have the benefits, too. I have a list of possibilities going, however if you are interested in having a conversation with me, please email me so we can talk.

Now I have something else in my craw this morning. It kind of has to do with art, but it doesn't, too. Anyone who reads this blog with regularity probably understands I order a lot of my supplies to be delivered. I do this for several reasons, but one reason is because I am not a single person running around to find what I want in the area for the best price. Basically, this means it is more efficient for my time as well as for the environment. I am very pleased with the source I use, my orders usually arrive in just a few days in very good shape.

But it is not only art supplies I order online. I also order books...as many of us do. And I have recently ordered a basket for my bicycle, so I can ride that to the grocery store when I need a few items. This will also save a little. I try to do my part to save energy. My car gets 30 to 36 mpg (good in the US), I ride my bike or walk a lot, I don't cook inside when the AC is running, I buy local food as much as I possibly can....well, you get the picture. Here is what I want to know...why is it that when I order items with a standard shipment it is often routed way out of the way before it gets to me? It goes right by my house, a lot! I know some services do not do this, but many do. Why is that? Do you have insights about the operations of these services? I would like to understand why, if you can help me here.

So these are my non-art questions for today. How do you save energy? Is it important to you? Do you have other sustainable practices in your life?

As always it is great to hear from you each day.

Sketching and Structure

While I am working on other things in the studio, I thought I would show you a couple of sketchbook doodles.
This was just a deal where I was seeing where the pen would go when I moved it across the page. The color is just color! There was nothing preplanned about this at all.

These are done in a Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook. I prefer these since they hold up to a lot of abuse.

This was an idea which came to me in a dream...my starters often happen that way. This was kind of a literal interpretation, but I am suspecting it might show up in a different way later. :)

Yesterday Chewy said she was going to begin a sketchbook day on her blog...I can hardly wait for that. I am afraid you are going to come here to see what you get with my blog, though. I am like that in my life, too. I don't do well with structure in a lot of ways. Do you do well with structure? Do you see that translated in your art?

Have a Beautifully Creative Day!

Slowly Returning...

My apologies for this photo. I usually do better with these, but this one just would not photograph well for me. It was a lot clearer when I did not crop the photo, so there you have it. I believe the reflective quality of the paints I used along with the lighting I have to work with made this particular one a challenge.

This is what I finished this weekend, but I started a lot more. This painting I did for my husband, the tree lover. Basically, it shows the strength of the tree that grows from a bit of earth which just barely nourishes it. I really wanted to do something more whimsical thus the vine-like lines. Paintings where you can recognize an image is not normally my style, but my very left-brained husband really wanted something he could understand. Do you ever do work like this...something really out of yourself for someone else to better understand and enjoy? I would not do this for just anyone, but I kind of think a lot of this guy! :)

So I not only spent time in the studio, but I also did quite a bit of sketchbook playing and reading. It was a good weekend for me doing the things I love.

How about your weekend? Was it all you looked forward to it being?

Wishing You Joy!

This is a holiday weekend for several countries. I am only aware of the ones in the US, the UK and France, though. On Sunday France celebrates Fetes Des Meres. In the English speaking world, we would probably say Mother's Day. On Monday it is Memorial Day in the United States and a Bank Holiday in the UK. Is there a holiday in your country or in your family this weekend? How will you be celebrating?
In celebration of these holidays I give you rainbows of joy. I have a crystal hanging in one of my windows which cast these lovely prism reflections each sunny afternoon.
Here is a shot of several of these...they just bounce around all over the place though...these are on the ceiling.

I hope to be spending some time in the studio over the next few days!

Where ever you are, what ever your weekend looks like, I wish for you joy and contentment. Of course I wish it to also be full of art, as well!

Peace and Love to You All!

Art Antics and Inktense Pencils

As many of you know, I like to travel and I have been known to move around a lot. Because of this, I have also tried to come up with ways to take materials with me and to create portable studios in various locations.

Recently, I talked about this new product from Derwent called Inktense. These are basically waterproof ink in pencil form. Waterproof, that is, once the mark has been wet and allowed to dry. I believe this is going to be my new travel companion. The other good news is they have expanded their color line to include a total of 71 colors, now.

