ArtandExteriors

It would seem I am a quiet voice, whispering in the wilderness, "anybody out there"...That said, there are billions of blogs, it would seem.  Yet, I have the urge, so I pop in now-and-then.

 Once, I had a garden in Wisconsin...the winters are long and horrible, but the summers are wonderful...short, but wonderful.  I had seven years to create this garden..and two acres.  Sadly, when I moved to Texas, the new owners plowed everything under and planted grass.   I just don't understand to this day, but I am so glad I took photographs, so I can revisit them.  Even if I lost these, they will bloom in my heart for as long as I live.

 Champagne poppies, swaying in the breeze, Iris that were given to me by a wonderful neighbor. 

Clematis, chives, and bunnies..and bricks, oh my!

My girl, reading her book...I gave her to a client (and his partner) who, hopefully still enjoy her.  The unopened flowers behind her are Moonflowers, which only bloom at night...lovely, trumpet-shaped....Oh how I am missing them.

Tulips!  I spent lovely hours, on my knees, hands in the dirt, planting hundreds of them....

Then, we moved to Texas, where I traded a garden for dust and deer poop...literally.  But, then life is a trade off.  No long winters, just endless months of 107 degree temps...But, I had a new cause....our deer...keeping them alive.  

They weren't frightened by me...in fact, they would drop their fawns in the woods behind our home...twenty-seven, lovely deer...(I know, we weren't supposed to feed and water them, but they weren't going to die on my property under my eyes).

I learned you cannot tame the land in Texas....too many watering restrictions...but, there is a wild beauty about it....

There are those in Texas who would let this baby perish in their yard...how they could I will never understand...I cherish these photos and memories of these deer.  We had windas (they say "windas" in Texas instead of windows) all along the back of our home, and a deep, shaded back porch...each morning, they would be peering in, saying "you think they're awake and going to feed us?"

I would rise before dawn and the killing heat would set in, and drive the country roads, pulling wild grapevine down from the cedar trees, filling my truck to the Buick...they got corn, which was candy for them, a salad bar (grapevine), a protein and salt block and lots and lots of water.  This went on for years.  I miss my Texas home, but most of all, the deer.

 Our Raisenette Funicello Buttafuco (head butted people, and probably, a deer if it would let him), spent a great deal of time, stalking the wild deer (and sleeping..I miss him, as well).

This is "Shadow", who was supposedly killed, but resurfaced with her fawn the next spring..I painted her on a 5X3 ft. canvas, and gold and silver-leafed the background...this is one I will never part with.

Now, we live on a lake in Tennessee...the entire property is mulch, and an deer passes by every now-and-then, but as I said, life is a trade off.   
So, children, tomorrow we will be learning how to dye fabrics with reactive dye...tune in...that's right, I just sort of roll that way, being the Gemini that I am...Since I seem to be the only one who reads this, it's less about who stops by and more about my meandering mind.

Love Me, Love My Dog

I think I can honestly say that I have never posted a photo that was not either by me or by a commercial photographer for whom I'd done styling.....It can become a bit limiting, but, I find it hard to see other people's work posted without permission or acknowledgement....Therefore, I've not posted some of my favorite photos I have taken...hate to put watermarks on everything.   So, please do not use my work in any form without my consent...thanks.

That said, meet the my love....my companion, (no, not my husband...although he is both).."Lil Missy"...When we rescued her almost two years ago, that was her name...now, we call her "Mistletoes", "Missy"  "Misty Toes" "Ms Toes" and love her to pieces.

She puts up with a lot, this one...(that's "Papa lying next to her"

 When we first got her, she didn't have the chic rain gear I have since created for her, so we resorted to cutting up my yellow rain poncho, and slit a red, plastic shopping bag...(she still hates rain)..

 So, what does this have to do with art and interiors, you ask?  I have been doing pet portraits of late, and she's my favorite subject.  We have no idea what her breed is, but suspect she is part beagle (nose attached to a dog) and part boxer (41 pounds of pure muscle)...She was in the "slammer" for many months, because people thought she was a pit bull, and that's bull...besides, pitties are wonderful pets..it's the meany owners that turn them.

Our dear, departed Raisenette Funicello Buttafuco (not Joey, he head-butted things) was quite elderly when we got her, and not at all interested in playing with her...she tried..believe me.

 She is ever-vigilant as far as sitting on my bed (I wipe her feet and you-know-what after every walk...she's not getting in my bed otherwise)...and looking for the kitties, who stroll down our driveway to the lake to get a drink of water...oddly, she goes berserk, running from window-to-window, shouting loudly.  Yet, she is terrified of "Bootsie", our friend's kitty, who has smacked her a few times.

 Meet Bootsie,and be afraid, very afraid (she is quite the little predator with regard to small woodland creatures...and does enjoy bringing them to us a gifts). gah.

 This translates into "Please, please, please like me, "K"?"

 This is her "glamor shot", and the photo on my business cards.

She is one of those breeds that "leans"...she sits patiently next to us at the dinner table, waiting for us to shout "Pre Wash", and then, scurries into the kitchen to, well, lick the plate (oh come on, we sterilize them in the dishwasher)...

She's allergic to beef, so I make her "cookies", using chicken broth, whole wheat flour, an egg, powdered milk, and a dash of salt...I don't have a bone-shaped cookie cutter, but I do have one shaped like a little foot print...she's waiting not quite as patiently for the goodies to come out of the oven.

Crisp and crunchy, that's how she likes them...

 She was found as a pup, in a ditch in a terrible thunderstorm...(she's terrified of them, along with planes, and anything that rumbles)...but, I'd say, she's a pretty happy little goof ball at this point.

 She has captured our hearts...

I try to have my camera within reach at all times, as she's just too fun to miss a shot.

 I made her jaunty rain coat (hound's tooth, of course) and lined it with red flannel...she still hates the rain, but it does look quite dashing on her.

 My friend, Marjorie, took this on one of our "adventures"...Ms. Toes loves riding in cars, and goes bazoo when a big truck goes by.

 My friend is teaching me colored-pencils, and this is going to be my first effort....my love's tiny paws.