Pink Coyote

C'Mon In: Part One

I've got it together and assembled some pics of the room I work in! I've been doing more sewing than painting this week, but I'll soon share some painting action. Welcome to my space!

Bit of Kelly Rae up on the wall to remind me, among other things, to Do The Thing You Didn't Think You Could.

 

That owl that keeps me company while I'm working during the wee hours? He left me a little present out under the peach tree last week, just as I was setting out to tidy this room up.

 

Some Joel Dewberry fabric in the peek through space between my dropcloth table cover. It had to be made of something I didn't care if I splattered paint all over, because that's exactly what's going to happen when I get back to work this weekend! I just sewed a velcro strip to the top of the fabric hem and put the sticky kind along the table's edge.

 

I painted some hideous shelves headed for Goodwill and made them new. I love how shiny they are-the dry time on high gloss was worth it.

 

 

That's a piece of crown moulding B tacked to a wall for me to set my paints on and keep them off of my work surface. I painted it green with some old house paint mixed together. :)

 

My favorite accessory. Sewing for friends and the kids balances my painting and gives me lots of different ways to play around wih color and texture. This more affordable model Bernina was a gift from my parents a couple of years ago and it has climbed the list of my top 25 things I wouldn't leave behind in a fire. I love this machine! And she's also a very self-starting and forgiving friend. Did I tell you it's called a Sewing Computer and not a sewing machine? Fancy.

 

Um...do you get that I love green yet? I'd paint the walls green if I could make sense of it.

 

Miles has his own little table and chair next to my desk, complete with jar o' lollipops!

 

 

Patient elf learned to roll over and prop up on her hands when we were away on vacation to Escondido. The wristlets I so love are beginning to form.

The hardest thing about bringing you in here is that I'm the type of hostess who gets too caught up in the little details (read: dusting the baseboards) that visitors could care less about. The result is that it takes me forever to get my space just so! So I've promised myself to take some snaps when it's in action so you can get a feel for how it functions rather than how it looks when it's clean. Which. is. never.

More to come in a couple of days-have a lovely weekend!

O.M.G.

You HAVE to try these caramels! They will blow*your*mind. I promise. The lavender and vanilla bean. Oh dear. Heather will take good care of you and maybe include some yummy samples for you in other flavors...(I smell a giveaway coming...stay tuned.)

Photo courtesy of La Bella Caramella

Dances With Mermaids

Many of you already know McCabe Russell, the heartful and sassy woman behind Dancing Mermaid Designs and Mermaid Warriors e-Camp. I was curious to know more about her camps and what led her down this path, so I had to investigate.

What moves me so much about McCabe is her generous spirit with little people. To {speak} with her and read her blog is to know that she has so very much to give.  Her offering of art camp e-courses for girls is very dear to my heart. I don't think a person's energy could be better spent than by investing it in the creativity of girls and tweens. I get so sentimental when I watch the videos she's taken of the kids in her backyard camps-I mean, what if each one of us gathered children just once a summer in order to *see* them, *perceive* them and *listen* to their souls? What kind of ripple effect could that create? 

McCabe does a smashing job of creating safe, sacred space for the girls who attend her courses. I had a few questions for her and she was kind to indulge me. I want to share our exchange with you...

px: How did you begin this work? Was it always calling to you or did a specific event occur that shaped your path?

mc: i began this work 10 years ago when i was part of an outreach program that was geared towards supporting young girls. there was a booklet and outline i was supposed to follow, however, it seemed to me a bit dry just teaching text alone. i started sharing my own stories of questions and ache, along with art projects to keep it fresh and interesting. we created this magic that i will never forget, and the rest came from that place. 

px: What is the most profound thing someone has come away from your workshop with, that you are aware of?

 

mc: again, there have been so many profound moments, but there is one that sticks out. a 10 year old girl looked at me after class and said, " i know who i am now because of you."  of course this child already knew herself and i cannot take credit for her sage insight, but i was proud to provide the space where she could have this revelation. 

