my dear friends

 my dear, dear friends ~ I have missed you

~ with angel blessings to you and yours ~

babies, children, life and love ~ day 3

i can hardly believe
already october

i can hardly believe
tomorrow will be
nineteen weeks


i can hardly believe
people's actions
choices

i can hardly believe
my strength
my courage
my hope
my light

i can hardly believe
my ability to laugh
to love
to cry
to pray

i can hardly believe
near ten months

i can hardly believe

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word.
Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass
And if that looking glass gets broke,
Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat
And if that billy goat won't pull,
Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull
And if that cart and bull fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town."

                                              ~ traditional lullaby 

babies, children, life, and love ~ day 2

the days march on
i dance through
i plod through
i dance through

anger interrupts
i dance through
i dance toward the light

unconditional love
surrounds me
i dance within
i dance through

sadness interferes
i allow it
the tears bring
healing
i dance through
i dance toward the light

love over all
i dance within
i dance through
i dance toward the light

 

 

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true

Someday I'll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why, can't I?"

                                               by E. Y. Harburg

true love

I met a new friend in the last few weeks. Her name is Christina. I visited her blog a few moments ago and was reminded of true love. As Valentine's day approaches and we take pause to remember our loved ones, I thought of this collage I made a number of years ago.

I would like to remind you this day to think of those you love. I would like to remind you most of all to love yourself.

May angels be with you as you remember how much you are loved and also what your own love means to others.

Happy Valentine's Day

I want to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Valentines Day. I have for you some roses:



and a collage piece I made a few years ago about friends:



Here are some valentines and their tin I purchased a few days ago in Saskatoon at Art Placement:







Happy Valentine's Day dear friends.

Friday the 13th AND love

This picture was taken about 13 months ago on the 25th anniversary celebration of me and my husband.



On another Friday the 13th my dear husband, Greg, and I went on our first date. We went cross country skiing and out for supper afterward. We had first really noticed each other at the previous years Christmas party at his work place. I wrote this piece about five years ago as I remembered.

You were “in pursuit”.
You were being teased, pushed.
You didn’t care.

I - well, I was quite naïve (I think).
I was in this little black number.
It had a lace back.
Naïve.
But I was basking in the attention.
Enjoying your being “pushed”.

Who was naïve?


Another Christmas party, another time with my friend.
Only thing - I was hardly with my friend. You
seemed “dark”, somewhat threatening, though dirty blond
and blue eyed. I had been overprotected, mostly unaware
of the world about me. Perhaps this was the time
for some excitement, a bit of “life on the edge”. Pursuit,
magnetism – it happened that night. I was thrilled.

©Wendy Burton

And I wrote this poem just a few months after the above. It was written for Greg's birthday.

A Beautiful Arrangement
I made an arrangement today,
An arrangement of flowers.
First I tried to tell myself it was for you,
For your birthday.
Then I reminded myself it was for me.
I love the doing, the end, but mostly the doing.
Then it came to me -
It was for us.
It represented us, so clearly in my mind.

I put in tall beautiful spires of delphinium.
These are the courage, the hope.
They reach up high.
Sometimes the wind plays havoc.
But still they stretch up toward the sky.
Still they flower, those complex blue flowers.

There are hollyhock stems, not yet flowering, but with buds.
The stems are strong and straight.
Their leaves are large, equally strong.
Yes, there is much strength.

Asparagus ferns are for fluff, and more fragility.
But they also have reached high.
They too can be strong.

There are peonies - beautiful, fragrant, and colourful.
They are large and intricate.

A couple of daisies add some whimsy.
Sometimes I wish there were more.

I added clematis vines.
I see them as love.
Though I put in only two, I envision them
Growing
And growing
And growing,
Winding their way throughout.
They allow all the others to be their most beautiful.

As I put the arrangement together, I needed to take care.
It was raining.
The water dripped off the roof.
The hose lay in my path.
How much more symbolic could this have been
Of our life,
Our path,
As we create this most beautiful arrangement of love?

