D is for daffodil

Lighting up the landscape on a gray day in early spring, the daffodils are blooming, bringing the first flash of color to my garden.

With a glow and irridescence that nothing man made can possibly match, the blossoms sway in the breeze of an approaching spring storm, oblivious to the changing day, determined to stand tall and do their dance.

. . . from the pages of a 1920 book



Who passes down the wintry street?
 Hey, ho, daffodil!
A sudden flame of gold and sweet.

-Katharine Tynan

Inside the book is a heartfelt inscription, I was inspired to play with some paper and  paint .

A watercolor I found at a Brocante in France, I instantly loved the vintage patina it had acquired,

 even the spots of mildew in the  background

I have a friend who collects different varieties for her garden, 

and the result is an explosion of cheerful spring fireworks every year.  

The last time I visited her she opened her refrigerator to show me that it was filled with individual cut flowers, each in it's own little jar of water.  It was her way of  extending the pleasure!

I'm grateful for the color, for the gaiety, 

for the beginning of a new season .

Like a chorus of tiny trumpets, daffodils are announcing the joy that is unfolding once again!

paper dolls

This is a special place . . . where good works are done- where elegance is spun from snippets and scraps . . .

I'm gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own

A doll that other fellas cannot steal

And then the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes

Will have to flirt with dollies that are real 

-the Millls Brothers 1942

What is it about paper? It just has the basic appeal of becoming whatever you desire with so very little effort. 

 A humble material for a world of creative possibilities.

This is me -the me seen by a 5 year old. A paper portrait by my granddaughter -  green construction paper and lots of glitter - I think she  captured me perfectly!

Winter afternoons in the attic with scissors and a new book of paper dolls.  How I wish I had saved some of them, I especially loved the babies and oh those movie stars! The clothes never stayed on,  and the dolls never stood up like we wanted them to, but that didn't discourage us. We wore out the little tabs trying!

The necessary tools were few - scissors for lots of cutting out, glue to paste the dolls that suffered bent necks and 

ankles onto cardboard, scotch tape for mending whatever needed it - usually the tiny tabs that held the clothes on.

Then there were Sunday mornings with Katy Keene. 

 She was in my newspaper every  weekend with a reader-contest  to design clothes for her.  I must have entered a hundred times, but never made it to print. The fun I had trying was so worth it  . . . .

Ok  . . . .Im still at it  . . . . .capturing some of my favorite dresses and  memories with colored pencil

And yes, I'm still buying them - brought this book back  from Hawaii.  I may never put scissors to it,  lots of inspiration for  fun in my painting.

Another recent find - filled with creative ideas!

I recently spotted a tattered  box in an antique shop, and inside discovered this treasure. The doll is painted with watercolors, and the clothes are cut from fabric that has been glued to paper.The fabrics are a clue that she was created probably in the 40's. People asked me what on earth I was going to do with it, but at the time I just knew I  had to have it. . .I eventually framed the collection and it now hangs in the nursery. -

This inspired me  . . .. Paper dolls as art?  Why not! 
They have a charm like no other.

This little Southern  sweetheart was a gift, 

 created with torn paper by Mississippi artist Roz Roy

Are paper dolls a thing of the past? 
No, Never Fear - the fun goes on . . . .

New Toys

Sometimes the elusive magic key for unlocking your creativity is as simple as having all your 'stuff' at the handy

Holidays behind us, a new year ahead of us. 

Winter, the bare trees outside, the garden at rest, time for enjoying the warmth and comfort of  being inside. Time to discover quiet and inspiration, play with your toys,  whatever they are for you.

Was there anything better than that magical moment on Christmas morning when you first laid eyes on the treasures there? For me it was the days that followed Christmas morning,  days free of school and schedules, just me and my new “toys” together all day long.  Then there was calling your friends and sharing  the fun.  My daughter, now over 40, still gets a call every Christmas morning from her childhood playmate that begins with the question “What did you get for Christmas”. If only they still lived across the street from each other!

  Years passed and my "toys" started looking more like books,  new clothes, games, make up and perfumes. Playing became curling up on a winter morning with a new book, snuggling with a new robe or blanket, soaking in a tub enveloped by fragrant bubbles with a flawless bar of virgin soap in hand.

