Lovely World

watercolor birds

I finished these new birds last week. I am very happy with the bright and cheery colors. The hand-dyed wool is so nice to work with. I especially like cutting and stitching the tail feathers.

It was 77 degrees here yesterday. The resident birds worked themselves into a frenzy of song. I can hear them out there again today. I expect we'll be seeing baby birds before too long. I also heard the frogs peeping last evening. That is a sure sign of spring. The peepers are one of my earliest childhood memories. I remember my mother holding me as we stood outside in the growing dark. She told me that the peeping sound that enveloped us was the frogs awaking to spring.

What is it that makes early memories? An experience with strong emotion surrounding it? An experience reinforced by repeated retelling? An experience of something so new that it deeply embeds in our mind and heart?

poppytalk white

Friday is the final day of spring color week at Poppytalk. White!

In particular, I was happy to revisit these photos of the goose egg and cotton boll that my friend gave me for my last birthday.

I hope you have a nice weekend. I'll be here to post my calendar and book on Sunday.

snow message

I went for a snowshoe on the mountain behind the house last weekend. As I came back toward home, I found that my husband and daughter had come part way up the trail on their skis and left this snowman and the little message written in the snow with the bottom of a ski pole.

We have two more feet of snow on top of what you see in these photos. I haven't seen so much snow in years.

My painting of a crane.

I hope you have a nice weekend.

snowflakes

Many paper snowflakes have been cut over the last few days. We have stacks of paper and scissors on the table, ready for when inspiration strikes.

My son made the watercolor painting. Blue snowflake.

Winter birds here today: chickadee, red-headed woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, crow, nuthatch, blue jay. I also saw a large pileated woodpecker fly across the field.

mr. spoqui and the snowstorm

Mr. Spoqui is having a contest. Toilet paper tube characters. Make one and enter before Friday. Even if you don't make a character, go see Mr. Spoqui. It is a wonderful place.

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It snowed. A lovely blanket of white. Deep and fluffy. Venturing out was an adventure, the world transformed. Very little traffic on the road, mostly snow plows. Ice on the pond perfect for skating.

dark and starry

I recently found this little vintage astronomy book. It is such a simple explanation of the constellations, yet so complete. I love the black and white illustrations.

In honor of these dark, dark days leading up to the winter solstice, and in an effort to continue using my watercolors every day this week, I chose to make a painting of the North Polar Stars. Black paint and white pen.

And in keeping with the black and white theme, here are some fun photo booth pictures of me and my kids made over the past few years in the old photo booth on the top floor of Thorne's Marketplace in Northampton.

snowy

The warmer, rainy days we had early this week have changed to snowy, bitterly cold days. There is a saying here in the Berkshires: If you don't like the weather, wait a minute.

Our wood pile is stacked and in active use. Our fires are comforting in the evenings, now that the sun is disappearing over the mountain by 4:30 in the afternoon.

Speaking of cold and snow, I was surprised and pleased to find this post featuring my work, Lovely Polar Bears, on the blog A Polar Bear's Tale. This blog is written by Aputsiaq in Copenhagen, Denmark. She makes lovely fiber creatures herself. Thank you Aputsiaq.

My watercolor circles. Very cheery against the white of the snow.

My daily theme of late has been gratitude and generosity. Narayanan Krishnan is my new hero. I cried when I watched this. Please take the brief moment it takes to watch this.

 

cloudy

We were blanketed by lovely snow over the weekend. Then came the rain yesterday and overnight. We now have a green lawn and drippy brown in the woods. The only snow left is the faint foundation of an igloo the kids made by forming blocks in rectangular plastic kitchen containers.

Cloudy with more rain today. Clouds are suspended moisture in the air. The water that I used to activate my watercolors this morning was probably once moisture suspended over the planet. So here is my cloud in honor of the water cycle.

Here is something pretty:

Artist in the Arctic

Happy Monday, whether cloudy or sunny!

package

I was excited to receive a package of goodies from Nicole of Garden Mama earlier this week. It was filled with all sorts of things - a lovely card, photo postcards, an embroidery book, an ornament, shells, a tiny blank book, a handmade felted acorn pin, driftwood, and a collection of stones.

Nicole recently hosted the Artful Stone Swap. I have long admired all of the stones Nicole finds on her walks on the beach, and she has admired the crochet-covered stones I have made. A while back, I had emailed Nicole and told her if she sent me some stones I would cover them with crochet and send them back to her. Well, here they are! I have already set to work coming up with a group of the stones to return to her, all adorned in their fancy dress.

I am so thankful for the community I have found through my blog. How else would Nicole and I have connected in this kind and creative way?

Thank you to all of my readers. XO Maribeth

snow white

This morning there was snow on the mountain range that forms our narrow valley here in the northern Berkshires. The white coat of snow reminded me of some birthday gifts I received from my friend L: a cotton boll and a goose egg. I thought they looked nice paired with one of my crochet-covered stones.

I am on the home stretch of my preparations for the Twist Fair, which takes place November 12th and 13th. For those of you close to Northampton, MA, please come on over to the fair and say hello. It looks to be a great group of crafters. Visit Twist for directions and other information about the fair.