Lost in a World of Painting

This week I'll share some

of my most recent creations. 

The following piece

is dimensional. I designed 5

raised pieces that were cut

out and attached to a 

plywood base. 

Trim was added to the edges

to frame it out. 

Blue Kitty. 

Purple Kitty with some mixed media additions. 

This is a sweet little kitty that started

as a pattern I drew and my husband

cut out for me on our scroll saw. 

He used pine and said it was a really nice

material to cut. I painted the sides to

match the floral motif on the front. 

I also drew a fish pattern for my husband to

cut out for me using the same pine. 

It was fun painting something new. 

Lastly is this yellow kitty

that I just finished this morning. 

Such fun! 

I hope you're having a wonderful day! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri 

Frida Folk Art Painting

I'm having fun working on some

Frida boxes that I look forward 

to sharing with you in the near future. 

In the meantime I finished this 

Frida painting. 

We're finally seeing a break in

the weather here in the southwestern United States. 

The monsoon season is coming to a close. 

We look forward to sleeping with the windows

open very soon. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead! 

Terri

Grand-pup and Painting

In a mother's heart there's a desire to nurture and care 

for little ones that never goes away. 

At least I can speak for myself, and don't

think I'm alone. 

Many of my empty nester friends have gotten

pets at this stage in life. 

That need to "mother" always has

a place in our hearts even when our

kids are grown and gone from the house.

These were my thoughts as I painted 

this week's painting. 

This past week I've been dog

sitting for the little white pup in

the next picture. His name is Finley

and he's a sweetie. 

The little black cutie is my new

"Grand-dog" Gus. 

He's only 8 weeks old. 

He's the most adorable little Berniedoodle. 

Here he is after sniffing around in

some mesquite leaves. 

He's the sweetest puppy ever! 

I just love him. 

Growing up, I had an Aunt that

was a golden retriever breeder.

I have the fondest memories of going

over to her house to play with all the puppies. 

Finley's heading back to his home tomorrow.

He'll be missed, but I'm really looking forward

to my future visits with Gus. 

Hoping you're having a wonderful

week so far. 

Warmest regards,

Terri

Paintings and Thoughts on Procrastination

I've found one positive thing about 

myself in regard to procrastination today.

When I procrastinate about doing 

the thing I don't want to do, I'm extremely

productive in doing everything

else that eventually needs to be done. 

Laundry's done, dishes are done, birthday card

that had to go out is in the mail, blog post

almost finished. . . 

Speaking of which, I'll get

started on now. 

I was sort of willy nilly in my

painting this week. 

I had some wood pieces my husband

had cut for me that I wanted to use up.

Here's what I came up with for now. 

It's funny, the thing I'm procrastinating about

is not a big deal at all.

It's just something I don't feel like doing. 

Oh, I just remembered the pomodoro time

management method!

That's what I'll do, set the timer and get started.  

Thank you for visiting today!

I hope you have a fabulous week.

Terri

Back on the Farm

My sweet friend Aimee asked if

I'd help add some color and

cheer to some of her animal shelters.

She wanted a border painted around

the edge of two of her new shelters

that someone had kindly donated. 

I knew there would be no way I could be up

on a ladder in 105 plus degree weather

during monsoon season

with all the inquisitive (and large) animals 

trying to figure out what I was up to. 

I immediately thought painting wooden

boards that could be affixed to the metal

sides was the way to go. (I'd let

my husband work out those details). 

Twenty-three wooden flowers were added 

throughout the design to give it dimension. 

My husband gets the credit for cutting 

those out for me. He had at least as much

work on this project as I did. 

I had 10 boards to paint. At one point they

were spread all over our family room floor,

the fireplace, our kitchen table, 

and the kitchen counter. 

It's so good to have our house back!

As I was painting and maneuvering backwards

on my hands and knees around the boards

I felt a sharp painful pop on my left side. 

It turns out I dislocated a rib. Ouch! 

When we went to install the pieces, I decided

to feed the animals first and keep them busy

while we worked. 

This is the larger of the two shelters. 

Her family of animals are so sweet and

she takes such good care of them. 

Aimee also asked if I'd paint a board

with a rainbow and a peace sign on it

for her horses palette shanty. 

There'll be some girl scouts coming

by soon. She's asked them to paint

the rest of the shanty boards in rainbow colors. 

Now I'm back to painting

some smaller pieces and

giving my ribs a rest. 

I hope you have a wonderful week

and greatly appreciate you stopping by! 

Terri

Camping Dreams Become Reality

Camping is something I've

always loved to do. 

Being out in nature, wandering 

around and exploring new places,

is so much fun for me. 

Rocks, insects, creatures, and plant life

are all things I patiently observe and study

when we camp and hike. 

I decided to paint myself a camper.

Of course, it had to be pink with

lots of flowers. 

I added a little kitty that I'd drawn with

prismacolor pencils and adhered

it to the piece with matte medium. 

I showed it to my husband when I finished

and asked him if he'd travel with

me in my pink camper. 

