rightbrain/leftbrain

Hoping to breathe some new life into my old blog

2011-08-02T01:04:00.002-04:00

After switching over to FB for awhile since I'd heard that was 'THE place to be", I'll be coming back here where I can blab for as long as I want, not just in tiny bites. I might even get a tutorial up and running that I've been working on. Also I've illustrated 3 more books, total of 5 books I've illustrated for kids, so I'll have a lot to post about those. But it's late, so I'll be back in the morning and start regenerating this blog. If there all one of you still out there! Or hopefully I can send some newbies over.
C U all soon. Oh, before I forget, you can go to Amazon and in your book search type in Ellie's Room to see the latest book I've illustrated for an author. It's about a little girl learning lessons about what happens when you keep your room too messy :) It's a fun read for a grandma to take to the beach to read with the grand kids.
C U soon,
Annie

Art Video "Still Life" by EBSQart.com

2010-01-08T12:12:00.002-05:00

Check this video out on YouTube. It's by EBSQart.com the world's largest collection of online working artists. This month's featured gallery is "Still Life" and it will be a treat for your eyes :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H71lK1ajg3Y

Christmas Card Featured on Main Page

2009-12-26T08:45:00.003-05:00

Very happy to report that my 2009 peace dove Christmas Card (seen below in the next post down) is featured today on the main page at EBSQart.com
If you'd like to see it, go to EBSQart.com and scroll to the very bottom of the main page where you'll see a menu. Look for the "blog" and click on it. It's only on for one day. I'm very honored, EBSQ!

I hope you all had a very merry, quiet and peaceful Christmas.

Annie

Merry Christmas card

2009-12-10T15:04:00.004-05:00

*MeRrY ChRiStMaS*

Merry Christmas to all you bloggers!
It's good to be back here at BlogSpot. Here is my hand-made 2009 Christmas card. Enjoy!

And here are two shots showing how they were made:

Copyright 2009

My First Animation - Seasons of a Michigan Tree

2009-11-14T20:22:00.008-05:00

My first gif animation - seasons of a maple tree in our backyard:

New Art - "Pomegranate with Leaves" and "Many Hearts Sampler" Shelf

2008-06-24T21:15:00.002-04:00

Here are two new pieces I've been working on...

"Pomegranate with Leaves" acrylic on black canvas, new faux Victorian vintage-style frame. This would look great in a kitchen or dining room. 12" x 14" including frame. This one will go up for sale on Ebay on Friday, June 27 at 7:00 pm, # 220249973919.

And "Many Hearts Sampler" decorative wall shelf. The ornate hearts are painted in oils, acrylics, watercolor, ink on canvas and heavy paper. This will be for sale in February of '09, if not sold before. If you are interested, just e-mail me :)

All archival acid-free materials used. I guarantee all my work to last and last.

THANKS for lookin'!
Annie

Silly little glass bead

2008-05-18T15:57:00.001-04:00

Here is my funny silly little sea-urchin glass bead that I made at the WMG hot glass workshop yesterday. My respect for glass artists goes waay up every time I take a hot glass class :)

Black kitty cat

2008-04-18T17:43:00.000-04:00

New picture of Francine.

HAPPY EASTER from Michigan >:o

2008-03-22T18:01:00.000-04:00

HAPPY EASTER from Michigan :)

Art Show

2008-02-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

"Lady Gardener"
Watercolor in antique frame, exhibited in 2008 regional juried art show.

I'll have more photos of the exhibit posted this week. The painting right under mine is a very beautiful Lake Michigan scene done by my reiki therapist's husband, Larry H.

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Coming soon - I'm working on 8 small pieces, watercolor and acrylic on canvas. They will be posted in the coming weeks. As I clear the clutter out of my new art space, I am much more inclined to paint. Must be the time of year to create new spaces and get rid of old junk because I know two more artists (waving at Jen, waving at Pat) who are doing the same thing :)

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Saw my first robin today! So there really is a spring? When I was a kid, I would worry about the first birds to come back, whether they would be cold, where they would find food, etc. And I still worry! If you're in a cold climate like ours, please put out bird food, bread crumbs, apple cores, and anything else that a returning bird might want to eat. They'll return the favor ;)

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Another coming soon: Plans are under way to move my blog to Live Journal. I'll put a note here when I move. I probably won't be putting a link here, so if you are interested in following my blog, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you the new address (all two of ya, teee).

Enjoy your day and brighten up your world with art :)

Kitty Valentine :)

2008-02-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

The happiest Valentine ever from Sweet William :)

Happy Valentine's Day month :) RED, red, and more red paintings

2008-02-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

Late flash: Here are the Ebay numbers, ending tomorrow night, 2/3/08: 220196908077. After you get to this auction, just click on "view sellers other items" on right side to see the rest.

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Valentines, Valentines, VALENTINES!!! Went crazy painting Valentines this year! Some will be listed on Ebay and end Sunday night, Feb. 3 and here are the numbers:

Lips! Acrylic on paper art card/ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5"), many layers of sealant to make them shiney! Selling in lots of two each:

Frilly heart acrylic paintings on paper with mat and backing board included. Ebay nos:

Frilly fancy hearts acrylic on canvas SOLD (one made with grandma's antique glass seed-beads:

#1

This lot of 4 is ACEO sized (2.5" x 3.5") acrylic on canvas, all the embellishments..... yada.

All SOLD:

This one is done with the new Silky Crayons:

If you are interested in owning any of these, just let me know. Always glad to oblige :)

VaLeNtInE CARDS.....

2008-01-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

Three Valentine cards just listed on Ebay and they'll show up tonight at 10:00 Michigan time:

220192834988
220192885255
220192893560

Inside:

Did you ever wonder about the Ebay numbering system? How just in the couple of minutes it takes me to list these sequentally, how several hundred items got listed in the space of a couple of minutes? A-mazing ;)

SNOW..... and Snow Fairy Princess watercolor illustration

2008-01-14T18:07:00.000-05:00

New painting and new story line for a snow fairy children's book inspired by all the SNOW we have here in Michigan... although, probably snow fairies aren't anything new. I've added a different spin to my snow fairy story, though, that I think is new. Any children's book editors or children's book writers out there looking at my blog??? I've been through the whole process of having a children's book successfully published, so I constantly long for more. Here's your illustrator - step right up ;) Just e-mail: amarmur@verizon.net

I've developed a new font that I'm using in this story. Font name: "Annie'sFun" (copyright 2008). I've written up the "font rules" like a all good font designah's need to do. Here's a sample:

I'm also working on one more font. I'm going to frame the original fairy and the font and will post a photo when I get them in the frame. I like framed illustration art and lettering, hand-lettering, fonts and calligraphy, so I wanted to get these in a good frame in case there's another commercial art show this year. There was one a couple of year's ago that I missed :( my bad.

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Yay! Just received notice that I had one painting accepted in the local art center's annual juried art show. It was "Lady Gardener" watercolor illustration. Wish me luck! Lots of prizes and awards being handed out and I'm an award ho. Like the great philosopher Mary Kay said... there are two things people want more than money and sex; and that is recognition and praise (or somethin' like that, sorry MK if I didn't get it quite right, but you all get my drift).

I still have two smaller original versions of her (around 8 x 10") similar to the big one (about 16 x 24" in the show), only I've added borders on the smaller ones and her expression is slightly different. They are both still available in quality frames, and then I will retire the design. If you're interested in having the little lady gardener brighten up your space, just e-mail me. Look in my September postings to see the smaller versions framed for the Fair.

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SNOW! These photos are from two weeks ago, but I've had the after-holiday-blahs from too much sugar and way too much food, so they are being posted today. We got 15" in one night. What you see in the second picture is a "roof snow rake". Looks like fun, dunnit? We wondered how many TONS of snow we actually had on our roof after that storm. Then we got an unseasonally warm week with temps in the high 60's (unheard of) and I was outdoors in my bare feet! 'Splain that one to me, Lucy. It all melted off in about one day. Now we are back to our more normal 3 inches today, 3 tonight, and 3 more inches tomorrow. :)

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All artwork seen on this site is ALREADY copyrighted to the artist and may not be reproduced or copied in any way shape or form w/o express permis. of the artist. NADA, nada, if you are thinking of copying anything, tsk tsk, big BAD, don't do it :(

Nora the Piano Playing Cat

2007-12-29T12:15:00.000-05:00

Right, WE always knew cats were smart. But wait till you see Nora, the piano playing feline. Here's a link to her YouTube video, and she has her own website. Want a feel-good fuzzy-wuzzy story for the new year? Read and enjoy :)
Rick spotted this on the news this morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM

http://www.ravenswingstudio.com/NoraWeb/nora_home.html

Quote of the Day

2007-12-17T11:21:00.000-05:00

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Ponder.

Pritten* arrived! Needle felted cat

2007-12-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

Look who arrived! Flutterby Pritten*, an original creation by multi-talented artist and craftsperson Jeanne (*waving at Jeanne across our watery state*). Little Flutterby is a one-of-a-kind original felted animal. Jeanne puts amazing detail in these little guys, all the muscles, facial features, each individual TOE are carefully crafted and shaped. Needle felting is a painstaking, long, exacting process. She's selling the first of the Prittens* on Ebay right now, seller name maiee123 . The poses she's crafted into these guys are so realistic. Gotta love that little pink tongue. Also, they come with lots of little extras right now, and their own STORY line. So cute! Check her seller name out on Ebay and you'll find a link on her Ebay page back to her portfolio on EBSQart.com. Wait until you see her realistic nature paintings!

Like I keep hammering away, SUPPORT LIVING WORKING AMERICAN ARTISTS!!

*"Pritten" is a registered name.

Pet Dressing

2007-12-07T04:52:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed how dressing up pets is very in this year? Several of the Christmas catalogs I got from major brands had a dressed pet on the cover. The latest one is Lands End with an oh-so-chic bulldog in matching red coat on the cover. Tres chic! Bow-wowwwwww.

Annie

Elf Yourself !

2007-12-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

This is the funniest thing I ever saw. Go to:

www.elfyourself.com

and you can create a funny elf animation with faces of family and friends. A friend did three of us using pics from our high school reunion, and it was so funny! It's free from Office Max. I have a feeling the whole country has gotten wind of this because the site seems to be slowing down a little tonight. It takes a while to open, but it's worth it.

