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

Snow!

It's difficult to discern the snow on the mountains but it was there, for a few days at least! This particular mountain range is above Palm Springs, not the range directly behind our house that was devoid of snow dusting. I was driving west in the direction of Palm Springs and became so enthralled with the scenery that I drove past
my destination! Of course I had to photograph palm trees in the foreground!

By Wilfred A. Peterson, "The Art of Living" Christmas is not in tinsel and lights and outward show. The secret lies in an inner glow. It's lighting a fire inside the heart. Good will and joy a vital part. It's higher thought and a greater plan. It's glorious dream in the soul of man.

No Storm!

A storm of epic proportions had been predicted for over a week. Like everyone else in the Coachella Valley I thought that the weather reports were right on target! Yesterday the sky was dark with ominous clouds, the humidity rose to uncomfortable levels, the wind knocked over plants on the patio and the cats started to look worried.

It was supposed to rain by 10pm so you can imagine how the weather report was announced on the 11pm news. "Well folks, the storm stalled on the other side of the mountains and we didn't even receive a drop of rain or a speck of snow."

The above photos were taken from my backyard an hour ago. What a beautiful day! I do hope that I remember the pleasant days we've had once the temps top 100 degrees for weeks on end.

The bottom right photo is of a section on the patio; yep, that's dirt in the background. The soil is in awful condition, so much so that I can't imagine anything growing in it. But the front yard looks pretty good so I guess I'll have to have faith that the backyard will someday be a paradise!

Comfort!

Back in 1976 when I moved to the Monterey Peninsula one of the first restuarants I ate at was Clint Eastwood's Hog Breath Inn. Not the best food in town, but the atmosphere more than made up for the menu.

Years later, in the mid 80's, when Clint ran for mayor of Carmel a friend and I interviewed him for a book we hoped to write on creativity. Clint was generous with his time and answered our questions as if he'd never been asked similar ones before. His hand shake when we finished the interview warmed my heart for years to come; I'll always have a soft-spot in my heart for him!

Clint and his ex-wife Maggie sold some land to a housing development company where mom ended up living for 10 years until our arrival in the desert. The view from Pacific Meadows was unbelievable! Mom had an apartment facing the pine forest; apartments on the other side overlooked Carmel Bay and Point Lobos.

The Clint story continues! Back in May my daughter and son-in-law attented a wedding in La Quinta and fell in love with the area. The night of the wedding they had dinner in Old Towne at Clint's restaurant in LQ, Hog's Breath, and Jack lost his first baby tooth at age 4.5. When my friend arrived for a visit last month we had lunch at the Hog's Breath and sat near the fireplace to keep warm. That was the only week so far that the temps have fallen below 70 degrees. We were surprised that Clint has a restaurant here in the desert and were told that it's been open about 2 years. Yesterday Stacy had a doctor's appointment with a new physician who immediately sent us to the lab for some extensive blood work and set up an appointment for a 3-part goiter/thyroid ultrasound on the 28th! I felt as if I'd been hit over the head again! What else?!?! Mom suggested that we go to lunch and try to enjoy ourselves. We ended up at the Hog's Breath, oh by the way, the food is fabulous, and instead of sitting indoors we chose to sit out on the terrace. It was 75 yesterday and the mountains, clouds, palm trees and Old Towne made our spirits soar! How could they not?! Thank you Clint for the memories!

Links of interest.

I haven't posted "links of interest" in months!
I just read an article in the local LQ (La Quinta) magazine about author Elizabeth Adler and was immediately inspired. I'm not sure what inspired me but perhaps it's the fact that she's visited many of the same European places that I have and bought a house in La Quinta a few years ago.
http://www.elizabethadler.com/index.html

One of the highlights of 2006 was meeting Raewyn and two of her kids! They visited Stacy and
me in August right after my return from visiting my daughter and making a life-changing
decision to move to the desert!
Meet Raewyn here:
http://www.pennywisearts.com/raewyn.html


A fun blog!
http://lonecrowart.blogspot.com/index.html

A friend's blog!
http://backvalleyseasons.blogspot.com/index.html

And a quote:
"A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together."
GARRISON KEILLOR, Leaving Home

Windmill?

Under certain lighting conditions the palm trees take on the appearance of objects such as windmills or feather dusters. At first glance this one shouted "windmill."

I photographed this tree on our walk yesterday just as the sun dropped below the mountain ridge. I'd had a frustrating day that had started out with great promise but went awry when electricians didn't do the work that had been scheduled. That was trying enough but then mom had a run-in with two calculators that "were broken" and became hysterical over the incident and darn it, but exhaustion got in the way of working on the collage I've just started. It seems that if one starts pushing buttons during moments of major confusion and then expects the calculators to figure out something they're not prepared to do it's hard to get the correct totals. Ever vigilent I fished the two defective calculators out of the trash. For the last few years I haven't been able to bear reading anything about Alzheimer's, it's as if I had a premonition that I would "see" it first hand.