 

px: What, if anything, has healed within your own heart as a result of the Dancing Mermaid art camps?

mc: i feel like every time i teach my heart heals a little more. the parts of me that i felt were not enough~not pretty enough, smart enough, successful enough, etc...seem to be irrelevant while i teach. it is a process and practice healing yourself. some days are better than others, but at least i know i am going in the right direction.  this is what grounds me the most. 

px: What is your hope for all who attend your camp?

mc: my hope is that the girls leave knowing their greatness, in all its flaws and stumbles. i also hope that they learn to connect and learn from each other in a healthy, inspiring way. that they see the commonalities within each other not just their differences. 

Being a parent is no easy task. No matter how present you are with your children, there is always, ALWAYS room to give more empathy and creative attention to young people. Being a positive influence for a little girl (or boy) could save their lives. That's how deeply I believe in the work of the Dancing Mermaid! I'm so grateful that other women are taking her lead and starting their own gatherings, as in the case of my dear bud, Wendy. (Be sure to listen to "Beautiful Flower" by India Arie on Wen's embedded mp3 player for tears and the full effect).

Long before I had children, I heard someone say "It takes a village", in reference to raising kids, and it stuck with me. I've enjoyed sharing my friends with my kids, encouraging Miles to create his own relationships with trusted adults so that he could receive varying forms of attention and direction. I wish McCabe lived in my village. *sniff*

Right in our backyards, all of us can begin today. Thank you, McCabe!

Ahhh, settling back into life at home. For a little while, anyhow. I'm doing a bit of beautification in my studio here and trying something new: using what I have onhand to create some organization and prettyishness instead of going out to buy new things and spending a fortune, which is what I usually do. I can't get enough color around me at the moment. I'm clinging to everything green just as the world around me turns brown. Summer is so hard for me to love. I will give you a try again, hot lady, but you are simply not my type.

I got these veggie bins at Michael's last year and my gobs of yarn work well in here. It's just about the hottest it will be all year here, and I'm all juiced up to start knitting for the holidays!

I mentioned being a bit obsessed with citron-yellowy-green a few posts ago, in reference to the deer piece- and as it turns out it was featured in Etsy's Treasury West section, which I had no idea existed. It's like a little underground Treasury where the treasure- seekers go for inspiration. I was way flattered. Citron Expressions was the name of the collection. I wish I had time to sit and wait for Treasury spots to open up!

Tonite I'm sewing a curtain to cover the shipping supplies and overflowing fabric baskets underneath my taller table and I've really had fun with the composition part of it. As with my paintings, if I ignore all of the rules I learned in school, I have much more fun. I've always wanted to sculpt, so playing around with fabrics and yarn, and using my sewing machine as something it really wasn't intended for, & felting with soap and water gives me a fix. I should be able to get the thing hung by Friday so you can have a peek.

Will fall be here anytime soon? *wink* Please hurry.

SALE One More Day + Home Sweet Home

*I'm too knee-deep in other affairs to go to animama and change all of the print prices back to 24 so please enjoy one more day of the 19 dollar print sale * Yay!

Being on a getaway to our friends' home was bliss. Their house is a haven by all accounts, not unlike Narnia, where there is fun lurking around every corner as well as yummy British foods such as Jam & Cream biscuits (it's a cookie, already). I'm *so grateful* to have friends who let us come and stay for a week. (Especially after I fell skirt over teats into a hedge at their wedding outside London in '93-thanks guys.)

There is so much to do back at home-fun stuff, mostly. I'm actually going to share some pics of my studio this week, something I've never really done at my blog  Since I'm celebrating four years of blogging this month, I thought it would be nice to give you a peek into my little creative space. Of course I started frantically cleaning at the thought of it, so it's turned into a beautifying week of chaotic sorts. I'm taking the week off from painting and instead putting things in order, etc. Allowing myself to take time off while I'm at home is practically unheard of, so I'm trying to take advantage of my generous gift (from me to me) and work my can off. I have to make it worth my while, right? I'm making hay while the sun shines, I suppose. Speaking of that damned sun....

