Lovely World

new year

Do you like my watercolor sketches? I have many ideas of things to paint - and much to learn about how to paint. I am practicing a little bit every day. (p.s. That is a smudge above the girl's head, not a rain storm blowing in.)

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HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of my blog friends and readers. I so appreciate this space and all that you share with me. Thank you so much!

2011 A year for:

• Gratitude
• Generosity
• Teaching myself to draw and paint (watercolors)
• Loosening up
• Learning more about pattern making (especially for sewn animals)
• Exploring ways to collaborate and share creatively with others
• Reading one book each week

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.

bright color

The dark days are here, but I have found some color this week.

I received this beautiful bouquet of tissue paper flowers from my son's second grade class. It is a thank you gift. I recently helped organize the whole second grade (3 classes, 50 or so children) in making sewn fleece hats to donate to a local charity. The children were excited to be a part of this project. I appreciated that the teachers planned a project that focused the children on donating time and energy to giving to others.

The girl with the yellow blouse and paper heart is for a project I will post very soon.

It snowed last night. I am happy for that.

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!

paper love

I found some old origami paper hidden in a drawer last week. It inspired these holiday cards that my 7-year-old son made for his teachers and the little paper box that I folded. I like the enthusiasm evident in my son's ink stamping of the greeting.

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I just received the new issue of the lovely Spoonful (thank you Thea). This is a little gem. Simple, small, but bursting with warmth and inspiration. A very nice craft by Melissa in this one!

indoor plants

My indoor plants keep on growing, just like my children. I have to buy new and bigger pots for them, just like shoes for my children.

These are a few that got new pots this weekend. {This photo shows them in the old pots.}

Hermine likes to indoor garden. I always like her blog.

Happy Monday to everyone. Maybe it will snow this week?

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!

generosity

Earlier this week I began making a list of tasks I generally do every day, every week, every month, and seasonally. I started this list because I have felt disorganized and forgetful lately (likely a result of having too many little details to keep track of).

I surprised myself by adding "give something away" to my list of weekly tasks. I just jotted it down without even realizing I was writing it. But, I love the idea. I could give away something I have made, or simply something that I don't need any longer, but is still in good shape and might be useful to someone else.

Yesterday I gave my friend L a little package as we stood in the schoolyard waiting to pick up our children. She is a beekeeper, and as a card I cut out the page with the illustration of a honey bee from a tattered copy of the "Golden Book of Insects." You can see Mr. Albus Dumbledore checking out my wrapping skills in the middle photo.

Mother Nature gave me a gift this morning - a beautiful sunrise. It is bitterly cold here this morning, making the colors of the sunrise seem all the more crisp and brilliant. This is the view looking out my front window.

With gentleness overcome anger.

With generosity overcome meanness.

With truth overcome deceit.

- The Buddha

I thought this was a good quote, as it is Human Rights Day today.