Laughing Dog Arts

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Artist Date


On Friday I went on a date with my friends Mary, Pinky and April.  We went to a quilt show which I blogged about here, and we also hit several garage sales.  The first garage sale we stopped at was at what used to be a plant nursery where the proprietor raised succulents.  She had these beautiful chickens running around the place free.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Here is one of her succulent plantings.  Another type of hen and chicks.  The woman seemed to enjoy showing us around her place and even gave each of us a small potted succulent for free.  I love succulents, they are so easy to care for.  She had some lovely living wreaths that she gives classes on how to make.  I didn't take a picture of them, it seemed intrusive since she does them professionally.  I want one!

I only found a few cool items in my search and the above photo shows my favorite.  It is a jar of old costume jewelry and doo dads and "stuff".  Great loot for this pirate gal!  $2.00.

Here is some of the loot laid out.  Some of these things will undoubtably make an appearance in my mixed media pieces some day. 

This was another great find.  Do you know what it is?  No, not a bottle opener.


It's a boot jack.  $1.00.  A steal! In the winter I'm always having to take my muddy boots off and this will help keep my sock toes clean.  I used to have a wooden one but my dogs chewed it up.

I've been participating in a book study group online, we are working our way through The Artist's Way by Julie Cameron.  So I have been writing my daily morning pages and doing some of the other exercises in the book.  My intention with this book is to become better focused on my art work which has been sadly lacking the past few months as my regular readers might have noticed.  When is the last time I posted any art?  Too long!  I have begun to make a bed quilt, I figured it would be a good start and maybe reduce my fabric stash by a tiny bit.  Amazing how little fabric one uses in a bed quilt if you are making a scrap quilt.

In other news, the past two or three weeks were lovely hot (but not too hot!) dry weather.  Our first for the summer which had previously been cold and cloudy.  It was glorious to be able to shed those sweatshirts and dig down into the recesses of my closet and find a pair of shorts to wear.  I actually got a little bit of tan on my legs and some callus on my feet!  I love the heat, especially here since it rarely gets truly hot.  The hottest it got was about 93 last Saturday.  This Saturday it might have gotten to 63 and rained all day.  We really needed the rain after all that heat so it was quite welcome.  My roses might put out another bloom at this rate because it is supposed to go back to warm sunny weather again once this system moves through.  I'll bet we got 2 inches of rain over the past couple of days.  Even the forest floor is damp and all the plants have washed clean and greened up and are standing tall again.  I do love Oregon.  I love my woods and fields, rain or shine.  Hopefully I will get my groove back in the studio too.  Sure I will.

Be well.
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21 comments:

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I have never seen chickens like that. I'm going to show this pic to Terry. He raised chickens when he was young and was really proud of his Bannies. He wants every statue of a rooster he sees ~lol~

Wow, what a lot of loot in that jar! Great find.

Enjoy the day. Rain or shine, life is good!

april said...

Oh, those chickens are beautiful! And I love your loot jar - what a treat looking through all that when you got home. And the succulents! I always wanted to start a fairy garden with those in there. What a really fun artist's date!

yoborobo said...

Okay, let me just say that when I get to your blog, I am mesmerized by your banner. It would make a wonderful poster, or a greeting card, just sayin'. As for the loot - can you SEE the lovely shade of green I have turned? I hope you're happy! ;) Enjoy the weather, I'm glad you're finally out of winter there! xox Pam

maddyrose said...

Those chickens are so pretty they look like works of art. The loot jar got my attention because of all of the things it held but I wouldn't know what to do with half of it. Luckily you do. I've thought of working on a quilt too for the same reason, using up some of the fabric I have stored in boxes but think I'm going to see how much I can use up making ornaments for my Christmas tree first. As much as I've enjoyed the weather I'm probably more creative when it isn't so nice. Less distraction and all. Enjoy your week.

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

Oooooo, I would love to have a few chickens like those, but I am afraid mine might be missing feathers! ;-)
They are gorgeous~~never seen any so pronounced B&W.
Your jar of loot is great~~pirateworthy.
And it's talk like a pirate day and I can't think of a thing to say except ARRRRGGGGH MATEY!
I'm ready to be keel-hauled....

