I heart you!

I'm overwhelmed with all the nice words and good wishes I received in comments and emails. I hope you'll understand if I can't reply individually. I am very grateful for all the warm thoughts and will carry you all with me. The wonderful thing about our web community is that we are always so close... no matter who lives where. Thank you.

Home....

(that's me when I was a little girl)
I'm going HOME (insert Chris Daughrty's song here)! Home is where your heart is. Or, in this case, where the red arrow shows.

I guess a part of our heart always stays where we were born. I was born in Belgrade, a city that used to be the capital of Yugoslavia.... a country that has changed its size and name many times in the last 10+ years. I still call it by that name... It's easier for politicians to change the borders and names than to change what's in my heart.
The last time I was there was six years ago... a long time. I will leave on Wednesday and stay a bit longer than two weeks. My mom is out of the hospital, but she is very weak and the broken arm and rib don't make movements after hip surgery easy. She needs a lot of help. I am so happy that she finally said that I can come and help. My emotions are all stirred up right now.... I can't even think straight. The excitement of seeing her, my father, friends, familiar streets.... and leaving my family here. Everything is mixed up.

I wanted to write something today, but the day passed too fast... I didn't manage to create anything more than simple greeting cards. Nothing special about them... except the messages that these birds bring.

Beginning is always today...

Life is...

Life is a series of awakenings.

Open Your Eyes

Always wonderful Judy Wise shared a link for SuziBlu and her videos on YouTube. I loved it and so will you! She is very inspirational and fun to watch. I loved that her way of starting an art journal is the way I do it often - by writing whatever you want, getting it all out, and then putting layers of colors over it. She is darling.... I'm sure you'll love her art and videos.

- 8.5" x 11" on eBay-

Protector

- listed here -

Friendship

I spent the first half of my day packing little cards and collages, and the other part walking around Berkeley searching for "perfect" footwear for Hana (we found them thankfully). Not a lot of time for my daily creating/listing challenge. Maybe that was a good thing, because looking at this little fellow, this was not one of my creative days. He is not one of the pretty birds... He has a weird beak, skinny legs and a tail that looks like a broom. I doubt that anyone will love him... but he's all I have today, so that's what I'm showing. :-)

Observe

It seems that I have to have my bird fix at least once a week. I painted this little guy today, and started some more... so I guess more birds will find their way to my blog. Have a happy weekend!

Peacefulness follows any decision

- 8.5x11" offered here -

Live out of your imagination

This was fun! You take a piece of heavy paper and start painting with colors that call you at that moment, then you glue everything that's in sight, scribble, stamp, paint some more, add transparencies, something for texture, crayons, tissue paper, words, stitch something just because..... and when you get tired of the chaos - stop and call it finished. That's what I was doing this afternoon. Unfortunately, whenever I use warm colors my monitor shows them as crazy vivid.... and they're not. Oh well.... nothing I can do about it... who knows how other monitors present colors... it may be very pale on yours (I doubt it, but maybe).

My Mom went through surgery this morning and everything is fine. I even talked to her and heard in her words that she is going to be well. Some may not know that my parents are far away, over the ocean... so it makes things like this more difficult. Anyway... I'm breathing easier now. The world is starting to look good again. Thank you for all the nice words and good thoughts. They helped a lot.-infrared photo by my darling-

Being vulnerable....

It seems that my daily collages are becoming little journal entries... I guess that's why I'm using the images of 'my' girls and quotes that feel right. My dear friend Connie came to visit me today. I wasn't good company at all... I rambled about doctors, mortality, Micheal Moore's movie "Sicko" etc. As a true friend she listened, approved and even managed to cheer me up. I felt much better after. As that is not enough, she always comes with the most wonderful gifts. Look what she brought me this time.... a perfect bird to keep me company. The photo doesn't show all the beautiful colors... she layered and layered transparent washes until she got this rich, deep color. The bird is heavy and peaceful and just a joy to hold and look at. I will always love it!

There are also fabric pieces which just may work the magic and bring me back to creating with fabric... and an adorable ceramic piece with my initial on it. Feeling vulnerable, but also grateful for my friends, just as I wrote yesterday.

True friends...

Feeling grateful for old and new friends, for those I've never met and those I haven't seen in years... Thank you.

The best is yet to be

- mixed media beeswax collage listed here -

Beautiful fragile ballerina

The beautiful fragile ballerina is my mom... You may remember that she broke her arm in July. Her arm was getting better, but far from good... and then it happened again. She fell yesterday and broke her rib and hip and is in hospital awaiting surgery. Still beautiful and more fragile than ever. Her spirit is strong... unlike mine. I want to curl into a ball and pretend it didn't happen. I wanted to stop my '30 days of creating and listing things for sale' challenge.... but the only thing I could do today was paint... so that's what I did.

