Inspire Your Art with Heart Day

  Gentle Friends, I was inspired by Patience Brewster, Designer Extraordinaire, best known for her darling and quirky ornaments, about this National Day of Art and Inspiration - which got me to thinking about what inspires me and what has inspired me throughout my life...........

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Over the past few years my artistic outlet has been mostly needlework, crosstitching - which I have been Posting about here at Black Sheep but I have tried other mediums.  I grew up around art and artists.  My Great Grandmother was a water colourist, and I am lucky enough to have two of her paintings......

....they both retain their original faux painted frames...  her daughter, my Grandmother was always doing something artistic, working in many mediums - ceramics, painting, needlework and other crafts....  I have quite a few things of hers that I live with an have shown in the past....  like

... my nativity I put out every year.....My dad was also a painter and although I do not remember this - once in his studio in Mississippi I got hold of a paintbrush and paint and created this......

.....  this always hung in my dad's dressing room and on the back it is dated 1965 titled

 "My Daddy" oil on board.  When we broke up my mom's house after she passed, this is one of things I took.  So I've sort of been creative since I was 2, having been inspired by my grandmother and dad.  My mom was a stitcher and I have a few of the pieces she made and I have a piece that her mother stitched.  So I've always been around stitching. 

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As I grew older art was never far from my life or goals.....one Degree I got early on is in Photo Journalism....although I never did much with it I still enjoy my camera and taking photos.  

My first job after Graduating from East Carolina University was with the Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council, Tarboro NC- as Director of Education and Programs..... from there I moved on to the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala Florida as Curator of Museum Education.  I still enjoy visiting the many world class museums, gallery's and cultural events that SF has to offer.

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My stitching is inspired by many things, my background and life I've led up to this point and the lovely historic and antique samplers out there to view and emulate..... 

 this one I own -  I picked it up at an Estate Sale.....

 .....  I see it every day and think how lucky I am to have it on my wall......  I also am inspired by all the travel I am lucky enough to have done in the past - and plan on doing in the future.  I always seek out the museums and historic places where ever I go - and one of my favorite places to see is the National Gallery in London, I've been there a few times and always make a point to see the Burlington House Cartoon by Leonardo da Vinci.  I found this small version  in a house sale and see it every day propped up on a book case in my hall.....

......  the little painting "Coleus and Shell" was done by a dear friend in Tarboro as a going away present when I left North Carolina for Florida.  I think one of the reasons I really enjoy the large "cartoon" of "The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist" is its size it is quite daunting being made up of 8 pieces of paper glue together.  It is a massive piece and so lovely - done in charcoal with black and white chalk.  I think it was seeing this piece that really made me want to visit the Chateau at Amboise and see were Leonardo is buried.

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There's really not one thing in particular that inspires me, but many things, day to day things.... reading Blogs and seeing all the lovely pieces being worked on, taking part in Exchanges on the HOE and Private ones always inspire me to do my best.  I think that this weekend in honor of the Day I'll just do lots of stitching.

Thanks for stopping by, dos top again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Downton Abbey (no spoiler) Posting

Gentle Friends, you may or may not know we are Downton Abbey Nuts at our house - so I pre-ordered the Blu Ray 5th season, it came Tuesday evening and we finished watching it last night.....

....  some good moments, and some great moments - of course there were some super lines spoken - gotta love the Dowager Countess - and the Christmas show wrapped up with answering some  questions and left some pretty big questions to be answered in Season 6.  Can't wait to re-watch it this weekend!!!

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That wraps up the week, thanks for stopping by, do stop again soon!!  Have a super weekend!!

Take care,

edgar

Thursday Thrifting

Gentle Friends, we made the thrift/consignment shop rounds over the weekend - and with no estate sales it was pretty slim pickings until......

..... we found this super folk painting from Mexico.  Called "Tras Mariposas" (After Butterfly's) I'm pretty sure it was bought by someone on vacation and then just tossed in a closet when they got home - as it had no frame and was in pretty dirty condition.  So I wiped it off and the colours popped - I already had this frame and it fit nicely so now we are living with it on the wall.

I also found a couple of pieces of pottery - a new Dedham Pottery piece and a older Royal Copley vase - and a great DVD copy of  "The Iron Giant."  It's always fun to find a couple of things.

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A little Baking

Gentle Friends, I whipped up a little sweet bread over the weekend.....

