The House Protects The Dreamer....

Greetings.  This month the contributing artists of the Sketchbook Challenge decided to do a blog hop using the September theme, "Houses and Hideaways".  The meaning of home in a personal and larger scale is very important to me and frequently makes appearances in my work, either literally or in an abstracted way.
I'm always reminded of a favorite quote from the movie, "Under The Tuscan Sun".  It occurs at the very end of the movie:
 "What are four walls, anyway?  They are what they contain.  The house protects the dreamer.  Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.  It's such a surprise".

The house protects the dreamer.  Oh, how I love this.

With that in mind, I decided to create a whimsical version of my house.

I used two pieces of 140lb hot press watercolor paper.

The left piece will become the background.

The right piece was cut into the shape of a house and covered with 

a variety of washi tape from my (ahem) rather large collection.

I would like to mention that this idea was inspired by a recent blog post for 

Stencil Girl contributing artist Carolyn Dube.

Using two types of paint I covered the background paper.

I used a portion of the "Rafters"  stencil by Mary Beth Shaw from the Stencil Girl line to

create the windows and doors of my little house.

I took several die-cut shapes of Grungeboard and painted them white.

Then, I painted each element individually.

I used Mary Beth Shaw's "Gears" stencil and overlaid it onto the background paper.

I partially-concealed that image with more paint.  The stencil seemed perfect as a 

metaphor for time passing, sort of like the mechanism inside a watch.

Using an old stamp I printed into both the "door" and "window" shapes on the house.

I blotted a bit of contrasting paint on the edge of the house 

(and on the background paper) as I plan to glue the bird over both.

The palm tree and the "104" are significant because they are elements of my current home.

In addition, prior to glueing the house to the background I used a leaf stamp on both edges of the background paper.  Birds, the garden, color, and a bit of dreaming:  these are very important 

components of my house, my home.

The house truly does protect the dreamer.

If you haven't done so already I hope you will stop over to the Sketchbook Challenge blog for my companion post on this subject.  Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave a comment to be eligible for a drawing!  Cutoff for the drawing will be 5:00 pm CDT on September 20th.  

Abandoned Property and Broken Windows

I thought I would share some photos I love from a trip I made to Kansas in June.  I wandered onto the old Menninger Clinic grounds which, until a few years ago, existed in Topeka Kansas.  The grounds are beautiful and the old buildings need someone to restore them and love them up.  My friend Billie lives fairly close to the property and we decided to take a wander during my last visit to my hometown.

the old Tower Building

All boarded up because of the damage from vandals over the years.

The wildflowers (coneflower!) in the meadows surrounding the old buildings

There is something about this place that holds a deep attraction.  I hope that someone, someday, brings this beautiful property back to life.  I love it, even in its current state of decay and disrepair.

Sketchbook Challenge Blog Hop!

The sketchbook challenge hosts have a surprise for you. For the next 21
days we are celebrating this months *Houses and Hideaways theme* with a
blog hop! Each day, beginning tomorrow, you’ll find a new post on this
blog related to this month's theme that will also include a link to the
artist's own blog, where you’ll find tutorials, video’s, studio tours,
exciting giveaways and more!

Take a look at the line up of posts below and come back each day to be
inspired!

Sept 9 - *Gina Lee Kim *http://ginaleekim.blogspot.com/

Sept 10- *Jacqueline Newbold* http://djnewbold.blogspot.com/

Sept 11 - *Sue Bleiweiss* http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog

Sept 12 – *Jackie Bowcutt* http://stitchworks-jackie.blogspot.com/

Sept 13th - *Kristin La Flamme* http://kristinlaflamme.com/musings

Sept 14- *Jane Davies* http://janedavies-collagejourneys.blogspot.com/

Sept 15- *Lyric Kinard* http://lyrickinard.blogspot.com/

Sept 16 - *Terry Grant* http://www.andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/

Sept 17- *Carol Sloan* http://www.carolbsloan.blogspot.com/

Sept 18-* **Leslie Tucker Jenison* http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/

Sept 19 - *Lesley Riley** * http://www.lesleyriley.com/weblog/

Sept 20 - *Traci Bunkers* https://www.tracibunkers.com/blog/

Sept 21 - *Lynn Krawczyk* http://smudgedtextilesstudio.com/blog/

Sept 22 *Desiree Habicht** * http://myclothesline.blogspot.com

Sept 23 – *Jamie Fingal* http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/

Sept 24 - *Mary Beth Shaw* http://mbshaw.blogspot.com/

Sept 25 –*Kari McKnight-Holbrook* http://backporchartessa.blogspot.com/

Sept 26 – *Deborah** **Boschert* http://deborahsjournal.blogspot.com/

Sept 27- *Susan** **Brubaker Knapp* http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/

Sept 28- *Laura Cater Woods* http://www.cater-woods.com/weblog/
<http://www.cater-woods.com/weblog/>

Sept 29- *Jane LaFazio* http://janeville.blogspot.com/

Telluride Houses, Gardens, Meandering...

It's great to wander around in this little town.  The entire town of Telluride has been designated as a historical site.  The houses, for the most part, are charming and well-tended.  People are friendly and we have experienced some honesty (we found a purse and turned it into the event people, then our daughter lost her wallet and someone turned IT in to the event people).  That's the kind of place it is.
I love looking at house porches, doors, and gardens.  Anyone who has hopped over to my Pinterest boards sure knows that!  Here are a few pics I took this afternoon.  We were strolling back from having watched a 1930's-era silent Russian film.

Walking back from a theater

Not every house is perfect....

Here are a few along the main street that I love...

Tim stopped to chat with some people who enjoyed the film.

Good banjo music on the streets.

Possibly the most adorable lemonade stand ever.

More Telluride Tales from Friday, August 30th

Day 2 of the Telluride Film Festival was no less amazing.  We rode the gondola up the mountain to the Chuck Jones Theater for the second screening of "Tim's Vermeer".  Amazingly, we sat directly behind Chuck Jones' daughter!  She is a lovely woman, and was super-excited about the movie.  I'm going to show you some images of the reaction to Tim when he walked to the stage for the post-movie Q&A.

Morning on the street in front of our hotel

Our daughter took this image of us pre-screening.

Patrick Sheffield, the amazing editor, is seated between Tim and I.

David Thompson introduces the producers, director, and Tim.

Tim approaches the stage.  

The beginning of the standing O

The progression of it...

The Q&A post-screening

Look at the reaction of the woman on the right when Tim removes the covering on his painting!

Up the gondola to the next screening.  What a view!

The second screening was in the Werner Herzog theater.

We had the opportunity to meet Mr. Herzog.  This theater is considerably larger.

Farley, Penn, Teller, and Tim say a few words pre-screening.

Friday early evening.  A "conversation" with the film team at the courthouse.

Painting on display.

On the sidewalk having tea with Tim, Penn, and Peter Goldman, their manager.

The "Moth".  Teller tells the first story of the evening, introduced by Salman Rushdie.

First film review!