Another Muskateer birthday

It was Dawn's birthday weekend, Mike planned this wonderful getaway at a Winery and spa. He called a bunch of her friends and asked us to come down and surprise her, we did! What fun we had. We started in the wine tasting room where we all purchased some wine. Mike made his way to their little suite where he set out all the wonderful food he had smuggled down for the occasion. Dawn was so surprised and we had a wonderful time laughing, tasting wine, eating and meeting new friends. What a great way to spend a birthday... hint, hint.

DSDF Weekly challenge

This is my quick watercolor done from the photo she puts up as a reference. I love these challenges, she doesn't want a carbon copy of the photo, she wants our artists vision for it. I am working on getting better about choosing what to paint and what to leave out. What colors to use, what ones to avoid. I did this fairly quickly, added some pastels. I think it would have been much more powerful if it was vertical not horizontal, plus the guy looking off is a no-no, that is the compostition that should have been changed. I did eliminate lots of people in the background. Its funny, I knew I should move him to either make him a part of their conversation or give him something to look at but......

Surprised again

I happened to be looking at the SAQA blog and was looking at some of the Call for entries. I went to Visions which is an art quilt gallery in San Diego and they are using my quilt as part of their advertising. I am very honored and surprised to see it when I opened up the website. Here is the link for anyone interested in it. http://www.quiltvisions.org/members-show/index.html One of lifes little surprises, thank God for those!

Glass Beach

I had to remove my post since I was told that we were not allowed to post any pictures of the accepted quilts until after the show. That is the normal rule, but we were given permission to post ours. This quilt is called Glass Beach, it is done with paints, inks, discharging techniques, photo transfer and fusible.

The challenge was to create a quilt with the theme of Edges, and whatever that means to us. My quilt is about a place I visited this last summer called Glass Beach. At glass beach years ago, they used to throw the old glass bottles into the ocean. Tons and tons of old, broken bottles went into the sea. The ocean stirred them around a bit and then one day decided to start spitting them out onto shore. In this one small area of beach the sand is mostly comprised of polished glass. The ocean had taken our trash and turned it into a treasure. People come from all over to sit and collect the glass. They make jewelry etc with it and sell it now. When we received the challenge I remembered my jar of glass from glass beach.

The message of my quilt is that tragic events start as pieces of sharp glass that can cut us and cause us to bleed. Time, like the ocean, takes them and tosses them and polishes them until the sharp edges are gone. They can no longer hurt us or make us bleed, we then can store them in a special place in our hearts.

The quilt was accepted to hang at the Long Beach IQA Show this July. It will be with the special display called "Edges". Hope to see you there.

Dearl or No Deal

Last night we went out to dinner with Rick and Rose to celebrate Randy's birthday. We had such a great time catching up with all the excitiment at their house. Their kids are still young so they are in the throws of soccer, grades, college selections, pee wee league, oh those busy, busy days. I remember and thank God everyday that I am not doing that anymore! LOL Its true that we love the season in our life but are glad for a change.

We got home and I was not really tired, actually I couldn't sleep at all. I ended up turning on the TV and "Deal or No Deal" was on, it was a special speed show where they picked all their cases at once and only had 20 seconds to decide. It made for fast and furious tv, but it did change the people up much faster than normal. I grabbed my little sketchbook by the bed and started to sketch the contestants. Trying to capture their look and personality quickly since they would only flash to them when they were considering the bankers offer. It made for a great, quick challenge and study of faces. I might have to do this more often.

Another UFO captured and defeated!!

I finished this little quilt up a few weeks ago. It is about 24"x 24" , I hand painted it with dyes , it was inspired by a photo I took of an Agave Succulent. I know it looks abstract but I like that about it. It is bright and cheery, I embellished the background with crystals and I did alot of thread painting. It was a great smaller project, in a new medium for me. I like the bright, bold colors of dyes, don't know if I like the fuss.

Footprints

I lost a friend the other day. Suddenly, without warning and she was gone. Its these times when we are forced to ponder more deeply than normal. To think about the harder questions that we avoid on most normal days. The plans, the trips, the group photo we promised to take at our next meeting will not be. Its another reminder that our days are limited and few. I believe in something more than this, a bigger purpose. My hope is not in myself but in the the blood of a savior. But it still stops us in our tracks, where ever we are, and makes us think.

