Winterfair Art Show

Last weekend I went downtown Cincinnati to the annual Winterfair Art Show. This is a wonderful show put on by the Ohio Designers Craftsmen which represents a group of artists of which I was a part when I did my stained glass several years ago. This is a beautiful upscale show with outstanding talent.

But first you have to love this tree! It is so very simply done with only ornamental snowflakes, wrapped packages, lights and curly gift-ribbon. Such an easy, but beautiful tree.

There was color everywhere! This artist makes these really fun clay sea creatures. I bought a "she" horse last year.

Love these copper fairies.

More eye candy.

And even more. Beautiful paper abstracts.

The second floor had food vendors and demonstrations such as this gal who graciously allowed me to photograph her while she spun yarn for making the lovely scarves she sells behind her. There were also basket weavers. I tasted samples of dips and candy and salsa and coffee and many other things. I bought some honey butter and some dip mixes. Yum!

The parking garage across from the convention center where the show was also houses a bus station with this very long and colorful graffiti wall. I had never noticed this before on my many trips in here.

Before leaving I drove up to the top deck of the parking garage to take in some of the city views. There was a Bengals game going on that day. I could hear the crowd roar as we scored another touchdown! (We beat the Cleveland Browns 16-7 WooHoo!)

Another nice view of some old churches.

I like this photo of the riverboats, both in the foreground and out in the river.

This is a fancy apartment building on the right. At the right angle you can see inside some of the windows. What a view those people have, right?

I had such a nice time.

Getting In The Holiday Spirit With A Book Giveaway!

As you all know, I love to read. I recently added these three books to my collection. I like stockpiling good books when I find them to read later in the winter when the chilly winds are blowing around my door. The book, "Four Tenths of an Acre" I saw on Suki's blog and it looked interesting. It's about a woman who buys a house with a tiny, irregular yard and goes about building a garden. "In The Shade Of The Caribbean" was written by a man who lived in the Virgin Isalnds for several years and since this has always been a big dream of mine, I thought I'd like hearing what he has to say. The last book, "Garden Voices" is a collection of stories about women gardeners and the gardens they have created. I have already started reading this one (I know, I'm cheating, but I'll buy more) and I like it a lot. The booksellers that sold me the books stuck a bookmark in a couple of the books and I left them sticking out for you to see. Two of these books only cost me under two dollars each! Check out their websites for terrific bargains.

OKAY!! Now, for the BOOK GIVEAWAY. Often, I find myself with too many stockpiled books and I need to find good homes for the ones I like. These are three books that I have already read and I can testify that they are pretty good. "The Queen of Broken Hearts" is a story about love and friendship between a group of women who live in the South. I have read three books by this author, and I have loved them all. "The Cotton Queen" is a fictional story about a woman who grew up in the 50's and how she rebelled against the "June Cleaver" stereotype set for women at that time. It is a humorous look backward. "The French Gardener" is a love story surrounding a lovely, but neglected English garden and a mysterious Frenchman who shows up looking for work.
Anyone who would be interested in these books only needs to leave a comment on this post sometime before next Sunday, December 6th, and I will put your name into a bowl and let my cat Rascal (since he is better with his hands) pick a winner! Results will be posted on Monday the 7th.

And lastly, I just have to help get you into the holiday spirit with this new collage painting. We all have to find the "perfect" tree, and I've found mine.

Shed a Light

Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving Day is drawing to a close and as it does I'm thinking of all the things that I am thankful for. In these troubled times I am thankful that my job is secure, I'm thankful that I have a warm place to sleep tonight and that I have enough to eat. I'm thankful for friends and family and I'm thankful that I live in a country where all these things are possible to anyone who lives here. I am thankful for the people overseas that are doing their best to see that we can always be thankful for these things. These are the things that really matter. With Black Friday looming tomorrow it is so easy to be swept up in the frenzy of holiday shopping, but we need to remember that we will not be noted for what we gave at this gift giving time of year, but what we gave of ourselves in the past twelve months. Give someone a smile tomorrow, give someone a hug. Allow someone in line on the highway or in the stores. The holiday spirit is always more noticable in the next thirty days, but we should carry it in our hearts all year long. My New Year's Resolution is just that: "Shed a Little Light of Love."

HAPPY TURKEY DAY TO ALL YOU OLD BIRDS OUT THERE!

Hope it's a good one.

Creative Block

She felt all her best ideas were trapped inside her head.

I know I've been away for several days but things are so busy at work right now, and I have had some obligations after work each evening this week. I don't expect my schedule to lighten up much before all this holiday crunch is over, so I will post when I can come up for air and I will be around to visit you when I can.

This is the page I made for Soulbrush's sketchbook in the Artysoulsisters round robin. I was at a complete loss for what to put into her book, as several people before me added some dynamite artwork. I though about what I know of Soulbrush and I remembered how much she likes to collect artist trading cards. She has quite a few (over 400 to be exact!) but I know she doesn't have one this BIG! This is the main page and it features my trademark dyed tissue paper, words about friendship, some rubber stamps and a few postage stamps.

But that's not all! I also included some actual trading cards attached with clear corners which can be removed if she wants to keep them somewhere else.

And this is my worktable with some works in progress. I don't know where I'm going with any of this; just fooling around with color. Maybe I'll just store them away until the next sketchbook arrives and do something with them then, who knows?


Meanwhile, nose to the grindstone, HO, HO, HO!

Lazy Sunday

Because I'm such a nice person, I'm featuring my other cat, Stella, on today's post. Stella is a bit of a prima donna. She mostly likes to lie around looking glamorous, moving sparingly so as not to mess up her hair, except when she is sleeping, which is half the day. Both my cats are Maine Coon Cats, which are the largest domestic breed cat. Stella is by far smaller than Rascal, but she is still large. They also have multiple toes per foot.

I, also moved very little today. I bagged a few more (5 more bags) of leaves, then I retired to my bench to read my new book from the library. It is titled "The Wednesday Sisters" by
Meg Waite Clayton. It is similar to the Ya Ya Sisterhood, about five women friends in the late 60's and early 70's, and I am liking it a lot.

Some of the leaves I missed.

I love to watch the colors change in the woods behind our house.

Sunset at the end of the day.

I may be away from the computer for a while as I am having some busy days coming up this next week, but I will post when I can and I will try to get around to each of you as often as possible.

I hope you have a happy and creative week.