Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My Studio

I have a new studio in Cockerell Galleries. I'm thrilled with it! It's nice to have somewhere I can do some work and quietly dream.

I got this fun table from a friend of a friend. It's hand painted and each chair is different. The chair shown has the serenity prayer painted on it. It's my favorite.

You can see the top of the table a little better in this photo. I'm going to hang LILA somewhere when I can decide where.


My husband hung this fun chandelier in my studio over my sofa. This chandelier was in my house when I was a little girl. I love the way it glitters.

I got this sofa (purchased in 1924 by original owner) for a song at an estate sale. It's covered in a pale pink Belgium damask. I just love it and it's comfortable for lounging, dreaming, yes and even napping. tee hee.
I have certainly had a lot of fun painting bird's nests lately. Roxanne Spradlin is a wonderful talent who showed me some of the finer points.
My easel and canvas are awaiting something fun. What shall it be?
This hutch serves as a great space for storing miscellany.

I'm dreaming of an artful 2010,
Lila

Photography Conversions

I've had so much fun doing this lately!

Original photo


Pencil sketch
Modern Art



Vintage


Painting

Mosaic


What I love about creativity is that the possibilities are endless!

Endless, I say!
Lila

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I'm Beginning to Feel More Like Me



Boy, December was a blue blurrrrrrrr.......

We jumped from Thanksgiving into Five Days of Celebration to celebrate five years at our retirement community with five huge days of celebration. We came to call it five days of chaos while others called it five days of he**.

After that my husband and I went to see our families in Alabama and then to have a vacation. I'm not really sure what I was thinking. I had way too much to do to vacation. I had to "do Christmas!"

When we returned, six days before Christmas the question on everyone's lips was, "So are you ready for Christmas?" NO! I wasn't ready. I couldn't do any Christmas shopping when we were on vacation since we were flying and couldn't carry a lot of stuff. I couldn't really Christmas shop when we returned because, Hello, I'd been on vacation and had to work.

So, I slid into Christmas this year in a sloppy, haphazard, unorganized way. And do you know what? It still came. It was still a blessing. Our family still enjoyed being together. Our children much preferred money to gifts.

But today I've been able to just think, blog, rest my soul and ponder what if anything I'd do differently next year.

I think next year we'll still see family, but the vacation? Maybe a little less time away and a little more time at home...sweet...home.

Being,
Lila

Sunday, December 27, 2009

White Christmas

We had a white Christmas! I think this was the first time that has ever happened for me. I remember one Christmas we had snow flurries in Birmingham, Alabama and that was pretty exciting, but we really had a white one this year.

On Christmas Eve Eve we watched White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. Maybe we'll watch that again next year.

I had such fun taking photos around our neighborhood. The picture below is of our house.


This is a house down the street. Can't you just smell a crackling fire and hot chocolate?

This gorgeous house should be on Hallmark cards. I've always loved this house, but with snow, it's pure magic!


Caroline and I drove around our neighborhood snapping pickies. She suggested this shot. It's a good one. She always claims that Katie Lea and I are the artistic, creative ones, but that gal has an eye for composition and color. It was good to encourage her in her own creative journey.


This is the Church of Heavenly Rest, an Episcopal church in my neighborhood. I love this church. We've gone to Christmas Eve services here before. It's so stately and beautiful.
The icicles glittered like antique chandeliers.


This is a photo I took of our back yard and used in my blog header. I like the Andy Warhol look to this one.
I took this photo of Mary covered in sparkling snow. She's in our back yard. I got her at a garage sale for $5.00 because her nose was chipped off and her head had been concreted back on. She needed some love.


Isn't this red door just wonderful? I want to see what is on the other side of that beautiful red door. It is found at the Church of Heavenly Rest.
I have always loved this house. It's at about 7th and Amarillo. I think it is even an apartment but how gorgeous it is in the snow!

A simple rock wall can go unnoticed until the magic fairy dust we call snow blankets it.

Life is Beauty Full,
Lila

Saturday, December 26, 2009

I'd Like Another Life, Please

Before you contact the mental health authorities for me, let me explain. There are so many things I'd like to do, that it would be good to have another life to get them all done!

I'd like to be a painter, a decorator, a cook, a singer, a writer, an actress and a dreamer to name a few things.

Currently, I'm a wife, a mom of grown children, a daughter, a friend (though not a very good one lately) a director with a retirement community, an inn keeper, a student, a part time artist and a sleeper. (It takes a lot of sleep and quietude for this 51 year old introvert to maintain creativity, gratitude and joy.)

I'm reading a delightful book called Going Gray: What I Learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matter by Anne Kreamer. It's thought provoking, for sure.

Why am I reading something like that, you may ask. When I was at the beach with my husband last week I noticed that my hair was looking a bit Cruella de Ville-ish . . . and it had only been 2 1/2 weeks since my hairdresser had worked her magic. For those of you in my decade, you remember the Clairol commercial, "Does she or doesn't she?" Well, this gal definitely does...did.

Yes, I've decided to let my gray hair be my crowning glory. I will look a bit like a calico cat for a few months, then I will be gray. You may be asking why I'm letting myself go. I'm not. I'm simply taking another step toward authenticity and being who God created me to be.

I've never fudged on my age when people ask me how old I am, though I will soon be old enough to be my mother's grandmother. She maintained that she was 29 years old her whole life. I'm thankful for the journey that God is walking me through in this life and I want to do it authentically. Of course, I want to have a stylish, sassy do, that's authentic, of course. smile.

I hope to be getting more writing done on my blog. More painting in my studio. More studying in my home office and more reading in my bed. So, Father, will you please show me how to accomplish the things you would have me to do today. As you can see, My To Do list is quite full. What is on your to do list for me?

Waiting,
Lila