Doodle for the Day

Things I see in my living room.

signed, the willow

A page today

I've started to doodle. While I try to fill a page on a theme a day, life happens.  So, instead I hammer out 7 on Saturday!  Here's a preview of some of doodling.

signed, the willow

Warm and Cozy

For us, the weather is just beginning to get chilly.  Warm and cozy here I come!



I think I might be able to swing this blankie.  How great would that look on my bed?  With a dog sleeping on top of it, of course.

Source: eismandesign.com via Val on Pinterest

No animal deserves to die and be mounted on a wall.  Instead, knit a deer friend for your wall!

Source: azcentral.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

I don't knit, but if I did I think I'd like to make this large knit throw.  I'd probably be able to whip it up in about a day....or not?

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Tanya on Pinterest

Love this hat.

Source: krentu.blogspot.com via Joyce on Pinterest

I'm imagining these to be cruelty free boots.  There's no reason why not.  They'd surely fit over my calf muscles with those laces.

Source: google.com via Joyce on Pinterest

signed, the willow

Fragmented

I'm feeling full, heavy, weighted and somehow fragmented.

What do you reach out for when you feel like this?  Do you find yourself feeling like this?

I reached out for:


source:  healthyhabitsaustralia.com.au

I get a real good burst of stable energy from the good old Venga, but even today I felt a little tired, blue, upset, disappointed, and hurt.  While life is good, there are challenges deep under the surface.  Let's just leave it at that.

signed, the willow

Are you tired of the markets?

Is it just me or we all getting a little tired of seeing this?


source:  marketwatch.com


I don't claim to be an expert on the markets, but I have to say, we're all getting a little crazy with all the debt in this world. Which brings me to this.  If all sorts of developed countries are in debt and need bailouts, then why can't we just print a whole bunch of money and share it.  Get everyone out of their messes, poverty, hunger, disease and clean up this world.  Why do we have to have so many rules for our planet's economy? But we have such little concern for our problems.  If money can solve the problems, then why can't countries just print a little more and get themselves on track?  Why?  Tell me why?  Does it boil down to fear and greed?  Yeah, I thought so.

signed, the willow

Post-Halloween / Pre-Christmas Decorating

November.  She's that in-between month.  There is no snow on the ground and I come from the land where snow lands on Thanksgiving.  Canadian Thanksgiving.  That's in early October.  But now I live in the land where snow might fall by Grey Cup (American Thanksgiving) or maybe by Christmas and it's the wet, non-pretty variety.  So, how to decorate?  Is there any point in putting up a Christmas tree yet? Nope. So, what's a girl to do?


Hideaways?  Me thinks me love.

Perhaps more tropical than we can hope for in November, but why not reach for the stars?

Source: frommoontomoon.blogspot.com via Charity on Pinterest

Cute little mini-cottage. This reminds me of the playhouse my dad and grampa built me with its dutch doors. How cute with books piled up to the rafters.

Source: imgfave.com via Laura on Pinterest

A great spot to stash a bed and create an instant hideaway.

Source: d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net via sarah nicole on Pinterest

What girl wouldn't love this spot?  Just guessing, or fantasizing here - but, do you think you can hide things in those stairs?

Source: myidealhome.tumblr.com via Candice on Pinterest

Every attic hideaway deserves a chandelier!

Source: justbesplendid.tumblr.com via Lina on Pinterest

I'm a little torn with this one.  Part of me is oddly creeped out that a kid would want to go in there and play.  While the other half of me says, what kid wouldn't want a secret hideout to go in and play in?  I just don't see a door handle on the inside of those rather large closet doors.  Sorry, I think this might be an epic fail.

Source: boingboing.net via Brittney on Pinterest

This is my favourite.  So easy.  So doable.  Seems to me I've seen this done in my own kitchen!

Source: countryliving.com via Rachel on Pinterest

signed, the willow

So, she remains faceless

This girl has come and gone, been reshaped, reformed, dripped, changed skin tones, added with a face, taken a face away.  Not sure what I've done with her arm.  She's been liquid papered.  But her expression is empty still.  Is this my transitional state right now?  Unsure of how I should feel.  Unsure of how I should tackle her.  So she sits and waits for me.

signed, the willow

Song of the Spindle

The whale that I painted during the G8 - guarding the oceans and waters of the world.  Steward of the waters.

Which makes me love the connection here with this whale video.  The odd thing is, today *Mila* and I walked home talking about the brain size relative to body size of an animal.  I used a whale as an example of a large brain, then we got hung up on the pea brain variety of birds (and humans).  Fast forward 2 hours and I run across this video.  It starts off talking about brain size of animals.  The singing connection between human and the whale is so unusual.  It haunts me.  I love whales and I remember why. It was that flippy, floppy paper-like record, that arrived in the National Geographic magazine in the early 1980s, proving that whales too made music.  My grandparents went to Hawaii and more whale songs soon arrived on vinyl.  We all pretended to enjoy their deep dark songs from the ocean realm.  Honestly, their songs were sad, morose and told a story.

This is their story.  Enjoy the film.





Song Of the Spindle from Drew Christie on Vimeo.



signed, the willow

Halló

Herding in the South of Iceland from paul taggart on Vimeo.


