Ice Palaces and Cold

Our weather has been brutally cold the last few days.  Wind chills in the negative single digits with howling winds. 40 mph! We have had over a foot of snow with lots of drifting.  This Polar Vortex (as the weather people call it) is moving all across the US and deep into the southern parts of the country.

While out snowshoeing I came across this cottage near the lake. Something about it reminded me of the ice palace at Varykino in the movie Dr Zhivago. (1965) Although if you check out the link, the ice palace has much more ice than this little cottage.  I discovered that the creation of the ice palace was done in frozen beeswax and chipped marble and was filmed in Spain.

I don't mind winter in Michigan if we have snow. Not quite as much as we had last winter, however. Snow on the ground seems to brighten up the day quite a bit even if the sun isn't shining.  The grey, dreary days really do get me down...rainy days and Monday's as the say.

Pinch Hitter Course

I've been taking flight lessons, well landing lessons really, for the past month.  I am leaning to land an aircraft in case of an emergency.  Since my husband and I travel quite a bit in our

Our plane landing

Beachcraft Debonair
and he's the professional pilot, we thought it would be a good idea for me to get familiar with the workings of our aircraft and be able to land it in case of an emergency if he were incapacitated. Who knew there was a course for learning to land a plane safely during an emergency?

Grumman Tiger first lesson ready to taxi.

Well to "land" one has to learn to "take off" first.  Taking off is much preferable to landing for me but one has to land to get back on Terra firma, hopefully with the plane in tack and one can walk away.  My very first lesson the instructor has me 'take off'.  It was amazing and very scary.

The plane I was learning in (a Grumman Tiger) was one with dual controls...like the cars student drivers use. I had flown our plan for a few minutes a couple of times but this was a whole new ball game...pun intended.

After 7 hours of flying time I passed my course as well as the AOPA's (aircraft owners' and pilots' association) written course.  My instructor says I can call myself  "an inexperienced pilot".  I won't go on to get a license but it is nice to know what the plane will and won't do...takes away a lot of the anxiety.

Love learning new things especially at age 66.

Another try at reflections on water

Pretty pleased with the way this turned out. I only spent 30 minutes on the entire page. I might do a little more pen work on the trees and the reflection and darken the water behind the bird a bit. But OK!

Another art assignment finished...well sort of

The latest assignment for my sketching class was to create a cover/title page for our sketchbook from a previous trip. The suit case is the size that can be carried on board..for now at least. It originally belonged to my mother and when she passed away I took it over. I have now had it for over 20 years and decided to use fabric paints to write some of the cities an countries that I have visited rolling it along in tow.  It's been on almost every trip I have taken and is pretty easy to identify on the luggage carousel  in the event I have to check it.

I realized that I had the wrong dates on my title page so had to get out the trusty White Sharpie poster pen to correct them. I also added some of the blue around the edges of the suitcase and backpack to tie the page together a bit.

Signs of spring???Maybe????

Tiny shoots of spring

Darby and Woody

It's beginning  to warm up a bit around here. In fact it is supposed to get up to 60 degrees today. The snow is still hanging on but I can see a bit of spring green out and about. The boys are so happy to finally be able to get out and dig around in the ground checking for those winter smells that

have been left behind.

First & Second Assignments Finished

 I'm working on some sketches from my trip last fall to Central Europe, including Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary

The first sketch is a Journal Highlight Page. I took a lot of 'artist license' with it as it is a composite of the photos below.

In another class we are learning how to paint water. The second sketch is more about the glass with water than the flowers.

Another Beginning

It's been almost a year since I've been here.  My where has the time gone? I don't know why I don't keep up with this. I like writing but I just seem to let other things (like life) get in my way.

 I am excited and motivated because I'm taking another art class (Imaginary Trips) with Laure Ferlita.  This trip is to a "past vacation". I actually took this in class May 2013 and loved it; so I thought I'd take it again and 'sketch' my trip to Europe that I took in September 2013.

Laure also has a beautiful blog , Painted Thoughts, She did a wonderful post on 'The Messy Desks of Creatives'. She ask those of us who read her blog to send pictures of our creative spaces, aka Messy Desks, and these are two that I sent her.  My space is about 4x4 space in the corner of our living room and I do enjoy it, but would love to have a real studio.

In the picture to the right is a silhouette of me when I was in second grade. My teacher had a silhouette artist come to our class. She cut the silhouettes of each student free hand, then we made them into a card for Mother's Day.  I had no idea that my mother had kept this and found it among her things after she died. What a special treasure.

De plane, De plane!

The engine removed

New prop

New engine w/o all of it's parts and pieces

New engine where it's supposed to be

After a month or so of waiting for a new engine and prop for the plane, it's it finally in/on the plane. It will still take another couple of weeks for all of the hoses and wires to be attached, then test flying and then hopefully it will be fly worthy by mid June.  

