An Invitation

Come visit the patriotic and spooky "Prim and Whimsy Girls" on July! I should have some paintings in the mix :)

A little glimpse of things to come...

Don't forget, July 1 brings us another fresh update of gorgeous art and baubles from Early Work Mercantile! My new paintings are little remembrances inspired by my rereading of my Tasha Tudor collection....early American-style portraits....and perhaps a little woodland cottage and its garden :) Check back to see what I've made for you!~

And while you're visiting around the web, check out this great opportunity to work alongside fabric collage artits KC Willis. What a dream workshop! Especially if you're near Colorado or considering a trip there. *Love*

Today we're heading out on another adventure...this time to a Mennonite community a little north or us. Should be fun! :)

~H

Tasha's Garden

This has been the most miserable, wilting week in a good long time. Temperatures over 100 for days...today is slated for 103. Its been so oppressive that I think it's made me a little sick. I haven't felt well since the heat descended upon us like a suffocating blanket.
In times like this when its too hot to even get in the car and escape, I do some literary escaping to Tasha Tudor's garden...


I have several books about Tasha's life and love losing myself in the pages. It always looks like it just had a good soaking rain...nothing ever scorched or wilted or burnt to a crisp. I really think I could do well in Vermont :)
My soft spot for goats also stems from this amazing artist and 'original' homesteader...
In fact, I've enjoyed emmersing myself in all-things-Tasha so much, that I have taken inspiration from her and her home for a few little things I'm creating for Early Work Mercantile. This has been the busiest of months...but I'm determined to have a few little things ready for the July 1 update. Cross your fingers....

A wedding commission

This is one of the commissions I've been working on lately. This is an adaptation of "Where Ever We Wander" and was done to celebrate the recent marriage of an adorable couple. In the background you'll see the temple in which they were married and the text reads "Where ever we wander together we are home."

I'm looking forward to finishing some other commissions and taking more orders as they come. I think I'm done painting for the July gallery show and am making some prints and will probably take some ornaments up there as well.

I'm so glad you all liked my little landscape! I'll have to do more. I'm thinking little farm houses and country churches. I'd also like to brush up on animals, but its daunting. I really dont think I am that good with animals, but its something I need to try. Besides, Folk Art is so kind in that it lets you stylize things...it doesnt have to be photograph-perfect.

As for today...we're bunkered down in the little house. Its supposed to reach 101-102 outside. This is the hotest June here in a good 15 years. I'm afraid we're in for it....I might just take a nap until October ;)

More later...
~H

Country Life

"Home Sweet Home"

Dreams of a homestead someday led to this painting. Actually, I've decided to start trying my hand at things I dont do so often--- namely pure landscapes and animals. Every artist has their 'specialty', the thing they like to paint best and usually that is what they become best at. I've always liked to draw portraits and people, but feel like my animals and landscapes need some practice too. So that is my plan, to brush up a bit. This is my first exercise :) It will be on Etsy very soon.

This painting is a nice little size, done on a slab or repurposed oak. It props up nicely or hanging materials could be added.

As for thing out here at the little house, I've been reading this all weekend and wondering how I would do if I went to live with the Amish. I certainly wouldnt be blogging about it, that's for sure ;)

All this learnin' about homesteading has given me new inspiration to take care of my gardens (and its hard to find inspiration when its so hot outside...high 90s all week...yay.) and yearning for some little critters to take care of. However, my neighborhood does have a convenant and it seems like the only critters I'll be raising any time soon are one girl and one puppy. I guess the neighborhood board is afraid I'll go all Clampett if I get my hands on some poultry ;)

Which is funny because look who my new neighbors are:

From what I can tell, it looks to be three lady cows and two little calves (insert awwwwww here) While our actual yard that we own is pretty small (I think it probably takes 6 steps from the back door to hit the fence) beyond us is a beautiful green belt, low creek and prairie pasture. When we first moved here, there were horses in the pasture and I loved it. Then someone decided to bulldoze the old farm house (ouch) and the horses left. I was bummed. I loved the ambiance.

