So Much Mess In So Little Time!

I'm not exactly sure how it happened. I was just going to finish up a few ATC's for swaps that are due. Then I decided to make a small matchbox ornament (already thinking about little treasures for the holiday season of '09!). Then I made a little round papier mache box and decided to paint it gold. Voila! The entire studio is torn apart and there is so much stuff that I have to clean up before I can start working! It looks as if a horde of angry gnomes got into my art stuff and decided to teach me a lesson - about what I'm not really sure!

How does it happen? In almost all areas of my life I tend to be a neat and orderly person - but once I get in the art zone, I don't even pretend to care about putting away supplies or tools after I use them! It's hard to believe that I'm the same person who gets itchy if somebody doesn't put their teaspoon on their saucer, or refuses to put a plate under the spatula being used in the kitchen!

Oh, well. No sense in pondering this dichotomy of personality and just chalk it up to my Gemini birth!

I Just Found This Exquisite Piece of Work

On Ulla's blog and was just knocked out by it. The combination of naivete and obvious appreciation of the delicate and lovely really speaks to me. I don't know if this is a vintage piece of art or a contemporary assemblage ... but I'm going to pretend that I know it's been around for many decades and delighting people all the while!

Trying to Make the Best of a Bad Situation

Okay. The holidays are over. All the treasures have been packed back into their beds of shredded paper for another year's hibernation.

But the Christmas Amaryllis that I started to force on Thanksgiving (being assured it would only take a "few weeks" to bloom) has yet to show off for me.

Today I made the decision to tuck it onto a shelf in the bedroom, and see if it might decide to bloom and surprise where I couldn't see it every day and be disappointed.

Then I realized what a luscious color the green of the leaves were and how they stood out from the garnet and gilt glass platter we brought back from Athens last year.

I think I'll miss seeing that contrast now, so I will leave it there for awhile longer, and enjoy the color play.

"Today will be joyous, for the beauty slamming against my face is unwilling to be ignored."

Today this statement arrived in the mail taking the form of a New Year's greeting.

The sentiment encompasses the way I try to live my life. I endeavor to see the beauty around me, no matter how inconsequential or trivial it may seem to others as they look past it towards more heady displays of beauty.

The card (and quote) came from http://www.ponderingpool.com ... visit and enjoy!