THE ANGEL & THE SEEKER...

Once upon a time an angel traveled the road with a man who was seeking wisdom. They passed the gates of a big city and just outside the gate sat a small devil. "Look at that" the man said "This must be a very righteous city they have pushed the devil outside their gates." Further down the road they passed a woman who was put upon by seven devils who provoked her and whispered to her constantly. The man spoke..."this woman must be very evil she keeps company with many devils...she should be shunned". The angel smiled and said "Friend be careful where with you judge...for this city is so wicked that it is kept in bond by one pitiful little imp...and this woman is so righteous that seven devils tempt her day and night and still she does not succumb. It is wisdom in you to withhold judgement and seek understanding.

~

I like this fable and wanted to illustrate it...I especially like the face of the woman in the painting she looks so innocent. Thanks to Hieronymus Bosch for the devils.

SISTERS FOREVER, FRIENDS FOREVER...

The little girl in the blue is my Grandma Hilda with her sister Laura in pink. That is the way they were their whole lives hand in hand...friends forever through thick and thin...in pink and blue. That's them down life's road eighty years later...just before my Grandma passed away.
The lilacs were a favorite of both sisters and the pansies are for the song "little Purple Pansies" also a favorite. The box of bottles is a curious thing it represents a story Grandma used to tell of how she and Laura went to the park and collected bottles all day for the few precious pennies they would earn to buy themselves something special. When their father arrived home from work and they weren't there he was not happy...he found them in the park and made them leave all the bottles they had collected...and go home to bed without supper. The next day they ran back to the park but of course their box of bottles was gone.

AUDIE'S TREASURE...

Here is the collage I finished today it's called Audie's Treasure...I think I like it the best because it has more details and I like the colors better. I remember when Grandma showed me this photo the first time she told how she had loved that watch and had insisted on tying it to her blouse to have her picture taken. The broach is a picture of her mother who she loved dearly. I mentioned before her love of roses...she also enjoyed music and taught herself to play several instruments. The lace is for her love of crafts and her ability to create things to beautify her home. The sprig of green leaves is peppermint...as peppermint tea was her cure all for any ailment. The butterfly represents her deep faith in God and her gifts of the spirit.

Grandma never had much in her life but she was blessed with wisdom and talents that she used and expanded on and a singular trust in God that saw her through many trials...these were her treasures.

AUDIE'S ROSES...

This is a picture of my Grandma Audie. It is the only picture I have of her as a child. I wanted to do something special with it to reflect her life. She loved flowers especially roses...her yard was full of them...and she spent many hours in her old age drawing roses. She would type a poem or story on a page and then illustrate it with a rose. These she gave as gifts to her family and friends.

I am working on another version of this picture today...I think I will have the one I like best framed.

THE FABULOUS CRAFT OF CRAFT...

A fabulous new artist I just discovered. Love the whimsical beauty and intricate design of these extraordinary paintings by Kinuko Craft...wonderful stuff.

SARGENT PEPPER'S PAPA...

Of course you probably all recognize the top picture as the cover of The Beatles famous Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Album...the bottom collage was created by the same gentleman...English artist Peter Blake. It is always a joy to discover a new artist even though he has had a long and distinguished career right under my nose.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS...

This is an experiment in color that turned out way different then I thought it would...but I liked it so I finished it up as an altered art piece. She reminds me of Estella from Dickens "Great Expectations" hence the title.

GRANDFATHERS VIOLIN...

I absolutely fell in love with this picture and had to work it into an altered art piece. The hardest part is making the glasses look like glass...but what doesn't kill you make you smarter...at least that's what they keep telling me.

I love its tender nostalgic feel.

FACE IT...

This is a small sample of a number of plates created by Piero Fornasetti. He created more than 11,000 items, many featuring the face of a woman...operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, as a motif. Fornasetti found her face in a 19th century magazine.
“What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.” The “Tema e Variazioni” (theme and variation) plate series based on Cavalieri's face numbered more than 350.
I have always like these plates the idea of doing the same picture with a different theme is interesting... it's fun just to see the number of variations he came up with.

SWEET BABY JAMES...

This is an example of the work of James Christensen. He is my favorite artist and I have several of his print...that make me smile on a daily basis. The bottom picture is "Jonah" don't miss the little man in the window. Christensen feeds my need for whimsy...his imagination and detail are amazing.