Kangaroo Paw

There are three Kangaroo Paw plants in the garden and while the red blooms are wonderful I almost prefer them when they start to die and begin to look even more other-worldly than they normally do. Without the spiky red blooms the plant isn't very exciting. I tried growing them up north; all I got for my effort was one tiny spike that lasted about 3 days. These have been in bloom for two weeks; they seem to thrive in the warm weather.

After an hour of playing with various shots I opted for the black-and-white version. This image reminds me of a vintage photograph. The background is painted paper towel. I've been slapping paint onto paper towels in an attempt to come up with something abstract to use for a postcard exchange. I couldn't understand the current hoopla about painting paper towels but I'm beginning to understand it. In fact, painting paper towels can be quite addictive.

Library Card

Some things are too cool for words! Create your own library card or notes at: http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/
What are the numbers? My birthday and the year Stacy was born!

Some days are worth getting out of bed for and this is one of them. The desert is at her best when the sky is clear and the mountains aren't enshrouded in haze. The brown barren mountains can be lovely with shadows on them either early in the morning or late in the day. Yesterday's windstorm and light rain cleaned up the atmosphere and gifted us with an above average day; rare as of late. I have all of the windows open to air out the stuffy house after days of running the AC.

I'd given up growing roses during my 30 years on the Monterey Peninsula so you can imagine my delight when I wandered around the newly planted garden early this morning and discovered that there were 3 blooms; one yellow and two red. I brought home a succulent today that the checker didn't want to handle. She thought it had a spider web on it and must be frightened of spiders. "Would you mind putting it in the bag?" she asked. I smiled. "The name is Cobweb, so what you're seeing is part of the plant." She shook her head and handed me a bag. I hope that I can get some close-ups of it; it is a visually exciting plant. I love photographing things in my garden so even though I'm still suffering the effects of putting in the yard I'm thrilled to be surrounded by plant life again. I can't imagine not having a garden and I finally have a private one. The house in Pacific Grove only had a front yard which at times drove me nuts. I would have enjoyed sitting outdoors more but it was too public. Happily, the front yard is taken care of by the HOA.

Quote: Life is not meant to be easy--wonderful yes,
but not easy.
Sally Huss

Nasturtiums

My cousin gave me some metal pieces she was no longer using; for the life of me I can't figure out why she'd give them away! I was thrilled to be on the receiving end of the sculptural pieces that are now residing in the backyard. This particular piece used to hold a glass vase that I immediately discarded. I cut down a coconut plant receptacle and slid it into the vacated vase space (try saying that fast!) and planted nasturtium seeds in some of the organic top soil left over from the flower bed. After a week a few leaves finally popped up.

We're having another epic windstorm; the second one in two weeks, and I'm sitting here biting my fingernails hoping that the plants and trees survive!

Quote: The only thing better than the nearness of flowers

is the closeness of friends.

Sally Huss

Daisy

"As soon as you trust yourself,
you will know how to live."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I guess that I don't trust myself . . .

I like to think of this time of year as one of renewal, so with that in mind I'm nourishing my soul with books that mean something to me. Most of which seem to be by Julia Cameron.

"We carry wisdom in our bodies. We carry memories and we carry, too, the medicine for what ails us. We can walk our way to sanity. We can walk our way to clarity. Baffled and confused, we can walk our way to knowing the 'next right step.'

In difficult times, many of us intuitively start walking. We may walk our way through divorce, a breakup, or job change. We may walk our way out of one identity and into another, newer and better-suited to us. Answers come to us while we walk--sometimes the answers come to use before the questions. We just get the itch to start walking and when we do, we then begin to get a sense of why."

Julia Cameron, Finding Water

I had hoped that I would spend more time walking once we moved to a gated community. I know longer felt safe walking the path next to the ocean, too many crimes committed and I didn't want to be a statistic. But I find that now I don't to see the same houses over-and-over nor do I want to be friendly when meeting strangers out for their walk or in their yards! Always a dilemma! I'm considering walking after dark when it's still warm out, but then mom and Stacy want to walk with me . . . Always the trio!!