The Doors...

Not the group (still my favorite after so many years), but more the new doors I'm trying to open today. I need to be braver, try more things... so I guess I'll be creating more pieces that will have the message I need to hear.
- 8.5x11" on eBay -

Explore and discover

Bitter-sweet

-listed on eBay-

Sometimes camera/scanner get all the colors wrong. This card looks horrible on the photo.... much better in my hand. Oh well....

Tea For Two

I had to paint some birds...- 7.5x7.5" listed on etsy -

Songs of Delight

Praying softly...

Sometimes you don't have to wait for inspiration.
It is there, waiting for you.I knew I wanted to paint an angel... it was in my mind the whole day... I was frustrated by all the things I had to do before I could paint... but the picture was in my mind so I waited for all my chores to be done and happily sat with my paints.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do... except for the words. When they jumped at me from the pile I cut for the wings I smiled.

Sometimes things happen just the way you want them.- listed on etsy-

Inchies ACEOs

I combined tiny 'inchies' collages on a 2.5"x3.5" base and played with textures and colors. I always loved colorful yarns and it has been a while since I used them... this seemed like a right place for them.
Whenever I scan my cards I like to take a closer look at the textures and colors. I crop random parts and most of the time they look better than the whole thing... Now that I look at them - they seem like a perfect base for new one inch collages.

Imagine what you want to be

-9"x12" listed on eBay-

Happy mail day!

What a happy mail day! All the way from Australia traveled a surprise package for me! Dotee has recently moved and instead of receiving housewarming gifts - she sends them. Look at the enchanting symphony in green that I received (click on the picture to see it larger). I had tears in my eyes when I saw it, and read the words, and just felt the love and good energy that went into it.
I recently received a wonderful ATC from Julie. I really wanted to have a piece of her art and was absolutely delighted to see (and feel) this one. It sits on my desk and makes me smile.Do you recognize the canvas on the following photo? Created by one and only Norah/Sharon. It catapulted me into a creating frenzy... It was a part of a swap and it is so lovely that I was paralyzed with fear that I can't reciprocate in the same way... so I started painting a lot, hoping that something will turn out good enough so that I can send it to Sharon. Luckily, she likes the faces I paint... so as soon as she chooses one it will be on the way to Texas. As I sit looking at the artwork that surrounds me I can't but think that there is no piece of art that I could buy that would mean more to me than these precious gifts. I feel very happy to have an opportunity to meet wonderful, generous artists from around the world. Thank you very, very much.

Live Your Passion

2.5"x3.5"

Portals of Discovery

School year started!!! My girl is 7th grade and I think that her age shows well on this photo. She posed nicely for two pictures and then got tired of me snapping the camera. I love the annoyed look on her teenage face! It is so funny... Don't worry - she doesn't walk around like this all the time. Her face lit up with an excited smile as soon as I put away the camera and allowed her to chat about all the things she expects from this school year.

As for me.... I was left in an empty, silent home with my messy desk (and surroundings). I decided to challenge myself... I plan to use all the bits and pieces I have floating around and create things daily. I also plan to list something every day on eBay for the next 30 days. I'll see if I can breath back life into my eBay store or close it. I started with this ACEO. It is as giving myself a permission to make mistakes and making the creating/cleaning process more fun.

Playing in my sketch book

I can't see my the surface of my art table any more. Paper, stamps, paint, brushes, more paper, 'stuff' is spilling everywhere... I can't sit on the chair because it holds books... I can't put my legs under the table because I have boxes of 'I don't know what' under it... I can't even use my other table because it looks the same. It's frustrating and I didn't feel like cleaning/organizing today. Good thing that I always know where my sketch book and pencil are so I could have some art fun. I'll think about cleaning tomorrow...

Take a little time for yourself

That's exactly what my DH and I did today. We wondered around Berkeley, visited several book stores, talked about our dreams and plans and finished with a late lunch at Cafe Gratitude. My husband used to be a strict meat&potato (minus the potato) guy and to have him eat a raw vegan meal and enjoy it means a world to me. Having support from someone you share your life with is essential to feeling good... so I can't help but feel grateful that I am so lucky.

La Vie En Rose

I loved Holly's "Geisha's Forest" canvas and wanted to paint something in pink/gray tones. I started with light pink, but it changed along the way. Isn't it wonderful how we all inspire each other? Hope you're having a happy, creative weekend!

9"x12" canvas panel