Lighthouse Musings

I am so in love with lighthouses.

The life of a lighthouse keeper

was always interesting to me.

When my husband and I met Rick Pratt,

who for 19 years,

 was the keeper of the light 

at the Lydia Ann in Aransas Pass,

I was inspired to find out more

about the 'light keeper' life style.

(Rick standing in front of the old lighthouse Fresnal lens)

In 1955, after no government entities expressed interest

 in the abandoned Aransas Pass Lighthouse,

it was sold into private hands.

Rick and Cameron Pratt were live-in caretakers.

 At the end of each day they

would ascend the Lydia Ann's tower of sixty steps to activate the light.

Then, Rick filled the evening air with the drone of bagpipes

as Cameron lowered the station’s flags

– a fitting ceremony for a lighthouse

 acquainted with years of regimented life

 under the Lighthouse Service.

This is the Lydia Ann lighthouse in Aransas Pass today.

Her service was from 1851-1952.

Just imagine the solitude and peace most times.

Then imagine remaining here during a great storm,

all alone.

I remember only the first verse of

 a poem by Longfellow called

The Lighthouse...

The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,

and on its outer point, some miles away,

the lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,

A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

And also... I remember the first time I heard

The Lighthouse's Tale

by Nickel Creek.

You can see the music video,

and read the words here...

http://www.musicbabylon.com/artist/Nickel_Creek/Nickel_Creek/92337-the_lighthouses_tale-lyrics.htm

You can also see 'me' (sort of) at the top of the

Port Isabel Lighthouse.

Now you have to remember that I was scared of heights at the time.

http://inkspillersattic.blogspot.com/2009/09/south-padre-island-trip.html

Savor the Day!

I try to, even if it's in little ways.

Yvonne

Hibernation Tea and a Walk

 For tea day today,
I am having raspberry tea,
while hibernating indoors
away from this awful heat.

 It is so hot and dry here!

 This photo shows how dry the ground is.
Everything is crispy underfoot
and cracks like this are showing up everywhere.

 Visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/
for more tea posts.

***

I got back from my trip on Sunday,

One thing I do like to do on my trips
is to find labyrinths to walk.
I go to
 http://labyrinthsociety.org/
and click on
Labyrinth Locator.

I walked this labyrinth in San Antonio

early one morning,

when the sun was just coming up.

A labyrinth is not a maze.

It has only one path,

 a winding passage that leads to a central space in the center

 and back out again.

The labyrinth was used in Europe by medieval Christians and pilgrims.

Today, people of all faiths may experience their own pilgrimage.

There are three stages of the Walk...

Release

...the art of walking quiets and empties the mind.

Illumination

...is the place where you allow yourself to receive guidance,

 a place of prayer and meditation.

Union

...each time you walk

you can become healed and strengthened

for your walk in the world.

You can go within the soul and open the heart.

Walking a labyrinth always leaves me

with a sense of peace and healing.

Suggested Reading below...

Savor the day!

Yvonne

"Change" and the "lost ladybug project"

A change in our environment is taking place.

If you want to become involved,

or your kids want to become amateur scientists,

then visit

http://www.lostladybug.org/

to find out how you can make a change.

This weeks inchie prompt word is

CHANGE.

Here is my change inchie,

and to see more inchie art visit Kris at

http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/

Savor the day!

Yvonne

Tea Chai Ice Cream...yummmm!

Tea Chai Ice Cream!

Doesn't that sound delicious...

especially in this triple digit weather

we are having this summer.

I haven't made it yet,

but I will...

as soon as I get back from my trip.

I've got all the spices already!

Yummmmm!

http://cultureandstuff.com/2010/01/21/foodstuff-recipe-for-chai-ice-cream/

Here is the recipe for all you

Tea on Tuesday people out there.

If you make it,

let me know how it turns out.

Visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

for more Tea on Tuesday posts.

You never know what you will find!

Have a good week!

And don't forget to...

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

"Imagine" inchie and old friends

"To bring anything into your life, imagine that it's already there."

--Richard Back

I love that word.

Imagine...

"In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine."

                                                   --Ralph Waldo Emerson

For more inchie art visit Kris at

http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/

---Old Friends---

Imagine what it would be like

to have an old childhood friend

look you up and

then to get together with that friend.

Well, a childhood friend of mine,

 her twin sister, and I

are getting together this week,

after many years.

I'm so excited!

This is a photo of me when

we went to school together as children.

The first one I was 8 and the other one 9 years old.

I had long braids until I was 10 years old.

You can't even see how long they were,

but my braids reached to my waist.

I was a tomboy, but very shy.

I really look forward to our visit.

Just imagine!

It's all thanks to Facebook!

LOL

Savor the day!