The other dilemma is that I don't have a smidgen bit of desire to create anything! I've been down this path before and I imagine it's only temporary, but then perhaps a new direction is in the wings? What?

Six Months!!

We moved into our new house six months ago today! The last few weeks have been devoted to getting the backyard in and I've never been so thrilled to be able to say, PHEW!! What a workout! The two trees on the top left were delivered on March 23 and planted on the 25th.
Seven men took over the backyard for two days and I lost my bearings along the way and gave up when they stacked the brick retaining wall incorrectly! The photo on the left shows their idea of putting in a retaining wall! My friend and I spent March 28-30th correcting it and filling the flower bed with top soil. At least the crew of 7 did the drainage and drip system, though, I need to redo most of the placement for the drip . . . The top right photo is of my grandson, or I should say, Chief Gardener! The middle bottom photo is from the north end of the yard and left one is taken from under my shade structure/arbor.

Tip: click on the photos to for a larger version.

Felting

Thought I'd post a before and after photo of a 4x6 felted piece. I find that felted fibers are a perfect base for adding embellishments. I created a lot of metal embossed items last year; nothing is ever a waste of time when it comes to "doodling." In this case a transparency of a couple on a small tag was first attached on the left side. Then I decided that the felted heart on the right wasn't bold enough. After auditioning a few hearts this one was the winner along with a scrap piece of metal resembling an arrow. I've since backed the piece with muslin and edge stitched it.
Available on www.seawind.etsy.com


It is better to error on the side of daring
than on the side of caution.
Alvin Toffler.

Not 60 yet!

I'm getting a bit too close to the big 6-0!! Why not celebrate birthdays with wall art letting the world know that you're a particular age? I ran with the idea and created a few pieces that can now be found on www.seawind.etsy.com

I was expecting hot weather during the summer months but in March?? Yikes! It's been in the high 80's to low 90's for a week now. The parched earth is in much need of rain but the temps keep climbing.

Quote:
Pleasant ways make pleasant days.
Sally Huss, Happy Musings

4x6 mini quilt

Can something 4x6 inches be considered a mini quilt? I found a huge stash of unspun wool when I packed to move and didn't listen to the logical who said, "if you haven't used it in 30 years you certainly won't now." Who knew that I'd discover felting five months after the move, certainly not me.

The background on this piece is felted from unspun wool both natural and onion-skined-dyed from a time when I knew how to dye fibers back around 1977. The embellishments are: a manipulated image transparency on metal and distressed distorted metal pieces.

BTW. The piece is straight, the photography is crooked!

Felting

The felting supplies arrived yesterday and with them some roving in, you guessed it, purple, brown, green, and white! Not colors I would have chosen but they do make an interesting palette. MMMMmm, the blue above should be purple! So much for scanners picking up the correct color!

Another day lost to low energy and pesky allergies! There is a wind advisory until tomorrow night at about 10pm , how do they know that the wind will abate then? The 40-60 mile an hour winds have caused some damage plus the dust creates havoc with allergies. And here I thought I wouldn't have as many allergies after moving here. Traded the miserable pine pollen one in for desert dust!

I did get the hem turned up on a shirt I'm making and now need to make a trip to a fabric store, not close by, to get some buttons. I was positive that I had a stash of buttons but I must have dreamt that I did. I played with painting on tin foil a couple of days ago, but have no idea what to do with the experiments. I imagine that a mixed media piece will be begging for them someday. Stashes are created by experimenting with lots of techniques and then storing them until needed; sounds like a recipe! One can never have too many hand-made embellishments.

Thank you!

You never know what will make a difference in someone's life when you let them know that they matter.

Thank you to the people who let me know that I matter!

It may seem like a small thing but reach out today and let someone know that they matter.