Have fun :)

Give ART for Christmas.... Art on EBSQart.com

2007-12-01T19:46:00.000-05:00

***Here's a neat-o website supplied by Jennifer - lots of art and craft ideas and how-to, recycling, how-to build hand things around the house, etc. etc. Check it out, especially the Art and Crafts areas:

http://www.instructables.com/home?category=craft

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Scooter in a basket of dolls

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Give ART for Christmas! Get personal and give a GOOD gift. (Forget the dollar store fruitcake!*) Does your family member like cats? Dogs? Color? Nature? Just type any of those and other favorite words into Ebay in their "Artists Self-Representing" category and you'll find just the unique gift that your friend will remember. And, while you're at it, you'll be contributing to keep American artists working. :)

Check the left side of the main page at EBSQart.com and you'll see my little Christmas snow globe card representing their Seasonal Gallery this year. Check out the Seasonal Gallery while you're at it and you might find an interesting gift of art for sale. Or get YOURSELF a nifty gifty :) (Click on the snow globe on EBSQart.com main page and it will take you to the seasonal gallery).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

*Note about fruit cake: If you've ever had the real deal, original fruitcake made from the old-fashioned recipes that took time (like days) to make, you won't believe the difference between that and cheapie fruitcakes. It's YUMMY! If people could taste what it's really like, there probably wouldn't be any more fruitcake jokes ;)

Black Cat in a White Tree ~~ Paper Folded Christmas Bird Ornament~

2007-11-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

Update: New photo without the red eye (found the red eye tool

(Sung to the tune of "A Partridge in a Pear Tree")

Altogether now.....

"On the first day of Christmas,
Santa gave to me....
A black caaaat
in a white tree."

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Olive visiting the new observatory.

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Peace dove folded paper bird made in Pat's class. Made with medium heavy-weight scrapbooking paper, tube beads, glitter, gold chord, carpenter's glue, decoupage. It was harder to make than it looks ;)

Silky crayons

2007-11-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

(P.S. So FUNNY, ha HA ha ha! I see I've glazed a cat hair into my painting :) :) TG this is only a class project and intended for my wall only. Well, I guess that means that we not only eat cat hair around here (I know, I know, YUCKKKK), but use it for art as well, teeee. Now, how can I work the derned stuff into art like the dryer-lint lady, who BTW, is actually selling her works for pretty good prices on Ebay. That's what I love about Ebay. Who'd a thunk it :) )

Hi Bloggies:

Just wanted to share a note about a nifty art supply we just tried out in Pat's inspirational art class called "Silky Crayons". The effect was very much like glazed oils or washes of water color and it was wonderful to work with. It thins with water so there was no solvent smell. These are chunky soft crayon-like pigments in a pastel-like holder and very soft, spreadable, and easy to shade. We used them on regular oil-painting gessoed canvas. These were found in the children's art supply department at a local book store. Who'd a thought? A kid's art supply that turns out with a very grown-up effect. The only criticism I have, and it is a small one, is that they are slightly garish if put on too thick; but, hey, sometimes garish can be really good too. I paid $9 for a big set and Pat bought a double set that cost only $13. The font I used is Annie's Fun (copyright Annie M! Annie M!) and the lettering is hand-done in India ink with many coats of sealant overall. Love your class, Pat!

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If I don't post beforehand, all of you have a great TOFURKEY DAY!!!

Annie

2007-11-08T11:08:00.000-05:00

Here are my new photos fashioned into collectible limited edition art cards listed on Ebay right now (*numbers below). Some of these are no. 1 of 5, so you would be getting a *first edition*. They're very collectible because people without much space can collect them in baseball sleeves in a scrap book. I've made a couple sets of mini-mini-art cards for your dollhouse! These make great little Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. Prop them next to your monitor to brighten up your cubicle, on a shelf, or treasure them in your ACEO collection. Art cards are the ~H~O~T~ collectible on Ebay right now, so put ACEO or art card in your search and you'll see hundreds of these little gems :) Such a deal! They start at $5.99 and each is shipped in a protective ACEO sleeve and signed and numbered by the artist, moi. Here is an Ebay number and it will lead you to all 8 of my listings (just go to "view sellers other auctions": 220169679376

Life Goal

2007-11-07T17:01:00.000-05:00

LIFE GOAL: To be the person my cat thinks I am.

:)

Michigan Fall Color Photos on the Gazette Website...... Bring Pets inside for Halloween

2007-10-30T15:19:00.000-04:00

REMINDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Humane Society (and common sense) says to keep ALL of your pets indoors for these few days of Halloween, especially if you own any black cats or dogs. LOCK 'EM UP - don't put those pets in danger just by being lazy or by thinking "it can't happen here" - pets get stolen every day and you have to be especially careful the next few days.

DO IT, bring 'em INSIDE!

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My two photos (see post below) have been chosen for the Kalamazoo Gazette website. To see them, go to mlive.com/kzgazette and scroll down and to the right to Multimedia + More, where you'll see a camera icon. Click on "Photo galleries" beside the icon. There are many gorgeous shots picked by the Gazette as good representations of our beautiful Michigan fall color and amazing glowing trees. Tonight (Oct. 30) the moon should be out and it should be a good night to stand under a maple tree and see the unique "glow" from the yellow leaves :)
This photo is now listed on Ebay as an ACEO art card #220166786971. Stop by and see it - I'm in a contest to get the most unique hits ;)

Have a happy, safe and FUN Halloween, and bring those critters inside,

Booooooo...oooo.....oooo,
Annie

HaLlOwEeN BlAcK CaT CoOkIeS...... Gazette photos

2007-10-19T12:17:00.000-04:00

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!!!

How do you like my black kitty border (above)? Each little black kitty is actually a delectable artisan-made cookie made by Jennifer J. from California*. They are actually supposed to be saved for our annual birthday gathering, but lo! It just happens the frosting cracked on two cookies so yours truly and her hubbie HAD to eat them - and they were dee-eelicious; especially dunked in milk. Mmmmmm-mm. I brought some of these special cookies to my art group and they were unanimous in demanding the recipe. They thought they were so CUTE. I can see Jen's unique artistic hand in these. If you're out there reading this, LilJ, please e-mail the secret recipe (for the frosting too) and the artists would be extremely grateful.

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Don't forget to stop by Rick's Astro blog (see the list on the left side of this screen) and see Rick's new star chamber. It represents three days of all day intensive work by the Sky Shed crew (Russ, Ronnie and Sarah) and it is fab! We were able to open the top last night in between two tornado warnings and see the stars. Its a beautiful little observatory complete with warm room which is essential to keep us from freezing out there in the winter. Check out Rick's astro photos while you're at his blog and look forward to many more photos now that he has his Sky Shed.

P.S. Tornado "warnings" during the night and especially in the middle of October are rare here in Michie. There were two separate warnings about an hour apart and we gathered up the kitties and went down to the basement twice. Lucky Three Rivers escaped again. They were on the north, east and west of us, one within 4 miles coming our way, but none hit here. Our cats are getting so smart - one runs for the basement when he hears the take-cover siren, the other two let themselves be caught near the basement door and allow themselves to be carried down without too much fuss.

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I've entered the two photos below in a photo op at the Gazette. These two photos

have been sent in for a chance to be on the Gazette's Fall Color Tour cover and also to be posted on their website. Send me good winning vibes, please :)

Happy color, happy fall,
Annie

Alien Landing Reported in Michigan Back Yard (Happy Halloween)..... Member's Choice Award

2007-10-11T17:32:00.000-04:00

EXTRA!! EXTRA!!! Alien Landing Reported in Michigan Back Yard

"Hello? Hello? Any intelligent life out there?"

Oh! A familiar looking species. "Hello plant. How ya doin'? What's the haps here on Earth?"

"Yes, I will report back to my leader that I have encountered an extremely intelligent and peaceful life form here on planet Earth. Glad to find out that your name is Gourdy."

"Beam me back up, Skipper. See ya Gourdy. Stop by our planet any time you're in the neighborhood."

"Always nice to encounter the rare intelligent species. We need more of them in our quadrant of the galaxy."

(--- (Happy Halloween :) ---)

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Award

I am PLEASED that my fused glass crystal ball/paperweight (above) just won a Member's Mention Award on the EBSQart.com website. Check out EBSQart.com to see the show "Lifting the Veil: The Art of Divination". I take divination seriously, so it was a pleasure to be in this particular show. Scroll down to the middle of the main page and click on the show. There are two other unique art shows on right now too. You'll enjoy :)

Happy me,
The Award Maven,
Annie

New ACEO Art Card "Asian Dreams III".... Tom the Halloween Cat.... Four Freedoms Speech by Roosevelt.... Apostrophe Police

2007-09-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

FLASH: Be sure to check out Rick's astronomy website (Rick's Astroblog) in the list on the left-hand side of my screen here. He's posted a great astrophoto of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula that looks like it's on fire. He's used a photo pallette of orange and white so it fits right in with this Halloween season ;)

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Here is another aceo art card to be listed Saturday (Sept. 29) on Ebay (6:00 Ebay time)Ebay #220155076249. All of my art cards start at $4.99. Such a deal! Note the beautiful sunflower yellow Michigan fall leaves I incorporated under many THICK coats of decourpage which gives the whole thing real texture and dimension.

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And here is a new art card (ACEO) that I just got from Lynn Bonnette Buchner. See all that teeny tiny detail? That is the original size of her paintings. i.e., they aren't shrunk down to that size. Check out her portfolio on EBSQart.com.

P.S. Look who's enjoying her card.... Francine. She just had to see it when she heard it was black cat art ;)

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On a completely different note.... are you watching Ken Burns World War II series? It's excellent, if extremely sad. But everyone needs to watch it. I was taken by the mention of President Roosevelt's "The Four Freedoms" speech. So I googled it. Being a Utopian thinker myself, I believe this is the way things could be, almost should be, right now. Except that human beings would have to give themselves an extra awareness crank or two and it really could be right now. Here is the Four Freedoms portion of a much longer speech. You can read the whole thing by googling " roosevelt four freedoms speech ". It looks like Roosevelt was a utopian thinker too. Note that this speech was given during WWII. Also note that he refers to the world in his speech, not just the USA.

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation."

Read and heed.

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Pray tell... I am SOooo guilty of apostrophe over use (these things ""). I love language and emphasis and emotion* and clarity and pointing things out and direction in writing. YES, I plead guilty to emphasis over-use :) I did it! I'm guilty, guilty, guilty! Now, when I can find the apostrophe police website, I will post it here so you can read about my fellow language convicts and I.

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Peace, love, and EMOTION,
Annie

*Emotion overuse: I plead Italian.

PS: All art seen on this blog is copyrighted to the artists who made it.

Halloween Ghostly Art Card (ACEO)..... Ghost Hunter Bryan painting... Blue Ribbon.....

