Happy Spring!

Spring is here, no matter what else is going on in the world, spring is here!
I brought in some magnolia buds to force, the bunnies and I are waiting patiently.....

Since my last post, which was way too long ago, things have been very active. Christmas time was so busy with my lovely customers supporting me, I felt truly blessed.
Family and friends as always, have been such a rock for me. I had a few very significant losses last year that made it almost impossible to concentrate for very long. Still I am muddling through....


But then I also am blessed to have this guy in my life....

He keeps me grounded and I love him dearly.

 With this time inside I am hoping to do a lot of finishing up of past projects and starting new ones. The itch to do some oil painting is pushing at me and some sewing and some paperclay sculpting and more collages.

This bread recipe is one that I go to over and over again and it's so comforting to have a freshly baked loaf of bread cooling on the counter. Just google Jim Lahey's overnight, no knead bread recipe.
It's yummy!

I hope that this silly little post finds you all happy and healthy!
Stay put, bake bread, paint..!!

Enjoying the Hudson River

Living in small cities and towns along the Hudson River,

we're constantly reminded of it's ever changing beauty. Morning

to evening, day to day and season to season it never fails to 

intrigue and delight. However, the warm months allow me

to get close access to the shoreline as some access roads are

closed during the icy months. So a few times a week we

are spending delightful time there with our little grandson.

 He (and we) love to investigate the shore line to find what curiosity

 has appeared at low tide.

 

River glass and interesting stones seem to be the most intriguing.

 

A small family of Canadian Geese, so lovely to look at, but messy things......

 

The little man is getting really good at skipping stones!

 

If I lived in this house I would probably never move from the veranda!

 

I just have to be content with sitting here occasionally.....gorgeous isn't it?

Studio Photography

Taking photos of my pendants has been a challenge. Trying to 

minimize the reflections on the glass dome covering the artwork

is probably best left to the professionals. However that delightful service

 is not in my budget (yet).

This picture taken with my Pixel phone is not too bad, I am sure that a professional could make it much better, but for my purposes I'm pleased. There is a slight bit of reflective glare on the right side but not enough to be distorting. If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the bail, lol!

So this is what I've come up with using my photo box that my son gifted me for  Christmas one year. I placed a piece of fabric across the top.

It's set up near the window to get the natural diffused light on one side and the clip on light on the other. After I set up the shot, the white fabric gets pulled down in front and just my arms and camera poke through.

There is quite a bit of revision made after each shot but I can do that immediately after each one.

I do love this phone's camera....

Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely day!

New Owl Art

I love to work in series and owls are a favorite subject of mine that I return to often. In this latest series I am combining painting in acrylic with collage of vintage papers of which I have an over abundance! Late last year I did this one:

A barn owl in a night time moon lit flight, all the feathers in the wings were individually cut from vintage papers and applied with Gouldens Soft Gel. The painting was done with liquid acrylics and the stars white acrylic ink.

It took me a long time to organize my thought process with this one and I kept trying to set it up precisely beforehand but kept stumbling around with bits and bobs of cut paper floating everywhere.

Finally I settled on simply cutting a few and attaching, then moving to the next few until the wing shape was completed. And I had a wonderful time making it!

For this next one, my process was the same, but with the addition of some pressed flower petals that were gifted me. As soon as I saw them I knew that I wanted to collage with them.

The underside of a barn owl is very white but the top of the wing is a beautiful shade of brown and the papers and petals worked together beautifully.

The soft light of a crescent moon guides this owl in his night time hunt.

Instead of astrology symbols in the sky I used different moon glyphs that I researched.

This barn owl is indeed standing tall and proud and assured in the passing of time.

This painting was done to participate in the Arts Mid Hudson Show that opens tomorrow night called,

Artists Respond to Poetry

 

https://artsmidhudson.org/

Getting Show Ready and Banana Bread

Arts Mid-Hudson has a spring pop-up shop April into May and I have been so busy 

getting my inventory ready for this lovely venue.

I have two spin racks that will be filled with the 3x3 art bevels,

magnet sets and note cards.

My taping and soldering skills are getting better....I'm not ripping and re-taping quite as much!!

Thank you dear Etsy and Amazon customers for all your orders this month :)

 We absolutely love, love, love our days with this doctor/train engineer in training!!

If you are in the mood to do some vegan baking, hop on Instagram and

find @nora_cooks_vegan for the most wonderful recipes!!

https://www.noracooks.com/banana-bread/

This was so great with my four o'clock cuppa....

Waiting for Spring and New Pendants in My Etsy Shop

For this series of pendants I used a smaller, lighter, sterling silver plated tray. With a shorter 18 inch chain and added a swarovski birthstone crystal to each month.

They are perfect for the warmer weather and will look great with summery dresses or a pair of shorts and a tee shirt.

Still based on my original artwork on vintage paper.

A beautiful view of the snow covered Catskill Mountains, I could look at this all day long!!

http:etsy.com/digiliodesigns

Follow me on Instagram @digiliodesigns

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MMmmm Homemade Bread.....

This weekend here in the Hudson Valley the weather has been

cold, snowy, sleety, windy, rainy and just plain winter.

I have been cleaning my office, shredding long saved papers, (bank statements from 2008!! what?!!)

organizing what is necessary and trying to do better this coming year.

It's been looooonng overdue and I am easily distracted.

 

 

Especially lunchtime, lol!

Since it's miserable out, a big pot of warming soup and a freshly baked loaf of bread is in order.

There are many recipes out there for a no-knead bread and this time I tried this one:

 

https://lifemadesimplebakes.com/2016/09/4-ingredient-no-knead-artisan-bread/ 

 

It is so pretty and cooked up beautifully!

Also busy photographing my new style flower of the month pendants.

These are placed in a sterling silver plated base with a silver plated chain. There is a swarovski crystal birthstone wired wrapped and hanging from the chain too.

The chain measures 18" and the pendant is about 3/4 of an inch.

I love the way they came out.

This is the February pendant.

I know.....back to the office and finish up that chore!!

 

Hope that you have a lovely day :)