history in the house

Maybe it is because my husband is reading The True Life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and I am almost done with the 800 page 17th century romance novel, Forever Amber, that has inspired me to recently feel the urge to:

A) Shine my silver (who voluntarily does this today? Ugh...not sure what is wrong with me):

And B):

Begin painting a piece depicting what I think the rebellious and daring Amber St. Clare may have looked like after she recovered from the plague.  I am a firm believer that artists are inspired by their subconscious and I often times will be mid-way through a painting and figure out where it came from.

Lately I have had an obsession with combining funky shapes, colors, patterns and modern elements with traditional subjects. 

Amber enjoying the sweet scent of roses in contrast to what will be a modern, graphic backdrop of colors and forms.  When I took a Summer en plein air painting course at The Torpedo Factory years ago my instructor emphasized just throwing color on the canvas and going from there.  So, I'm just throwing color on right now...we'll see what happens to Amber as I work.

20" x 20"...acrylic on cotton and I am sure I will use pencil, crayon and a hodge podge of other things

remember these?

found them nestled away in the children's section at the library.  Had to get them!

dansez...riez...buvez...chantez...aimez

12" x 16" acrylic, gold drawing ink and pencil on canvas with polycrylic finish.  Edges painted rose.

Dance, laugh, drink, sing, love

chartreuse & co

 

2 huge barns, many vendors, to die for prices and a gazillion things that will make your heart go pitter patter.  Just go....there is a holiday tag sale Nov 4-6.  I'm sure Jenny and I will be there. 

Got this darling little table today...$49 at that:

a bit of kitsch

I have never been a needle point kind of gal and when it comes to Leila I'm not much of a fan for anything "princessy."  However...exceptions can be made.  Although long, it is a gorgeous 5 hour drive to my parent's house through the Shenandoah Valley...Bath County, Va and more.  If you take the time to stop, you can stumble upon some really fabulous places in the towns you pass.  Karen's Emporium in Churchville, VA is just one of them.  So Mom and Pop she has no website and greets you with a warm "Hey, how you doin'?" in her thick Southern accent every time.

I had passed her store time and time again.  Finally, Leila and I stopped...just the two of us.  I needed to nurse her, change her diaper, etc...she was only a few months old.  Karen welcomed us with open arms and let us do everything we needed to while we talked and I learned more about her.  She and her husband live in an old church they are renovating and her husband makes signs for her store

 (read more about this below.) 

During that visit I found this needle point piece that I had to get...every home should have one piece that has a little kitsch.  As we left, she gave Leila a little stuffed duck and told us to come back.

Got rid of the 1970's look and painted the frame a taupe:

The next time we stopped at Karen's her husband was there.  He is an incredible artist who free hands custom signs for personal and commercial purposes.  Probably most well known for creating all of the signs as you enter the town of Princeton, NJ...he is also old school...no website : (

As we left, he insisted we have this sign for Leila which he made:

I am working on my own kitschy painting at the moment.  I had an urge to paint roses and some funky happiness...and this is what happened.  Will post photo when done.

siena

I love how places so far away can have such a universal feel.  Just wrapped up this painting of Siena, Italy...however I can't help but think of Frederick, Baltimore, the towns through Philly you pass on the train up to NYC or NYC itself.  The paint is built up with texture and layers.  Acrylic, pen, crayon and bronze drawing ink on textured cotton with polycrylic finish.  10" x 10" x 1.5" deep.  Will be up on Etsy soon!

jereme seams

My sister asked for some photos of Leila's nursery several weeks ago...received this darling custom pillow as a baptism gift over the weekend which was made based on the photos.  Love!

She is just getting started, but check out the artist's new blog.....

The hitting toddler

Two weeks ago at library class Leila decided to exercise her new found love of hitting other children.  Fabulous, a mother's worst nightmare...I am trying to figure out how to end this phase stat.  I politely approached the little girl's mother and apologized for Leila's aggressiveness towards sweet Claire.  Good thing I did!  She was very nice and we got to talking and found out our little girls are only 2 months apart.  Two play dates later and many lessons in sharing and not hitting (on Leila's part), Jenny and I seem to have a lot in common besides being new moms.  We both love sprucing up second hand furniture and design and she told me about Chartreuse and Co. (can't believe I hadn't heard about it!)...if all works out hopefully we can leave the girls with our husbands this weekend and go searching for a few hours!  I have a serious issue with places like this...for me it is comparable to being in an art gallery, art supply store or library...my stomach does somersaults I get so darn excited!  Must remain calm.

Meanwhile....one day when I was in Italy I took the train (by myself!) to Siena for the day and did this loose, gestural sketch in marker.  I recently translated it to canvas using acrylic on cotton (or shower curtain I should say...I had this shower curtain I loved and eventually shrunk it in the wash and didn't have the heart to throw it out.)  Voila!  Shower curtain is now painting backdrop.  It's a small, funky, super thick and super fun painting...almost finished but not quite.

Siena

Leila seeing her first cow over the weekend.  She said "MOOO" when she saw him.

More pics to come, but here's one from the weekend with just 3 of her 17 cousins before her baptism.

One year ago today

you were born and were brave enough to enter this bright, strange world.

Momma held you close and we bonded as mothers and daughters do.

Dada loved on you like you wouldn't believe and it was a beautiful thing to see.

You slowly became your own little being, your personality shining through.

Winter passed and Spring came.

And you discovered new sights...

and new heights.

You are a sweet little girl who learned to talk...and to walk.

And this morning, open your first birthday present.

