AND FINALLY.............

FRECKLES ~ ACRYLIC AND PEN ON 4X6 POSTCARD
PAULA ~ 2007

And finally,
the last but most certainly
not the least !!

This is Freckles,
her given name is
Francine but everyone in
the coop prefers "Freckles".
She's kind of shy,
she has a bit of a skin issue,
all those freckles have
brought her a lot of good hearted
teasing, alas she is a tender
and demure little chick and her
feelings get hurt easily.

I had a difficult time getting her
to agree to sit for the portrait,
and even then I had to keep getting
up from the easel to urge her back into
the room.........little sweetie that she is....

Anyone out there have advice for
boosting a chicks tender ego????

MEET JOHNSON

Johnson - Acrylic and pen on 4x6 postcard
Paula ~ 2007

This guy's name is Johnson.

He runs the yard.

Yeah, right.

No man ever runs the place !!!!

Tune in tomorrow for my
final installment
of
Chick-A Babes
On Parade !!!!

NESTOR ~ CHICKEN COOP MARTYR

Nestor ~ Acrylic on 4x6 postcard
Paula ~ 2007

I do have an entire coop of these little cuties !

Meet "Nestor".
Nestor is a homebody.
He likes to hang close to the nest and make sure
everyone has nice warm eggs.

While the chicks strut around the yard,
Nestor is the community martyr.....
"oh don't mind me, I don't mind missing out on all
the fun, I'll just stay home and keep the eggs warm"......"sigh"

Tune in tomorrow and meet yet another chicken coop celebrity !

And in the meantime, have a great day !

PUNKIE ~ ANOTHER ACRYLIC CHICK-A-BABE

PUNKIE
ACRYLIC ON 4X6 POSTCARD
PAULA ~ 2007

So have you figured out that I've got an entire
chicken coop of these little cuties ????????

Punkie likes to use a lot of that
spikey hair stuff......
I think she tends to get carried away
but hey, who am I to stand in the path
of great personal expression??

Happy Monday, all....

still asleep here, more later

PICNIC SALAD A LA ACRYLIC ON POSTCARD

4X6 Acrylic and Ink on Postcard
Paula - 2007

This was the first recipe my son would make when he was around 5 years old.

I would measure it all and he would do the dumping and stirring......

his big delight was that salad spelled backwards is "dalas". His name is Dallas.

Make some salad and have a fun memory today.

AFTER THE MASTERS

For Pierre Delattre
Paula - 2007

I read somewhere that when the great masters trained their
students, that they would have the student copy one of
their paintings and it would be called "for Vermeer", or whomever
the master was......

There is an artist in Taos that I just love.

Pierre Delattre..........

His work is so full of joy and life.
I studied a very small corner of one of
his paintings and made this postcard painting from
what I saw. It was a fun process and I learned a lot
about my own style. Obviously I would NEVER copy
someone's work to sell .......

As I worked away on my little experiment, I thought about
Pierre and what he might have been thinking as he created
his paintings, where his inspiration came from, how he arrives
at his choices for color, is his life as joy-filled as his paintings,
does he only dream of such relationship
or is his life really like his work,
........good questions I will certainly ask
him the next time I'm in Taos !!!!

I encourage you to really look at those master's
works and attempt to learn from them.

acrylic and pen on bristol

4 x 6 postcard - 2007

Sometimes you've just got to fly.

I can't imagine a world without birds, can you? I live in a very arid part of the country however my immediate neighborhood is a bit of an oasis and the birds are abundant.

Once again this year we have a Barn Swallow couple getting things ready for their new family. Hummingbirds are checking out the yard and sipping at the feeder since there aren't an abundance of flowers just yet. The Rosy Finch guys sit on top of the hummingbird feeder, looking perplexed and asking one another how to get to that juicy red nectar.

Summer is upon us. 91 degrees here today.

Get out and get some fresh air and sunshine !!!

CROSSES ON THE ROAD OF LIFE

CROSSES ON THE ROAD OF LIFE
Mail art send to Randi Fuerhelm-Watts
4x6 - acrylic and ink on card stock

Imagine yourself floating above the ground.
On a cloudless clear blue-sky kind of day.

Below all you see are green fields,
they stretch on forever.

Breaking the green like a parting of the seas
is a long stretch of highway
and
all around stand crosses.
Like those little mileage dots on the road map.

The crosses are markers on your road of life.

Crosses you bear.
Crosses marking the spot of great personal discovery.
Crosses honoring special moments,
deep agony, joy, pain, sorrow and ecstasy.

Make today the day you acknowledge and honor your crosses.
They all played a part in what got
you to this moment.

Honor yourself today.

THE VOICE INSIDE

Jack and Friends
4 x 6 postcard
Mixed Media

I made this postcard to my daughter-in-law a year or so ago. I really loved the mood that "jack" gave off. Kind of a "make my day" attitude!