Yvonne

Basil and some good words

My garden basil is the only thing thriving

 in this triple digit heat,

and long, dry summer.

I have been making basil pesto

and putting it up in the freezer,

and freezing leaves in ice cubes

to use in soups during the winter months.

We savor every little bit.

My word for the year has been

SAVOR,

as I end each post with the encouraging words

Savor the Day!

Those words also remind me to

enjoy the little things,

each and every day.

Here are some more favorite words...

begin

imagine

laugh

believe

seek

play

trust

listen

create

connect

touch

forgive

pray

hope

choose

appreciate

give

read

write

release

Do you have a favorite word(s)?

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Treating Myself to Tea Out

Happy Tea on Tuesday!

The other day I had lunch at our local tea shop,

The Cherry Tree Tea Room.

I didn't meet anyone there,

I just enjoyed it all by myself.

My husband was working,

I didn't think to call anyone to join me.

I just wanted to enjoy the food,

the tea,

and the atmosphere of the tea room.

 I had lemongrass and lavender iced tea,

and it was so refreshing!

The meal was wonderful,

and the dessert decadent.

Sorry I didn't get a photo of it

for you to drool over.  :)

Sometimes it's nice to just get out by yourself.

I never feel awkward eating alone,

like some other people say they do.

In fact I do it quite often.

I do eat out with friends too,

but I never let alone times keep me

from enjoying something.

How about you?

Do you ever eat out by yourself?

How do you feel about it?

Let me know in your comments okay!

Kimmie has hosted

Tea on Tuesday

for some time,

so go visit her

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

to read more bloggers tea posts,

or just to say hello.

You should read more of her blog(s),

as she is very creative

and interesting.

Remember...

Even if you are by yourself at times,

you should still....

Savor the Day!

Yvonne



Rust and strength inchies plus more

 I love rusted fabric! 

I decided to use a little bit of it

on my inchie for last week.

I just now got a chance to post it,

along with this week's 'strength' inchie.

You can see some of my rusted fabric,

turned into art quilts here..

http://inkspillersattic.blogspot.com/2009/11/rust-fabric-art-quilts.html

Below are my inchies for the last 2 weeks...

RUST

 I always add the word prompt from an old dictionary,

and I also added the chemical identification for rust.

Idleness is to the human mind like rust to iron.

--Ezra Cornell

 STRENGTH
I thought of the strength of a tree right away.

Here is a poem about the 'calm quiet strength of a tree',
and my inchie with a small log slice.

The calm quiet strength of a tree

Anchored deep in the earth

Reaching high in the sky

The calm quiet strength of a tree

The calm quiet strength of a tree

Full of life from its roots

To the tiniest branch

The calm quiet strength of a tree

And oh, how it comforts me

How it teaches me

Without a sound

Then I realize at once

That this tree and I are one

In eternity

The calm quiet strength of a tree

From the weight of its trunk

To its delicate leaves

The calm quiet strength of a tree

The calm quiet strength of a tree

Showing anyone near

All the secrets of time

The calm quiet strength of a tree.

--- Tom Splitt and Robert Johnson

If you enjoy words, then you may want to visit my other blog.

http://gatheringsmallstones.blogspot.com/

Enjoy more inchies at

Every Inchie Monday.

http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/

Kris is hosting this project all year,

so you can see inchies

with many different word prompts

throughout the year.

I will be putting all 52 of my finished inchies

into an art piece.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Tea Cup Birdfeeder

Happy Tea on Tuesday everyone.

I have been drinking plenty of iced tea

during these hot dog days of summer,

but I still drink my one cup of hot tea every morning.

I was looking this morning and found that

I  have a few old and worn out tea cups and saucers.

I started thinking about how to use them

in different ways.

I found P. Allen Smiths blog,

 and the photo above

is shown in his article on how to make

 a tea cup and saucer birdfeeder.

Go here to read the directions...

http://www.pallensmith.com/articles/teacup-birdfeeder

Some of you may have already done this.

If you don't have any old cups and saucers already,

then go thrifting,

 and I'm sure you can find just the perfect one.

I think 3 of them would look good together

out in the garden.

Well, enjoy your day,

stay cool,

and to read more tea posts

visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

or click on the Tea Tuesday logo

in my sidebar.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

Art Center Merit Show

When I won

Best of Show at the all member show awhile back

I was so thrilled and shocked.

It earned me a position in this months Merit Show,

along with the first, second and third place winners.

Last night was the long awaited reception and

 it was a great success!

All four of us have 3 panels of work each, on exhibit

for the month of August.

I had so much fun meeting everyone,

talking to other artists etc.

I had 6 watercolors and 4 art dolls in the show.

All four art dolls sold before I left the reception.

I got to meet and talk to the people who purchased the art dolls.

Doing that is something I always enjoy.

