Finding Beauty

Full disclosure…I hate bugs, snakes, spiders….and grasshoppers. We sure get our share of them here on the lake. One thing I hate about grasshoppers is when they land on you, they have these little grippers on their feet. Do grasshoppers have feet? I don’t know, but I do know they have these little grippers and if they land on you…you’re theirs.

And did I mention spit? Yes, grasshoppers spit too. How gross. So between the spit, the hopping and the little grippers, I totally hate grasshoppers.

Today, I saw things differently. Not a change of heart, mind you. But I saw grasshoppers a bit differently as one was one the “other side” of the glass peering in. I had a chance to look at it differently without it being a threat to me.  I have to say, it was beautiful. It had a sculptural quality to it. It had wonderful colors of green and patterns to it.

Grabbing the camera, I would swear that it was posing for me. I caught great shots while the little guy appeased me with my wonder.

It’s amazing what a piece of glass can do for your outlook.

Amazing Sand Art

A must see! Bravo!

Thanks Mellie for sending to me.

Soul Sacrifice – 1969

Ah Santana! Enjoy! Happy Monday!

How Time Flies

Forty years ago today.

It was outside the Abbey Road recording studios at 11.35 am on August 8, 1969 that the Beatles strutted purposefully from one side of the street to another, for the cover of what would be their final album as a group.

Don’t forget to check out my weekend sale on Etsy!

Beautiful Biloxi

We just got back from a mid-week getaway in Biloxi, Mississippi. We stayed at the beautiful Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino.  We love this part of the country. Mississippi is very dear to us as we built a home there several years ago. In fact, we purchased the property the spring before Katrina!

And then there was Katrina.

Having a house there, we were able to experience and watch from a distance the tragic touch of nature…but nothing like the folks that lived there and called Mississippi home.

This is not our house – our house wasn’t built before Katrina. But many beautiful ones were and left like this. I have to truly say that I have never seen this type of devastation at this scale before in my life and I still am in awe of what nature can do.

But this blog entry isn’t about tragedy. It’s about beauty – about rebuilding.

Driving around Biloxi we saw beautiful new buildings and homes going up along I-90. Not the beauty of the pre-civil war homes we saw in our first visit. This beauty reflected a renewed faith in the Gulf Coast and a willingness to invest to start over and try again. The homes we saw were breathtaking. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera with me for the drive. Maybe you may have to go there and check it out for yourself?

We stayed at the Beau Rivage, also destroyed in the hurricane. After the hurricane, the Beau Rivage was one of the first casinos to step to the plate and start rebuilding. And rebuild they did…

And oh – the colors! These colors speak to my soul…our house is decorated in the same color scheme…but not like this! Exquisite integration of color throughout like the carpeting….

But wait! There’s more. I was enraptured by the beautiful mosaic work in the lobby areas. It took my breath away. My photos don’t give the work the justice they deserve.

I’m inspired. My kitchen project seems so minimal now.

Nice work Biloxi! We’ll be back!

Wedding Dance

Now this gives the “first dance” new meaning. Good for them! I love creative people!

Happy Friday!

One piece at a time

I have a lot of things in my life demanding my patience right now. This is one of the ones I can talk about sensibly. Call it “Project Gone Wild!” Remember when  I thought a little splash of color behind the stove would be a great idea? I was not only saving money by doing it myself – I could use it as a creative outlet as well.

Well – my creative needs have been well satisfied. Now I’m just working toward the end. It’s no fun anymore. Too many pieces and I already had the end in sight.

That was always the problem I had in my artistic endeavors. I’m more from the immediate gratification camp. It’s my personality type and I make no excuses for it.

This one is pushing me. Typically in a situation like this – I would abandon the idea and start another project. But I can’t – it’s smack dab in the middle of my kitchen…in the middle of my house. It won’t go away.

So everyday at 3:00 – I drop everything and piece-by-piece, bit-by-bit, I work until Gary gets home. Sometimes, I even take advantage of an opportunity to work like last night when Gary wanted to watch the documentaries on the first moon walk. Saw it already once when it actually happened – why would I want to do it again?

There I was piece by piece with cement in hand. Gary walks by and chuckles – “How do you eat an elephant?”

If you see him and he has a mirror tile glued on his butt – now you know why.

Something fun to do – Tremont Art Walk!

Imagine….a beautiful summer night…it’s Friday night and you want to chill, have a glass a wine, a bite to eat and soak in some culture. (Maybe even buy something!) What better place to do is the Art Walk in Tremont! Visit one of Tremont’s great restaurants like Parallax, Thai Fun and Fat Cats.

Did I mention music? Music will be provided by The Flip Side at Eye Candy Gallery.

And speaking of the Eye Candy Gallery….they are featuring the ceramic works of Julie Balogh this month. Cute little hand painted, thrown ceramic perfume bottles.  And if you’re not into perfume bottles, Eye Candy Gallery has one of the most eclectic collections of artists from Northeast Ohio.

Check it out.

Friday night from 5 – ?. For more information, click here.

Oh yeah. My work is there as well.

Check it out.

Don’t shoot the messenger

Ya know when Ya know

I love little trips that allow us to linger along the way and find treasures that are waiting for us to find them. I love spending my life with a man who loves lingering along the way and finding treasures. (He is my treasure and a great find!)

On our way back from Virginia and four hours into the drive, we passed a sign for an antique mall in West Virginia. An incredible place to linger. We found many things that we wanted to take home but at the end of the stroll through the mall, we knew.

We’ve had an empty spot on the buffet in our dining room which I kept filling with dried flowers or seasonal decorations. The oak sideboard has been crying for icing on its cake to set it off.

We found it.

A Hull glass woodland pottery console bowl with candle stick holders. Perfect colors for our dining room in teal blue, pink and cream. We tried to ask the folks at the antique mall more questions about the pieces – but they weren’t too friendly so I gave up and figured I would figure it out with some research on the internet. We figured the date to be around 1949.

Doesn’t matter…we love it!