It's All Art...................

I'm back and I'm glad.  I can concentrate on this blog and my art and all that it means.

I'm convinced that it IS all art.  Everything you do.  Everything that was ever designed started with a pencil and paper or chisel and stone.

 I love the commercial with everybody wearing Levis.  Every kind of person dancing to amazing music.  Live like you dance  (or dance like you live).  This doodle is at the bottom of one of my journal pages.

Little heart stones I made into a heart on my husband's grave.  It will disappear over time but I will  always know it's there.  

 My new dog.  I was going to name  her Dottie.  I love that.  But she's 11 1/2 and it's too late to change her name.  She's a rescue dog and I love her.  She fills an empty spot in my life and I hope I do hers

And this is my great-granddaughter painting a picture for me.  She loves paper and paints and pencils - she's happy when she's creating.   And she's dressed herself.  I love her to pieces and especially that she loves art as much as I do. 

It's all about art, always has been.       Diane

Every day.................

Create something every day

Eye Feast...........

My daughter, Amanda, challenged me to an art challenge which we both do, I give her 3 or 4 words and she does the same for me.  For the first one my words were dessert, dragonfly and pink.  This is what I came up with.  It's all collage except for the black lines.  I used iridescent paint on the wings and tail and border.  It was fun.                                   Diane

Knock Kneed Owl

A black walnut tree in the alley.  When I first gather them they're a beautiful lime green.  However within a few days they dry up and look like prunes.  An then there are the "skeletons"  the insides left by the squirrels.  I do not know how they get them open, they're tougher than me. 

That's the base for this little guy.  I know owls don't have legs but this one does, and he has knees, too.  Tiny oak leaves form his wings.  I had fun making him.  He would sit there looking at me for a while waiting for the rest of him to develop.  He's going to be a Christmas gift for a dear neighbor who loves owls.                                      Diane

Nature's Beauty.............

Not everyone shares my appreciation of some of nature's beauty for that I thank you for reading this anyway.

Old wasp nests are, to me, perfect masterpieces.  They don't hold the danger anymore so I can really look at the beautiful architecture.  They're kind of like a honeycomb but a little sloppier.  There are so many kinds of wasps nests ranging from this kind to the papery concoction they form (usually in trees) that end up kind of coneshaped.  All of nature's creations are beautiful in the eye of the beholder.

I hope you're having a good Memorial Day and remember the people who have fought to protect our country so that we might have this beautiful country.

Journaling....................

Winter months are great for journaling - most of the time.  Sometimes it get's so dreary that all you can do is read a book.  There doesn't seem to be any inspiration.  But I try really hard to not get to that point.  I get such joy from journaling.  This page is based on a jar of jelly I received and the little spoon on the ribbon was tied around the jelly jar.  There's inspiration there, you just have to be watching for it.             Diane

Art show....................

An artist who was teaching at the college came to my house last spring to see my art stuff.  She fell in love with my journals as well as these boxes I have on my wall (assemblages) and asked me to be in an art show as the featured artist.  I still don't believe it.  The art show was held and many of my friends came and my daughter, Catherine came down from Billings to be with me.  

My journals have always been private but she asked me to bring a bunch of them and I could let people read them if I wanted but I didn't have to.  They loved looking at them and commenting on the illustrations and it felt so good to remove the stigma of somebody reading them and be able to share.  It was a very heady experience.  Now I look at my art in a completely different way.  
                                                                  Diane

                                                         

Picking up again............

I know it's been so long and I had closed this out but in looking for something on it I realized what a pretty and inspiring blog this is.  

So I'm back.  

I will rework it and begin posting again.  

Welcome, friends.  I hope I didn't lose you completely.                  Diane

Matchbox Chest.......

 I bet you thought I disappeared off the face of the earth.  My life just had a lot of bumps and I'm hoping that things will smooth out (don't we all?).  In the meantime I have been creating a few things and doing my art journaling (or paste pages) every single day.  I would be lost with

 See what I mean?  Plus, there's more.

This is my latest project.  A matchbox chest created from the little tiny match boxes.

 It was a birthday for my daughter, Catherine.  I loved making if for her.

The tiny little drawers even open and I love  the legs - they just make the piece, I think.
Hope you're having a lovely creative day.