© Wendy Burton
(a gift for my husband Greg for his birthday a few years ago)

A collage piece from a few years ago:

history:
Printed images and background page. I often choose to use recycle type paper for printing if it is something that the back does not show.


Just the paint colour I happened to grab after gluing most of the images down and adding words I had written for the piece. I could tell immediately the colour would need MUCH toning down.


For the next layer I used a fave stamp and red ink to cover the whole page.


I did transfers of the image of my aunt Winnie and the words I had written. More of the images from the collage challenge were added. I glued on the piece of fabric trim which I had dyed the pale yellow. I tried to further embellish the collage with vintage buttons of which I have very many. I had also painted over with a light yellow glaze.


I had used a very pale oil pastel for some edging and in a couple of other places.


The final version - I used pale yellow paint on a leaf stamp around most of the edges and tiny bits of the same colour for further yellow around the very edge.


Just a note about the words and my aunt Winnie. Winnie was my auntie on my Dad's side. This young lady had diabetes and died when she was 13 years of age due to the diabetes and complications of the availability of insulin. My dad was a few years younger than she. A number of years later when I was 3 1/2 years old I was found to have diabetes. That was 47 years ago.


I will be blogging much more in next days. At least that is my intention. There is much I need to catch you up with.

Angels be with you dear friends.

TRYING *** HAPPY THOUGHTS and LAUGHTER







I ran out of time. I did not use all the elements. I am also not really pleased with the final result. I really liked the background. I was also very happy with the transfer. If I'd had more time I would have liked to do transfers of all the elements except maybe the birds. I would have used larger stamps for the words.
Regardless, I had a great time doing the journal page. I truly do find art to be healing.

canvases and plans:



Above is a photo of a canvas I started working on last Friday night. It measures 16 x 20 inches. I want to put some words on it and more texturing before I put a person on, blah, blah, blah.




Last Friday I purchased this book by Claudine Hellmuth. I got it at the arts and crafts store, you know the one I mean, in Saskatoon with my 40% off coupon.



I had borrowed Claudine's more recent book from the library. They actually brought it all the way from Nova Scotia to Humboldt, Saskatchewan for little old me. I was impressed. But I had to return it after only three weeks. :(
I would have liked to purchase that book, but of course they wouldn't have it at Michael's yet.

That's OK. I'm really impressed with the book I purchased. It has in one book lots of techniques which I've been trying to learn from Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines and online, from videos and tutorials. I've been really chomping at the bit to try some encaustic work - with melted wax that is. A time ago I was thinking I had a small crock pot for melting the wax. Uh whoops - it's a fondue maker - getting my utensils muddled. I asked Greg to look for one for me when he was taking stuff from the house in Regina and the farm to Value Village but he didn't see one in the quick glance he made. Patience, patience Wendy. I was thinking yesterday of trying to melt some tiny bit of wax in the microwave but no, no, no google search says DO NOT. I really must have melted wax on this canvas. Oh well. I don't have the mini iron yet either. Wednesday - back to that arts and crafts store for another week's 40% off coupon.

Here are a couple more of the canvases I started. They are a bit smaller - 8 x 10 inches and 5 x 7 inches, I think. I won't take time to run downstairs now to measure.

These are more textured but I'm not certain of the colours.

Other than gel medium I don't have a lot of Golden products and I know they are recommended. Some day after I've sold lots of my art I'll be able to afford more of those beloved Golden products. Wait a minute - I think I did buy one tube of Golden paint the last time I was at Art Placement. With all the moving and organizing and phewph - busyness - I totally forgot. Next time.
I love the creations of Misty Mawn whose original texturing I encountered in probably the very first Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine I purchased. Someday between Misty Mawn's teaching, suziblu"s most recent video and the techniques in the book I purchased, I might even learn how to do transfers.

