my painting room...tweaked

Well, tweaked is really an understatement.

I bought a new piece of furniture, perfect for my art supplies!

Thank you, Martha Stewart!
This cabinet is well made, beautifully designed & sturdy.

Big wide drawers to hold all my stuff.

Artists have lots of stuff! (or maybe being an art teacher
made me collect & save all that stuff)

Best of all, the drawers are deep enough to store my paper,

which should be stored flat.

But adding that one piece of furniture meant that I had to 

empty the tall white cabinet, also full of stuff,

and the small blue cabinet, filled to the brim,

so I could move both to their current spots.

That included the closet, now nicely organized.

My magnetic boards also had to be emptied, relocated

and redecorated with all those pictures.

So, after three days of sorting, tossing, & organizing,

I'm back in business!

Have a great weekend.  More of our walk to Giverny next week.

come, walk with me

We're going to take a walk to the village of Giverny in Normandy

from our charming farmhouse B&B.

 We need to finish our excellent French breakfast &

remember to stuff some sugar cubes in our pockets.

Up the stairs we go

to the "Green Lane" that will take us to the village, about two miles.

There is Queen Anne's Lace along the path

and cows in the pasture.  I keep thinking about painting those cows.

Houses along the way...look at that little dining spot!

So much to see...our walk is taking longer & longer,
but along the way we meet a

chien,

chien

chat!

This is the little cat in Amanda's photo.

Cheval!  Time for the sugar cubes!

As we go on there's more to admire....

poppies

wisteria

and roses, both real

and painted....

and heavenly blue shutters

that I just love!

Lovely irises are everywhere!

 

A few little showers don't bother us because
it's French rain!

Hope you're enjoying our walk, there's much more to come!

to be continued.............

Have a great weekend!

Jesse Wilcox Smith illustrations

I should be painting, but instead

I'm doing a lot of this

and some of that,

a little of this

and lots of that!

and, sleepily, some of this!

I wish you 

a lazy little summer, too!

I'm reading

The novel describes several groups of characters fleeing Paris

as the Germans invade the country.

The author, Irene Nemirovsky, wrote the book during 1940 and 1941 while actually living 

through the German Occupation.  She was arrested for being a Jew and taken to Auschwitz, 

where she died at the age of 39.

The manuscript was contained in a notebook, owned by the author's daughter.

She resisted reading it for 50 years thinking it was a journal and too painful to read.

The writing is remarkable and intimate.

Happy Bastille Day!

new cards

I've added new cards to my Etsy shop:

Wisteria

Have a wonderful weekend!  Another hot one here.

Sicily beach

Mandy's photo of a beach in Sicily

11" x 14

available here

Happy 4th of July!

finally!

I'm finally back to blogging! Two trips back to back was a little busy.

I felt that all I did was pack, unpack, reorganize...and repeat.

Now I'm home and happy for the summer.

My daughter & I were in Paris for two incredible weeks.  We had the most wonderful time!

I'd like to share our visit to the Marché aux Puces  (the Paris Flea Market!).

The flea market had everything, from sea shells

to bathtubs,

and bouquets (gorgeous peonies!)

to birdcages.

An architect's table

and an artist's box, stuffed with a well used palette &

stacks of old letters and pictures.

I would have loved that but it was $$$!

Something for everyone

...well, maybe not!

Beautiful produce

antique luggage,

and beautiful couture!

An abundance of mirrors!

Here I am taking one of my 2200 photos (really..2200!)

The shop owners set up early and then played cards.

Look at that red hair!!!

A giant rooster

and a little bull dog!

Piles & piles of books!

My daughter got some wonderful old books for just a few Euros.

I bought a silver ladle, a toast rack & a silver cup.

and, last of all, my mosaic for

Mosaic Monday @ the Little Red House

"chiens at the flea market"

Come visit me again for more Paris pictures to come!

Happy Monday everyone!