It was a hundred and ten degrees today which means there will be no going out of the house this week with the littles, and Brandon will not be riding his bike to work, leaving me carless. Can you believe it? 110? Unspeakably brutal. I'm watching our peaches ripen and the rest of the plants melt.

 

Clearly taken in a climate other than the one I live in.

I'm also overhauling my banner and making some changes to the look of this blog which has been a long time comin'.

I received Momma Zen's post today, which reads: Attention is the most concrete expression of love. "What you pay attention to thrives. What you do not pay attention to withers and dies."

There shall be no withering here!

Southern Retreat

Escondido is beautiful, with a morning marine layer that makes having coffee on the patio so wonderful. The view from Terri's & Mark's home is incredible. Apparently the lake can be seen from one of the twins' room, but I haven't crept in there with my camera yet. I've not taken very many photos, but I wanted to share a couple of Ivy and Miles by the pool. We were here a year ago and I was just, just pregnant with the dumpling. I'm noticing how very much life can change in a year. I mean, look at that! A smiling person that resembles chubby candy!

 

 

Both of them have been sleeping so well here. I think it must be all of the playing we're doing. Miles isn't grieving bedtime like he does at home. He mourns sundown every day as if it were his last. Many nights he's said that he wanted to "start over the days", woefully, carrying that grief, wishing for one more moment to live before surrendering to the sandman.

I think I approach my work this way. Since I'm such a night owl and set to work long after the chickens have retired and the owls are out hoot-hooting outside my window, every minute counts. I love having uninterupted time to problem solve and mix my colors and flip through my notebook trying to trigger the exact way I saw it in my mind. If I only had more time, there's so much I could do!

 

Summer Solstice SALE + New Piece

I just made all of the prints in my shop 19 bucks, kids! They were 24, so get 'em while they're smokin'.

The sale is running through the 28th of the month. The only catch is that I'm leaving town, so orders will have to be shipped when I return to work on Tuesday, June 30th. Can you dig it? I also marked the Heron piece (GRACE) down from 110 to 85 because it is a lonely Heron. And Great. But really because it was created on 7/8" board and I've sold all of it's friends done on this size and have moved on to 1 5/8". Did I mention she's lonely? And Blue.

Summer Solstice is on Sunday, falling right on Father's Day this year which I think is so appropriate. It's a wonderful time to have a feast and honor the Sun gods in our lives and in the sky. We'll be celebrating from temperate Escondido, where I will perform You Are My Sunshine ad nauseaum to the five male children we'll be keeping company with! Langley, Luke, Jordan, Blake and Miles, get your noise cancellation headphones ready, dudes.

I finished a piece tonite which I am glad about-the color story having unfolded in my little hypnagogic euphoria (who needs drugs?) each time I went in (or rolled over) to nurse Ivy the past few nights. I love when fashion sees to it that there is plenty of citron on the market. Bring on the chartreuse and all of its friends, but leave the lemongrassishness for me. I love summer for this reason, because that is perhaps the only time one can find a proper citron colored tee shirt, which my greenish skin seems to dig. I long to snag a Treasury spot on Etsy so I can list all of my favorite goodies that are this color.

 

Harmony, mixed-media on 6"x6" birch board. Prints here!

Deer bridges the gap between domestic and wild. He lures us to exciting new quests. Because Deer is known for gentleness, he reminds us to be in peaceful communion with ourselves as we embark upon a new aspect of the journey. Growth with Deer is about seeking harmony with ourselves and our environment; about allowing mistakes, as we wander the forest of our inner creative process. Deer medicine suits those who tend toward self-criticism or harshness with others. His is a call to healthy communication and compassion. Deer is a very important ally when fear would keep one from adventure.

It's a little different from the others. I had fun with the whacked perspective. It looks a bit pinky in this scan. It is much more...vanilla in person. I must find a way to adjust that!

I want to give a shout out to all of the goldfishies out there that have stopped by or emailed, I'm so enjoying all of this classroom community!

Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing daddies out there and Happy Solstice to all of us savages! Have a wonderful longest-day-of-the-year!

Swimming

I'm taking Marisa Haedike's (of Creative Thursday) e-course, In the Fishbowl, and the first class was today. She has such a calming voice, I kept having to slide the audio button back a few mm's to relisten. I wonder if she missed her calling as a hypnotist? I loved the podcast, nevertheless.

Some of the questions that she put forth sound like some I've considered before. So I'm trying to hear them with fresh ears. It was in 1993 that my cellmate Nancy (in the prison of my dayjob as a clothing production manager, no drama here) introduced me to SARK, who at the time, was revolutionizing young women's lives with her cries to "Live juicy!" and "Eat mangoes naked!". She was the colorful, creative equivalent to Betty Freidan, in my world. It was then that I began allowing myself to consider being creative as a profession.

So much has transpired since then. For one, my Succulent Wild Women's group is turning ten years old this year. Unbelievable! We haven't called ourselves that since it's inception, but we are still rather succulent, I must say. I started my own business in 1999, in clothing, just the way I'd learned it.  I was trying to marry my new creative freedom with pretty much the only way I knew how to make a living in L.A., but I forgot how much I didn't love that job in the first place. I closed the company in 2003 and went back to school-to figure out how I could create a job that was more....creative. I gathered some tools there, but I have certainly taken the scenic route to what I'm doing now.

The first question is "Why do you love what you create?" and I'm starting to notice an uncomfortable feeling coming up, only tempered by knowing that the work I do now (my paintings) is the work I get totally lost in. I'm willing to stay up until four in the morning if I can do just a little more. I feel like my heart is totally in the right place at the moment. My paintings are my little babies. I feel a little afraid to name why I love them. I wonder why? I'm going to try anyway.

 

Awakening, mixed-media on board.

I love what I create because I think my paintings are a reflection of where I'm at in my life right now. They have relevance to me. Each of them is meaningful and helps me to grow in the process of making them. I have to admit, I love when someone tells me that a piece has moved them in some way or even just that they like the colors. I love the community that my work (in its own way) fits into. By community, I mean that small, but growing group of people out there all hooked into some similar ideas about how we humans operate and what we require to live satisfying lives. There are insights to be explored, risks to be taken, wild bits within us to rediscover.

I think of my work as gently supporting those notions. Like little colorful affirmations of what is circulating in the greater consciousness during a significant time in creative history. Just being "creative" feels like being superheroic to me because it opposes that which is destructive, without directly trying to control or stop things that must find their own way. I believe that living a creative life is choosing to live a whole new way; it shifts energy and gives birth to...goodness and thoughtfulness, authenticity. The promise in that is what I can taste just a teaser of when I'm creating.

Foxy Mama

Each time I create a painting in this series, I feel like I take on a little of the animal's medicine. Or maybe I'm already working with it, and that is how the idea comes about in the first place.

I typically think of an animal I want to make a painting around and then, when I'm just about to fall asleep, I can see the color story come through. If I can remember what to do, I set to work when I can (in my free time) and try to paint what I saw in my noggin.

I like the way this little fox turned out. I was having a conversation with her as I worked, trying to hear what it was she wanted me to tell you. The image I used makes her seem like she's dodging some snowflakes or weather of some kind, so that is sort of what came forward. Strange time of year for snowflakes, but I just do what I'm told! :) The prints have a nice contrast with these colors.

Here is my offering for the summer solstice altar!

  

CHANGE, mixed media on 6"x6" cradled birch board.

In this painting, Fox is graceful change. She begins her process opening up to new patterns she may not have considered before.  Fox changes herself to bring about a desired situation, not unlike shapeshifting. She may use camouflage or invisibility to burrow under and blend in if necessary, in order to find out how she fits in.  She listens carefully, creates comfort all around her, and tunes into her instincts. Her keen perception serves her well when the time comes to make a decision. Fox cozies up and protects herself before she trots off into her new adventure, expecting the unexpected, and willing to be guided. This little vixen is ready for whatever comes next!

