Artarazzi - Bird

Vron at Artarazzi asked me to host the challenge this week. I chose the image of the bird on a fence post (Flickr Collage Image by Takeabreak). I added a background from Flickr Playing with Brushes, a farmhouse overlay (Flickr Collage Image by Lisanne), drew the barbed wire with Wacom pen. The font used is Highlights. I hope everyone enjoys working with this image.

So Artful Saturday - 8-1

June has provided us with another interesting background this week. I kaleidoscoped the background, used an overlay with John William Waterhouse's "Camellias", and some enhancements by Lorie Davison of SBG. Thank you, June, and thanks to my blog friends for looking!

TGIF - Tears

There's a quote by John Vance Cheney that says "The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears". Often it's only in retrospect we see the truth of that. This wee crying girl is a Flickr free image. This reminds me of a time when my grandson was small. He persisted to cry and whine about some supposed injustice. At last my daughter said. "If you keep whining you have to go to timeout." As he marched his small, indignant body to his timeout spot, he cast a woeful eye at his mother and said "But, I NEED to whine!" And so it is with all of us....sometimes we just NEED to whine! Thanks for looking.

Theme Thursday = 4x4

The blue lace curtain is from Flickr Free Textures Vol. 2, the lady from Art-E-Zine, and the window and flowers from Kubivet. Thanks, blog friends, for looking....and thanks to Theme Thursday for the open theme.

Three Muses - Inspirational People

For the first seven years of my schooling, Earl Zehr was my teacher in our little one-room country school. He taught all eight grades. Additionally, he was playground supervisor at recess, drama coach for school holiday programs, pianist for our morning patriotic song, and janitor to tidy up at the end of each day. Time was set aside each day when he would read a chapter in the latest book he had chosen to share with us. I can still see the reverent way he held a book and turned the pages, as his measured voice took us to adventure in far-away places. He inspired in me a love of the written word that has enriched my life immeasurably. I will be forever grateful.

This schoolroom scene is actually "constructed" of eight different bits and pieces harvested from cyber-surfing, into a reasonable facsimile of the corner of the schoolroom where his desk sat. That little one-room school is gone now, existing only in the memories of those of us who attended in those wind-swept prairie days. This is my tribute to Mr. Zehr.

Sunday Postcard - Fashion

This elegant lady seemed to make a fashion statement. She's from Flickr Collage (Frannie60). The other elements are from Kubivet and Fidlette Designs. I always look at tall, slim models with a heavy dose of envy. God saw fit to place me in a sturdy little peasant body, which I have to admit I've fed quite well. Oh (sigh), maybe in the next lifetime..... In the meantime, thanks for looking!

So Artful Challenge - Owl

I put the owl in the woods and gave him some company. Thanks for the challenge, June!

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As I look at this again, I realize it's VERY similar to one I did a couple of weeks ago. Everytime I see a dark, rich background, I want to make it a forest scene, and I did exactly the same thing with that one. Next time I see one in a challenge, I will smack myself and try to be more original!! Too late now for do-overs.

Theme Thursday - ATC

My Theme Thursday ATC has to do with that inner self we don't share so often, and hide behind the masks we wear. I "constructed" my lady with bits and pieces, the masks were googled, and there are a couple of enhancements from Tangie Baxter. Thanks for looking!

Three Muses - Incredible Journey

I love poetry. There's a poet from the 1920's to the 1940's whose skill with words can transport me to wonderful, mysterious, glorious places. His name is Don Blanding, and his poem "The Vagabond's House" is my favorite poem of all time. Here, I've featured a part of another of his poems that draws beautiful word pictures. The phrase "Names are ships to carry dreamers" captured me when I first read it, and does so every time I read it. If you are interested in reading more of his poetry, see it here. Let him take you on an INCREDIBLE JOURNEY!
(Enlarge to read)

Mixed Media Monday - Charming Junk

Near the top of my list of charming junk would have to be the blue bottle trees. This southern tradition is said to be African in origin. The bottles were hung in trees to trap evil spirits. It was believed when sunlight shone through the bottle an evil spirit would see it and fly into the bottle to investigate, and become trapped and unable to get out. I first heard of the blue bottle trees when listening to the wonderful stories of the storyteller, Kathryn Windham, of Selma, Alabama. Kathryn's stories of bottle trees, Jeffrey, her resident ghost, and the early days of Selma are a rare treat. I've superimposed a photo of a blue bottle tree on a Thomas Moran forest garden. I hope you've enjoyed the story!

