art abounding!

recently my daughters and i were asked to be apart of a Winter Solstice art display, and now we have been asked to display our work for a Winter carnival art walk in our quaint little town of Whitefish, Montana. i am amazed at what my girls are doing (all self-taught), and they are all busy now on more paintings every moment they can steal away! how they inspire me!! (these paintings are from the 3 girls who live here...the other 3 are amazing artists as well!!)

This maasii boy and 'raw sugar' (sold) below are done by miriam- soon to be 23 yrs.

the graphite piece below is amazing...almost photographic work, done by mikaelah, 20 yrs.

my youngest mariyah is 17 years, and has only been doing art for the past year. she (and we) were amazed at what she has done! the paintings below of john lennon and jimi hendrix (sold) are fabulous! and the scratch board art of her sister zionah & wolf dog shaveya she just finished...a belated christmas gift for her sister! incredible detail!!!

the 3 below are some mixed media pieces i have recently done...experimenting with different papers and mediums! what fun!! so much art abounding from our family these Winter days!

curried myrrh

i am so excited to present my beloved friend elizabeth michelsen jonas' most wonderful creations and new blog 'curried myrrh.' she is a master craftswoman and artist, who has found a most beautiful way of creating headdresses and accessories for the 'modern tribe', made of reclaimed fabrics, vintage jewels, beads and feathers. recently she was discovered by 'free people' and was featured in their catalog and online.

in a few days i will be hosting a studio show and open house in my home featuring her many lovely varieties of headdresses. if you can't make it to our showing, please visit elizabeth's blog~ curriedmyrrh.blogspot.com and website~ www.curriedmyrrh.com

some time ago i did a photoshoot of some of the headdresses...here my daughter miriam wears a lovely one. she is now the official 'face' of curried myrrh.

the most lovely diem-q models another beauty. diem-q ( yim-q) is also my 'adopted' daughter and dear friend...apart of our family with her love marco and their beautiful daughter carmela.

miriam & diem-q model a few of the head-pieces in the wedding line...stunning!!!

miriam and her wolf-malamute 'lomasi' (pretty flower).

such lovely ladies!!!

i am the very blessed owner of a few of these headdresses for summer and winter, and as elizabeth so rightly says in her blog..."truly a powerful symbol mirroring the beauty and complex creativity of the indigenous people of the world." a portion of the proceeds benefit "rahab's rope", an organization providing hope and help for women and girls that are victims of human trafficking.

celebrations

we just returned from a great celebration of the birthday of a dear friend and

'angel dad' (doug), for whom i made this script and framed it in an antique swivel frame to remind him daily in his office, how each day comes bearing it's own gifts for us to untie the ribbon and behold blessings of newness...fresh beginnings.

the celebrations have abounded recently with birthdays also for 2 of my 6 daughters, and i've pulled out of the volumes of old photos some favorites, along with so many precious memories of their childhood, growing up in the hills and hollers of rural tennessee.

these first two are of mariyah, my youngest 'baby'...riding on the golden hay pulled out of a stuffed mattress we found in the loft of the old barn in the 100 yr. old homestead house, where the creek flowed below the front porch that the girl's daily played in and hunted crawdads and frogs. mariyah is now 17 and a beautiful young lady, still loving the simple life in montana.

and then, mikaelah is above mariyah in birth order, who just turned 20 yrs. and also lives nearby on the land in montana these days...and is also an amazing artist (check out her charcoal drawing of the old gypsy woman in my etsy!). these 2 photos were taken of mikaelah when we lived on a 300 acre cotton farm, in an old 6 bedroom plantation home built in 1887 in tennessee. mikaelah was born in that old house and loved to hunt arrowheads and relics in the fields and elk river on the property. she is still a collector of very select old treasures, and hopes to study classical realism in florence, italy someday.

my youngest girls, mikaelah & mariyah...growing into beautiful young women...who i hope and pray will always aspire to all the highest and best that their Father-God has designed for their lives.

zionah

it is the 25th birthday of my beautiful daughter zionah! how she has changed from this sweetie by the sheller, when we lived on the cotton plantation in the hills of tennessee. she loved sitting in the early mornings, listening quietly to the mourning doves and whippoorwills, frolicking in the hills and dales with her 5 sisters (she was the 3rd in birth-order), dancing with the fire-flies.

i had wanted to get her a pair of doves as a birthday gift, and yesterday a lady called from a 'potting shed' nursery nearby to ask if i wanted a flock of doves (around 15!), newly hatched baby, and the beautiful handmade cage...for free!! listening to the doves will bring back memories of those precious chapters of our lives...and zionah is so excited as well!!

this photo was taken about 6 months ago, when zionah moved from our home in nw montana, to so. montana, where she now lives and works. this is her wolf-malmute dog 'cheveyah', meaning spririt-warrior.
and here is my spirit-warrior woman-child in a day of play. my heart prayer is that she continue to seek after the Great Spirit Creator God, and know and walk in the miraculous way of the Almighty One, in love & truth...all the days of her life. i love you zionah.

shariyah & ellen

recently my daughter shariyah had a birthday, and though far from her montana home, living with her kiwi hubby in new zealand, she was being thought of in a most special way by our long time friend in alabama, ellen goode. i received this beautiful card that ellen made, with shariyah's childhood photo on it that she took when we lived in tennessee, and where most of my six daughter's sweetest childhood memories are still. ellen is a master cornhusk dollmaker and taught my girls how to craft cornhusk indian & pioneer girl bookmarks, and for around 20 years they had a very successful home business, 'shuck art'. visit shariyah's beautiful blog: http://www.shariyahgarner.blogspot.com/ where she is having a 50% off sale...and ellen's website of cornhusk doll art: http://home.hiwaay.net/~jegoode/shucks/

(click on photo for a larger view!)

love ya'll!

in honor of mothers and children~

recently i created a painting for a dear friend's birthday, Dr. Annie Bukacek, who is a vigilant advocate for the unborn and a powerful voice for the voiceless in this state of Montana.

this painting depicts a beautiful mama who caresses her 16 week old baby within, which i found in a photograph of a fetus at this age who looked as if it was praying. then i found this scripture that was a declaration of a child ..."the Lord called me from the womb~from the body of my mother He named me...He formed me from the womb to be His servant" (isaiah 49:1+5) and then from the declaration of independence, a statement of the right to life for all.

with "mother's day" upon us, i am thinking too about a quote that used to encourage me (and still does) as i birthed and raised my six daughters...

"there is a God above, and the light and glory from His throne rests upon the faithful mother...no other work can equal hers in importance. she has not, like the artist, to paint a form of beauty upon canvas, nor like the sculptor, to chisel it from marble. she has not, like the author, to embody a noble thought in words of power, nor, like the musician, to express beautiful sentiment in melody. it is hers, with the help of God, to develop in a human soul, the likeness of the Divine."

what a high and holy calling it is to be a mother. and even those who have no children influence children surrounding them, and can bring the touch of love and light into their hearts, and assist the angels in guiding them in the path of beauty and truth. blessings be upon all 'mother hearts' who shelter in so many ways, and bring heaven to earth~

with love.

sunshine on a grey day

it's been grey for weeks now...snowed the past 3 days, after the earth was finally visible and we really thought that spring had held her ground. but this dance of the seasons continue, and winter is not letting go easily this year. my being longs for warmth and light...for eternal spring.

and then this ray breaks through...a treasury with my painting 'the glance' featured... and the title, bringing hope and reminding me that behind the clouds the sun is always shining.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dab6a14a1c86d914344990e/sunshine-on-a-grey-day