Keeping Hands and Brains Busy....

Sometimes the best medicine for a weary heart is to create something. This week I spent some time working on a little 12" x 12" acrylic and oil paint work that is definitely different from my usual fare.

                                                   MADAME CHOSE
She has an almost "Art Deco" look to me which was nothing I was aiming for but I like it anyway. The title was a remembered expression of my father's who never really learned French in all the years we lived in Quebec, but he knew this expression which is a generic term for any woman, sort of a "Madame Whoever" if you will.
My dad was from Texas and if you think Dr. Phil is full of cute sayings you should have known my dad!
The other thing I worked on was another little textile piece that I have been experimenting on. My only dilemma is how to mount this??? Some pieces I have seen are mounted on canvas which leads me to believe they have glue applied to the back. My only fear is that will stiffen the fabric and give it a "frozen" look which I don't like. Does anyone have experience mounting textile art?? Please feel free to pass on any info you have garnered.

I had planned on mounting an old spoon over the patch of brown velvet on the right side, I thought that would give it a cozy, homey look. The velvet is special to me as it was in an upholstery book filled with many samples of cotton velvet in different colors that my son found in someone's discarded trash when he was just 7 years old. Even then he knew his mom loved anything that could be used to make something pretty and Montreal is a great city for finding discarded treasures!  I really do miss trash days in Montreal!!!
Today though I plan on finishing a little painting in watercolor and gouache that is going to become my header for this blog and my Etsy shop. I have wanted to learn how to make a decent header for awhile now and Etsy has a quick and easy tutorial that even I can understand!

                                       Now for a quick Pumpkin update!
Pumpkin is holding his own for now. He is eating well and still preening his fur and paws but his right eye looks like the pupil is " blown" which is an indication of a stroke or some neurological problem. I spoke with the vet and she was kind enough to level with me and explain that in her opinion Pumpkin probably has generalized cancer and there is really nothing, at his age, that can be done about it so I am spending lots of time with him, holding and rocking him (his favorite thing) and whispering love to him.
Animals are always brave and accepting of life's circumstances, it's we humans who rail against fate and curse the darkness rather light a candle, (well I find myself doing that a lot) I am getting better though which must be the wisdom of age! I do believe that there is beauty in everything life offers us and I am trying very hard to find the beauty in this experience so these precious moments with Pumpkin will leave me changed in a good way!
Have a wonderful Tuesday and on Pumpkin's and my behalf I say thank you again for the prayers and well wishes, they have lightened my burden!

Love Tina xo

Quick Update

To all of you wonderful friends who left comments and well wishes for Pumpkin I wanted to let you know that your prayers have made a difference! Although Pumpkin is never going to be a young cat again he has rallied and is holding his own for now. He is eating and seems to be pain-free so I decided to get antibiotics from his vet to add to his routine and although I am not sure it is making any real improvement, it can't hurt at this point.

I am at peace with whatever the Lord brings and for now He has seen fit to leave Pumpkin here with me for a while longer and I am grateful!
Thank you for your prayers, I know in my heart that those thoughts and prayers strengthened both Pumpkin and myself!

Love Tina xo

Prayer Request Today!

I don't know if anyone will stop by today for a visit or not but to anyone who does I am asking you if you would be kind enough to say a prayer for my 15 year old cat named Pumpkin.

He has been a wonderful cat who has been asked to travel many miles and live in many different homes and kept his dignity through it all. He is one of those cats that keeps all other felines in line with just a look or one "meow" and many times I have wished I knew how the heck he accomplished that little trick so I could learn how to keep people in line that way too!
Over the last year he has been slowly showing his age more and more and consistently losing weight and this past week I took him to his vet once more and got some special canned food to try to bolster his little body, but to no avail.
I will not go into all the details but I feel in my heart that his time is coming to an end and it is very hard for me to face.
We are in the middle of a winter storm, my car's transmission went last week and my budget is depleted, so all I can do is hold him in my arms and rock him and pray that Jesus will peacefully take his little soul home.
I am asking that you please take a minute from your day and pray that his passing will be easy and quiet with little pain.
I thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness and compassion.

Tina xo

My Private Studio..

Ok I am being a little sarcastic, but this is were I work my magic. Is it  a kitchen with a bar counter top that looks into the salon (get that...SALON, fancy huh?) or my studio?
Well it started out as a kitchen but then I realized that as a person living alone this space could be whatever I wanted it to be so ta-da...studio!

Note the happy lights hanging there? I finally took them down but now I miss them terribly, they were very cheerful to look at! Oh and see the refracted light on the right side? That's the reflection from all the crystals I have hanging in the windows around the house.

Sketches done on long, lazy weekends, trying different mediums, watercolors, colored pencils, gouache, pastels and ink.

A wall in the SALON where I put up works in progress so I can see them in different lights as the day goes by. That also helps me to decided if I am happy with the results or want to change something. I also have a few clippings from magazines of houses I like a lot. Sort of a poor man's vision board!

Another view of my main workspace. I have a framed photo of one of my favorite artists Miriam Wosk, who sadly passed away a few years ago. Her work was so free and filled with energy that I still frequently visit her website to view the video of her working at her art. http://www.miriamwosk.com/

You will also note to the right there is my Bodum with Starbuck's coffee inside (it is never very far from my side):)
The little picture next to Miriam's is the Last Supper which hung in my grandmother's kitchen for many years. The scraps of paper stuck in the frame were bits of salvaged wallpaper from a 300 year old home.

Well I hope that little trip through my work area was not too disturbing for those of you with faint hearts, haha.
Enjoy this lovely wintery day....oh who am I kidding if the flipping snow does not leave soon I am going to be a raving lunatic!
How about you????

Tina xo

In Memory of an Irish Lady

Today on St. Patrick's Day my thoughts turn to the Irish side of my family, the maternal side to be more specific, and present my great grandmother Catherine Lenore McDonald and her young family....

Although this photo needs major restoration, it is clear enough to identify Catherine and her husband Silas VanDette, my grandfather (the young man standing with his hand on his sister Maude's shoulder) baby Joesph and Laurence leaning on his father's leg. This was taken at the turn of the century in Montreal Quebec Canada. She had three other children who passed away at a young age, Victor who had  Meningitis, Arthur who caught Strep Throat at 16 and died within 4 days, and a 4 year old named Mamie that I never did find out how she passed.

Story has it that my great grandmother was a very tough Irish lady who ruled her home with an iron will that never failed her to the very end. Her daughter Maude died at 68 and never married or had a career because mama decided that was how it was going to be! I heard many tales from my mother about the way Catherine's household was run and to say she was strict in all she said and did is a vast understatement.
So the fact that she was born on Valentine's Day 1864 doesn't seem to have soften her demeanor overmuch! Still she was loved by her family and always had a little dog by her side, the last one so devoted to her that he followed her into death.
I have many photos, much crochet from her hand, camisoles and hand crocheted table cloths and these few precious items she always had with her....

A small silver pill safe, one of her many watches and a gold locket my great uncle Joesph created for her (he was a jeweler for many years at Birk's in Montreal) the initial's are C and L for Catherine Lenore. These items are laying on one of the many doilies that graced her home.
I guess on days like today (St Pat's) even though I never had the opportunity to meet Catherine in person I feel very close to her and wish I knew more about their family story. How did they arrive in the U.S. and why did she end up in Montreal married to my great grandfather? No one ever was able to give me those details and now those who might have known are long gone.
So to you Great Grandmother I wish you the very best St. Patrick's Day, I hope you are having cabbage and corned beef up there with the Saints! Hugs and Kisses from a grateful female descendant!

Tina xo