Wednesday Mashup and Vacation Week!

Saturday:  Jersey Shore, Here We Come


Bright and early Saturday morning, we loaded up the car and headed off for our July 4th vacation.  First stop, Jersey Shore. Unsurprisingly, it was slow going in traffic, which gave me the chance to sketch the back of the car in front of us -- thus illustrating the fact that every moment is an opportunity for art!)
We spent a beautiful day at the beach in Spring Lake, where I actually went into the ocean!  Then we drove back home, picked up our dog Boots, and headed to Westchester to our cabin in Pine Lake, which is my idea of heaven on earth.   Sunday was a lovely day with swimming in the lake, and hanging with my girls.

Monday: If You Don't Have Something Nice to Say, Speak As Little As Possible.

On Monday, Samy and I headed to Bob's Furniture store in Yonkers to buy a couch.  We quickly picked one.  (I HATE SHOPPING and always want to get it over with as quickly as possible. So no comparison shopping for me.  Pick it and get it over with is my motto)  We looked forward to paying up, getting back to the bungalow, and enjoying a day at the lake.  However, our salesman was new, and every step of the process took exceedingly long.   Finally, I (discreetly) asked another salesman if he could help, and after 2 1/2 hours (I joke not), we were finally on our way.  I have to admit that throughout the process I was internally impatient, annoyed, and resentful.  But, I have to state that I was outwardly as gracious and patient as possible.  In fact, the salesman thanked me for my kindness when we were leaving!  Even though I did not FEEL patient, I guess I appeared patient.  After all, everyone starts out as a beginner.  Lesson: if you don't feel patient, be silent! 

Tuesday:  I Finally Get to Paint!

I have limited supplies at the bungalow, but I couldn't wait to dig in.  Here's what I created.  I was inspired by the Diva Challenge this week, which was to use a beautiful tangle called Fiore de Pietro, or Peter's Flower.  Rho Densmore created this pattern as a memorial to her brother-in-law, who died unexpectedly in June.  I thought that the words from the song inspiration at Scrapping the Music went beautifully with Rho's tribute to her brother.  The song is "Freedom," and the lyrics are about living each moment to the fullest, because "life is very short; we're here and then we're gone."  Of course, Rho has permission to use this as she sees fit.  The color inspiration is from Summer of Color, week four:  Lemon yellow and strawberry pink.  

Wednesday: Mashup Time!


I have limited supplies in the bungalow (and no scanner, so all these images are from my iphone).  Here's my table and what's on it:  

some Gel pens, watercolor pencils, glue stick, matte medium, gesso, punchhinella, a doily, last summer's magazines, and acrylic outdoor paints I had left over from painting some flower pots.  Here goes:

1.  Scrape on gess over punchinella and doily to create texture.  Glue down some book pages.  Scrape on lime green and turqoise paint and throw down some bits of magazine scraps.  This made me think of... 

  

an elephant!  So I glued in more book pages to make the shape, added some doodling, and here's my happy elephant!

I had cut out this great picture of Janet Jackson while I was going through the old magazines.  I glued it on the other side of the page, and gessoed over it.  

And Janet became this colorful lady!

I will be sending the elephant and my fearless lady to Paint Party Friday, Artists in Blogland and Creative Every Day -- please go visit all the fabulous art on those sites.  

Wednesday Night - Fireworks! 

Wednesday night we went to Peekskill for the fireworks.  A storm was approaching, and Mother Nature vied with the fireworks for attention.  I caught some of it in this video.  It was SO COOL!

Hope you had a great 4th of July.  


And ... before I forget ... drum roll please... I was Inspiration Avenue's showcase winner last week!  I will be adding the badge to my blog, but you can read all about it here! 


Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.