Visit with Dad

Just very quickly a quick hello to you all while my dad is visiting. I miss you and I miss blogging!! We are having a wonderful time with my dad and we are so happy he's visiting, as are Winslow and Ramses!
The weather has been gray, cold and drizzly - not too great, but alright for sightseeing and walking Winslow.
At lunch in a lovely restaurant on the Savannah River.

And here a fun little video of Winslow making his nest on our bed, a nightly ritual that I finally caught on camera:

I hope you are all doing well and am looking forward to when I'll have time to visit all of your blogs again regularly! And to all my friends in the US: "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Yarn on my mind...

Just take a look at this colorful yarn I got in the mail yesterday for a Christmas crocheting project or two. Can't wait to get started and eventually show you.
I also finished and listed a few more scarves - two in purple. The one above actually is a dark purple, which didn't show up so well in the photo.
And then this pretty lacy scarf in colors I just adore! Blues and gold - so elegant and so much fun to make!! {This one sold. Yeah!!} If any of them interest you, you can find them in my Etsy shop here.
As my dad's visit comes closer, I find myself with less time to post on my blog, being busy getting ready for his visit and Thanksgiving. And at the same time, I am getting everything prepared for our house and pet sitter, as after Thanksgiving we are all leaving for a cruise of the Western Caribbean (I can hardly wait!!).

And while I will miss you all, this is a good time for a little break from my blog as I've been feeling uninspired as of late. Not with you, but with what to write about that won't bore you. Usually, when I am away on a trip, I find myself flooded with inspiration and new ideas. So, I am hoping that I will come back with some fun projects and goodies (and photos from our travels) to share with you all!

In the meantime, don't forget me while I'm away... And for those of you in the US, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I, for one, am thankful for your friendship and your ever ready support as I continue on my creative journey! Sending you all much love!

P.S. I am keeping my Etsy shops open, but any purchase made on or after Thanksgiving won't be mailed until the week of December 7.

Another Painting...

...and this one a little different from my last paintings. I had prepared a large sheet of acrylic paper with gesso and then cut it up into several 5 x 7 pieces. This one I painted without any background texture, but added some pattern. I think Christmas is on my mind... I call it The Face of Love.

Illustration Friday - Unbalanced

When she stood still for a moment, she suddenly saw how unbalanced her life had become and she was finally able to hear her heart's whispered longing for change.

Finally, I have some art to show you!! And I decided that I'd enter her on the Illustration Friday website. This week's theme is "unbalanced."

Today, I finished two paintings, one of which I can't show you until it reaches the person I painted it for. I can hardly wait!!

And then this one. I notice that when I paint a painting with someone else in mind (like the one I can't show you yet), I put much more thinking into the process than usual. It's not that I try to anticipate if the other person will like it, but I think I am just aware that it's a special project and take much care with it.

So, after I was done with that painting, I wanted to paint one of my women fast, purely from an emotional place and I had fun! I had prepared a canvas with lots of texture (click on the photo to see it larger) and then worked with brushes, my brayer, fingers and paper towels. I looked as colorful as the canvas when I was done! I swear I am painting my soul when I do this - it's the oddest feeling.

I've been somewhat absent from my blog and yours as I am getting ready for a visit from my dad. I am hoping though to visit all of you as I find a few minutes here and there. I've missed you!!

P.S. Those of you who sent me an e-mail with your snail mail addresses - I'll mail something out very soon!! Fun, fun, fun!!!

Snail Mail

Well, dear friends, I find myself in a little bit of a slump as far as my own artwork that I can show here, so I thought I'd show some of the beautiful cards I've received in the mail lately! Our dear, creative friend in Texas, who bought my painting, used a print of it to make my thank you card. Isn't that a clever idea?! I love it!!