Prints are in my animama shop now!

Giveaway at Kelly Rae

Quick! Hop over to kelly rae's blog and enter to win a print being given away! The print is Possibility (so kr) and she is giving away two of them....good luck! I believe she'll be closing comments soon...

Adoring Sonoma

What is not to love about wine country? I'd never had the unbelievable experience of driving through the gentle, green, rolling, oak-covered hills and tromping through giant redwood forests of the north bay. Our friends moved to Santa Rosa from Los Angeles in January and have been lovingly hounding us to visit since. It was relaxing and beautiful, to say the least! Though Ivy didn't enjoy every moment of the near 6 hour car ride, she held up very well. There were a couple of moments when our collective hairs stood on end, but we managed to get through it.

Below are some snaps of Armstrong woods and a few of the neat little boutique wineries we visited, all minutes from our hosts' home. I can't believe that people actually get to live here.

 

 

The view from the super-casual Iron Horse, where we came away with an UnOaked Chardonnay (super light and easy to drink), the Estate Chardonnay, and the BDX 3-Brandon's pick of reds. We love these three the best of all we tried, bearing in mind we really know nothing about the art of finer wine.

 

 

Carriage doors abound.

 

 

1400 year old trees are just my speed. I heart older men, so I was immediately smitten with Colonel Armstrong.

 

 

Ivy and I enjoy one of the billion gardens.

 

 

Yippeee for viticulture!

Mark and Jill took us to some of the neatest vineyards. This tasting room at Hop Kiln was my favorite of all. We enjoyed a bottle of their Big Red with dinner and brought home some goodies for later. I snuck outside to sit by the pond and nurse Ivy and a little mallard duck waddled over and plopped down right at my feet and gazed sweetly up at us. Of course, I didn't have my camera!

 

 

A wall of bottles at DeLoach.

 

 

I didn't try French Rabbit wine, but this sculpture using their completely recyclable tetra-pak containers captivated Rowan and Miles. Dontcha love Rowan's red purse?

 

We're recuperating today, snacking on goodies, unwinding and preparing for a road trip south next week as we take some time off from work to play.

 

Santa Rosa, Baby + Another Giveaway

While the Campbells venture north to visit friends (and tree friends) in beautiful Santa Rosa, Kelly Rae will be having a print giveaway on my behalf at her blog! Can it be? Two freebie jeebies in a week's time?! Can you guess which one will be up for grabs? Skip on over to try your luck!

(Dear Diary,) In unsurprising news, I am resigned to the fact that I simply have become nocturnal. It's my natural adaptation to having two children, which at times feels like ten. A whole different ballgame. Ivy is growing so quickly, she is stout and strong and I can hardly believe she was born almost twelve weeks ago. She is late to go down, but generally sleeps for about eight or nine hours straight. I didn't know it was possible! And instead of getting rest, I'm doinking around in here with the night creatures! I have major busy-body syndrome these days.

Though summer is still around the corner, we've already been driving up and down the state and this will continue through the end of June. We'll be visiting with friends we haven't seen (some in years) and make an attempt to escape the heat and manage the season here. When that's all done, we'll head out to Connecticut in July to attend a wedding that my camera can't wait to attend! And then, with luck in place, off to Squam in September. Our trip to North Carolina's been put on hold, for now, but I hope to make it there soon.

The Tiki Ti hasn't ever sailed her first voyage yet, and to be perfectly honest, I don't even know that she'll make it out this summer. Since her makeover almost two years ago, we've been so busy with other trips she's just been sitting in the driveway gathering dust. Each time I step inside I get a rush of camping urges-the smell of 50 year old wood and dust is daring me to hitch her up and park it somewhere. Making coffee and breakfast in a campground is one of my favorite alltime experiences. *sigh* We'll get her there in time. The old gal is a 1960 vintage, another summer isn't going to kill her.

 

 

I wish you the best of luck with the giveaway, and I'll be returning early next week to see what has happened in my absence! I'll be sure to give the giant redwoods a hug for you....