New Art Space....No More Dining Room Table

I've been busy...
Actually, the garden took some work...lots of work...but in the last couple of days I got it re-trellised (again), took control back over the monster tomato plants, repaired and supported the corn plants, and planted more tomatoes and marigolds...still have to move some of the baby corn plants (not getting enough light), and plant a new batch of radishes and still more tomatoes....we'll have tomatoes when everyone else has none, which is always its own kind of blessing...
Today I also took my art to the kitchen and invented a sauce from the strange green and gold tomatoes...decided it would make a great mexican verde sauce...it tastes divine!  Going to freeze it and have it on a mexican dinner night.  I have a huge 'bouquet' of basil to deal with and also a plethora of cucumbers...may try my hand at pickling...we'll see!
Anyway, the big excitement...I took over my absentee son's room and set up my computer and also a wonderful art space for painting, jewelry making, etc. I have been working on the dining room table for a year, so I'm pretty excited to have a place to claim as my own, with a door and everything!  Oh, the little things...

So I have been able to clear the dining room of piles of paints, jewelry supplies, canvases, boards, and other painting surfaces...I've cleared out all of the stuff I had under my bed - shoes, handbags, rolls of fabric (including my geisha girls), and brought my dress form in and dressed her in one of my favorite creations...she's good company - doesn't talk or do anything offensive...just looks cute and reminds me that I still can sew, too!
I also made a little display to take a couple of pictures for you...wanted you to see what I'm up to with those Buddhas (they are matched with the materials

 that will become tote bags...I'm very excited about
mixing painting with bag-making....totable art!  I like it.  Also, I wanted to show you the shoes I've done and the ones I plan to paint as well as a nice Coach handbag...and my little heart-shaped wooden bird bowl...not sure if she's finished but she's a cutie just the same...and on the easel, my work in progress - my bird board and my butterfly acrylic...the first in the butterfly series I will be doing...so here are more pictures...

The Buddhas with their coordinating fabrics.. along with the little bowl there on the right...then the red paisley shoes....still need to seal the finish and they will be ready to go on etsy.com...my easel with my current works

           

...and some raw materials...a couple of pair of shoes and a lovely handbag..(these can be custom ordered, should anyone have something they would like to have painted just for them).
So I am really excited about my new little studio...soon I will tackle the sewing area, which is in my bedroom and has kind of kept me from wanting to sew...but I will get there...I've gotten this far...GoodKharma is just a busy place these days, between all of the activities....I've even been jotting down some song lyrics and started doing writing exercises to get me practiced for the book I'll begin working on this winter...
I know, I am just one of those people that loves to do everything...I am blessed, and I know it!   I don't take it for granted, although there are times when its too much...my mind is too full of ideas for too many different things...and I have to take a break and regroup.  But I have a couple of vending opportunities this fall that I plan to work toward, as well as reworking my Etsy store and my Facebook page.  I love it all, and hope that my muse will love this new space as much as I do....I'm pretty sure she does; she's had me going all day and I am enjoying every minute of it!
Going to take a break now though, go ride a lovely horse with my lovely niece and enjoy this beautiful day...then I'll come home and do a little painting, I think...that butterfly keeps calling me so I may have to consult with my muse when I return and see what she's up for!  Hope you have a fantastic day...I'll be back again soon..until then, much peace and joy to you!

Yesterday's sunset from my deck...just thought I'd share it with you...I look forward to it every evening as no two are ever the same...namaste my friends!

A Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That....

I tell you, I've been trying to get back to this blog all week....its just been one thing after a thousand...but here I am...

I have been working on my watercolor Buddha..he's starting to look like a pretty handsome guy!  The way that the statue has weathered has been challenging to represent, especially considering the medium and the fact that it is being painted on fabric...a lot of variables...but I am making it my own so he is turning out well I think...there is so much layering and it gets a bit intense, so I don't work on him all the time...but he's coming along nicely!

