Pause and Reflect

Every so often, I have to step away from my projects - take a breath, & think of other things for awhile in order to find new inspiration & a fresh perspective. It can be as simple as a trip to the sound to soak up the saltwater air, as labor-intensive as a house project, or as indulgent as catching a plane to Palm Springs.  A little time away inevitably helps me tap into a well of ideas both for existing projects & for new projects. I used to wait too long for these breaks - afraid to "waste" time. Now I am actually considering scheduling down time more often .. I wonder if that would work?

WEEKEND GARDENER

Gardening is certainly not my forté, but I do like to pick out pretty plants to place in the yard, then cross my fingers that they will be independent enough to survive the periodic neglect they will inevitably experience in our garden. My choices are generally dictated by color & shape - and the amount of sun they will need to stay alive (it's the least I can do to increase their odds of survival). Any time a plant flourishes in our yard, I am shocked & delighted, but this year there were two formerly petite flowers that grew roughly 400 % into giant bushes in a single year ... highly suspicious. A little research turned up that they were Scotch Broom... uhg - a designated invasive weed (what the heck local grocery store?!). So the thriving weeds had to be removed & left a large empty space - which I decided to replace with... more pretty flowers. This time I went with a few annuals, they will only last the summer, but at least they won't take over the neighborhood.

PATTERN WEDNESDAY : Take Flight

I've been making a lot of plans for my fine art & pattern business ventures lately. Notes on all fronts are piling up on my desk. Now all I need is to put the plans into action & hope they take flight.

PATTERN WEDNESDAY : Bow-Ka-Dots

I received a wonderful gift for the studio this week - Faber-Castell PITT artist pens! Do you know about them? They use India ink & have brush-like tips. They can be layered, brushed over with water, manipulated, smoothed with your finger, smudged (depending on the paper you use) ... until they dry - then they are permanent & waterproof! So many possibilities, & they had the most amazing capability of all - tearing me away from the computer for awhile. Time well spent too, since it resulted in these sweet bow-ka-dots!

PALM SPRINGS REFLECTION

This is my attempt at squeezing 95% of our Palm Springs vacation into a single photo. We were feeling a little mossy after the soggy Seattle winter, so we gathered a group of friends & headed for the hot hot desert to dry out! We rented a house (with lots of windows - see above), spent hours by the saltwater pool (using up an entire tube of sunscreen along the way), took lazy afternoon siestas & walked to town for delicious dinners each night. Of course we were greeted with rain on our return home, but at least we know a good drying out is only 2.5 hrs away!