the patina of a life expressed...

As I posted on my other blog, I have been in a whirlwind of activity, hence my absence from blogging.
I have many wonderful happenings and hope to share more soon...
but for now here is a hodge podge of photos...

me in sepia tones...

this is an oil on board of a girl named Anna ~ painted in 1860, when she was 20 years old. She lived to be 80. There are details with her full name, mention of grandchildren etc on the back of the painting. I wish the photo was nicer to show the richness of the colours. Something drew me to her. I had the frame but bought the painting for $20 at my local antique shop. She's haunting...and she's my new Lady in Red,  as Steve has the other...:)

This is my dining room chalkboard and I change the message on a regular basis. Sometimes in french, sometimes displaying a menu ~ anything goes! 

These are my words..."In the Garden of Life, you'll always find Beauty, if you look for it"...

My studio is on the move...It will reside in its own special place very soon. 

Under construction ..;)

the stain of pain (close-up) ~ 16 x 20 charcoal and coffee on canvas

This is a lovely vintage card table that I recently picked up. I just fell in love with it! I love the style of the legs and it looks like a very old oil painting. 

This photo was going to be titled: 'Pain Lives Here'...because among all the good happenings in my life, I am spending more and more time with my Chiropractor :((

in his office is a large print of Picasso's 'Blue Nude' and it along with my back pain ~ ugh!  inspired me to paint these...but I try never to dwell on the negative. 

coffee and charcoal on canvas when they wips (works-in-progress)

(crazy? I know, but I love my coffee :) 

me in b & w ...somebody needs a haircut ;)

Anyway, I hope to see you soon! I have not been able to make my round of visits and for that I am sorry. At times, life moves at such a wicked pace and weeks go by before you know it. I leave you with a smile and much love...
© 2010

intricacies of...

contemplating evanescence
comes a breath of life
nirvana

a soulful love

perceived emotions
movement
tangled in its intricacies

a parade of feelings
thoughts
wonderings...

deciphering
the story of ~
what was dreamed
and what we have BECOME.

© 2010

image source: 2tumblr_krk5a9S0uw1qzpe8uo1

Love for Keats
you think it almost crude to loveso fair; so much
conceived in quiet beauty
love can feign the faint of heartit springs forth from buds of weakened desiremade strongmade wholesustaining all elsefrail health ~ so cruel
 love requires its chanceits favourallow it its  earthly place, season,  time
let history know his love
let the romantic poet live within us all...
© 2010* inspired by the film - 'Bright Star' ... and by my beloved poet John Keats (1795-1821) 

as I wait for the antidoteto fuel my cure
as I was  living a liethat now revealed ~ obscure.
drifting in and outas I rest now amonglily's baredrenched in their scent existing everywhere
and yet nowhere...
© 2010

image source: tumblr*note: I have been dying to use this image ~ it's so unique! and so it may not match my prose, but hey!  :) ...and I been living that whirlwind of activity so my absence has been extended. I am making many changes, updates to my life,  my home,  my blogs and to my Art. I cannot wait to reveal my latest endeavor but time is needed, quite possibly a few more months...Instead of being absent, I hope to post my *little happenings* ~ if only to keep in touch.  Miss you ALL!!! Much love~ ME

more pics over at:

G A R A H S T A H 

Hi everyone! ...Spring is here!!

beautiful mistake in my studio
Hi everyone! Sorry it has been ages since I last posted, two months...wow!  I have been increasingly busy but wanted to make sure to pop in to give an update. I also want to apologize for being MIA from visiting your blogs as well. I miss visiting all of you!

This is just a pictorial post showing some of the things I've been up to...

this (work-in-progress) painting was prior to my trip to Arizona ~ Me thinks I had the desert on my mind...she is titled: 'My Aboriginal Self' and is a 16 x 20 mixed media on canvas.

Sunrise my first morning there...ahh

outdoor wedding in AZ 

taking an old black/grey weather worn window and giving it a nice patina! 

and a shelf...

Ali *creating* a snowman after the last major snowfall

getting the art table ready for 3

Logan painting a volcano!

Ali (God I LOVE her auburn hair) 

Amidst these busy times taking time out to *reflect* and *meditate* is necessary...

My waterfall ~ the largest of several...oh the lovely sounds they make when flowing...a sanctuary in our own backyard.  As I write this post at my desk I am looking up and my view is of this waterfall. 
See You Soon!

all photos by Calli ~ 2010 

let's fall in love again...

She's Back!!!!!! 