I wanted to test this product quickly, so I did this doodle in my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook. I deliberately did this quickly and even used one of those Aquaflo fill-able watercolor brushes...which sometimes makes it difficult to get smooth application. If you allow the colors to dry, you can keep the colors very separate and even create layered washes which allow colors to show through other colors without blending them. But you can also blend them if you wet colors at the same time.
This is the other thing I have done with these pencils...now this is my intuition clicking in here. When I ordered these cards, I really wanted a variety of colors in just a swatch on these cards, but I couldn't get them done that way without a tremendous cost. So I ordered a better grade paper, used the pencils and created the color myself. Of course the ego and the more logical people who have heard of me doing this wonder what in the world am I thinking! :) In reality, it is kind of meditative to do this...well, mindless, anyway. LOL

So I do like these pencils, will continue to practice with them and use them for travel. While I am not a drawer in the traditional sense, I love color. And the color of these pencils are very intense if you are used to using watercolors. They really are more like ink. I think it will also be a great way to workout some thoughts for larger paintings. Well, sort of, you know how they take on a life of their own. The other thing I want to try is using them on various surfaces...

What new products have you found lately? Do you drive the people around you crazy with your art antics?

Absolutely Enjoy Your Day!

Paper Presentation

It is interesting that one of the reasons I prefer to work on deep, stretched canvas is because I do not want to have to deal with presentation once the work is completed. Now, how is that for laziness?

My woven pieces are a case in point. If you read this blog, you know I like doing these woven pieces with papers where I test various materials and techniques. As a matter of fact, I have been testing on rice paper because I know I will use these pieces for one thing or another.

So now I have a stack of woven pieces which are unmounted or unframed. I decided I was going to test out the Ampersand 3/4" Cradled Panels. If I had chosen the flat ones, then I would have been right back to where I began with how to present it...framing.

The weaving above I tried a ton of things. Babs had thought it would look good placed against a grass-cloth type backing. I also thought that texture might be nice. You can see, I worked on the string like appearance, but getting this thing right was brutal. After tons of trial and error, I ended up with this solid color over the texture I had worked with earlier. This particular wine hue does set off the weaving nicely, though.

This piece is one I did quite a while ago. I actually showed it as a WIP, but received so much encouragement to keep it as it appeared in the photograph. So I chose to do just that. The delicate gluing of this piece was very, very time consuming. It is quite fragile, but I also know glass over it would take away so much of the texture I worked hard to keep. So, I am just going to leave it this way. The cradled board behind it has many, many layers of glossy black paint and the edge of the cradling retains the clear wood (without paint).

I am not all that excited about these boards, but I am glad I tried them. They are fairly expensive, but they are very rigid and strong. I would like to find some other way to present these works on paper.

Do you struggle with having items framed? Do you find it cost prohibitive sometimes? I know I could not afford to pay for framing. Do you ever frame your work yourself? How do you deal with work you do on paper? Maybe I should be mounting these on canvases. What do you think? Do you think I should get into bookmaking? :)

Intuitive Art

As I told you a few weeks ago I ordered this book, and it has arrived.

As I have begun to skim through it, I realize I will use this particular book as a main reference when I need a kick in the pants to freshen up my work and my creativity. It is as good as I had hoped and more. Visit the blog associated with this book. Then take a look at the photographs taken at one of Dean Nimmer's workshops to give you an idea of some of the concepts delivered.

If you considered purchasing this book, I highly recommend you read the reviews and description at Amazon (no, I get nothing for this).

Now, talking about intuitive art, I have something to show you from one of the artist you know. Our friend, Andrea, over at CestAndrea has taken on painting various zodiacs from her own intuitive idea of what they mean. A lot of these paintings are based on women, and I personally find that quite appealing. This is the painting for my particular zodiac and she has hit the nail directly on the head with this one. Is that because Andrea and I have the same birthday? Thank you so much, Andrea, for this. You can purchase originals or copies of these paintings - see Andrea's blog for information and other zodiacs.

And do visit Andrea's blog(s) to see what else she is doing there in Paris.

So what do you do from your intuition? Do you think following your intuition is a positive or the best way to approach your art? Are you interested in this book? I look forward to hearing from each of you as you inspire me with every comment.

Thank You!

Seeking Advice

Here is a little posy to get your week off on a lovely path!

