How about that game last night?
Woohoo! It's great to have a home team going to the World Series. 
I don't have any Yankees shirts, so I just wore the only blue tee I have- an old Johnson High shirt that says "we ROCK the south". I works though, cause it could just mean south Bronx.
I love singing the old old hymns
and imagining my grandparents, great grand parents, great great grandparents singing along
(Cause those songs were theirs before they ever reached my ears)
I love praying in a room full of believers.
I love getting something new from a sermon and putting the notes above my desk for further contemplation.
"Where two or more are gathered in my name there am I with them." Matthew 18:20 
Unfortunately, not every Sunday morning finds me in church.
Luckily, there are sanctuaries of all sorts to be found in God's creation.
A little time out of town can open that window enough to let in the fresh breeze of inspiration. 
Even though I'm a Summer lover, I have to admit to that this autumn has been particularly pretty.
I know the golden leaves are really just the Summer's swan song heralding the short cold days to come, but right now, just for today,
I embrace it
accept it
celebrate it
and
paint it! I guess the moral of the story is this; Change, whether in locale or season always gifts you with fresh ideas, and (at least for me) plenty to paint.
(This painting now for sale in my super mega cheap collection of stuff-you-can-get-for 19.99 here.)
A sunny day is reason enough for us to jump in the car and make the drive out to Montauk Point!
While Peter took pictures of the scenery I took pictures of him!
Everything is there- beaches, nature, history, art, and food the likes of which is worth the drive in and of itself!
Seriously, if you are ever in the Hamptons you HAVE to go to The Golden Pear for lunch. 
We had their Morrocan Lamb Stew and the Hunter's Meatloaf- both incredibly delish! (I'm kicking myself for not getting their cookbook... guess I'll just put it on the Christmas wish list.)
Honestly though, the posh shops and art galleries aren't the best part- the shore is! Even though it was too cold to swim, it was still so much fun to explore the rocks at Montauk Point watching the seagulls catch crabs and just take in a little ocean air. 
I just love being near the ocean.
This is me...
...and this is me if I had a moustache!
Now you're in New York
Concrete jungle where dreams are made.
These streets make you feel brand new.
Bright lights will inspire you!
I've loved this song since the first time I heard it.
I just wished someone would take out all the profanities... and make it acoustic... and replace Jay-z with a skinny white guy.
Look! The magical youtube fairies granted my wish!
(btw, adorable skinny guy, kudos for not making your bed before you made a video. *hearts*!)
I heart my camera so much. I swear it has a setting for everything.
(Post-edit: OK, so it turns out the adorable profanity removing singer is Josh of Look at the Fields, a supertalented Florida based indie group. Clickie here for some good listening... especially "In God's Hands")
“Life just seems so full of connections. Most of the time we don't even pay attention to the depth of life. We only see flat surfaces.” This painting explores the relationship between two individuals who are connected in ways that the outside observer wouldn't realize.
I don't know why, but somehow I got all hung up on painting birds.
I didn't plan on it, but time and time again I sat down to paint and each time a feathery little critter would wind up peering out at me.
So... instead of flowers or scenes or birds I'm trying to explore the concept of being connected.
It's been a recurring theme in my writing for years, most notably this poem;
(Long time readers will recognize this as the poem I wrote after the death of a friend in 2007.)
I fell asleep in the bath
and dreamt the whole world was an ocean
and everyone was connected
moving together in fluid motion.
Everyone who'd ever lived and everyone who
ever would mingled together unaware
that their past and future
were presently there.
Suddenly I found myself
tangled up in reef
and as I lost my last breath
friends waved goodbye with grief.
I closed my eyes as my heart stopped
then opened them to find
that I was quite healthy,
but completely blind
to everything that in my dream
I'd learned I could see;
Nothing but cold bath water as company.
So I observed my hands
my wrinkled fingers and toes/ and contemplated life and time
and how mysteriously she flows.
“I’m not picking my nose, I’m cleaning my finger.”
After waiting twenty minutes for the loud modem to crank up the AOL Internet Explorer homepage, my Brad gave me and my sister a lesson in computer safety.
Never go into a chat room.
Never download anything.
Don't click anything unless you absolutely must.
Never tell anyone where you live. Not even the state.
Never upload anything, ESPECIALLY pictures.
and never never NEVER use your real name.
