First Birthday

 Rowan, you make our hearts feel like they could explode with love. 

 Everyday you are doing something new; can you really have grown so much in a year???  

November 2010

November 2011 - With a super big, cheesy smile that he's perfecting:)

Happy birthday sweet boy! 

This has been my prayer for you all through your first year; and for the rest of your life!

May the Lord bless you and keep you;

May the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious towards you;

May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. 

Numbers 6:24-26

Another DIY! Repurposing Old Shutters

If you saw my table at the Beaches Artwalk last month, you might have noticed that it looked rather, well, flat. I didn't have anything to hang stuff on! I was short on time, and wasn't able to put together a display I was truly proud of.

So this month, I did my research! I wanted a space with a warm and friendly feel to hang my work on, and loved the idea of using something vintage. Several google searches ( see LOTS of shutter ideas here ) later, and a fun treasure hunting day at Avonlea Antiques with my boys, and I had just what I needed. 

 Headed into Lowe's to saw the shutters in two.

Also gave me a chance to reuse the lovely cream color 

I used to paint the bricks!

Feel lucky; I'm letting you see my mess. Trying to figure out how to hinge them! This is the part where Ro steps in and makes it all better, ha:)

The final product! 

Mom to a Crawler

The past couple weeks have been exciting and challenging. We are SO SO SO excited that Rowan is finally on the move! So excited in fact, that I didn't even think about how much my world would change. 

Crawling has opened up the whole world to him... and the drawers and cabinets, and power cords, cat food, grass, shoes! It's AMAZING how quickly he can get from one room to another with that army crawl. And how curious he is. I can't get over the things he finds (there's an outlet there?). While it is so rewarding to see him exploring, it is kind of blowing my mind too...how do people get anything else done? How do I not just fall on the couch once he's in bed? How do I feel like I've been 'productive' in a day when it's a challenge to do a load of laundry? 

But what is being 'productive'...to this honor of watching him grow? He's waving, imitation sounds we make, giggling out of control at funny faces and tickling, saying 'mama' and 'papa', pointing at everything, doing a boppy dance to music, has seven teeth, loves books, and is giving the most magical cuddles ever in the history of cuddling. So this is a reminder to myself. Self; when dinner isn't made, and you haven't crossed a thing off your to-do list... nothing is worth missing this. 

On the move! Coming for the camera. Pre- hair cut #5

Post- haircut. Ro is anti- cutting the hair, but I just want him to be able to see. Apparently you're not allowed to use bows on boys. 

Wow, Rowan. Are you really almost a year old?

He's totally obsessed with Chuck. She's like a celebrity at our house! 

Family hike at Hanna Park

Peek-a-boo with dad's hat:)

First Artwalk

I'm going to lay it out there and tell you that promoting my art, even in the smallest way, gives me a mild panic attack. Even filling out the application for the art walk made me break into a cold sweat. But doing these things is so powerful; every time I overcome my fears, I prove to myself I can do more than I thought. 

So many things go into setting up; I have so much to learn! But in spite of being incredibly nervous, I had a great time, and am excited about next month. Lots of new ideas churning in my head...

Thank you so much to the friends that stopped by to say hi! You made my night. And Laura Gwin, thank you for knowing that I'd need help breaking stuff down at the end, when I didn't even know that:).

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover.”  ~Mark Twain

First (and possibly last) DIY Post

Last week was amazing. My mom, sister and her little guy were in town, and I've officially decided that you shouldn't live far away from nice family. It's way too hard to say goodbye! Rowan worships his cousin; love the way this picture captures the adoring look he gave him all week!

And now...on to my project! There is a wall in our living room that used to have a charming wood burning stove attached to it. Thankfully (the not so kid-friendly)  stove is no longer there, and the wall was just asking for some lovin'.

Now, because I paint, you might think that I knew what I was doing. But the truth is, I only paint things that you put on a wall...not the wall. In fact, my only other experience was painting a kitchen that ending up a hideous lime green instead of Lemongrass, or whatever it was supposed to be. 

A visit to this site and two trips to Lowe's later, things were looking up. 

But...what good is a beautiful blank wall without something lovely to hang on it? 

I've been hanging on to any old maps I find for collaging..amazing how current technology has made them obsolete.  And what beautiful and meaningful collage material! I wanted to incorporate an Arkansas map, since it's where Ro and I met. I also had other tibits I was excited to use.

'Patchwork quilting' the pieces.

I sketched over the collaged pieces, and then went to town with my paints. 

Incorporated artwork from Masha Dyans, love how whimsical her paintings are. 

You know I have a thing about trees :) Love the way collage pieces can tell a story. 

Florida's Fall

When I stepped out the other morning,  instead of the you-can't-breathe-it's-so-hot air of the Florida summer, cool, crisp refreshing air was there in its place. I literally did a little dance. If you're looking for us between now and next summer, we'll be outside, thank you very much. :)

Picnic in the yard! And milestone; Rowan is finally steady on his feet ( with a hand to hold)! Wow. This year has flown. Is he really almost a year?

Limited Palette

In the most awesome painting class ever (thank you Professor Miko!), we did a project using a limited palette. This guy (the author and illustrator of Dinotopia! Please tell me that book was in your childhood) does a great job of explaining what that is. I blogged about it a while back here. I was inspired to try it again, after having experimented with lots of different colors over the past months. I am always drawn to blue, and love the way that red compliments it ( though I did cheat, and used some browns, yellows and white. But still less than usual!). I also experimented with different levels of complexity, based on the same photographs; was fun to see how differently they all turned out. 

These leaves are collaged to the wood, similar to the technique I explained in this post, here.

In the handsome handyman department; the website is almost finished! Holy crap, it's beautiful, I can't WAIT to show you. 

Annnnnd...

 Each card has a different painting on them, and I just LOVE it. Don't know why little pieces of paper make you feel legit, but works for me. Excited to have them available for the upcoming show at Lillie's; if you stop by during the month of October, don't forget to enter your name for a drawing to win a painting! 

And I am so happy to have heard back from the North Beaches Art Walk today. The first juried thing I have ever entered; I'm in! If you know of a vendor that's participating, and would like a girl that paints flowers to sit in front of their shop, you just let me know. Hopefully the first time I participate will be October 20, which is the walk's fourth anniversary celebration. You know you wanna go. :)

Blooms

    It seems ironic that as much as I love to paint the outdoors, I can hardly keep a plant alive to save my
   life. But (at the risk of jinxing it) I have, without knowing how, a rose plant that is flourishing. It is
   seriously delightful to look out the window and see all these buds lifting their sweet little heads! Ro gave
   it to me for my birthday back in July; I stuck it in a pot (with fingers crossed), and away it went. Here's
    hoping the tide of unsuccessful gardening is turning:)

This Week's Finds

Recent projects inspired by my 'nature walks' with Rowan; so good to unplug from the computer, phone, tv etc etc and just look.  Lots of butterflies out, but the monarchs always catch my eye. And even though we don't have a legitimate fall here in Florida, I collaged these in a 'falling' fashion...think I may be slightly nostalgic about season changes.