This is the painting I finally completed this weekend. I have been working on this for quite some time as it has probably between 50 to 75 layers of glazing. It will go into my Contemplation Series and is acrylic on 30 x 40 gallery wrapped canvas. I am still toying with names for this one. If you have ideas, I am listening. Some of the ones which have come to me are Into the Depths, Soul Seeking, and Into the Spirit. But I have not settled on anything at this point.

What do you think would be a good name for this painting? Do you ever have trouble with naming your works? Did you have a good weekend of art making or art seeking?

I have received a book shipment, so tomorrow I will share with you some of my thoughts on what I received.

The Look of Taste

So, okay...I tried to reproduce what a taste looks like today. I am no where near as successful as Babs, but I gave it a quick shake!

This is berries and cream...specifically, raspberries and blueberries and whipped cream! The taste is fresh, complex, sweet and the berries have huge bursts of individual flavor and sometimes it is all blended together.
This is coffee with cream. Do you think I like cream...I really struggle with a milk allergy, so I don't get much of that...but enjoy it when I take the allergy hit. So coffee tastes very earthy, creamy and there is a lot of intensity at some points and thin-ness at others. The cream works with it to take it deep. I love my coffee strong and rich! :)

So there you have it. I tried the Babs trick. Well, it is my personal interpretation of the Babs trick! That woman has some tricks up her sleeve, don't you agree?

So here is to a great weekend for you all! I wish for you all a beautiful weekend outdoors or in the studio...better yet, both!

What does Taste Look Like?

Note: I cannot say exactly who photographed these particular photos. What I can say is it was either my son, my daughter or myself.

Recently I have been inspired by so many blog posts. Some of them are art blogs and some are not. But our friend, Babs, at Off the Wall Art has shown a beautiful painting (she always does, but this particular one is inspiring this post). She refers to it as "The Day In The Life Of An Orange". When you visit to see this painting, you will totally understand what she means (and do visit it is well worth the clicks). While I am not sure what was in her mind or heart when she painted this, when I first saw it the thing which came to mind was she has painted this in response to how she feels an orange tastes. Have you ever done that? Produced your art in response to a taste?

I thought I would share a few photos of food to see if they might evoke some tastes you might paint...well, I am going to give it a try, since I haven't done it before. These lemons are some of the most incredible I have ever tasted...they are sweeter than normal. Yes, you heard me right! My daughter has a lemon tree in the yard of the little cottage she rents. It produces all year and produces a lot. If I had some here, now, I would have taken a photo of a cut one for you!
Nice, fresh salad, anyone? This was a lovely salad I had at a cafe in Berlin. It tasted especially nice as I sat at the table, with my son, on a wide sidewalk and watched people pass. The tomatoes were not so great, but the red pepper was fabulous!
Well, how do you think these might look if you painted their taste?
Or yummy, yummy...a mocha or espresso for anyone? I think these might paint up quite lovely! What do you think?

If you are wanting some other photos to respond to, consider visiting Taste With The Eyes blog. Of course there are lots and lots of photos of food on the web, but some bloggers really have some delightful photographs. And there are lots of artists who paint some lovely foods...

Let me know what you think about this idea. Thanks Babs, for so much inspiration for this post.

Photography

Note: these three photographs were actually shot by my son, Jonathan. See my response to Kate in the comments for more information.

One of my first (among several) artistic loves is photography. But I learned to love the dark room a lot...that is where the manipulation of the images took place. The dark room was where I could make the image my own, so to speak and I could do so even without a camera. But in these so many years, I have continued to use photography to inspire my other endeavors. When digital photography came about, I was somewhat reluctant to give in, but once I realized I could use the computer to manipulate my images, and without the chemicals, I was sold.

The little cameras which are so easy to carry around are very enticing, but for my photography work, I prefer my digital SLR. I like to be able to change the lens and manipulate the shutter to suit my needs. How much control do you like with your photographic experiments?

Lately, we have talked about how gardening is such an artistic inspiration and being able to capture those beautiful gardens with the camera is ever so delightful. When we lived in England the gardens were like nothing I had ever seen before in the US. I have shared a few of those photographs before. It seems as though flowers just love that environment and everyone seems to have a green thumb there, too. Now these photographs don't show those gardens, but they are some photos taken from the upstairs window of our cottage out over the back garden.