.... cranberry orange to be specific.  Quite tasty and the recipe can be found at Sally's Baking Baking Addiction Blog, it's called Orange Glazed Cranberry Bread (click the title to go there). The changes I made were - I used dark and not light brown sugar and left out the pecans - and it was really a tasty treat with a cup of coffee.

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There you go sports fans, a short and sweet drive by posting.  Stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Some "March" Stitchin'

Gentle Friends, over the weekend I finished up "March."  Here's a really awful snap......

...  I've got to get a better shot in the daylight - but - you get the idea.  This is turning out to be a fairly quick stitch.  I've pulled the over dyed flosses for "April" and will begin that tonight - or I may just go back and work on "Poinsettia House" on my Santa's Village.......  

 - Since the weather was bright and sunny I got to a chore I've been putting off far too long.  During the day the weather got into the low 70's - so I had the house wide open and was able to shampoo the carpet and with a light breeze blowing it dried super fast!!

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That's about it for today sports fans - thanks for stopping by dos top again!!

Take care,

edgar

Two Terrific Tongues

Gentle Friends, as you may remember a couple of years ago we had a bad night with the Peach, she collapsed at about 3 AM one Sunday morning and we rushed her to the Veterinary Emergency room - and when I say rush, I mean running the red lights kind of rush!!  After multiple tests and a couple of days of worry, we found that our little old lady who hound had some heart issues.  So for the last two years morning and evening she gets her pills (well hidden in a lump of ground up chicken).......

...... Dr Williams (Peaches' heart Doctor) has not had to change the low dosage of the three pills in all this time - he told us that is very unusual.  We take her in for blood work and x-rays about every 6 months, and Wednesday she had another "check up" - and she is doing "the best of the best" the Dr's words.  No change in the medication - and her x-rays look super, no change what so ever in her heart, and she eats and drinks water normally and poops a'plenty - so no change there.  It was only the blood work we were waiting to hear about and Dr Williams called yesterday and everything is doing super de duper all liver panels normal with one actually better than last time!!!  We couldn't be happier!!  For a 13 (I say 14) year old - she was the first rescue so we're not too sure - she is the bees knees!! 

 I took the snap last night and what you see is my usual evening view.....  a couple of hounds half asleep waiting to hear someone in the kitchen dropping a piece of bacon, or a ham or turkey or just any ole thing they can snack on!!!

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That wraps up the week sports fans, thanks again for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

"One Swan a'Swimin'......"

Gentle Friends, on the stitching front I finished up "February" on my Prim Animals Sampler.... 

 here's a pretty crapitty snaperoo....

... I really hate the way the flash bleaches out the colours......  I took about 20 pictures at all different settings, but I just couldn't get one I liked - but you get the idea.

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It's a slow week here by the Bay -  so Posts may be on the spotty side -

 unless I see a soapbox or two to pontificate from.... 

 Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL January Posting

Gentle Friends, I joined the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL this year started by Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching.....  the piece I'll be working on is "Santa's Village" from CCN.  It was also my New Year start - why not kill two birds with one stone, eh!!  So I finished up Santa's House.  Here's a snap....

... I'll be adding some beads - so I've left off some of the details - and of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and I've changed up some of the DMC suggestions for over dyed choices.......  in fact, just so you know I change my mind way too much, I've restitched the pine needles three times with three different greens until I settled on this green - which is a piney green - at least to me it is.....

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That's about it for today sports fans - thanks for stopping by dos top again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Thrifting

Gentle Friends, last Saturday - while Rico was enjoying ill health and hacking his lungs out at home - I went on my merry way to visit my regular thrifty haunts  - and - two estate sales..... 

finding a few fun things.....

.......  from l to r - a set of four Russian plates c. 1900 - Imperial Porcelain from the Gardner Factory near Moscow, a Bunnykins cereal bowl from Royal Doulton, a Christmas DVD I didn't have (if you can believe that) and a St. Hilda of Whitby.  

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Little Chocolate Cake........

Gentle Friends, I was looking through some of the cooking Blogs I frequent trying to find something new to bake over the weekend and on Stacey's Blog "Southern Bite".........I found........

....... a recipe for this super cake......called "Nana's Chocolate Pound Cake" it is the best chocolate pound cake I've ever had!!!  Basic ingredients and easy to come together, it's moist and delicious!  You can bake it in either a Bundt or Tube pan, I usually will choose Tube over Bundt as I did this time.  It' is great with either a coffee or cuppa tea.  Thanks, Stacey!!!!!