And here are the last two collage postcards I received from my friend Beth. We have a monthly handmade postcard exchange, which has been the most fun!
Aren't these wonderful? So fall-inspired!!
And last, but not least, I want to share with you this lovely vintage postcard of Paris I received from a dear member of the Benevolent Postcard Society, a group of creative people who send monthly postcards, handmade or store bought. I love this one!
I have to say that in this day and age of the internet and e-mail, I LOVE getting "real" mail in my mailbox. My aunt still sends me letters and every time I receive one, my heart jumps a little - letters are so dear and personal, carrying the other person's spirit in their handwriting! I still have letters my grandmother wrote to me, my mom, my dad, my sister, aunt, cousins, old friends...and once in a while I take them out to read through some of them - like traveling through time!

Do you still write snail mail? Do you love receiving letters and postcards?

P.S. If you want to get some snail mail from me, send me your address in an e-mail to powers-studio.silke@comcast.net!

Of Scarves and Apple Crisp

Hi all! It's been a cold and blustery day today - I love those! - and I've spent it outside on a long, long walk with Winslow and then inside doing various projects around the house and knitting! I just listed another curly crocheted scarf in the above red/orange color - so luxurious! And I a knitted scarf in this brown/gold/blue/teal color - warm and cuddly! You can find both of them in my little shop here, as well as numerous other scarves, knitted, crocheted, cuddly warm or elegantly lacy.

Yesterday, I found a delicious crock pot apple crisp recipe here and now the house has been smelling deliciously of cinnamon for two days in a row (yes, I had to make it again today - half recipes both times) and our bellies have been very, very happy! (I should mention that I altered the recipe by using whole wheat flour instead of white flour, a little less sugar, half quick oats and half rolled oats, and I added some walnuts for extra crunch!)

I am working on several paintings, but one of them is a gift and I can't show it until it has reached its destination. And the others aren't quite ready to be shown yet. But soon...soon...

Wordless Wednesday

Odds and Ends and an Award!

(click on any of my pictures to enlarge them)

Well, all your good advice yesterday helped immensely and I ended up having a productive, yet relaxed day and feel back on track today!! Thanks to all of you!!!

So, today, I have some odds and ends for you. First up are my new greeting and business cards, which I won in two fantastic giveaways from UPrinting over at Melissa's blog Januarywish. I won 250 custom greeting cards and 500 business cards. The quality is fantastic and the whole process was easy and painless! Make sure you check out Melissa's blog - it's not only beautiful, but she's got the best giveaways. Daniel designed my business cards for me - aren't they fun?!?
Then, I saw this wonderful New England cookbook from 1956 in my friend Beth's Etsy shop, Maine Coast Vintage, and I'm so glad I bought it before someone else found it.
It has some great recipes, but just look at those illustrations!
I just love them!
I thought I'd better give you some proof that I'm actually working on another painting. Here a small piece of it. You'll get to see the whole painting (there's much more to it!) when it's finally done...
And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the talented Lisa Holtzman for passing on this award to me. She is not only a warm and kind friend, but a talented artist and the most brilliant calligrapher! Make sure you check out her blog. You'll be amazed!!
Thank you, Lisa!

Later today, I hope to visit some of your lovely blogs. You are always an inspiration to me as I try to live the creative life...

How do you...

...make sure you take time to smell the flowers? How do you stay balanced in everything you do? I really want to know!

I have a hard time with this - there's so much I want to do, so much I am interested in that I could split myself into four people and still be busy with everything. I find that it's difficult for me to do a little bit of everything every day. You know, that old dilemma of breadth vs. depth...

That means that I'll have a knitting and crocheting phase, when I don't do much else. Then I start painting again and that will take up my time. Last weekend, for example, I finally picked up a book again (first time in weeks) and did a lot of reading. It was wonderful. I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and loved it! But, while we did much outside and took advantage of the beautiful weather...I did no knitting, no blogging, no e-mail even, didn't talk with friends or family, painted a little bit, but not much, didn't visit any of your blogs, etc.

You get the picture, right? The problem is that I love it all, but each interest could be a full-time endeavor. And I didn't even talk about cooking, entertaining, housework, walking Winslow, etc.