But I've noticed lately that the 'for sale' sign in the pasture facing the turnpike is gone and these cattle have been sauntering through. I'm hoping the longhorn ranchers nearby have purchased this field for their babies and mamas. That is so much better then, say, an Old Navy ;)

And while the only livestock in my future may be these bovine beauties from afar, I'm please with a surprise appearance in the garden:

Hollyhocks! I had pretty much given up on being able to grow Hollyhocks. Last year I planted some seedlings that I purchased from Tasha Tudor and Family and was beyond giddy at the thought of having flowers that had their origins in Tasha's beautiful garden.

However, nothing really seemed to come of them, and I was bummed. I did notice a stubby little hollyhock foliage in the back of the garden, but it remained a pitiful little dwarf...although I will give it props, it stayed there and stayed green through the winter.

Then suddenly...and without any fanfare...it shot up this past couple of weeks and just started blooming. They are beautiful rich hot pink blooms and I love them. I am so happy that a little bit of Tasha's garden is here on the prairie in my own little flower patch. Makes me feel good.

Anyhow...I will go put Home Sweet Home on Etsy now....hoping you have a wonderful week. I'm going to try my hand at painting some animals next.....the new girls in the neighborhood inspired me ;)

~H

Etsy and Magic Pumpkins

Good morning!~ Last night I finished up a large piece I've been working on, a very Americana painting that I've called....well, "America." It features a girl wearing a wreath of poppies holding an American flag. The background is a vast pastoral landscape and the music to the song "America" (My Country Tis of Thee) have been collaged into the background.

America

She turned into a beautiful and rich colored painting and is one of my larger ones--- 12x24". The painting is done on a thin wooden board that's really light weight for hanging. And to make it even cuter, I've added a handmade wire handle that makes hanging easy as pie. If you'd like to see more detail or would like to have her --- come visit her on etsy: America Painting

I'm in one of my 'moods' again. Perhaps I painted too many flappers....I want to try something different. I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut. But its hard to change sometimes...I wonder that people wont like it if I mix things up too much...but its good to try to branch out. Maybe I'll surprise myself and you!

One surprise I've already found is this:

Out of my hostas came this strange leafy plant...I didnt pick it because "It looks like something..." And its gotten bigger...and bigger....and looking at it, it has a very spiny stalk and is now blooming tell-tale orange squash-like flowers. What I think I have here is the remnants of our pumpkin carving last Halloween! Which I think is hysterical...I guess it will just vine down into the roses! I hope the squash beetles dont get it. And there's a good chance this might be a white pumpkin, but who knows! Just goes to show what you get if you let things be ;)

Have a good weekend!~

H

An Etsy Update

It's been a good long while since I've put anything new on etsy and I feel bad showing you all this new stuff Im making and then hording for the show ;) So I decided I'd list my latest two paintings, a couple of sweet little rustic plaques:

"May our love always be in bloom"

"My heart belongs in wide open spaces"

These two peices are great for summer, but done in rich tones great for all-year display. Also did something a little different with them that I havent done before--- I used crackle medium to give an aged appearance.
I've just started dabling with it, so the crackle is very subtle. But still, it gives it a nice time-worn look.
Each painting is done on a sturdy wooden plaque and hangs by a sweet plush brown velvet ribbon. I love this ribbon!~

Both pieces are listed now on ETSY

In other goings-on, I won this book in a giveaway from the cool blog New Urban Habitat. You know I am so excited about this!

This is a pretty big book and I know it will be an important part of my gardening/homesteading/farming library. I just love the concept of everyone, no matter if you're on an 80 acre farm, a suburban lot or living in an apartment, can do a little to create a more natural life. It sorta feels like regaining a bit of control in a world that sometimes seems beyond any control. It's all about being flexible and the more natural and good stuff you put in your family's diet the better, I think. I certainly am not growing any high-fructosee corn syrup out back ;)

In an effort to bring more of these ideas here to the blog, i started a little gardening section in the bottom of my right-side column. I've been finding lots of cool blogs on gardening and homesteading and thought I'd put their links here for easy access. Love homestead.org and freedomgardens.org in particular ;)

