birdandflower designs

6:19pm: I've been busy with spring. Llanite and I planned our garden
during the winter. Llanite had to re-build
the arbor that was blown down by wind storms around this
time last year.

This year he built an arbor and we have a grown box inside.
There are flowers, herbs and melons around the perimeter
of the grow box.

We are in the middle of major Iris bloom.


I will keep posting more developments.

11:36am: New items on sale on Etsy:
I have created affirmations cards for health with
prints of my artwork.
I have several sets:


17 Cards





16 Cards


They are on sale here at Etsy.

3:10pm: Latest paper dolls
These are the paper dolls I am working on now:


These will be on sale at Etsy



Each paper doll is 17-1/2 x 7 inches and comes with her own lovebird.

7:40am: pretty in pink
This is my latest painting. Acrylic and pastels on
water color paper. I love pink, but more of a dusty pink.

I really had fun painting this one.

5:40pm: Death Valley Star Party



Llanite Dave and I at the annual fall Death Valley Star Party.
He built his own telescope. There was another guy there who built
his own. So wonderful to see creativity, ingenuity and plain old
problem solving in action.

---

In the picture above. Jupiter is over my head in the Sagittarius
(actually it will conjunct my moon exactly in a few weeks).
Kaus Australis is over his shoulder.

This picture was taken by Wally Pacholka
award winning astro-photographer. See his fabulous
pictures and more here.

9:58pm: Paper dolls hand-made angels


These paper dolls are available on Art by Us.





Partly hand painted with acrylics and clothing is usually
printed paper. See individual auctions for details.

1:05pm: New paper doll and morning thoughts



-Sold-

This morning during my morning meditation, I was thinking
about things that I want to manifest in my life and what I want
for the people I love, and I began to think that if what goes
around comes around is true, I want to send prayers and
energy to every one who wants what I want.

I want everyone who wants a job or is praying for a good job,
or income to be blessed with that dream. I want every one
who is looking for their true love to find them as soon as
possible, I want everyone to achieve, or resolve that one
thing that they are trying for. I also send energy to anyone
who needs a little more to hold on until they accomplish their
goal.

I was inspired by a young man I met in the store the other day.
He was close to asking me out and I had to turn him down.
He was handsome and creative and I could feel from his life
that he is so close to finding his dream love. I know because
I have felt that feeling before.

There are so many ways that love can inspire.

9:32am: Witch Paper dolls
All three together:




All are sold.
(They are shown without their removable hats)


These two are currently available:

Morrigan - on sale on E-bay



Belladona - on sale at Art by Us




More paper-dolls here

9:13pm: Retro paper-doll for Nibblefest





This paper doll is on sale on E-bay as part of the
Nibblefest art contest
NFAC. There is a theme each month- this month's theme is
retro. All bids start at .99 cents.


Contest runs for 7 days beginning on the 20th of each month.
Do a search for NFAC, to see what other artists have done
with this "theme".
-Sold-

7:57am: Hopeful





Acrylic pastel, colored pencil on 140 lb watercolor paper.
Measurements: 11-1/2 width x 11 height

11:17am: new Painting:





Acrylic, pastels and colored pencil.
Measurements: 9-3/4 inches x 9 inches (measurements are approximate)


This will be on sale at Art by Us.

4:30am: Slow
I wish I could paint as fast as I get ideas, and I wish I could
post as fast as I paint, (sigh).




fast = often

4:28am: Painting on Paper





Acrylic, pastels, and colored pencil on paper, 11 x 15.

5:56am: Alice in Wonderland for NFAC



Tribute to Alice. Paper doll. Hand made, handpainted with
acrylics, on 140 lb watercolor paper. Measurements: 7 x 19.


For auction here.

8:38pm: Painting on Paper - The Three Graces
This is from the series of paintings where I am trying acrylics with pastels and
colored pencils.

Measurements: 11" inches X 15" inches
I had so much fun painting this one that I did it over with the flowers in pink
and the dresses in red.



Measurements: 11" inches X 15" inches

Both paintings are done on 140 lb watercolor paper. I paint the back to make
it lie flat and to help make the paper more sturdy.

These can be found at: Art by Us.



My energy level has been strange, bursts of extreme energy and waves of
exhaustion. I am in the process of having it checked out. Meanwhile enjoying
the prolific days as I can!

8:09pm: July 2007 newsletter
My latest news letter is ready for online viewing.
This is one of the many new paintings I am featuring:



My artwork will be available for sale at Art By Us.

11:59pm: new paintings and paper dolls

This is a new collage paper doll. I have a hand-painted
paper doll and a large set of cat angel paperdoll in progress blogged here.


I also have a new painting blogged here.

