I Like... (1/26)

Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. Click on HER BLOG to see what positive things others like. 

I like seeing who's prowling around outside our backdoor.

I like this funny little black chicken with the fuzzy black afro hair do.
I also like those blue serendipity pebbles. They glow in the dark!

I like having real fireplace.
Buff never leaves his spot in front of it.

I like a warm patch of sunlight, but this guy... loves it.

I like making fun little pouches like these from Cross Creek Sewing.
And, I like having a sewing friend (Wendy)
who can help me when I get stuck in the instructions.

I like gathering eggs.

I like visiting Disney World in January.
And my favorite character, Joy was there too!

I like how the cardinals come out after a snow.

I like getting to let the hens out after being cooped up for days.
They flew to a log and avoided putting their feet in the snow.

I like getting a surprise second stalk and blooms on my amaryllis!

I like having a little yellow partner to help me write my blog posts.

JANUARY

1.Do you ever sing in the shower? ( do you have a go to song you sing a lot?) I don't sing in the shower.  I might sing along with the radio in the car.  I'm so lyrically challenged, that when I do sing, it needs to be a song with plenty of repetition! 

2. Have you ever lived anywhere else?  I was born in the boothill of Missouri, raised in the Ouachita Mountains of Western Arkansas, and have lived in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas since I came to college.

3. Do you like calendars either desk or wall real calendars? A few years ago, I made the switch to a Google calendar that I can see on my phone, tablet, and computer.  It's color coded, and I live by it!

4. Do you like puzzles? I do. Jigsaw? I like helping with a jigsaw puzzle if there's one out, but I don't keep one going at my house or work one on my own. Rubik's cube? I never could master that one. Crossword? I used to work the one in the paper every day, but now the newspaper is online.  I work the big on in the weekend newspaper every Sunday afternoon. Sudoku? I  will work one if I'm on a plane or in a waiting room, but they're not my favorite.  What other kind?   I play a game of Double Freecell nearly every night before I go to sleep.  We do the New York Times Wordle and Connections every single morning.

FEBRUARY

I remember in elementary school, exchanging Valentines with classmates, did you? It was a big deal, which cheap card to give to which child. We had to give everyone one... we decorated the box too. 
remember those little cards and the tiny envelopes?  How about let's talk about being a teacher and living through or surviving  enjoying 32 Valentine's Days... excited kids... had candy for breakfast before coming to school... passing out valentines... home room moms bringing in way too much food and wanting to do an organized game when the kids just wanted to open valentines and talk... parents joining and bringing in little siblings... spilled juice... looking at the clock and realizing it was only noon and after those parents left, there were still 3 hours left... AAAAaahhhhh!!!!!!

(But, all the teacher presents of chocolate boxes... that was nice.)

Feb 19 2026
What was your favorite subject in school... elementary, I think I loved everything.  I just loved school.  high school, I loved math & science. I loved taking typing & shorthand & business lab. I loved home ec (my mom was my teacher). Of course, I loved band.  or college...I enjoyed all of my education courses.  or did your favorite subject change over time? Do you still have an interest in that subject?Changes... let's see.  I dreaded any kind of history. That's never changed.  I've always had a math mind, so it just came easily. I didn't particularly love it, I just did it. I've always loved learning science and still do to this day. I was always a good reader, but I don't know that I ever enjoyed reading or literature class.  I don't think I loved reading until I didn't have to do it for a grade anymore. 

My biggest shift in feeling about a subject happened in the last course I took in graduate school. Of course I took some kind of English every single year from 1st grade through college.  So much grammar, usage, mechanics, parts or speech.  Those things have always come so naturally.  They made since, I did the worksheets, I made As. 

At home I always kept a diary or journal, but sadly, I don't remember ever being encouraged as a writer.  It was a complete paradigm shift to realize that excellence in writing was more valuable than circling nouns or diagraming a sentence.

Feb 26 2026
What is the most adventurous thing you've ever done? In 2018 I went to Indonesia with a 4 other ladies.  We spent 10 days in Bali, in the villages not the cities and resort areas.  We spent time in an orphanage, with ladies' groups, in a kindergarten, in two different kinds of high schools, giving out glasses, working, supporting a team that was working there permanently. 

Meteora Monasteries

Let's get a little scale to show how big this painting really is.

Here it is across three easels.

Now, do I count a triptych as one painting or three paintings? Hmmm...

Maybe a dystopian landscape of science fiction?

Nope.

Although I used my artistic license...  

Of  course, I have an artistic license...
 Doesn't everybody?

