Art Again at Last! The Cello

Here she is....The Cello. Not a great photo, sorry. The spot of light to the right of the image is not there on the real piece. In real life, she's a beauty, I'm proud of her. This is a 18 x 24 piece of masonite done in mixed media.

The background is acrylic paint mixed with Golden's fine sand additive. That was interesting to work with, for sure! The navy blue/gray ground is overlayed with metallic gold and red circles. Under her pale acrylic skin is a cello collaged with sheet music. The neck of the instrument goes all the way into her face while the body of the instrument melds with her own full hips and breasts. Inspiration for this art sat with me for many months. The motivation for was from a poem I read somewhere a year or so ago that opened with the line:

"The cello sounds low and deep from the room with no key,
your fingers pressing deep and I want you to play me"

I loved the poem and that line stuck in my head, nagging me. I will do my best to find the original poem for you my bloggy friends.

It is my intention to do a series of musical-she paintings. I love nudes. I revel at the sight of Renaissance period full-bodied nude portraiture. I hope to develop my skills in that area but finding willing models is not easy. I see a guitar, a saxophone, and more all entwined with SHE-SHE-SHE. Music moves me (and most of you, too) at all levels and I'm really not partial to any particular genre so this is good. I have a wide forum to work in and with. I am excited about it. Guitars really tickle my fancy and I want to work with them in depth. Anyone want to be a model?


And oh, I wrote a poem yesterday (highly unusual for me as I generally shy away from poetry), but I will present it for you later this week.

A Little Spark of Madness

We are given only a little spark of madness. We musn't lose it.
Robin Williams




Words to live by, don't you think? If only people understood me more. Does anyone else out there struggle with the fact that you stand in your own power? That your spark of madness, your ache to be who you know you are inside of yourself, is too much for the rest of the world to take...


I always thought that saying less was saying more. You probably don't think so after my last really long post, but for me, the excitement of last weekend overtook me and I wanted, nay, NEEDED to share the love. Today I learned that by not sharing personal information regarding a painful experience I had that people who were closest to me have made judgements against me. I thought by sparing people of the gory details, my side of the story, they would appreciate my desire to keep my personal business personal. Not so. It's disheartening but doesn't tear me apart.


I am loving people from a distance, in my heart, without speaking I am asking them for forgiveness. I am recognizing that anything I experience, no matter how ugly, is mine to own. Madness? Maybe. I believe in the goodness of humans. We falter. We all just do.


I am a renegade dreamer, full of power. Artist extrodinairre. Ex-wife. Mother. Friend. Teacher. Blogger.

**The picture is from my restaurant in the 1940's or 1950's. Feel free to print and use it in your art. I am fortunate to have many people drop off old pictures of this place. The three ladies photographed were some orginal waitstaff members.

Riding High with Jewelry, Belfast and Music

I have been riding high on life. So much good is going on that I may actually be glowing. I will recap the last few days so you can have a taste of the sweetness.

• Thursday night, 7/12 good friend Scott King, an amazing musician, came to play a couple of sets at the cafe. He brought his folksy/bluesy music to a head playing some of my favorite tunes that he wrote himself. He stayed late as we laughed and shared beers. (Yes, beers, there can't be any shame in that.)
• Friday the 13th...I ate a lovely breakfast at the restaurant, read some blogs and then hit the road for Whitefield, Maine's own Plenty to Do Farm aka Jes Berry's house. Jes had e-mailed directions re-routing me because of road construction. We were so amazed to discover we are a mere 50 minutes away from one another. WOOO HOOO.

I unloaded my pathetic supply of jewelery making thingy ma bobs, a couple of my own art pieces to share, my LifeWater (pomegrante and cherry, mmmmmm), and the cell unit. After a brief tour of her adorable 1800's farmhouse we sat in the newly added sunroom and got busy.

Let me say that Jes's home is lovely. Very comfy and welcoming. She has a lovely sense of style and a knack for hostessing. I felt very at home not only because of her personality but because her color schemes are exactly what I live(d) in. Mustard, sage, painted wood....ahhhhhhhh. And as I was perusing the place I spotted an original Kelly Rae piece. Art envy ensued. But I digress...