Sunday Postcard - Vintage Children

Little boys are always looking for adventure and exciting escapades. This little guy is no different. Thanks for looking!

SoArtful - Angel Tears

June at So Artful Challenge gave us a theme of Angel Tears this week. My little angel is constructed of bits and pieces from Flickr Free Collage (body from one place, head from another), Robyn England frame, hand-drawn halo, Jofia Devoe tears (nee rain), Tangie Baxter background, and Kubivet wings. In other words, I scoured my "stash"! Thanks for the challenge, June, and thanks to my blog friends for looking! Now I'm off to the meeting of my local art group. Have a nice Saturday!

Art Creations - 7-17

I had trouble making this week's image sharp and clear, or in tinting it. So, I decided to use it in a collage. Thanks, ladies, for this charming photo and for the challenge it presented! The extra elements are compliments of Oscraps, and the background was a freebie from I don't remember where (sorry).

TGIF - A Piece of Heaven

Sandy invited me to host this week's challenge at TGIF. Here's my interpretation of the challenge (A Piece of Heaven). Angels are from Kubivet. Thanks for looking.

The Princess Comes Home

God has blessed me with three handsome great grandsons, and now one great granddaughter. I know there's nothing more boring than photos of someone else's children, but little Peyton Jane's coming-home wardrobe begs to be shared! From the top of her beflowered head to the tiny toes of her bejeweled feet, she's a vision in pink. Lord, hold her in the palm of your hand.....and please, Lord, don't let her be a tomboy. I don't think her Mommy could stand it!!

Theme Thursday - Stripes

This is a fun digital collage ATC. Thanks to Robyn England for the striped border. The butterfly is a Dover freebie, the dress from a paper doll, legs were googled and face is a Flickr Collage image. Thanks for looking. Great challenge.

The Three Muses - Word Salad

Our challenge was "word salad". Poe. forgive me for making light of your famous line! My image is from Flickr Collage images, the raven from Graphics Fairy, the raven with his back turned is googled (I think), and the script overlay is mine. Color burn was used to enhance the color. Thanks for looking.

Mixed Media Monday - Playtime!

Diane asked us to play with our art this week, explore something new, etc. I took her at her word! This is one of my zentangle sketches, which I scanned in and embellished with a bit of color. I hadn't tried that before. Thanks, Diane. It's fun to simply play around and explore different ideas. I had a great time!

Sunday Postcard - Fabric

Audrey has suggested "fabric" for this week's theme. The background for this piece consists of samples of Waverly fabric. I forgot to make note of the source of the image; other embellishments are from T.Reed and Doris Castle of Scrapbook Graphics. Thanks for stopping by!

SoArtful Saturday - Faerie Bower

June has given us another beautiful background to work with. This one reminded me of a deep and shadowy forest glade. With the help of faeries from Karen's Whimsy and Irene Alexeeva, my favorite wee girl, and an overlay of a forest scene, I created my faerie bower. Thanks for looking, blog friends!

Art Creations - 7-10

The ladies at Art Creations provided a beautiful, richly layered background this week. I blended a bit of script, added an image from an old magazine cover, and my favorite piece of "bling" from Irene Alexeeva. This background was a joy to work with, ladies. Thanks!

TGIF - Flight of Fancy

I had a flight of fancy moment with this challenge! Credit to Flickr's SuzieQue, although altered a good bit. Thanks for my flight!!

Theme Thursday - Pink & Brown

I'm late with this one. Still playing catch-up from my trip back home to Illinois. Credits for this to Graphics Fairy and Flickr Frames to Use. Thank you for looking!