This is a rising moon in the evening sky. If you look closely, you can see the top of a tree in our garden. But what is that green light? We have never been able to figure that out. Any ideas? I have another photograph with the green light closer to the moon.
Obviously, this was taken earlier in the evening. It is looking toward the Channel Coast. Isn't the sky beautiful? We saw many sunsets like this. I also love the way the vegetation presents itself as black against the softly colored sky.
This is a similar photo taken to show the horizon as more defined.

I love these photos and find them inspiring. Photography in this house always brings a smile to my face, though. My husband, and his family, cannot understand photography beyond the human image. In every photo there has to be a person! No matter what! I find that so interesting...of course it is totally what inspires them.

What does photography mean to you? Do you use it as inspiration for your work? Is it mainly useful as documenting your work? Or are you just rarely without your camera and have your computer filled with photographs? Do you find it difficult to delete images because there might be something there you could use?

Responding with Art

It seems to me we have had some very serious and severe weather which has caused a lot of destruction and loss of life around the world. There has been the whole horrible business of the cyclone in Myanmar, the terrible tornadoes in the southern US and now the tremendous earthquake in central China. My heart breaks for those who are in the middle of all of this and my heart swells with gratitude for those who are helping these people recover.

When I am so touched by anything, I often find it makes its way into my art in some way. At least I have had this experience in the past. I think this might be true in many art forms. Last night I watched a wonderful documentary about the NY Philharmonic Orchestra's concert in North Korea, and it renewed my interest in how art can be a wonderful bridge to build when trying to unite cultures. Can art also heal those involved in these natural disasters? Can art be a peaceful way to heal wounds of many kinds?


This is an old painting I did after the earthquake in Pakistan several years ago. We were living in England at the time that happened and the BBC kept showing these people living under draped blankets in the middle of a beautiful park. I kept thinking about how amazing it was these people were living on top of the earth in this very beautiful park, but the earth beneath it was shifting and at some place there was a crack or cracks in the surface. This painting was my response to that. Obviously, it is called Cracked Earth is acrylic on 24" x 36" gallery wrapped canvas.


This is what has been happening where I am right now. Rain is also acrylic on 12" x 16" gallery wrapped canvas. We have had almost 4" of rain in the last 18 hours. Now I have been through more rain when we lived in Texas, however this is a lot different geography than there. Believe me, I am not complaining about the rain here. I do not mind at all.

This particular little painting is so appealing to young teenagers. I have no idea why, but so many of my nieces and nephews have wanted these "Rain" paintings. Maybe it is because when you are a teenager there seems to be a lot of "raining on your parade".

So do you ever respond with your art to news, weather, etc.?

Have A Great Mother's Day Weekend!

Sometimes I just like to browse books. I like all kinds of books and writings, and I have a HUGE interest in creativity. Yesterday I found this book by happenstance. Have you read it, heard anything about it or do you own it?

Would you like a little sneak as to what it is about? Visit Ian Roberts web site for the book to read a sample chapter. This chapter is Principle Fifteen - Finding Poetry in the Everyday. I copied this off last night and really enjoyed reading this chapter. If the remainder of the book is similar, I will be buying. The book has very good reviews, too.

Are you reading any good books related to art and or creativity? If so, please share them with me. I did place an order for the book, Art from Intuition which I spoke about a few months ago on this blog. Additionally, I ordered The View from the Studio Door. If you own either of these books, I would also be interested in hearing your thoughts on them.

The main thing I want to say today as we head into the weekend is this is the weekend in the United States, and other places around the world where we honor our mothers. I often think of the passion of motherhood and how that is very much like the passion of art. In this sample chapter, Ian Roberts shares on his web site, there is a paragraph I thought expressed the experience of the artist as well as that of the mother:

When on another occasion we can't find that spiritual level of experience, and so can't repeat it, the frustration can be cruel and the separation painful. Here lies the myth of the suffering artist. It isn't the art making when it goes well that has any suffering in it. That is the union with the beloved. It's the loss that causes the suffering. And the problem isn't something we can necessarily control. We are instruments, conduits for that expression. It comes through us by grace.

What do you think? As artists and as mothers we are instruments for creation and we access that through our grace. So with this, I will say to all of you who are mothers, have been mothers, want to be mothers and have mothers...