• Jes generously and patiently showed me some of the ins and outs of Diamond Glaze, wire wrapping and jump ring making. I, in return, showered her living room with clippings of wire thrown by my cheesy wire cutters. It was hilarious and a tad dangerous.
• Rudy her lovely aging dog, drooled and teased me all day with an empty water bottle. I think she felt my love of animals. Dakota, Rudy's buddy lay quietly in the corner whilst the kitty, I forget her name rolled around the living space.
• I managed to make this necklace called Laugh. It's heavy and a bit itchy but it was my first and I am proud of it. Thank you so much, Jes!! I headed home at 3:30.

Saturday morning was a beauty so a special friend who I'll call R thought we ought to hit the coast. So off we went to Belfast a beautiful diverse town rated one of the top ten in the country for its culteral options. We first crossed the big bridge into Searsport where we went to Moose Point State Park to walk the trails and beach, then attended a small used book store where I picked up a French and Danish encyclopedia for a friend who is having surgery this week. Odd gift, I know, don't ask (he loved it). Because we didn't have the kids with us we bypassed the famous Perry's Nut House knowing we'd be back another time with them in tow. When we got hungry we pulled into Main Street, Belfast and chose to eat al fresco at Dockside's Restaurant. A nice, family oriented, award winning restaurant with great views of town and the ocean. It was getting late so we headed home so I could help with the dinner rush and close the cafe.

Sunday the 15th...The morning was a little dull. I had a mongo thick feeling in my head from lack of sleep (new moon problem for me) so I took a nap from 1:-3:30. It was deliciously naughty and a total treat to sleep in the midafternoon. Anyway. When I arose I made a yummy potato & asparagus salad with honey-mustard dressing for the evenings festivities.

My chariot arrived at 5:30 with R at the reigns. We were invited to a private house concert. The headliner? Pierce Pettis. Neither of us brought directions. Since R has a way of losing information I carefully removed the written directions from his care two weeks ago. Lo and behold I lost the directions...he he he OOPS. Anyway, Spirit was watching because as we were looking rather foolish on the side of the road wondering which way to go R suggested we just start taking each of the side roads until we found the right house. First road on the left and *BLING* (is that the sound of that magic makes?) there we are, front and center, at the address we needed. JOY!!

The home of the couple sponsoring the concert was so stunning. 100' from the most beautiful lake water stood a massive yet tasteful home. What a blessing. The sausages were grilling, I donated my potato and asparagus salad and cracked open a beer. R and I sunk into being ourselves, no masks, just us at our best.

We took second row seats set for a group of 40 people. Scott King opened with a four song set. As you know, I hear Scott sing alot, but this day he was at the top of his game. I was so happy and proud of him. His wife Shauna was there to share in his glory, too. Scott, who had helped arrange the Pierce Pettis concert then introduced Pierce and the party began.

Picture this: a skinny, nerdy looking guy with glasses and curly salt and pepper hair wearing a Guiness Beer t-shirt under a plaid short sleeved button up with jeans and sneaks. EEEE GADS...can this man reallyl be the magical musical genious I've been told of???? Holy Hannah~when this man started playing his guitar and using his vocalsI could have burst into tears. His story-telling folksy/bluesy style completely knocked my socks off. I found myself swaying to the music, tapping my feet and knocking my fingers around. I couldn't sit still. The beautiful part was the spirituality that seeps into his lyrics. After his first set I looked at R and asked for the money to buy a CD, but he already had his wallet out and was headed to the table.

In between drinking tons of water Pierce enthralled the audience with stories about the songs and their history. He spoke of his Alabama childhood and his current life on the road. He sand a song he wrote for Garth Brooks titled "You Move Me" and there are several other big names that have sung his lyrics that I can't even remember.

The second set of tunes was melancholy. I found myself wanting to sob. He sand "Black Sheep Boy" and images of my 19 year old son went through my head as he warbled "i pray each night for your protection, my black sheep boy." Had Pierce Pettis met my son? And damn him if he didn't go on to sing "My Little Girl" singing how"You dance and twirl and twirl, always remember you are my little girl". I was choking back the tears, today as I remember the words to the songs I can cry, there is no R to watch and wonder.

