Pumpkin and Maple Folk Art Cats Original Painting

"Pumpkin and Maple"

This past weekend we went to the Roots N Blues N BBQ in Columbia, Missouri.  We've gone the last three years and it's become a family tradition.  The weather was wonderful and we felt like autumn had finally arrived!  I love spending time doing the things we love with family and friends.

This morning I finally got my act together and listed this brand new painting in my Etsy store.  Just click on the title at the top of this post to go directly to the listing.  I can't believe how long it's been since I've actually finished a painting.  Life takes on all kinds of changes and challenges, but I was finally able to slip in a few days of painting and have to admit how wonderful it felt to actually pick up a paint brush again!

Pumpkin and Maple love resting in the brisk cool air on the porch every day as brightly colored leaves seem to magically fall from the sky. They roll and toss themselves into these irresistible crunchy piles scattering them in all directions. What a heavenly time of year to play outside!

Autumn Folk Art Painting Challenge

I've been busy this week working on a 12" x 12" painting that I started last year.  It was the middle of winter at the time and I decided to paint a summer scene.  Now that I've gotten back to it and the temperatures are still in the 90's in September, I'm trying to figure out if I can change this to a fall scene?  Summer or fall,  what do you think?  

Dreaming of Autumn

I should have titled this Surviving the Summer of 2018!  I started off by fracturing the radial head in my left arm during a stiff armed fall in my garden.  This is the part of the long bone that allows your arm to bend, straighten and rotate.   This is supposed to rotate next to the elbow.  I'm not great at explaining, but needless to say my gardening days this summer were quickly ended.  Along with an attack of Japanese Beetles and a drought, I lost a lot of plants and grass this year.  I spent several weeks in physical therapy and now I'm feeling great once again.  I can't complain because I wasn't in a lot of pain, but could not use my arm.  I should have tried painting with one arm, but I always hold my canvas with my left hand.  It was sort of a challenge to see how much I could do with one arm.

We left the heat behind a few weeks ago and headed for Colorado with our family.  It was a dream vacation for sure!  We always go to Rainbow Lake in Buena Vista, but also took several day trips. Our kids were our good luck charm because we got to see our first moose along with her baby in the lake in front of our cabin.  There were always plenty of deer roaming through town, chipmunks, and also a baby bear running down the sidewalk.    

Now that I'm rested, healed and refreshed from all that mountain air, I'm ready to pick up those brushes and get back to work. 

It felt so good to start a new painting!  How was your summer?  I'm so ready for autumn and some cooler weather.  

Original Folk Art Painting Thanksgiving at the Parker Farm

"Thanksgiving at the Parker Farm"

Yes!!  It's finally finished!  I've been working on this painting for so long.  Maybe not working, but putting off finishing it because I just wasn't feeling it until recently.  I was beginning to think I would just have to resort to starting a different painting all together.  This is what happens when I haven't painted something this involved for over a year.

Generally when I start a painting I finish it.  I'm not the type to have unfinished projects sitting around.  Canvas is also my surface of choice and this was a flat masonite panel.  I haven't painted on a flat surface in years.  Let me just say that canvas is STILL my preferred choice.  

When I first started this painting last year the barn was gray and I finally realized that was the problem.  It stuck out like a sore thumb.  Gray is all the rage right now, but not for this fall scene.  Once I got that corrected the painting started coming to life with a story to tell.

My husband's family had a farm with a dinner bell like this one.  His dad moved it to his home and last year when no one was around, someone stole it.  It was heartbreaking!  I added this to the painting for my hubby.

Follow the winding country road through the Village of Redfield and you’ll eventually end up passing by the Parker Farm. Guests are guided by the aroma of a home-style Thanksgiving dinner around the bend to the driveway of Ed and Nancy’s home where dinner is laid out picnic style and the family will be eating by moonlight. There’s always plenty of food for extras who might stop by to visit. The scent of chimney smoke and freshly fallen leaves lingers in the air as Lady, the family dog, checks out the new litter of kittens roaming the farm. 

This painting is listed in my Etsy Shop and does not include a frame.

My little corner of the world where I sew, knit, crochet and dream up new projects.