Crater

What is a photographer to do when there doesn't seem to be anything to photograph? Point the camera at the ground! Two holes were dug and concrete poured in readiness for the shade structure that hopefully will be installed on Monday or Tuesday! The pieces are stacked against the back wall! While viewing the hole from my bedroom window and lamenting the fact that I haven't felt inspired enough in days to point my camera at anything I thought that it might be fun to keep a documentation of the backyard. In a storage container I found a spiral bound notebook with pocket dividers in three sections perfect for storing tags clipped off of plants. I used to save the tags in a Sunset gardening book but now that I'm in the throes of planting a yard from scratch a notebook might be a better approach.

I just hauled 4 huge newly planted pots containing fragile tomato plants out of the garage back into the sunlight! The wind seems to have abated and the forecast is clear sunny days again. I had hoped to spend the weekend experimenting with something worthy enough to post on ExpressionVillage only to find that the energy levels are closer to zero than I had hoped for! Stacy is very ill with a cough that kept us up most of the night, mom is wandering around in an Alzheimer's daze and I seem to have a version of "the cold." DRAT!
I've decided to start posting on http://rocky-point.blogspot.com/ again!

I bought some muslin yesterday that I had hoped to play with. Armed with a couple of patterns for some quick pants and tops the idea is to cut out the pieces and stamp, paint and embellish them before sewing them together. I need some clothes to wear when the temps soar and can't find ready-mades that I can afford. I did cut out a top a couple of days ago and have been working on it. After a 30 year hiatus from sewing I am a bit rusty but what a delight to discover that fusible pellon has replaced that nasty heavy need-to-basted pellon that I had stopped using. Now if I can just keep edge stitching lines straight!!

Finger Prints

"Grandma, I didn't mean to leave finger prints all over your refrigerator."

Matthew isn't walking yet, he does, however, make the rounds of the rooms hanging onto walls, windows and appliances.

The boys were a delight during their weekend visit, but they left a cold behind that Stacy came down with. She's very ill.

The yellow ranuculus, below, survived only to get whipped by a wind storm last night! I'm beginning to rethink gardening in this brutal climate. If it isn't so hot that eggs fry on the sidewalk, then it's so cold that a frost zaps the life out of plants and just when things seem to calm down a 60 mile-per-hour wind mows everything down. The HOA expects us to plant a garden in the backyard! I like easy gardening; stick a plant into the soil, provide water and fertilizer and enjoy!

First Bloom!

For those who garden and know this particular flower you'll understand why I'm not even attempting to spell it! I can't locate its name tag. Anyway, this gorgeous bloom lasted all of one day before today's 89 degree temperature wilted the entire plant! I have hopes that after the soaking I gave it the poor plant will revive. One tomato plant also looks rather sad. I gave up and turned on the AC for the first time since November. My grandson's, ages 5 and 1, are arriving in a few hours to stay with us for a few days. It seems that mom and dad need a break which is nice for me because I get to spend time with the boys! One of the many reasons I moved to this HOT area was so that I would be able to see the boys more often. Jack packed his suitcases on Monday just to make sure he wouldn't forget to take anything to grandma's house.

Quote: For everything you have missed, you have

gained something else.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Salton Sea Postcard

Salton Sea Photos. The one on the bottom left was one of those times I was happy to have a camera in my hands! A cargo train was passing by when my friend said, "Now." I turned to see about a dozen red cars, raised the camera and clicked! I'm programed to react when he says "now." We have a short-hand photography vocabulary that comes from years of photographing together. The red against the arid desert backdrop, yummy!

Photo transfers on muslin, rubber stamps, faux stamps, stencils and edged stitched using a sewing machine that needs some tension adjustment! I've never been able to adjust the tension on sewing machines. HELP! Actually, the effect that the stitches provided helped make the postcard look even more aged, some times things work out.

Nature's Composition

There are times when nature provides a composition so powerful that it's difficult to pass it up. Such was the case along the shore of the Salton Sea. (I plan to work with this photograph to improve the composition.)