Currently my favorite toys are all about art, and I'm ready to  experiment (play actually ) with some different tools this year.

I purchased this very small Raphael travel pan years ago on a trip to Paris and did not use it until recently. It seemed too easy, too basic.  I cant name any of the colors for sure, but once I dipped the short handled brush into water and messed up the first pan of color I was on my way .

Having coffee at Cafe Flore, my first partnership with the little paint box produced a very "rough"  version of a travel sketch. Don't judge, keep in mind that it was early and I was still jet lagged.

Someone much better at this offered these examples of what can be accomplished with this very same box of limited colors.  Gives me hope for next time . . .

Feeling more confident, I visited Sennelier's historic Art Supply store and invested in a travel set with beautiful , vibrant colors,  ones I cant wait to use. In this metal box is the spirit of Paris and the promise of future painting adventures that will keep me inspired .  

Also exciting are three new tubes of neutrals . . . I didn't even know they existed! For years I have been mixing my grays from  blues and oranges and what ever else I could add, with the conviction that it was a sort of heresy to do it any other way. Good bye guilt, and hello to these new shades.  Just another option to play with.

A set of brand new, unopened liquid watercolors, they will be the first magic potions to fill the wells of my new ceramic palette  . . .more toys . . . .stay tuned  . . ..

Colours

One of the great dividends of darkness is increased sensitivity to the light

The skies are mostly gray,  the skeleton trees look flat and black against the horizon, and nature takes on her palette of new neutrals. Nowhere is this neutrality more intense than in the cities, where the pavements, walkways and even the stone buildings merge into a sepia- toned picture.  

Against this neutral backdrop, every  brush of  color emerges with an increased intensity , standing out like the bold stroke of a highlighter pen, saying “notice me”.  Here it is the red awning of a neighborhood cafe.

And notice I did recently in Paris, looking into every window and around every corner, searching for and finding color at every turn. Paris is a feast of colors, no matter what the season.


                              RAINBOWS

Rainbows of Candy

Rainbows of Flowers in the Street Markets . . .

. . . the Paint Pots at Sennelier Art Store 

Vintage Pottery at the Flea Market

Ballet Flats at the Repetto Store . . .

how's this for a Color Wheel?

BLUE

Blue in A Bottle

Blue on the street

Blue in the River and Sky

RED

Red in the Cafe

Red in the Bon Marche, there's those shoes again!

ORANGE & YELLOW

Yellow and Orange at the Morning Market

At the Cafe

On the Deli Storefront

And Finally, a pastel pile of meringues . . .

"Why do two colors , put next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint."  picasso

I do hope that's not true- as I still hold out hope that I CAN learn to paint if I keep trying . . . . I can only hope

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet and dramatist.

Playing House

THE PLAYHOUSE KEY

by Rachel Field

This is the key to the playhouse

In the woods by the pebbly shore,

It's winter now: I wonder if

There's snow about the door?

I wonder if the flower-sprigged cups

And plates sit on their shelf

And if my little painted chair

Is rocking by itself

  

It doesn’t matter  how small or how big it is – I love to play house .  When I got my first playhouse I was over 50 -becoming a grandmother was the perfect excuse to make my dream finally come true!  But I couldn't have had more fun,  and with the help of some man-power from the men in my life – the dream became a reality.

Summer is nearly over and it is time to wash the teacups , tuck in the dolls and bunnies, and close the windows against the changing chilly winds.. .

Small houses have been a delightful part of childhood for generations. There is magic in having a space that

"just fits", and there is no better place to take tea with cookies.

Tiny tea parties call for very small treats

Tea parties are for everyone – boys and girls, tiny tots and big shots.

 Tea with the Twins

Cousins get cozy

Its never too soon to practice proper manners

Small houses are fun for the small boys also

This little guy liked sweeping the porch better than anything

Who invited the kittens? They must have heard about the cream!

Some of life is ever-changing, but thankfully some things never change – little ones grow up but the playhouse stands at the ready for the next curious child – always  ready for tea in the afternoon after a morning of planting seeds in the little garden that surrounds the house. 

The little garden offers a place to experiment, pick miniature bouquets, and snip fresh herbs for tea.

But oh! We loved the Little House

A thousand -ten times moré!

We loved the tiny window-panes

The funny swinging door.

The Little House by Abbie F Brown  1908