I especially like making art on top of layers of old paper, pages from books, whatever strikes my fancy. For me those faint words in the background are like the unheard, inside voice we all have. The things we are thinking but wouldn't dare say, for fear of hurting, insulting, building false hope or whatever.

Throughout life I've usually abandoned the idea of the "inside voice" but as I age I find myself reserving those inside thoughts more and more.

At the first of the year I quickly abandoned the notion of a New Year's Resolution for something more like "My 2008 Motto". My motto for this year is:

Keep It Simple and Be Nice.

So I guess that is what's going on with Jack here. He's being nice and keeping things simple by not allowing the others to hear his inside voice.

Do you have an inside voice? One that you keep to yourself? Why? When? What happens with you have the overwhelming urge to just say what you think? "Oh that art really sucks!" or "Gee I sure hope that hair color isn't permanent"............or..................."I love you".

Please comment, I'd love to hear your inside voice on this topic.

Enough for today.

ART THAT MAKES A MARK

Making a Mark on your life. Thinking about life and all those I come in touch with and the implications of making a mark. I like to think I am making a positive mark on the lives of those around me, my friends, family, co-workers, and especially my spouse and grandbaby.

Making a Mark is also about what my art says. The message I convey, I hope, makes a positive mark on those who view it.

Life is short, make a positive mark.

SWEET BABY STUART

"Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
and sings the tunes without the words
and never stops
at all. "
Emily Dickenson

It seems impossible that Stuart would be 29. Sometimes I tell myself the pain has eased. Sometimes I even manage to let the date slip by altogether.

Be nice, live fully, love your children.

Copper Poppy

So this weekend I ran out of fresh canvases so resorted to a postcard. I haven't done these in quite some time and I guess I didn't realize how vital they are to my creative process.

SUMMER TIME !!!!!!!

And the livin' is easy...................our days have cooled off a bit, down to 90 from 97-98 degrees. My garden is breathing a huge sigh of relief. So am I. Last night we harvested some more of our "special" New Mexico chili peppers. My husband has become the expert chili roaster and my freezer is starting to show the signs of a bumper crop. The smell of roasting chili peppers in New Mexico is like no other experience. My plan is to harvest some of those big fat "Big Jims" this weekend to make chile rellenos.........oh yum.

Are there "local" foods only found in your part of the world? I'd love to know.

So, kick back, stay cool, sip an iced tea and savor the summer !!!!!!

OFF CENTER

Do
you
ever feel
like you
are
swiming upstream?

KICK SOME BUTT

These gals are armed and ready to kick some tail !!

Are those chapps made of fur or has it been a while since their last shave?

This was the very first postcard I ever made for my daughter-in-law and I still really love it.

So, my charge to you is get out there and live life like you plan to kick butt today. Make it good. Make it memorable. You only get "today" once.

DALLAS KICKS BACK

My son Dallas is such a sweeteheart. Last night I called to talk just as he was arriving home from work. He's an electrician and had been crawling around in a building all day and was covered with dust. My daughter-in-law, Cherise always makes the comment that Dallas works very hard. I believe it.

So this post today shows a little postcard I made for Cherise. Hopefully Dallas will get to kick back during this extended weekend and relax. Although with a 2 1/2 year old daughter jetting around the house, that idea can sometimes be just that "an idea".

Have a great weekend. Love those you love. Eat something fun. Laugh. Smile. Make the world go around.

LOST IN SPACE

Sometimes I feel like a sheep lost in a huge universe. Other times I experience moments of bliss, communion with my friends and family. I'm told that everyone has these ups and downs in their lives.

Are you up or down, found or lost today?

ANOTHER LOVE DOVE

Last week I took my first ever painting class. The instructor is a lovely woman who introduced me to what she calls a "rake brush". I've never heard of that and so off to the store I went and only found "filberts" that looked like the rake. They were on sale so I thought "what the heck, buy some brushes" ! I really enjoyed trying out the brush on this postcard. A sweet blue dove, sent from heaven !

She never really showed up in my thoughts much. Growing up as a Catholic I knew of her. Later in life I abandoned her all together, out searching the universe for the greater meaning in life. Now in my menopausal years I return to her, realizing the power of the mother's love, the constancy of her devotion. I have returned home....to a greater sense of spirit and confidence. Life has been won with joy and sorrow, peace and pain, all the necessary components for a time well lived.

Today I wish love upon you.

Funny, comical, expressive. This is how I see red winged black birds.

"Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. " I didn't learn that poem until I was a senior in high school. I worked as a nurses aid in a retirement home. One of my duties was to get the residents into bed each evening. One lady who was so sweet, would sing this to me every night. Of course, eventually I learned it and we sang together. I was happy to give her that little bit of love. I like to think her spirit is soring with the red winged black birds. Free and easy.