2007-09-25T20:45:00.000-04:00

Just for ~~~H~A~L~L~O~W~E~E~N~!~~~

Who's your favorite ghost hunter on the t.v. show "Ghost Hunters"? Even though I love all those guys, here is an ORIGINAL watercolor caricature of one of the most colorful and interesting ghost hunters, Bryan, equipped with all of his great ghost hunting paraphernalia. This was sketched by me during an episode, inked onto heavy high quality watercolor board (never warps!) and watercolor painted. It is sealed with several coats of acrylic sealant. This will be listed on Ebay on September 29 at 6:00 pm Ebay time and the number is: 220154132822. Staring bid is 9.99, such a deal :) Be the first one on your block to own an original work of art of "Bryan the Ghost Hunter" :)
(**see note below)

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Here is more spooky Halloween art:

Three ACEO's (art cards), just 2.5" x 3.5" ORIGINAL tiny works of art. Affordable and collectible little gems that are sweeping Ebay. Just put ACEO or "art card" in your Ebay search. The three cards you see here are original collages sealed with THICK coats of textured sealer (not visible in the photos); the edges are painted black so that they can be displayed without a frame (just like a regular wall painting) or propped anywhere you want; and they will NEVER wrinkle or bend, these are sturdy little guys. Or they can be collected and stored in baseball card sleeves, which is what art cards were originally intended for. Great idea, no? Whoever came up with the idea of tiny art that is easily stored and fits in a baseball sleeve, was a genius. Even if your living space is small, you can own hundreds of original and editions of tiny art. It will be listed on Ebay starting September 29 and the number is:
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"Lilly stops by on Halloween night" ACEO 2.5" x 3.5"

"Every Halloween night Lilly peeks in to say hello. See her slowly coming into focus... or does she have something else in mind for you than just a hello? As much as you want to, do not engage Lilly in conversation. She needs company as she slowly fades out of view.... and you don't want to be her company, oh, my no! Let her go... let her go... you will see her again next year at Halloween."

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Now a departure from my Halloween ghostly theme. This ACEO is called "Asian Dreams II" and is 2.5" x 3.5" made with collaged gold foil paper which emulates the sun tinkling down upon our dimensional raised bee. Made with: Bee and Flower soap paper, decoupaged red tissue paper, alcohol ink on photo paper background*, thick coats of texturized acrylic to make it last and give it yummy texture. Black edges. Guaranteed never to warp. Fits in an ACEO art card sleeve. Listed September 29 on Ebay and the number is:

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*Alcohol ink on photo paper is a technique learned in Pat S's inspiring ACEO class. I've scanned a sheet below so you can see another version of an alcohol ink on photo paper background that could be cut up and made into ACEO's or collages. I especially like the way the chemicals on the photo paper make the paint craze which adds a vintage look. Just take a piece of photo paper, dap on alcohol ink and either dap the spots of ink with a spone or pick up the paper and roll and drip the ink around on the paper. The crazing effect was done by repeating the process of dripping more ink onto the same already inked area. With enough alcohol, the area began to craze. The key here is to experiment - this method is not predictable and lots of beautiful patterns and shapes emerged.

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Last but not least, I won a first place blue ribbon at the St. Joseph County Grange Fair for my "Bee and Sunflower" small watercolor painting. (modest bow) My reiki instructor's husband also won a blue ribbon and I'll post pics of his beautiful landscape soon.

I'll post more pictures of the fair in a couple of days. It's a special earthy harvesty old-fashioned fair, with some antique buildings still used, and lots of ag stuff like 600 pound pumpkins, 4-H displays, beautiful mosaics made out of beans and grains, white picket fences still stand in front of the ag displays. And it's huge. I've heard people say it's bigger than the state fair. It even has a separate "children's fair" complete with lots of rides, it's own midway, a very cool real farm on about 1/8th of an acre with pathways that wind through it. We're lucky to have this special fair in our area.

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Here's a puzzler - perhaps one of you bloggers out there might know... my blog counter shot up by almost a thousand. Is that possible? Maybe I've been linked somewhere and don't know it. Anybody got any ideas? I'd like to think that my blog is especially interesting, but there might be some other reason, ha ha. Nope, I haven't been sitting here hitting my own blog either. Maybe it's the "Ghost Hunter" in the title? That really is an excellent show and one of our favs. Hmmmm..... (?) Leave a comment if you've got any ideas.

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*Buyer owns the work of art; artist retains the copyright unless special arrangements have been made with the buyer.

Halloween Black Kitty Cat

2007-09-17T15:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the newest addition to my smilin' black cat collection... "Miz Kitty" made by EBSQ artist Stephanie. Isn't Miz K a sweetie. Stephanie is a glass artist and forged Miz K in her new glass kiln. She's hand-made of black and white glass and has a bright sunflower yellow flower in her red hat band. Lot's of tiny detailed work - nice job, Steph :) You can see her hanging just to the left eye of the big cat on the top of my collection. Git out there and BUY some real American art made by live American artists!

HaPpY FlOwEr..... Night monkey feet.... Deepak

2007-09-11T16:37:00.000-04:00

Happy flower.....

I love sunflowers. They are truly a magical plant. I mean really, look at them.... can anything that BEAUTIFUL be for real? Or are they a mirage? Here's one I am growing right outside my dining room window.

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Night monkey feet....

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Zen garden glass.....

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New book by Deepak Chopra

I'm just starting to read Deepak Chopra's 2006 book "Life After Death". Here's the quote from the jacket which is what made me want to read the book.....

"Who you meet in the afterlife and what you experience there reflect your present beliefs, expectations, and level of awareness. In the here and now you can shape what happens after you die."

It fits, no?

Be conscious. ***********************

PEACE,
Annie

Darling Lilly Dog

2007-09-10T11:03:00.000-04:00

Darling Lilly

Worlds sweetest dog.

"Mysterioua Sargasso Sea: Moonlight and Seaweed"

2007-09-04T17:53:00.000-04:00

Davie's fused glass paperweight "Mysterious Sargasso Sea: Moonlight with Seaweed" c 2007

David's fused glass paperweight from the same paperweight workshop that I took and posted previously. His paperweight is amazing - I only wish I were a skilled enough photographer to do it justice. It weighs in at a chunky 2 1/4 lbs. The deep midnight blue with the contrasting dark lime and teal seaweed swirling throughout is gorgeous.

Daydream....

Imagine a night when you and your beloved's ship is becalmed in the moonlight on the very mysterious Sargasso Sea. Shhhhh.... what's that you hear? The whispering of the whales? The sighing of sea sprites? The laughing of sea turtles? Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" plays gently in the background. Anything is possible on the mysterious Sargasso.

Enjoy your daydreams :),

Annie

PS: The Sargasso is an oasis of floating seaweed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean next to the Bermuda Triangle. The major ocean currents flow around it but not through it so it is an oasis of calm on the turbulent ocean. Many sea animals come to this area of calm to mate or safely lay their eggs. Just thought I'd let you know why "Midnight/Oasis" is appropriate here. Sailors and lovers beware! It is easy to get becalmed on the Sargasso ;)

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Wikipedia: The Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, lies next to the Bermuda Triangle. The term Super-Sargasso Sea is the dimension into which lost things go, whose existence was proposed by Charles Hoy Fort, writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. It may be thought of as the spontaneous, anomalous teleportation of an object into another dimension.

:)

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PS: My crystal ball/paperweight is entered in EBSQart.com's "Lifting the Veil: The Art of Divination" show. When you go to the EBSQart.com site, right on the first page scroll down and you'll see a current list of shows. Don't forget to sign up for a *FREE* patron's account and then you can vote in the shows too. Voting ends in this show on Sept. 29.

Framing Crazy! ..... Getting ready for the County Fair

2007-08-31T12:45:00.000-04:00

I've been framing like mad! I do my own framing. Getting ready to enter these in the St. Joe County Grange Fair. The fair in our county is really unique - this is an ag community so it's very farm oriented and a very old fair too, they recently celebrated their 100 year birthday! Some of the old antique buildings remain. They even have the little old white short picket fences around the displays of giant squash, huge corn, veggies, displays made by 4-H kids, pictures made out of beans) quilting (home arts building), tatting, and other cool displays. It's like taking a step back in time just to see the buildings, let alone go into them and see the old-fashioned displays. Many people come from out-of-state for the experience and spend the entire week camping on the fair grounds! There are truly a lot of people who come and it's usually pretty packed.

I'm HOPING for a blue ribbon on a painting this year, but I'd settle for ANY ribbon! I'm an award maven, never get enough kudos, they are a balm to my soul, heh :) (Most artists I know are they way, no?)

Now's your chance.... each one of these is for sale. If you'd like a:

cute bee (original watercolor painting in shadow box frame)
cute hanging-upside-down kitty (orig watercolor painting)
pair of poodles (giclee print)
original Halloween verse watercolor painting with original calligraphy and hand-painted frame with vintagey-Halloween pumpkins and spooky eyes on top, bottom and sides of frame
a small red hat lady gardener (original watercolor)
a large red hat lady gardener (original wc painting in antique frame) (would make a good gift for your Red Hatted auntie or friend)

If you're curious or serious, just e-mail me for prices and we can work out the details.

Wish me luck at the fair :)
Annie

Reiki Certificate.... and Morning Glory Flowers

2007-08-28T12:57:00.000-04:00

Open photos - any artist feel free to copy or paint with compliments of Annie M! Annie M! c 8/2007

I am happy to have gained my Reiki II certificate. Reiki is a form of hands-on energy balancing. The short version that I give is that it's a form of balancing the Universal healing energy that is always available to us; and it's the placing and holding of the therpists hands on energy points such as shoulders, head, elbows, etc. (they call these chakras) The long version is that it's a more spiritual therapy of balancing the healing energy that we all possess. The reiki therapist assists people to channel healing energy through their bodies. I have been getting this therapy once a week from Reiki Master Becky and it works for me! I'm happy to have completed the course to gain my Reiki II certificate. There is only one more level of reiki to complete, reiki III, and I hope to gain that within the next year.

Reading books is a good way to learn about reiki (or anything). There's one called "Essential Reiki" which I haven't bought yet, but it's on my Amazon wish list. I've also read part of a book by Barbara Brennan (sp) on healing energy. It was a detailed book and I found it a little complex to read, I never made it through the whole book even though I've started it twice.

Enjoy the *now*.... and ~R~E~L~A~X~ :)

Annie

Waitin' for the cable guy.... Miniature Sunflower

2007-08-19T15:18:00.000-04:00

Waitin' for the cable guy to call.....

.... and waiting....

.... and waiting....

... and ........

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Below is a miniature sunflower. The bud was there most of the summer and always looked like it was on the brink of bursting forth... getting bigger and bigger, it sure was S-L-O-W to open. Then, finally, it did bloom the other day.

Enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer :)

Annie

Carole's bird bath

2007-08-14T20:41:00.000-04:00

Isn't this cute? I call it a seat for a hummingbird, ha! It's the handle of a china cup that our next door neighbor Carole incorporated into the mosaic bird bath she just finished. Also a pic of the bird bath's first customer, a blue bird. It's amazing what one can do with a little ingenuity and some broken china! Voila, a beautiful bird bath.

Don't forget to water the birds in this hot weather,

Annie

ACEO Art Card "Asian Dreams" from Bee & Flower Soap

2007-08-10T18:35:00.000-04:00

Asian Dreams c 2007 Annie M! Annie M! 2.5" x 3.5" collectible art card
Ebay #:

This is a new collectible art card or ACEO from a class that I'm taking from the talented artist Pat S. Check out her art at her website here: http://www.patwiley.com The class is designed to mix it up and get us to think outside the box. I love looking at collage but have never made one before. This is made with soap papers from Bee & Flower soap that is purchased at the health food stores. I've bought Bee & Flower soap for many years, mainly for the paper and beautiful way it is wrapped with gold seals and tissue paper with Asian writing on it. I've accumulated quite a stack of soap papers that I've FINALLY found a use for on this aceo. Most of the artists I know tend to be accumulators of needful thingies. Last year I threw out a whole bag of mint tins that I'd saved - little did I know that they art hot on the artists circuit for making altered mint tins, cool dolls and collages and ACEOs. Oh, well, spilt milk.....

ACEO's (art cards editions and originals) are collectible affordable little art cards, only 2.5" x 3.5", made to fit in a baseball card sleeve, and are ~H~O~T~ on Ebay. Just type ACEO in your Ebay search. I know I keep plugging them, but they are a fun place to discover other artists; and to be discovered. So far I've seen two artists' work skyrocket and I wish I'd bought more of their work when ".....I knew them when....". Which artist will you discover? Maybe ME, ha ha.

PEACE,
Annie

Cartoon Kalama Zoo

2007-08-09T19:31:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a funny old cartoon about the name Kalamazoo compliments of Jen J who lives in Cali of Fornia. I thought it was SOoooo funny because Kalamazoo is my old home town and people have made funny of the name since forever. Evidently Merry Melodies picked up on the name and produced this old cartoon - looks like from the 30's or early 40's. The old cartoons are kind of weird and Twilight Zoney rather than funny in my humble opinion - kind of like bad dreams with a hint of funny. Can't believe we raised a whole generation of kids on them (like moi, perhaps?). It is a hoot and I'm going to pass the link onto the Kalamazoo Gazette because they publish stuff about funny uses of the name Kalamazoo. Having grown up there, we all think the name is normal, but I guess it is funny to those not used to it. Who would guess it's a major art community and is actually a good sized small big town (if that makes any sense?). Kalamazoo sounds like everyone living there should look like some sort of zoo animal, no? Maybe we do and just don't know it, HA! I include myself in the "we" since we hope to move back to my old town at some future date. Here is the link:

http://www.archive.org/details/merrie_melodies_a_day_at_the_zoo

If you can't access it, let me know and I will try again.

Enjoy the hot sultry summer night,
Annie

New Paintings Red Hat Gardener.... Echinacea

2007-08-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

Echinacea Flower c 2007

Hi All:

I plan to reserve this echinacea flower for a painting I'd like to do. Big thanks to Becky H ((((Becky)))) for the echinacea plant!

Also two new paintings, one is a bigger work for me, 12" x 16" (the one in the red hat), the other is 6" x 6". Both are for sale on Ebay at this time.

and version two:

copyright 2007 Annie M!

Honey Bee Sunflower LoVe ACEO Art Card

2007-07-31T21:45:00.000-04:00

Honey Bee Sunflower LoVe.... and in an ACEO version (2.5" x 3.5")

Art of the Day on EBSQ site

2007-07-30T13:27:00.000-04:00

YAY! My humorous ACEO (Art Card) has been selected for EBSQ's art of the day! Got to EBSQart.com and it's on the main screen up on the right side. This ACEO is also for sale on Ebay #220135038859. Check 'er out, "Middle Aged Crazy" is a woman going crazy from the heat and mini-drought here in Michigan, so she dyed her hair red, bought a red bikini and dove into the nearest body of water. Sound good? Let's go!

---SOLD---

And another ACEO (art cards) listed on Ebay tonight. To see these on Ebay just go to the Ebay number above and hit "view sellers other auctions".

