Autumn

"delicious autumn! my very soul is wedded to it, and if i were a bird i would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - george eliot

i love autumn. it stirs up so many mixed emotions........an excitement from the cool snap in the air, reflections of the past year, memories of the past, a sense of preparing to hunker down for the coming winter months. it seems all the momentous happenings in my life have been in fall.....some good, others not so good. for me it's a time of revenants....but i welcome the memories now after so many years. i welcome the visits in my sleep or just upon quiet reflection.....strain to hear the heavy footstep of a past love come home.....long to see clearly the face i so cherished. you're not forgotten, my space cowboy.

signs of the season changing are all around me now. the cotton field near my home is almost ready to be picked. the leaves are falling on soft sighs into the creek....starting their long journey to who knows where.
the love lies bleeding gives up her vertical posture and reaches towards the ground, full cycle......returning to earth.
the dirt daubers have built their homes under the pier's roof....their winter's haven.
and i had to throw in walker.....poor, tripod, walker, in the autumn of his life and left alone to guard a home full of memories and revenants.you watch for my space cowboy, walker. he'll keep you company on the coming cold nights.
"i cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. so i spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air." - nathaniel hawthorne

me too, nat......me too!

r.i.p paul newman

"i picture my epitaph: "here lies paul newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown"." - paul newman no worries there, paul. rest in peace.

the fence

"how well i have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. there is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man." - johnny cash

urban prairie

"i am so much more than a number, an age group, a word. i'm living life my way, on my terms. i'm still finding the silver lining. old enough to know "best" but young hearted enough to not always care." - chris brown

amen, brother!

urban prairie refueled blog

celebration cupcake

i was invited to a celebration party for someone who just got their american citizenship this past weekend. in these times when we have so many illegals in our country it made me awfully proud that someone would work so hard to be a part of our country. i had just gotten my september/october 2008 cloth.paper.scissors magazine and read the article by sue pelletier on her cupcake concoctions so i decided that this would be a nice little gift to welcome our new american. i dug around in my studio and came up with enough stuff to make this cupcake. his citizenship was granted on july 31, 2008. i know you can't really read the light print behind the date but it's the pledge of allegiance.
he had a wonderful party. his wife out did herself decorating everything in red, white, and blue, with flags. and the food...........OMG! our county supervisor sent him a plaque welcoming him to our country and county. it was a beautiful night to be out under the stars, the weather was perfect.....i hope this is a harbinger of his future here in the u s of a!

bubble calendar

alright.......i know there are others like me out there.........you know who you are.....you get those packing sheets with bubbles and ......POW POW POW. love it! want want want this calendar!

get yours here.

urban fairies

jonathan b. wright, of ann arbor, michigan, has a site called urban fairies. if you're like me, i always think of the fae living in gardens or forests and somehow never imagined they may be urban. jonathan says it all started when he purchased a home that was over 100 years old. in the process of remodeling his home he discovered numerous fairy doors thru out the house with miniature settings inside. how neat would that be??? any how.......out of this adventure was founded urban fairies. they seem to have gained a steady hold on ann arbor.

this one is at nicola's books. this one at sweetwaters cafe.
this one at peaceable kingdom.
and i had to throw this one in. fairy goblins?
check out jonathan's site here.

miquel aparici

miquel aparici is another found art artist that does some wonderful work. his sculptures are really lifelike. i used to raise fainting goats so this first one is my fav. great crab.
very simplistic cat.

something's fishy..... check out his site here. be sure to look thru the escultura and pintura sections.

mr. walking stick

for those of you who read my blog, you know my feelings on snakes. picture me shuttering at that last word! well.......when i came home yesterday there was a huge black snake near my front door. he didn't even try to leave when i pulled up......just raised up about a foot for a better look. insert another shutter here! now i know black snakes won't hurt you....but.....heart attacks kill. so....i jumped out of the car and went behind the house to get a hoe from the shed, tiptoed back around front and.......no snake. i've neglected the area underneath my butterfly bush and around my small pond and the grass had gotten pretty out of hand so i'm sure he was just scouting out the goodies there for the taking. i beat the grass with the hoe....no snake. my junkin truck was parked a little ways away. pllllllllleeeeaaaaassssssseeeeeeee don't let him have gone up in there! (that happened recently to a co-worker!) so anyway....today i cut grass and got out the old weedeater and remedied the jungle near my front steps. once the dust cleared this poor little guy caught my eye on top of my suv. i believe i may have rocked his world. sorry little dude...but....hey......maybe i saved you from being that snake's dinner.

you gonna look like a monkey when you get old.....

i don't know all the words to that monkey birthday song but i get it sung to me every year.... so.............back at cha, sister in law. happy birthday , ms. bank teller. she's gonna kill me for posting this picture of her on the web. i had some help procuring this picture from her big sister. and jean......she says this is payback for the baby picture you gave her co-workers that ended up on a birthday cake at her bank!
i'm always curious of where other people create. here's a sneak peek at my studio. i've got woofers and tweeters (whatever those are!) on my computer so i go in, crank up van morrison, light up the fairy lights, and get lost for hours.