12:14am: What to do?
This painting has been a work in progress for a long time. I really need to
either finish it, or start over. I painted it on particle board and I was going
to make a folding screen, but the "wood" is way to heavy. I also chipped it
when I moved (3 times) and have basically been in a block trying to decide
what to do. Here is the painting:



On one hand I need to finish it. I am open to what finishing it could mean.
- It could mean finishing this one and repairing the chip and coming to terms
with the weight of it and creating a stand for it.

- It could mean finishing this one and creating another one like it that
is lighter in weight and could be either a triptich and hung or a folding screen.

- It could mean getting rid of the heavy one and not finishing it and just making
a new one using the old one for a reference, but changing some colors and
updating the painting with techniques and skills that I have learned since I
made that one.

it is Mercury Retrograde and I am using the energy to "re-" do, review,
re-think.... you get the picture.

I am posting this on my other Paintings on Paper and Wood blog because
I would like suggestions brain storms or votes, I really can't make
up my mind what to do. I love this painting... HELp!!!!!

11:02pm: Hot
It's been hot earlier than usual. 103 degrees and more. My morning begins with stretching and meditation and a great big glass of ice cold water. The I go water the trees and plants. We have at least 35 trees, not counting the ones that fell; that were here when we bought the place, and we planted more to shade our house and parts of the yard.

Inspite of the fallen grape arbor and no time to repair it right now, the grapes are doing amazingly well.



The netting is to keep the birds out. So far one has sneaked in. No birds or grapes harmed so far.



This plant has been a mystery until I saw the flowers. The leaves were nibbled on by iguanas that live underneath them so I never could figure out what they looked like, and the plant grew so fast and tall, (almost 7 feet) I kept calling it the "Jack-and-the-beanstalk" plant.

I keep forgetting to post pics of the new honey bee condo, and the amazing bloom of iris's we had. There were hundreds!

10:18pm: What I've been up to:
My in-laws came to visit. My husband and I had a wonderful time, sharing our life in the desert with them.
I haven't posted much since the great winds came. There has been a lot to do.

We took them to see some of the wonderful treasures of Amargosa Valley. Ash Meadows, Pahrump,
Dante's peak, China Ranch, and my favorite The Amargosa Valley Opera House. I have been wanting to see this for a long time.

The Amargosa Opera House is in Death Valley Junction, a small ghost town. Artist and dancer Marta Beckett has created something magical here. At age 82 up until recently when she hurt her back hanging curtains she performed ballet and sometimes on toe. I haven't seen it yet, but during performance season it is always sold out. Keep in mind the nearest towns are Pahrump, and Las Vegas, both 40-90 miles away. It is truly in the middle of no-where.

The quaint hotel is both mysterious and quirky and not for the faint of heart.

Marta performed alone to a hand-painted audience for many years:




She has written a book about her life: To Dance on Sands.

I find it inspiring because it shows what a life in the arts can look like, that it can be long and on your own terms and it is a wonderful story of determination. Art, creativity, dancing, and ghost town, what a mix!

5:52am: Mod sixties paper-dolls


-Paper-dolls inspired by 60's fashion for E-bay Nibblefest art contest,
The Groovy 60's. This will be listed on May 20th - 27th. I haven't chosen
one for the contest yet. Listing starts at .99 cents.
Links and individual pics later.

2:43pm: Caribbean Mermaid Paper doll



On sale at Art By Us.

4:38am: New paperdoll "Bella"



She is for sale here, at Art by Us.
Click here to learn more details.

9:34pm: Winds of Change
I have been feeling in a strange mood. A huge disappointment! I was so excited to start my garden.
I got the containers ready, and planned my garden. I could almost taste the fresh veggies....


Then we got these huge winds, 35 miles per hour+ (I think they were much stronger than that!) that blew over the tallest tree in our yard.

They made it impossible to water, and on top of everything... they blew over the grape arbor where I was going to plant my garden.

The poor bees! Their beehive was in an old dresser that was blown to bits.

I have been chasing things across the yard, that really should be too heavy to blow. Impossible to water because the wind dries the water a short while after it hits the ground. The weather was cold, and overcast
and I was achy because it threatened rain with no rain.

I kept trying to make a new plan, but this is the best spot in the yard for planting eddibles. Lots of space, few bugs, and a little shade from the trees, but basically a bright sunny area.

Hopefully next post will be more positive!

3:59pm: New blogs
I've been busy creating so many things;
new blogs:

My Paper-doll Blog


My Painting Blog


My Mixed Media Blog


I will still be posting here at lj, mostly art and garden and daily life and things I am experimenting with that doen't fit in the other blogs which will be more organized. This one will be filled with random thoughts and happenings.


The other blogs will be a creative mixture of old and new projects that have not been posted before.