Have a Blessed Christmas

Library bulletin board

Sometimes I do a little community service. Here I have painted a few polar bears for the children's area in our local library.

A TRUE work of Art!

My daughter and her friends were with us for Thanksgiving. They made this wonderful Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake which was the hit of the meal, not to mention it is a true work of ART!

"Honor" at Atlanta Artists Center

My painting "HONOR" was accepted into the November show at the Atlanta Artists Center. (bottom left)

Birthday Card

I made a 90th birthday card for my friend Inez who does wonderful pastels. I used photos I took on a recent trip to Monteagle.

AN ARTIST TURNS NINETY

A lovely member of my outdoor painting group turned ninety and we all surprised her with a dinner and "painting exchange". Happy Birthday Inez!

Get out and Vote!

I wanted to document this election by taking a photo of my absentee ballot. Tomorrow we will either have our first female vice president or our first African American president. A very historic election!! Either way, I'm glad it will be over tomorrow. Hopefully we can get on with it!

SOUTHERN COLOR

A beautiful maple tree on the Dwelling Loop trail at Blankets Creek Mountain Bike Trails. Enjoy this beautiful autumn!

Gallery Opening

Several of my paintings are featured in the new Roomscapes Gallery in downtown Woodstock, GA which had it's grand opening tonight.

Scarecrows in the Garden

Atlanta Botanical Gardens annual scarecrows in the garden. Here are some of my favorites.

Gallery opening in Woodstock

Six of my paintings will be included in the new gallery, Roomscapes, in Woodstock. Grand opening is Oct. 25th.

Monteagle Assembly of Homes

This is one of the beautiful Victorian homes in the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly of Homes. The house next to it was built in 1882. I'm not sure when this house was built. I loved the flags out front. The sun kept going in and out, we thought it was going to rain, then it would get really windy and then the sun would come out again. It was so quiet and peaceful just sitting there and painting all afternoon. I'll think of that when I look at this painting.

Oldest House in Grundy County

Here is another painting from my trip to Monteagle. This is the house of a friend, Sheila, who owns the oldest house in Grundy County, Tennessee. The photo is washed out but if you look closely you can see the porch swing. Her brother was visiting so I painted him in the swing. He is talking to a contractor who will repair the house. There are all sorts of stuff sitting on the porch including an old wooden door with a white star and rabbit on it. She is very generous and lets us paint on her property and I decided to paint her house and huge sugar maple tree. If you have ever been in Tennessee, you have seen the advertising to See Rock City. I had to take a photo of Sheila's birdhouse! Enjoy!

Artists' Retreat

I've been to Monteagle for an artists' retreat. Seven artists from the Atlanta area spent five days at Monteagle painting the beautiful landscape of the Tennessee mountains. Here is a pastel I started. It is 12" x 18" on Wallis sanded paper.

Watercolor Iris Bookmark

I get my creative juices going by making these little bookmarks. This is a purple iris on Arches watercolor paper. I took the photo in Monteagle, TN in the spring while on an artist's retreat. I leave again on Sunday for Monteagle again.

Some of nature's beauty on the bike trail this morning. Along the trail I saw deer, hummingbirds, cardinals, squirrels, fish and some sort of lichen that looked like brain coral. Enjoy!

Altered bookmarks

Altered bookmarks using newspaper clippings, scrapbook papers, acrylics, photo transfers and stamps.

More Handmade Bookmarks

Some more of my little bookmarks......made from scraps.....very GREEN!

Coke 007

COKE and BOND.........does it get any better?

Collage Bookmarks

I made a few bookmarks today using a photo transfer method. I used photos I took on our trip to Venice this summer along with some other collage papers. I dyed paper towels like Mary Haldeman uses on her Artist Trading Cards. I also got out my embossing powders again. The base was made from a sturdy cardboard that was being thrown away. So, I thought I'd put it to good use. Enjoy!

Blankets Creek Bike Trails

I had a surprise on the bike trails this morning. I had to get out my camera and take a photo of this little turtle on the trail. I also saw 5 deer drinking from the creek, luna moth caterpillar and various other critters. If you're in the area check out Blankets Creek Mountain Bike trails in Cherokee County, GA. You can get a great workout on the Beginner-Advanced trails, not to mention an abundance of wildlife.

a Special Card

Oh, weddings are so wonderful! I made this little card for one of my daughter's roommates who is getting married. Congratulations Amy & Daniel! I know you will be very happy.

Stovall Mill Covered Bridge

Stovall Mill Covered Bridge, watercolor, postcard size
A few years ago my daughter gave me a package of watercolor postcards. I painted this little watercolor of the Stovall covered bridge located in the north Georgia mountains near Helen to give to a friend. If you get a chance and want to see a little gem in that area, check it out. While we were there we saw a couple of teenage boys jumping from the bridge into the water. We were there to find a geocache. Unfortunately I could not find it with the GPS on my iPhone, hopefully with the new Geopher Lite app I'll have better luck next time!

Anna Ruby Falls

I painted this little watercolor of "Anna Ruby Falls" on a little notecard to thank a friend for inviting us to their cabin in the north Georgia mountains. We hiked up to Anna Ruby Falls in Unicoi State Park. The falls are fed by underground springs. The land was purchased by a man named Colonel John Nichols after the Civil War and used to belong to the Cherokee Indians. When his wife and two infant sons died, he only had left one daugher named Anna Ruby. He named the twin falls after her. One of the falls drops 153 feet while the other drops 50 feet. It is a 1/2 mile hike up to see the falls. Check it out.

Gotta see it!

My daughter was home over the weekend. One thing on her list to do was to see the new "WALL-E" movie. We went to see it Friday night the day it opened. It was really cute, a great movie to see with the family!

Venice Canal 5" x 7" watercolor

Weekend in Blue Ridge, GA

Chris, a friend from my painting class, invited a few of us to Blue Ridge over the weekend. We stayed in her beautiful log cabin and painted the Toccoa River, Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chattahoochee National Forest. My car was almost mowed down while we were painting along the Toccoa River.

Picture worth a 1000 words!

Sometimes I babysit for a friend's little baby. She is 7 months old. When she fell asleep on my stomach tonight, I just had to grab my camera. Sometimes a picture is worth a 1000 words! Enjoy!

Sidewalk in Varenna, 5" x 7" watercolor

This is a typical street in Varenna, Italy. The city is built on a hillside along the edge of Lake Como. All of the streets wind steeply up hill toward the main cathedral which was built in 1313. There are 800 citizens who live in this beautiful little town year long.