Sky and Sea

I seem to be drifting back into painting. This is a view of Shacks Beach in Isabella, Puerto Rico. The photo that I did the painting from was taken as our family took a walk after dinner one evening. It brings back happy, peaceful memories.

A little bit of jewelry was done as well. This is a soft, fabric necklace of Vincent with vintage fabrics and buttons.

Camp Stillwaters

Well...it's not really camp, but kind of like it. Each summer break I get some of my nieces for a few days and do crafts with them. I had one niece last month for a couple of days and we concentrated on sewing. I had a niece and a great niece last week and our main project was painting chairs. Someone had abandoned some chairs on a lot where my son and his wife are building a house and I snatched them up and brought them home because I knew they would make a great project. I think they turned out pretty cute.
We also tie-dyed T shirts and made collages. They spent a lot of time catching tiny, baby toads that are hopping all around our house and we took several rides around the farm on our Rhino. We also took a field trip to a museum nearby and one of them went to the peach orchard with me.

Now it is back to semi-normal at our house...whatever that may be and I have been in a painting mood. Here is one that I finished yesterday.

I also found time to make a bit of jewelry too. The copper and silver toned necklace and bracelet
were inspired by a pair of earrings that I got from my friend and fellow jeweler, Sylvia McAlister.

It's Not Summer Without...

All of us probably have certain things that you can only do in summer that make the season come alive for us. My husband would probably say that first grilled burger of the season with big slices of homegrown tomato and Vidalia onion. I personally would skip the burger unless it was veggie. Some of the things that I look forward to every year are local experiences. In the town that is nearest to us there still exists a drive-in theater. We went there last night and joined the old fashioned fun. It is still a bargain in these days of expensive tickets and concessions. They always have a double feature, but this time of year, the movies doesn't start until after 8:30 so staying awake for both features is not something that I can handle. Where else though, can you see two current movies for $6 a person?

Just up the road from us a few miles are a lovely peach orchard and berry farm. I made a trip there on Tuesday and came home with such bounty that I felt truly blessed. The peaches will be coming in until the end of July. I'm not sure about the length of time for the berries, but if you are traveling a bit to get there, I would call for availability on both of them.

Can you believe the size of these blackberries?!!!

I did manage to find my studio one day this week and made this purse necklace. The vintage change purse was given to me by Shawn and I ordered the antique tintype from Australia from my friend Julie. I will tuck some interesting things inside once I decide what needs to be included. The words on the bottom of the purse are "seek the ancient paths" which is a quote from Jeremiah 6:16:
¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.

We all need rest for out souls in these hectic, troubling times.

Savoring Summer

"Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

There are certain things that take me back to my childhood. One of those is sitting outside breaking homegrown green beans. My grandmothers and aunts would sit outside on the porch where it was cool and break beans while we children would swing in the porch swing or stand around begging them to take us down to the creek to wade. Doing the work outside just makes a mundane task into something special. Dinner tonight is mostly from the garden. Even my husband, the carnivore, doesn't complain about a vegetarian meal when the garden is coming in.

A little something colorful in honor of summer...polymer clay with a mosaic of lampworked glass, turquoise, millefiore, and dichroic glass in a copper bezel sent to me by Steph.