Mother Sun Goddess

```SOLD```

All are 2.5" x 3.5" and shipped in a protective ACEO sleeve.

Paper Weight

2007-07-12T17:58:00.000-04:00

"Sargaso Sea: Jelly Fish and Seaweed Fused Glass Paperweight" The mysterious Sargaso Sea - sailor's beware! c 2006 Annie M! Annie M!

This paperweight is a result of the fused glass paperweight making class. VERY interesting class taken in a glass artists' studio located in a vintage downtown factory building. The building itself was a neat experience and it houses many interesting studios including yoga, glass studios, a metalsmithy, photographers, painters, and like interesting sorts. Remember, when you can, to HELP support the arts by BUYING something once in a while. Yep, that's right. Open up those purse strings and actually BUY something for fun. Keep American artists alive and working - where would we all be without our eye candy?

This weighs 2 1/4 pounds so it's a weighty little item (pun, pun). I'll pretend like I intended it to turn out like it did, but it was 40% intent (ok, ok, maybe 10% intent) and 60% happy accident with the skill of an excellent teacher thrown in. We worked in front of a 2000 degree kiln just like the big kids do and got to use many strange and wonderful glass working tools.

I lost pictures of the actual class during the installation of my new computer... but I'm still looking and will post them when and if I can find them. I know three people right now who are tearing their hair out trying to install new computer equipment. Does it really have to be this tough?

Anyway, take an art class when you can and help to support real-life down-to-earth honest-to-gersh living artists.

P.S. DON'T FORGET TO PUT WATER OUT FOR THE GROUNDLINGS AND YOUR OWN PET DURING THIS HOT DRY WEATHER!!!

Annie

Thinking Blogger Award

2007-07-10T09:42:00.000-04:00

I'm very happy to get the Thinking Blogger Award (look at the top of my blog and you'll see it up there). We've nominated a few of our favorite blogs too.

Keep on bloggin',
Annie

Gerbera Daisies

2007-07-08T19:52:00.000-04:00

I've been fascinated with the BiG BrIgHt gerbera daisies this summer. They are bright primary colors that lend themselves easily to mixing into my favorite Mexicana fiesta colors. So far I've gotten reds and oranges, but I sense a purple in my future. They seem to be surviving our almost-draught here - but then I've been keeping my plants well watered (but not my poor grass).

COMING SOON: I'm working on 6 new paintings that will be posted here shortly. If you are a member or patron of EBSQart.com, stop by and vote on my painting tonight in the "Local Creeps" show. Mine is the last one on the page, a caricature of Rick and his telescope looking at my favorite local creeps - the Little Green Men. It's easy to become a member of EBSQart.com, just log-in and give yourself a password and you can vote in all the shows. ***LATE FLASH: TODAY, JULY 8, IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE*** I think being a patron is free (correct me if I'm wrong, please). Now I know that BROWSING there is free, so stop by. You are guaranteed to find your favorite art there because it is the biggest online community of artists in the world :) Here's my entry:

DON'T FORGET YOUR PETS IN THIS HOT WEATHER AND BRING THEM INSIDE.

Drink lots of water and stay hydrated,
PEACE,
Annie

Ground cover

Reiki I Certificate......... Special Pink Roses

2007-04-06T10:50:00.000-04:00

I am especially happy and honored to receive my Reiki I practitioner certificate. There are four levels of reiki training and I hope to gain them all. Reiki is learning to channel the natural healing energy of the Universe through your hands and how to direct it into yourself or a client. I'm getting reiki treatments from a Reiki Master and teacher, Becky H.

Several years ago I received reiki treatments from a reiki master who has since moved away from the area. I was so happy to read Becky's column about the cycles of the earth in our local newspaper and that she was accepting new reiki clients. Becky definitely has the "gift" of reiki, and also the gift of teaching an interesting class. It was so fascinating! We students were totally absorbed from beginning to end.

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Special Roses c 2007

Happy healing

Hi Carole - Michigan Weather :)

2007-04-05T10:01:00.000-04:00

Hi Carole:
Put my lawn chair out and sat in the sun two days ago, and look what greeted us today :)

Ann

NFAC - NibbleFest Art Contest on Ebay

2007-03-20T11:18:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Birdie c 2007

And here is tonight's entry in Ebay's NibbleFest Art Contest. Just type NFAC in your Ebay search and after 7:00 pm tonight you'll see some amazing art starting at just $.99! Where else on earth could you bid on original art for so cheeeeep. Fantasy Birdie is a signed original by yours truly. Birdie's image area is approx. 12" long by about 5 or 6" wide. Done in India ink, metallic silver acrylic ink, colored pencils done on mustard heavy weight charcoal paper. Much prettier than my scans. She's a cutie and wants to go home with you :) Check out Ebay # .

Have a ~P~E~A~C~E~F~U~L~ spring day,
Annie

Anticip-p-p-ation (Spring)

2007-03-19T15:05:00.000-04:00

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c 2007

First ~s~m~e~l~l~ of spring

2007-02-21T17:46:00.000-05:00

This one's for you :)

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First smell of spring is in the air today temporary as it may be. The smell of wet ground, as opposed to frozen ground. YAY!

Your assignment: run outside and sniff the air ;)

"Winter Wonderland" is back in Michie

2007-02-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

Winter Wonderland c 2007

Man with Snowblower c 2007 ;)

We here in Michigan are paying for our globally-warmed first half of the winter. 10 degrees sounds perfectly balmy! We've had record breaking lows again and again. How's the weather where you live? At first I had titled this photo "Old Man Winter" which is what winter is called around here. But Winter Wonderland, even though it is a government-made-up-slogan sounds much better at this time of year ;)

What's happening in your world?

Bye,
Annie

Hurry, hurry ! Nibblefest art contest ends in two days :)

2007-01-25T19:53:00.000-05:00

Hurry, hurry! The Nibblefest art contest on Ebay ends in two days. Not much time left to bid on such a wide variety of unique art, all with a musical theme and all starting at $.99. Just type NFAC into your Ebay search to see them all. Lots of people are bidding and out of 54 entries, almost everyone has at least one bid and some have many bids and are going for decent prices. I'm ecstatic that my angel (see two posts below) has already gotten six bids. I'm always happy when my art goes out there and into the world and is enjoyed and shared - that's what it's all about.

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Do you like crafting? And especially the needle arts? I've got a new blog listed below and on the left of this screen called "Crafty Daisies". You'll see a lot of beautiful needlework there, so check 'er out.

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Gotta get painting on a Valentine's Day card I'm working on to auction on Ebay. I'll keep you posted.

Advice o' the day: Go outside at NIGHT and look at the stars :) Just for a minit, it's worth it.
Peace,
Annie

Rick's Tadpole Nebula Astrophoto

2007-01-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

This is an image of the Tadpole Nebula and the little tadpoles are real celestial objects. Rick just did a special effects 3d version for fun. For the real deal go here:

Ricks Astronomy Journal

Annie

Nibblefest Art Contest - Red Headed Angel

2007-01-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

Here is my entry into this month's Ebay Nibblefest art contest. Just put NFAC (for NibbleFest Art Contest) in your Ebay search and see more great art. Search Ebay # 220073886253. All NFAC entries are required to start the bidding at only $.99. Such a DEAL! How could you not bid ;) This month's theme is music and musicians. I currently have this in a new gilt frame. The winner gets their choice of framed or unframed.

Happy Ebay-ing,
Annie

Ice Storm 2

2007-01-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

More ice storm shots. It sure was beautiful. When outside you can hear a constant tapping from thousands of ice coated branches tapping against each other. Many huge cracks too as big limbs broke in two and downed power lines, phone lines etc. It may have looked beautiful but our neighbors have a different take on it when they stop by our house a couple of times a day to borrow buckets of water to flush their toilets and wash up with. YUCK. I hate roughing it in my own house.

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Invasion of the Giant Cats

Kitty Smile.....

2007-01-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

What little word play do you notice in the picture below? (ok, slightly misspelled, but still word play)

Smile 2007

New Beginnings... Michigan Moon 2007

2007-01-02T19:55:00.000-05:00

Michigan Moon c 2007

A beautiful Michigan moon on January 2, 2007 - a good omen for a new era. WELCOME HOME, DEMOCRATS :) :) :)

Did you see the meteorite shower a couple of weeks ago? We saw the biggest most beautiful meteorite we've ever seen - we thought it was a firework. A friend actually saw tails on a few, and different colors.

What did you do on New Years Eve? Did you watch the old "Twilight Zone" reruns on Sci-Fi? I look forward to them every year and never get tired of them. Rod Serling was a utopian visionary and I think that "Twilight Zone" and the original "Star Trek" are where a lot of socially conscientious boomers received many of their moral and liberal ideas. We also watched Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth". Gotta admit that if you live in Michigan we actually ARE living the global warming. Our grass is bright green and I was outside in my BARE FEET today, when usually we've got zero temps and oodles of snow and ice at this time of year. (Ok, ok, so I'll admit that I've been known to go outside in my bare feet even when it IS zero, teee) The down side is that the sky is actually acting like a globally warmed greenhouse, completely socked-in with clouds probably 5 days out of every 7. And that's being generous, we didn't see the sun for several 2-3 week stretches and that's waaay too long to go without sun. (As a matter of fact, does that scenario remind you of an old Twilight Zone episode???) I don't miss struggling with driving in the snow... and love these warmer temps. But it does seem rather strange; it makes everybody feel kind of out of synch with Mother E. And I'd rather struggle with the snow than know that global warming is just around the corner (or here already) :oO

What's new in your area of the zoo? What are you doing to help stave off global warming? Recycling? Eating greener and more locally grown (and eating less food)? Driving less?

PeAcE,
Annie

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2006-12-15T12:15:00.000-05:00

***** MERRY CHRISTMAS ****

Here's your 2006 Christmas card from me. Enjoy!

Production notes: Watercolor, pen and ink, acrylic ink, metallic ink, collage, paper cutting - all of the stars are 3-D and applied with foam tape. All cards are a giclee print of the original painted pine tree with all the embellishments hand applied. (whew!)

ABSOLUTELY the merriest Christmas ever to you this year.... and don't forget to squeeze in a little Peace and Goodwill toward all. (yes, even in the long long lines at the grocery store!)

Merry Christmas! Vintage Angel Ornies

2006-12-09T16:12:00.000-05:00

Vintage angel ornaments. I love the old dollhead angels with the GREEN plastic hair - true kitsch :)

M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S-!

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OK, here are pics of my vintage and beaded purses for the artists at eBSQ who wanted to see them. Most of these were my MIL's, she was a real purse person and had great taste. The little box purse is my fav. One is newer, the red and white beaded one in the upper right corner. Are you all looking forward to Monday (Dec. 11th's) EBSQLive chat about beaded embroidery? I am! Even though these half purses are machine beaded, they're beautiful too. But nothing beats hand-beading, and I'm curious to see how it's done.

Have a good one.

Francine Discovers Trees

2006-11-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

Francine discovers trees. c 2006

It was funny to watch Francine tear across the yard, launch her big bulk at the tree and then heave herself onto a branch :) Look at those self-satisfied eyes. For a few brief minutes, Francine was able to turn into her jungle cat ancestors and be a real Cat. She loved it.
Happy Painting,
Annie

Progress "Harvest" Painting

2006-11-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

Little more progress, still far from done. New layers of burnt orange and deep moss green are painted over the sunflower petals and stem and leaves.

"Michigan Harvest" Painting

2006-11-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

The painting below is "Harvest" and I'm getting it ready for a local competition. Wish me luck! What you see here is the first under-painting, with a little more finished look to the peas on the left side. They're far from done though. I'll be adding a background color of the yellowy glowy smoke-filled blue that the sky is filled with in Michigan in the fall. (Especially now, since they've closed a local recycling center and everyone around here burns their leaves now, choke, choke). I love playing with perspective, or the "ant's eye view" of things, and you can really tell with this painting. The plants are leaning hungrily toward the sun. Here are some close-ups. As I progress on this, I'll add more photos as I go along and make this into a short tutorial (once an art teacher, always an art teacher I guess). Who am I influenced by with this painting I ask? Tim Burton on this one. We just finished watching his "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" with Johnny Depp.

Have a great T-Day,

AnNiE

All work is copyrighted 2006 to the artist.

Grasses in a Michigan Winter.... and "Harvest" new painting

2006-11-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

Grasses in a Michigan Winter

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Another Milestone