I have also gotten back to my yellow bird poster; I've been working on her shading and feathers and such, and also on the branches...the corkboard is kind of difficult...sometimes the paint goes in a direction or makes thicker lines than I want....so it is yet another interesting project...I have started the first layer of the lettering, too.  This one is done with acrylic paint so has a totally different feel of control or lack thereof.  It is an interesting contrast to the watercolor Buddha, that's for sure...but she is starting to sing....and I think in the end she will be quite a lovely creature with such a lovely message...so I work on her every day in some way or another.

 On the GoodKharmaFarm gardening front, I have harvested some of my first planting of beets, and I have tons of strange tomatoes and now I'm getting cucumbers (they are so delicious...it's almost sinful!), zucchini, and yellow squash.  I think my second planting of those lovely breakfast radishes will be ready soon.  We have been getting rain on a daily basis so things are just growing faster than I can keep up, especially trying to trellis the cucumbers and the gourds..I will be going and working on the gourds as soon as the shade hits their garden bed... above is a picture of a wee baby birdhouse gourd...    

I will be starting to work on a butterfly picture that I started last year, and I will also be doing a couple of other butterflies...possibly it will turn into a series of some sort...who knows?  I just know that they always bring me joy...watching them do their thing....I plant flowers specifically for them...yesterday I actually got a couple of pictures of a "baby" monarch...up until now I have only seen one Monarch, and have been wondering if they were ever going to show up...but this young one...so cute...doesn't have the blue spots yet and has a very well-defined 'tail'....hopefully you can see from the picture...I'll be looking for this one and trying to watch it mature...kind of my own little science project, you know!     

                                                                                                          

So that's what I've been doing...not nearly as much as I'd like, but other things (mostly being a shuttle service) have taken much time away from the things that I love to do.  Also, I spent a little time with one of the other facets of GoodKharma...GoodKharmaServices....which involved some serious cat-sitting....which is always okay, especially since I was able to help out a dear friend when she needed it desperately.  So I got caught up on my favorite HGTV shows and the beasties watched along with me..here are three of them...fourth guy is on my lap...and the tabby in the chair is blind, so he's just listening....they are a joy to be around...lots of comic relief!                                                                                                                                                                                           I am going to get to work on some painting now...my yellow bird, Buddha, and butterflies are calling me...I have the house to myself for the rest of the day so I should take advantage of such a gift.  I will keep you updated with my progress and all things GoodKharma!!  Have a peaceful day....

Bringing My Muse Home

So, I got back from my house-sitting job Sunday evening...it felt great to be home....I've been house-sitting A LOT and felt scattered and transient and was ready to be home, even though the work ahead of me here is a bit overwhelming.  I won't even begin to tackle my sewing area until sometime late next week...right now my oldest son is preparing to leave next week for work and his need to spread things out and decide what to do with his possessions...what to take, what to leave and store, what to get rid of....is taking up most of the extra space in the house and will until his departure.  On the flipside, I am enjoying spending some quality time with him, knowing that this house will soon be emptied of everyone but myself full-time and my husband part-time....it will be very different from how this house has been a revolving door of folks needing a home, or coming to hang out, or stay, or leave, and space being at such a premium...part of why my muse checked out for such an extended period of time....it was fairly impossible to be creative when so much other stuff was going on and distracting and detracting from what I wanted to do....but my muse came home...finally she has decided that she too can finally have a little space here to do her job...being my muse, pointing out more new and interesting things that lead me to inspiration...and I am extremely grateful that she is here.  We have so much to do....
Yesterday, after having had some wonderful rain (finally), my son and I went out and toured the garden areas....picked the first zucchini and cucumbers, along with some tomatoes...there will be tomatoes for a long time to come!  And so it was quite rewarding to go around and look at my baby veggies, baby gourds, basically the fruits of my labors as the steward of this blessed piece of land that I am lucky enough to call home.  It feels great to know that this is the small beginning of something that I hope will become bigger than me, bigger than anything I've ever done, and something that will ultimately benefit others less fortunate as I work to turn GoodKharmaFarm into a non-profit, slow money entity that will help sustain others in such a basic but necessary way.
Also, I started picking little areas of the house and decluttering them...and uncovered a few treasures, like some different pieces of foam board that I had reclaimed from the recycle shed at the dump and so I got out a couple of interesting colors of acrylic paint and painted over someone's watercolor prints and will be able to reuse these for my own art....goes back to the original intent of GoodKharmaReThreads that has become GoodKharma Everything....making something out of nothing....And so I just painted over them....as someone will likely paint over my art someday....these things happen...
And I also found a couple of small foam boards that just had prints laid on them, botanical prints from the era of dusty rose and dusty blue and all that...still wrapped in plastic...so I unwrapped and discarded what wouldn't be used and now I have some nice clean boards to work with, too. In the process I actually made some

