Finished Piece

added more ... movement and it's much better now! More paint, more shading and some stamping and Wha la... Done :) Shame there is still all of that real laundry waiting for me!

So here it is after some more paint, shading, etc.

Laundry

Saturday morning art. It's what I live for as of late. So this morning I was looking around and thought about Laundry. To me Laundry is not a chore, but something that I find comfort in. I thought about our clothes line and decided to recreate it. So this is just the first rough paint and paste. I'll post pictures as the piece progresses. Enjoy! And Happy Summer Laundry!

Pumpkins... in June?

I used to do craft shows. I picked up decorative painting about 10 years ago and knew someone who did shows. I convinced her to let me bring a few of my things and that lead to a few years of producing cute little painted odds and ends for those shows. I loved doing it, but could not justify the expense. Plus, you can buy hand painted stuff in any dollar store nowadays, and no one seemed to appreciate all of the love I put into my products. So I quit doing them. But to this day, come summer, my artful brain turns towards fall. In July I'll start thinking about Santa's and Snowmen. Seems so wrong when my garden hasn't even reached it's full bloom yet... Regardless, when I sat down to work on something... anything... I had no intention. But pumpkins I got. Enjoy... even though it's a little early :)

"A Blank Canvas" for Graduation

My very best friend in the whole world has a daughter that graduated from High School this month. We traveled to Chicago to attend a wonderful party that she threw for her. I wanted to take the perfect gift, but money is the norm. I began to think about my own daughter and what I felt on her graduation day (which was only 2 years ago).

I went to our local craft store looking for something that spoke to me and I happened upon the blank canvases. So here is what I came up with:

"A Blank Canvas"

Well, here it is. You waited a long time for this. The time when you can make your own decisions and go in any direction that you feel lead. Many people have worked hard to get you to this point. They love you and have always wanted nothing more than to give you a solid foundation on which to build your own life. The border and background of this canvas represents all of their hard work, and yours, that lead you to this important point.

So here is where you start your story... your painting. This very special moment in your life is a blank canvas. We don't get many opportunities to start fresh, but this is one of them. So what will you paint? And how will you choose to paint it? These are questions that only you can answer. Like fine art, your life is a journey. It isn't something you will paint in a day, a month, or a year. As you travel down the path you choose, and paint your masterpiece, there will be many choices to be made. What colors will you use? Heavy, bold brush strokes, or light and fine? It's up to you. You will make mistakes, and you will experience difficult times. But once you recover you will see that the process enriched the painting, the experience, and helped to make the final product unique and amazing.

This Canvas represents your journey. It is meant to remind you that anything is possible and that you have the ability, the creativity, and the moxie to make it happen.

We wish you the very, very best of everything and we have every confidence that you will end up with a Masterpiece, something that couldn't have possibly been created by anyone but you. And it will be amazing. We know it. We look forward to watching your painting emerge, become defined and blossom into the Masterpiece we all know it will be. We Love you.

Julia Culbreth

(Please do not reprint or use without permission: ghkmom@aol.com)

I typed this and printed it in a script font on Parchment and put it with, literally, a blank canvas as pictured above. Of course I tucked in some money :) I really wasn't expecting much of a response from an 18 year old, I mean, common, I wouldn't have "gotten it" at that age. However, she really, really loved it. Cried at the end as did her parents. It turned out so much better than I thought. And we had such a wonderful time that weekend!

My life in pictures

So I wanted to do a little art project and I knew just the picture I wanted to use. Problem is I have all of my pictures mixed up in photo boxes. I have pictures of my Mom when she was a little girl mixed in with pictures of me and my brothers when we were little mixed in with pictures of my kids. No rhyme or reason. So I'm flipping through them fast to find this one picture. I went through 2 boxes and had to stop because it was like seeing my life flash in front of me. Bombarded with memories, some great, some not so great. Pictures of my Mother who has been gone for 10 years brought tears just as did pictures of my brother, gone for 5 years. Then seeing pictures of my children as babies and remembering the smells, the feel of their little bodies in my arms. My kids are now 11, 18 and 20, well past the cuddling stage. I remember precious moments with my husband... I remember the ugly green ashtray my Mom used to use in our old house on Statton road. I remember Christmas mornings opening gifts in front of our Christmas tree in the same house. I see myself in pictures as a teenager, so thin and so worried about being fat. I was beautiful, but never, ever thought I was. So much wasted time thinking about how thin I needed to be and if I would ever find someone to love me. Such self loathing and all for nothing. Pictures of my parents before "the divorce" when they were miserable with each other. Pictures of my grandparents looking young and vibrant, bouncing my Mother and my uncles on their knees. Stiff Christmas smiles with the grandparents and sleepy Mommy and Daddy Christmas smiles with that first cup of Christmas coffee. Vacations with special friends. My brothers first ... and second weddings. My daughter during her "blonde" phase in which she dyed her long black hair a stark white. My third daughter, as an infant, sucking her thumb... all of us thankful she finally found it. Thanksgiving turkeys, Easter egg hunting, birthday cakes with candles, gifts being opened, flashing in front of me. At the age of 46 I feel I have lived a very, very long time and yet, it's all represented in 4 or 5 boxes. how can that be? Totally overwhelmed with the fullness of my life represented in those pictures as well as the losses we have suffered and the future calling... I am off to bed...