2006-11-19T16:05:00.000-05:00

Coming up on another milestone here.... check my blog counter (above) and the 15,000 person get's a free hand-made card made by me :) Just e-mail me if you think you're the one. (no, 14,990 of them aren't from me, teee)

ACEO's New Listing

2006-11-16T20:16:00.000-05:00

Here are several more ACEO's (art cards) that I'm going to list on Ebay (I'll post the Ebay numbers later). These are originals, I just made them slightly different each time - one foot is in the sock and the other out ;) The third one down has a 3-D effect that's hard to see in the pics - I have cut out little socks and attached them to the feet. These little gems are available along with tons of other collectible affordable art cards on Ebay. Just type ACEO or art cards into your Ebay search. They are only 2.5" x 3.5", just right to fit in a baseball card sleeve (they all come with plastic sleeves included). I like this current fad mania of collecting art cards. People can collect original art and it's reasonable, little and easy to keep. Collectors can use the same sleeves baseball collectors use or do what I do, give them as bookmark gifts or attach them to my computer monitor to look at every day.
***...k, here are the Ebay numbers. If you go to one of them, you can see the rest by going to "view sellers other items" on the right of the auction page. They won't start until Saturday night, the 18th:
220050423192
220050424409
etc.

My first four ACEO's ever sold well. Last week I sold 3 out of 4 listed, so I'm hoping to do the same with these. I have a million ideas, only limited by how fast I can get them down on paper. I like the word play - last week my "BE Eccentric" card sold first (see below), so I'm trying to add a word play card every time I make a batch. Whatcha think of these? I'll post the Ebay numbers later today.

Now the ~B~I~G~ question.... are YOU ready for Turkey DAY????? Can it possibly be happening next week? I am not prepared, but will be by the day. How 'bout you?

"Knock your socks off" C '06

Witchy Feet Copyright '06

HaPpY ToFuRkEy DaY,
Annie

Illustrators' studios

2006-11-14T20:42:00.000-05:00

A very kewl site found by LilJ. Pics of illustrators' desks and work spaces. I liked it because a lot of them had the same silly toys on their desks that I do. Take a peek, here it is:
http://www.on-my-desk.blogspot.com/

Snow Globe Christmas Card Design

2006-11-09T17:45:00.000-05:00

Here is the original "Snow Globe" painting for this year's Christmas card. What cha think? Any illustrators out there who'd like to comment? Constructive criticism is like gold to me. Yes, I've been told that some of my work is Larson-esque. I take that as one of the highest compliments ;) After all those years of enjoying Larson in the paper, I'm naturally inclined to illustrate with hints of Larson in my style. I think.

"Let it snow globe, let it snow globe, let it snow globe" (sung to the tune of "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow." Copyright 2006

Paint on,
Annie

Frannie in Leaves..... Did you vote?

2006-11-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Mouse Shopping

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Christmas cards under production
>

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How did the election turn out where you live? Did you vote the peace ticket?

Annie

ACEO Ebay numbers

2006-11-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

And..... if you just can't wait to bid in on one of my little art cards gems (in the post below), here are the Ebay numbers:
220045687395 (Sunset)
220045691743 (Eccentric)
220045868111 (Tulip)
220045873156 (Snow Globe)
All start at $4.99 with $1.50 shipping, such a DEAL!

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Did I ever post these? I think I'm getting senile. I just found them in my "draft" folder and can't find that I've ever posted them. Anywho.... here is one of a set of church paintings I did with oil pastels (oil sticks). I am re-posting this as someone had a question about how to work in oil paints. "Cobbly Little Church with the Gnarly Little Parsonage"
Finger-painted oil sticks, acrylic ink, India ink, canvas, 6 coats varnish

Can you imagine what the gnarly little parson looks like?

My two little churches are filled with whimsy. The god who dwells here is loving, peaceful and has a sense of humor (now, don't you think that God would need a good sense of humor to deal with we silly human beings and all our stubbornness from time to time?). The parson has a golden heart and looks after the members as a flock needing tending. The church door is open and the light streaming out beckons one in, up the cobbly little steps and into the rough-hewn hand-made wooden benches. The cool air streams through the open parsonage windows. See the dove of peace in the sky.

The frame is a quality hard-wood frame and the mat is archival acid-free Crescent mat board. (The yellow church is in an antique frame) The process was finger-painted oil pastel sticks (oil paint with a slightly harder exterior so they can be held in stick form). I used my fingers, toothpics, q-tips, cardboard strips, and even a brush once or twice, and anything that worked to "paint" these. Then I highlighted them with acrylic and india ink. They took MANY weeks to complete and are coated with 6 coats of varnish. They are sturdy enough that they would probably withstand a tank rolling over them. All art, even sturdy oil paintings, needs to be kept from moisture and daylight. They are both available, so drop me a line if you are interested. Both are recessed under glass to avoid the tragedy of having the painting stick to the glass after years and years. Believe it, this has happened to paintings done by famous painters too!

Here's a new way to display my work in case you'd like to see what it would look like over YOUR sofa. (Thanks for the sofas, Visual! I thought they would look better than my 1970's burnt orange sofa with the cigarette burns in the arms ;) ) "

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Hope you are havin' a good evening where you are tonight and....
PEACE,
annie

ALL ART SEEN ON THIS SITE IS COPYRIGHT TO THE ARTIST AND MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DUPLICATED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE ARTIST. If you're interested in duplicating my work, drop me a line and maybe we can work something out. ALL ART COPYRIGHT PROTECTED BY EBAY'S VERO PROTECTION PROGRAM. Please respect the rights of all Earthlings.

ACEO - Art Cards

2006-11-04T15:56:00.000-05:00

Copyright 2006 Annie M! Annie M!ACEO's are the latest fad on Ebay. They are tiny little masterpieces of original and editions of art, only 2.5 x 3.5" wide. They are affordable and collectible. I'm trying my hand at these and have made 8 so far, 3 of which I'm satisfied with. I will list these on Ebay starting at $4.99. Yup, that's right. For the fun of it, it is suggested that we all start these at a low price so people can afford to buy, sell and trade. They are a fun thing and fit in the same sized sleeves that baseball cards fit in. So if you see any that you like, now's your chance to contact me.

Let me know whatcha think.

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Trying out some Christmas card ideas.... I will be adding glitter to this snow globe to simulate snow. "Snow globe" c '06

Are you ready for..... THANKSGIVING? How did that happen so fast, no?
Peace,
Annie

Endings

2006-10-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

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My photos seem to be about endings lately. Well, fall is the time of endings, isn't it? Are you all set for Halloween? What are you giving out? Since our street doesn't have a streetlight, we never get any trick or treaters :( Last year my cousin and I drove around the neighborhoods just to see the kids' costumes and to reassure myself that yes, there really is still a Halloween and kids still go door to door. One of my favorite parts of Halloween is all the local ghost stories published in the paper. And of course the old horror movies on tv. How 'bout you? What are you watching on tv during this witchy season? Got any ghost stories to tell?

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UFO? Here's a pic of something we don't see much of here in Michigan. (Answer: Below the picture.)

(Answer: A clear blue sky.)

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Any artists reading this blog? Well, I tried to give up art for awhile, but found that I couldn't and still keep my sanity. A friend once said to me that "artists can't help it"... and I think he was right ;) I'll be posting my new creations on this blog from time to time; all are available unless otherwise noted. I guess all artists go through this phase - throw down those brushes and swear they'll never paint again. Well, I think my subconscious was still working on it because I emerged with even more ideas for paintings. Now I'm only limited by how fast I can get the ideas down on paper. I'm trying on a new fad called Art Cards which are little works of original art sold and traded on Ebay. Just look up ACEO in your Ebay search and you'll see thousands of these little gems. They're like baseball cards for art lovers. They're "affordable and collectible". I'm also getting back into my whimsical greeting cards, so if you've got a special person you'd like a card or cards for, drop me an e-mail. The black poodle note cards I made for the poodle owner were a hit. All I need is a photo of the pet. Got any ideas for a children's book? Having illustrated one published children's book, I still long to do another one.

Have a happy and haunted Halloween,
Annie

The Dash Movie

2006-10-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

"Exit" 2006

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Hi Bloggers:

Here's a little three minute movie called "The Dash Movie". Beautiful and inspiring shots of Mother Earth and inspiring message.

http://www.thedashmovie.com

And here's my own inspiration from Mother Nature... our neighbor's burning bush. It only turns red once a year and it's gorgeous.

Are any of your bloggers still out there, reading my long-neglected blog? Nancy? LilJ? Dan? Carole? Shelby? Yoo-hoo, anyone still there??? (*waving at bloggers*)

See ya,
Annie

New Scooter Kitty

2006-09-13T12:23:00.000-04:00

Here's a pic of new Scooter. She went from skinny runt to sleek and healthy. We're having a few problems integrating her with William.... maybe after we get her neutered things will quiet down?

Have you ever read Mother Theresa's Prayer? I'm sure she wrote many, but usually this one particular one is referred to as her prayer. Heady stuff. She was quite the spiritual warrior. When I read the prayer I get a reaction like I do when I hear about Einstein's theory of relativity - that is, I understand it for a split second, then the second is gone. There are three parts and here's a sample of one line "Deliver me O Jesus from the fear of being ridiculed." And "That others may be loved more than I, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it." Wow. I probably won't be reading that particular prayer too much because it's a lot to aspire to for us little human's, ya know. But it's an amazing prayer that you can probably find through Googling. Interesting that this powerful person, Mother T, lived during our lifetime.

This pic's dedicated to Mother T. "Morning Glory".... and she sure was, wasn't she.
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What have you all been doing on these last days of summer? Interesting, there are NO leaves that have even started turning on our maple. Have you been to your County Fair? Ours is running next week and it's one of the oldest fairs around, over 100 years old. Yum, love that greasy fair food that you can only get from those little vendors in the white trailers. I've heard there's a new treat going around, a deep-fried Oreo cookie coated with batter. I'm going to see if they've come here yet and clog my arties with one if they do. Sorry arteries, but once a year I just gotta do it ;)

Have a peaceful smooth day,
Annie

2006-08-31T12:14:00.000-04:00

Isn't Mimi cute :) Mimi is a miracle cat - we needed to find a home for her when her owners decided to move into assisted living, and guess what? We found a good home on the very first phone call. (!) Can you believe it? We couldn't.

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What's wrong with this picture? (remember, this is in Michigan on the last day of August today).

What's wrong with this picture... The grass is GREEN and usually in August our grass gets burned out and lawns look pretty bad. Is this global warming? There are bumper crops in Michigan of corn and soybeans and fruit this year. A farmer told us he was getting 100 bu per acre of soybeans which I hear is unheard of. (Hope I've got that right, 100 bushels, but don't quote me on it). The corn looks amazingly healthy, just bursting out of the fields. All the fruit we get at stands, farmers markets, and at the grocery is beautiful. Well, I'm not saying that global warming is a good thing now.... we may change our tune if and when the sea levels rise. But for this time and space, Michigan is enjoying an amazing abundance.

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Happy morning glories.

Got a question for all you bloggers.... especially the lurkers that I hear from via e-mail once in a great while. We're thinking of changing this blog to one that you don't have to sign in for, no usuername and password. It seems that most people find it too cumbersome to have to sign in and choose a password and won't leave a comment.

See ya... and enjoy the last of the summer days,
Annie

Cooking with Fresh Garlic

2006-08-30T21:17:00.000-04:00

Here's the beautiful organic home-grown-absolutely-delicious garlic braid little bro made for my birthday. It's almost too pretty to eat, no?

Here's another little tidbit I learned about cooking with fresh garlic. I'm learning that you don't want to put the fresh garlic in right at first when you start cooking your dish; but wait until the last couple of minutes before the dish is done. I could really tell a difference - it seemed that the fresh garlic actually got kind of burned when I slow cooked it and changed flavor to not-so-good. Now that I'm adding it during the last few minutes of cooking, it tastes much better.

How about you? Ever tried cooking with fresh garlic?