space in my room...decluttering!  I also got some books cleaned out and listed on Paperback Swap so that they can find new homes.
So, while I hadn't had a chance to make anything, I did make myself useful.  A great feeling...
As I was painting over those boards....this is when my muse tapped me on the shoulder...she said..."what about those Buddhas that you started and had to put aside when the house became too small for you and I to work peacefully...where are those guys?"  I thought, huh?  Well they are right here under this pile of stuff...all these sketch pad and trays and paints and wooden boards, along with all the images of Buddha statues that I found intriguing and artistic and want to eventually try to paint.  So once I could move the boards I'd painted over, I pulled out one of my  Buddhas...a watercolor on linen that was tucked away in the pile...I immediately realized that I would be mixing colors and trying to get back to the original essence (or not) of what I loved about this image of the Buddha.
Here is what I managed to accomplish yesterday during a couple of hours...

This first picture is where I had gotten with him before my muse and I had to take our hiatus...I had found this to be extremely tedious at the time....and hard to figure out ..couldn't get the colors to be like the colors I'd used....and my muse whispered to me to mix some colors and get on with it....so that's what I did....

And by the time I felt finished for the day, as these things have to dry and set a bit...working on fabric is definitely more challenging and interesting than paper....I felt pretty good about what I had managed to do.  I am looking forward to getting back to work on him today at some point...either he or my sweet muse will let me know when it's time to sit back down with this Buddha...

I also unearthed a whole book of poetry that I had written during my teens, and also many poignant quotes that I had written down...and I will be using some of these things as inspiration for posters, the ones that will go on those boards that I uncovered, repainted, etc., and I may dabble with them a bit today, too.  It will be interesting to take a quote and interpret it as visual art.  I think this will be a fun thing....I had started something of this nature...another unfinished work....that I will also be getting back to....for the little bird, she calls to me, wants me to finish her and write her story.....I used a reclaimed corkboard bulletin board type thing that I brought home last year from the dump....and decided to see what it would be like to paint over...

So I have much to do...many places to pick up where I left off...many new places to start from....many things whirling around in my head that I want to try to make or do....its why I work much better with my muse's guidance...she gently nudges me toward a single thing to be working on...and doesn't get offended if I can't get into that particular thing at that particular time....like the seagulls I so do want to paint....I spent two days trying to finish an unfinished sketch before I realized that I didn't want to do seagulls then...and I began sketching from a photo from last year of a butterfly...and it came easy and smooth and my muse just smiled...she knew she was needed here and that her room was ready and waiting...

I'm so glad to have her home!!  Enjoy your day...I know I will enjoy mine....who knows what's waiting for me out there...time to go check the garden!  Peace to you from me and my lovely muse....from our house to yours...

                                                                       

The Art of Completion

Wow, I know! Three days in a row...
I am so thrilled to have finished my little watercolor of summertime blossoms...started in the spring and set aside....well, it is done...and I just wanted to share it with you...still have to take a trip to the Scrap Exchange and find a mat and frame...then I will decide what to do with it...keep, sell, give, donate...I know the universe will furnish me with a sign soon enough...
Anyway, here it is....

The flowers included, from left to right, purple verbena, brown-eyed susans, pink and lavender butterfly bush blossoms, purple coneflower, red bee balm, black & blue salvia, and red yarrow. I added some grass at the bottom and somehow managed to get a light blue sky in there, after the fact.  I guess I don't do many things in the right order, but, hey, it would be hard to change such habits, and I don't think I'd have nearly as much fun or learn nearly as much as I do from the things I create...

