Temptation

Is this a new Eve trying to tempt the moon into granting her hearts desire??? Maybe.....

IF Future

This little girl is dreaming about the day in the future she will be a bride! She has a dress in mind and I bet someday she will have her wishes come true. I hope so and then the fun begins. It is a hard time getting adjusted to someone else constantly in our lives. But if you take things slow and know that each day will be different it is easier. My family and I had a horrendous year with the loss of my Aunt her Husband, my Mother, my ex husband and my 12 year old cat rounded out the year. We were still reeling from the changes and a good friend of my Son and a pretend Son for me, killed himself. It has been two months and I am having moments of feeling somewhat normal, but afraid to relax. I read the quote that said "If you don't trust the future, you will never be free of the past". That hit me and I'm trying not to be afraid of tomorrow. Another quote I read went like this "You can't stop the birds of sadness from flying around your head, but you can keep them from nesting in you hair". That also hit me and I will wear a hat pulled down tight on my head to keep those sad birds from nesting! So we really never know what lies ahead, we need to put one foot in front of the other each day and just keep walking. Happy walking and Happy Future!

IF Wild

This is how some of the Wild animals celebrate! I hope we all can celebrate every day that we are given. Whether it be a lesson we need to learn or just a day of pure enjoyment! I live near the beach and every time I drive by I check to see if I can spot some Dolphins swimming close to shore. Often I see the circle of birds eating the remains of the pod on a feeding day. And when you look close you can see the little fins skimming the water. And on a really lucky day the beautiful beast are jumping and playing. The thrill never leaves me and I want to jump too and point it out to those that are passing by and haven't noticed the spectacular show that is going on! I wish for you today something that you will make you feel as I do when I see the wonderful performance. Good luck and have a great day!

IF Talent

This little mouse is hoping that his "Talent" will distract the cats, and make them forget that they want to eat him for dinner. As in real life sometimes I hope my "Talent" will carry me through the rough times and keep me from feeling the hard lesson  I am going through. When my 93 year old Mother was going through the last stages of life, sometimes reality was to much to face head on. I found myself in the room with her, my paper in hand and I was drawing my heart out. Instead of what I really wanted to do was cry my head off. Sometimes the ideas flowed easily from my pencil onto the paper. And other times the ideas just wouldn't come. But I do know without my drawing and creating ability, that which it is, I might not have come out with my brain in tact. I thank my many relatives, Mother especially, that passed the talent down the family line to little old me. I enjoy making others feel, smile and enjoy my expressions. And enough as I would like to think I do this to make others happy, I now know I NEED to be a creative person! It fills my soul and gives me meaning at this time in my life. So my friends embrace your "Talent" and fill your soul with what ever that talent might be. Because it is a gift, no matter what it is!. And you wouldn't let a gift sit around for years unopened, would you? I wouldn't and haven't and I try to open it again and again,everyday, it makes me feel soooooo wonderful. I hope it makes you feel something wonderful too!

IF Wings
This woman is finally finding her wings. She is brave enough to soar into the sky unafraid and ready for lies ahead of her. Like Dorthy in the Wizard of Oz she is wearing her red slippers just in case she needs to return home. But for now she is ready, willing and able to walk through the door that has opened before her! Life is somewhat back to normal, the new normal as they say since our year of losses. I find I am breathing again but still aware that life is what happens when you are making plans. Miss the constants in my life and still forget from time to time that they are not there for me to check in with and to help me with the changes that lye ahead. Our health is soooo important and stuff is just what it is "stuff". And I have a lot of stuff. I'm enjoying creating new art work like this one I have posted. I paint and then cut and paste to make the picture. Love the texture and the shades I can get with this process. It is raining here today and very gloomy but it is really needed. We have several wonderful Whales being seen off the coast. I feel very lucky to live where within 5 minutes I can see Dolphins and Whales. That is something I really miss about loosing my dear cat Sadie. She was 12 years old and I was always dazed and amazed at how humans can communicate with each other. As we settled down to sleep at night she would cuddle and purr with delight. I will probably acquire another cat , but not now it's too soon, time will help heal the space left by her. But she will never leave the space in my heart! So hug your loved ones and remember how special our connections with each other are as you go on your day. Oh by the way have a wonderful weekend....YES!

IF New

This cat is happy with his NEW pet! His owner can't understand where the fish keep going. He has had 3 pets in the last month. I can't imagine can you. Happy New Year to all of you. I am planning on a new and peaceful year filled with wonderful things. A bit cold here but I can't complain we are really spoiled in Ca. as the weather is usually so mild. Have a good rest of the week!

