Lots of spring activity in these parts.  I'd like to forget life for a few days & just sit outside and paint.  I am in absolute awe of the beauty surrounding us in our yard.  

The dogwoods, lenten roses, and woodland iris are doing their thing.  

The hostas & hydrangeas are stretching their leaves out of the earth...     

And I am over the moon about my 

Chinese Snowball!!!

Learning Photoshop

I bought Photoshop Elements in 2009 and never did much of anything with it.  I put up a mental block on learning how to use it for some reason.  My sensei has been prodding me to use it for some time now.  The week of Mart I was looking at my portfolio and suddenly felt an urgency to embrace photoshop. It was a little too late for me to get everything in order that week, but I'm now working on restructuring the way I present my work.  It really does make a huge difference.  

Instead of just showing an art director this:  

I'll show them my ideas of where this little birdie could be used & how it would look:

 Baby steps!

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Yesterday I struggled with joy despite my circumstances.  Not that my circumstances are that terrible, but sadness over not being able to have a baby creeps up on me out of nowhere.  I think I've got it under control and then.... boom!  It's on me like the weight of the world.

After cleaning my house, my attic, and part of my photo files I managed to feel a little more in control of my life.  I bought hydrangeas for the table and lit a lot of candles.  I painted.  My little corner of the world made sense again & I was happy to be there.

God spoke to me through my devotionals this morning.  I read two completely separate sources and they were both about time.  I love the above verses from Ecclesiastes.  And of course I can't help but to sing The Byrds' 'Turn, Turn, Turn' when I read it.  The secret to peace is accepting God's timing as perfect.  In Beth Moore's study of Paul she says, "When we continue to resist what God has for us, we may cripple our ability to understand how the pieces of our puzzle fit together.  We will constantly single out our experiences rather than understand them as parts of a whole."

There's an 80% chance of rain today and all I have to do is paint and go on one design appointment.  I LOVE the rain, I've got my head straight again, and I know it's going to be a great day.  I hope it is for you also!

I'd like to add an amendment to my previous post.... 

I LOVE wedding showers when they're for my bff!

You might recall the previous wedding invitations that I've painted.  

They are always well received, so I Trent's cousin, Lyndsey got one this past weekend...

(her flowers were casa blanca lilies & chocolate roses)

This was painted for my college roommate's dear friend.  Her daughter was 

born disabled & she found this poem that best described her experience.  

Lilies for Lou...

I don't like showers at all, but I love invitations.  

I'm working on a fall batch...

This one is actually being used (different font & font sizes).  

A route of evanescence
With a revolving wheel;
A resonance of emerald,
A rush of cochineal;
And every blossom on the bush
Adjusts its tumbled head, --
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy morning's ride.

- Emily Dickinson

And then there were four....

houses in five years (and 3 kids in 4 years).

The Bouceks are a military family who will probably have an entire wall of these paintings before it's all said and done.  I hope the last one I paint will be when they finally settle down in GEORGIA.

Happy Weekend!

Another Day...

Another flower.  Today I learned a new flower.  I don't know how I was in the dark on this one, but it's a beaut (and I'm sure most of you are familiar with it)... ranunculus.  It is only one of the many gorgeous flowers that this bride is using.  The rest include multiple colors of tulips, white hydrangeas, and peonies (always a show stopper).