This week I will work on my seagulls...I had started a sketch over a year ago and have since taken quite a few pictures during various visits to the beach that will help me recreate and enhance what I started.  I do remember that the original gull flew away mid-sketch and so I would be having to wing anyway.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog...I forgot how much fun this is...all of it...so glad my muse decided to join me again.  We have so much to do and make and plant and pick...have a peaceful and beautiful day!

Yep....A Little Progress....

This will be a short and sweet post....just wanted to let you know that it seems that my muse is back, alive and well.....niggling me with more ideas....just what I needed, right?
This morning, after that long, long post from last night, it didn't take long before I was sketching in more flowers, from memory, into this little watercolor I started back in April.  The black and blue salvia and the brown-eyed susans have both come into bloom, along with bee balm (don't know if I'll try to tackle but I may take a picture and try it....stick a couple in somewhere...to go along with the purple coneflower and the butterfly bush blooms I had sketched back in the spring from memory.
I guess my point is that I am feeling the love of the brush in my hand, mixing the colors, fixing little things here and there.  It feels good to let some of this bottled-up creativity flow through the paint onto the paper...really good!  So I just wanted to share where I've gotten to with this little painting...still a work in progress...hopefully tomorrow there will be more to see, more to do...
And then there's this sketch I started at the beach last year of a seagull....I think I have enough photos to use to help me finish the sketch and paint it...also have some mermaids to conjure for a dear friend...want to make her a mermaid picture and also one painted on fabric and used for a bag...and a yoga mat bag for another friend...already picked out the fabrics...
I'd say my muse is perking up again....I just want to thank the universe for sending this tired soul a renewed sense of self and of how much I love making something out of nothing...maybe that's why the idea of proceeding with GoodKharmaFarm is just as appealing...starting with tiny seeds and making food to feed the hungry, along with so many other useful things...I guess my muse was just as overwhelmed with everything as I have been...maybe now we can get something done!  Peace to you....till next time....

Finally...Relocating My Muse...

Wow, I can't believe I've been unable to find my way back here in over two months...what,  you ask, could keep me from having anything to say....well...
I inherited the brainchild of my younger son, who wanted to turn our horseless horse farm into an organic farm....I signed up...as his partner....and then opportunity took him back to California, where he is learning many new things about farming and about himself.  What kind of mother would I be to hold him back?  Not the kind that I am or would ever want to be.  So I wished him the best and sent him off with my love and blessings.  Of course, all of the seedlings he started died due to our crazy spring, and so I had to choose...start over on my own or abandon what we had begun....so after going through the stages of grief for what was supposed to be, I decided to try and grow some food.
Here were my first little corn plants, heirloom seeds from long before Monsanto existed..planted in June.in one of the four 12 by 4 beds that my son had made....along with three tomatoes that he planted back in May.  I don't even know what kind of tomatoes but they became giant plants in no time...I do know they are heirloom organics and each plant has different tomatoes. I also transplanted mystery plants that were coming up in one of our compost bins...one in a big bed and the rest in a different garden area that we had started a few years ago, that gets sun through about two p.m.in the summer....good thing, too...because the mystery plants are delicata squash, a winter variety...The plant I put in the big bed is huge but a haven for squash bugs and such...I am letting it live for now as it seems to be keeping the bugs in its bed and they haven't migrated to the subsequent plants that I have in other beds so far....Well, my garden is thriving now....In my morning sun area I have two basil beds...one with genovese and one with thai basil, all friendly plants that come back from the previous year's seed heads...in fact, I have some plants that appear to be hybrids...genovese thai basil...should make for an interesting seasoning to cook with...I've also managed to squeeze in some lettuce and a few other herbs into these beds, which were originally my 'square foot gardening' beds that the basil took over...we also had made a long bed along our rickety fence that I had gourds in a couple of years ago...this year this bed is full...delicata squash from the compost bin, three kinds of gourds, passionfruit, lettuce, spinach, kale, pak choi, sunflowers, marigolds, basil, and still have a little room for something...not sure what yet....beside this bed I have a few odd snap peas and pole beans from my first try at seed starting...along with some St. John's wort...

