Altered art book auction!

Hi all,

I wanted to give a little shout out to an up and coming event that is going to be held in November.

It's a charity auction with all of its proceeds going to the organization called NCCS.
Which stands for National Childrens Cancer Society.

One of my online artist friends has organized this event and I am so honored to be a part of it.
Her name is Jewel, shabbyboutique.etsy.com
and if you'd like to read more about how this idea got started and why go to
http://etsycottagestyle.blogspot.com/2008/05/reaching-out-with-love-hope-ecss-first.html
and believe me when I tell you, that this story will touch your heart, because it will!

There will be about 20 artists contributing to this book and it's going to be amazing! I've already seen a few of the pages and they are beautiful. (see a few of the pages: http://www.flickr.com/groups/902264@N20/

We were all encouraged to just create in any style that we wanted, no set boundaries, so I decided to create my pages with lots of texture. I know that children love to touch and feel things so I included lots of fuzzy and soft surfaces for them to enjoy. And my theme of" love one another" and flowers, is universal!

I also included one of my fav quotes, "In loving you, I am forever changed".
I believe that each and every person we meet has worth and changes our hearts in some way, and
my hope for this altered art book is for two things, that it brings people together to fight against this evil disease of cancer, and that it brings joy, love and peace to each and every person who comes in contact with it.

blessings to you all,
deborah

It's all about the nudes!

Hi all,
today I'm going to focus on a few of my favorite nude paintings from the Louvre.

I've been exposed (no pun intended, lol) over my lifetime as an artist to many
nude paintings, and the masterpieces in the Louvre are the best I've ever seen!

I got to see Degas, Delacroix, , Manet, Ruebens and more.

One of the main things I noticed is that most of the paintings portray women with curves, no twiggys here!

My favorite artist when it comes to painting women is Ruebens, his coloring of womens skin just totally blows my mind. Also the way he positions them in his paintings are so beautiful.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these gorgeous masterpieces and that they brought you a sense of awe like they did for me.

Talk to you soon,
deborah

Art in Paris!

Hi all,
today, it's all about the nudes!!!

Being an artist has exposed (no pun intended, lol) me to seeing many naked models over my lifetime.
Here are just a few that I got to see in person when I visited the Louvre.


Did you happen to notice that for the most part the women are all somewhat full figured?
I just adore that!

My most favorite artist for painting women is Ruebens, his coloring and style just takes my breath away.

Monets garden!

Hello all,
I must show you one of the highlights of my trip to Paris!
My artist friend and I took a day trip to Giverny, where Monet had lived
and painted his famous water lily paintings.

The drive to Giverny was soooo wonderful!
The trees were all starting to turn colors, so it was amazing and then add in the quaint picturesque villages and the Seine river winding it's way around each corner, I'm telling you it was almost more then our artists brains could take!! lol
And we hadn't even arrived at Monet's garden yet!

The interior of the house is so darling, and we could just imagine Monet and his family living their days there.
No photography is allowed in the house but we were able to take a photo out through the window looking out to the garden.

The gardens are immense, there is the first section with all the wonderful blooming flowers and then there is a separate area that overlooks all the lily ponds and the bridges. One of my favorite spots was the nasturtium garden, it was such a vivid green and looked like a page out of a fairy tale!
At one point we got out our sketch pads and sat on a near by wooden bench that overlooked the famous green bridge. It was actually kind of surreal to be sitting there, in Monets garden sketching!
A couple of tourist groups walked by and gave us looks of approval on our renditions of the scene, so that was pretty amazing!

After our garden and pond adventure, we meandered up the cobblestone street and there was this stone wall with gorgeous red leaves emerging from the cracks that totally took our breath away, so more photos!

Our last stop was at the end of the street (where our driver was awaiting our return).
We climbed the stone steps up to an old church that was in the midst of renovation and sat down and brought out our sketch books again to do a quick rendering of an old white iron gate and wall.

We really didn't want to leave this wonderful little bit of paradise, but Paris was awaiting our return, so we found our way to our hostess tour guide and with joy in our hearts and minds we waved goodbye to the little town of Giverny.

