Inside My Art Studio

The studio is coming along nicely.
Granted, with the remodel,
it is crammed full of things
that don't belong in it.
But I can still create
to my heart's content...

See the Christmas stocking
hanging on the side
of my Idea Board?
Nolly Posh from the land of OZ
made it for me.
It's made out of felted wool.
I keep it up
all year long.
My studio is full
of things that stimulate
my creative flow
or simply make me
hApPy.

When I was a teenager

growing up in southern CA
I wanted to become a hippie
when I grew up...
And I did.
Along with the 289
other things I dreamed of doing.
Isn't it fun becoming anything
you want to become???

Peace, Love & Learning

The Color Purple

I've been into decorating interior spaces since I was 15. My sister, Barb, and I shared a room during our teen years. Barb was pretty cool about giving me creative control not only of our room, but our clothes as well. I designed a chart designating who would wear what on which day so we would not fight over our clothes. This probably kept us from killing each other.

The colors I used in our bedroom was blue and orange. These are contrasting colors that look great together. At first my family thought I was nuts for selecting such an odd combo but after seeing a table lamp I painted in those colors, they quickly came on board. My Mom ended up sewing curtains and bedspreads that matched.

For my new studio

I picked the Glorious color scheme
from the Olympic Paint Audubon Collection.

Click on picture to see larger image & paint names.

I used Blackberry Jam B41-5 for the bookcase wall, Brown Clay B24-5 for the studio walls and Apple Cider B18-4 for the ceiling.

Why I didn't stick with lighter colors?

Simply because

I wanted a color
I promised myself
I'd use one day
on my walls.

The Color Purple

One of my long time, dear friends, Penny, had the coolest house in the early 70's I've never forgotten. Her husband was an artist, and she was an extremely creative woman, and the mayor of Meiner's Oaks, CA, a small burb in the Ojai Valley. Penny owned a plant shop in town that also doubled as the mayor's chambers. In the middle of the large room filled with lush green plants from ceiling to floor was a group of cozy chairs holding court on an old Oriental rug. The coffee was always hot, and guests helped themselves to a mug and a seat on the rug. Many a world problem was solved in the mayor's office including some of mine. Penny always made time to shed some light on my darkest hours with words of wisdom.

Penny, and Mrs. Briggs, her Benji type dog, rode to "her office" on a Moped. Mrs. Briggs sat happily in a basket on the front wearing a scarf around her fuzzy neck that flew behind her like a kite tail. Everyone in town waved or honked at them as they flew by. I can't help but smile at the memories of Penny's long legs straddling the motorized bicycle with her back straighter than an arrow, and her curly, short hair never looking worse for the ride.

Penny's home has remained my creative influence to this day as a model of freedom, ingenious hospitality and living outside of the box. She painted her walls in rich colors that not only made Bob's art literally POP off the walls but also transported me to a mystical place whenever I gazed at them. She introduced me to Peter Max and drinking wine out of Mason jars. I guess you could say her style was an eclectic, hippie, yet cultured blend. I always felt at home in her house and was amused and awestruck by the funky things she used to decorate with. Penny was cool long before anyone on HGTV ever thought of marketing the "re-purposed, shabby chic" style so many are claiming as their own ideas-invention. We hippies birthed that movement out of necessity and good herbs...

There was one room and hallway that was painted in this deep plum color. I'd never seen anyone use any color like this on a wall in my entire life. Purple? On a wall?? I can still close my eyes to this very day and feel the yummy way the color made me feel when I looked at it. I vowed to myself I'd paint some walls purple in my home one day... Hence, my choice for using Blackberry Jam for the focal point in my studio.

I wanted a color that would accent the dark wood of the built-in shelves and cupboards. I wanted a color that would make my paintings POP off the wall like I'd seen in her home some 40 years ago. I wanted one of my favorite memories to come to life again. Plus, I want to make some new, fabulous memories for others to take with them on their journeys in life as they soak up a piece of my world today.

a sneak peak of the studio...

After surviving a near-death experience.... Why wouldn't I want to paint some walls purple?

Add some color to your world.
You can always repaint it white,
or black,
or tangerine,
or blueberry...
or anything you want to.
It's just paint....

Hippie Hearts and Sisters Forever

My trip home to visit my Mom was needed. Not only did she need me but I needed her, too. What is it about going home that can stir up so many emotions inside you? I didn't expect to get such a sweet gift from my sister, Vicky. I'll tell you about it in a minute...

She was home, too, taking care of some business. Vicky lives in Alaska now, and is a wildlife photographer. She recently captured a video of a whale coming into their small village port which a worldwide green movement [to be announced later] asked her to contribute it to a new documentary they are making. Apparently she caught something on film they'd never witnessed a whale do before. How cool is that????