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No matter how fleeting our encounter, how brief or long our journey together, we all leave footprints. It reminded me of the day a Gromans Chinese theater, looking at the impressions of the famous actors hands and feet prints. These are like the impressions we leave on the hearts of those we love and touch. I am sad, and I will miss you, you reminded me to be an encourager and a motivator always. And although we didn't agree on everything we had a passion for our gift and we shared it. You touched my life.

Deadlines

I have been cramming to finish an art quilt before the deadline. I got it done and thought I would share it here, with only my closest friends. Whats so unique about this quilt is that it is done all in pencils, different kinds of pencils, watercolor, colored pencils etc. So basically I colored the quilt. This one I did in a faux marbling technique to mimic a marble floor. I am sure I will get some raised eyebrows from the traditional quilters. LOL

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Marta and I had a wonderful day together at the Norton Simon Museum

More from Nature,

I am working on some things in my studio, I have been collecting many wonderfully beautiful pods on my nature walks. I also had a wonderful friend who collected some things for me on her walks. I have started to put some sketches and paintings together. I just started working on these pods from a physifolia, which is a eucalyptus that blooms red. It is done in colored pencil and not yet finished.

Our Nature walks

I love walking with Kylie and Randy. It brings things into a new light, and reminds me how beautiful life is. When I am in the car racing by I never notice the small things like flowers, and who is late mowing their lawns and which trees are blooming and which are sick. It puts me back into contact with my surroundings which is always a good thing. It reminds me of our last home. It was a modest California ranch style house on 1 1/4 acres. We remodeled it and landscaped the whole yard. We worked long hard hours out in our yard most days and all weekend. I loved it, our vegetable gardens , the rose gardens, the knot garden. Although we worked so hard we always did a walk at dusk through the whole yard. Before the sun set, in that warm glow of the last hint of sun we would walk the garden and inspect the plants. It kept us in touch with what needed to be done and which plants were sick or diseased. It was a nightly inspectionsI guess, making sure everything was well cared for before we went to bed. I loved it, I loved the time together with Randy, discussing things. If the sunlight held we would lay in the hammock and wait for it to set. So much dreaming, so much living was done in those walks. We are doing it again, differently, but its still good. This is a seed pod I found which had falled from a magnolia tree, beautiful to say the least.

Sam and Amber, this weeks challenge

This week we had a wonderful selection of pictures and although I started two I only finished this one so far. Sam and Amber.

I got spam comments so had to repost this one, why do people try to ruin the simpliest things?

Fabric Line

I have been working away on my fabric line, I am very excited about it. I have so much stuff already I will be glad when they feel I have enough and can start thinking of something else. I am already working on my next line. I love when you are in the zone and the ideas start flowing. I find I am not good company during those times, I become consumed with my task at hand. I did this little painting to go with all the fabric I have done so far. It is a childrens line, a western line, I hope it does well for me and for the fabric company. The brown horse seems so blotchy in this picture, its not? I don't get it.

Todays painting

I painted this goose, quickly, maybe 10 minutes. He is standing in a field of snow, next to and icy stream, looking off into the distance. Sometimes that reflects how we all feel and how I felt today. Alone, cold, looking out over a monotoned landscape. Unable to find any color, unable to see the beauty of things. Again, we had a hearing about Jennifer's benefits. Medi-cal terminates her health care monthly and we have been fighting to keep it. It a long story, and I wont burden you with details but I feel bad for the many people who,like Jennifer, are unable to fight their own battles and lose. They don't have an advocate and so, in their weakened state fall victim to the constant abuse, threats and finally termination by the government of their benefits. You always hear about the people who abuse the system and rip off the government and take money that isn't owed to them. I think this sets the stage for the way they deal with the rest of us, who are doing it the honest and right way. I thought this was all settled in 2005! I am just now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It does change a person, how could it not. It makes you cynical, critical, mad, frustrated and the constant stress takes its toll on our health and well being. I guess I will fight for her until I can fight no more and then pray someone will step up to the plate and take my place. Today I had a voice, I got to share my concerns with a judge, on record with the case workers present. I don't know if it will do any good, I don't know if it will make a difference, I have to wait and see. For now the fight continues.

Sidenote: In todays news there was a report of a 93 year old man who froze to death because the electric company turned off his power. They found him wrapped up in blankets wearing 4 sweaters. It was reported that there were icycles in his sinks. How can they do that in the middle of winter. Another story of no one to fight for the weak and sick, its just so sad.