I said to myself AMEN as Pierce finished the set with an old fast paced blues number that was once done on Bob Dylan's World Gone Wrong album. Pierce was completely taken over by the music. His body shook, his guitar was laughing and bouncing with giddiness and I was nearly taken over with the excitement of the song.

When it was all said and done and Pierce had done two standing ovations I was honored to share my thanks and praise of his music. I aquired an autograph and left the party grinning. During the music I saw a whole collaged piece go through my head, the setting, the music, the scent of the place all done on one big canvas. I hope it comes out as I sketched it in my journal. I will call it Pierce.

So there it is. Life is good. Music. R. Belfast. Jewelry making. There is so much I left out of this post that I can't even put to words about the past weekend I will leave the rest to your own imaginations. I hope I haven't over-shared and at the same time I hope I have inspired you enough to look into the music of Piece Pettis and Scott King, the jewelery making and teaching talents of Jes Berry and the cultural action of Belfast, Maine.

I sit here knowing I've been blessed.

Danger Dog Will Bite Your Bottom

I told you I have been busy. This is Willie, my half golden-half Irish dog who crossed over in 2005 . He was a beauty to behold all golden and auburn with long curly hair.



This was done on a 6 x 8 canvas. There are seven layers of acrylic paint on the background. I used my tiniest scissors to do scherrenschnitte for the silouette and there is some gorgous black and white designs from sheet music that my boy Willie is standing on. His collar is red cardstock and the ring is gold wire. Of course the scan doesn't do the color justice. There's lots of mustard and rose. There are rings of black and gold along with a thin layer of white.



I so enjoyed this "Ode to Wilie" that I made two of these so they could face one another on the wall. I feel confident is poking his nose at my knee as he did, wanting my attention and saying to me "Hey, did you get rid of the pig yet?" He didn't much like Abby Rose.

More info on my current pot-bellied pet Abby Rose, to come in future posts.

Now this thing is just a simple doodle I did over coffee and contemplation this morning. I ADORE my markers and luckily enough they sit mightily close to my kitchen table in a drawer that is almost full to capacity of these lovely colorful sticks. I doodle constantly and often wonder if people who pass by my desk question whether or not I do any work. I rely heavily on Zig scrapbooking markers because I delight in the choice of one thick end and one fine point end.

Tomorrow I am off to hang with Jes at the Plenty To Do Farm. She'll be in her jammies probably and I'll be in my comfies, too. We have our work cut out for us. Stay tuned.

I'm reading and writing and working and doing the art thing. Life is good and full right now. I'm blessed beyond words to feel so inspired. Hmmm, inspired...good word...inspiration is Divine's way of speaking to us. When we are inspired things fall into place, everything is right where it should be and all the right things happen, you just know it is 'meant to be'.



For me right now this means the right book that makes perfect sense, the conversation that happened at exactly the right time, the piece of mail with the right message. On and on I see the beauty of what the Universe is offering me, if only I accept and say Yes.



This past week I said yes to a book. Zero Limits by Joe Vitale and Dr. Hew Len speaks to me at all levels. Accepting total responsibility for EVERYTHING that appears in my life and then working to heal it makes my heart feel better. I want to heal. I want to be a leader and a teacher of healing. In order to do this I must set the example. Ho'oponopono is a Hawaiin method of healing that brings our souls back to a clean slate. It is a simple method and is deeply profound. I remain moved to tears at the depth of this learning.



This past week I said yes to healing. Divorce has left me weary. Myself, (ex)husband and children are hurting, but finally I see a light at the end of the tunnel. A shift has occurred in all of us and I can see that better days are ahead.



This past week I said yes to my future. I registered for my first three classes at college. I signed up for an all day conference on a subject that interests me. I have begun to look at moving to a new area of Maine.



The past week I said yes to me because if I don't love me then how can I expect you to love me?



ARTSY NOTE: I'm working on some fun stuff...two great little mixed media canvases and the darn necklaces are just about done.