I've been working on this little corner of my bedroom for a while now.  There used to be a big chair and ottoman here that I never used and I decided to make some changes.  I had this old table that my dad made for me many years ago for my art room and it is well used.  It has been moved from room to room for many years and I couldn't decided it's true purpose until now.  Yes, it has heart cutouts on the side of the legs and I've tried to come up with ideas to cover those up, but have decided to leave well enough alone.  The table was built with love and it's very special to me.

This will now become my sewing/quilting, all things yarn, and a corner to dream up new projects.  Most of my really good yarn is in my art room, but these large skeins fit better in large baskets. I must confess that I have a trunk full of hand dyed yarns too.  This corner will probably continue to evolve because I'm not sure that this is the most comfortable chair but for now it works.  The biggest advantage to this corner is that I can look out the window onto my flower garden if spring ever truly arrives!  

Kiss Me I'm Irish Original Cupcake Painting

 "Kiss Me I'm Irish"

This original is now available in my Etsy store.  

I wanted to paint something the other day so I sat down to finish a fall scene that has been sitting there waiting for me.  This is what happened instead.  Ha! 

A rich, deep, dark, chocolate cupcake is topped with green ombre frosting piled high. This gentle reminder to kiss the Irish cook is perfect for your cozy kitchen on Saint Patrick's Day or year round.

A New Original Folk Art Winter / Christmas Painting

I've been secretly painting a gift for my neighbor and haven't been able to post about it.  Betty and her husband, Bill have been great friends and neighbors since we moved here 17 years ago.  My husband and I have known Bill since he was one of our high school teachers way back when.  Betty and I have shared interests in quilting and quickly became good friends.  She also makes some of the best fried chicken I've ever had!  Betty has taken care of our dogs numerous times when we've been away from home and we watched her dog "Cooper".   This is my gift to her for all the times she's watched our animals for us over the years.

"Cooper Takes a Walk On Christmas Eve"

Cooper was one of the most beautiful, loving dogs I've ever known and this is the way I remember him.  Whenever, I would exit my backyard gate, he was so excited to greet me.  Betty walked him daily and he would drag her by the leash to get some loving pats from me.  All the neighborhood children had to run to him as he walked by with Betty.  Cooper was so very gentle and loving and we all miss this gorgeous creature!  

I love Bill and Betty's adorable cottage.  I found an old picture that I took of it several years ago with the old fashioned colorful lights that hang in the arched porch area and knew that I would have to paint it as a Christmas scene.  I paint Christmas year round because I can't help myself!  Ha!

Thanks for being such great neighbors!  We are truly blessed to live in a neighborhood surrounded by good friends!

Chalk One Up for Pancake Recipe Gluten Free

This is what I had on my chalk board in my kitchen during Christmas and really if I'm being truthful, I didn't erase it until today.  The decorations were down but the chalk board still loadly proclaimed, "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas".  The chalkboard on my kitchen basement door still had the "Mistletoe Cafe" on it too!  I have a hard time erasing these because I put all that work in and then have to erase it every year.  I did however, clean them off.

This Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook was a wedding gift back in 1973 and has been very much used and abused.  I've used this recipe for pancakes so many times that the page falls out.  One would think that after 45 years of making a recipe over and over, I'd have it memorized.  So once I clean off the chalkboard, I usually revert back to putting this recipe back on the chalkboard.  It's saves me from having to look this up every week.  I have gone gluten free for over a year now so I added that to the recipe.  I use Bob's Red Mill Cup For Cup Gluten Free Flour.  

I also use this cookbook everytime I boil eggs. Ha!  It's true!  The recipes keeps the peeling from sticking to the eggs.  

We had these this morning with bacon.  Who loves bacon dipped in a little syrup?

Art Room Organization

I was so excited to find these little fabric organizers that came as a set at Ikea and they fit perfectly into my Ikea cabinet drawers.  Yes, that's my chocolate stash in the upper right bin!    This set comes in a flat package.  You can kind of see the white zipper in the bottom of each container that runs diagonally.   When they are unzipped you can fold them and lay them flat.

I've been trying to decide what to use my bike and basket for, and went with this look for now.  

Sorry about this poor image from my phone, but this is a new painting that I started this week.  I'll get back to the autumn painting I started later on.

.....and yes my Christmas decorations and tree are still up!  How about you?