Machines seem to be the enemy of someone who is in a confused state; there was also a run-in with mom's CD player last night that somehow ended up broken. I was asked to pick up a new one today while I was out running errands. I do wish that there stores allowed one to try out electronics before purchasing them! After a prolonged study of 4 players I chose what looked to be the easist one to use. I couldn't have been more wrong. In order to start the player one needs to press play twice and twice again to stop it. Isn't pressing a button once enough? Mom has already decided that the new CD player is defective.

After purchasing the CD player I decided to treat myself to an hour of exploring an area I had read about in the newspaper. The main street , Highway 111, runs through quite a few desert towns including La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs and is just one of the main areas for shopping. Turning off Hwy 111 onto Washington St. past gated communities suddenly shopping centers flanked both side of Washington St. I will definitely return to one of them. Many of the local stores I've frequented lately make me feel like a visitor to the desert but the Dollar Tree fit like an old pair of jeans! I hadn't realized that I've been searching for comfort or familarity.

I wonder how long it takes before a new town feels like home? After dropping mom and Stacy off at the dialysis clinic I spent 15 minutes looking for a doctor's office where Stacy has an appointment tomorrow morning. At least I now know where it is located, adjacent to the JFK hospital, where major parking problems can often occur. I always find parking though, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Feather Dusters?

Out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked to be rather large feather dusters. Nope, just more palm trees!

Throughout the gated community we live in there is a tree that I've grown quite fond of. The Chilean Mesquite has feathery leaves that change during the day from bright green to dark depending on the way the sun hits them. The trunks become beautiful with age and we're thrilled that one is growing in our front yard rather than a palm tree! The houses on both sides of us got the palm trees.

This evening we took a walk along the golf course even though we're not sure we're allowed to do so! We strolled on the golf cart path and looked at yards that overlook the course. Nice veiw, but not much privacy. Quite a number of the houses have outdoor kitchens set up along with spas or dipping pools. Our yard is still dirt. I have purchased 3 citrus trees and 15 hedge plants. We're supposed to submit a plan for approval in the next 2 months and then start work. The first thing I want to do is extend the patio roof over my bedroom window! Even if it's 60 degrees outside it's about 80 in my room. I've set my studio up in my bedroom and master bathroom and find that I need two fans on all day so that I'm comfortable.

I started a collage over the weekend that is based on the "A2Z" theme that a few members in ExpressionVillage group are working on. Talk about bliss! All I need to do is start putting paint down on just about any surface and my spirits are lifted!

Palm Springs Christmas

My friend and I discovered the quaint shopping area of Palm Springs last week. The weather was a crisp 78 but Christmas was in the air! Christmas has always meant pine trees and cool weather so I couldn't resist taking a photo of the Rockin' santa with palm trees in the background.

I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit. Two small trees have been decorated, two wreaths hung on doors, and two angels are sitting on the media chest. I have a feeling that the house is about as decorated as it's going to get.

Time to create new art is just slightly out of reach; lots of health matters to attend to lately leaving me in the energy deficit column. Any energy I have left over is used up with keeping the house in order.

The following quote fits like a glove!

You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential. It takes courage to do what you want. Other people have a lot of plans for you. Nobody wants you to do what you want to do. They want you to go on their trip...- Joseph Campbell

Palm Tree Series

Images-within-an-image, or layering of photos is something I've been doing for 20 years. The difference is that something that once took me hours in the darkroom to accomplish now often takes a mere few minutes.

Something seemed to be missing in this palm tree grove. The rays of light provided a clue; an etheral play of light.

Van Buren Palm Tree Grove

Bored with the same route I turned up Avenue 60 and down Jackson and then over to Van Buren, yep, the streets are named after Presidents!, and the next thing I knew I was surrounded on both sides of the road by Palms! Yikes! My worst nightmare is to be lost among palm trees. But to my surprise I was instantly drawn to this grove. Grabbing my camera off of the seat next to me I aimed it out of the car window. I was intrigued by the highlights on the tree trunks and the branches hanging from the trees on the left side. This shot is a bit off balance in that it seems to be begging me to wonder what the ground looks like, but then my eye travels to the top of the photo and I know longer care about what is missing.

The temps have finally dropped to the pleasant 70's this week! How marvelous is that?!

A favorite quote:

Meister Eckhart
If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'thank you', that would suffice.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Palm Tree Series

<< Palm trees on faux handmade paper. I need to work on some new items for my etsy.com shop! They now have a really cool set-up where you can place items into categories! Love it!

