Christopher Columbus Interviewed Live...

Today I had the great honor to see "Christopher Columbus" interviewed by two news reporters from Mrs. Ross' 5th grade class. Jake, the caboose in our family, played the role of "Christopher Columbus", proudly telling his story of bravery and discovery. There was some heckling from the explorer Dias, who claimed that Christopher Columbus' discovery's were not nearly as "cool" as his discovery, finding the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. Which Jake, oops, I mean Columbus retorted, "oh now you've gone too far...your discovery was an accident - ha". Then he sent Dias away so he could finish his interview. I learned something today as well as saw that Jake may have some "sweet acting skills."

Here we have Christopher Columbus, Bartholomew Dias, and a Taíno - Indian. All basking in their success of their interview.

SNOW today - Yahoo!!

It is going to be a SPOOKY cold Halloween and I hate to say it.......BUT

it is helping me get in the mood to paint SANTAS.

GOURDS, GOURDS AND MORE GOURDS

I just got back from an incredible gourd buying trip in Pennsylvania with Jeff,my husband. We had the chance to stay in the home of an Amish family and meet their 6 beautiful daughters. One of the highlights was gathering around the family table and enjoying amazing meals prepared for us, with all of the ingredients grown on their farm. We especially enjoyed the grape juice straight from the vine, the homemade yogurt and the salad, picked that morning from their garden.

We spent our time buying, painting, learning about and hand picking gourds from their fields. We even attended the Pennsylvania Gourd Society meeting and met lots of gourd loving people - it was a Gourd Feast of info! Pennsylvania was beautiful and I loved learning about the Amish people and their culture and making incredible new friends.

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES:

You can see the family barn in the background -

Just like my husband said, a calendar picture everywhere we looked.

Here are the TURKEY gourds just picked from the field -

they look just as great in their natural form as they do as a TURKEY - I think...

This is a picture from the horse drawn buggy ride we went on. I ended up with swollen eyes and an itchy face (I'm allergic to horses). That part was no fun, but the ride was amazing...look at the color of the fall leaves. Esther, the second daughter, drove us around the area. She is only 16 and has been driving the buggy for years! Wow! I know it was a lot harder than she made it look!!!

It was a fantastic experience and I am back in the studio with excitment, ready to get Christmas going.....

Studio 5

Here is the clip from our stint on Studio 5 this moring.

WOW - we had a great SHOW - THANKS to all who came!!

We had amazing artists at the show with wares that your eyes could fest upon
and not even gain a pound!
This is Macy Wilcox's table - she always has a surprise when she brings her goodies
My couches are very scary with her "mummy pillows" adorning them!
...thanks Macy

We had suckers, soup and salsa (all fresh - so I hope you all refrigerated them or they may be spooker than you wanted them to be!!

If you missed the poison bottles you will need to
contact Sara Christensen to get a couple - they are a MUST in your Halloween decor!!
Along with a Raven painting and sack of Halloween "Boo-ble" gum!
If you want to contact Sara - write me a comment and I will hook you up...

OK...and of course there were GOURDS and GOURDS and more GOURDS!!

Autumn Art Show

Halloween Happiness

These little gourds are just dying to go home with you. 

These and much much more will be seen at the  Autumn Art Show

I wish I could say that right before a show my studio looks a mess but that is the state of it pretty much year round. Here are some works in progress: “JENIBEE’S TURKEYS” a very rare sighting. Catch one if you can.

mummies just need to be “burned” and “wrapped” up for their debut at the Autumn Art Show.

NEW white Jack’s just being figured out.

Mini Santa’s in their own workshop…

Getting Creative

A dusty box of 88 records are found in almost every basement – treasured keepsakes from our teenage years – or childhood years or for my kids their response is, “never heard of ‘em”   anyway, if you are not planning to buy a “retro” record player or wait till your ship comes in and your scratched 88 of “The Partridge Family Up To Date starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy” has yet to sky rocket in price on ebay.  How about make a WITCH HAT out of them.  I also read how you can melt them in the oven and make a bowl – (if you are really daring)

The other cool thing to do is paint on them - your FRONT DOOR RECORD WREATHS will be the spookiest edition “in record” to your Halloween décor.  And the bonus is if you get tired of them in a couple of years you can take them all apart and play such treasured titles as Pat Benatar, The Romantic Rachmaninoff, Waltzes For Dancing, The Mormon Tab Choir (several arrangements), Surf Punks Locals Only and Soft Cell Tainted Love.

More witch hats

Halloween is in full swing around here and we're gearing for the Autumn show. Here is a little sampling of some darling witch hats that will be available at the show. 

And there's a little surprise on the bottom!

Vintage Records