IF Glow

The Magic Egg seemed to glow in the Moon light. They stood amazed and delighted as they looked at it! I remain amazed and dazed as the year ends. Not been a particularly wonderful for me and my family. But certainly not as bad as many of my fellow man. I wish you all a better and healthy year ahead and love and laughter too!

Snow baby angels dance in the cold winter weather! I think snow is an unnatural state for water. Growing up at the beach I love the warm season and beautiful ocean. But different strokes for different folks. I still a bit numb from the losses my family has had this year and topping it off my beloved cat Sadie passed away on Saturday. She had been my faithful companion for 12 years and for the first time in over 20 years I find myself cat less. Seems funny and I keep expecting to see her come around the corner. No pets for a while I need to take time to reflect on the past year and how to make the best of it. Thank goodness for the kids and their kids to make the holiday somewhat normal. I think of the parents and families of those lost in Connecticut everyday. I can't even imagine their loss. My thoughts and prayers are being sent to them. May they be able to breathe in this time of grief. I will try to dance like the snow babies and I AM thankful for all of my blessings!And I hope for a new and better year ahead for all of us!

IF Explore

These curious kids are about to explore the noises they heard in the dark. I would have never been so brave but then I was always a bit afraid of the dark. Been busy trying to get over the punch in the stomach life has hit my family with. My Aunt passed in May, my Mother in August, my ex husband and Uncle in October and now my beloved cat has Lymphoma. I know it will get better but WOW I don't seem to be able to relax. Life can be tough......but I'm hanging in there. Hope your life is better than mine has been lately!

IF Carry

 This little girl is able to carry her flowers home in this green basket...Im not sure if she will be surprised by this little pink worm hanging by the vine in front of her.                        

IF Suspend
Rabbit is a bit surprized as he is suspended by his suspenders! Frog is thinking that his friend has jumped a little to high!

IF Refresh

I'm sure this little Bear and his Rabbit friend find these snacks and Lemonade very "Refreshing".
Trying hard to figure out this new format for the blog site...Ugg , why can't they leave well enough alone? Mom broke her foot and it has been a hard week. A 93 year old woman with a bad memory and short temper is not easy to deal with! I find myself soooo tired at the end of the day even with help from the kids. Oh well life marches on! Im hanging on by my fingernails........But Im sure we will get through it! Hope you are doing the best you can too....have a great day, I hope too!

IF Secret

It is wonderful to dance and move your body! Especially when your dancing abilities are a secret!

IF Shiny

This little Mermaid is enjoying the SHINY flying fish as they fly by!

IF Yield

This little bear is happy to yield the right of way to his little bunny friend! And the bunny is delighted to charge ahead in his little car. This topic made me think of how often in our life we choose to yield to others! I do it for so many different reasons and I not sure sometimes it is the right thing to do. I yield to my Mothers wishes most of the time as she is not in her right mind and not to yield would cause her distress and would confuse her more. I put my foot down when that decision might hurt her. I yield to my Children sometimes just to keep piece in the family and sometimes just to help them along in their journey. I know that is what parents all over the world do. I yield to people that have strong convictions if I don't have an opinion on the subject, as not having enough information would keep me in the background. But I don't yield when I feel my character or beliefs in life are challenged. I try to live in the truth as much as possible and when someone comes from lies and deceit enters my space I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stick straight out! I have watched these untruth doers over and over try to manipulate my life to make theirs what they want it to be. I think what a waste of time and energy they are spending on something they won't achieve. WOW how did such a heavy subject come out of such a simple topic and a children's illustration? Guess it is some of the stuff I see going on in my everyday life. It's a beautiful day here so a drive down to the beach to stare at that vast ocean is on my list of things to do. I hope you are free of manipulative people and that you have a beautiful special space you can retreat to if needed. Life is not always easy and we need to take advantage of the calm and peaceful times. Enjoy the small moments.......

Temptation?

When I started this painting my intention was to capture the feeling of how wonderful it would be to have a wonderful bed, soft and beautiful deep in the forest. The smiling Moon overhead and nothing but you and your thoughts to fall asleep with. As the painting developed the colors seemed wrong on the woman so I changed them and realized that if using mostly black and white something red would really stand out and the apple came to mind and the next thought was Eve, why not she WAS looking tempting I think! I used the trim around the head and foot board to represent the snake, and if you look closely you can see the snakes head at the bottom right side. I was surprised with how this theme developed. Much like life we can never predict just how life will turn out and I know that to be true as every day passes. I also know that this is not a dress rehearsal and as far as I know we need to live life to the fullest. My breath is still taken away by the sight of the wonderful ocean. My heart still skips a beat when I truly look at my beautiful Children and Grandchildren. Amazing how did we get this far. Where did the time go? Flying by as all the older people say, I wish you all many days full of temptation, after all whats life all about if not about making choices? Make yours good ones!