(This is the short list, folks. Don't get me started on outdoor safety, travel safety, or fireproof SAFE safety. I shutter to think of all the danger that fireproof safe could have rained down without the solid set of rules involved.)
I don't think my 1992 self would believe that not only do I use my real name (and maybe a couple of variations) but I've got hundreds of pics stored online, and even some video... including this one I didn't even realize existed.It's pretty weird to google yourself and see a video of yourself you've never seen before. This is from the night that I taught my fabric flower technique at Etsy Labs.
The full tutorial is at this post.
Yep, I'm pretty fast and free with the info these days, even my crafting secrets. I could hoard my experiment-burn-melt-ruin-practice-perfect learned techniques (that's what we call learning the hard way) but I don't think there's anything to be gained to keeping it to myself.
Feel free to try it out. Make 'em, keep 'em, give 'em away, heck... sell 'em.
Maybe you could tell folks where you learned how to do that or just subscribe here or something.
Maybe you could even give me a little link on your blog.
Flames soared into the pitch black sky.
Flames from next door.
The Opal was fine.
Completely untouched.
Of course, the people living upstairs who's open windows and a/c suddenly started sucking in copious amounts of gritty black smoke didn't know that.
I'd checked things out next door, and had determined that the 3 dozen or so firemen on the scene had things under control, so I decided to go home and loiter in the lobby. 
Within minutes the lobby was filled with frantic women towing toddlers... sleepy little boys rubbing their eyes wearing crooked yamicas... little girls in pink night gowns clutching overloved stuffed bears... alert young men gripping their laptops...
Fearing the worst, people had come out carrying what they loved most.
I was the only one present empty handed... everything I love most was playing out in the dog run.
some paintings never sell.
I don't mind this fact since painting is really just a beloved hobby, a wonderful way to spend the my spare time, an outlet for my apparently infinite amount of creative energy.
But I have to admit that I don't have the skills or time to find art buyer homes for every painting. Often, I plan on giving away paintings before they are finished. I haven't given my Grandma anything in a while, so I decided I'd make a painting based on things she might like. Unfortunately, that pretty much limits me to Elvis and cute livestock.
Originally I was going to paint her a little black billy goat, but then I thought it might be too sad since her last little billy goat (aka lawn mower) committed suicide by hanging itself from a tree.
I didn't even know they could do that, but apparently, they can.
and do.
(Moral of the story; don't tie your goat to a tree- it will jump over a low branch and hang itself.)
In the end I decided I'd paint her a cheerful rooster waking up the countryside.
With a blue border, because the lady loooooves blue. (re; blue sofa, blue curtains, blue flower arrangements, and so on, and so forth). 
I'm putting it in the shop until I get to see her again (which will be months). If someone buys it, I'll just get her an Elvis collectible with the proceeds.
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From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"
Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
I memorized almost the entire poem for Ms Noble's 10th grade lit class almost 10 years ago. Today I mutter it when trying to keep my mind off more troubling things... like when someone is walking too close behind me as I walk from the bus stop to my house in the dark. I guess there is something about a girl reciting dark victorian era poetry that says "back off."
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."  (acrylic on wood, $19.99)
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I tried to paint it so many times. I don't know how I could be so torn up over losing something I'd known so briefly. but I was/am.
Another little piece of my soul, only $19.99
For he knows from his upbringing what singing can do.
- From Cole Porter's "Be Like the Bluebird", 1934
The bluebird just flew in of his own accord. 
For sale here.
Viva New York City!Lady, you are never dull.
Braille cards aren't for everyone.
Like with my invisible marker, only certain people can read it (easily).
The average onlooker isn't going to pay any attention to the pretty dots on the paper, but to a blind person, or someone willing to take the initiative to look up the braille alphabet and do a little decoding, meaningful messages themselves reveal. 
("Love is being stupid... together". Currently available here.)
I made most of these around Valentine's day, but I've continued production because
a) they sell and
b) I like to make them.
That's a very lovely combination.
I only have a couple more in stock in the store, but my head is full of ideas just frolicking around waiting to be commited to paper.
You can't see it very well in any of the pics I took, but the tree growing alongside the road is made up of the lyrics from that chorus. Notice how the road looks like its a different texture than the rest of the painting?
That's because it's band aids.
And what gives the rest of the painting that spidery texture?
Medical gauze of course.
Every element of this piece is in keeping with the theme of healing.
Buy it here.
