A Little Bit A FarmHouse In My Lifeeeeeee!!!

 

I made this from twigs and shells.  These blooms will never wither!!! :)

I really don't understand what is happening with me but man, am I making things these days!!!! My crafting energy is through the roof.  In the last two weeks I have tiled a table, a vanity, made bracelets, necklaces, a floral arrangement, A farmhouse graphic sign, a large abstract Art, designed numerous prints and now I am working on hand painted coasters.  The artistic force has been strong with this one lately!!!

So without much ado here are some of the goodies these hands lovingly forged....And by the way, I have been really feeling modern farmhouse design so these for the most part inspired by that style.

             

My first attempt at a Farmhouse hand painted wall hanging......I really like how it turned out. :) I just grabbed a piece of left over wood from my husband's stash and stained it with black liquid shoe polish/stain. Say what?? Yes, I did. It worked like a charm, plus it has an applicator for easy application.  Why did I use shoe polish instead? Well, it allowed some of the wood to show through, it dried very fast, is a permanent stain and did I say how easy it was to do? lol. It was.

                 

Aren't these gorg???!!! My brother-in-law gifted these lovely sea fans to me and the blue tiled table is the one I mentioned above. I tiled it but have not grouted it yet.  I had so much fun going mad Max on those tiles with a hammer.  Who knew!!!

 The Abstract painting shown here only took me about 30 minutes to paint but it is so light and airy in the space. Perfect for the area where it now resides.  Can't wait to paint another.  I like the challenge of painting without thinking of a specific image.  So freeing!!

Finally the jewelry.  I like to recycle beads and pendants and I also love incorporating nature into my pieces...hence the lovely tamarind seeds in the bracelets and the reclaimed wooden beads.  I also used recycled glass beads.  That seafoam green color gets me every time.  It's  hands down my fav.

Well, that is all for now but rest assured, lots more to come.  I hope this inspires you to go a little  craft crazy yourself.  You never know what you can create.

Cherio!

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

A few years ago I was in South Beach Miami hanging out with one of my best friends.   Out of the blue, and a very talented and sought after European Artist approached me and asked me if I would mind being his muse for a painting.  Of course I was very flattered but I wanted to know what that meant exactly.....hopefully nothing that involved me being nude.  Well, as luck would have it, he just wanted to paint a painting based on his perception and overall feelings about me.  He proceeded to talk to me for about two hours and a week later this is what he painted.  He dubbed it Wandalania!  

To be honest, when I first saw the painting I could not get past the nudity!  When asked what I 

thought about it, all I could gasp after a very long ackward pause was ".......uhhhhh..ummm........its cool"  Trust me, it was not cool. Nope, not even a little bit.

 You would think being an Artist myself, I would be used to seeing this by now, but somehow this was different.  This nude figure is his perception of me.  Why am I naked?!!!!!.....did he perceive me as being provocative?.....a diva?..........incomplete or conflicted?  I hate to admit it but I went deep into the cerebrum on this one, I completely over analyzed his art, which by the way sold for thousands to one of his wealthy South Beach clients.  Of course that didn't mean anything to me, so, I filed the picture of the painting away and totally forgot about it until yesterday. (I was sorting through old stuff)

Now that I am looking at this with fresh eyes I see so much more than what I saw at first.  I see my love for animals, water, plants and the earth.  I see myself on a path fully embracing the journey with confidence and swag.   Try as I may though, I dont know what the little figure disappearing into me is....maybe it symbolizes growth, like as I grow, the older weaker me is swallowed by the more stronger better me?  What do you think, any ideas? 

Cherio!

For The Love of Abstract Art

michelle adams

Hello my lovelies, I hope you are having a great weekend!  And if you're not, this will put a smile on your face.  I promise.  Even if you are not a fan of abstract art like I am, these pieces just have a beauty and life of their own that just makes you feel something.  Even if that something is confusion......like  "what the heck is that?"  You will feel something.  

Rue 

I have always wondered about abstract Art.  At first I could not appreciate it the way I do now.  I guess I thought that ANYONE could do it, so really as far as I was concerned there wasn't much skill involved.  I was so wrong. 

Abstract art is really one of the purest forms of Art.  There are no rules just you, and what you put on the canvas/paper. There is nothing literal to hide behind....nothing to distract from your composition. Nothing. Either it works or it doesn't.  Great abstraction painters are succesful at conveying moods and emotive qualities without painting anything familiar like a face or an animal.....they know balance scale and how to manipulate tonal values and textures.  In other words these people are on their game!  Perhaps they are on a spiritual/emotional plane that we only get to visit occasionally through their art.  How else can we explain Jackson Pollock?  There is definitely a method to the madness.  

 

Jackson Pollock

I have mad respect for all abstract painters now.  Why?  Well, of course I tried painting my own abstract painting. Trust me, it's not nearly as easy as it looks.  Here is my hair pulling 6 hour ordeal earnest attempt at this, it did not turn out anything like I envisioned but hey, I tried and I learned an invaluable lesson in the process.  Thou Shall not judge.  Amen.

If I accomplish anything at all with this post I would like that something to be a thank you to all the Abstract painters out there creating Art that keeps us inspired, challenged, and in love with your work! You guys rock!  

Here are some of my favorites. 

Coco Hearts

decorati

image source unknown

franz kline

i suwannee

skona hem

eclectic revisited

ken browne art

Elizabeth Chapman