New paintings......

here are 3 of my newer paintings.......i am really painting a lot, lately. i sold the last painting (the one of the mountain scene) to a girl from New York. i was so excited!! i have sold so many pieces of my little fairy furniture over the past 20 years and that is always thrilling to me, too, but since i am relatively new at painting, i am so humbled by someone appreciating my paintings enough to actually buy one. i've really sold a lot of paintings over the summer. it's such a surprise! we've been doing the Farmer's Market here and we've just had such a great experience!!

i have been thinking a lot about my blog lately.....wondering how i can make it better, be motivated to post things more often, make my blog more interesting so more people will visit and enjoy it......i wish i had more of theme that i could focus on. we recently went to see the film Julie and Julia......mike and i just loved it. such a great film. but what i liked about it most of all was that Julie, a woman who really appreciated Julia Child......decided to write totally about the cooking of Julia Child. she decided to cook one of her recipies from her cook book for an entire year, or until she had prepared every recipe. i just thought it was so great that she had a goal or a real project she was working on with her blog.....so that gave her a reason to post every day!! i guess i mostly want to post about something special that will interest readers enough that they will want to visit my blog every day. i love the friendships and the appreciation and the closeness i feel to people with my blog, but i just don't hear from enough people. i need to make my blog more unique and significant. anyway......i have some ideas, but still mulling them around.

i love so many blogs. i spend at least an hour or more a day visiting all the blogs i just love. i am so thankful for all of them, the beauty each person shares and their innovative, creative and amazing ideas......i don't know what i'd do if i couldn't visit these incredible beautiful worlds!!

thank you all of you!

more later. hope to hear from someone. i appreciate anyone who visits and especially who comments. i spend so much time by myself at our gallery or at home, any comments i receive just bring me so much joy!! thank you!

have a happy weekend!

debbie

A few new pictures......

A few new pictures......sorry haven't posted in so long!!

at first, i was so frightened for this child......

when i first saw this picture, i was really not sure what to think! but as i looked at it closer, i realized that the tiger was inside a tank of water and the child was on the other side of the wall. what an amazing picture! the expression on the tiger's face says everything! he looks as though his primal instincts are being challenged by this gentle, unafraid child. i wish we could see the child's expression, but you can almost feel what he's feeling. i think he is just amazed at this magnificent animal and is so grateful to be so close to him, to feel his spirit. animals and children are so much the same.....free spirits, filled with life and able to learn......i love this picture.

Paid subscription webisodes......

Hi everyone...... Recently, I heard of the idea of having a paid subcription to your blog so that people could view webisodic videos. I really thought that was a fantastic idea and have been doing some research about it......it's a fairly popular thing to do. I have made so many wonderful little videos, short film clips with my beautiful art and little characters that I thought it would be so much fun to share them with everyone and also charge a little bit to help me continue to do my art. I was wondering if any of you would be interested in this idea??? Or if anyone knows anything about it? (suggestions of websites that help people to get started, how much would be reasonable to charge? how often should the videos be posted......one every day, one a week.....?) I love posting on my blog and I love sharing my art and my little films, so it just would be so great to do both and also made some money, too, so that I can keep being an artist!! Any of your comments would be so appreciated!! Thank you...... Debbie

all i can think about is the forest and the sea.......

all i can think about lately is being in the forest, walking through the beautiful trees in a dense and quiet woods. sleeping by the ocean, the sounds of the gentle waves like a lullabye in my ears. i miss the ocean so much and the forest. we live in the city now, more than we did before and i am so unhappy here. i can't believe how people live in such closeness to all the noise of the cars and the buildings all around. i feel like running so fast from here......to find the peace and beauty of nature. i am sure that many of the problems in the world are because of cities......and people not having the gentleness and healing of nature to guide and comfort them. cities are interesting and exciting sometimes, but they almost feel like a trap. in nature, we are free, we can be like children and we can feel the beauty God gave us in our smiles and our happiness.

i don't want to live here anymore. i think about the ocean so much. when i see a picture of the ocean, my heart just breaks with such longing for the sea. it is so magnificent......so beauiful and amazing. how can we as a people put ourselves so far from this powerful and yet humble gift we have been given? i am trying to find something away from here that we can do or go to so that we can free ourselves from this horrible place. i miss the animals of the forest, the little ladybugs and the beetles and the gentle birds and raccoons. i miss the seaweed, the sand and the sounds of the sea. to sleep with the sound of the sea is to dream of a heavenly place and to walk in gentle gardens, happy and beautiful.

i hope we can find a place soon where we can be close to nature again. i miss it terribly.

i want to live by the sea......

the wind finds it's way to the corner of the winter cove,

little swallows quietly sleeping in a lovely tree......

i walk past a fallen house.....it's driftwood walls echo of laughter and stories and long, wondering gazes as children run along the shore.

where did the sun go? waiting for a brighter day, we see a ship in the horizon and talk about long journeys and sleeping dreams.

what will the snow bring this winter? a stark and cold day, we long for the sun of summer again.

summer is as if the world is turned upside down and all the frozen memories fall into the sea.

How do you add......"You also might like".....to blog??

Can anyone tell me how to add the feature on your blog that is at the end of each post that says....."you also might like".....it's links to other posts on your blog that are related the post you just listed?? I have tried to add that feature to my blog several times but every time I do, it doesn't seem to work. I would be so appreciative if anyone could tell me how to go about doing that. Thanks so much!

Here's some pictures of some of my new pieces. I may have posted them before; can't remember. I have really loved being so creative lately. With our gallery/studio, we really are motivated to do more of our art!!

Have a wonderful day!

Debbie

summer

i want so much to have a wonderful summer. i see so many people traveling to spain and italy, france and other wonderful places and i just feel like the summer might end before my husband and i have a chance to really enjoy it......our biggest dream, most fervent dream is to go to Europe.....especially England, France and Ireland. i realize though, that we need to really work on going there instead of just talk about going there. i just know if we were to go there, i would be so happy, i would feel as if i were finally home. please write to me about your travels to Europe. i would love to hear about your experiences there......perhaps you can tell me what we must to do to make our dream a reality. i would even be happy if we could go to Europe to work and live, not just to vacation. our country......the united states is so drab in some ways to me.....compared to what i see in the beautiful and captivating countries of europe. the history, the ancient, longing feeling of these enchanted places, the people and the children, the gardens, the little towns, the magical and wonderful feeling of the places filled with memories of so many things. our summer so far has been mostly filled with work. i am so anxious to have a wonderful experience somewhere different, somewhere beautiful and inspiring. beauty is my inspiration, my life. i want to surround myself with beauty and lovely things, lovely places, words, thoughts, gardens, clothing, interiors, children, flowers and just everything that is touching and pretty and sweet. debbie