do you believe in magic???

Want a quick fix to capture your imagination? My brother just sent this link along to me and it's worth a look...I've been around magic in my life...but this guy is amazing... criss angel or if you really want to freak out your mind click here

I also wanted to let you know about the Yahoo Group that Sarah, Susie and I have started based around our book "In This House" that will be hitting the shelves July 1st. .. If you are interested in home, altered art, creating art or just lurking around art...you might find it interesting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inthishouse
What have i been up to? I've been enjoying the spring weather, creating art, working hard and believing in the magic....

mom's rock!

milestones

Today my issue of "Somerset Life" arrived. I have an article I wrote in it called "Milestone Decantors". This was one of my favorite projects to create. I made it for my son Jesse when he turned 21. I filled a decantor with messages his family and friends had written for him for his special day. He loved it...and I thought...this idea could be made for any special occasion...to let your loved one know they have people in their lives that really care about them.

Jesse's friends emailed me wonderful pearls of wisdom, poems, memories and photographs, and I created a little scroll for each persons message and placed them in the bottle.
There were so many that touched our hearts...but this one in particular was a moving snippet of wisdom that we all can take with us throughout our journey.

"We may never know exactly how we affect others, but we do. Sometimes a kind word or gesture, or a simple smile, or even a tear can make all the difference in someone's life. And when you step back and look at all those little things, you'll begin to see clearly that they all add up to one big thing...and that will be your life."

To see the article larger on my website CLICK HERE.
The whole magazine is just beautiful filled with simple things that can make your life more inspired.








To order the magazine from Stampington & Company click here.

the good , the beautiful and the ugly...

sketch ac

The GOOD...

My Mum celebrates her birthday family style...

left to right top row: Jesse, Dakots, Becca, Steve, Veronica
bottom row: Aunt Mary, Chris, me, Mum Dad and Richy

and Veronica celebrates her birthday in a devilish manner...

My friend Tiffini Elektra X has finally posted her long awaited website...You have to visit...she has some lovely items. Tiffini is the spirited sprite that makes the bottlecap jewelry of my photographs that are available at the Pasticcio Bazaar on my website...I'm so happy to be able to turn you on to her fantastic items available at her own store. It's a good thing...

The BEAUTIFUL...


A gal pal visit to beautiful the 2007 pick of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design...the Boddy House at Descanso Gardens...This house is near and dear to me because I had two exhibits of my photography here in August of 2002 and 2003. The gardens are one of my favorite places on earth because they are so very beautiful, peaceful and enchanting.
Publisher E. Manchester Boddy bought the land where the gardens and house are today and called it Rancho del Descanso loosely translated as the Ranch of Rest. In the early 1950's Boddy closed his newspaper and delved into creating a botanical haven on his 160 acres. The 22 room mansion was completed in 1938 at a cost of approximately $140,000 and became the site of frequent and lavish parties.
The house has long been in need of a face lift, so I was thrilled to hear it was to be the showcase house this year. The designers did a lovely job capturing the mood of the house and highlighting the details.






















How lovely to wake up every morning to a cup of coffee overlooking the vast oak tree forest...walking every day through the paths lined with camillias, or wandering down to the Rosearium which covers 3 acres and holds over 3,000 types of roses... sigh...
Speaking of gardens...my potager garden has yielded a lovely strawberry...big enough for a Barbie doll to dip in chocolate and enjoy....still waiting for other sightings of edibles...
It's a beautiful thing...

the UGLY...
You might recall if you read my blog, that I had a tree branch go through the windshield of my car 5 weeks ago... Well...it has taken 5 weeks for me to get my car back...and yesterday when I picked it up I was delighted and grateful beyond belief...
Later that night I headed out to dinner with my buds and pulled up to the valet. I go inside and get a booth and 3 minutes later my friends come in and ask if I got my car back...
and I say...Yeah! Finally...!
and Carol says "I was afraid of that...the valet guy in the parking lot just backed your car into a pole..."
and I thought she was kidding...
"We watched the whole thing..." said Maureen...and sure enough it was true...my little car had been backed into a pole...and will have to go away again to get fixed...
Go figure...
It was just about then I was ready for a cosmopolitan in the glass I had seen earlier that day at the Gardens...

open house

Come on in for a look inside

'IN THIS HOUSE'

to be released July 2007

sketch-iness

Meet the girls...I call them "Uneven Sisters...









This is my latest muse...sketching...














I've always wanted to sketch...














Give my Dad a pencil and he could sketch anything...











It was so cool...











I've been taking my sketchbook and graphite pencils
everywhere...










and I sketch whenever I can...








So that's what I've been up to lately...
hanging out with the girls...

unspoken narratives

Last night I went to the exhibit opening of my dear friend CW Slade. "Unspoken Narratives" is at McLean Gallery in Malibu, and if you find yourself in that neck of the woods, drop on by for a look into CW's mystical world. Or take a look at the gallery site, it's not up on CW's site yet.
This piece on the left was one of my favorites.

Here's my lil sports fan Peyton. Becca bought her a Laker jersey.

Peyton gets the funniest look on her face when she is having her picture taken...she lays down and closes her eyes like she's embarressed...but then she's up again and off and playing.


Will post some art in the next couple of days. Till then...go Lakers!

a visit to the grind house

How fabulous is this outsider art! This stenciled lady is painted on the wall next to the Beverly Cinema where we went last night. I wonder if it was one whole stencil spray painted on the wall...However it was done, this life sized lady is wonderful...I just had to take a picture of her to share. Can you dig it Sarah...maven of Stenciling?

The Queen is painted high up near the roof...The Queens of Hollywood...only in LA!


So what were we doing at the Beverly Theatre? Last night we were all invited to Quintin Tarentino's Grindhouse Festival 2007. Why? Because my ex Brother-In-Law Richard Compton wrote and directed two of Quintin's favorite pics for the festival "Macon County Line" and "Return To Macon County Line". These flicks were two of Richy's first movies he directed in what has become a long line of credits..."Return to Macon County Line" starred two, then unknown actors, Don Johnson and Nick Nolte. They had great chemistry together, and watching this movie was totally entertaining. I'm so glad Richy invited us.
Here's a picture of my arbor in bloom...just in time for Easter.

Hope the Easter Bunny is good to you all...

the secret garden

perhaps it is not so secret...I had a potager garden on my list of things to get done...and today was the day to do it.
What is a potager garden you ask?

A potager garden is a French method of creating ornamental vegetable or kitchen gardens. Often flowers (edible and non-edible) and herbs are planted with the vegetables to enhance the beauty. The goal is to make the function of providing food aesthetically pleasing. Plants are chosen as much for their functionality as for their color and form.

So I started with some galvanized tubs, bags of soil and a trip to the Descanso Gardens Plant sale.
Becca said she wanted to help me so while she went and put the music on, I did some hard labor.

We set about planting the herbs and veggies to the sounds of Sting, Sarah, Billy and Paul on a truly beautiful LA day.

Becca confided in me that she had always wanted to plant a secret garden after she had read the book of the same name.

...hours passed...
"My garden of pots is like some living diary, a collection of occasions, memories, places and friendships." Sara Midda


And so in this little corner, this little corner of my backyard, a garden grows.

I have Buddha to watch over my tea herbs.
Now we will sit and wait and see what Spring will bring.