Although I used my artistic license with some of the composition, this was painted from photos I took, a place we saw, buildings we visited in Greece a few months ago.

There were originally 24 of these buildings in the sky.
Now only six continue to be occupied by monks or nuns.

Yes, the rainbow was really that perfect.

Zoom in on this one.
You can see the box on a cable bringing supplies across.

The building just seemed to grow right out of the rock.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the one we visited,
but every square inch of the walls inside was covered with art,
religious icon paintings.

Cats everywhere... Ev.. ery... where...
Also, the scarf around my waist...
Women aren't allowed to show their knees inside, even if wearing pants.

That's what was on the other side of that low wall the cat & I were sitting on.

The view from the nunnery courtyard.

My Weekly-ish Challenge was "Old Building."  I think the intent was an old farmhouse or barn, but honestly... how much older can a building be than these! And, this painting is probably more about the landscape than the buildings, but I think it works.

Original Oil Triptych Painting on Wrapped Canvases 12"x 16", 20"x 16", 12"x 16"

[NFS]

Willowing Arts: A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales (January)

When I taught school, one of the older kids (a 4th grader) would come on the intercom at 8:05.  He or she would lead the whole school in the Pledge of Allegiance. That would be followed by the school creed and motto:

At Holcomb School, 

we are a diverse community 

of respectful, responsible, and creative 

life-long learners. 

Aim High!

I haven't said that sentence daily for a nearly a decade, but I think I'm holding true to being a life-long learner! 

Acrylics & paint pen

Masking fluid, watercolor, paint pen

Watercolor, paint pens, colored pencils

Watercolor, paint pens, colored pencils

Pen & ink drawing, collage, stencil, acrylic inks

Acrylics, paint pens

Art Journal Cover, gesso, acrylics, paint pen

Watercolor & salt, pencil & blending stump, splatter, gel pen

Layers of collage papers, craft paint mark making, paint pens 

My Girl

I love my job.

Ok... so it's not really a job.

I love being asked and being able to put someone's treasured image onto canvas.  I asked Dayna if she wanted to give the painting a title and write something about it.  I don't know this kitty, but I love her through Dayna's words.

15 years ago this January, I walked into the Windsor Humane Society looking to adopt a cat. Cliché as it sounds, I remember it just like yesterday. I think within minutes of meeting Harper, affectionately nicknamed ‘Lovebug’, she instantly started purring and I instantly started crying. Something just clicked in that very moment, a bond that my husband years later would refer to as my ‘outer organ’. Often, people refer to their pets as their fur babies or children and I have always thought of Harper as mine. But reflecting on our last 15 years together, I now realize that she’s truly mothered me over every one of those years instead. She was my only friend when I found my new footing in a completely new life across the country from anyone I knew. It was her that would give me all the kisses and head butts after a hard day at university or an awful day at work. She’s laid motionless by my side when I would have migraines that would take me out for days, been my ‘something to hold on for’ for years of depression and mental health challenges and still harasses me when I spend too much time in my office or away from her when I must travel. She’s my shadow, my moufette, the pookster, the Harpster…she’s my girl. 

This is not this kitty's first time to appear on my canvas. if you look really closely... back there in the trees... zoom in... at the base of the third tree from the left... Ah ha!!! There she is!

Original Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Pretty Pink Daisies

 

The cards have spoken...

Bloom... Magenta... Add More Texture

✓... ✓... ✓...

This was  good time to try out my new "stuff."

Here's where I'd like to say how much I loved using it and how it made the paint thick and able to hold rich textures with swipes of the palette knife.  I'd like to say how it was so fun to use and I can't wait to use it again.

But...

It didn't really seem to do much of anything. Hmmm... I'll give it another try soon. 

These pink daisies (coneflowers?) grew in the back yard of my parents home.

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

Click Pretty Pink Daisies if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Willowing Arts: A Year of Magic Taster Sessions (11-20)

More lessons... more fun... more surprises...

Watercolor & Pen
Gathering (fairy) inspiration from what might be outside in the yard

Acrylics
Using only 4 colors: 2 browns, red, white

Colored Pencils

Craft Paint

Acrylic on paper, then gesso over negative space

Collaged notecards, then ink over negative space.
Story cards, showing what 's personally important.

Watercolor in blobs then inks to find floral possibilities.

Markers, overlapping doodling

Gesso mixed with baby powder
Applied then scratched to remove creating runes

Collage with acrylic, papers, stencils, pictures, doily
Let some images/words escape the border of the picture