"TRIBUTE"
I am so honored to have one of my pieces chosen for the 2008 Arkansas Artists Calendar sponsored by the Arkansas Govenor's Mansion. The piece chosen for the calendar is "Tribute" which is a special piece to me because it was inspired by a pot of tulips a friend gave to me when I had to have my precious cat "Mootzie" put to sleep on Feb. 14th of this year. She was 18 years old and my dear companion for all those years. I feel, that without them knowing this, the judges are honoring her by their choice of this painting.

Gonna have to change my Blog photo..got my hair allllllll cut off today and I LOVE IT!! Some of you remember me when it was down to my waist

This photo was taken the night before I cut off 10" for "Locks of Love" about 2 years ago....then it looked like this...

Then like the photo I'm using for my Blogspot.....
Now.....today.....Wha La...................................



And in case you are wondering.............yes, the curl is God given. I think He knew I was not going to be one to mess with my hair, so he gave me good wash and wear hair!!

Now...on a different note........

Remember the post of my "treasures" a few days ago? Well, here is the finished piece.... You can check it out better on my website. I love the way the "treasures" turn to triangles (which represent movement or angels or direction or birds) which here represent movement from this material world to our heavenly world with God, where only treasures of the spirit remain and our heart is moving right along with us because "Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also."

"WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS..."

Ho Hum....just another day on the lake...
This is really fun..........

Whew!! A weekend with 2 of John's 5 grandkids!! Alison 4 and Josh 2! An evening on the lake on Friday in the pouring down rain, then on Saturday we got all ready to spend the day on the lake and the boat wouldn't start!! Thank God for good neighbors with a party barge!! THEN, we got back from the boat ride and decided to do a little sea doo riding and one of them wouldn't start!! ( Am I getting a message of somekind here??). In spite of it all we had a great time and the kids loved it!! That was what counted. Broken down motors and time wasted messing with details meant nothing to them. They found plenty to do while we fretted! Ahhh..youth........ This was their first visit and we are sure hoping they come again. Well....I guess the pictures show how "unaffected" they were by everything!! Like I said...............ahhhhhh......youth...........

TREASURES ON EARTH

I began a new piece today in my Ancient Word series based on Matthew 6: 19-21 where Jesus tells us about not storing up our treasures here on earth where rust and moth can destroy them and thieves can steal them, but to store up treasures in heaven...because where your heart is there your treasure will be also. I love the way The Message, which is a modern day translation of the Bible, says it, "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." These are some of the little "treasures" I made up today to go in the piece. I can't help but think as I put this piece together, that someday it too will be dust, but what will live on is the message.

FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS
I said today I wanted to talk about my series "Ancient Words". On my website I have a statement about it. Go to http://www.paintedpapers.com/aw/aw_open.htm and you can read about that. What I want to say here is how blessed I have been by this series, and how blessed I continue to be! out of the 21 pieces I have created to date, only 4 are left and that is since June 1st. I'm not saying this to brag....oh no no no....I am saying this to relate how God's Word is going out to homes and businesses all over the U.S.!! How great is that? God is being glorified and that is what it is all about to me. The people who have been moved to tears by a piece, the total strangers who have called me up to talk about it, the ones who have stated that "it took their breath away", that's not me, that's not my work, that is GOD'S WORD!! Yea!!! I have a sketch book full of sketches inspired through reading the "Ancient Word" and hope to continue doing these for a long time to come. I firmly believe that God will use me in this way, until He's done.

I have to tell you, I have played with this blogspot all day and having a ball!! I think this is going to be fun, but I need some response, so let me hear from anyone out there what you think! Okay....now I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I'm going to talk about my favorite series I'm doing called "Ancient Words". What a journey that has been and still is. Okay....NOW I'm going to bed....really...........

Last year I had the awesome opportunity to go to Italy!! My precious daughter, Shari, took my husband and I there for my 60th birthday!! (Yes Moms....my daughter took me!!). for me it was a turning point in my art. To be in the presence of some of the finest art in the world...to bathe myself in the Renassiance everyday, was this artist's dream. I came back with a new eye for color and a new feel for texture that I didn't know I had in me. I've had people say, "why don't you paint this or that again." I don't want to. It's not me anymore. For me, art is about growth, about learning more about myself everytime I lay paper to paper and paint to paper. Go to "Sketches of Italy" and see some pieces of my journal I kept on the trip. The pieces I have that are for sale are on my website, but these posted here are a few of the ones already sold.

Okay....there is some blogging for the day.

Later!!

Well, I'm brand new at this Blogger thing, but think it's a great way to talk about my art and my life. I'm a journaler and to me this is just a step beyond that to share my heart and maybe put into words and pictures where my inspiration comes from and what the results are. So bear with me while I struggle through this. It'll either work....or it won't!! So here goes.................