Terrarium

I've always wanted to make a terrarium, complete with moss and now I have! It was kind of a spur-of-the moment thing. We were at the dog park when I spotted some moss. Later on while Tony had Enzo at a movie and I was cleaning up my studio (amongst other things) I remembered this glass container (which had many previous lives: fish bowl, underwater plant garden, planter, and for the longest time stood neglected outside) and quickly put this together. No planning, just grabbing. I really like it though and will try my best to keep the moss alive, maybe put in another clay guy...we'll see.

oh, you know..

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I spent the early part of the day congratulating myself on what a wise decision I had made not to host it this year. "So wise, so clever!" I thought many a time throughout the leisurely day. We caught a bit of the Macy's Day parade (a family tradition in many ways), visited with my in-laws (so casually!) and after putting Enzo to down for his nap, I began making my ONE (!) assigned dish, stuffed mushrooms. And then off to my parents house for a wonderful meal with all the peeps I love. Really perfect.
I guess the moral of the story is (Enzo and I have been reading Fables lately): When One does not volunteer to host Thanksgiving dinner at their house, One starts to think they are really smart.



Oh, and something I'm so excited about is that I finally have, and am reading "A Prayer for Owen Meany". I really like reading John Irving and I've saved this one for last.

Picnic Season Begins

Now I'm not what you'd call an outdoorsey type (especially in Florida heat), but when the weather is this nice, I can't help but be out in it. Add that to the fact that our family LOVES to eat and you've got the makings of some serious picnic-ing. Well, not serious..more thrown together, but still. We kicked off picnic season with some simple grilled cheese and tomato soup at a favorite park, right up the street. A little grassy spot under the shade of a tree, right on the water. And afterwards some shoreline walking, collecting, swinging....what more is there?

Morning Light

Just trying to catch the essence of early morning light. For some reason it seems so much crisper when it's cold out. Tony and Enzo are out on the lawn mower right now so I thought I'd sneak in here. Some more random things going on:
-My friends' move into a cute apartment downtown, next to another friend is really making me happy.
-Also getting excited about Christmas. I called Christmas Eve this year for our big family get together. Much better than Thanksgiving, I think.
-Trying to think up a fun and yet ascetically pleasing Christmas present for Enzo to make as gifts.
-The weather has been perfect. I see lots of picnics in the near future (get ready Sam).
But for right now, I'm off to paint. And later today, I am hoping to fit in a little project for the family to work on. We'll see......

Enzo's room

Well, anyway here are some pictures of Enzo's room. I've spent the past hour or so trying to make one of those photo albums relatives email to each other. I've not done one in over a year so I thought I'd put one together for all of our loved ones up north. Well, computers all across the lands are against me today and it kept erasing all my hard work. So frustrating. While I was in there I saw these pictures of Enzo in his room and thought I'd put them in a new post as even I am getting sick of my artwork. Now, please realize that if I had taken them with the intent of showing how cute his room is, I would have made his bed nicer, cleaned, vacuumed, etc. Oh well, something for you to look at. That big black blob under the bed is Clementine--she loves crawling under there.

Oh, and note the pile of books next to his bed. I'm working on that situation currently. You'll see......eventually.

Miriam

So this is Miriam. It was one of my recent commissions for the pet portraits. I love how Miriam's owner agreed to have me paint her, cataracts and all. And there lies your visual for this post.
Otherwise, I find myself kind of scattered, project-wise. Lots to work on but I've been being so indecisive I've not really accomplished anything. So there I am, unaccomplished. Happy?

painting sketch

Just a quick-ish painting sketch, trying to loosen up a bit after doing a couple of clean paintings.
I'm actually hesitant to post it as it's nothing I'm too impressed about but it's a visual.
Not much new, just enjoying a slower, more normal week than last. And looking forward to the colder weather predicted for the weekend. Went major grocery shopping yesterday and bought ingredients for a lot of "winterly" recipes. So excited!