Feed the Birds~Jan 25

click here to see this in my store- scanned from an 8.5"X11" original antique paper cut~ I called it "Feed the birds" as that is my favorite thing to do. Saw a beautiful red cardinal the other day. That was a real treat!

Did I mention that I have not been very good about blogging. I think it was so much rushing around during the holidays and then the new year and the pressure comes on us.. you know all the stuff. Lose weight, exercise(give me a break its about 30 degrees outside), get rid of all the extra junk in your house, make a resolution or two.
Well yesterday I decided to cash in my wonderful gift of a massage and lo and behold what came up was that I had two things to accomplish in the immediate future. One was to slow down(duh), and the other was to take more time for myself. I could see this coming but didn't want to face it.
Time goes by so quickly we must and I repeat must take time to stop and smell the roses, not just admire them but actually get our nose in there and inhale! I am guilty of trying to accomplish too many things and because of that my body was crying out.. stop and relax for Pete's sake.
SO I did, a luxurious steam bath and an hour which went by too fast. I realize how hard it is for us to all take care of ourselves. Mom's are the guiltiest because we put our kids at the top, and that is fine. However we are not capable of giving more than we have unless we recharge and rejuvenate!
Please take that time. Its all you really have. Make the best of it and enjoy!

Manatee~a new blue beauty!

this is the latest watercolor my daughter Rita has made. She did it in one hour in her art class yesterday. In person it is almost life like. I cannot help but brag because although I have 2 degrees in art I don't believe I am anywhere near as visually accurate or intuitive about painting as she is at 17. I only hope she never loses her desire to paint. I worry as she played violin so beautifully for 8 years then quit playing although picked it up a few times in the past 5 years. I guess whatever brings joy to your heart is what you must do in life. This is a good lesson for parents in general when they are pushing things on their children they wish they had done or wish they would do. It really is up to the kids to find their joy. I think Rita's is unusual and regular animals. I love this manatee in all his flubber!
enjoy your saturday!!

F is for Fossa~Animalgam's ALphabet

My daughter Rita is creating an amazing alphabet of unusual animals. This is one of her latest and I think nicest images. A fossa. Every detail is shown in this pen and watercolor illustration and I wanted to showcase it because I really believe it deserves it. She had to take a semester off from art to concentrate on her AP Bio and other classes but starting this next week she will do a class with her wonderful Art teacher for her last semester in high school. A perfect way to end the 4 years by doing something you love to do. I am hoping she will continue with the alphabet until it is finished as each one is more amazing than the next one. Please visit her shop (one of two)on Etsy and see her other animal and biological drawings. Have a wonderful day!
here is the link.
her description of this wonderful animal is:
This is a Fossa, the largest mammal predator on the island of Madagascar, even though they're not really that big (very large house cat sized). And although they look like they are of the cat family, they are actually very closely related to mongooses. That's an example of convergent evolution! Google it, its very cool!