Meet the Zany Zebra at Zazzle!

I finally decided to set up over at Zazzle after having the name since 2008.  So, after two weeks of working on it, I'm starting to get things up.  I was so surprised on Saturday to be picked for Zazzle's TBA Award!  (Today's Best Award).  I about fell off my chair and it was a nice acknowledgement since they have so many talented artists and designers.

So, I thought it was time for the Zebra to come out of the wilderness and I'd sure love it if you peeked at what I've been up to!

I hope everyone is doing well and that you have a fantastic 2012!  Rock on!


make custom gifts at Zazzle

Cabin Fever had a hold of me

Happy Spring out there!

*please click the Cabin Fever below* ;D

Cabin Fever had a hold of me

Friends & Fiends... Heathens and Angels...!

Friends are treasures.
Horace Bruns

This is my place to start collecting treasures!
"Swing away, Merle... swing away!"

*from the movie, "Signs"

A Summer to Create a Studio on Wheels

I have finally taken the steps to make a long-time dream of mine come true. After two years of watching and contemplating the investment into a Travel Trailer, I took the plunge last March and bought one out of Ohio.

Needless to say, there were many, many challenges to get from point A to having it in my driveway in primo condition, ready to roll.
I also did an interior redo which consumed more time but was well worth the effort for the atmosphere.

This is my new baby:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8889064@N08/

She's a 2002 Coleman 25' trailer with two slides.
The front area is the bed which slides over the hitch and the dining area slides out too.

She was in beautiful shape but did require some upgrades not only for safety reasons but for expanding the time I could stay out.

I put in new & larger propane tanks, a new regulator and had a top-of-the-line anti-sway hitching system rigged.
I have two bunks in the rear which are going to be great for storage of art materials, etc., there's a great frig and a cozy bathroom complete with a shower and bathtub.

My hope is to paint on location all over the place and enjoy the wild & open spaces.

Her Winter Angels Take Flight

Blue Winter by Robert Francis

Winter uses all the blues there are.
One shade of blue for water, one for ice,
Another blue for shadows over snow.
The clear or cloudy sky uses blue twice-
Both different blues. And hills row after row
Are colored blue according to how for.
You know the bluejay's double-blur device
Shows best when there are no green leaves to show.
And Sirius is a winterbluegreen star.

by Robert Francis

Different Strokes for Different Folks

*a new little piece inspired by the "Hell in a Handbasket" gang!
It all started in a thread about cussing & evolved into something so much more.

*it's these things, the quirky paths of a thread or conversation, that start in one direction and then meanders through a barrel of laughs to another direction...
before you know it, there's new friends and much laughter.

*cough*
and some things like HELL just don't translate well into the lighter version
... like "heck in a handbasket", lol!
so, HELL is for heros... and angels... and kitchens...and canyons...and Dante...and Bosch.

John Wayne wouldn't want ONE THING to do with "Heck Fighters"... nor would the original scary movie, "The Haunting of Heck House" be quite as good. ;)

I thank the Heckful Handbasketry Gang for the laughs and touching my heart at the same time!
***this art came about as a result of the idea that we can celebrate our differences, stand together to give support to others.... and also not go around walking on eggshells trying to make the entire world "happy".

The Slo-Mo Landscaping Company

I've always enjoyed working outside but this year is different. I have undertaken a project to revamp my back yard and give it some much needed TLC that kind of went 'missing' after my breakup a little over a year ago.

When Dog died a few short weeks back, some things inside of me died too... like apathy, loss, sadness. It was as if our final journey together was part of a much bigger ending. The road had reached it's end... the last chapter in the book was complete.

It was not a bad thing to let go and I knew at some point it would happen. In that long dark night I spent outside with her, her last night... I made a few promises to the Big Guy upstairs to release the pain, that there would be no more hurt & anger. I decided I would not look back too much anymore, nor too often.... and that when I did, it would be from the basis of love.

We cannot control what people do in life.... we cannot change them, only ourselves. My ex is a good man at heart but a lost spirit in many regards. I could not help him any further.

I remember the drizzle of the rain... a cold summer night by all regards...watching the drips fall off the patio umbrella, like the tears I had. Each drop was like a memory going back into the earth... returning from where it came...all the laughter, the love and the special times went back into the Earth Mother for renewal and new growth.

It was after midnight and I was all alone with Dog as she rested her head in my hands. The world was so silent and no noise was rising up from town... the world was asleep. I knew, though, that we were not alone.

So, in many ways, the weeds that grew, were symbolic of the dark passages... tenacious little buggers they are, lol. They took footholds at every chance in any open spot of soil.

So, I pulled up my sleeves and have been running the backside of a shovel and rake... the neglected garden is now blooming with new life and the flowers are brightening my days...on the inside and out. I still have quite a ways to go with the physical work but have set September as my goal for finishing.

It takes time to nurture the soil... it takes time to nurture the soul. It takes time to battle the weeds. It takes time for new things to grow.

Complicated Matters Too - another new work!

*another new piece that combines digital painting and collage*
created June 2009

The Seer - a new digital collage

The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present,
but a place that is created - created first in the mind and will, created next in activity.
The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.
The paths are not to be found, but made,
and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.

Deborah James

A Nice Surprise!

I got a little surprise in my day today... and it's a good one!
I am always honored when people remark about my work or if something moves them.
*my sincere thanks*

Home Decor Trends!
http://www.etsytrends.com/

check out etsytrends! you won't be sorry!

Doggins

Dear Dog,

I am so sad that I had to send you across the Rainbow Bridge yesterday morning... it was the only choice we had left. :(

You were a big-hearted old girl and I'm sorry your Papa abandoned you... but, I am glad you came to live with me.
You were a clutzy clod and a baby bulldozer.
You stepped on my toes with your 130+(?) lbs. of lovin' and ate like a horse.
You snored creatively, farted horribly and barked like a foghorn.

I loved you very much, though...
and you and I became One on this final journey.
You were very brave and a fighter to the end...
I know you didn't want to leave me.
There is a big hole in my heart and home today.
You will be missed but you are free now.
R.I.P. my Doggins'... we'll see you again someday.
love,
your Mama.

Posted at 8:58 am, June 4 2009 EST
on Dol's Dear _______ thread at Etsy.

New Work

"The Days of Roses"
art squared

"Strange Gardens"

"Old Walls"

T-shirt Surprise!

This arrived in the mail and I LOVE it...
Keith, of Mindless Pursuits & also, Imperfect Dichotomy, was so nice to make this for me and it's really exciting to see it in real life. It has a touch of sparkle to the ink that is perfect.

I am thinking about offering some of my work on shirts & after seeing the quality of these, it's going to be probably sooner than later.

*please check out his shop*
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6899403

thanks, Keith!

New Work - Emergence

The cyclone ends.

The sun returns; the lofty coconut trees lift up their plumes again;

man does likewise.

The great anguish is over; joy has returned; the sea smiles like a child.

Paul Gauguin

New Work in the Tweet Home Series - Metamorphosis

I am morphing. I tried something new.

It is great fun and good for the soul.

My painting arm is now laughing again.

Nora Gross