Like your name, you have blossomed into a beautiful flower...happy birthday, baby girl.

the handmade ornament

It's no secret that I am a sucker for all things handmade.  When I was growing up, like most, I loved decorating our Christmas tree each year and I loved even more all of the ornaments with photos.  You know the ones you make for your parents in kindergarten with your school photo...the older you got the more embarrassing it was to see.  My husband and I have a huge box full of black and white photos of us growing up which I made into ornaments and hung on tree branches to use on our centerpieces at our wedding reception.  Now, we use them as our Christmas ornaments so our entire tree is full of black and white photos.  love it.

I decided to make a few Christmas ornaments for my sister and brother in law using pics from the last year as a small gift to give them this weekend...they are Leila's Godparents.  They will be here for her baptism and first birthday party on Sunday...it's a small token of appreciation but I'm sure will get many years of use:

Thyroid, Schmyroid.

Let me begin by saying I was a total sobbing fool earlier today and had to call my sister to be reassured that I am a "normal" mother (contrary to some) who is experiencing "normal" emotions with our daughter's first birthday fast approaching next Tuesday.  I literally was sitting in her nursery reading her a book and the next minute I had full on crocodile tears...filled with overwhelming joy and love for this sweet baby girl I at times think I don't deserve.  How did we get so lucky?  Don't get me wrong, there are days when I count the minutes until nap time...but I cringe now at the thought of the last year flashing before my eyes.  Sigh.  Our first year is almost over and I simply can't believe it....

On another note:  my body seems to be all jacked up (for lack of a better term.)  About seven years ago I found out my throat tightens up, making it hard to swallow.  Sweet!  I dropped 15 lbs. fast because I was so afraid to eat, I had almost choked a few times.  I was due for a follow up endoscopy in '08 and never bothered to have it done...and in the last 6 months or so I have almost choked about a dozen times...very graceful when you have to rush to the bathroom in a fancy restaurant in the middle of your anniversary dinner.  So, in I went for an endoscopy last week and out I came with a sore throat like no other.  They had to put an actual tear in the throat muscle to permanently open it.  One section of my throat had tightened to the size of a dime!  oy.

That's why I find it so hilarious that I have this issue eating, however why can't I drop the last 10 lbs of my pregnancy weight?  My thyroid apparently is also out of whack...the kind of out of whack which makes you gain weight, be exhausted, be depressed and one other thing which would be inappropriate to write in my blog.

So, I have 6 weeks of medicine to take and I am hoping and praying I will feel good soon.  Atleast now I have a better understanding as to why I have been so short with people, moody, probably rude and a smorgasbord of other things.  I'm really, really sorry to all who had to endure this.  I have a very patient and loving husband, thank God.

I really had just chalked it up to being a new mom.  But, that in itself is fabulous...

P.S. Leila is officially walking :):

Monday Night, Baby!

Today is game day and I am super excited to make my first recipe from a book I have been slightly obsessed with the last few days.  A hearty, yummy corn chowder for my hubby to enjoy while yelling at the Redskins.  This is by far my favorite time of year...to nest, cook, curl up with a good book, watch football and enjoy the changing leaves.  I have read the book cover to cover and love its message.  It is Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham and it's all about getting back to wholesome, family dinners.  The way it should be, really.  Memories are made in the kitchen.

Ok, so I am beginning to sound like a stereotypical 1950's housewife (blast!)....I may even wear my brown and pink polka dot apron this go round.  But seriously...we ladies are nurturers through and through and what man doesn't love coming home from a long day at the office, sitting down to a game of football on the tube and eating a meal prepared with love?  And, so I guess sitting down to have dinner as a family at our actual kitchen table will have to wait until Leila goes to bed after dinner time.  For tonight...dinner will be had in the living room with the lovely sound of football in the background.  Hello, Fall!!!!

a year in a box

So, yesterday marked our two year wedding anniversary!  I don't know where the last year has gone.  Really.  My dad and I have had some heart to hearts recently about life and how as you get older time just goes faster and faster.  As he gets older, he wants to pass down what he has learned and really wants me  to savor each moment and enjoy life to it's fullest.  I can appreciate that, especially after the birth of our daughter and witnessing first hand exactly what he means.

After I discovered Darcy Miller's scrapboxing idea I decided with our first anniversary to take a very small box and bundle up our year with special momentos.  This is our 2nd year box...I'm going to keep this anniversary tradition going until one day we have a full wall of scrap boxes to look back on. 

The key is to keep things throughout the year that are meaningful.  I have pages from our favorite book, Pat the Bunny, her hat from the hospital, 1/2 of her toy pig since the other piece went missing, part of Max's collar, a chocolate wrapper from The Greenbrier, a shell from our first trip to the beach....etc.

Needless to say, this was the year of Leila.

Hello again!

Dear Blog,

I know I have been ignoring you and I am sorry.  It's been a rough few months but I'm feeling better now and ready to get back to my painting and face the world again.  You see, I was in this really dark spot for a while and just needed a break.  In June, TJ and I found out we were expecting another baby!  We were so excited and started planning right away...it was hard to imagine Leila would have a little brother or sister so soon.  Our first appointment arrived and things didn't go quite as we imagined.  Our baby wasn't growing as should be expected.  We had to wait another two weeks for another sonogram.  Two weeks slowly passed...our baby had not grown.  Unfortunately we had a miscarriage. 

I wasn't sure if I should talk about it...it is something so private.  But, the more I thought about it the more I thought it is nothing to be ashamed of.  Miscarriages are all too common, yet rarely spoken of.  And, for that matter, the fact that I went through a depression for several weeks after...really is perfectly normal.  And, it's ok to say "I need a break, I need help."

Thank goodness for our wonderful family.  They helped us through such a trying time.  It showed us that family really is your backbone when life throws you your hardest punches.

So, here I am...I'm back!  Thanks for sticking by me...can't wait to paint my heart out!

xo Erin

For more information on miscarriages go here.