So if you're into it--- awesome! And if not, enjoy the new art! There's something for everyone :D

~H

Art in the garden

It's morning and the little sweet pea is still snoozing away in bed. This is the best part of the day though, when the sun is just warm and not scorching and the plants are all perked up from a night of cool(er) rest. All this week its going to be in the 90s...got almost to 100 yesterday. On days like this, the morning is the only shot of pleasantness until dusk. When it hits around 3, you're perfectly miserable. That's summer for you ;)

I do have a few smaller plaque paintings to show you! I haven't named them yet, but here they are hanging out in the vegetable bed:

We're really enjoying being outside in the back yard this summer and are so happy we made the improvements we did. For days now we've eaten our dinner out on the porch because they sun is setting on the opposite side and it's shady and even a little breezy out there. It's nice. We watch the birds and listen to music and Audrey hops down from her dinner plate to run around the yard until its time for a bath.

Hopefully soon we can add this squash to our dinner menu....this is a bit of backyard art I concocted ;) I planted morning glories to trail up the trellis and squash to hang over the sides:

And...of course...couldnt resist a shot of my little partner in crime, Henry. He's a good art dog. He didnt think it was crazy at all that I was proping paintings up in the vegetables. He just looked up at me with big brown eyes and smiled.

He does that a lot. :)

Bread on the Homestead

While I've yet to have my dream art/farm, we do have our little piece of self-sufficiency tucked up in the corner of our little postage stamp yard. The summer garden is looking beautiful and although I could just sit and look at it and be happy, I knew it was time Little Miss and I did some harvesting. So yesterday we crawled up into the garden bed and made a small harvest....

Harvesting little veggies and herbs (audrey loves to pick strawberries the best) is so much fun for little ones. Not once do they hear "dont touch! Dont pick!" they pick til their hearts are content. Heck, Audrey even pulled up the whole Rosemary shrub in a fit of excitement, but we just patted it back down and it's no worse for the wear ;)

We decided Sunday's adventure would be fresh Rosemary bread to go with the evening's spaghetti. It was a new white bread recipe and we just picked our rosemary, washed it, minced it, and sprinkled it in the dough. Audrey loved this part!

I'd let her knead and we'd chant "squish it! Squish it! Squish, squish, squish!" This, my friends, was like gormet mud pies....

Of course Mama did most of the intense kneading....and after the second round we divided our bread into what would be a traditional loaf and the other section we broke into three sections so that we could make a braid. This we slathered in butter and sprinkled more Rosemary on...then we cooked it and my oh my....

It became the most giant and delicious bread braid ever while it cooked in the oven. We whipped up some spaghetti (well, I did, haha) and sprinkled a bit of Oregano from the garden on top. It was homemade heaven.

While we did this project, I found that breadmaking is a relatively easy and kid-friendly activity. Much of it is done in short spurts too, which helps with short attention spans. Depending on the age of the child, they can help as much or little as possible. You can let them count the cups of flour needed. Let them measure. And of course, let them get in on some kneading action. Audrey was a big fan of the Rosemary sprinkling too. And to top it off....Unlike play-dough and other squishy activities, you get to eat the result!~

If you'd like to try this at home, here's the recipe we followed:

Rosemary Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

2 cups warm water

1 packet dry yeast

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

5 to 6 cups unbleached white flour

butter

Step One- Prepare yeast; Pour 2 cups warm water into a large bowl. Pour packet into bowl and stir until dissolved. After all the yeast has dissolved, add a teaspoon of honey and stir. Let sit 5-10 minutes.

Step Two:

Mix vegetable Oil, salt and 1-2 cups flour in with yeast. Beat it together vigorously for 3-5 minutes. Add a cup of flour at a time and keep beating (Dont add more than 3 cups) keep stirring until dough isnt sticky and can be handled without becoming a big gooey sticky mess.

Step Three:

Lightly flour your clean surface to knead on. Can be counter top, I use a cutting board for easier clean-up. Punch, knead and flip the dough vigorously for several minutes until dough has a firm, very elastic texture. This can be done in 10-15 minutes by hand.