GONE

It is gone. The little roadside chapel of my youth. For more than 120 years it stood by the rambling creek, the Sunday morning gathering place of the farm families that lived in its vicinity. In its early days it was the center of social activity in the surrounding rural area. There were chicken suppers and ice cream socials, Easter and Christmas “programs” when the youngsters did recitations and raised their pure, sweet voices in loud (and sometimes discordant) celebration. For all those years, and four generations of my family, the old Seth Thomas clock ticked away the moments, as itinerant preachers offered up sermons based on the tenets of the Methodist Church. It seemed it would be there always, this cornerstone of my childhood, where the moral values instilled by my parents were reinforced and my faith in a higher power came to be. It is gone. Fallen to the relentless forward march of time. Through a veil of tears I pictured, still, my parents and their friends passing the time of day on the front steps. Surely this spot is hallowed for all time, caught forever in the memories of those of us who were fortunate enough to be a part of Nigh Chapel.

Three Muses - Surreal

Surreal is one of my favorite things to do, so I was glad to hear Marie say it's what she chose this week. The desert scene, the camel caravan, the shore bird, and the sailing ship were all found cybersurfing and put together for this unlikely scenario. The back part of the fish is from a Nancy Baumiller Crowabout collage sheet, the front from Tangie Baxter, and the wings are part of a freebie from Tammara. I wrote the little rhyme. Thanks for looking!

Home

I grew up in very rural Illinois near a town on Old Route 66 called Pontiac. Pontiac is a sleepy little town centered by an ornate old courthouse, scene of a Jamie Lee Curtis movie a few years back. This year, a group of sign-painters who call themselves the Walldogs, met there and in a brief period of time painted 17 beautiful wall murals in the center city. The photo above is of one of the murals. (Click on the URL above and "The Murals" to see all 17). The city fathers intend the murals will attract more of the tourists who still travel the Old Route 66 on nostalgic vacations across the country.

With my son and his wife, I returned there for a family gathering on the 4th of July. Large wind farms have sprung up midway between my home in Indiana and Pontiac. It is strange to see these tall, silver sentinels on the landscape, their three arms slowly turning, marching in rows across the fields as if they were giant whirligigs planted by some unseen hand. I had read there was often controversy about them because they were noisy, so we diverted from the highway just a bit and drove nearly to the base of one. We turned off the car engine and sat listening, but heard only a distant, soft whooshing, which seemed almost soothing. With the exception of their presence, all appeared as it has for the years of my memory. Middle Illinois is a vast prairie of rich farm land, so flat it seems the orderly rows of corn and soybeans reach to the horizon, broken only by tidy squares of well-manicured lawns of farm homes and outbuildings. A brief detour around bridge construction on the highway took us down one-lane roads along the fields, where the sounds and smells of the city fall away. The world seemed silent and at peace, and the occasional bird or small hawk lifted away from the fencerows to let us know we’d disturbed them by our passage. It is home.

So Artful - Gypsy

This is for June's SoArtful Saturday challenge. The picture in the globe seemed to lose some of its sharpness when I spherized it. Hmmm. Thanks, June, for the challenge. Now I'm off to Illinois for an old-fashioned small town American Fourth of July! Maybe I should've put a cornfield in the crystal ball, now that I think about it!

Art Creations - 7-3

I was struck with how much this week's image resembled DaVinci's Sketch of a Woman, so I did a page featuring the two. Thank you so much for this beautiful image, and thanks, blog friends, for looking! (Credit for the shoe to Tangie Baxter at SBG)

TGIF - Fruit

The challenge this week at TGIF is apple, peach, and pear. I found this beautiful frame at Flickr Frames for Use (Nancee), and knew I had to use it. I just used the simple fruit, so as not to detract from the frame. Thanks for looking!

Theme Thursday - Black and Red

I love this image from a 1903 Ladies Home Journal cover. I just know she was thinking "Don't mess with me"! Thanks for the fun challenge, Kelly, and thanks, blog friends, for looking! The flowers are courtesy of Tangie Baxter at SBG.