Another day, another challenge

I love this blog called "Different strokes for different folks", its a group of artists that paint a challenge every other Wednesday. I just joined but was so impressed by the work being done, alot of oil painters. I did my first challenge, something I wouldn't choose on my own, a victorian house in San Fransisco. I did it but think its just mediocure and average but I like being a part of this group. I work well with deadlines, and since I have been avoiding doing the fabric line, I have welcomed the distraction. I have to focus again this week and get it moving again. Things can start out so good and hopeful and end up so messy!

My week to host the WDE for Wet Canvas

I select 16 pictures to post and then anyone who want to participate goes in and chooses one or more to paint. You have 30 minutes to select and 2 hours to paint. This is my entry so far, I posted a partially done piece at 2 hours and finished it within another hour.

Then I told them that as a challenge they should crop their painting to see if another mini masterpiece emerged. Here is my crop.

Still Life Duo #2

This is my second in the still life duo series. I decided to move the teapot forward and add another one I like. I also decided to add the element of doing each painting in a different medium. This one is done is soft pastels on a sanded board 9"x 12". I am not happy with the first teapot on this painting but I like the red one ok.

It sucks getting older... for Marta

LOL, it was Marta's birthday today. Dawn and I took her out for lunch at her favorite resturant. I worried that they wouldn't be serving since the weather didn't want to cooperate. But Marta insisted we go and we had such fun. When our desert was ordered the rain started and they moved us inside where we enjoyed chatting until the rain stopped. Dessert was wonderful! I wish we had painted it since my photo didn't turn out. I love these special times, special friends, special days. Happy Birthday to Ai and Marta today!

Inauguration Day

Yesterday we inaugurated a new president into office. It came with much hoopla and celebration. I must admit that although I didn't vote for him I am excited and I will pray for wisdom as he attempts to try and lead us out of this mess. Our last president was such a huge disappointment for all of us and I am glad to see him leave. This was the first time I have ever watched the inauguration ceremonies and felt proud to be an American and see all the people out to support him. He has a huge job ahead of him, he will need every ones support. Although I don't agree with him on many things he will need our prayers to do what he has to do. Here is a quick sketch I did yesterday of him laughing. Which he doesn't do much, he is always calm and I think shows great reserve and confidence. I know it doesn't look like him but I did it in about 10 minutes.

Reminants of the Holidays

Ok, so we have finally finished off all of the goodies that we never have any other time of the year. All the candy, cookies and cakes exchanged as gifts have been consumed. My waistline is suffering although I haven't gained more than a few pounds. Now is the challenge to overcome the cravings for all the goodies! AHHHH, withdrawls. Here is my tribute to the last of the See's candy, creams, which I don't like anyway!

Unnatural things on our nature walks

First of all, it feels unnatural to spell unnatural with two n's. Anyway, in an effort to battle the bulge and strive for a healthy lifestyle we decided to go green and walk Kylie to school. For myself, it seems the minute I make one of these commitments my mind spends the rest of the time trying to justify not following through! Every morning becomes a tug of war with my good intentions and my warm bed begging me not to leave. This will be the second week of walking, and I love it once I am up. Its brisk and a good long walk, about 3.5 miles roundtrip. If I don't make my bed before I leave it often talks me into one last catnap when I return. LOL We are bringing Jennifer's new dog along with us also. Since Randy has been off work he is walking with us and its been a nice time to talk and visit with Kylie(our granddaughter). Last week I noticed lots of discarded shiny metal objects along the way, so we started collecting, one each day. This is our weekly collection of unnatural objects from our nature walks.

A new little art quilt

I just finished up this little wall hanging. Its done with paints and I hand embroidered the panels onto the fabric, then added trim.

WC Still Life Duo Challenge #1

On Wet Canvas they are doing a challenge to set up just two objects and paint them, then remove one of the objects and add another. Paint again, then remove the oldest object and add something new, so that you always only have two objects. I think we are supposed to do a series of 6. I decided to join Marta and Casey in this challenge, I just loved what they were doing and I love a good challenge. Making just two objects come together to make a nice compostition will be a good lesson. I really need to think about the overall compostion of things as I set them up. Here is my first one, it is a teapot that my oldest daughter made in a ceramics class. I just love it although I have never heated water in it. I did this in watercolor and think that I will do the next one in Pastel.