It was an experience I will never forget and will become even more special to me now whenever I gaze upon a Monet painting.

Hope you enjoyed a little bit of my adventure too.
Talk to you all soon,
deborah

I've got the Paris blues!!!

Hi all,
I have returned from the beautiful city of Paris, and let me tell you, once you have been to this romantic city, it will never leave your soul!

This was my third trip to Paris and I still cannot get enough of it.
The amazing architecture, the jaw dropping art,
the lovely french accents, the gorgeous city scapes,
......
I could just go on and on, but hey why don't I just show you some photos?

The first thing my friend and I did was walk from our apt. to the Eiffel tower, she had never been to Paris before and so of course before we did anything I had to take her to this famous landmark. We opted for the experience of walking up all 686 steps!!! It was totally a challenge but we got a total sense of accomplishment when we finally got to the top of the stairs! Not to mention, great exercise! lol
You then have to take the elevator to get to the very top and at this point we were happy to get the ride up the rest of the way!
The 360 degree view is soooo beautiful at the top and the wind just whips you around like a rag doll! It is an experience that one never forgets!



This is the view of the building that we had from the window of our apt!
Isn't it beautiful?
Every morning I would throw back the curtain and just sigh with utter awe with the atmosphere and the history of Paris.


Well, that's just a little preview of my trip. I have many more photos and bits to tell you about but for now I must say au revoir. So, keep coming back to see more and later I will also be announcing my last Paris shabby chic winner. The winner will receive a little bit of Paris along with a collage, so keep your fingers crossed.
talk with you soon,
deborah

Paris awaits

Au revoir all,
I will talk with you all in a week.
deborah

So many ideas, not enough time!

Hi all,
Do you ever have stages in your life where you just have so many creative ideas floating around in your mind that you end up doing none of them because it is kind of overwhelming?
Well, I sure do.
But I am determined to not let that happen so I figured that if I write them down here in black and white print for you all to see, then it will help me to bring the ideas into fruition and hopefully hold me accountable to my creativity, lol.

So here's a few of my ideas.

1.)I've been thinking of starting a line of creations along the lines of teacups, teapots and such for my new shop on the soon to be launched site of Lollishops.
2.)I'm going to give a blog tea party for all my blogging friends in a couple of weeks. They'll be tea and cookies and even party favors.
3.)I'm thinking of writing a book about creativity and menopause.
4.)I want to start a blog all on the subject of Vincent van gogh

believe me there's more, but at this moment in time that's all I can grab from my brain right now, so if you see me starting to just lounge around eating bon bons looking like I have nothing more to do with my time than to , well, lounge, just give me a little shout out reminding me that there's creating to do and to get busy!

talk to you soon,
deborah

The count down has begun!!!!

Hi all,
I have 6 days left before I leave for Paris, France!
Finally the apt. details are worked out and the driver is scheduled to pick us up at the airport when we arrive!
The journey to get there will be a long one, but when we step off of that plane onto foreign ground it will be worth the hours in the air. At least I keep telling myself that, lol.
I wish I could just snap my fingers and be there. I am not a happy flyer and if I could just appear suddenly on top of the balcony of the Eiffel tower, that would be tres magnifique!

I am so excited to show my penpal artist friend around this beautiful city and wow her with the art and architecture.
She and I met while taking an art history class a couple of years ago at our local junior college. She now lives in Maine, but we have been writing letters back and forth since then.

One day she had written that it would be a dream come true for her to go to Paris someday and I wrote back, "let's go". And that's how our little adventure transpired!
I believe that if you have a dream, then fulfill that dream!
None of us know how long we have on this earth, and really when you think about it, life is really short.
So, now in 6 days, I and my penpal will partake of an amazing adventure full of new situations, and new people, delicious food and breathtaking art and we can't wait!!!!

Whatever your dream or dreams may be, don't hesitate.
Start thinking about how you can make that dream a reality and just take the jump and don't look back.

Talk to you soon,
deborah