ANGELS BE WITH YOU

THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS:
I am so very excited. I have put my very first video on youtube. I had so much fun making it. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch it. I would be very pleased. As always, any comments are very gratefully appreciated. I should point out that the windyangels on youtube is not me. I'm known as windyangels4u.



You can find "Don't Cry for me Argentina" on The Romantic Guitar of Liona Boyd.

As some of you know I was encountering some challenges again later last week. I was also feeling kind of tired with this ongoing attempt at cleaning our basement and my art room. I decided I needed to do some art. I needed to do something simple. While cleaning I had come across a studio scrapbook with "durable manila paper". Unfortunately it had met some water along the way so every page has a stain at the top left side - no matter. I will choose to call these journal pages even though the pages are large (35.6 x 27.9 cm).





I decided to do a video surrounding the piece because I had many ideas to go along with it and I had written a poem in my head also. Perhaps the main reason, however, was the fabulous compliments that my friend Karen has been giving me on my collaged boxes. Ah, I should not fail to mention suziblu who first gave me the strong desire to create an art video. If you have not seen any of suzi's videos I would strongly advise you to take a moment.

Those same boxes and my hand carved stamps had created interest from two new parties ~ Valerie and some folks at the Bliss Guild. I was very honoured to have them comment on a previous post. Other dear friends to comment on that post were Suze, Susan and Janet. I am also pleased to announce that a friend I discovered online, from Saskatchewan, has started a new blog and has invited me to put a link on my blog. Welcome Lisa. Lisa does fabulous photography.

Leah never ceases to amaze me. Not only is she the creator of creative every day 2008, she also leaves frequent comments. Thanks Leah.

I cannot close this post without noting that I have been very privileged to have the fabulous Liona Boyd look at my blog and very kindly permit me to use one of her songs on my video. I am deeply honoured. Thanks Liona. Here's the link: www.lionaboyd.com/ I found the following video also on youtube. "Moorish Dance" is from The Spanish Album.





I would like to close this post with the words "I LOVE ART".

Angels be with you,
Wendy

True to November we are having many dull, grey days. Some of them have started sunny but it doesn't take long and the clouds dullen my brain AND the skies of course.
We are back to Saskatoon for an appointment AND I'm going to the Artisan's Craft Market. I thought it's about time I tried to investigate more the local scene. Hopefully I'll have a drop of time to tell you about it.
Meantime I'll show you quickly these couple of creations. You'll have to read about them at flickr as I'm on the run.





Angels be with you,
Wendy

Autumn 4x4s: For this week's prompt at Inspire me Thursday the word "square" was chosen. If you are an artist you know that this opens numerous possibilities. I've decided to go with 4x4s. Because I love autumn textures and colours and feel so blessed at this time of year, I've decided to go with an autumn splendour quartet. The fourth is quite different from the rest in that the background is blue and the picture is different. I happened to already have it cut to a 4x4 size.
This first one was done on a piece of yellow cardstock. I printed my own background of rust onto it and then applied gold ink. After a couple of minutes I rubbed the ink with a baby wipe. Next I applied a stamp over the entire piece. I used the printed photo and sewed it on. I finished it with stamps for the words and the addition of the brad.











The background for the second was done on watercolour with acrylic and water. Then I used inks which I again rubbed off with baby wipes. I used stamps and I think some walnut ink spray. I glued the picture this time and also used a sakura goldie for some of the words. I did a tiny bit of sanding on the photo edges.

















The third was just done on a piece of decorative paper.
For this one I tried using a gel transfer for the words. Same picture, same sewing, same application of brad finalized this one.



















The fourth was using a blue background done with acrylic and water on watercolour paper with a bit of salt. After it was dry I printed some of my own handwriting which had been scanned and stretched a bit, onto the paper. Different picture, same treatment. I used a gold ink pad and pencil eraser to do a couple of gold stamped images.