I would never call myself a horse person, but I romanticize about the Icelandic horse.  The way it trots along as if its body floats weightlessly above.  heaven.  I wish I could run like that with such grace and synchronization in my stride.  <3


I implore you to visit my friend, Iceland, here.


signed, the willow

Costume Ball

With the pressure for figuring out and creating Halloween costumes on, it's time to gather some ideas:

And I love me a tutu!

Like this super Princess costume from superMOLLYcapes

source:  etsy  - superMollycapes




how about this mod "mini-mommy"?

source:  etsy - dreamspunshop




and one for me...

source: etsy - studio wed by mirela


another one for moi.....


source:  etsy - ouma



with a little blood and guts, this would make a nice haunting prom queen gone bad...


source:  etsy  -  ouma



signed, the willow

Brown Paper Bagging It

Since *mila* has to present on how she feels about herself by placing 5 objects in a paper lunch bag tomorrow,  I thought I'd try the same.  Remember, it has to fit in a paper bag!


source:  club doctissimo

1. a croissant:  I can't put the cappuccino in the bag.  I like to think of myself as pensive and a bit of a daydreamer that can sit over an americano and a nice croissant in an outdoor cafe in Paris.



source:  art paints

2. an indigo paint chip:  Rich in character like the colour indigo. Dark and mysterious.  Vibrant and fun.




source:  touches home interiors

3.  a crystal door knob:  It creates prismatic views of life.  It allows others to open new doors.  It is the way in or out, not the door itself.  It's like I need the attention that a doorknob from 'Alice in Wonderland' would need in order to be opened.  I like to be tippy-toed around, handled with kid-gloves and all those other wonderful things!  No, I'm not a princess or a diva, just fragile like that crystal door knob,




source:  schleich

4. a toy icelandic horse:  it's unique and has a gait like no other (I have a normal gait, but I march to my own drum).  It's a reminder to be true to who I am.  It's a reminder of my familial roots (my great-great grandparents emigrated from Iceland to Canada).   Oooh, that's a boy pony, isn't it?  Eeek, sorry about that.




source:  coo home designing

5.  an ikea catalogue collection:  First of all, I have a collection of IKEA catalogues.  This is not my collection.  I guess if you have no clue who I am or just started to read my blog, you probably haven't noticed that I'm a bit of an IKEA freak.  Been there for dinner tonight, have a Billy bookcase in just about every room.  I know each and every catalogue like the back of my hand.  How does it describe who I am?  Well, I'm a bit obsessive.  I like to collect and I can't dare throw anything out (sometimes).  I'm loyal.  Loyal like a dog.  I was born in the year of the dog.  99% of my home items come from IKEA.  I like to think that IKEA acts with integrity and I like to think I do too.  Or at least I try.

+++++=====++++++


Normally I would identify myself by my relationships.  I'm a mother, I'm a daughter, a sister, a wife, a grand-daughter, a cousin, and an aunt.  But, this time I needed the autonomy lesson.  We all do.  Life gets busy and life can whisk us away to places that take us down roads where we forget who we are.

Take some time to fill up your bag.

What did you put in yours?

signed, the willow

Refuse Art

Always on the lookout for artists who recycle, who reuse, who reduce.

Here's today's collection found on the network that connects us all, called the internet.

Wonder Baby. Meet Ruby Reusable, where I found Wonder Baby by artist Olympia Dumpster Diver aka Ruby Reusable.  I found her on Find, Make, Do.  One helluva good site too!

(source:  Ruby Reusable)

woven plastic bag art via art business

Unintentional art is the mining of phosphorus in Florida.  It's beautiful blended lines and crystalline inertia is sinfully as bad as admiring a fur coat (on a person).  But, it's mesmerizing, isn't it?

source:  Discover magazine

free garbage art via art business

wabisabi chair via inhabitat

signed, the willow

White Pumpkin Love

I am tempted to paint this baby with some wickedly cool design, but she sits so pretty on my table overlooked by "The Carousel" by Ken Danby.

Question of the day:  Paint it? Leave it?  Paint another one and put it outside? 

signed, the willow

Where else would we go after school?

signed, the willow

Red Leaves and Magenta Owls

Muskoka gets absolutely incredibly beautiful in the fall (in all four season, but especially in the fall).

The boat houses on Lake Rousseau can haunt or procure visitors.  I have to say that the day we visited Windermere, the dead silence haunted me.  I have strong memories of my grandfather's boathouse that were haunting.  Mind you, it contained a boat and not a dwelling.

What went on in Windermere decades ago?  It was decadent I bet.

Now it's visited by a 3 person family with a mutt of a dog eating Mr. Sub sandwiches and picking up the odd oak leaf.

When little *Mila* asks to paint beside me, it's the most exhilarating feeling in the world.  This is the companion I've longed for, within her.  She's so special and willing to experiment.  No preformed ideas of what she'll paint.  Just playtime.

Those pink earrings!

and my magenta drippiness...will transform over and over again.

a green owl will emerge on a blue tree.

and what will tomorrow hold?

signed, the willow

A Dance To Danby

As a little girl I grew up appreciating the art of Canadian artist, Ken Danby.  He fit the criteria that I still value today:
1. Canadian
2. Northern Ontario roots (Ken Danby was born in Sault Ste. Marie)
3. Subject matter related to nature
4. Contemporary
5. Sense of relaxation through the comfort of faded blue jeans.

Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to be in the presence of a young lady who grew up knowing Mr. Danby very well.  So well, that her mother was the Sunbather.

Canada misses Ken Danby.

signed, the willow