Made in Japan

Spent a few hours sketching and painting as today is pretty rainy and cold for June 2 (52 F). It's only going to get in the low 60's if that today. Crazy weather all around the world. Can we say Global Warming?

This little figure belonged to my grandmother. It was sent to her by my father when he was stationed in Japan (1946) just after WWII. You may be familiar with the term Made in Occupied Japan (1945-1952) It was a marking put on 50% of the pieces exported from Japan. This piece doesn't have the term 'Occupied Japan' on it, but I have other pieces that he sent that have (Made in OJ). It is hideously painted but I have always loved it for whatever reason. It's been lost and found many, many times. He reminds me of some of the Beatrix Potter's characters and I named him Winston.

Thank You Veterans-especially mine!

Memorial Day in Michigan brings rain and very cool temperatures. My special hubby didn't like me taking a picture of him so this is all I got...He's a quite man! I want to thank him for his many years of service to our country and the benefits that he has shared with me. I loved the military life and miss it but retirement is wonderful.  I am very fortunate to have him in my life. 

He drove his Corvette in the local parade with a WWII Vet as a passenger...2 vets in a vet.
I hope everyone had a wonderful day and made a special effort to thank and remember those who have served our country and bless those and their families who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

My garden is finally beginning to flourish. It's been a long wait to see blooms and regrowth. The iris are the first in my garden this year. My purple and other colors will open probably tomorrow if we get some sun. 

Lovely Trip to Colon, MI

Back in the water

Humming Bird on her deck

Rose bush that I purchased.
Smells divine

Beautiful sunset sky

Mama and her 5 babies

Just returned from a wonderful week with my friend who lives in Colon, MI, the Magic Capitol of the World. She lives on Long Lake and has the most incredible views of wild life and sunsets. These pictures will definitely go in to my 'stuff to paint' folder. We went into Battle Creek to a nursery to purchase annuals for planting in her flower boxes which we spent two days planting.  They looked very nice.Now I have to work on my own annuals.

Spring Has Finally Sprung!!!!

Spring has finally come to my corner of Michigan.  It's been a very looooong wait but I have to say it was worth it. Our winters are usually lots of fun with snow and cold weather, but as in most regions of the world this has been one weird weather year.

Tulip Time 2013 begins in our town on Saturday with lots of tulips, food, fireworks and 3 parades. It's a crazy time for us residents but loads of tour buses and visitors come.

I have been kind of in a funk and grumpy for about 2 months now and am gratefully coming out of it.  Life is good again and I'm excited to get to those spring/summer activities.

Also Laure Ferlita is starting a new class today and I am very excited to get back to sketching.  Her classes are just the best and the people that I've met are wonderful.

I hope to keep this blog more up to date and post some of my work.

Get out and enjoy your day, wherever it takes you. 

Happy Holidays

A holiday display at the Venetian



Holiday display at the Wynn



UPDATE: I didn't get this posted when it was actually written so here's what's been going on since 11.14 ...which is not very much. Life has slowed to a crawl and I love that even amidst the hustle and bustle of the Season. We don't celebrate with family until January. H and I made our annual trip to Las Vegas and it was great. I do love that city but only for a few days. The diversity and decadence is wonderful. It's particularly a winter fantasy world this time of year.
Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that the peace and love that is wished this time of year will carry through all of 2013 and beyond. Our world needs peace.

November 14, 2012
Life has been busy for the past few weeks. Everyone is healthy. H and I have gotten our flu shots and the Boyz have gotten their Kennel cough shots. I finished up another sketching class and miss it terribly. Laure are you listening? Unfortunately I haven't made the time to do a proper sketch in weeks...done a few tangles...because I have been knitting. I am a seasonal knitter. I knit one sweater, usually for myself a year and several scarves and hats. I'll be over this phase in my life about the time we leave for Marathon in the spring and it will be on to other things that are my passion. One of my favorite yarns is Noro. These yarns are produced in Japan and are lovely. I usually have two projects going at one time. I'm currently knitting a sweater/hoodie for me and making a scarf to donate to the local retirement village's craft shop. (sweater is now finished)
Our weather, like a lot of the rest of the country, is unseasonably warm. We have had more sun than we usually have this time of the year, which is OK by me and the Boyz. I have even skipped the gym a couple of times in lieu of walking.

Getting Ready for Bed (aka winter)

The last few weeks have been quite busy with mundane work but non-the-less important.  Living  in Michigan along the lake we have to 'get ready for bed'. There's lots to do to get things ready for winter activities...find the snow shoes, dust off the skis, get the winter hats, gloves, scarfs and coats organized, getting out my knitting bag and buying skeins of wool.