HAVE A HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A Little Break Today

So today I thought I would give everyone a break from my studio forays. Many of my blogger friends, I am learning, are also gardeners. We have only lived in this house just over a year. So what you see here is a result of the previous (and original) owners. My husband is a HUGE tree lover. He can't get enough of hardwood trees! Thus one of the big reasons we purchased this house. It is actually on a double lot and this area of our back yard is actually where a house was suppose to have been built about 35 or 40 years ago.

But this is the view I see each day from the back part of my house which is a kitchen and family room of all windows and skylights. I am clearly aware of how blessed I am to enjoy this kind of space and be so very close (just a couple of miles) to the city of Washington, DC...well, not the being close to Washington part, but the lovely area so close to the city part.
And these are the lovely tall trees which have leafed out beautifully this year. I love the way the green looks in that high light.

But here is what I really want you to see:
Do you see these little sprouts? I planted these in a pot. They were seeds sent to me by our dear friend, Babs! I didn't touch the seeds as usually seeds hate me. But I sprinkled them into this pot from the little package Babs sent along. And this is a shock of shocks to me that these little guys have come up! Seriously, I am shocked! But it is very exciting to see this happen. My husband and son covered the pot for me with fine wire fence, for now, to keep the squirrels from eating the seeds...I think they may have gotten some before we got them covered! So this is art, at least for me!

Gardening is such an inspiration for so many artists...I always think of Claude Monet. I wish I were a better gardener. I love planning gardens, I love viewing gardens, I adore flowers and I am grateful for the gardeners of the world, BUT I am no gardener. The one thing I don't care for in American yards (gardens) is the abundance of grass. We are presently working on plans to eliminate a lot of the grass in this yard and to allow the remainder of the back yard to return to the forest floor! Our plans are to keep this house for the long term, now. Those are the plans...but one never knows what the Universe has in store for us as far as relocation. One day, I will show you the front garden space.

So would you say gardening is an art? Does your gardening inspire your art as Claude's did?

Small Painting

My apologies for this photograph, but I wanted to show you this painting I did over this past weekend. It is 14 x 16 rice paper on gallery wrapped canvas with acrylic paints. I was really focused on the wrinkling of the paper with this particular piece. I am not sure it is complete at this point, but I am happy with it so far. If I do any more, it will be in the form of dry brushing to bring up the wrinkles a little more.

While it is not exactly Wordless Wednesday around here, I don't have a great deal to say today. Basically, this is just what it is! LOL I am glad to be back in the studio these days, though.

Do you ever have reflective days where you don't have a lot to say? ...well except in your own head?

Is there a big change?

I am going to share a bit more of what I have done with the PearlEx powder today, then will move on tomorrow to something else.

Here is what happened on some archival tissue paper I used under the rice paper I was working on. I often fold a sheet of this tissue to place under any absorb-able papers, because I never know what will happen with the ink. I have also used watercolor paper to do something similar.

And, as you can see, I also used this ink wet tissue paper to mop up some of the excess powder.

Now, this is an image you saw yesterday, but I have done something with it...so I wanted to show you some basic steps:

And this is a part of one of the other images you saw in yesterday's post. Do you recognize it? I left a tad of yellow so you could see...
So I took these two and wove them together to get:
One of the things about these weavings is how they change the entire piece. This looks so different from either of the two pieces from which it was made. You can see each part, if you look closely. But the composition makes it appear very different. Do you agree with me weaving this paper makes it very different? Can you imagine some of these with a different weave than the basic straight over-under weave? This is not going to be my main work, but it is a technique which interests me and also is a way I can use some of these papers which are created in the studio...and I am not always using those oh, so expensive canvases all the time! :)

So yesterday was very busy for me, so I was not able to get to a lot in the studio, but this part basically came together for me. I think this one is positive for mounting.

I have heard rumblings that a lot of you are keeping busy with your art and your gardens on these beautiful spring days. While I love the garden, I am not a good gardener. I adore seeing all of your garden work, though...it is very inspirational. And thank you so much for taking the time to post comments here.

