It’s a sunny Monday morning, and even though the thermometer is clearly broken!!!, I feel spring in the air.

I found this teapot at one of my favorite hunting grounds, and bought two more as gifts. It makes me smile while brewing a pot.

When I was 3, my Nannie from Ireland, sat me down in her kitchen and taught me how to knit, as well as how to make a proper cup of tea. She showed me how to hold the needles and yarn, and just how much milk and sugar a full teacup needed.

I keep the ritual alive to this day, ‘throwing’ my yarn just like she taught me, and making my tea, with the same amount of milk and sugar.

Here’s to all the Nannies who taught us crafting and a proper cup of tea!

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I love when I fall effortlessly into a book.

And so it goes with this one: Our Life in Gardens

I am securely transported to a place I could spend many hours, that of plotting, planning, learning and discussing all things gardening.

I know there is a saying that everything you need to know for a good life you learn in kindergarten. I think everything you need to know about relationships can be understood by gardening…

PS. The book underneath “Life is a Verb” is great too! Stay tuned for upcoming show with author Patti Digh.

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Lots of snow melted in my backyard yesterday.

A small flash of crimson on the ground caught my eye as I entered the studio.

As the snow melted around it, this little guy popped up.
(Maybe flash frozen last December???)

All I can say is YAHOO!

xo

above: underneath the snow, a pansy was hiding

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The garden officially closed last night.

Finally had a frost.

I woke this morning to plants that resembled salad mix that was past its prime. Not pretty.

I saved two little intensely pink rose buds. They’re on my desk in a little measuring beaker.

A round of applause to a job well done by mother nature.

Time to start putting my gardening energy elsewhere.

So… studio projects are lined up and waiting.

That list will keep me busy till spring!

above: the last of this years roses
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Where does color choice inspiration come from?

Everywhere I guess. I think we are always being influenced, consciously and unconsciously.

I’ve been spending all my ‘art’ time experimenting with paint and fiber, and unfamiliar color palettes.

I’m quite infatuated right now with the whole process of layering fiber with color and texture.

I can’t believe I’ve just discovered this whole area of play.  I have to make up for lost time… if there is such a thing.

I had been working on a piece when I looked up and stared at the flowers across the room. They were the last arrangement from this year’s garden. Spectacular last showing.

I realized how much that palette had influenced the piece I had been working on, I had been naturally led in a new direction of color and shape.

Maybe the lesson here is a simple, but mighty reminder:

Be very aware of your physical surroundings. They will reappear in your art… some how!

above: painting, stenciling, and layering

above: fiber work and inspiration

above: close-up of some fiber stenciling and dyeing

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above: starting with some artificial material

above: potting bench is filled with material to choose from

above: i attach material by wrapping with florist wire.it blends in and you can barely see it.

above: drying my Morning Glory vines

above: close-up on some Moon Flower pods that I attached to the wreath

above: one done

above: similar but not identical finished wreaths

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I was still wearing sandals went I went shopping yesterday at Matterhorn nursery.

I just hate to let go of summer, even if my feet are freezing!

I love these decorative gourds. The colors and textures get me giddy while picking out which ones to bring home.

The pansies are called ‘Pumpkin Pie Mix‘. Perfect name, plus they’re hardy and should keep their blooms for sometime.

I’ve been working on 2 wreathes for the front door, using things that have dried in the garden, plus some good ‘pretends’ from AC Moore.
(i’m now getting preferred customer 50 % off coupons by email. geez. they know i’m obsessed.)

above: decorative gourds

above: ‘Pumpkin Pie Mix’ Pansies

above: wreath in progress

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Today I talk with Eileen Johnson.

Eileen is the founder and director of FlowerSchool New York.
We talk about her new book, The Art of Floral Arranging, and some of the master florists including, Michael George, Charles Masson, and Remco Van Vliet who teach at her school.

“If we have accomplished one thing in setting up FlowerSchool New York, it is to make beautiful flowers less intimidating and more accessible to those people who love them and fall under their spell as I have.“ ~Eileen Johnson

above: FlowerSchool New York

above: The Art of Floral Arranging by Eileen Johnson

SHOWNOTES
Music Must Be A Way/Risk of the Roar/Kim Miller
Book Little Felted Animals/Marie-Noelle Horvath
DVD Telling Stories with Collage and Pain/Ann Baldwin

Steiff Animals
Tibetan Singing Bowls

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Today I talk with Ms. MaryJane Butters.

Mary Jane lives the organic creative life, and hearing her speak, you can’t help but get inspired to reconnect with good food and the good life!

Check out her website, where she sells high-quality organic foods. Then there is MaryJane Farm Magazine, which is a little bit Martha, a touch of Oprah, a tad Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a whole lot of MaryJane’s organic lifestyle.

Her new book, Outpost, Unleashing Your Inner Wild, got me to go “Glamping”. (that’s where Glamour meets Camping)

Oh, I love to get a little wild!

above: a page from MaryJane Butters website

above: MaryJane Butters

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Show links:
Music Courageous/James Casto

Book 1000 Artist Journal Pages/Dawn Devries Sokol

DVD Sherri Haab/Resin Jewelry

Great Games for All Labyrinth, Shoot the Moon, Gobblet

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This has been 2 years in the planning, and the day finally arrived!

The guys from Garden State Koi showed up at 8AM and by 5PM a waterfall and koi pond materialized. They’re good! It looks like it’s always been there. I’m still staring in disbelief. Next week when the water is ready, we will pick out fish and bring them to their new home.

For now, I’m enjoying the relaxing sounds of water falling and bubbling through rocks and stones. Hammock and book, here I come!

above: before

above: the work begins

above: this is one diy project i’m glad i didn’t attempt myself

above: finished installation

above: waterfall close-up

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