Farm Charm Friday

These photos of a neighboring farm were taken early last fall while I was walking my dog.  Just a glimps of my neighborhood while I'm out fishing.

I'll be home tomorrow --  see you then.

In the Studio - A Glimps of What's Cookin'

I'm not actually in the studio today.  I've gone fishing - literally!  But I wanted to leave a couple of posts for you and hopefully they'll launch when they're supposed to.  Sorry, some of the photos are a little blurry -- I was in a hurry so I can have my posts done by the time Hubby gets home and we're ready to hit the road.

I guess you could say I'm working on a little bit of everything...

I'm calling this one "Fresh Eggs"

And here's a group of holiday characters...

Something for everyone, uh, except Easter.

Patriotic mice...

Christmas & Halloween - my favorites!

Boo!

The key to my ghoulish heart.

And this is Bossy.  She's not as mean as she looks, actually she's quite sweet.

We found her as a kitten with a fish hook caught in her lip. 

She's had a bit of a sneer ever since. 

Thanks for stopping by for studio day.  See you when we get back.

Finding A New Direction

I've been thinking a lot about the art that I create lately.  First I was a painter, and a crafter, but mostly a painter.  I got my first real set of oil paints when I was about 11 years old.  Before that it was paint by numbers kits, although I rarely followed the numbers and staying inside the lines was totally out of the question.

When I started college (I was not an art major) the oil paints slipped away, no pun intended, and my creative outlet became pastels and pencil, and occasionally watercolors.  But over time, even these artistic endeavors dwindled as work took more and more of my time. 

After I married (I married late by the way - I was 36!) I was luckily to be in a position to start exploring my creative side again.  I created decoupaged plates, painted Santa faces on wood slabs, decorated wreathes, and even planted flowers in vintage containers.  Eventually, I started making dolls with cloth bodies, sculpted heads and hands, and costumes sewn from vintage fabrics.  I attended local craft fairs and art shows with my mom and sister; and we did pretty good during the hey-day of such events.

Ugh!  The turtle neck makes me look like I'm in a neck brace! 

Why don't our loved ones tell us these things before we go out in public?

Here are some early Santa's.  I even made the bases out of old lamp parts.

Over time however, the craft show craze began to fade and so I looked for some other venue to sell my goods.  By this time, I was making dolls almost exclusively.  I was lucky enough to find a wonderful gallery that would take my work (more on the gallery in another post.)  My dolls have now evolved to fully sculpted characters with wire and wood armatures.

Halloween and Christmas are my favorite holidays.

Vintage tins became my base of choice, and I use lots of old springs to make bobbles.

It's been a wonderful experience.  But...I feel myself becoming less and less motivated to create fully sculpted figures.  Instead, I am more and more drawn to the mixed media creations I find in magazines like Somerset Studio and on your blogs.  In fact, I have been so inspired that I decided to take the plunge and try to create a piece of mixed media art myself based on some of the things I love most...books, the garden, vintage lace, buttons and millinery, and old photos and paper. 

Here are the things I've gathered so far.  Although, I expect things will probably change as I go along.

 These are all things that I've collected over time.

So I guess, in a way, this post can also be called..."Tuesday's Treasures."

So thank you for the inspiration dear friends.  Wish me luck!

Trucks, Tractors and Turtles

I just couldn't resist the opportunity to head out and do some treasure hunting this week.  I live in a rural area and one of the small villages near my home organized a garage sale trail.  So armed with map, a pocket full of small bills and a couple empty totes, my sweet husband and I hit the trail.  The trail led down dirt roads, onto centennial farms, into a few subdivisions, and through the small village of Hadley.  The weather was lovely and by the end of the day the car was full and our pockets were empty.

One of my favorite stops was an old farm house with lots of vintage charm.  As I wandered through the piles of junk (I mean treasures) my eye wandered to the barn and beyond.  That's when I saw it...an old truck!  I LOVE old trucks and so I left my growing stash of treasures, with a quick "Can you watch this stuff?" thrown over my shoulder at my husband, and took off to check it out.

She was a beauty!  The owner wandered over, probably to make sure I wasn't drooling on his baby, and told me this gem had belonged to his father.  As we talked, he told me he had a special truck that he was restoring in the barn.  So, of course, I had to go take a peek.  He was right; she's special, or rather, will be.

 

Before we left, I asked if could snap a few more pictures to share on my blog.  They were so kind to let me just wander around and click away.  Here's some of what I found...

Tractors hiding in the brush.

A lovely old barn with a great old Coca-Cola sign.

 

And last but not least...

That evening, as we unloaded the last of our goods, we spied a visitor in the back yard.

Mama turtle on her way from the pond to the farm field to lay her eggs in the gravelly soil.  She's a big girl, almost 2 ft. long from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail.  She's been a resident in our pond for several years now.  But don't let her sweet looks fool you - she's a snapper and she bites!"

 

As you start a new week, don't forget to take a little walk on the wild side.

Tuesday's Treasures

I seem to be a "bi-monthly blogger" and that's far from what I intended when I started this adventure.  I was going to be one of the faithful, who post everyday, or at least several times per week.  GEEZ! Not even close.  So I've been thinking about what's gone wrong.  Why haven't I lived up to the commitment I made to myself?  And even more important - what can I do to change my direction? 

I've always been a real mix of right brain vs. left brain thinking; detail oriented and analytical, but also a day-dreamer who likes nothing better than escaping into a solitary world filled with art, music and nature.  Surely I can come up with a strategy that will keep me on track. 

Here is what I've come up with so far:
Objective 1 - I've thought about my priorities...the problem is, I have a difficult time de-listing anything that is currently on my "To Do List."  But, I know I can identify ways to be more productive, so that is Objective 1.

Objective 2 - Create a plan for posting.  I've read that developing topics to post about helps, and I know I've seen blogs for "White Wednesday," and "Black Friday,"  etc., etc., etc. 

So, here are my topics: 

• Monday - "Back to Business."  These posts will explore the business of art.
• Tuesday - "Tuesday's Treasures."   This will be a fun day because I'll show you some of  my flea market finds and garage sale goodies.
• Thursday - "In the Studio."  This will showcase the things I've been working on in the studio.
• Friday - "Farm Charm."  Focusing on rural beauty.

Okay, now that I have a plan...it's time for "Tuesday's Treasures!"

A victorian era dress form, shoes, a piano scarf/shawl, and wicker.

 

This tag declares the makers of the dress form to be E. Leger & Sons, Chicago.

Another tag at the base establishes the Paten date:  May 14, 1878.

I've been into shoes lately and these were just too cute to pass up.

Technically, I think these are slippers.  They are wool felt and the color is still really vibrant.

Do you think they were Christmas slippers? 

Can't you just picture a little tot running to see what Santa left under the tree?

I don't know if this is a piano scarf or a shawl, all I know is that

it is Beau-ti-ful!  The colors are so rich and not a lick of damage.

The rush market basket is huge and in great shape.

Here's a close-up, so you can get a sense of the colors and detail.

 

Finally, I just had to show you this sweet print.  It's in its original frame,

but all my photos were a little cock-eyed so I cropped it to give you the best view of the image.

Day 1 of my plan complete -- I think I'm on roll!  LOL

See you on Thursday, dear friends.