Some of my recent paintings......

The Wild Cat

The Dreams of Fairies

Travels to Paris

Quiet Walking

Quiet Walking

Modern Opera

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The Angel's Visit

The Princess

Summer

Hello everyone! I haven't posted anything on my blog for such a long time! I have mostly been sharing my art and the antiques from our shop and many other things on our Instagram page. But, I've really missed sharing things here on my own blog. Sometimes, it feels better to do something just for yourself, something that doesn't have anything to do with other people. I have been wanting to share some of my paintings recently and missed working on my blog, so I hope you will enjoy these paintings as they are some of my very favorites. Some of them are available on my Etsy shop, if you're interested in purchasing any of them. Just go to my Etsy shop at sunflowerhouse.

I hope you are all well and will have a very nice Thanksgiving. It has been such a very difficult few years and even now, the world seems to be falling apart. I find myself drawing away from all the negative and frightening things that are happening and just turning to using my creativity or taking time to appreciate the creativity of others. I am so thankful for inspiring art and beautiful music and the beauty and goodness in the world. I hope you are able to find peace in something in your life that will sustain you through these difficult times. There is always something good.

 

beautiful art makes me feel better

                                                     artist amanda collis

                                                amanda collis again, such beautiful art!

                                                  blog, la vie est belle

so so adorable!!!

beautiful creativity

can't wait to see this book!!

wish i could be here!

from the blog called grrl+dog, wonderful blog!

photographer michael graydon

michael graydon again

she had us at hello blog

terry williams

not feeling well today. going to a clinic. some things make me feel better, these lovely pictures, hope, family, friends, the last days of summer, quiet, cats, children. i hold onto those things when i am worried. 

Beautiful quotes from Mother Teresa

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

life is precious......

life is precious......protect it. cherish it. know it and remember it. we are all part of this life. if only..... if only......we all say......if only we could get along. if only we would understand......but we can. it is not something for the future, but for now. step down to find the rose, the tiny ant, the life that we know nothing about and give it a smile that is gentle and deep and kind. we can help each other. what else is there really to do? we can't just walk away from this life and all the people in it. we are all part of this. life is so precious. we are all precious, beautiful and born into a world filled with wonderful people. i hope we can see that. we can.

Hope

It is amazing how life can change......how one day can be so different than others. I have been so discouraged and down lately, off an on feeling a little happier and encouraged, but this morning, things are different. All because of people! People are so important in our lives. To not be alone, to feel like you are cared about and not forgotten is just so extremely important. My husband and I both struggle with days when we feel very discouraged and sad, and looking back, sometimes it feels like those emotions take so much away from what could be, what happiness we could have, what we could accomplish in our lives. But, because of two people who showed so much love and appreciation of us, Mike and I both feel so much happier today, so encouraged and full of hope. It isn't good to be alone. We need friends, we need family and others to make us feel like we mean something in this life. Whenever we are together with our families, we are happy. Our lives are perfect!!! Friends are so important, too. Last night, a couple came over for dinner and it was just so wonderful to spend time with them. They helped us to feel so good about ourselves, too and it was so great to hear about their lives, their families and what is important and special to them. It was so inspiring and comforting to hear their comments about our artwork. We sit at home in the evenings a lot, working on our art, watching movies or whatever, but it's lonely, it's fun and Mike and I love being together, but it's sometimes very lonely. So, we realized we need to invite people over more to get together and visit and just have fun together. With the world being filled with such depressing news and events, we need to turn to each other for friendship and comfort and happiness. I just feel so much better, I have so much more hope about life, it just boosted my spirits so much to be with people. It's amazing. How thankful I am for people. We all need each other so much. Now, we are going to invite people over a lot more, or just get together with people. It just helps so much to be with others. I have been looking for a job and haven't found anything yet; some days I just get so discouraged, but now I feel so renewed and have hope again and courage!! It's wonderful!

Here are some pictures of our families and some friends. I couldn't find some of the pictures I was looking for so hopefully, I'll do another post soon about family and friends and show some more pictures.

The first picture is Mike, of course (my husband). The next picture is all of us at our son

Michael's college graduation (Michael and his wife Caressa, Matthew, our other son and our friend Matthew, who we've known for years; I'll post some pictures of his family soon). Next.....(I love this picture) this is our little family when our sons were very little; at Knoxberry Farm). All of us at our son Matthew's college graduation. Mike's brother Pat and his wife Sherri. My brother Joe. My nephew Baker. My brother David and his wife Jinni. Our son Michael (with the cool beard) and his wife Caressa and her family. Matthew and his wife Brittnee. My Mom. My Mom and Dad. Mike with my niece Nina's sons. Nina and her children and I. Mike's brother Dan and his wife Kathy and their family.

We visited with most everyone here this summer and it was so wonderful. Except we haven't seen our son Michael and Caressa in a long time, since Christmas. We really miss them and are trying to work it out so we can see them soon, too! What I pray about the most is to be all together with our families! That is what is most important to me. It's so difficult to be away from your family!!

Hope you didn't mind me sharing all this. I just am really touched by how people bless my life!

I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for visiting my blog.....I would love to hear from you!

Debbie