I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to start doing more craft projects again because I enjoy them so much. Knitting had been looming in the back of my mind, so I thought I'd start small and try one of these nifty cuff designs by Cat Wong on Knitty.com I first saw on pinterest.com. I decided to use some old vintage buttons I'd gotten from my mom along with some beads. I really love the way it turned out, can't wait to try some of her other designs : )

If you've not played around on pinterest it's worth it. I try very hard not to be too absorbed by the internet. I'd rather make stuff instead, but pinterest is really a great way to organize information, especially visual stuff. For me they've been a great resource.

Today was a grey and much colder day. It was so nice then to go and pick up an intermittent box filled with all this beautiful food from our co-op, Avalon Acres to tide us over until their winter bounty begins at the end of the month.



I love days like this working, cooking, and hunkering down inside as the days grow shorter.

I really love working at home. I had a studio outside my home for awhile, a painting studio for a year. I didn't like it, lesson learned. There's something about working out of the house I love, I get stuck, I go and unload the dishwasher, or pet one of the cats : )

Since I rearranged last year with Richard's help there's more room around the computer. I tried having just one bed up here, but alas, there was wrestling for the prime spot, so now there are two. Bookends.

And now time for a little siesta with Miss Nina : )

Today was a gorgeous day for a walk. The leaves are falling now like snow. Everywhere you see them fluttering by. I stopped to pick up a few along the way thinking I may just lay them on the scanner and crop them into a nice image. I ended up picking several magnolia leaves. They are tough sculptural things and did not want to be flattened for scanning, so I ended up taking some photos of them on an old wooden tray I just covered in gesso for a later project.

The gesso ended up being a great background to photograph on. So nice and flat, it soaked up a lot of light, and was a nice contrast to the smooth shiny leaves.

Looking at these makes me want to make some drawings.

Today was the first real cold rainy fall day. We've been pretty lucky this fall, some really great weather has graced us. I picked up our co-op food this afternoon with the vestiges of a 2 day migraine still with me. So I decided to wear a hat, and even thought of donning some fingerless mitts I knit a few years back.

That got me thinking about one of the things on my to do list which is to start a knitting project. I used to knit quite a bit, especially when I first came here almost 6 years ago. I even knit everyone's Christmas presents one year (lots of scarves and mitts). I've not done anything in a few years, until recently when I tried to start some mitts while I was home with my mom, in her final stages of life. I thought it would help me to have something in my hands, a place to place my attention while I was with her for long periods of time in the hospital and nursing home. But it didn't work. I started a pair 3 times and kept making mistakes, ripping them out and starting over.

Now I think I could start again. This time with more available attention. I like the rhythm of knitting, there's something very meditative about it, and very comforting as well. And on a grey day like this one, just looking at this stash is a comforting sight, one filled with all kinds of possibilities : )

I have this chair in my bathroom under a window where I've hung a simple linen curtain. My bedroom furniture's black and I have always had this chair nearby as it seems to be at home.

My great aunt Ruth (Foofie she was called, as my cousin, Penny couldn't say her "r"s when she was young) went through a stage and did tole painting. I must've been quite young, or it was before my time, as I never saw her do it or even talk about it. My mother had 3 of Ruth's chairs, all black, that she'd painted designs on. I chose this one because it was the most unusual. I can't even decipher what exactly the image is supposed to be, acorns maybe? Which is why I like it so much. It has mystery.

Looking back I had several people in my childhood who made art. A great aunt Frida who painted landscapes in oil, my great aunt Ruth, and my cousin Penny who still makes art and was an art teacher for many years. These were the the women who were my first inspirations for becoming an artist, especially Aunt Frida and Penny. Now I realize how important having those examples in my life were to me, how as a shy child I needed their example as permission to become an artist myself.

Seeing this chair everyday is a comfort and talisman in a way. It brings me luck, has special powers that tie me back to my roots. It reminds me of all the artistic, creative women who came before me and carved a path wide enough for me to journey down more easily toward my dreams.

Last year I decided to start a little side business painting pet portraits, (artpet.net). I love making them for people. They're fun to do and the heartfelt responses I get make it all worth it.

