out and about

Check out my feature in the August 2007 issue of Romantic Homes Magazine!

dog days

(top to bottom: the milkhouse,


Lovey Dovey taking a dust bath,


Some Hot blooms, view from the barn, Violet keeping cool.)



I don't think anyone is exempt from heat that Mother Nature is bestowing on us. Lately I feel know how it feels to be inside an oven roaster bag!....But it wasn't until I had come across an all too unpleasant reminder of last winter that I began to appreciate the rising temps.

It's a photo of me with what appears to be the largest, uber icicle produced from one of winter's ice storms. My miserable look says it all.

It still gives me chills......days spent bundled up even inside...dry, crispy, flyaway hair begging for a v05 oil treatment...20 minutes to warm and scrape the car...breaking the ice on the animals buckets for the millionth time....

I gladly welcome the heat!....look what it comes with: flowers,trees with leaves,flip-flops, ice cream, long days, bbq, smoothies....oh! and how could I forget pedicures!!!


Heat? no problem.....bring it on!

secret love

quiet whispers,dreamy looks, stolen glances, misty hazy touches... really Colors, it meant nothing to me! The Muted Tones and I are just friends. Honest!

I really am still faithful to the vibrant hues...But I just couldn't help myself! Temptation beckoned and I answered...I'd like to say it was just this once....but there have been other times...Oh, memories of the mid-90's black leather pants purchase ... I just had to have them!













It's this new softer side....Landscapes with a linen wash, it's this new look that I've fallen in love with. Treescapes lightly veiled with the hint of screening. It's really drawn me in...

a room of one's own

...ok, a line stolen from Ms. Wolfe. But 'tis true.

We all need a special space to create and be creative....a place to step out of your own comfort zone..that said, here is my special place....my studio. Ah, how I can now think back fondly of the days painting at the kitchen table...harboring cans of paint in the corner by the fridge...the oven as my drying rack!

I have since upgraded to the barn....the one requirement as we bought our new/old house. Hubby and I went to task of gutting the old pig sty and removing 3 large dumpster loads of filthy, unspeakably dirty hay and garbage... If I am ever sent to purgatory I am sure that is what I'll be doing for eternity!

I will later post on the extensive barn renovating and will spare all the details for now....

So in the meantime here's a few shots of the finished product. My exterior studio entrance....the barn entrance with my welcoming moo-cow and an interior shot of some vibrant paintings.

I am so happy now to reflect on the good old days of walking uphill to school both ways, when a payphone was a dime, when you didn't know what was in fast food and when the cookbook stand was my easel.

crazed for zinnias

I just plopped my State Fair zinnias in the garden.....I LOVE these flowers.....so grand and stately at over 3 feet tall......with fantastic painterly colors to boot! I just wish they didn't take so long to bloom!

So, you will find me the next few weeks doting over these little sprouts like a mother hen.

I have already lost 2 of these precious little seedlings to naughty chickens....who can't seem to resist scratching around in newly turned soil.

what a find!

I was thrilled to meet the talented Dara DiMagno this past weekend at Earth Angels Spring Soiree in Warwick, NY. At this wonderful mix of artists I met this lady who fabricates old into new... past into present.

Each of Dara's pieces are as individual as snowflakes.....jewerly pretty enough to be worn or just to adorn your home. Dara breathes new life into old photos, tintypes, bakelite, watches and vintage finds....fusing them together in clever arrangments.

Every piece of art is a voice from a bygone era...whispering stories and clever sayings!

I know I will be an admirer forever....

Find more of Dara's work at www.earthangelstoys.com

scenic route

I'm very lucky to live in an area steeped in history and lovely views. Vistas and horizons are dotted with centuries old farms, peppered with haybales and simple treelines as well as a colorful array of animals...

Walk down our road and you'll pass a reindeer farm with a clattering of guinea hens, a sheep farm fitted with vibrant peacocks, a cluster of humble brown Swiss oxen as well as landscapes polka dotted with Holstein cows.

Of those I couldn't pick a favorite. I suppose that is why I love painting simple treescapes. Something to be said for leaving your "i's" undotted and your "t's" uncrossed. Sometimes just the thought of a passing cloud or hedgerow is enough.

It's knowing when to put that brush down...