Love from the Piddly Pirate~~
Anne

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Avast my beauty. Being Piractical is it?????
Love the chickens, loot jar, succulents and whoot on the boot jack. My little dog customized ours so I'm jealous.....metal.
So glad you got some hotter up there where folks have to have webs between their toes....lovely place you live in.
Happy Talk like a Pirate day, Arrrrrgh, Linda

Anonymous said...

I saw those chickens and thought they were fabric at first, they are so gorgeous with their white and black brilliance. Boot jack, what a find. Doodads to dooleybobbers? I bet we will be seeing them soon. xox Corrine

Karen S said...

I love the heat too and we usually have maybe a week of it -- so this summer I have truly enjoyed the prolonged heat wave. A little sad that it's cooling down.

I LOVE those chickens! Do you have any more pictures of them? They look like art!

audrey said...

Hi, my friend!!
I can see a dooleybobber in the works of your mind and some of that new loot sewn onto it!! Filled jars with "stuff" in them are so much fun to empty and go through.
Love the chicks and hens. This weekend I went to a tag sale and bought an old copper boiler filled with chicks and hens. I'll plant them in my secret garden and clean up the boiler.
I'm glad you've had some sunshine to enjoy and then the rain came to perk things up again. It looks to be really beautiful there, Jan.
♥♥ audrey

Janet Ghio said...

Those chickens are fantastic! Beautiful feathers!! A long time ago Martha Stewart had someone on her show making a living wreath--they are gorgeous.

sonja said...

what amazing chickens! i have never seen such patterning on poultry. mine are mostly normal browns and molting i must add!

such a great jar of goodies from the past. am sure you will give them new life in your art. have a great day !

Emma said...

Great chooks & suculants & what a haul! Just looking back at your fab bags & animal quilts now that I have a spare second. The shows going well, thanks for your encouraging words ;)

Glenn Stenson said...

Sure glad you didn't call it a boot glenn. I have a framed, lighted Christmas tree made of my mom's old costume jewelry. Like you need art ideas from me!

Robbie said...

Sure looks like you had a great time!!! And what 'finds' you found!!! I have that same boot jack but mine is a bronze (actually green in places now!). It sits on the floor of our fireplace! No longer used as my boots "aren't for walking" anymore!

artymess said...

What a great jar of treasure ....i love it and it has your name all over it .....xx

April said...

Almost makes me want chickens, but I know that one of my doggies would make a quick meal of them...so no chickens for this girl. But aren't they beautiful! Jan, you made quite a haul with your $2 jar of doodads! Total score! I can't wait to see how you use 'em. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. It's summer...who has time to sit inside and be artistic. You just wait until winter comes (and we know it will be soon). The artistic Jan that we all know and love will then BURST forth again! Can't wait, my friend!

Laura said...

Hi there Jan..finally made it over here...Love the chickens and the jar of good stuff...and what a wonderful day you had it sounds like.

~v~

Maggi said...

Amazing chickens, they look like they have been hand painted. I love your jar of things, very exciting. I am glad you are enjoying this time of the year, even though Summer was late in arriving. I am sure that you will be back to being creative soon. In the meantime just enjoy the rejuvenation the rain has brought.

Anja said...

Hi Jan,
looking at your photos I love Oregon too. You brought a lot of treasures for small amounts, probably they will find a way into your artist works. Nice you got good weather for the soul. The chicken above are looking very elegant beautiful feathering they have. Here it is very cold in Winter so the plants on the photo have not much chance outside to survive.
Have good progress in your inner creative work.
Love
Anja

Bunny said...

Love those chickens, great treasures too.
It has been a while but I am recovering from rotator cuff surgery on Sept. 2 nd.
Am doing great but only type with left hand lol
Hugs Bunny

Elena said...

Oh those chickens are gorgeous. I thought they were ceramic. (City in me) That jar is yummy...all those things! But oh WOW! LOVE THE BOOT JACK! Never heard of one and it would make taking off the Harley boots oh so much easier than trying to sit and yank it off. Seems someone snuck an extra muffin top on my waist that is making it uncomfortable to bend. Well, maybe they'll come back for it. Heehee. Love this post and how happy you sound when speaking of home. Could almost smell the damp forest. SWEET!!!