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks again for your continued kindnesses!!!

Take care,

edgar

Starting off the Week with a Nap.......

Gentle Friends, I thought I will start the week off with a warm Who hound shot -

....I walked in from the downstairs laundry room with a ton of "warm from the dryer" stuff and as I started to separate things into piles for folding, Lolly and the Hump nestled down into a pile of unmentionables.......

.... they heard the camera go clicky click and woke up - sort of.... Lolly wasn't interested, and the Hump started to yawn, then turned over and went back to sleep .....  

notice his freckle on the tip of his tongue.......

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On the stitching front I worked on "Santa's Village", I'll post an updated snap on the 15th........

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That's about it for today sports fans - thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Dinner in the Mission and the Hounds

Gentle Friends, a couple of nights ago we went to dinner with some friends to Puerto Alegre.  They are known for their margaritas and their extensive tequila selection.

..... from our table I took this snap of the bar.......

...... I had grilled shrimp quesadillas.......

...... and Rico had chicken fajitas....  as you can see the cilantro was flung off the plate first.....

.......  it's a fun place and we had a great dinner!!

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I thought I would wrap up the week with a little puppy fun......

..... a co-worker of Rico's had this super ornament made with pictures of the who hounds!!

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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Thrifty Thursday

Over the Holidays I was still out and about thrifting and finding a few fun things...........

........ clockwise from l to r.....  a great Gorham sterling handled basket, date marked 1916, a wonderful old brown glazed stoneware bowl, two Christmas DVD's, a great vintage Boston Terrier etching and a turned olive wood recorder made in Holland.  Rico asked why the recorder, well, it is very well made, was only a couple of dollars and I played one in music class at Mattaponi Elementary School and why not try playing it again........ my playing is kind of squeaky so far, but hope springs eternal.

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That's about it for today, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Buying Some China

Gentle friends, I thought I'd show you a Christmas present I bought for myself........

..... I found this set of cream soup bowls and liners on the bay of evil - they were a super price and I just couldn't pass them up.  At Replacements they are really expensive per set, so when I ran across them I had to have them.  The pattern is called "Lace" and was made by Castleton China.  This expands my mom's wedding china and although I inherited quite lot of it - for some reason there were never cream soup bowls to the set - and I knew I could use them..........

......  "Lace" was first introduced in 1954 so it was quite a new pattern in 1955 when my parents were married - they have a real 50's feel to them - IMHO - the combination cream china, grey base and pink and white Queen Anne's lace flowers with platinum banding look great on the table.

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That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by.

Take care,

edagr

A Christmas Start for the New Year!!!

Gentle friends, I kitted up and was just chomping at the bit to get a move on this project.  It's been building in my work basket ever since it first reared it's darling head monthly.......   I was ready to make a start a few times, but I put it off and put it off until I found a SAL called " Gifted Gorgeousness 2015" click HERE to go there.  I had collected most of the charts with GC's.  I knew it was time to get it together and make a start.  We post on the 15th of each month with progress, but I wanted to post a bit early as I usually show stitching on Mondays.......

 so here's my little start on a new piece......

....  it's "Santa's Village" by Country Cottage Needlework's.  I'm stitching it as a single large sampler on a piece of 36ct "Natural" linen.  I am using mostly the suggested floss, but will be switching out some of the DMC for over dyed's to make it a bit more interesting to the eye and to stitch.  I'm also going to leave off some of the candy cane stripping between the rows and encircle the entire "Village" with the red and white candy cane.  At this point I made the decision to not put any of the buttons on, but I may add some beads and other bits and pieces........  I'll make those calls as I stitch along.  Other than that not too much was going on at my house but some lazy dayz.....  and a Downton Abby marathon yesterday leading up to the premier of Season 5 last night!!!  

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That's about it for today sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

Some Sleepy Who Hounds.........

Gentle Friends, New Years day was a very lazy day around the old homestead....the hounds were up and down all night with all the fireworks being shot off..........

....... Lolly was snuggled into the brown bed.........

..... the old lady Peach was unmovable on the couch...(except her tail going thump, thump, thump)

.....  Smokie was completely zonked and curled up......

...... and Wahumpa grabbed the chair with the heating pad......

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That's about it for today sports fans.... thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Very Happy New Year

Gentle Friends, just a quick Post to wish you all........

.... a wonderful and Happy New Year!!!!!

Take care,

edgar