Sharing Some of My Weekend Studio

As I posted on Friday, I stopped by my local art shop to find they had a nice Spring Sale going on. I wanted to pick up a few things, so the sale was a bonus. Below is a quick photo of the items I purchased on Friday. I used some of these things this weekend and some I did not. Obviously you will be able to see some of these items later on. But do you see those three little bottles in the front? They are the main subject I want to talk about today.

This is an example of rice paper which has been saturated with acrylic ink (yellow, blue and purple). Now Elis Cooke, who writes the blog Into the Bylistic, works magic with metallic powders. When I spoke with her about that, she recommended I give PearlEx brand a try. I have taken her advice and those three little bottles are indeed PearlEx powdered pigments.
I placed a small bit of the pearl powder in a double layered square of cheese cloth and gathered up the corners. While I held the little package by the corners in my left hand, I used my right hand to tap the left hand which was holding the powder package over the paper with saturated with wet ink. Then I hung it up to let it dry. The ink really absorbs into the rice paper, so make sure you have something under it to also absorb the ink. Do you hear an opportunity here?
Here I tried to get a close up shot for you looking across the paper.

But my favorite way to use this powder was to mix it with the acrylic ink.
This is the same blue and purple ink which I poured separately into little cups and added the pearl powder. Then I poured this over the rice paper! Of course the ink melded together and the powder had a mind of it's own and came together in the center of the ink images and melded itself! This is really appealing to me.

So I tested a lot of colors and several methods using these same mediums. You will get to see them, too. So, what do you think I am considering doing with these pieces?

I did not only work with these this weekend. I worked on a painting which has been on my easel, I started another canvas and am preparing a backing for one of the weavings I have been working on. So it was a very successful weekend in the studio. I worked and worked until I just didn't have any more space in there for things to dry!

Did you have a creative weekend?

Have a Wonderful Day!

Heads Up

One quick note...

If you live near a Plaza Arts shop, stop in as they are having a very good sale. I popped in today to find some very good buys. If you don't live near a Plaza Arts, then shop online...the sale goes on there, too.

I don't want to take up your time, but wanted you to know about this...also, ASW has a big sale going on right now and don't forget to sign up for their newsletter so you can get more money off. You can only shop online with them, as far as I know.

Have a Great Weekend...and read the "sort of" post below!

More from the Past

Today I am just going to show you some of my older stuff, again. Babs has started a real trend here - just take a look at some of the blogs on my list on the right...quite a few are digging up some old things to share. Fun stuff, uh?

I am planning a weekend of art, so by next week we can begin to talk about some more current stuff. Yippee! So here we go:

This was the first time I ever played with soft pastels. I just can't get away from those dark backgrounds. :)
This I call playing catch. I am sure my son and husband had been throwing the baseball during the time I dreamed about this!
The first weaving I ever did...these were done on canvas from a canvas pad, so it is very much like fabric...
Do you ever feel like this? We had just been told we were going to be moving to Europe! I guess I was surprised and a bit overwhelmed as we had just moved less than a year before!
Just playing around...color just lifts me up...but a light background!

Have a fun weekend and go ahead and look into your old stuff and share some of the doodles.

Next week! NEW ART!

Dull Tasks, Emotional Indigestion and The Art of Others

So today I have a question to pose right away. According to this article "Dull Tasks Numb the Brain...". So here is what I want to ask, does this get me out of doing tasks like cleaning, laundry, banking, taxes, etc.? Seriously, it is an interesting article. And here is another article I think is interesting about emotional indigestion which causes insomnia and how to deal with that problem. Apparently artists have a leg up in this area. Well, isn't that another great perk of what we do? So a little brain food for you from other sources...I am lame in that department.

But today I just couldn't resist sharing a few of these photos with you. They are National Geographic award winning photographs...so you know they are wonderful art. My friend and fellow artist, Lesley McIver from New Zealand sent them to me. I wanted to share some with you...there were close to 30 total. Enjoy these...

I really loved this lacy image and the lace maker, too.
And this photograph is one I could stare at for a long, long time...so National Geographic!
But it was this photograph which touched my heart. Look at that precious little face in the middle of these two adults. Now this is true love!

I hope you have found these to also be wonderful images and the articles to bring a smile to your face if not informing you.

Let me know your thoughts today and what you are up to. Me? Running a few errands and preparing for my weekend of art :)

Have a Good One!