Sketches from the sketchcrawl

Here are my sketches from today. Marta and I drove down to San Diego and met up with about 15 other artists. It was such fun catching up with Jane and making new friends. Jane shared Danny Gregory's Newest book in which he had featured many of the EDM sketchers. Congrats Jane on you spread in the book, you deserve it, you are so talented! We were warmly welcomed by the owners of the shops as we drew and painted. Then over to Guadalajara's for lunch! It was a perfect day, thank you San Diego sketchcrawlers for making us feel so welcome!

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We arrived in San Diego to meet other artist friends for the 21st
worldwide sketchcrawl. We had a wonderful time!

The Three Musketeers

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Marta, Auden, Dawn and I all met the other day for lunch and to give Dawn our blessings on her trip to Florida. We had such a wonderful visit and Dawn couldn't wait to show off her new pink pimped out mobile! It was her Christmas gift from Mike and she looks so cute on it! Becareful Dawn cruizin around town in that thing! She is just too cute! She is on her way to Florida to run for lymphoma. Hip hip hurray.

Christmas Present IV

My oldest daughter Kim got me these beautiful gold earrings. They are very delicate. I noticed my pencils are dull and I am having a very hard time getting clean lines and good shapes. The softer the pencil the faster it dulls. I need to have a sharpener next to my bed too I guess. I usually use mechanical pencils which always stay sharp.

My New Years Gift to you!

One of my families favorite things I make during the holidays is my peanut brittle. It is easy and so yummy. I thought I would share it with all my online friends for the New Year. Enjoy!

Christmas Presents III

Another perfume bottle, these bottles are so small and cute! I haven't tried any of the fragrances yet but I will.

Christmas Presents II

Jennifer got me a box of small Ralph Lauren fragances, which I love. Each one is in a unique glass bottle. This is the first one, called Notorious, fitting for the New Year!

Christmas Presents

I thought I might draw some of my gifts as I go to bed at night. It is my drawing exercise for the day. This first one is a bar of hand made soap I got at a quilters Christmas party. I am also using my new sketchbook and graphite pencils that my daughter got me. I need to play with them awhile to figure out their value range. I will enjoy using the soap in my spa tube some night real soon! I have never heard of Olive oil soap, I can't decide whether to cook with it or bathe with it!

Finishing Up 2008

Ok admit it, this is the cutest picture so far! Nathan trying to hold his twin sisters on Christmas! Sorry I had to share it.

As the year is winding down I was glad to have finished some old UFO projects. I am going to start 2009 without all this extra baggage. I finished Nathan's pirate quilt which I have been working on for TWO years! I wrapped it again and gave it too him, unfortunately I forgot to photograph it so picture will come later. I also made that fleece blanket I have had the fabric for all year. I have so many art quilts in different stages of completion and although I am working on them I doubt I will make my Jan 1 deadline.

I am busy finishing up a quilt for the "Edges" challenge for the July IQA show in Long Beach, deadline is Jan 14th. There are a few of us in the art quilt group I belong to that are going to enter it. The challenge was to come up with our interpertation of what "edges" means to us. I thought it was going to be a really tough challenge but I love what I came up with. Shhh, its still a secret until I am finished. I will give you a peek then. The thing about challenges is that they make us think outside of the box and stretch. Monday I also received a two year contract to design fabric for Red Rooster Fabrics in NY, I am really excited about that! We are reading it over and checking all that fine print. How exciting to think that "Desiree's Designs" will be printed on the side of every yard of fabric they produce with my designs. Wow, another 15 minutes of fame! LOL I need to now work on the coordinating fabrics to go along with my panel I submitted to them. And then finally, my patterns got picked up by a big distributor and possibly a catalog company. These latest opportunities are directly related to our trip to Houston. THANKS HOUSTON!

It is turning out to be a busy end of 2008, a good time to clean up the old and welcome the new! I am hoping for many new and exciting opportunities for 2009!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Early Christmas Presents

I have gone to a few parties and so I have gotten a few wonderful gifts. One, from Dawn is still unwrapped under my tree. Another was opened at our quilting Christmas party, oil paint sticks and a book. The other day Marta called and asked if she could stop by with my present. She came with a wrapped gift, quite a surprise for Marta, our beloved scrooge. Inside the box was a pair of hand knitted socks! They are so wonderfully colored and warm. I have been wearing them everyday to keep my feet warm during our cold spell. The fire was on, a good Christmas movie was playing, I had my warm PJ's on and my new socks. As I layed on the couch I sketched them and then painted. There is somethings so special when someone takes the time and cares enough to give you something that they have made! Thanks Marta!

