COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

 COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

Latest update on an older illustration with a beautiful message. 

It is a good way to start the New Year!

WHERE FLOWERS BLOOM

 Where Flowers Bloom So Does Hope!

Looking so forward to Spring after a very gray winter. Here is a recent illustration that I updated to hopefully cheer you up!

You can also find this illustration as framed prints and on other products as seen below by clicking on this link:

FINE ART AMERICA

Come Let Us Have Tea!

Come Let Us Have Tea

As I started to work on this idea, I came down with a cough and cold. Of course  I have been drinking a lot of herbal tea while working to complete this. 

For all you tea drinkers you can find my illustration on a 

T-shirt on my Fine Art America page.

Live! Love! and Laugh!

Live! Love! and Laugh!

Here is my newest illustration to brighten up the gray days of winter. Taking a break from letters of the alphabet, I looked for a sentiment, oh how greeting card designer of me, or quote that was uplifting that I could use in a sketch that I was working on. Then during a snow storm, words and art came together and I finished it.

You can find this and other words of wisdom in a collection I called Tea Cup Wisdom on Fine Art America.

Dwell in Possibilities

Dwell in Possibilities 

How many times do we daydream while staring in a cup of tea or coffee?

Here is the newest illustration I completed this month. I have added it to a new collection that I call Tea Cup Wisdom.

Maybe possibilities dwell there in our morning cup...that springs us into our day.

Attitude of Gratitude

Attitude of Gratitude

Once in a while I like to create an illustration with a quote of some kind. 

Being grateful does help to set the tone of the day. It is kind of like looking at the glass half full rather than half empty. One starts the day on a positive foot rather than the negative.

Lots of wisdom is these words.

Review and Fix

Life is a Bowl of Cherries

I have noticed  when looking at my work at an art festival that I'm doing, I start to pick apart my artwork. I start to think...could I have done this better...would changing a color make it better...and so on.

Believe it or not, the green stems on the original kept bothering me. They seemed out of place.

But then of course I started changing and spiffing up a few other things.

Let me know what you think.

Where Flowers Bloom

Where Flowers Bloom

Winter is having its last hurrah during this month of March. So tired of gray skies and snow. 

But this is what March does. It bounces back and forth between Winter and Spring. 

So while looking in my sketch book where I also jot a few quotes, I came across this notation about hope. The sketch finally became the illustration you see here.

My hope is that Winter does not linger after Spring officially debuts on the 20th of this month.

It will be nice to see flowers bloom again.

Find Joy in the Journey

Joy in the Journey

I have been sketching this bear for a while. 

Not sure why. 

Then I came across some words: find joy in the journey. They went together! 

It is not that all illustrations need copy. but it was a nice fit.

Butterfly Promise

Butterfly Promise

I saw this quote about miracles taking a little time as quoted by the Fairy Godmother. 

It inspired me to come up with this illustration using a butterfly. 

I always thought of the butterfly as a bit of a miracle. 

I wonder if the caterpillar knows that in time he will become a beautiful and magnificent butterfly. 

On the Bright Side

 On the Bright Side

The blue skies of summer are quickly passing. Because I have a birthday during the summer, this time of year is a reminder of getting yet another year older.

In youth, I could not wait till I became an adult. Youth gives one the promise of the wondrous journey ahead. Age gives you the lens of time to see what you have learned along the way. 

Now that I have seen 64 summers, I have come to appreciate the miracles in my life and have come to know and appreciate what God has tried to teach us through so many people over time. What few commandments that God has given us while honoring his gift of free agency, I have come to find to be protections out of His love for us, rather than restrictions.

 

Listen to Your Heart

Listen to Your Heart

A good thought to start the new year. 

Tea Cup Wisdom

Tea Cup Wisdom

I've started collecting quotes here and there with the thought that some of them might inspire a design or two.

So here is a little wisdom on a tea cup I'd like to share 

with all of  you. 

 

Make a Wish

Make a Wish

Well, I was going to design a daffodil, but I wound up with a dandelion.

I think I need a wish for Spring to be on its way.

 

Keeping it Positive

Promise

I am always amazed what a difference a day can make. 

 Here is hoping for a beautiful September!

floral posters

Second Look

Home Sweet Home

I had posted an earlier version of this design at the beginning of June.  I had returned home after attending the burial of my mother five hundred miles away in a place where she could be next to my dad. The trip had left me drained and it was good to be home. 

Taking a second look, the design looked a bit unfinished.  Most likely I was tired and in a hurry to post it. But now that I am getting ready for the Lakewood Art Festival this August 3rd, I thought this design needed a bit more work if I wanted to include it. So here is the new version.

This is for all those where home is a special place where one can let their hair down. It can mean the place of family or a loved one. It is for those where home holds memories and if good, our hearts delight upon seeing and being home.

   H O M E   I S   W H E R E   T H E   H E A R T   I S

Sunday Thoughts

Count Your Blessings

This was my start on the other letter C idea which evolved into something else. 

This was going nowhere until today. 

I had a hard time getting to church this morning. I made it which is blessing in itself. I often underestimate the power of going to church. It is like taking vitamins for the spirit. We often overlook the many blessings that are poured into our lives. Large and small they come even in some of our darkest times. Some our subtle till you look back and see their magnificence. The blessing we seem to forget the most is God's unending love for us. It is a blessing we should remember at the beginning and end of each day.

So in my thoughts of blessings, my C for cup evolved into a cup that runs over with heavenly blessings to count and remember. And to remember this:

G O D   L O V E S   Y O U !

The Letter B for Birdcage

The Letter B

I had thought of a birdcage when I did my first letter B, but then I got enamored with bamboo of all things. But I finally got around to creating it. Then all things went silly as you can see. I guess the added cat beasties can have a bird questions its existence.

Rainy Days In April

Another Rainy Day

This is my 3rd version of this umbrella. Maybe because April is so full of rainy days. I first created this umbrella a couple of years ago in April with a yellow bird and no a flower, and revised it for a blustery autumn rainy day with lots of leaves, so here it returns with hopes of May flowers and sunny days to follow.