Step Four:

Clean the bowl, grease it with butter (or cooking spray is what I use) and place the dough in it. After the dough is in the bowl, flip in bottom-side-up so that all sides are greased. Cover with a clean damp warm cloth and let sit for about an hour and a half.

Step Five:

Knead the dough again! The dough should have risen to twice its size. Punch it down and get the air out. This is the stage where Audrey and I sprinkled in our washed and thinly minced Rosemary. We'd sprinkle, knead, sprinkle, knead to get the rosemary in the dough pretty evenly.

Step 6:

Divide dough into two large peices. One peice you can shape into a traditional loaf and put in a greased loaf pan, the other you can divide into 3 smaller sections and then roll into tubes (or heck, do two loaves or two braids, cook's choice!)

If you make a braid, roll the 3 sections into tube shapes and then mash the ends together. From there, braid the three strands together and then fasten together at the end (mash them together so that the braid is secure) Then place braid on a greased baking pan.

Cover your new creations, be they braids or loaves, with a warm damp towel and let sit for another hour.

Step 7:

When your loaves or braids have had the chance to rise for another hour, its time for fun! We slathered our bread with melted butter and a little more fresh rosemary. Then we baked them 25-35 minutes at 375 degrees in the oven. To know if your loaves are done, give them a tap with your finger and if they sound hollow, they're done!

Take them out...let them cool....then go to town!~

Happy bread making! I think we'll make more in the morning :)

~H

*** Basic White Bread recipe taken from Jenna Woginrich's book "Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life"

Summer Angel

"Angel's Bouquet"

Thought you all might like to see a little art every once in a while ;) Here is one of my newest paintings, "Angel's Bouquet." I think she is very much a summertime angel! I made her over the weekend with some artsy friends. We had such a good time sitting around crafting and yacking. Often times painting is such a solitary thing....so it was nice to get out the old 'drawer of paints' and be social. Felt like I got so much more done!~

In other news, I am still very much on my homesteading kick :) Audrey and I harvested some rosemary and made homemade bread last night, it was so yummy and fun. I took some pictures of her because she was so darn cute....I'll put them and the recipe up soon. Making bread is not only delicious but so fun. You just need a day at home to do it....the recipes for bread are always "step 1....wait an hour.....step two; wait an hour...." so it isnt something you just do with ten minutes until dinner time, but its still so worth it. And the recipe for bread is so basic, you can do a million things to it and make a million different types of bread. I tend to cook like my Grandpa---just throw whatever looks yummy in the pot and see what happens :) It usually turns out good!

It's been stormy here and oh so humid. I'm pretending I live out on the Bayou. The wind kicked up this morning and it was rainy. We've been having some terrific prairie storms with the rumbling over-cast skies and sheets of rain. Its not spring here without them.....

Well, I've got more paintings to do. Im working and working and working towards July. Til then...

H

A Handmade Life

In recent years there has been something so appealing to me about being self-suffient. About creating a way of life that is independent as much as possible from mass production, cheap China crap, and foreign influence. Sometimes I can feel like one of those fatalist people who wonder if they need to hord cans and bottled water and it gets overwhelming. The state of things now arent what I envisioned as 'the future' and its easy to feel overwhelmed.

However, I think that this realization of how we've dug ourselves into a whole and need to get out of it has made us more aware of the important things in life. What really matters....and that we can make things with our own little hands and that the simple life can be a good-- even better-- life than what we knew before all this talk of recession and collapse of things we thought unchangeable.

Thinking that way makes me feel better, and the thought of taking control of our own destinys even more so. I have been reading up on the new wave of homesteading, even among urban dwellers. It makes me giddy to even think about--- getting back to my Ma Ingalls roots...

Despite crazy looks from my family and friends I think I DO want to be a modern homesteader. And even though I have to start small--- because darn it, no one left me 40 acres to inherit and I dont have that pesky trust fund laying around waiting for me to buy a herd of goats on-- but that's ok. First I think I will start with the garden. That is this year's goal. We already have a good harvest of lettuce and the tomatoes are blooming. I think the squash will go crazy too and (how lucky for my husband!) I have decided that I need to make even more raised beds to grow more veggies next year.

