little artist

I've been looking through photos from this past summer.  My niece came for a visit and we painted together.  Here she is working on her first masterpiece on canvas.

Isn't that a brilliant sunset?

She was loving the gold metallic paint.

Really concentrating here. 

So adorable.

feeling loved

It's a good thing.

feathers

'blush feather'

'glow feathers'

'tranquil feather'

'graphic feather no. 3'

'graphic feather no. 4'

 These new feathers will be in my shop soon!

 And finally, this agate drawing is a gift for someone who has been waiting for it for a very long time.

Happy Friday!

love, me

sunday

lots of staring out the window and daydreaming

feathers drawn and waiting for color

sitting on the front porch with Lucy so she can get her vitamin d

and listening to this album on repeat

powerful words

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

~ Goethe

The quote above is what inspired me to open my Etsy shop.  It's kind of amazing what a inspirational quote can do for you.  The "dream you can" part of that quote is what really did it for me.  I remember thinking, "Well, I don't know if I can do it and be successful, but I can dream it." 

 That dream was good enough to begin it.  And I'm so glad I did.

Now, I'm not the kind of person who looks in the mirror and speaks affirmations to herself.  (Ok, well, I may have tried it once or twice but I found it to be ineffective and sort of weird.)  But I do find that a great quote written or painted in a beautiful type can do wonders for my attitude.  Here are some of my faves...

"Joy" by Katie Daisy

"Let It Be" by Fresh Words Market and, of course, The Beatles

"Power Off" by Laura George

"Creative Life" print by Hello Cherie Handmande

I also came across an awesome Etsy treasury today, which is totally brilliant, and is good advice for everyone.  See it here.

So tell me, do you have a favorite quote?  Words that changed you forever or helped make your dreams come true?

london

Dear London,

You're breaking my heart.

Please stop.

blurry

...but still cute, no?

p.s.  for more orange cuteness, check out Fiona.

i agree

"The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears, or the sea."

~Isak Dinesen

I agree.

Edit: ok, to clarify, I mostly agree.  Maybe 'saltwater' is not a cure for anything.  But it is definitely therapy.

(via on this amazing day)

thursday

Exciting and creative title, eh?

A few things that made me smile, laugh, ponder and get slightly choked up today...

Driving home from my iced coffee run, I saw a billboard that said,

"My way is the highway.

-God"

 

This photo

And this photo

This saying (found here)...

"Who you are is enough."

And then, of course, there's Lucy...

...but she makes me smile and laugh everyday.

four things friday

Have you heard about "Five Things Friday"?  Well this is only four...

1.  As you know, I'm learning to play guitar.  It's been 6 months now and sometimes I feel like I'm not progressing enough.  Learning to read music has been difficult for me and practicing the fundamentals is not always the most fun part of this process.  Sometimes I head over to my weekly lesson with dread, worried that I will disappoint with my lack of progress.  This week I tried to convey to my teacher that I hoped my slow progress was not perceived as ingratitude, and that I very much appreciate the time being taken out of this person's life to give me this gift of music.  And my teacher - who happens to be my uncle and is giving me free lessons - basically said to me that everyone progresses at their own rate.  That at some point things will begin to click for me, things will fall into place, a light bulb will go off, the planets will align or something, and I will move up to another level.  He's confident this will happen for me and in the meantime, he just wants me to be happy and have fun.  This sort of blew me away because I generally tend to have a pessimistic attitude about myself.  I've been feeling like I owe my teacher/uncle more progress than I've made and I'm the only one who is putting these expectations on myself.  He made me realize that he is taking time to do this because he loves music and he's happy to teach me as long as I'm having fun.  All I can say is that it was an incredible weight off me.  And my uncle, well, he rocks - in more ways than one.  

2.  On a lighter note, I have seriously been enjoying iced coffees from Whole Foods.  Cold brewed coffee has become a revelation.  Cold brew has less acid and less caffeine, which for me, means no more heartburn and less problems getting good rest when my head hits the pillow.

3.  Here are a couple of blog posts about art that resonated with me recently...

Art Is Not A Choice

jealous and alone... or maybe not

4.  Today I created an Etsy treasury full of weeds.  I promise there won't be any sneezing or itchy eyes.  Check it out... Weeds

Gotta run now.  Whale Wars is on tonight and they really left me hanging last week!

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Love, me

6 yeas old!

My beautiful niece turned 6 years old yesterday!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEIGHTON!!  I LOVE YOU!!!

She also just graduated from kindergarten and a few weeks ago, while looking at pictures from her  graduation, we had the following conversation...