About the fish from Wikipedia:
High levels of selenium have also been found in the Sea and are thought to contribute to mortality and birth defect problems in the local bird populations. In 1997, investigators researching the death of fish discovered a parasite dinoflagellate known as Amyloodinium ocellatum in 22 of 23 dead fish. Algal blooms also lead to massive die-offs of the fish population due to oxygen starvation. There are often thousands of dead fish, mostly tilapia, lining the shore.

I'm beginning to seriously think about joining the cause to save the Salton Sea!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I know I'm a little early but I wanted to post this in case I forget to do so tomorrow night.

For the background on this postcard I used a speciality paper, then I added the manipulated cabinet card image, some postage stamps, rubber stamped some areas, searched for some sparkly stickers that would work and for the finale gold painted the edges. Quote: "I get by with a little help from my friends." by John Lennon.

Salton Sea

The beautiful side of the Salton Sea! What isn't noticeable is how many dead fish are floating at the edge of the shore and among the crushed shells. The sea is 35 miles long and 15 miles wide and I plan to explore as much of it as I can; it's the only body of water in the area! I miss the Monterey Bay!

Some Salton Sea History:

http://tinyurl.com/2v66ed

Link of Interest

http://www.inaminuteago.com/blog/

Nope, I haven't fallen off of the planet! I doubt that I have a lot of readers so most likely it doesn't matter when or if I post anything. . . Yes, I know that I don't allow comments; I turned off that feature after repeatedly receiving SPAM's or "you think you have it bad" kinds of comments. My life is what it is; not great, not bad. I do my best to find something each day to be grateful for; be it a cloud chasing another cloud across the sky, saluting the voodoo tree, finding an affordable stainless steel bread box after just mentioning how nice it would be to have to declutter the kitchen counter, or having a friend plant some pots to brighten a corner on the patio. There is something every day to be grateful for!! Today I'm grateful that I was able to sleep in! And while that doesn't seem to be much in the scheme of things it helped to shape the day. The FM is rearing it's ugly head once again and I'm brain fatigued to the point of fearing that I too have Alzheimer's!!

Mom broke my heart on Friday when she asked me if there was anything else I could give her to improve her memory because she can't remember anything from one hour to the next! During my extensive research I discovered that I was already giving her the vitamins, minerals and other supplements listed as being helpful. Plus, she's taking Aricept. It must be awful knowing that you can't remember anything, but I'm grateful that right now she's aware of that. The next stage of Alzheimer's seems to be rapidly approaching where one isn't aware of not remembering anything. I'm not prepared!

My "friend" visited last week and we were able to see a little of the Salton Sea before driving an hour away to pick up his car that had died on the freeway the day before. He had planned to arrive by 5pm but as luck would have it the car stopped in the middle of a 4-lane freeway abruptly changing that plan! Out of the 3 days he was here we were able to have 2 days that were a mini-vacation! Driving to the Salton Sea, which turns out to be about 30 minutes from home, and then two days later looking for pots and plants for the patio and discovering a fabulous nursery in the most unexpected place behind a strip mall was a gift! We also stopped at a restaurant on El Paseo where we sat outside and "people watched." El Paseo resembles Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills! A plate of tempura and cold Corona beers was all it took for my thoughts to take flight to Paris and Italy where we have had similar experiences! So, the much-needed visit, while exhausting, was a respite from the tedium that is taking more of my time than I imagined.

Like so many I become cranky if I don't create something on a steady basis! At least photographing the shore at the Salton Sea gave me a boost.

The laundry is waiting in piles on the floor and mom can't remember how the washing machine works. She also no longer cares if the dark clothes are mixed with the whites as long as the piles are even! Stacy sorts laundry by categories making for an interesting laundry day!