As we get into my most favorite fall and winter seasons, I want to make sure that I savor life, that I enjoy all I do, that I have time to tune in to shorter days, cooler temperatures and the quiet strength of winter. I want to get that feeling of introspection and stillness that is so different from the feeling of hectic panic so often experienced the closer with get to the holidays!

So, my question to you is this: How do YOU do it? How do you stay balanced? How you do make sure you have time for everything that's important to you and for yourself? How do stay healthy and happy during this time? I'd really love to know!!

P.S. One tip I have for you readers out there who find themselves short on reading time - audio books! I always have one on my MP3 player and love it! And that's what I'm going take advantage of now -- listen to The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh and travel to Greenland in my mind while getting the house in order!

P.P.S. Some of you are asking about the audio books - I find the best source for them to be our public library! They have them as tapes, CD's and even MP3 downloads. A huge selection of both fiction and non-fiction!

UPDATE

(today's harvest from our little garden)

Well, I've gotten some wonderful comments from you all that have been incredibly helpful! Most of you were telling me to just do what strikes my fancy, what's right in front of me, enjoy doing that and then go on to the next thing. That's exactly what I did today - I just took care of stuff, one after the other, and pretty soon I had lots done, the pressure lifted and then I had time to relax and knit for a while.

I also realized that this isn't really a problem at all - because my dilemma is a very positive one. My dad wrote an e-mail to me saying that he still feels that way - never enough time in the day to do all the wonderful things we want to do. And how important it is to just enjoy what we are doing in the moment and not think about all the other things that are waiting to be explored, to be done, to be created. Let's hope life stays that full for all of us for a very long time!!

Thank you for being my friends!!!

A Perfect Walk...

As promised, some photos from our walk yesterday. Right now, the weather is perfect here in Savannah - crisp, clear, cool and sunny! I couldn't help myself on our walk along the river yesterday and had to take many, many photos. Here just a few to share with you!
I love the patterns I see everywhere...




Can you find me in this picture? I found a car mirror stuck in a palm tree and tried to take a self portrait...
The light was just amazing...


...and the colors - wonderful!!
Beautiful butterfly (or is it a moth?)...
Just look at that sky!



On another note, today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 71! I have to say it's hard for me to imagine her at that age. She passed away suddenly when she was only 48 and in my mind, she'll always be that age.
This photo is one I had not seen before today - some time ago my dad had all our old family slides converted to digital files and this one of my mom and me was one of them.

I love this scene - so happy, peaceful and wholesome!

Can You Tell...

...what happened here?!?
Even though Winslow needed a long shower after his impromptu mud bath, we had a wonderful walk by the Savannah River in the most perfect weather this afternoon! I took some great photos and will share them tomorrow...

I've been visiting many of your blogs today and am so happy to get caught up on your lives, your creations and all that's been happening! I hope to visit more of you tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday - Curious Crab

Color and Texture

It's so interesting how each season I crave the colors associated with that time of the year. This fall is no exception - I am decorating with oranges, reds, golds and greens and while I keep my decorations light, I still feel the richness of this harvest time! (Can you see our ornamental pear through the window - still completely green!)
I've had fun hanging little treasures from the gorgeous driftwood branch, Daniel found at the beach and hung over our dining room window.
Even a couple of birds love it and decided to perch in it...

The painting tucked away in the corner was painted by a family friend of the little village in the Black Forest my parents lived in when I was born.
Aside from the fall colors, I also really get into warm, nubby and soft textures when the weather gets colder. Here's a scarf I knitted - that yarn has the richest colors - browns, teals, purples and greens! And the texture makes me want to bury my face in it!!
And just take a look at the sumptuous yarn I am crocheting into yet another curly scarf (did I tell you I am addicted to making those?!). Those colors are simply stunning!
Can't wait for it to be done so I can show you!
Here are two finished beauties which you can find in my Etsy shop here...
and here!
I've also been painting and I am hoping that the piece I am working on will be ready for show and tell tomorrow! It's going somewhat slowly...

Wishing you all a terrific Tuesday! And, in case I don't say it often enough, thank you so much for the loving comments you leave on my various posts! They mean the world to me!!