I'm getting back to my farm girl who was always in there :)

Isnt this Llama precious? This is a pic from last spring. I saw this girl just this morning and she has grown so big! We went to visit the farm of family friends this morning and had a good time although it rained and lightening crashed. We got to see their horses and collection of miniature ponies and Audrey was completely in love:

I guess it's true what they say about girls and horses! I always enjoyed horseback riding as a kid, but this little girl was head over heels! She kissed the pony and hugged it and wanted to ride off into the sunset with it. Oh Pinky Pie, you are such a good pony...

Our visit to the farm was quite dramatic. Storm clouds were gathering across the prairie and it got so dark...as dark as night, and the street lamps all flickered on. We headed out to the barn to help call up the horses and the first crack of lightening rumbled across the sky...followed by smashing sheets of rain. We all huddled in the shed of the barn and the lights all went out from the storm. However, we still managed to keep cozy with the animals and Audrey got some pony hugs in and we fed them grain pellets while we waited out the storm.

Coming back from the farm we were wet and smelled like horses, but we were very happy. I am so glad I have a girl that loves the outdoors so much, and I am very glad to have found something to delve into that makes me feel like we still can have a little control over our destiny and our lives. That if Target shut down tomorrow and the gas station too, that we could still be ok. We'd just have to rock it Ma Ingalls style...

I've been reading the book "Made From Scratch: Discovering the pleasures of a handmade life" and loving it. Maybe one day I'll really have some chickens....and a precious pair of goats...Ooooh, and maybe some Angora rabbits that will force me to learn to knit. And a garden to feed us year round.

So these are my goals:

* Learn to knit--- for real!

* Make a decent veggie harvest

* Learn to make preserves from said harvest

* Get along better with the sewing machine

* In general, learn how to be more self sufficient!

Hehehe...must go for now...Audrey is calling for ponies in her sleep...how cute is that?

~Heather

Oh my! A give-away!~

Well, I am pleased to be a guest at the beautiful and winsome blog "January Wish" and there's a giveaway of these three lovely little Audrey Eclectic ornaments to celebrate!

You must explore this pretty little blog...gorgeous upon gorgeous. And, of course, enter to win! One of these sweet ornaments could find its way home to you!~

Give-away ends July 3 :)

Visit January Wish

Piece of Plenty

Was it just two months ago that we were counting down to our frost date, buying veggies on the sly so that we could be the first to get them in the ground when April 15 finally came?

I thought you might like a little garden update on our first veggie garden adventure. This is what it looked like when we planted it. Now, it is a darling little patch full of pretty lettuce and bright strawberries and other nice things. The tomatoes have just started to bloom and the sweet peas we planted to trail up the bedstead we planted on one end of the bed are sprouting up and blowing in the breeze.

These are Audrey's favorites:

Also put in some Parsley, Sage and Rosemary (the Thyme's out front in the flower bed) and can't wait til everything is big enough to really use around the kitchen.

I dream of one day having a little farm with outbuildings and big raised beds for vegetables and flowers. Til then, my little square will do fine. I love the look of the lettuce especially, makes me think of Peter Rabbit....

I've also been thinking about painting flowers and nature things more. Very outside my comfort zone...but sometimes you have to try new things :)

Now to go plant to potato vine....

H

PS: I get a lot of questions and suggestions in my comments section, and I want you to know I always read them, but some times I cant respond directly back for whatever reason (no email address, or blog, etc) so I'm going to try and start responding to these type of inquiries and suggestions in the comment section itself. I hope that will be of help, I always like to know when a blogger aknowledges what I've said, so I'd like to return the favor!~

Odds and Ends

Hello there....It's June already! And its already hot as blazes here. The kind of heat that feels like someone just opened the oven door when you walk out onto your front step. Oh, it's going to be a boiling summer....I'm already impatient for a good thunderstorm.

I've been working when I can on new paintings for the July show. I am terribly distracted. Perhaps its the weather? I decided to explore the idea of the 'oil field flapper' a little more and came up with this girl:

"Leaving the Old Farm"

The photo of this painting is terrible and I'm sorry about that. I'm not sure what the problem is...I took it on the back porch in the morning light. Who knows! Anyhow... I envision this girl with big dreams of striking it rich and famous. She packs her carpet bag and heads down the old country dirt road....the oil derreks in the background, wild flowers swaying on the road side. Photos of Lillian Gish and Evelyn Nesbit hide in the collage, evidence of her grand designs.
This is my latest large painting, although I have a few more smaller flappers done now.

In other projects, I have given my living room a bit of a make-over that it desperately needed and am so happy with the results. I just wish this photo showed how awesome it *really* is:

On the left in a chic mint blue frame (it used to be 1950s gold-tastic, but I took a can of mint spray paint to it years ago, and just NOW got around to putting a photo in it....It's a family heirloom photo that I had blown up at Kinkos. I think I will do more! It turned out great)
I also got this beautiful collage painting from Julie at The Ruby Nest:

It's pretty darn adorable, isnt it? I love the color and it really ties together all my odds and ends I stuck up on the wall yesterday. For years I had a large poppy painting above the couch. I love poppies-- but it was slightly Asian in design and I am not very Asian in my decorating. So, I think the poppy painting will eventually have another life in my husband's office and I will continue to slather anything that will stand still with old photos....that's my decorating habit ;)

Hope you're staying cool~

All for now..

H

Art in the Family

So, remember that mysterious fabric project I mentioned a while back? The one with all the coffee stained bits drying on the rack? Well, this is what they've become!

This is my very first piece created thanks to KC Willis' awesome mixed media class 'collage camp.' I really wanted to take my time and do it right, especially since it features Lula Mae and Jim, my pretty prairie ancestors!

I really love the look of the old fabric and the staining (and it smells like coffee...Mmmmm...) and am so excited to have a new way to use my little vintage photos.

These past few days, I've been working on a little pet project-- a geneology research project on Lula and Jim

I'm not exactly sure why, but their youth and the tragic twist to their story just moves me and I feel like I need to 'rescue' them from obscurity. (he died at 28 and is buried in an unmarked grave in town, she went on to several marriages but only had one child, her son she had with Jim, who happens to my great-grandfather.)

The text reads: "Her Mama warned her about cowboys, but Lula Mae never listened"

I've started doing serious research utilizing my library's geneology department. I think this will become a compulsion (I think I was research all night in my sleep....too bad I didnt find anything, haha!) but I think this is a great couple to start with because their young lives pretty much centered on the town I live in.

I found Lula's obit and found some family names and the fact that she was born in Indian Territory in the early 1890s. That is extremely early for these parts-- Indian Territory wasnt open to white settlers (officially) until 1889 and the survival of babies on the prairie in early years was very slight. So, go Lula!

If you're into geneology and old family stories I started a new blog to record my geneology exploits called Prairie Past. I figured it would be a great way to organize my findings as well as share with family. But if you love to hear about digging up old relatives (pun not quite intended) you're welcome to visit, maybe you'll have some advice for me?

Anyhow...I am now working on some little plaques of 1920s girls for the show. I'm wondering if after this I should take a break ;) but it doesnt take long for something to click and I'm painting again. Also, this summer I'd love to start taking on more commissions, if you've had that rolling around in your mind. My commission peices range from $65 to $150 depending on size. So if you're interested, do drop me a line :)

Back to the painting table...

H

Art show loveliness

So, this is the postcard illustration for the upcoming show at Shades of Brown next month. Although I decided long before I even painted one solitary painting that the name of the show would be Southern Gothic....as if almost on cue...I find myself wobbling on sticking to the theme so I decided to be safe and just not have a theme. But it will be full of flappers and 1920s flare, to be sure!

I just finished a large collage painting of a 1920s girl leaving her Oklahoma farm for glitz and glamour of Hollywood...I can just imagine the lure of 'talkies' on young rural folk. How many young girls dreamed of being the next Lillian Gish or Mary Pickford?

And to give the painting a distinct Okie flair, I've added oil dereks to the background...of course! I love a good oil field flapper...

so stay tuned....
~H