Peace,
Annie

Mushroom Fairy Ring II

2006-08-27T18:27:00.000-04:00

Fairy Ring II.... after one night's growth in Michigan swampy humidity :)

Fairy Ring

2006-08-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Magical fairy ring....

How are all you bloggers out there?

PeAcE,

Annie

2006-08-19T18:05:00.000-04:00

Howdy bloggers (and lurkers too). Here are the Thursday Threesome questions courtesy of Dan's website/courtesy of Gina. You're welcome to comment away in my comment section:

Onesome: Free-- isn't always free! What "freebie" have you discovered over the years that really isn't?

Couldn't think of anything on this question. But it did remind me of the glory days when internet businesses first started. Remember the little "gifts" Amazon and others would put in the box like free bookmarks, a free magnetic frame, etc.? We even got a really cute stuffed animal pug from one company we ordered stuff from. We don't seem to get all the little freebies in the mail any more. Maybe because costs are so high and even the dot coms are watching their pennies?

Twosome: Amazon-- It's been a bit since we've done our Amazon Survey: do you use Amazon? Good? Bad? Indifferent?

We've been Amazon customers from the beginning and gotta say, we haven't had a single bad experience with them yet.

Threesome: Prime--Time! Are there any shows you are looking forward to seeing in the Fall lineup on TV? (okay, football counts ).

S-u-r-v-i-v-o-r :) Can't wait to see what island they'll be on this year. Also Big Brother is what makes summertime viewing fun. Who do you think will win this year? Will? Danielle? Chicken George? I think Danielle will win but Janelle will give her a run for her money.

Thursday Threesome... Recipe for Cooking Fresh Garlic

2006-08-12T14:39:00.000-04:00

Here is the 2nd part of my post today. Evidentally my post was too long so I had to split it in half.

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Here are the "Thursday Threesome" questions for this week. I think they are great questions just to chew the fat with (ahem, as we say here in the deep piney woods of Michigan, ha). Give them a try and post your answers in my comment section. All are invited. Come on, play along. I mean when was the last time people were interested, really interested in your opinions, huh? (*g*)

Here are the Thursday Threesome questions for this week...,

::Disc Golf Season::
Onesome: Disc--overy channel madness: did you catch the Mythbusters show with the bit about the Mentos and Diet Coke (episode 57)? Have you tried it at home yet? What am I talking about? Psst: it's a fun project with the kids...

I'd never heard of it so checked out the pics. It does look like a blast. What creative person (with too much time on their hands, ha) thought of it?

Twosome: Golf-- Do you play? Do you watch? Do you care? Even the Opens? Just wondering...

Lump me in with the don't play, don't care group. Actually I used to play on the leagues. Now I can think of 1,001 ways I'd rather spend my time.

Threesome: Season----ing salt? What spices do you routinely use when you're cooking up a little something for yourself? A little tarragon? Cinnamon? White pepper? What perks up a meal for you?

I received a beautiful organic fresh garlic braid from my little bro for my birthday. Wow, if you haven't tried fresh garlic, you should. Here's a quickie tutorial:... Buy a big fresh garlic with lots of garlic cloves on it. Take a couple of the cloves off. You don't have to worry about peeling it much, just flake off the outer loose skin. But DON'T peel off the inner protective skin around the clove. Don't cut off either end of the clove either. Think of it as being in it's own little protective skin. Just place it in the frying pan beside your stir fry and fry for 2-3-4 minutes or until toothpic inserted in it shows the inside is soft. Or bake for 3-4 minutes. Then let cool, peel off the outer skin and inside you'll find creamy fresh garlic to spread on your crackers. It's wonderful. Yes, you will smell like garlic for a day afterward, but think standing outside an Italian restaurant and smelling that great garlicy cooking. I like the smell of fresh garlic on people. (Did I mention that I was Italian, ha ha). If you run into any problems cooking it, just e-mail me or post it here and I'll get back to ya.

Peace and enjoy your new treat,
Annie

Thursday Threesome ...... The Nine Billion Names of God

2006-08-12T13:35:00.000-04:00

Wow... Michigan produce is in season and we are having a blast eating the freshest of the fresh from roadside stands and at the store - sweet corn, black sweet cherries (big Yum on that one), squash, blueberries, raspberries, green peppers, melons and on and on. They say the grape crop was ruined this year, but that everything else is enjoying a bumper crop because of the heat wave we had. Here's a pic of one of the days when the humidity was high (although it got much higher).

Have you ever heard of the science fiction book or short story (maybe by Arthur C. Clarke?) "The Nine Billion Names of God?" Reading the books I ordered from the Human Kindness Foundation made me think of the many different ways that people "believe" (or don't believe) and all the numerous names there were for God/The Force. Such as: The Force, God, The Tao, The Path, Allah, Buddah, The Way, The Great Spirit, Oneness or One, and probably about 9 billion more. Can you think of any more? Feel free to post them in my comment section :)

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First sunflowers

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Peace,
Annie

2006-08-04T17:28:00.000-04:00

:)

Hot tip for a calmer life: Go ahead and make your plans.... then let Life happen. (It will anyway.) Was it that great Philosopher of Life, Ziggy, who said "Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans".... or was it John Lennon? Right now I'm learning lots about life changing at the last minute, the last hour, the last second. How 'bout you?

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Here's something new I'm trying on my blog. It's called the "Thursday Threesome" and every week Dan posts three new questions that are great conversation. They're called "memes" in computer-land. I'll post my answers to the questions and you bloggers are invited to post your answers to the questions in my comment section. Ya know, you learn a lot about your fellow travellers lives when you just ask the right question. So click on "comments" below and let us know what you think :) (Dan's site where the questions originated is linked on the left of this screen. Thanks Dan.)

::Time to Fill::

Onesome:Time-- wasters in your life... Just a brief jump onto your soapbox: What is the biggest bother you have in this department? I mean, something you can post without incurring familial or job related problems ...

Whew, gotta say it's a slow lane at the grocery store checkout. It gives me a lot of opportunity to work on myself and my addiction to speed and time wasting. When I manage to collect myself, it can almost (emphasis on the almost) be an okay experience. Someone once told me there was something called "God's Time" when you feel like you are trapped behind a slowie, you're on God's time. Sounds good to me.

Twosome: to-- beat the heat! It seems like it's all sort of hot all over the Northern Hemisphere this Summer! What are you doing to handle the heat? ...and for those Down Under? Well, your turn may come in just a few months; do you have any plans for then?

I don't particularly like air-conditioned air, but I'm big-time thankful for it this summer. I'd rather be breathing the original oh-two even with all of it's pollen, pollutants and humidity. But this hot spell even broke a die-hard oxygen breather like me and we turned on the AC.

Threesome: Fill-- your cup with a cold something! What are you drinking this summer to keep cool? ...and if you're a tea drinker: is it "ice tea" or "iced tea"? Just curious...

Iced decaf coffee with loads of Splenda. Is it "iced" or "ice" tea. I think my old grammar teachers would have a fit if I didn't say "iced". But where I grew up we all drawled the last "ed" and it sure did turn into "ice tea".

How about you? When you're ready, post your answers in your own space, and leave a comment here so we can find you!

And if you use this link http://www.othersideofglenroad.org/backporch/index.php I think you can see the list of everyone else who has answered these questions too. Just copy and paste this linkage in your browsers bar. Go ahead take a peek, it's interesting.

Okay all, now your turn to comment here in my comment section. Aw come on, play along, puleeze ;)

PEACE,
Annie

"An Impatient Letter from God" by Lozoff... and.WATER YOUR PETS

2006-07-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

Hi All:
Here is a timely little story written by Bo Lozoff, the founder of the Human Kindness Foundation/Prison Ashram Project. Considering the politics and war going on in the world right now in the name of religion (and other factors), everyone should read this unique short story/letter "An Impatient Letter from God". Here is the link. I hope it works. If you can't just click on it to get to it, then copy this link and put it on the top line of your browser. This has been circulated widely on the internet without credit to Bo, but here's the original unedited version at this link

http://www.humankindness.org/godletter.html
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Don't forget in this hot weather to put WATER OUT FOR YOUR PETS and make sure they can get into the shade. Also put water out for the wild ones, the birds, squirrels, moles, etc. (although I'd rather the moles went somewhere else this year, ha) This hot humid weather is hard on everyone. It's especially hard on pets - how would you like to be outside when it's 95, humid and you're wearing a fur coat to boot!*?#*"! We use the flat pan from a big old flower pot as a groundling bath. I know you'll find something to put out there for them.

Peace (and I mean it),
Annie

Michigan Summer.... Human Kindness Foundation

2006-07-28T17:11:00.000-04:00

Need a little kindness? This old world could use a little kindness, no? Here's a site you might want to check out.... It's called the Human Kindness Foundation/Prison Ashram Project at http://www.humankindness.org (There is a link to this on the left side of this page, so you can just click on that and it should take you right to it.)
I'm reading "We're All Doing Time" by the founder, Bo Lozoff. Lots of deep and simple guides for meditation and spirituality. Bo Lozoff travels to prisons throughout the country, and also the world, and leads workshops for prisoners, guards, and everybody who is interested, on meditation and kindness. He's also written several books, sings, and has tapes available of his music, and also inspirational tapes at their website. Very interesting site, you should check it out.

Here's another neat site - Lorraine's site at http://www.meandthecat.com/
Stop by her site if you're interested in the musings of a 70-something tree-hugging bunny-hugging politically-minded lady with a great sense of humor :) Always something interesting to read at Lorraine's. (There's a link to Lorraine's site as well on the left of this page. Just click it.)

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Morning glories.

Tiger lillies from a week ago.

...ok, and what's this? Golf ball? Bird's egg? Nope, it's a perfectly round puff ball mushroom. Lots of them peeking out during these hot humid days.

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What have you been up to this summer? I've been on siesta from blogging and I'm hoping I still have a few bloggers out there? (waves) I'm thinking about changing my blog into some other form. I'll let you all (all 3 of ya, teee) know when I come up with a new format. What are blogs for anyway? Huh? I love reading and commenting on other people's blogs. But for my own? Hmmmmm..... gotta put some thought into it.

PEACE,
Annie

Patterns

2006-07-06T11:13:00.000-04:00

And, happy to report, the birth of three baby cactus. Here's one of them (below). I've got a request for a cactus start that I can now fulfill. There are actually cactus in the woods in Michigan (surprising factoid, no?), but not too many in people's gardens like mine - ours is huge. At it's peak we counted over 125 blooms one summer.

Reading Charles Dickens books..... ? ... Rick's Astro Photos

2006-06-29T11:56:00.000-04:00

Got a ? for you all.... somehow I missed reading Charles Dickens books (besides Christmas Carole, of course) so I decided to read a few of his most famous works. So I read "A Tale of Two Cities" and now I'm reading "Our Mutual Friend". Well, the question is, after (and during) reading "Tale" I found it a depressing sort of read. Now that I'm starting "Friend" I find THAT a depressing read. So I even had to put it down and start something else. Have any of you ever read Dickens? This is probably common knowledge that passed me by over the years, but is he noted for writing a slightly (to extremely) depressing tale? Somehow I always had thought "classics" were more upbeat like Ayn Rand, etc. How 'bout you? Got any comments?

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Do you like the stars? And the night sky? Stop by Rick's blog (See sidebar on left for "Rick's Astro Blog") because he's taken some amazing astro photos lately of beautiful nebulae and other star stuff all from our little old light-polluted driveway in damp humid Michigan! He's got a lot of special filters to filter out the junque light, but stop by his blog, you'll be surprised (and leave a comment while you're at it - that's what bloggers live for).
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See ya, go get some Vitamin D from old sol,
Annie

Cacti Bloom William the Cat Reads Dickens

2006-06-25T15:29:00.000-04:00

First cactus blooms of the summer....

Smart cat? He's reading "Our Mutual Friend" by Dickens.

UFO ? What is it?

2006-06-01T21:34:00.000-04:00

Taken a couple of nights ago - a 3.5 minute exposure. Interesting, no? You tell us what you think they are. UFO? Certainly unidentified. But what? Rick thinks it's airplane wing lights.... but he can't figure out why the airplane isn't showing up. (?) I think it's a mystery. Who knows? Any ideas? Photo is not doctored up. This is one of Rick's astronomical photos and you can see a faint image of the spiral galaxy that he was photographing off to the left of center.