IF Forward

Little Red and Grandma are beating feet as fast as they can forward to get away from the Big Bad Wolf! I guess we are all trying to run forward as we go through life. Many different things are chasing us as we make our journey. When I was small I was moving forward trying to hurry life along so I could do the things the big kids did. Later I hurried forward to fall in love and get married and have children, why, because everyone else did. And now I'm moving forward to the unknown parts of my life and being a care giver to my Mother is now my big bad wolf! This task has shown me many sides of my life and personality I didn't know I had, or if I knew I chose to forget it. My Mother is sweet and always has been but her short term memory is gone. And repeating herself is constant. Sometimes, many times in a role and try as I may my patience wears thin. I find myself remembering things that annoyed me about her many years ago and disliking these things now again like I did then. I didn't know I could be so short with someone or that I had the ability to run away from her so I don't have to listen to the repeating. It would seem like it would be easy to be nice but sometimes I find it a difficult thing. Believe me I have analyzed why and the conclusion I have come to is that I am really mad because I miss the Mother I used to have. The one I could talk to the one I spent time with having fun and giggling. The one that made sense, even when I didn't want to listen. She went and got old on me. 93 in April, and life inside of her head must be harder for her with the confusion and inconstancy. I know I sound shallow and unappreciative! I vow to work on this and to continue to love and take care of my Mother as she did for me for many, many years! Big bad wolf Im not running anymore!

IF Sink

Harriet is in quite a mess. In her excitement to enjoy the warm beautiful water she has jumped in totally forgetting she can't swim! I will continue the story... that the large fish at the bottom of the picture will rescue her and swim with her on his back safely to the shore. I think we all want a happy ending to the story and find distress when it looks like it isn't going to happen...I attended a Holiday program at my youngest Granddaughters school last Friday. I also attended the same school and I was excited to see what the program would be like. The teacher was really smart and ask all the kids to wear their PJ's. Well the brightest of styles and colors were seen. No need for Christmas costumes the outcome was delightful! Their 6 year old faces were all so different . Some were confident, some were frightened and some were just there taking in all of the parents looking at them. My Granddaughter knew all the words and gestures and of course was the best in the group...Really... she was.... one of her friends parents watched her as she said that she knew that she was doing it right. I fought back some tears a couple of times when I remembered being in that same cafeteria so long ago. And I wondered what the future would be like for all of these beautiful children.Where did the time go? It is true it does go fast...when you get to be my age it becomes so apparent that everyday does count. No dilly dolling around any more. My quest to do some things must be attempted NOW as no one knows how much time we have left. I don't say that in a sad way just a real way! I always knew that we had to make the most of it. ...back to the kids ...I wanted to draw these great kids and will soon. Color and fun I intend today to have more color in my life and a lot more fun... I hope you can do the same....I will think of those that are not having fun and need extra love and send it to them...you might try to do the same....byeeeeeeee

IF Round

She was so round, in fact everything around her was round.....I had fun with the suggestion for this week with the word ROUND....the woman you see here embraces her curves and makes no apology for them. She also emphasizes them by dancing with the round balls....I haven't had much time for IF lately as I was busy printing and designing a line of greeting cards made of allot of the paintings I made for IF. I have them in a store I see to and they also carry my paintings on canvas and this month have sold three of them. Iam delighted and thrilled at this and was lucky enough to find out that the new owner of one of them is newly widowed and starting out on a new life. My painting is a woman at the beach, red hair flying in the breeze with her apron full of wonderful sea shells. So her friend thought it would inspire and make her friend smile. That is just what I hope my art does, make the person looking at it smile. I also ran into a friend that had bought one of my paintings a few years ago of a still life in a pitcher with a mermaid on it. She told me she moves it around her house ,its pretty large, so she can enjoy it where ever she is working. It is now hanging happily in her work room. Many days have gone by when I wondered if I would ever make a difference in this world of Art. My question has been answered many times this month and I feel humbled and happy at this event. So onward with my paintbrush in hand and ideas in my head! This may be happening in a small way in my own backyard, but you know it feels really good and right now that is good enough for me.....I hope you are also enjoying knowing that your art makes a difference, even if it is in a small way...I think it is a start!