(got to get me one of these!  looks like a stylin' vintage Vespa! :)

Yes, I am finally making an appearance. It has been a whirlwind of activity. I hadn't planned on being away so long, let alone at all. Life has been busy! In good ways! I have been doing small remodeling projects. Re-decorating rooms in my home and prepping for larger remodeling projects that should be taking place soon (fingers crossed). Kids were on break from school. I also traveled to Arizona (my home away from home), and while there, stood up in my best friend's wedding! ... caught a bad cold upon return :( ...It was a very fast and furiously fun trip. We had a fabulous time and because it was short, I am already planning a return trip. I used to live in AZ and though I don't think I would enjoy living there now, it is so great to visit in February and have the most beautiful temps,  in the 70's = perfection! I especially love the nights in AZ.  It's so beautiful to sit outside enjoying a glass of wine hanging out with friends, old and new. We didn't have much downtime due to wedding preparations,  pedicures, hair, shopping, rehearsal dinner, etc. The outdoor wedding turned out so lovely and we managed to escape the forecasted rain. And for additional FUN that night we visited an Irish Pub and listened to a great band...Love the banter that goes on between the band and the audience...so much fun! Felt like I was in the film PS I Love You ~ the only thing missing was Gerard Butler ;) I wanted so badly to get up and dance like they did in Riverdance and Lord of the Dance...but instead you dance with your hands pounding on the table to the beat; very hypnotic! Feels a bit like static dance, definitely groovy :)
I miss the desert already and my best friend!

I also wanted to touch base to thank all of you, my sweet blogger friends  for sending notes and comments wishing me well and wondering where I've gone to. I appreciate your hanging in there during my absence. I miss visiting all of you and hope to do so very soon. Honestly, I am amazed I ever had time to blog before as things have just picked up so much, partly due to the warmer weather. I have sooo many new projects going on and I am very excited for several of them. It's amazing the mental *energy* and *optimism* that spring provides...


sunrise my first morning in AZ...

this was the house they rented for us...I loved the way the sun was touching the clay rooftops in the early morning sun...:) 

these were the best I could do for pics...sooo busy I forgot to pack my usb cord for camera :( so my memory card was full...:( but you get the idea....more pics over at:
G A R A H S T A H 

See You All Soon!!! 

image source: tumblr and all desert pics by Calli

cheers to love...

love 

 

love ...
(the key)

let love rest upon my breast

         my soul

let it nurture my want of you

let if feed upon all that you are

and all that i am 

when i am with you

we are unstoppable

we are !

i am

you are

no two more made for  LOVE

there was a time not long ago
when true love seemed impossible, tainted
but LOVE is always possible

you are here

i am here

we have found what we have both

always wanted,

always  needed 

some things are just meant to be

you are LOVE

happy Valentine's day...

~
Happy Valentine's Day  to all of you!!!!!
Spread the love...

© 
2010
image source: Marion Cottilard (french actress),  key to my heart, 
'Heart on the Mend' a paintng by Calli  - 2006, 
hands, and lolz.ir

purging the way back into love...

Feeling an urging, a purging, a clearing the way (symbolically) just in time for Valentine's Day!!!

How often do we find ourselves - HURT and wondering how in the hell did I let that happen - again?
We let it happen because we trust and as we all know we can trust to the point of being oblivious to the truth. The phrase love is blind coined by Shakespeare,  was/is too true.

But at the same time, love is grand! It is everything! Love is what urges me on each & every day. I am a hopeful romantic. You all know I believe that is the main reason we are here. When I write about love it is usually one extreme to the other and that 'something' in between. That's the way love goes. We can be fiercely, passionately in love or complacent in that love or we can feel a comfort level , a safeness within that love or anything in between.  I love the grand, fiercely passionate kind of love and I think that can be found and still bring about that sense of comfort and safeness. BUT, we do this ourselves;  for ourselves.  IF we're smart we will make sure we feel this in our own lives, in our own hearts before taking on another love. You would think this knowledge could come at an earlier time in ones life? You would think that once this knowledge came the message would stick?...but not always the case because  love is blind or it can be. I think when we are in love all sense goes out the window, if we're not careful.  IT would be so great if we all knew at a very young age  but chances are we live. we love, we eventually learn.  IT doesn't matter so much what someone; a parent or a mentor tries to teach us. We have to experience, plain and simple. But I always try to instill in my children that they themselves create their own happiness and that love can only add to the richness in their lives. I will keep telling them that,  until I finally get it...... ;)

a poem of purging:

feigned emotions
a counterfeit love
designed
a forgery to the heart

for what?
what purpose?
to understand, one must
enter the mind of a womanizer

he puts forth exhaustive efforts
to make women fall ~
and fall they do...

until they crash and burn
(some bitterly)
to the depths of her own hell

until she realizes
that she cannot live his lie  she will not be his conscience

she'll move heaven & earth
to once again

seek her own beautiful truth
~

sweet images... THAT is the way it should feel...and even with the commercialization of the all too dreaded Valentine's Day...I still believe in LOVEbut if love  lets me down again...
you can find me here....;)

©
2010
image source: veza1_largenbsp; tumblr images and
Cowgirl_in_Heaven+thestoeckleincollection


and a quote I really like: make that love! 

by Howard Zinn

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.