Vicky makes cards from her photography and I got to see her collection while I was home. I'm in awe of her work, but I'm even more bedazzled about her courage to take off on her own to a very remote part of Alaska to live her dream of being a photographer. How many of us sit on lifetime dreams and watch them wither away as though they had no merit? I think the story below may explain why she grew up wanting to capture nature, and wildlife. And why I want to be that hippie girl I was again. I think she [me] was packing the tools in her overalls I need now to help me get over my PTSD. And I'll bet she's still there waiting for me to rediscover her as I work through PTSD today. By Jove!! I think I'm on to something!!!!!

The gift is the picture above. I literally cried when I saw it. I didn't even know this picture existed until Vicky pulled out an album buried in her cedar chest. She loaned it to me to scan for my personal use. I vividly remember the trip to West Virginia for my Dad's family reunion that this picture was taken at. I was a California girl, a hippie girl all of 19 years old, traveling through the mountains of West Virginia in a classic 1961 Thunderbird. Oh... that car was a beaut! Jet black with a plush, red leather interior. The steering wheel slid to the left and right to allow you easier access to get in, and out, of the car. Some of you are nodding your heads. You know exactly how cool that car was.

I was married to Greg, my first husband. He was a Seabee I'd met while he was stationed at the Port Hueneme Naval base in Oxnard, CA. He was a hippie at heart, too, and even in uniform, he didn't "conform" to the status quot. He cleverly hid his long hair under a wig while he was enlisted, so when he was discharged his hair came down below his collar. We left CA as hippies traveling to Ohio in that car that stood out a wee bit [OK a whole lot....] with a bummer sticker plastered on the back that said, "Lick Dick in 72". It was a sign of the times. It was after all, the 70's.

Did you just gasp??? Or laugh??? That ought to tell you how people across most of the US responded to us when we drove through town. Most people didn't laugh but we thought it was hysterical. We'd go into a restaurant for breakfast, and by the time we left, the bumper sticker had been ripped off. Looking back I imagine we were lucky we didn't get our heads ripped off traveling through TX, OK, and a few other states in the Bible belt. Oh my... But we had a huge batch of the bumper stickers, and would just slap another one on to cover up the shredded remains of the previous sticker.

Youth has its blindness and other parts of the anatomy that make it hard to cross your legs without yelping. I suppose that's why I preferred overalls in the early 70's.... to give me room for all that "cocky attitude" between my legs.

So there we were: Me, Vicky, Greg, and Cheryl, [my sister-in-law who was married to my brother Larry who was in Vietnam at the time] trekking through the mountains in a 62 Thunderbird in God's country for a family reunion. I might add we still had the novel bumper sticker in place on the back... And I suppose we may have stood out just a wee bit, too, standing on the side of the road with our mouths gaping wide open watching some live cow action.

Cheryl and I had looked over at field and saw a bull, and a cow doing the nasty "right out there" in front of God, and everyone. We demanded Greg pull over. So to oblige two screaming, giggling, young women, and one teenager saying, "OMG!!!! Those cows are doing it!!!!" Actually, I believe we used a different adverb but you catch my drift.... He pulled off the road in a Duke's of Hazzard tail spin with gravel, and dust shooting behind the car like bullets. We watched in awe of nature, and in shock of cows, well... just being cows. We never saw that on Wild Kingdom, and everyone knows hippies love nature.

I remember the roads getting narrower, eventually becoming dirt roads instead paved ones. There are no street signs in mountainous rural areas, and to city slicker hippies like we were, it became obvious we were lost. I'll never forget the man and woman we stopped to get directions from. It was literally, "Well ya'll got a fer piece ta go. I reckon ya'll best be headin' down Old Man Clark's road till ya'll see the fence by the crick at Miller's landin'. Take a left at Owl Holler, and head north fer a spell. Past the old mine, and I spect' about two corn fields on down.. is where yer folks lives."

Good dang thing I hadn't seen the movie "Deliverance" yet.... Oh boy.....

It turned out to be the neatest family reunion I'd ever been to, nor have been to since. I loved the mountain people, their warmth, sweet spirits, and hospitality even though I found out later I was probably eating squirrel and not beef. [shiver] Ahhhh, memories.

The picture above was taken at the reunion. I had another reunion this past week with my family. It did my heart good. I'll be posting pics, and telling stories about my trip this week. I got some incredible shots of KY, and did a special photo shoot for one of my nieces, Gabby. I'm still saying, "Ya'll...." and am loving every sappy, syrupy, sugar filled tweak I can add to it. Yep, I embrace my dorkiness, and love my overalls, my genuine Woodstock Lily-fied sassy pants.

If any of you would be interested in Vicky's cards, let me know. I'll get you her contact info. You'll want to keep all of them....just to warn you in advance of how amazing her shots are.