Am I Dreaming??

Well...I have just the most remarkable news to share with you! I mean, reeeeallly, exciting, change your life, kind of news and am going to bust my buttons if I don't get it out! Now, that is a scary thought! For the past year or so, I have been really stretching myself out of my comfort zone, artistically, that is. I have been a primitive folk artist for many years and although I still enjoy it, I was feeling like I needed a new dose of creativity and inspiration to give me a kick in the pants. So, I began to explore my inner child and invited her to come out and play and see what would happen...everyone who knows me knows that I really am just a big kid at heart, anyway. I am much happier living in my little fantasy world than being a mover and shaker in the realm of "reality." I love to see the world through rose colored glasses and love to approach life with a childlike heart and so, creating art from that place was very natural to me and my imagination went wild. I began to paint what I imagined..in vibrant color and whimsical design and my childhood fantasies soon took shape...mermaids, angels and fairies...children with pudgy faces and bright eyes that smile at the world around them. I have been having so much fun, exploring this new genre and it has been well received in the galleries that I am in..but, nothing prepared me for what has been a dream of mine since I can remember to come true and fall right into my lap, as if out of the sky! I was doing a primitive show with my line of furniture, dolls and signs and just happened to bring a sample of my new work...just in case. Well, good thing I did for a wonderful woman looked at my samples and asked me if I would be interested in illustrating children's books! I said I had always dreamt of doing just that and it turns out, she is a publisher and we are now in the works of my illustrating not one...but, A SERIES of children's books based on my characters! I am beyond the moon on this one!!! We have the first book already underway and two more to follow and I just pinch myself every time I think of what is to come and feel like I am dreaming...I have created a new website and blog to showcase this new art as it is quite different from my primitive designs and I hope you will check it out at http://www.queenbartistry.homestead.com/ and also take a peek at my other blog: http://www.queenbartistry.blogspot.com/ I will of course, be continuing my primitive portraits, furniture, signs, etc. and have some exciting prospects under way in the near future as we are looking into doing a catalog of our most popular designs...I will keep you posted..so, looks like bertie is going to be a very busy little bee and will be pinching herself for quite some time! I guess I really am dreaming as this has been a dream of mine that is finally coming true...how wonderful that I get to be fully awake during it all!!

Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN AND TURN OFF MY PLAYLIST BEFORE YOU WATCH THE VIDEO SO YOU DON'T HEAR BOTH AT ONCE! There are just some things that you come across that you know in an instant, they were meant for you to see or hear at just the right time in your life. It is like they were ordained to touch you and bring you a message to hear...the challenge is in listening and taking the time to slow down and actually hear that still, small voice that is calling you. It is soooo easy to get so caught up in the rush and chaos of our daily lives...it is like we live our lives in fast forward. Imagine your frustration if you tried to watch a wonderful movie only in fast forward. Sure, you would see the general synopsis and maybe get an idea of the story line...but, the essence and depth of the message would be lost because you couldn't hear it. All you would miss..the emotion, the words of wisdom, the connection to the characters...the ability to relate and get lost in the story. It would be like getting a gorgeous birthday cake and only tasting the frosting and never getting to the decadent gooey chocolate center. Perish the thought! That is how we often live out our lives...we get to experience the outer layer, but never get to the core where all the blessing is because we just are not present enough or are sleep walking our way thru our lives. Busy, busy, busy...our jobs, our kids and their bazillion activities, our homes, etc... We need to wake ourselves up and then be still and listen...as this video so beautifully says...it is in those little seeds of life..the simple moments where we slow down and allow life to trickle over us where the miracles lie. I hope you can take a few moments to watch and really allow the message to sink in...and then go do something fun or wild or even just take a minute to look around you at all the beauty and know it was created for you...for you...all for YOU...make a moment worth remembering and be awake in your life...and you will hear that still, small voice again as it says, "you are loved." You would have to be deeply loved for there to be so much beauty and blessing created in the world to take your breath away. I often feel this deeply when I am gardening. The world could've been created in black and white and we would never have known any better, but, no. There are more varieties of colorful flowers, birds, and butterflies than I will ever be able to see and it makes me think that God must've been having a ball when creation was taking place. It is as if I can hear Him saying with total excitement, "Oh, look at this flower..this one is really going to knock her socks off!" All out of love for a child that He wants to fill with glee and when I take the time to look, I get it and am indeed, filled to the brim with glee...and joy...and awe. I believe that is the message in the movie of our lives and it deserves to be heard, for it is the only way that we can pass it on to our children and help others to be fully awake in their lives so they can hear it too. So, we need to put down the blackberries (and I don't mean the fruit!) and step away from the television and let our children go outside once in awhile leaving their video games behind and let that trickle of life just saturate us with simple moments of bliss..find a snippet of time and plant a seed ...you never know what might happen...you might just grow a miracle. Have a blessed week and love to you all!

A Christmas Inspiration!

BEFORE YOU LISTEN, PLEASE TURN OFF MY PLAYLIST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE! This is what Christmas is all about to me. I give it to you as a gift, in the spirit of love and hope. It seems like the world has lost the magic of Christmas and become deaf to the message of "Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Man." Let us renew that hope and pray for a world that is in need of good news. May the magic of the season..the lowly manger that holds the most precious gift the world has ever known, be born anew in our lowly mangers...our hearts...and may we feel it deep and radiate a light that touches the dark places of this world and leave a mark of love. May you all have a blessed Christmas!