Spring walk

Spring in the Midwest.
One day it is sunny and very warm.
Next day it snows.
Then it rains and snows.
In spite of the ups and downs of the weather I went for a short walk. It was chilly and windy so the paths were empty.

It was far from quiet however! Twitters and tweetings, shrillings and honkings reverberated from the trees and cattails.

Red wing blackbirds sang such sweet songs, all about springtheir partners dancing a balancing act on wavering stalks in the wind.
A shaggy birch tree rustles in the breeze. Lichen climbs gracefully along this stump

Claret trilliums stand tall and proud in the compliment of greens.

tiny white blooms sparkle with delightful glints of sunlight.

hundreds of tiny holes show evidence of woodpeckers

A yellow warbler peeks under leaves for a tasty meal. This goose seems to be talking to her reflection in the pondwhile this one sits patiently atop eggs, soon to hatch.

Wonderful Book!

I have been pouring over this book! It is full of wonderful photographs sure to inspire! The link at the bottom of this post will take you to amazon.com. However this particular book came from a wonderful little bookstore in the Catskills, ( shameless plug follows...) http://www.hamishandhenry.com/blog/ Hamish and Henry booksellers is in the little hamlet of Livingston Manor, N.Y. If your ever near, stop in, sample some home made cookies and say Hi to Sue, Jeff and my Mom, Carol who sent this lovely book to me.

here is the amazon link,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0500283745/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Signs of Spring

This is done using bits and pieces from scraps that I had laying all over my work table. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time tossing them into the bin. Even the really itty bitty tiny ones! This being the case I decided to do something small with them. Here is 'Signs of Spring' roughly 4x6 inches.

ARTE Y PICO

Nellie, of Nellies Needles has nominated me for this award. I am honored. Nellie Durand is a fabulous artist and her blog is always full of inspiration for me. So coming from her it is especially sweet!

There are 5 rules attached to this award and they are :
You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.
Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte Y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award (blogger in Uruguay).
To show these rules.

So now comes the hard part. Just to pick 5 blogs. only 5. Seriously, If I read your blog and comment on it, you know that I feel you deserve this award!

Nellie, can you be one of my choices? I certainly find your blog one of my favorites! Just in case I will pick others, But I do put your blog with this list!http://nelliedurand.blogspot.com/

So after much thought here are my choices. In no particular order.

1. Susan Lenzhttp://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/

Her blog is a favorite of mine. She has been putting together the impressive CYBER FYBER event that will take place next year. Already she has made and traded over 100 fiber postcards and will be having another go of it in May for those of you who may have missed out the first time around. The work she does is beautiful and innovative. Check out her installation of keys and doors!

2. Judy Coates Perezhttp://judyperez.blogspot.com/

Judy has been showcased recently in several Quilting Arts magazine articles along with at least two covers. Her blog is a wonder of her beautiful quilts and methods of work. A very talented Woman.

3. Paulahttp://selftaughtartist.blogspot.com/

Her straight from the gut talk about what it means to be an artist is what first brought me to her blog. Her work keeps me coming back again and again! She has an artists eye for the most beautiful and sensual works put together from cast off things she has found. A true talent..

4.Terry Granthttp://www.andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/

Terry has shared so much of her work and tips through her blog. I love her quilts. The almost zen like small treasures of birds, bugs and gardens. She has a wonderful sense of color and design.

5. Jackie Morrishttp://www.jackiemorris.co.uk/now.htm

I could look at her paintings for hours. Her ginger cats are a hoot as well. They even have their own blog!

So here you have it. I could go on for many more blogs, but the limit is 5. Again, you know I read your blogs and think you are all worthy of many many such awards too!

Its Coming up Butterflies!

Here is Butterfly #2 in an almost finished stage. The blue background is the table it is on.

Here it is all framed and finished for now. I want to find a deeper frame so that the wings can be elevated just a bit and stand out from the background.I intend it to look like a butterfly specimen behind glass. Maybe change the background fabric to something that doesn't match the body of the butterfly so much. I looked all over for ready made frames that have at least a 2" depth and found only small ones or ones that are out of my little budget for now. I do think this little gem deserves a good frame and it will eventually get one.

There is a slight glare on the glass due to the sun. Yes, finally we have a beautiful sunshiny day here with temperatures still below normal for this time of year but warmer then they have been.
The frame size for this is 8.5 x 11"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edited to add this;

Surprise, I found a shadow box frame with a 2 inch depth. It came with a black background so that is how it is framed for now. Still playing with that idea. The butterfly sits away from the background though that is hard to see in the photo. So here it sits where I can see it while I decide what to do with the background fabric.