Quote: Life is a Dance.
Find a partner!
Happy musings by Sally Huss

Original postcard

I'm still under the weather! Have been for days and just when I started to feel better I got the notion to lay more brick down in the courtyard area between the house and the casita/guest room where mom mostly resides! When will I learn to wear a mask while doing yardwork, especially while working in the dirt?!?! The dust stirred up allergies and flu-like symptoms to the point that all I want to do is to crawl into bed and sleep. Darn fibromyalgia!

I can't be sick! I need to have my wits about me (what's with "notion" and "wits-about-me?" How odd that those phrases lept into my foggy-brain!) this week for the long drive to Rancho Mirage on Tuesday for another Thyroid scan that Stacy's new doctor seems to think is necessary. The last scan was a 3-part one that took two days to do. A lot of driving back and forth, so I has happy to learn that this 2-part one can be done in two hours. Stacy will have a shot and then we can go up the street to lunch at The River Mall and return two hours later.

Next weekend my youngest grandson, Matthew, turns one! How can that be?! Where in the heck did last year go?! Stacy and I will drive to Redondo Beach on Sat. and come home Sunday evening. My aunt and uncle swear they'll keep an eye on mom. I'm counting on their promise! I'm not looking forward to the 2+ hour drive though, but it will be great to have a change of scenery and perhaps a glimpse or two of the ocean!

It's difficult to tell, but the red stamp on the postcard (above) is the same bird image used for the focal point. Thank heavens for PSE! I can play for hours on the computer creating OOAK pieces! I'm not fond of abbreviated words or phrases, but sometimes a fabulous one comes along. "One-of-a-kind" is one of those cases when an acronym is even better than the original phrase. It's sublime to create Oh a k's! How can one not feel Okay while creating? I truly believe that Art Heals! It's during the pauses from creating that FM takes a strangle-hold on me.

Is it real ephemera?

Is it real ephemera?

Nope, it's not real in the sense that it's old or found. Those pesky checks keep arriving in the mail, you know the kind that credit card companies would love us to use! I ripped my name and account number off of a couple of them and went to town with paint and instant coffee. The backside, on the bottom, turned out better than the front. I love recycling junk!

Being that I've been a bit under-the-weather lately I've spent a lot of time reading blogs and it seems that there are quite a few creative types in the world who are examining their need to purchase the latest techniques book along with it all of the necessary supplies. Perhaps you've noticed how some of the same techniques make the rounds every few months and then die down only to be fueled by someone's interest a few months later. Why not take one technique and own it in a way that no one else can. Read:http://ornamental.typepad.com/ornamental/ Scroll down to "Let's try this again" Jan. 16th post. If you've put yourself out into the world by offering techniques or workshops then you understand where Nina is coming from. I've had ideas "borrowed" over the years and it nearly destroyed any further sharing with the art community. It's not easy coming up with an original take on something especially with all the yahoo groups, blogs and web sites springing up daily. But by thoroughly exploring a technique that excites you perhaps you can create a look that says "you." How often do you see a piece of artwork and know who created it before you even see the artist's name? Suggestion: Use techniques not to emulate someone but to expand your own creative vision.

How does one go about finding a technique to explore? In no particular order:
1. Go through your art supplies looking for clues.
2. Make a list of the supplies.
3. Colors and ephemera will provide some clues.
4. If you have more paper than fabric or vice-versa that will obviously be the area that speaks to you.
5. Play with a few techniques you've put off exploring, you know the ones you've marked in books and/or magazines. But first cull through them to find the similarities of which there will be quite a few. Combine ideas and start playing.
6. Keep notes in a blank journal. Scan or photograph your techniques-in-progress so that you can follow your progression. (I've posted lots of scans over the years that show my progression, check out the EV files)
7. Make a list of supplies needed for the techniques you want to explore and if you don't have them "look" for alternative supplies. This is how you can "own" the technique. tip: I don't have even one glaze type of paint in my huge collection of paints, but I do have lots of cheap acrylic paint and a jar of glaze medium meaningthat I have all of the glazes I might ever need. Mix the glaze with acrylic paint to the consistency that suits your needs.
8. Don't be shy about posting your experiments. We can all learn from them and put our own take on them. Creative coaches will tell you"take what you can use and leave the rest behind."
9. Cease feeling left out of the loop if you don't try the latest technique making the rounds; a creative path isn't about the next high it's about your own journey.

Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.
George Kneller

Original postcard

This postcard came together fairly easily by using portions of envelopes that have arrived in the mail. (yep, I save them!)

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."

Thomas Edison

50th!

Rather than make a card for a special friend's birthday I created a small collage. These colors keep appearing on my palette . . . see below.

"Man's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension."
Oliver Wendall Holmes



Yesterday afternoon I had just scanned something I'm working on for a collection of personal ephemera when things erupted once again! Stacy has Petite Mall seizures nearly on a daily basis but there are signs that when I see them I know we're in for a Grand Mall and that happened yesterday. We ended up spending 7 hours in the ER before the doctor was satisfied that everything had been done to prevent another one or even worse the possibility of bleeding out if she injured herself internally! Her potassium levels were low so she was on a two-hour drip to bring that up followed by an hour drip of Dilantin because her levels were low due to the dialysis treatment she'd had earlier but it was the Vitamin K level that really threw me. We'd received news the day before that her vitamin D levels are extremely low and that most likely if she fell she'd break something again, but just knowing that not only might a bone break but she might bleed out to the extent that she might not survive . . . It wasn't a good couple of days!
We were just leaving the ER when the doctor stopped us to say that he'd prefer that Stacy had a CT scan and a shot of vitamin K before we went home. I certainly couldn't disagree with him so she got back into the award winning hospital gown and had the CT done. We didn't get home until midnight making for a lost day of energy today. The ephemera scanning didn't get done today, but I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be better.

Voodoo's cousin

"Do not fail to draw something every day, for no matter how little it is, it will be well worth while, and it will do you a world of good." Cennino Cennini, 1370-1440
The same thing could be said about photography. Photograph a little something everyday.

A storm is brewing today; I heard that the Banning Pass on Hwy 10 has been dusted with snow. It's cold enough which is a huge contrast from 82 on Monday down to 54 today. On my way home this morning I stopped to photograph the Voodoo Palm Tree with the cloud backdrop and realized that I hadn't photographed its cousin yet. Perhaps I was waiting for the perfect lighting or backdrop.

Postmarks

Collecting postmarks could be addictive! There are four postmarks on the altered piece on the right, two of which are new. The white Norwalk postmark is dated Dec. 1965. When I was packing for the "Move-of-the-century" I discovered a forgotten dusty Whitman's Sampler box full of postage stamps, first editions and a few postmarks. I didn't have much of a stamp collection as a kid but I'm glad that I kept them! Who knew that I'd have an interest in creating postcards, certainly not I.

The altered piece started out life as a photograph I took of a wood crate. I've used sections of the photographs in numerous pieces and probably will continue to do so. The postmarks were scanned on my fabulous new Epson 4490 scanner! And then turned into PSE brushes. I love brushes! I've started saving brushes in folders in Documents and opening them individually when I want to use one rather than going through the frustration of trying to locate them in the PSE brush palette. Simply 0pen an image and then define it as a brush. Course I've "enhanced" the images before saving them to use as brushes. I've been altering/changing images since my days of doing darkroom work when I used mostly black-and-white film.

A dangerous place to visit is Postcard offers is http://tinyurl.com/yemwon especially if you enjoy altering postcards. I made a few small purchases today.

If you enjoy listening to interviews with artists: http://ladybuglive.com/create-mac.htm

Rancho M.

We had an epic windstorm yesterday! The dust swirling across open land gave the scenery an "aged" look much like the photo to the left. We could certainly use some rain to clean things up!

Rancho M. is directly across the road from where I took some photos of the voodoo palm tree below. This is sort of how I envisioned the desert to look like until our arrival here 3 months ago. There are more planned gated communities than old homesteads so I figure that if I don't get busy and photograph the few I've seen they'll be gone soon.