He said as long as I was with him, 

that was all that mattered. 

Apparently I wasn't the only one 

with the camping bug. 

My husband was itching to go

back to one of our favorite spots

in the Chiricahua National Forest

in Southeastern Arizona. 

I thought I'd share a picture or two

of one of our "go to" camping spots. 

We've been to this one several

times over the past 20 years or so. 

I'm sure you can see why. 

Of course we had to do 

some hiking while we were there. 

The following are a couple

pictures from the trails

around our site.

In 2007 they had a bad forest

fire that really changed the landscape

for many years to come. 

It was still beautiful though. 

We stopped for lunch on our way

home in Safford Arizona and I spotted

this artsy camper in the parking lot

of the restaurant we visited. 

Whenever I see things like this, it makes

me smile. No matter if it's a little cooky,

or masterfully done, it's a slice of Americana. 

Thank you for coming along

with me on my little camping adventure. 

I hope you have a wonderful 

rest of the week! 

Terri

Superior and Artsy Sites to See

This week is a little mix of

work and play.

Although, I'd never call creating 

artwork, actual work. 

Onward, to some play and play then. . . 

Here are a few of my pieces from this 

past week. 

~Mixed media fun. 

Pink kitty

Mixed media with colored pencils,

paint, and collage papers. 

Blue eyed Frida mixed media

Folk art bird.

The quote is one of my favorites on faith:

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings

when the dawn is still dark. -Tagore

Been there. . . 

On Saturday, we took a visit to Superior

Arizona. It's not too far from our house. 

Here are a few fun pictures of the 

desert and the town. 

The fruit on the saguaro's are open

now, feeding many of the desert animals. 

That's Picketpost Mountain 

in the background. 

They drop from the top to the ground

and feed more creatures there. 

Isn't it pretty? 

This was one of the fun artsy houses

we drove by. 

This house made me smile when

I saw John Wayne at the front door. 

The following are some of the

town shops with their murals. 

Thank you so much for 

visiting!

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Terri

Last Week's Menagerie of Artwork

Here are some of the pieces 

I've been working on this past week. 

Purple kitty wearing a 

polka dot tie. 

These butterflies make me laugh.

Not the pieces themselves, but 

the fact that my husband hung

them in our pond area upside down.

I asked him if he realized he did that

and he was insistent they were right side up. 

Oh, how I did not want to look at

those things hanging upside down

every time I looked 

out my kitchen window. 

I'd decided just to zip it, and

not say another word about it. 

Well, to my surprise, the next day

I saw that he had flipped them right

side up. 

"Thank You Lord!" 

This is a sign that I made

for the bathroom. 

It has resonated with me

since the first time I saw

it in an old Victoria magazine

many years ago. 

Frida magnet

                                

This is a large 'welcome' sign I made

from a long cabinet door

someone was getting rid of. 

Mermaid magnet

Kitty Plaque

Fish magnet

That about wraps it up for 

now. 

Hoping it's a wonderful week for you.

Thank you for visiting. 

Terri

Cats and Skulls and Magnets, Oh My!

The past weekend was so much fun! 

My daughter and son-in-law

took their "mom's" out for an early

 surprise Mother's Day celebration. 

(It's so nice being good friends

with my daughter's mother-in-law.)

The four of us went to the 

English Rose Tea Room

in Carefree Arizona. 

It was just perfect. 

Being a tea drinker myself I had

to up my game the following morning

and forgo my usual mug for Grandma's 

porcelain tea set. 

While it wasn't quite as delicious without

the real cream and lump of sugar,

it extended the delightful memory just the same. 

If you ever happen to be in the 

area, it's a wonderful place to visit. 

* * * * *

Moving on now to my 

art creations of this past week. 

Here's a pic of my purple kitty plaque, . . .

. . . . my new skull plaque, . . . 

. .  .  and some fun little art magnets. 

These little guys are all painted on 2"x 2" pieces of wood. 

I decided to make some one of a kind 

mini artwork magnets as well. 

This little kitty is one of those. 

So much fun! 

Hope you have a wonderful week. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Terri

Cows, Cats, and Life's Rollercoaster

Last week was a crazy one of

highs and lows. 

One day it was remembering a dear friend's brother

at a memorial service. 

The next day it was celebrating our 

daughter's 29th birthday. 

The day after that, another dear friend called to say 

her Dad is in his last days. 

Through it all, God is 

faithful and His presence has been evident. 

Needless to say, I apologize for not

having a chance to catch up on all

the wonderful blogs I follow. 

Hopefully this week will be a little

less eventful. 

********

To start with, I'll share the cow

painting that I'm working on. 

I'm kind a stuck for a bit here and

am in the pondering stage. . . 

Meanwhile I thought I'd take a fun

little detour and paint this little gal. 

While I was at it, I saw this one waiting

to be finished and took care of it too. 

My goal for this week is to finish up

on the cow painting, and start

on the bunny hutch I have sitting

in the middle of my kitchen floor! 

Fortunately, it's only been there since Saturday. 

Hope you have a wonderful week. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri