Cowgirl Chic and Vintage Button Magic

 It's rodeo time in Joseph, Oregon, with Chief Joseph days right around the corner so all the local shops have cowboyed, or dolled up their windows with everything western. We kick off the big week with the wild bucking horse stampede on Tuesday, then Wednesday night the rodeos start. For all you closet rodeo queens, or styling cowgirls, I've created a chunky but chic faux turquoise and large pearl piece. Can't you see some cowboy's sweetheart dancing the night away at the Thunder Room with this lovely necklace around her neck?

 No ensemble is complete without earrings to match. Some lil darlin will dazzle all the men next week for sure!

 A match made in heaven was formed with these large vintage button and the flat shell beads. I've been trying to pull something together with the pearly brown and white beads, but couldn't quite do it until I got back to Oregon and found the vintage button stash I'd left here. The delicious dark chocolate brown pearls and sparkly crystal beads compliment the overall collection of beads and button. Copper chain was a perfect choice to finish this necklace with. I'm making one similar for me because I like how this design turned out. What color would you have used with this button?

 Another cowgirl chic piece, complete with ox brass beads, deep red crystal beads and Howlite turquoise beads.

 I so wish I had another button like this one to create with as there are so many possibilities for use, but here's a fun and funky version that was a conversation piece at the Westsider's dinner last night. The greens are really more of a teal, but are showing up as more of a true green on my screen. Pearl beads, vintage shell buttons, copper flowers and findings all came together to showcase this awesome button.

Earrings to match. This is for my own personal collection, but I just had to share. :-)

Friday's Fish Tale and Flowers WIP'S

 A fish story in the making is this future wall hanging. Last year at Wallowa Lake, Oregon a man from Pendleton caught a world record Kokanee Salmon weighing 9.67 lbs, at 27.75 inches long. Wallowa Lake Fishing One of the galleries in Joseph, which is about a mile north of the lake, asked if I could create a fish wall hanging that would be about the same length as this big monster fish, so I've tackled the challenge. Watch, someone will break the record again and I will have to make another one, oh darn? Lol. Actually, these are fun to do. Hopefully this fella will take off to the art show with me on Monday, and be beaded and wired and ready to show at the gallery next week.

 This is another one of my fun and funky abstracts in the works, again hopefully destined to go into another gallery in Joseph next week. I'm trying to decide whether I like it better the way you see it above, or below. I still have a few layers of color to add to it, but times getting short so I'd better get this finished today or tomorrow.

My stepson is coming from California today, we go to Kent's parents tomorrow after work, Saturday we celebrate Kent's birthday, and Sunday we are back here to speak in church. I can see me finishing these and one more piece Sunday night as we are going to be sooooo busy for the next few days. Ah well, so much for a relaxing weekend aye? The upside is that I'll be stopping at a friend's place on Monday to spend the night and help her with a blog set up. I'm excited about that as she creates some amazing vintage western art and wall hangings as well as jewelry, so she needs to be on the web! We also get to visit with a teacher we had at church when we were 14. Gee that was a loooong time ago.
Then I will stay with a friend at Wallowa Lake as we have a house sitter I don't want to uproot just for a few days. So I will get to fish with my friend, and we shall see whether we can catch a record trout from her dock. Probably not, but a girl can dream right?

Horse is finished, yay!

Hmmmm blogger is up to no good again...lol. I have been slogging through back pain and mental fatigue trying to get this piece done, and finally! So I've taken the photos, filled out the entry form for the show, and it's off to the post office in a bit to send the entry off. 
I knew it! As soon as I try to add another picture below the text, it pops underneath the other photo, oh well. So here is El Caballo De Calabasa II, a gourd horse who has a bronzed and silver look. Hubby wants me to start on the next one now, while I'm in the groove...:-) It's so nice to have his support. My house is upside down right now, but it will get put back together next week, I think. I now have 3 art dolls as a commission to do, and so it goes. Thanks to all who were cheering me on. I look forward to seeing what you've been up to. Oh, if you want to see what is happening and more information on this art show here's the link. Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts  I'll bet you've never seen a more beautiful and inspiring place to have an art show...;-)

The envelope please......

A highly anticipated arrival came yesterday with good news for me. I submitted to be in the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts that will happen in June. This will be my 3rd year and I am so excited!

Last year we didn't have to submit an application if we had been in the show before. This year it was different. The festival is growing and as the letter states artists are submitting work from as far away as Florida and Alabama. This year I will also be helping with hanging the art and other duties as a volunteer. I'm so looking forward to this and can't wait to get back home. In the meantime I better get to work!

WIP's

I just got done mowing the lawn and couldn't resist taking a picture of the mountains this evening. I can smell the Ponderosa pines and fresh cut grass..ahhhhh......The work in progress is my house and the yard. We need to put one more coat of paint on the house and trim, and then put a deck around the front and side of the porch,(wish I would have thought of that last year) and get the rest of the landscaping done for this year. Next year we start on the inside. But I will post before and after photos of the outside of the house as it will amaze you!
Not sure if I bit off more than I could chew here, but my paintings always look iffy half way through. Can you guess what is standing in front of the barn on the hill?

I'll give you a daisy a day dear.....

Even though it's threatening to snow outside, again, I was inspired to create this as a tribute to the upcoming Summer months. I love Shasta daisies; they are so prolific here in Wallowa Valley that they create mini carpets of green and white here and there along the slopes. They are tall and dance in the breezes that drift across the valley floor. This piece is available now.

Dancing Daisies - 8" x 10" on gallery wrap canvas $125.00 Email me if interested.

It Finally Came.....

My invite to come back to the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts came in the mail last week and I'm so excited!!!! It was a dream come true to get juried in last year, and since I won a blue ribbon for my lemons painting I have the incentive to come back again. Isn't that a lovely lake setting? I can walk up there every morning when I'm in Oregon, and I love the peace, serenity and beauty of the place. My mom still resides in spirit there, so spending time in Wallowa Valley is a healing place for me, and getting to fulfill our dream of being a part of the art community in Wallowa Valley is so, well, wonderful! The folks who dedicate so much volunteer time to make this show happen are truly amazing, and such nice people as well!
The building you see with the red pick up and trailor in front of it on the left, is now a real estate office and has a restaurant where the tavern used to be, but the real estate office used to be an eatery called the Gold Room. Mom worked there for awhile and we used to love going there to get large plates of fries for 75 cents, along with thick creamy milk shakes. Yummmm! We have our home 2 blocks away, so we can walk downtown easily, and I often ride my bike there to get supplies at the hardware store. What a place that is! The clerks greet you and help you find whatever you are looking for, and are always good for a joke or tease. If they don't have what you want, they can order it. It's a home town hardware store, with a bit of housewares too, so if you need a bowl, or grater, toaster, you name it they have it. As much money as we spend there each summer we should own half the store by now.
Anyway, I have 2 months to put together 3 pieces for the art show, so I'd better get to it!