Here are the Keepers of the Secrets I and II,

each sold separate.

Karen and I are standing by

Peace be Still

who sold right off the bat

to a woman from San Antonio.

My friend Karen (who is an artist in her own right),

 her husband Steve, (in the yellow shirt)

and my husband (in the blue shirt) attended the show,

and I was so happy they could be there with me.

My husband took this photo of me with my friend Laura

 (who is a wonderful fiber artist and is shown here

in the orangey/rusted hand dyed shirt),

with 2 more of her friends, who came to see the show.

Thanks for being there ladies.

Also thanks to Happy and her husband for coming too.

The crowd was wonderful, as you can see.

We had a band, food and great fun.

The art is wonderful here!

One of the other featured artists was

Narice Hopp.

Narice's work reveals some Mexican Folk Art influence.

I love her assemblage work

as those and her paintings

are filled with color and humor.

Here she is wearing her googly eyed necklace.

Too funny!

Lynn Dickey and Pat Dittberner 

were the other 2 featured artists at the Merit Show.

Lynn paints in oils and also does pottery work.

Pat does some wonderful drawings and other

contemporary art paintings.

Congrats to all for a successful showing.

Thanks goes out to the Art Center for the Islands

and to Mary Rose, the director,

who always does such a wonderful job.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne

"Imagine Peace" painted and dyed fabric

For Paint Party Friday

I am sharing

Imagine Peace.

It is hand dyed fabric and also

 painted with oil pastels

and watercolor crayons.

I also used paper fabric, beads

and free motion quilting.

The face was painted on a piece of muslin

with watercolor crayons.

Here it is pinned to my design board.

Below is a close up of the face.

I sewed leaf beads around part of her forehead.

The next picture shows detail at the bottom.

I stenciled the words on with oil pastels.

The little butterfly on the 'A' is just stamped on.

I stenciled/stamped/painted on some flowers here and there,

and some tiny blue birds in the canopy of the tree.

The stars are stenciled and then I used metallic thread on top

to bring them out a bit more.

The tree goddess roots and canopy

form the peace symbol,

as shown in the first picture above.

This fiber art piece will be entered in a show

in September for the Fiber Art Society

that I belong to.

The show is

"Much Made from Small Pieces" A World View.

This piece measures 24 inches by 34 inches.

To see more PPF art

click on the PPF logo in my sidebar.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne



Claire's studio blessing

Yesterday I attended a

watercolor day out at Claire's home.

She had just finished her new art studio

and invited Dolores' classes over

for a salad luncheon, painting demo and more.

This is Claire, our hostess.

The day out also included

 a little blessing for Claire's studio.

Wine or grape juice were offered during the blessing,

and well wishes were given to Claire

for many happy days of painting

 in her new great art space.

During the day,

Dolores did a painting demo for us.

The picture was of pottery sitting in front of palms.

She did a wash in several colors,

then proceeded to paint.

Of course there is lots more to do to this painting,

but we learned many things by watching her.

I could watch her paint all day.

"When classes start again in the fall,"

Dolores said with a grin,

 "If you want back in class

you must bring a 1/4 size or bigger

painting on perspective, and it must

be finished."

This is one of Dolores' finished paintings.

I really love her style.

So, the day was wonderful,

filled with friends, food and fun!

Savor the day!

Yvonne

Wu-Yi tea and musings

Happy Tea on Tuesday!

This morning I am enjoying a cup

of zesty lemon tea made by

the Wu-Yi Tea Co. out of Austin, Tx.

I found the hand painted lidded cup

and the linens while thrifting

awhile back.

Wu-Yi tea is named after the Wu-Yi mountains in China. 

 This is said to be some of the most sought after tea in the world.

I love their blue leaf logo.

I always drink hot tea early in the morning.

Then I switch to iced tea. 

Most tea I drink is decaf or herbal teas.

To read more tea posts,

visit Kimmie at

http://artinredwagons.blogspot.com/

You will also find lots of creative items

when you visit Kimmie's blog

and Etsy shop.

***

MUSINGS

Well, tropical storm Don was a dud,

so we are still in a drought, big time.

The so called eye went right over

us here at Baffin Bay.

We were so hoping for some rain,

but not this time. 

We are still in hurricane season

until November 1st.

***

The Art Center for the Islands director told me yesterday

that the Barefoot show and sale was a success.

I took my Merit show items over

and picked up what I didn't sell at the Barefoot show,

which was only a few things.  Yippee!

Now the reception for my Merit Show

will be August 5th.

I'm so excited!

***

Soon I will be attending

another plein-air watercolor event,

out of town.

My instructor Dolores Price will be there

 and will be giving a demo.

The day includes a salad luncheon.

It should be lots of fun!

Future photos here!

***

Savor the Day!

Yvonne