Around the house

I'm so excited about what is happening in the studio after my flurry of activity the other day, here is a little taste from a painting that I am thinking of calling Wondering.
I try to surround myself with little things that spark inspiration throughout the day. Here are some things that inspire me around my house:

My well used painting palate.

This statue that Frank gave me one year for my birthday, it sits on my studio table and reminds me to pause, breath, and take notice.

My stack of balancing rocks, sometimes I add to them or move them around. I have collected them on lots of travels.

My tangle of jewelry right where I get ready in the morning. I am a bit of a jewelry addict, always wearing a piece. Seeing the stones, colors and even how they combine all together excites me!

My shell collection.

And that is just a sampling, there are so many things that I love that inspire me in different ways, I can't wait to share more of them here.
What in your environment inspires you??

We are about to head off to the beach for a week...seriously, how do I pack everything? I'll be away from the blog for that time too, some much needed "unplugged" time will do me good. I will be back refreshed, with lots of new ideas, next week!

Leap

Leap

I'm working on a few new paintings and yesterday held a flurry of studio activity! Thought I'd share this one with you. I have been taking personal "leaps" so far this year, including starting this blog and seeking long overdue closure on an old relationship through making contact with an old flame.
These things have been scary.
These things have been healing and opening, yes, truly opening...as in opening up space in my life (almost magically) for so many new things, new ideas and new opportunities!

Here's to Leaping in whatever direction will open YOU up to new things!

Soaking up Summer

Around here almost everything takes a back seat to SUMMER. This is my happy time of year, and my kids are totally caught up in it too! For the past two weeks in New York the weather has been glorious. We have fully embraced being outside almost constantly... in the sunshine, picnicking on the grass at the park, in the water at the playground, on a trip to the beach, or even just playing out front on the sidewalk! We've all got sun tans.
My studio days have dwindled down to one half day a week, right now on Wednesday. This feels right to me now, especially as I am doing so much thinking with my e-course over at Creative Thursday, it makes sense that a lot of work is going on in my head and heart while I am out doing other things.
Oh and did I mention that we are also getting ready to plant our selves elsewhere for a couple of weeks? More on that later, but the packing has started!

Mermaid dreams

After seeing the movie Splash as a child I became obsessed with mermaids. I remember trying to swim with my legs together at the pool, making slow progress flapping them up and down in a single stroke just like Daryl Hannah with her mermaid tail.
I guess that my heart is still wide open to the magic of mermaids, because when Jasper started showing an interest in all things mermaid (yes, including Ariel) I have totally embraced it. The other day we spent a good, and lazy, hour on Flickr entering searches for things like "dragons", "hippos", "baboons". This is such fun with kids, and our search for "mermaids" turned up some wonderful photos. Here are a selection of our favorites, along with a little something else....

...here is Jasper, doing his own version at the beach the other day.

Fragile Gems

A flower is:
1. The scent of oxygen's breath
2. The color of all that is repeated
3. The absence of pain
4. Seasons tattoo
5. Memory's kiss
6. Winter's loss
7. Food for bees
8. Evidence of perfect beauty
9. Species tender touch
10. Fragrant reminders of calendars, time, clocks
11. Life's fragile gems

~Squeak Carnwath

Photo shoot

I have been having visions and ideas for a shop and blog banner for a few months now. So many great ideas swimming in my head. Since I absolutely do not know how to do any web design on my own and would not even begin to know how to create an image on my computer, I decided to create a banner the old fashioned way. I set up a photo shoot using different fonts and much loved objects to create the look that I was going for. What fun!
I'm pretty pleased with the results, and I am loving the look of my blog and shop as they come together! What do you think?

Bird heart

bird heart, originally uploaded by Nature Morph.

This collage by artist Amy Ross is making me smile today. There is something darkly quirky and sweet about it.
I spent a lot of time checking out her website this morning, her work is the sort of work that you can get lost in, kind of like visiting a museum. She creates paintings, drawings, and collages that turn the natural world on its head, morphing flora and fauna together into curious hybrid creatures.
I love that in her bio it says that she went to divinity school before becoming an artist!

Stars at the playground

Right on a Hudson River pier, in Manhattan's west village, there is a wonderful playground with lots of fountains for water play. The whole playground is set up to make you feel like you are on a ship and the view of the boats, sky and harbor are really gorgeous! The weather was perfect, so we made it a family outing this weekend. We did the usual playground things...

Enjoyed the view, tended skinned knees,

and played with Heidi Klum's daughter's ball.

Well, that's not so usual. In New York City seeing celebrities is not that unusual, when I lived in the east village for years in my 20's I saw just about every big name celeb, but really it is always a thrill. The thing in New York is that no mater how big the celebrity you always must act like it is really not a big deal to see them. Everyone acts so nonchalant about it, no one points or whispers or anything out of the ordinary. So, there was Heidi Klum at the playground with all of her three children and her baby belly looking pretty far along with her 4th. She looked lovely in a sun dress and glasses, but the biggest thing I noticed were her three babysitters. Yes, she had a babysitter for each of her children!
This made me feel so good, really. Whenever I hear or read about people who seem to "do it all" with the career and children and still looking SO great, I can really start to feel hard on myself by comparison! Feeling like I should somehow be able to do more, be more, than is actually possible. But doesn't our culture make us all feel this way!?
So, watching Heidi sit down in the sunshine and relax while her babysitters followed her children around the playground made me feel good. I felt lighter, more free. Yeah she does look fabulous, but she doesn't do it all, she has lots of help. Probably every day there are moments for me when the idea of having a babysitter for each child sounds amazing, but I know that I am trying my best.

Making it work in my own way, and loving these moments to paint and blog and be alone with my thoughts when I can!

Beach house

This is the closest thing that we have to a beach house at the moment. Isn't it perfect?
Summer is in full force and I am taking the kids to the beach once a week. This is part of my embracing New York movement...a personal movement that I have to undertake every summer when all I want to do is be outside in nature, I have to find the nature and embrace it here where we live!
Our closest favorite beach is at Jacob Riis Park, only a half hour drive from our house in Brooklyn. It is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, a national park that is right here in the coastline and bays surrounding New York City.
So far we are loving it, especially as this year the kids are a little older and better able to run in the waves!

Cleaning up

I had not realized how dirty our kitchen was until this morning when I was on my hands and knees on the floor cleaning up an accidental spilling of a box of crispy rice (everywhere). Once the mess was cleaned up, I changed the table cloth, putting out this light cotton one from Ikea. I grabbed a favorite Mexican plate for a center piece and these Marimekko fabric covered pillows that had been used to make forts in the living room. They look great as a comfy back for our bench....and there it is....our spiced up kitchen table. Clean and so invitingly summery, just in time for July 4th!

I often feel that a little symmetry goes a long way in making a space feel calm.


And that painting that you can just see the bottom of behind our bench in the first photo? Here it is....

Meditation

It is a large painting of mine from about 2005 that I absolutely LOVE looking at every day. We choose the yellow of our kitchen walls to complement it!

Have a wonderful holiday to all here in the States!

Going with the flow

When you are almost five, and you spend the weekend outside in the Catskills, camping with your best friend. Well, these sort of magic moments just happen.
I am told that Jasper did not put a shirt or shoes on for the entire weekend.
Every time I think about this I smile.
My wild, wonderful boy.
I am loving their love in these pictures!