and no....... it's not usually this neat!

melissa valeriote

more and more halloween goodies are popping up on the blogs i read. it makes me want to start my decorating......i've actually seen some folks that have! melissa valeriote is one such artist. she's been featured in country living, artful blogging, and somerset holidays & celebrations. she calls these cuties "sweet treats".

for all of us crow lovers she has some really cute halloween crows.and ornaments...........love them!visit melissa's site here and be sure to check out her etsy shop.

mo junkin

here are the rest of the pictures i took on my junkin trip this past weekend. i think these are sap buckets, not really sure, i was just drawn to the colors. this enamel ware caught my eye. anything blue usually does.
who doesn't love yellow ware. the guy at this booth told me several years back a woman tried to scam him by taking a picture of his yellow ware to the police and telling them it had been stolen from her home. it takes all kinds!
these poor bodyless guys appeared to be in deep thought. i guess with only a head that's pretty much all they could do!
i like to use some of these jars for my fairies. of course.... i loved the blue ones.
this lady had a virtual candy store for the mixed media artist. she told me hanna blew her up the coast trying to make a buck. there was so much great stuff....buttons, beads, old hardware, old game pieces, old pictures, marbles, old jewelry, doo dads.... you name it. i spent a huge amount of time digging thru her things.

she also had this mannequin head. again.......very contemplative!
i don't know what these are but the colors were nice. i'd put some candles in one and use it as a center piece on my table.
i really wanted one of these bird houses but they were $69.00.... too pricey for me. there was a barn red one that kept calling my name every time i got close. they were made from reclaimed wood and tin.

i'm gonna have to stick back a little green and make this trip again first of october. the weather should be great for junkin and i may partake of a little "fair food" while i browse.

junkin

we were expecting rainy weather today, compliments of hanna, but were pleasantly surprised with an overcast, breezy, wonderful day to go junkin, so i grabbed my camera and headed up above charlotte to the metrolina expo. they have an antiques and flea market the first weekend of each month. i try to hit the little guys selling in the open lot out of their trucks more than the dealers inside the buildings, although i do make a cursory lap around all the buildings just so i don't miss anything i might couldn't live without. there's always soooooo much to look at and i have to see and touch everything. i loved this old door. if i had it i'd put it on a garden shed or outside studio.
i'm drawn to colors like a moth to the light. these chairs caught my eye.
and i'm always, always, looking for colorful bottles.
old cameras guarantee a stop every time.

this steinway was marvelous! it was playing the prettiest music. i tried to get a good shot of the inside behind the glass but wasn't lucky enough to capture the magic.
of course these folk dolls got my attention.
and these birds, they looked like they could be sitting on a power line or a fence singing their morning songs.
i didn't find what i went for, the individual silverware holders that you stack forks or knives in. i saw plenty that you just lay the knife across but i've been searching for the "u" shaped ones that you can stack several pieces in. i also have a piece in my studio that i'm working on that needs feet. it's a bird made from an old oil can with a flexible neck. it just started out as a plain bird but now i'm thinking it may be the centerpiece turkey for my thanksgiving table. i found plenty of old hardware that would have worked but i'm not in to paying $15 - $20 dollars for found art! all in all, i had a great day. i purchased a few goodies for my studio, had chicken scampi at the olive garden, and a cup of java from caffino's for the ride home. life is good.

maggie taylor

am i the only person in the world that just can't work in photoshop? oh, i can tweak my photos as well as the rest of you but i'm talking digital art! i am sooooooo in awe of this medium. i've got the photoshop manuel, books from the library, i even ordered a dvd. i just can't seem to get a grasp on this program! i've been buying the photoshop creative magazine which i know is wwwaaaaaaay beyond my skills but i just want to master this program soooooo bad. i live in a rural area so there are no classes around here. i think i'd do better with hands on, most right brained folks do. in the mean time, i just stay frustrated that nothing works. oh well, at least i can enjoy other artist's work.

these are some pictures of digital artist maggie taylor's work. you really need to check out her site. it's wonderful. this one is called "mood lifter". i don't know why i'm so drawn to anything with birds. i find that they show up in my art more and more. this one is "late".
these serious looking ladies are the "water sitters".
i enjoy creating collage art....the cutting, the pasting, really the whole shebang. but one of these days.......i'm determined to learn to do digital art.

tom haney

check out these articulated art pieces by tom haney. i love these. some are electric, some are hand cranked, some key turned. this piece is called fly away home and this one is down boy. soooooooo cute.
he also does figures. this one is margaret. don't you love that she's imperfect. in his artist statement, mr. haney says, "for the most part, i approach my work searching for that characteristic of the human spirit that struggles to overcome anything fate can throw it's way. i've always been on the side of the underdog, rooting for the little guy. their lives and stories inspire me." tom haney inspires me!
and check out these drawers. when you pull out the middle drawer the couple looks at each other.
check out his site here. i especially like that he takes us step by step thru the process of making these wonderful art pieces.