The Aftermath

OH the dietary trauma we all experience after Turkey day is amazing. I think I might be permanently stuffed myself now. The day was just about perfect, friends, family, games it was wonderful. I was so happy to have my family all together and mom was feeling fairly well, concidering her midnight fall! Now its time for fun parties, decorating and shopping. Phew, I am already tired! Hope your holiday was blessed!

Gobble Gobble

Well, its coming, its almost here, Thanksgiving! I love it because right after I get to decorate for Christmas. I love how Ronell has already decorated for Christmas but I have to wait. I don't want one holiday to overrun the other. My family is all coming this year, to be with mom, it should be alot of fun and very noisy! I recieved a challenge in one of my painting groups, they posted the head of a turkey, quite ugly by the way. No wonder they lose their heads. I thought I would take a few minutes and paint it last night. As I painted this little song started to come out of my mouth. It was a song from long ago, a school play that our youngest daughter was in. I sat and sang and painted. Jennifer said it was very creepy! LOL

Here's the picture, I challenge everyone to paint their own version of this goobler for Thanksgiving. Then post your link here, let us know how to come and see it! Here is the song... beware cuz its pretty catchy.

Gooble Gooble Gooble, Fat Turkey Fat Turkey

Gooble Gooble Gooble, Fat Turdeys are we

We're not here for living, we're here for Thanksgiving

Gooble Gooble Gooble Fat Turkeys are we!

Happy Thanksgiving

Christmas cards

Its that time again, even with so much going on I still really want to paint my own Christmas cards again this year. I think its so much fun to send cards that I have designed and printed myself. With the limited time I have had I haven't been really thinking about Christmas. Besides the fact that anything Christmasy that I might want to paint is still packed away until after Thanksgiving! Jennifer happened to find Pee Wee's Christmas dog collar as she was cleaning out her drawers the other day. When I saw it laying on her dresser I jumped all over it, its the closest thing to Christmas colors I have seen. Here is the little bells that are coming off of the collar. I might try some cookie cutter too, I should be able to find those!

Time slips away

My mom came down to stay with Jennifer so Randy and I could go to Houston. She got sick the day she arrived and after 2 911 calls and several trips to the hospital they finally admitted her and did some test. They found a mass in her abdomen and needless to say we have all been very upset and worried. After almost 2 weeks in the hospital I got to bring her home tonight. She is so weak and thin. They are going to let her try and build up some strength and then in a few weeks do a biopsy of the mass. They are not sure if its cancer or just a fibrous tumor but it is around the main arteries in her body and her kidneys. I haven't painted or drawn or done much of anything except just take care of her, and be with her. I have had family flying in and flying out, its been crazy. Its during these times that we remember how short our lives really are. We remember the things that are truly important and the things that aren't. We patch up silly family squabbles and overlook each others imperfections. Its a time when we all rally to support each other and be there to comfort. I am often amazed at how in the best of times people can be very ugly, selfish, petty and small yet in the hardest of times they can be generous, warm, loving and supportive to each other. Is it any wonder why God allows the hard times to come? I am praying that God gives her many many more healthy years with us, we all love her so much.

Houston Quilt Market 2008

Randy and I had the opportunity to have a booth at Quilt Market. I brought all my quilt patterns and at first the show seemed slow but as the days passed the wonderful opportunitys kept happening to us. I was approached by 4 magazines about submitting ideas and drawing for publication. I was picked up by distributors and catalogs. The most exciting thing for me was that a woman by the name of Nancy from Checkers introduced herself and told me she had seen my website and thought I should think about designing fabric. I have always wanted to do that, it seems like it would be a great fit for me. She then brought over Ann, who runs Red Roster fabrics out of NY and she asked me if I would be interested in signing a 2 year contract and I needed to get home and start designing! She wants my first line to release next year at Houston! WOW!!!! So exciting, if just a few of these things break open life would become even more exciting! What a great show we had even though I heard that the show was down about 50%.

We also went to Bernina's fashion show, it was incredible. The fashions were so exciting. Jay from Project Runway was there also, he was releasing his new line of fabric! Here are some pictures of our fun weekend.

The dresses are as follows, Galatea Adorned by Charlotte Warr Andersen, Midnight Waltz by Ludmila Aristova, Celestial Rendezvous by Janice Ellertson, The Body of work by Yvonne Porcella, Midnight Dance by Sandy Snowden. These were only a few of the many wonderful creations at the fashion show.