We are one of a few cities that still has leaf pick up by the city but there is a window of opportunity to get them raked/blown to the street for pick up. I play a waiting game with the leaves. I won't rake until the last minute and see that most of the leaves are off the trees.  I have even been known to be raking leaves to the curb while the trucks are coming around to pick up. One morning last week we awoke to a pretty heavy frost and a small tree, still full of leaves, began loosing its leaves as we watched. Within in an hour the tree was bare. It was quite amazing.

As the day warmed up...keep in mind that is a relative term...H and I put away the deck furniture and I gathered the little yard ornaments. I moved the house plants that had summered out of doors back into the house hoping they'll survive another winter indoors. Cut evergreen branches and put them in my  window boxed for the season.  I moved wood to the small dog yard for easy access so that Woody-dog and I can have lots of fires while watching the snow fall.

Darby and the Peanut Butter Jar

Let me introduce you to this cute little one. We have had the pleasure of sharing our home with this cute little Dachshund for about 5 years. We got him from the Ohio Dachshund Rescue. This little dog has been such a joy for us. He is one of the naughtiest/cutest little dogs I've ever had. He is part Dachshund, part Jack Russel. In his short life he has been paralyzed in his hind quarters and recovered and has had knee surgery. He has such a love for life. The people that 'turned' him in to the rescue said that he had been on the run with a border collie for about 6 weeks before they could catch them. They also think that he was from a puppy mill and a pet shop in a mall was broken into and these guys were turned loose. We had already rescued another Dachshund and we wanted another buddy.
I happen to like peanut butter and I do eat it with a spoon...forget that spread it on the bread stuff. Let's just go for it!  Well, I left the jar sitting on the end table while I went to get something in the kitchen.  When I returned, this is what I saw. He had moved the jar to the couch for a more convenient place to enjoy the pnbutter.  I haven't found the spoon yet.

Had a spectacular day kayaking on the Pigeon River with friends. The weather was perfect and the leaves were beautiful. It amazes me how a little sun does wonders for my soul.  We were out for about 3 hours and then the rains came once again. Looks like we'll have dreariness until maybe Monday. I put my lovely kayak in storage and dusted off the snow shoes and Xcountry skis. Gotta find any way to stay out doors.

October in Holland =

October (and the next 5 months)  in Holland and most of west Michigan equals rain, dreariness, cold temps with a splash of sun every once in a while...maybe. This is a picture of Lake Michigan I took a few days ago and it just says it all. Our fall colors are almost gone, in fact most trees have reached their peak. It's raining again today so I've spent most of the morning making Art and rearranging/cleaning my 'studio'...(corner of the living room). Wed. should be sunny so a friend and I are going to take our kayaks out for one last paddle out to the lake.

I'm still creating a few more journal pages from some of the pictures I took and sketched while traveling. I am particularly in love with my musician.One (of many) of the things I really need to work on is my composition.  I just get this image in my head and have to go with it and usually don't plan...Gotta stop that...Can you see the pencil lines under the shutters?  Obviously they were an after thought and I needed to fill some wall space.

Abita Beer, Shrimp&Grits and Memories

I've spent lots of hours this week making art. These are a couple of sketches that I just  had to finish. I enjoy the taste of good beer and Abita (1986) has become one of my favorites. This is a local beer produced about 30 miles north of  NO. The other thing that I found enjoyable was the open container law in NO. With the exception of after midnight party revelers, the people who drink (and those who don't) in NO are quite civilized. This is also the beer that is primarily drunk in the HBO series Treme. OK it's a good advertisement. I get it.
The latest assignment for my Imiganiary Trip to NOLA (made real for me by Hubby) was to sketch food. I chose to post a sketch of the wonderful dinner that I had at LaBayou. Shrimp and Grits Napoleon. Fried green tomatoes stacked on creamy southern grits surrounded by gulf shrimp drizzled with a Bourbon St. Cream sauce, it’s too good to be true!  YUMMMM!

Back in Chilly Holland

Had a wonderful time traveling to New Orleans and Biloxi for a few days. The weather was great except for the last two days. It rained but it wasn't cold like it can be in Holland. I am still catching up with laundry, unpacking and getting my sketches and photos organized. I'll be posting more soon.

My first adventure was to visit Mardi Gras World...a working museum. I got a private tour because no one else showed up for the 9:30am tour.  90% of the floats used in the Mardi Gras parades are built here. There is a height restriction of 18 feet but no length requirement. Some of the floats actually have restrooms on them as the people riding on the floats are on them for 8+ hours. After the tour I was invited to have a piece of King Cake. 

The Big Easy

In the BE and Bolixi for a few days. Weather is a little warm but beautiful. Have had lots of great food and lots of history. Went to the 9th ward (remember hurricane Katrina '05?) and Treme another area devistated by K. In NOLA. Drove over to Bolixi which was almost completely destroyed by K. This area didn't evacuate because they thought K would miss them. All predictions were that she was headed to NOLA. It's been 7 years and people are still trying to rebuild. The coastal area is beautiful with lots of history and the people are wonderful.