Paint By Number

moo

I must have a million brushes. Some are almost worn out, but I never throw ANYTHING away. You can look in my closet (if you are brave enough) and see my collection of never once worn items. Then there is my collection of pencils which include charcoal, graphite, mechanical, every shade of pastel and watercolor. My favorite is a Staedler super fine point. My collection of erasers is in a drawer by itself. Peyton is taking an art class this semester and I offered him his pick of these prize possessions. He declined my offer. He has one wooden pencil with an eraser that went through the washing machine.

credit goes to fotosearch.com

I had to google” pencil” to get a photo of this relic. My son is a no frills artist……..What he has done so far with his pencil rivals Van Gogh, Pollock and Picasso…..I am SO bad about my stuff that I almost forgot what were the primary colors. I have every shade of any color that you could imagine and feel the need to duplicate each hue in acrylic,egg tempera, goache, watercolor, pencils (see above),  oil (hmmm…..expensive, but SO YUMMY)and maybe encaustic wax in the future. Am I inspired? Yes, but I still can’t throw ANYTHING away!

It will be fine until I get into life size sculptures of all our animals, then we may have a problem…..

Goodwill Hunting

Future's so bright, gotta wear shades

The last two week-ends we have gone thrift store shopping. We started out in Southtown in down town San Antonio and last week-end had good luck at the Texas Thrift Store. Peyton found these sunglasses. There was no price tag. “That will be ninety six” the cashier informed me. Dollars or cents, I wondered. Well, we ended up with 2 CD’s, a Ralph Lauren shirt, these cool sunglasses and our bill was $6.00.

million dollar baby

The Houston Street Fair is held on the last Saturday of the month. Tom and I have gone a few times. This was Peyton’s first experience. He found this hat. We had looked for hats at all the thrift stores and finally found one here. We are disappointed to hear that next month (September) will be the last month of the Houston Street Fair! Que lastima!!!!!

Eat more chikin

99 out of 100 cows agree!

Country roads

future savior of the planet

Peyton has started driving, a little late, but he is very cautious. We were laughing because he can drive a virtual vehicle 350 miles an hour in a video game, but 15 miles an hour on a quiet country road is intimidating. This is going to be interesting……..

Peggy’s Secret Garden

I had no idea what to expect. I thought it might be dark and a little scary. With the recent storm, how could it be anything but a barren wasteland. I wanted to avoid such a place at all costs. It is far away from here. I hate flying for one thing, so for sure I would have chosen to stay in my own safe paradise to savor the greatness and hold on to my own reality without taking a chance of disrupting my world. Even the worst drought would be better than seeing the weeds that would surely be choking and entangling the garden that had been so lush and beautiful. The good news is that what I saw was a perfect garden that was touched by the wind but not ruined. The roots had been planted too deep and nurtured with too much tenderness to be destroyed. It is a family garden that will thrive and grow stronger with each new day. More good news….We brought back some seeds from this incredible place and have planted them in our own secret garden, but it’s not a secret anymore. Peggy knows.

another day in paradise

“You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail”

Isaiah 58:11

If you’re happy and you know it….

……blog about it

Here’s a GREAT blog with great photography and writing. I’m busy painting.

Check it out  click HERE

Note to new bloggers

Who cares who reads your posts. Well it takes hours sometimes to put the feelings that you have onto  paper   or  into cyberspace.   So you kind of want people to read it. So just a hint that I have discovered.

A great way to expose your blog is to log onto this site…it’s free but subscriptions will enhance your exposure even more 

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Swine Not?

Miss Piggy here….Dana  made the mistake of leaving her book in the barn and it has been  an inspiration to me. It is a bestseller written by the great singer/musician Jimmy Buffet. It is called “Swine Not?” It is about a little pig that looks a lot like me. Her owners move into a hotel in New York where she has lots of great adventures. She plays soccer (not for me) but she also discovers some great  food and fun. As long as Christopher is in Chicago, I think that should be my home for awhile. Wish me luck!It actually makes me VERY uncomfortable standing under this sign. So far everyone has been very nice. I have my camera and laptop…..I will keep in touch.

Debajo de Mismo Luna

I never fully understood what the true meaning of this sentence in Spanish was until I was separated from my family for too long of a period to be able to cope with it. We lost our precious brother, Russell  and are grieving still….but we are all under the same moon and that gives me peace. I painted this little tribute dedicated to that thought today…..

Dream Green – Lollapalooza 2009

Surely the music is impressive, but another impressive factor I discovered is the concerted efforts by the producers of Lollapalooza to make the Festival as ecologically responsible as possible. All generators used throughout the park are run on a biodiesel mix, solar energy is used to power select site enhancements. High-efficiency lighting is used whenever possible. Beside every trash container were separate bins for cans and plastic which makes it simple for everyone to recycle.
    

  
Can Lollapalooza fans make a difference by learning to minimize their day to day carbon footprint? Why not?

  Green Street made it’s debut at the festival two years ago. Stations are set up by various nonprofit organizations with enlightening information booths. The Green Street Art Market has selected retailers specializing in green goods that meet Lolla’s tight eco-guidelines. I did my part in the Lolla Eco activities by purchasing a reusable wine bottle and also filled a few bags  to earn my Lolla Green Card. 

This is Schlumpy, an 8 foot ball made up of plastic bags. He tours around the U S with the goal of collecting pledges to cut down on the number of plastic bags used by American shoppers. Throughout the festival grounds were Rock & Recycle Centers where fans were given plastic bags to fill with recyclable bottles,cans and cups.

Schlumpy

Heavy burdens abound. We have a responsibility to our planets, our family and ourselves. Music allows us to escape from the real world for awhile. Bring your blanket and some comfortable shoes. Be sure to seek out the numerous shady spots. Lollapalooza is a three day marathon, pace yourself and the only thing you have to be responsible for is to listen and just let it be……