I've been re-scanning cabinet cards that I'd purchased last year at the Antique Mall in Monterey (boy do I miss visiting that place!) and discovered that quite a number of them were missing. Three weeks later they've turned up. So much for organization! When I was unpacking and putting things away in the drawers in my new desk an entire folder of photos ended up with the stencils and cardstock. Good thing I needed some cardstock today. It was as if I'd lost family photos when I couldn't locate them. Six months after the computer crashed I'm still re-scanning things.

Postcards are proving to be an interesting challenge. They look simple, when in fact they take more planning than I seem to have patience for today. Maybe I should heed Einstein's advice: Things should be as simple as possible, but not simpler. Perhaps I should simplify my approach.

Link-of-interest

http://www.globalcommunity.org/flash/wombat.shtml

Greetings 2007!

Perhaps the "dry spell" is over!? Since Aug. 14 I haven't been able to create or think about art and that was beginning to send me into fits of despair! Without time to create I become cranky and depressed! Thankfully, I was able to photograph both my old and new surroundings! Cameras have been my salvation since I was 7 years-old when I received my first Kodak camera. I can't imagine life without a camera.

My youngest daughter received a new camera for Christmas and for the first time in years I felt a pang of jealousy! She's never studied photography and will never use all the features on the camera. Then I began thinking about how my little digital Nikon has become an extension of my way of seeing and the jealousy disappeared.

Just before midnight I put some finishing touches on the mixed media piece I've been struggling with for the past few weeks. Or, at least I "thought" I had put on the finishing touches! Today I'm not so sure. Perhaps I need to live with it for awhile before deciding if it's truly finished. The piece was created with the "A2Z" theme in mind.

I've started a new art journal after a 4 month hiatus! I usually glue a 6x9 inch envelope onto a page for each month to store loose ephemera in. At the end of every month my oldest daughter receives a statement from the Ins. Co. about her prescriptions and it fortuitously comes in a 6x9 white envelope. Recycling at its best!

My move from the Monterey Peninsula to the Coachella Valley (ocean to desert) caused not only a dry spell of my personal work but also for the yahoo group I founded three years ago this month. But perhaps the dry spell was needed in order to generate a new approach to my work. In this case I'm leaning towards working on 4x6 inch surfaces that just happen to be a postcard size. It's said that collecting postcards is the third largest hobby; very apropos for ExpressionVillage's third year! Various techniques will be explored that can be used to create not only postcards but larger pieces as well.

My favorite collection of postcard art is Lenore Tawney's book, "Signs on the Wind."

Voodoo Palm Tree

On our thrice a week trek to the dialysis clinic this palm tree is either standing perfectly still or waving in the wind. It first caught my eye on about the 4th trip from our new house to the clinic and it's become routine for me to salute it when passing by! I salute the humor I see in it and how it proudly stands looking so unkempt; it's as if it's defying the "way things should be" by being uniquely ugly. There are days when it looks like it's practicing Voodoo.

More New Year's quotes:

The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months! ~Edward Payson Powell

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. ~Charles Lamb

Quotes To Help Ring in the New Year

When there are two blue eyed blonde boys in the family it's often best to photograph them when they're not looking at the camera! I must practice photographing blue eyes and using the PSE tools to remove the "red-eye" syndrome! I tuned the bottom photo into a B/W one so that my mistakes aren't too obvious.

I've given up making New Year's resolutions; just one more thing to drive myself crazy over! I couldn't resist posting a few New Year's quotes.

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs

Of all sound of all bells... most solemn and touching is the peal which rings out the Old Year. ~Charles Lamb

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions. ~Joey Adams

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.~F.M. Knowles

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's. ~Henry Moore

Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols. ~Thomas Mann

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. ~Anaïs Nin

New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. ~Mark Twain

Every man regards his own life as the New Year's Eve of time. ~Jean Paul Richter