Life seems to have stopped back in August when the move to the desert started to fall into place because suddenly Thanksgiving is upon us! I feel like I've been in deep hibernation for months only to be thrust into the land known as November! Where did autumn go?! A friend recently said that she too lives in an area where there is only one season and that it is a bit disorienting. It's still in the 80's here. The warm temperatures plus the fact that I'm in the midst of an FM flare-up brought on by the faux wood desk (made from chemically treated pressed wood!) and stress over the family health issues aren't making coming out of hibernation an easy task. Hibernating sounds like the easy route to take. Brain fog and fatigue are my current guests, unwelcome ones to be sure, but I don't have the energy to send them packing.

Later: An encouraging sign! I sold a metal tag this evening on etsy.com! It took me hours to locate it along with some other items that are listed. While madly searching for the tag I ended up unpacking 3 more boxes of ephemera and art tools. Hopefully I'll get organized soon!

Fabric Play

While playing with Alphabet Pasta, dyeing it, I thought that it might be a good idea to use a piece of fabric as a blotter to dry the pasta on. Result: an unplanned pattern full of possibilities!

The fabric was scanned into the computer and layered with a transparency image of a gate, tweaked some more and printed onto another piece of fabric. The fragement is ready for embellishing . . .



So long as we are loved by others I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend. - Robert Louis Stevenson

Views From the Car

Since arriving in the desert I've spent more time running errands and taking care of medical emergencies and appointments than I ever considered possible. The belief that "life is an illusion" is becoming more apparent as the years go by. The desert feels like an illusion, one I continue to believe I can wake up from. I'm still so disoriented that every morning I try to shake off the illusion of living here. It's not that I dislike the area with any intensity its dealing with too many unfamiliar entities that has brought on the "grand despair." How the hospital is run, the new doctors, the set-up at the dialysis clinic and dealing with mom's disappearing brain cells while mine are on hiatus is more than I can cope with at the moment.

Yesterday was one of those days when floods of tears coursed down my cheeks every time I thought about all of the details I need to attend to; how can I manage them all?! I've never been enamored with the phone in fact I find the instrument intrusive and annoying! I'd rather speak to someone in person, but now I spend hours on the damned thing attempting to get the right kind of help for Stacy and mom and to un-do mistakes! I should be making about 5 calls today to Social Security and insurance companies but I could barely drag myself out of bed.

One of the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, other than pain, is brain fog and when it strikes I struggle with it in the same way I now watch mom try to figure out the most basic things like finding her wallet in a nearly empty purse. Suddenly her wallet doesn't look familiar. When I feel like I have for the last few days it's hard to believe that the brain fog will dissipate and I'll be able to semi-function again. Stress, the silent killer, is what pushes Fibro symptoms over the top so it's not surprising that the brain fog has reared up its ugly head once again!

My new 5 piece desk unit is finally together! Took me over a week to get it assembled and happily my SIL finished the last piece, the hutch, and then put all of the computer components, printers and scanner just where I wanted them. He also finally got the VCR/DVD player hooked up to the DVR unit in my bedroom! I unpacked 5 more boxes of ephemera and photos and am elated that they are now stored in filing cabinet drawers within easy reach of the new scanner. I need a refresher course on how to use the scanner that I've only used twice. But the missing brain cells are telling me that will have to wait. All-in-all I feel a bit more settled-in even though there are numerous boxes sitting in the walk-in closet and mucking up space in the garage! The nice thing about having one car is that I finally have storage space!

When the Camry blew-up a few weeks before the move everyone, including me, assumed that there was a new car in my future. We now know that that episode was a "smooth" transition of getting rid of one car so that not only would I continue doing all of the grocery shopping but that I would become the driver to and from the dialysis clinic now that mom isn't able to drive anymore. Talk about the universe taking care of details that might otherwise have been harder on everyone! Wouldn't it be grand though if more of the details were worked out at smoothly . . .

I had hoped to be able to start the Palm Tree photo series, but exhaustion has robbed me of energy in which to leave the house on non-dialysis days. Three days of getting ready to leave the house is more than I'm used to doing and when the days are combined with endless hours of running errands . . . Grabbing the camera out of my purse while driving seems to be about the only way I can photograph right now! The shots aren't noteworthy, but they might provide a sense of place . . .

Getting to Know . . .

Five weeks after "the exodus from the Monterey Peninsula" I'm in the midst of getting to know my way around the new neighborhood, learning its language and soaring temperatures, into the 90's!!, when yet another brick is added to the load! Alzheimer's! I'm not shocked but deeply saddened about losing mom this way! The usual gamut of emotions that any daughter would feel when the word is finally spoken out loud by a doctor has beaten me down until I can barely breathe!
Mom hasn't handled the move to the desert as well as we had hoped and if anything she's more agitated and lost. Large chunks of memory are missing and when each day begins I wonder what new person I'll be spending time with; she's definitely not the mother I once knew.