Rhinestone Armadillo

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy day to all you moms out there.  It's a rewarding, exhausting, heart-wrenching job like no other.

 

Violet made me a card at school, with the help of her preschool teachers, Ms. Lori and Ms. Megan.  Hey, teachers-can you PLEASE not believe everything my child says?

(Note:  Family Guy is not my favorite show.  Nor do I like going to Walmart.  And I can think of better things to eat than cereal.  But I'll take the 100 pounds comment.)

Here are some drawings Violet made me for Mother's Day.

Poor Daisy.

That should say 'has', but it's my holiday so I'm not going back to fix it.  Princess Cat gets time out a lot in her drawings lately.

My personal favorite...Violet and Piper, with big bows.

She also drew a picture of me, but I can't FIND it!  Dang it, she draws twenty things a day.  I'm a horse, but with my head.  I have six legs and a rainbow hide.

I love being a mother.

Duane Keiser and Orange Things

Do any of you follow Duane Keiser's work?  He's the originator of the painting-a-day movement.  I really admire his work.  He inspired me to pursue the p-a-d project for about a year.  Here's my old art blog if you're interested.  Some days went well, others didn't.  It did help me improve my skills and learn to work more quickly.  I sure miss painting.  The studio should be (ahem, Adam???) done by the end of this year.  Right, honey?  RIGHT?????

I thought today's painting from Keiser is fun.  It's amazing how much he conveys with a few simple brushstrokes.  He's a real master with still lifes, but they have so much energy.  Those few strokes of orange really wake up those peas, yes?

Seeing as how I am a huge supporter of the color orange, let's look at some orange things, shall we? 

Gorgeous sari fabric tunic from Gravity Fashion.

Ring ring....orange you glad I called?  (Yes, I know I'm annoying.)

Prit-tay.  I'll take the whole ceiling.  Oh, and if you're liking all this orange, perhaps you'd enjoy Whorange.  And Katy over at No Big Dill is also an orange fan.

Like it all.  I'll take the dog, too.

Put one of these...

...in a bottle of this.

Black and white photography looks smashing on an orange wall, don't you think?

"The Ally" by Marc Burkhardt

Marina Bychkova-porcelain ball jointed dolls

Wow-these BJDs (ball jointed dolls) by Marina Bychkova are lovely, aren't they?  I've been looking at these types for years, and I think she does the best work available.  From the gorgeous skin tones to the meticulous costumes, they are truly impressive works of art.

Oh, that bead work...exquisite!

Love that color with the red hair.

A folk-inspired Alice in Wonderland doll.