A Little Imagination and a Pile of Junk

thankful

 

Our first Thanksgiving in Colorado turned out to be a surprisingly good one. We had planned on going home to Texas but at the last minute were unable to go because of John's work schedule. We were all pretty much devastated but tried our hardest to make the best of the situation. And God was good to us, as He always is. We had a sweet time, just our little family.

 

After barely making a dent in an enormous pot of gumbo and a lasagna pan full of banana pudding, we headed to Denver in search of adventure and, most importantly, King Tut.

 

I've always been partial to Boulder, but I have to admit that Denver has some fabulous art & architecture, especially downtown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had such a great time taking pictures of every building and leaf that I didn't even notice until John pointed it out to me later that I was taking pictures of drug deals alongside the scenery. Ooops.

 

(I couldn't help but notice the distinct odor in the air, though, and the perfectly comfortable groups of smokers lingering around--all just across the street from the capital which was just plain weird to me. But since it's all but legal in Colorado, I shouldn't have been surprised. What is surprising though was reading on Yahoo yesterday that Willie Nelson was arrested for possession of pot. Give me a break. How easy was that?) Ok, done with my little diversion.

We spent all afternoon at the DAM (Denver Art Museum), but only had a chance to whizz through the King Tut exhibit so we'll be going back again soon. Actually, the pharaoh himself doesn't ever leave Egypt but his stuff travels the globe, and let me just say it: WOW. Some of the most fascinating and beautiful things I've ever seen. I could have moved in and lived comfortably among it all and never grown tired of gazing on the just slightly faded beauty. No pictures, though. Not even sketching allowed in the exhibit, so you've got to go see it for yourself. He'll be there through January 9, 2011. Oh, and if you have a museum membership you can skip the crazy lines altogether. Who knew so many people would want to see a 3,000 year old dead guy's stuff the day after Thanksgiving? Next time, I'm getting the membership. Worth every penny.

a good start

I've been busy busy making stuff to stock up my Etsy shop for the holidays, so there hasn't been much extra time to blog. (If you want to know when the shop is full, sign up for my mailing list--side bar, top left--and I'll send you a quick update.) But I've also been trying to keep up with my daily journaling which is easy for me to get lost in for hours. I've even made myself a few new journals and a new journaling bag to carry it all in. I don't expect to be leaving the house without it all for at least a few months.

I don't need a new journal, not really, but I usually indulge myself when the urge comes. I like to have several journals going at one time to pick from depending on my mood. But this just means that it takes me a very very long time to actually fill a journal and I usually have pages from a long span of time in each one. I have to admit that it does bother me sometimes as I'd like my journals to be more of a snapshot of a particular time in my life, but not enough to change my ways. I like to work a little here, a little there, whichever way the muse leads building on pages over time. I love the depth that it brings to my journals and also that feeling of surprise when a pages comes together suddenly and completes itself right before my eyes.

Here are a few pages I have in Journal the First waiting patiently for their day in the sun. If you go back to when I first introduced you to this particular book, you'll see that some of them have been waiting for a very long time. But that's ok. They don't mind.

 

 

 

Eventually, I'll add a little doodling here and there, maybe an image that seems to fit at a particular time. They're grateful for the attention.

 

 

 

 

 

Then one day, flipping through the pages, one will call out to me and that will be that. The only song I can hear and one that must be sung to the end. But for now, they wait and I wait to hear which one will call my name next. Oh, how I love this part!

autumn color

 

For years I've prayed to someday live in a place that had 4 seasons. Just before our getaway last week, I found myself sitting at my desk entranced by the view out my window of a lovely golden tree whose leaves glistened in the sunlight like a thousand tiny flames. Every time I sat down, I thought to myself that I needed to get a picture of that gorgeous tree, but I'd just sat down to work after all and I never did it. Well, we returned home a few days later and I sat down in that same seat only to look up and see nothing but bare gray branches. Every single leaf had fallen off while we were gone! I missed my opportunity then, but I've been making up for it by photographing the abundant fallen leaves outside my door. Who knew they were even more colorful once they hit the ground?

 

Fall color palette:

 

And a quick and easy scarf for a friend. Just another opportunity to play with some fall color (and use up some random yarn). I made up the pattern for the scarf as I went along, but it's a variation of this one which I had finished up just before for myself.

 

 

 

Of course, I'm not completely ready to let go of summer either. I'm still doing a little yard work here and there--mainly sweeping up piles of my precious leaves, which I can see will get old eventually. But I managed to put to good use some bottles I've literally been saving for years. And a few fake but pretty daisies will keep the graying garden bright and cheery through the winter.

 

 

in the groove

 

Life's activities and responsibilities have put the stall on my frantic art making but in a good way. John and I were able to take a little romantic getaway this past week which was blissfully and desperately needed. Then came Halloween festivities and our first time trick or treating with a cool breeze at our backs and crunching leaves underfoot. Then back to school again for a few days catch up and tomorrow I'm off to Denver with girlfriends to OD on ABBA and lose myself in Mama Mia. So, not such a bad deal at all, but I'm still looking forward to getting back into the art groove this weekend. A new stack of journals is waiting patiently for my eventual return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you working on right now and how's it coming along?