I needed some samples to take with me on a few outings last fall and painted several gifts for friends. I decided not to do the circuit this fall, too many other things going on, so I started giving them out to the people I painted them for. I just got these photos in my email this past week from my dear college friend, Ricky. He is an interior designer in New York and has had his lovely 3 pound Yorkshire terrier, Miss Margaret, for many years. Here is the little 4" painting-a little painting for a little (but mighty) gal-framed and settled happily in its new home.



I wrote last week my friend Donna stopped by while she was in town and picked up her portrait of Gwynnie I'd done for her. She teared up when she looked at the painting, and said through her tears, "wow, I didn't expect that response". I was so touched by her love for her dog, and also grateful that I was able to make something that helped her feel it as well.

These are the good things in life, the ones that really count.

I picked up the co-op this afternoon and these beauties were in the box strewn over everything else. They are hard crusty things, it seems the darker they are, the more purple and rough their exterior. I will have to google them to see how to cook them. Some nice gourds and squashes are coming now too.

A part of me wants to just string them up as fall decoration somehow in the studio. I do think they might make it into the postcard on friday, a still life drawing would be nice : )

The magnolia fruits are turning this amazing pink right now and I had to take some photos. They just amaze me. You can begin to see the red berries forming, they will get bigger as the pink fades and the soft fuzziness turns brown then turns harder and more pod-like.

Here they are all over the tree. It feels like a dense jungle under the canopy. Every part of this species' life cycle is beautiful to me.



I took a walk this morning and noticed the leaves were beginning to physically fall in front of me. Wow it's that time of year already. Then as I approached I noticed them falling all around me lit by the sun, little hackberry leaves golden and swirling all about me. It felt like tiny angels of light were enveloping me, nurturing me.

Ah, I just love autumn.

When I wrote I'd talk about Kris' house again I didn't think I'd be back there so soon, but my mom was in a hurry to make her transition, and after all the hospital visits and nursing home time I can totally understand her wanting to move on.

So it was a different drive this time back to Kris' house, a feeling of release, of peace this time. I was to stay for several days with Kris and her husband, Steve, as my family homestead was full with sisters and their families. It was nice to stay with my dear and oldest friend.

This whole experience has taught me how dear people are, how comforting they can be, how blessed I am to have the friends and family, (and clients too) I have; how life breezes by, like a landscape out the window of your family car when you're a kid.

So here are some more views of our stay this time. Richard was able to join me, it was so much fun to share their home with him. We sat on the porch every night in rocking chairs, drinking hot tea on cool mountain nights, talking, sharing stories. Kris is one of the best story tellers I know, making me laugh even during this poignant time. It was healing and nurturing at the deepest level.

She has a narrow space between two doors in her family room where old family pics reside pinned to the wall:



Here's a view of an old dry sink she refinished and used as a cabinet in the guest bathroom. We were blessed to have the hydrangeas everywhere from an ancient shrub outside:



And last, like Ned, Miss Celie runs the place. Her tiny body and large paws make her a quick and accurate hunter. A poor headless chipmunk was testimony to her skills out in the workshop (I won't show you that part):



Glad to be back, but always looking forward to more visits with old friends.

After my trip home to help my family this past week I drove up to my oldest friend, Kris' house. She and her husband live on top of a big ridge that looks out over mountains. It's so wonderful up there, peaceful, beautiful. It was just the right place to land for a day and a half before I drove back to Tennessee.

She and her husband have taken what was a neglected property and turned it in to something out of Country Living Magazine. I so admire their resourcefulness as they did it with a small budget and lots of time on Craig's List. It's so authentic to who especially she is. I got inspired in so many ways while I was there. Everywhere I looked there was a photo op, so over the next few weeks I may write a bit more of my stay there.

Here's a close up of some coleus on her back porch.



They have a great dog, Ned. He's part golden retriever, german shepherd, and beagle, probably a few more thrown in too. He's not allowed up on the bed. But when they're out for the day and he's upset they're gone he takes one of his stuffed animals and places it in the middle of their bed, just to let them know he's been where he shouldn't be. That's Ned's great act of rebellion.