Me: Peighton, I can't believe how fast you're growing.  You don't look like a kindergartner.

Peighton: I'm not.  I'm a first grader.

Me: Oh - duh. Good point.

Hey, I'm not too old to remember the days when every 1/2 or 3/4 closer to your birthday or next grade level mattered.

1 yr old

2 yrs old

3 yrs old

4 3/4 yrs old

5 yrs old

Love you P.  Can't wait to see your smiling face again!

Tell your mom I'm waiting for the first picture of you at 6 years old.

p.s. There will be something coming to you in the mail soon!

cat library

I love this!!

Dad, can you please make one for Lucy?

best beer ever

I miss this beer...

Orange Blossom Ale

If you are going to be within a 50 mile radius of Exeter, CA then you must stop at Orange Blossom Junction and have their Orange Blossom Ale.  

It is the best beer ever.  

In the whole world.  

Seriously. 

It's about 40 miles SW of Sequoia National Park down Hwy 198 and a cold Orange Blossom Ale is the perfect end to a day of hiking among the largest trees in the world. 

a moment of peace

So, I've been taking guitar lessons since January - and I am loving it!  It is the most rewarding thing I've done - maybe ever.  And it's probably the only thing, besides art, that I've stuck with for this long.  It brings me so much peace to just sit and strum.

Peace.  

I love when my soul is completely at peace.

I get my guitar and tune it.  I run through all the chords I know...G, C, Em, Am, D, etc., saving the chords that are more difficult to play for last...F, Dm, B, etc.  Lucy hears me and comes running from wherever she is napping in the house, and plops down on the floor in front of me to listen to me play.  I sit by the window with the sun shining on me.  I can feel it warming my hair and my heart.  Then a gentle breeze blows through the open window and I shiver, not from a chill, but from the amazing calmness that begins to fill me.  I play a few easy songs to warm up my frettin' hand and fingers.   I close my eyes and try not to look at the strings - let my fingers find where they're supposed to be.  I begin to work on a particular song that I want to play well.  I play it over and over, stopping to work only on the bridge for a while.  I sing.  I don't know what it sounds like outside the window, but in my head it's not too bad.  I play and play and play and sing and sing and sing.  Sometimes I get a little choked up.  The music is coming from my heart.  From a deep place.  I get completely lost in the moment and in time.  After awhile, my fingers start to ache.  I look up at the clock and realize 2 hours have gone by.  The wind blows on me again.  I shiver.  I am at peace.  I smile.

mom

My mom is the most awesome person I know.  She's my best friend.  

There is no end to her love and kindness and acceptance.  

My beautiful mom and me circa 1975

I ♥ you mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

true story

So, the other day, I was outside walking around my house taking pictures of clouds - because you can never have enough cloud pictures (duh).  I was making my way toward the backyard and I walked right up on this sweet little bunny who was just lounging in the shade.

She didn't run away.  She just stayed there lounging and sniffing the air.  I thought she must like me and wanted to be friends.  So I agreed we would be friends and promised her some carrots if she would just let me snap a few more pics.

Eventually, I guess she got bored with my picture taking and decided to do a little sprucing up of her fur.

At this point, my neighbor came out and looked at me a little funny (I suppose I might have been talking to the bunny).  He informed me that the only reason she wasn't running away was because she probably had babies buried nearby and wouldn't leave them.  Well, maybe that was true... 

Or maybe she just liked me.

I decided I'd taken enough pictures and started to walk away.  But my new friend jumped up and looked at me longingly.

"Don't worry," I said.  "I won't forget your carrots."

clouds

Don't you love big white puffy clouds in a bright blue sky?

Is there anything else to this post other than cloud photos?  Nope.

You do know you're at OnlyDaydreaming dot com, right?  ☺

happy friday!

love, me

risen

HAPPY EASTER!

sunrays escaping from cloud cover

what am I doing?

This blog thing...I don't really know what I'm doing.  I suppose I started it because I enjoy reading the blogs of the artists who I love and respect and I like getting to know more about them - so I thought maybe people who like my art would like to get a sense of who I am.  But that seems so...vain.  And just stupid.  At least, that's how it has been feeling for the past few days.  I'm not sure if I'm cut out for blogging.  I feel vulnerable and invisible at the same time.

watercolor love

I love art.

I discovered the watercolors of Carianne Mack Garside yesterday.  Her paintings have such a dreamy quality - which go a long way with me, if you haven't noticed.  Please take a minute to view her website.  You won't be disappointed.

'radiance'

'current'

'riverwater'

I'm off to visit family this weekend and I'll be going to see this movie that I have high hopes for.

Have a super groovy weekend!

Love, me