Santa, Santa, Santa! and PPF #38

I've painted TWO new

Chinese bottle gourd Santas


The Santa Boys!

paperclay base

Vintage sheet music snowflakes!

a Holiday Swap gift!

love Christmas and Santa and love to paint,

visit more talented painters at Paint Party Friday

I'm a Santa 'groupie'. Is there a group I could join for folks with Santa addictions? Back to work this week after 3 months of learning to live with new hips. My Doc did an awesome job and the rehab is now up to me. I painted a lot during my recovery period, started my ETSY shop and made a bunch of very talented friends on line. A little apprehensive about returning back to the corporate world ... but off I go! Thanks for the visit - it means a lot!

NANCY'S Sled

This was my mom's sled when she was a little girl. It's been around for all of my 54 years. I painted it for part of my front porch decoration for the holidays this year and I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out. NANCY'S SLED FOREVER! The sweetest angel snowperson with a holly boa and halo and the Bethlehem star. My mom was born in 1927 and passed in 2005. Her 'dash' is a tiny heart ... because that was what my mother was all about for all the years of her earthly life!

still miss you mom!
xo

i love the sea and God's gifts (ppf # 36 too)

driftwood and God's treasures from the sea!
i painted small driftwood chunks to highlight treasures from the sea.
all the showcased items were found 'as is' by the sea!

a heart shaped rock tumbled by the ever moving ocean
angel wing shells attached to another driftwood chunk

with a naturally shaped rock halo
5 sea shells
a piece of coral with a natural hole

(embellished with beads and sea glass)
3 tiny sand dollars, and
a starfish

GOD makes great stuff!

i LOVE the sea ... an amazing place to be!

Happy PPF #36 too

... keep in touch ...: a WHITE Halloween?????

Missed PPF #34 ... sorta in the dark and no internet access ...

... keep in touch ...: a WHITE Halloween?????: On August 16 th I had my right hip replaced. 12 days later, on Sunday, August 28 th , tropical storm Irene hit CT. Out comes the generator...

PPF #33 and it's almost Halloween

Have you been over to PPF to visit with some incredibly talented artists and check out their work? The piece below fits in perfectly with their discussion regarding Halloween and

Dia de los Muertos.
YOU can see anything in a gourd if you really try. This is 'Bonita'. Originally a Chinese bottle gourd that lost her stem in shipping has human (my) hair that could be trimmed if you prefer a shorter look. It certainly won't grow any longer! She's hung around the studio for the last couple years in her box and only comes out for special occasions. I never thought there would be a market for her ... should I list her on ETSY? She's a fun piece and

her hair has held up pretty well

for the last two years ... SCARY!

Happy Halloween

and
enjoy Dia de los Muertos*

*(Day of the Dead) a holiday dedicated to ancestors honoring both death and the cycle of life. The celebration acknowledges that we still have a relationship with our ancestors and loved ones that have passed away. How cool is that?




... have a great weekend!

Harley #2 hits the streets and my heart!

I LOVE TO PAINT! Created a 2nd Harley gourd for an old friend. It was the best thing ... i thought about her the entire time i painted! I remembered all the good stuff about working with her, about the early a.m. talks we had, about the other folks we worked with, about BACON CHEESEBURGERS. Hope she loves this Harley gourd as much as I loved painting it for her!

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

~ the Dalai Lama

p.s. see you in a couple weeks!

Harley Davidson Gourd & PPF #31

finished this commissioned piece today

designed by the client and painted by me!

lo and behold ... my interpretation

of the Harley-Davidson logo!

Gourd is approx 16" tall and

has a personal message hidden on the back ...

a perfect Autumn gift for the man/woman

who has everything and loves their Harley :)

if you have time, head over to Paint Party Friday, every Friday ... you'll find some very creative folks and their very creative works there.

(posting my PPF Friday post on Thursday because I can

and I'm always late and finally I'm early - thx for understanding!)

PPF #29 Check In & Finished Pieces

The Candy Corn Collection!

... the traditional set was a special order, then I had a request for chocolate candy corns ... then I thought, what could be more fun than 'beach' candy corns?

they finish off your Halloween gourd or pumpkin collection quite well!

chocolate candy corns

and the 'beach' series

Had fun with this little 'Thank YOU' tchotchke

you can see the whole story here
it's a nice story about neighbors helping neighbors

and one particular neighbor and his John Deere

picking up the pieces after tropical storm Irene hit Connecticut.

have a great week end

and visit Paint Party Friday

for all sorts of inspiration!

Scrap Wood Candy Corn and ...

Scrap Pine Candy Corns

(nothing goes to waste around here ... thx Rog)

... and another canteen gourd creature
for Halloween

sorta mummy like (with her stained gauze bandages),
she's just recuperating from a bit of work she had done to impress her beloved 'Frank'

(seen in a previous post)

Spiders and web on her back side ...

... and embellished with

Dana Bates Candy Corn Beads
and a stained gauze tie

signed by me on 9/11/2011
GOD Bless the USA
Are YOU Ready for Halloween?

have a great upcoming week!

ETSY shop and PPF #28

FINALLY added some items to my ETSY shop this past week. Pretty exciting ... I'm in two circles (whatever that means) ... guess I have a long way to go! It was on my 'to-do' list and although I have more pieces to list, I can say I did it! We'll see what happens. Worked on a 'Thank YOU' gift that involved some painting this week, but don't have any pictures available at the moment. I so love creating presents and fund raiser pieces!

I'm heading over to Paint Party Friday to see what's happening there today ... want to join me?

more of the 2011 Autumn crew ...

more of the Autumn 2011 crew!
so fun creating and embellishing
these grown in the U.S.A. gourds
they will last year after year after year

batty front

batty back

'Frank' on the far right ...


... complete with his paper clay bolts

The BROTHERS

brother embellishments

I LOVE

Dana Bates Beads

and I can't get these bats and ghosts anymore :(

purple backs

purple fronts

details ... details ... details ...

head on over to Paint Party Friday ... some VERY talented folks will be checking in for PPF #27 and will be sharing some very inspirational and creative work. Thx for your visit here!

xoxo