All of the squash and gourds are trellising up onto the fence....hope it will make it through the season without falling over....seriously!  Out in my big garden beds I have planted summer squash (yellow & zucchini), two kinds of cucumbers, three kinds of peppers, corn, beets, radishes, carrots, husk melons, cantaloupes, two kinds of eggplant, more varieties of tomatoes, two kinds of green beans, cow peas, black turtle beans, along with beneficial insect attractant flowers on the ends of the beds....I still have more space and I'm sure will be adding more things soon.

So these pictures were taken five days ago....and of course,  things have already grown a bunch since then....I spend a good part of the day watering and trellising and re-trellising and now I will be starting with the natural pest control as the eggplant bugs have arrived...
and we really like eggplant..

I'm sure you're wondering what in the world this has to do with GoodKharmaReThreads...well
Ifigure that in the end it all goes under the same 'umbrella' of
'GoodKharma', whether it is growing food, house- and farm- and pet-sitting, which I call GoodKharma Services,
so this endeavor will likely be
named GoodKharmaFarms.
The products I hope to make someday....tinctures, soaps, herbal teas, baths, haircare products, even luffa sponges from the luffa gourds...GoodKharma something....I figure you can't have too much good karma...and I spell it with the 'h' to distinguish it from other enterprises out there in the world.
This week I harvested my first radishes...and started picking and freezing and using in every way possible the plethora of wild blackberries around the fencelines of the farm....we are also getting a few tomatoes ripening and being consumed as fast as I can pick them...and I made the first pesto of the summer a couple of evenings ago for dinner...nomm!
My ultimate plan for the farm will include a small orchard of peaches, plums, apples, and pears...and a small row of blueberry bushes.

I would have an herb garden but I managed to dump out all of the seedlings, so I will be starting over with them next week...I have an awesome plan for a spiral herb bed that will be in the yard, and will also disperse some various plants around the place.  I hung my first batch of thai basil to dry yesterday...this farming thing is a non-stop enterprise, with me needing to start figuring out when to start seedlings for fall planting and then winter planting....I also will be building a long cold fram bed in the front of the house where it will get the winter sun.  I also have several beds of bee and butterfly and hummingbird attracting plants and flowers...pollinators...would love to do bees and have honey, too, as soon as I can fit it in.
GoodKharmaFarm will hopefully become a non-profit farm that will supply organic fresh food to homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, battered women's shelters, childrens' homes, etc.  I want it to be a farm that does more than grow food to sell at the farmer's market.  The products I hope to eventually make from the herbs and botanicals will be marketed and sold to help with the expenses of running the farm.  And it will be quite an adventure learning how to create such things.  I have even considered raising certain plants that can be used for dyes for dying yarn, clothing, etc.  We have already gifted the bulk of the land's grass, as this farm was originally hay fields, to a neighbor so that he has hay for his goats and horses and we get our fields mowed without having to pay someone to do it...and what a waste it would be to just mow all that good grass when it could go to feeding something...a win-win for sure.
I am hoping to get back to making bags, and hope to incorporate my painted art (painted on fabric) into them to go a step further in making them unique....all still made with materials from thrift stores...and I will do clothing items by special order.  I also will have painted art on canvases or framed available. I would like to incorporate crocheted pieces as well...just have more ideas and plans than time right now.  As I sit and type this from someone else's bed where I am pet and house sitting....my last gig until August, I think...I am beyond happy to report that I actually found out where my muse was hiding and started working on a watercolor that I had sketched back in April....it felt really good and healing to be painting again....and I will get on my sewing machine next week and see if I remember how to operate the thing...so there will be more GoodKharmaReThreads...along with many other GoodKharma things out there soon...here's a peek at what I managed to paint today....definitely a work in progress, just like we all are.....namaste, my friends.