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The Mouse Whisperer

SiEsTa Time

2006-05-08T21:20:00.000-04:00

On SiEsTa... will be back blogging at a later date. Happy Spring :)

Spring

2006-04-29T18:46:00.000-04:00

Weeds can be beautiful....
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Don't forget to stop by "Rick's Astro Pics" blog (see the left side of this page). He has several new astro photos up. Take a peek at our beautiful universe. :)

Dove Update.... Da Vinci Code.... SPRING

2006-04-24T17:46:00.000-04:00

Something is wrong with Blog Spot lately - this is my sixth attempt at posting a blog entry, so here goes again.... hope it works this time.

So far all is well with the dove family. BABIES have arrived, we don't know if one or two, but Rick and I have both seen one. YAYYYYYYY! We witnessed the changing of the guards where the male flew in and relieved the female sitting on the nest so she could get a drink out of the bird bath. Pretty cool dad, no? We also see him grooming her and sitting on the nest beside her. I didn't know these things were so interesting! My neighbor told me they mate for life and these two sure look like a loving couple.

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Are you eagerly awaiting the Da Vinci Code movie with Tom Hanks? We are EAGER! The whole crew is going to see it together at the movie theatre - no PPV this time. We read the book and we think it is an amazingly GREAT book! Our copy was passed around so much it looks like an old book now, but that's good. Books were meant to be shared. Da Vinci was an amazing painter and when you look at some of the very odd (bordering on down right weird) portions of the painting, ya gotta think that there is some symbolism going on there. He didn't make mistakes. For instance, look at the hand on Magdalene's chest... the fingers are 2 if not 3 times as long as a normal finger. Also, to be sure, it is definitely a woman sitting next to Jesus and not a man, i.e. Dan Brown's theory that one of the disciples(sp) was a woman. Have you read it yet? What do you think? If you'd like to see Da Vinci's Last supper painting just Google Da Vinci Last Supper and you'll see many many versions and that it's definitely a woman.

Click here for a hi-res zoomable image of 'The Last Supper'

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Spring Time on a Small Town Street

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PEACE,
Annie

Dove Update

2006-04-18T10:44:00.000-04:00

First tulips

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Dove update... so far the eggs haven't hatched, but there is furious nest reinforcement going on. The male is bringing the female many pieces of dried grass and together they're re-lining the nest. Could they sense that the babies are on their way? The male dove walks right across the female's back to re-arrange his pieces of grass - very funny. How cool would it be to be a mother bird and feeling the babies just beginning to stir and move around and peck at the egg? Very.

This is all taking place about 3 feet from our dining room window which is why we have a ringside seat. Below is kind of a crappy pic, but the best I could do without upsetting them. The female dove left her nest just for a few seconds today and this is her coming back and checking her eggs (see the one little white spot on the bottom that looks like camera glare? That is her egg).

These pretty asian-garden seedie thingies grow on our big maple tree in the spring. Aren't they neat. Wish they were around longer than a couple of weeks.

Happy Easter

2006-04-14T17:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter

2006-04-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

YEEEEeeeee HaaaaAAAAA....! Thanks to all you KIND bloggers who took the time to vote, my fantasy gnome home won a PATRON'S MENTION award! I LOVE awards of any size shape or kind, even the ribbons at the county fair, so you all have my eternal thanks and here's the cool little icon that I'll get to put on my painting and in my auctions, here:

If you'd like to see the winners, go to the ebsqart.com home page, scroll down to the middle and you'll see the "Springboard" show and click on it. Then on the next page, scroll down to the bottom of the page & you'll see the winners.

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Would anyone like a print of any of my fantasy gnomelet homes? If so just contact me, I'm giving a few out free for a limited time.

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Loyal little dove is still hard at work sitting on her eggs. No babies that we can see yet. Her mate visits her from time to time and gives her a peck in the head then does a little dance in the nest and then leaves. Hopefully he's dropping food off for her. (?) We've made double sure we have bird food, water and nesting materials out during her lay-in.

Mourning Dove Progress.....

2006-04-10T11:04:00.000-04:00

Becki's latest painting. Asparagus is a beautiful unusual veggie and Becki makes it absolutely magical. Of course, Michigan produces the best asparagus in the world, but that goes without saying. ;) This will be up for sale in a popular restaurant in downtown Kalamazoo, so I have a feeling that it will sell fast like her last paintings. Becki captures the essence of plants - beautiful, magical, and intelligent beings that they are.

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Loyal little mourning dove, still sitting on her eggs. The male came around yesterday and sat by her for a while. She does the "egg dance" which is shuffling around back and forth and turning her eggs slowly over and over (I think that's what she's doing anyway). Still no babies yet.

And here is a black bird I caught picking up the nesting material (cotton string) that I've been putting out in the back yard. I'm glad it's being put to good use. We've put out tons of cotton string in strips of 3, 4 and 6" and it's all gone by the next morning. Busy place, my backyard. We have a pair of doves, robins, cardinals, purple finch and blackbirds nesting in our skimpy trees, plus a lot of other birds who come here for string water and food. There are no leaves at all yet - I never realized what a precarious time spring is for the birds. They're all nest building but since there are no leaves yet, anybody and everybody can see those nests until the leaves come out which are several weeks away.

Three Rivers gets its 15 Seconds of Fame

2006-04-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

Tonight (Saturday) on the Hallmark channel at 8:00 pm (Eastern Daylight Savings Time - that's the time Michigan is on, sorry, I don't know what time that is where you are).... anyway there will be a movie entitled "Though None Go With Me" which is about the town of (drum roll).... THREE RIVERS! Unfortunately it wasn't filmed here, which sort of took some of the fun out of it for me anyway :( I don't know what kind of movie, whether it's good or not, or what it's about, but we're taping it anyway because it will be fun to hear references to local places. A local author wrote the book of the same name. That's quite a feat, isn't it, to get your work made into a movie! Hmmmm... what could it be that we are doing that's so interesting? I wonder if it's just that we are a classic small mid-western town, probably as "in the middle" as you can get. Well, we'll see....

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Waiting with anticipation......

Tip for bird watchers.....

We've cut up small (3" x 4" some 6") pieces of cotton string and spread them out on the lawn. We see the birds fly down and pick them up to build nests with. Building material must be in short supply around here, because they picked up about 60 pieces yesterday. Here is a new supply for today...

Congrats Becki!

2006-04-07T12:18:00.000-04:00

CONGRATULATONS Becki! On making the EBSQplus group! This is a special honor at the EBSQart.com artist community wherein an applicant's art work is voted on by fellow artists. GREAT job Becki!

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Dove Eggs

2006-04-06T16:39:00.000-04:00

... and eggs today! Although I don't hold much hope for the survival of the babies with such a low skimpy nest and it's right out there pretty much in the open. The windy season is coming up here soon, and a stray cat in the neighborhood, and racoons, etc. etc. Francine is a pretty smart cat and I've already told her "no" about the nest so she hasn't gotten into it. But if the babies ever hit the ground without my seeing it, it may be too much of a temptation for even the best behaved kitty. So I hope the babies survive, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One year I heard three doves singing in harmony. First one would sing their song (koo-ah-koo-koo-koo), then the second, then the third, then they'd all sing it together. They did this over and over which is harmony. Neat.

PS Thanks for the comments guys. I will be keeping Francine on a shorter leash and doing what I can to help these guys survive. And, YES, I will be checking the nest every day before I let her out so she won't get the babies. Thanks for the wake-up calls guys :) I needed waking up! It is too much to expect a cat not to go after the babies, even a smart cat like her so we'll be on guard duty for awhile ;)

Time to Vote :)

2006-04-01T12:45:00.000-05:00

And here's the dove's nest. Kinda skimpy, isn't it. I've seen her mate bringing her little branches to weave into the nest. I hope it gets bigger, but I've no idea how big they build their nests.

A dove in a nest(?) right outside our window. Kind of a skimpy nest? Maybe it's a baby being taught how to fly rather than a nest. When I went out to get Francine untangled from a bush, the bigger dove clipped me in the head with her feathers when she took off and this one remained behind. Last summer I got hit in the face with a bird nest falling out of a tree - felt like it was from a great height too. Whack. That'll wake ya up.

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Time to VOTE bloggers! Drop on over to the EBSQ site and vote for my green gnome home. Yes, your vote IS important - remember that even one vote can mean the difference between an award and no award. I shore would be greatful for anyone who wants to vote.

...k, here's all you do. Go to www.ebsqart.com; then scroll down the main page until you come to the show "Springboard" (it's a picture of a person's feet on a diving board) and click on it; then on that page go up to "See the show" tab and click on that; then on the next page, in the middle you'll see arrows to go to the next page of the show. Mine is the last one in row one on PAGE THREE. Click on it and you will see a "vote now" place. They will ask you to sign in as a "Patron" in order to vote. It doesn't cost anything, all you do is give yourself a name and password and from now on you can access the whole site including the interesting forums where the artists talk back and forth. It's a good show and a small show - only 4 pages of entries this time. So drop on by and see a lot of good art.

I'm working on two very large Madonnas to enter in the summertime competitions and finished two cobbly churches, all done in oil pastel sticks. I'll keep you posted on progress when I take some shots.

Do you have good weather where you are? Yesterday we were able to open the windows ALL DAY! Smelling the spring air after the stale indoor Michigan air ALL winter can be intoxicating, no?

Crewel Embroidered Pillows

2006-03-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

...k, Lil J. Here's a close-up of the pillows for ya. Granny made the granny square pillow (appropriate, no?), mom the two crewel embroidered pillows. For years I had the crewel pillows packed away as kind of "dated"; but then I realized how beautiful they were and now I treasure them. PS: Pay no attention to the cat hair on the sofa, please. ;)

Cat meets Robot

2006-03-24T11:18:00.000-05:00

A Day in Jetson's Land....

We wondered how our cats would act toward our new Roomba robot vacuum cleaner and after a little initial skulking and stalking - in typical cat fashion they went off and took a nap.

Anything to eliminate the drudge of housework in my book, that way I can spend more time painting. I've been a Jetson's fan all my life and I like the idea of a robot sweeping my floors. Wasn't the Jetson's robot named Rosie? Hmmmm.... I'm thinking of a name for this one. What do you think of Rosie? Got any ideas?

So far, I really like our robot vac, although I will reserve final judgment until after it has been around for awhile. But so far, it runs great and has gotten our floors VERY clean. Got to admit, this thing has found me out and discovered dirt where I hadn't been sweeping in a long time, like under the dressers, oops. Since this was our first roombot we weren't used to it and forgot to take-up some appliance cords and other dangly things we had lying on the floor. The robot will tip over your lamps and other stuff if you leave any cords on the floor where it can run over them and get tangled in them. I decided that I'd better not leave while it's running. But all in all, it got itself out of some tight situations. It got stuck under a dresser but whirled itslef around and around until it came to exactly the right place where it could fit to get out.

The local discount store had them on sale for $150 for a re-manufactured one. We've had good luck with remanufactured items. We think it's because if they were returned for any defect, the factory has made doubly sure they're in good repair when they go out again. Maybe I'll eat my words, but I'll keep you posted. One funny thing is that the words "I Robot" are on the front of the case. Isaac Asimov's science fiction series, the robot novels, especially "I Robot" are a great read. The movie with Will Smith was pretty good but definitely not as good as the book. I imagine my robot vac being made in the futuristic laboratory that was in the movie, ha ha.

Now, if only they put the floor scrubber on sale... think I've got a long wait for that one.

Kitty meets Roomba.... "Is that a new predator?"

I'd better keep and eye on this thing, it may be a predator....

Ho hum *yawn*, guess I'll go take a nap now. It's boring.

rightbrain/leftbrain

Hoping to breathe some new life into my old blog

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***MERRY CHRISTMAS ***

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MERRY CHRISTMAS