A Visit with Benny and Mary Ellen

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This painting is an Alice Neel and it's one of my favorites called Benny and Mary Ellen Andrews.  I just love how she painted portraits while capturing a little slice of life and her choice of color is vibrant and very her own.  This painting I have visited a few times in MOMA in New York and I think this would be just the outfit and supplies to visit it with.

This weekend I'm off to a Portland Blogger get together and hanging out with some of my gal pals. Yah!

What are up to this weekend?

My Pallet

I use an an instant pallet when oil painting. There are a lot of choices when choosing a pallet, there are wood ones, plastic ones, glass ones and have come across a few vintage ones.. and some artists use a pizza pie tray or some other type of flat surface-  but I have yet to be successful in keeping a real pallet and now I just use these instant ones because I can make a big of a mess as I want and then when I'm done I can just toss it... start over.

Thrifting and things.

I have been doing quite a bit of thrifting lately, which is one of my favorite things to do  in the whole wide world.  I love just going bright and early and following the estate sale signs and discovering a place with old things.  And! When you go to a really great sale- it's like you can't wait to find the next and then the next.  I haven't done much thrifting since the baby has been born because I'm not sure how I could bring her with me while thrifting.  Some of the old houses are packed with so much old stuff and not clean stuff... almost like the show hoarders..  and she is so curious and loves to touch everything! Tim has been helping me and watching her and having daddy and baby time but I did miss thrifting.

Details:
Dress= Target

Tights= Target

Belt= Thrift

Necklace=a gift 

Cardigan= "Borrowed" from my mom's closet..  :)

Shoes= Blowfish

Camera= Brownie with Flash

A late mother's day.

This year is my first mothers day.  I have always considered myself a mommy to my pugs but this year is the first to my daughter.  Nora is right next to me practicing standing and banging with all her might on the printer in my office- I can only think how lucky I am at this very moment. I know she will soon lose interest in the printer but I know life gets complicated down the road and it's these easy moments that I love the most especially being a new mommy.

I hope to inspire her, make her laugh, and help her to be the best person she can be and wants to be.  Being a mommy I reflect a lot on my own childhood and think about the type of mother I want to be and hope to be.  Being a new mommy, I have learned to appreciate my own mother and makes me realize more every day how I finally get what it's like being a grown up.

Nora has moved on from the printer and now reorganizing my mail. :) My mothers day, we went out for yummy bacon cheese burgers and french fries and then took a long walk around the neighborhood.
It was my perfect day.

What did you do this weekend?

A Friday at the Museum

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Don't you just love this Water Lilly Monet? This one is at the Portland Art Museum and I could just stare at it for hours. They have such a beautiful selection of impressionism paintings- makes me dream of far away places. It has been such gorgeous weather here- it makes me want to get out and enjoy the city.. like visiting museums.. eating ice cream and going to the water fountains.

What are you up to this weekend?

Sketchbook Pages: Super Model Winston

I promised myself this year I would share more from my sketchbook. My sketchbook is a bit hard for me to share because I like knowing I can do anything inside of it and I can take as many risks as I want with out anyone seeing it.  But! I know it's good for me to just start sharing it even if it's small glimpses.  Going through my sketchbook I noticed lately I have been sketching super model pug Winston and we know he loves to be the center of attention and loves to pose.  :)

A Day at the Park

Here are a few snippets of one of our park voyages and Nora had a blast. Nora loved being hung upside down and got the giggles.  They played endless rounds of peek a boo and crawling around the blanket.  She loved putting her toes in the grass and discovering pine cones.  We brought a picnic and lounged in the sunshine, soaking everything in and by the end of the day Nora was completely worn out which meant a 3 hour nap. :)Best day ever.