A bit rocky lately..................

Actually that's more than a play on words.  Because of the illness and death of my husband's daughter  the only thing we could do was go in circles.  I found so much focus in putting my concentration into painting on my little river rocks.  

I've always struggled with printing and this is no exception.  The ideas flow freely but the letters don't.  Oh, well, it's still joy.  I gave the bottom one to a friend who just turned 65.   Diane 

Tiny treasures..............

I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I've posted here.

I found this little butterfly on the street - it was no longer alive but so beautiful.  Bringing it home was shaky because I was afraid it would blow away.  So I carried it in the closed palm of my hand.  I found tiny frames at the $$ store and framed the butterfly and the beautiful little feather.

Hope your summer is going well.           Blessings, Diane

Secret Stash Chest..............

 The trouble with posting things I really want to show you is that I usually can't  because they're a gift.  That was the case here.  I made this chest for my daughter's birthday which was February 25

 and because of the weather I couldn't get it to her for a month. 

Yesterday I made it to Billings and gave her the late birthday gift.  I think she was delighted with it.

The legs and key as well as the knob are Tim Holtz and the prints that I covered it with are from The Graphics Fairy.  

A whole lot of love......................

Mother was in a nursing home for several years and I know how long the days were for her.  She said once " I just love it when I see somebody from the "outside""

For Valentine's Day I created a Valentine for each of the patients in one of the local nursing homes - 65 people.  Each was made with Valentine greetings as well as a small scripture verse.  Our local Hallmark store is going out of business and they were kind enough to let me have envelopes. It will be fun to deliver as many as I can personally. 

Not mine but to God's glory.
                                                                                                                  Diane 

Journal page.................

This sassy little girl looked just right for claiming ownership of her home.  I like to do cutouts in my journal - they look so good laying on top of another page.  This is in a little 4 x6 journal and I'm almost at the end of it.   I kind of like the way they look all together

 and they're small enough to take anywhere.   Diane

Sparkle to share...............

I made this several years ago.  It's made from a lot of broken jewelry and other sparkly embellishments.  It weighs a lot.  I have to hang it from a very sturdy branch on the tree.  It always lifts my heart.          Diane

The state of my studio.........................

 Christmas has come to my art studio and I'm long overdue for a post.  So here are a few things, some you've seen, some you haven't.  The sweet little tag hanging from the top of the mirror (blue ribbon) was made by my daughter as was what you can see of the scherenshitte. 

A little Halloween still occupies the top of a chest of drawers.  My little great-grandson made me a picture and I just love it there so I left some potion bottles out to give it some company. 

Just like your house there's much creating but most of it I can't post - Santa's secrets, you know. 
It's been so cold here so it's great for spending more time writing, creating and playing in my studio.  I've definitely decided the yellow in this room has to go.  A dreadful job moving all this stuff to paint but sooner or later I have to do it.  I'm thinking maybe one wall at a time...............or maybe a half wall at a time. 
I hope you're having a wonderful December.    Blessings, Diane

Not quite rich.................

The last two evenings on the news they've been talking about an anonymous graffiti artist in NYC who creates his street art and is gone before anyone can see him.  People think they could make a lot of money on his art if they could just find it in time. One of the pictures he created sent me running to my journals.

I had found an old book - maybe the 1960s - at SA and liked this picture (same one) and put it in my journal.  The picture was longer but I had to cut it down to make it fit my pages.

                                                                          Diane

Poe

Don't we all just love Edgar Allen Poe?  Quite a nice looking gentleman, really, a bit on the morose side, though.  He fits this little SA frame quite well and I think he's looking forward to Halloween fun.  Diane

Autumn's here...................

......and my muse has decided to wake up from her long summer nap and begin thinking about autumn and Halloween. 


You never know who might be hiding behind a mask.      Diane

Summer Has Taken Over.................

It's all there waiting for me, paints, markers, papers, ribbons.  The only thing I haven't had is time.  Creating this summer has taken on a new meaning - a fabulous trip to Alaska, a great visit from my daughter and her family, surviving the heat, doing yard work in the early morning and evening, watering and keeping the house in order.  I do journal, I always find time for that.  The days are getting shorter and the air is cooler with a touch of fall.  Winter, with way more time, awaits.                    Diane