St Francis Gets a Facelift

Cement statues can look a bit boring and grey so for a long time I've thought my St. Francis statue needed some enhancement. Then I saw a show on PBS's "For Your Home" and knew exactly what I wanted to do! A guest on the show demonstrated how to age your statue and harmonize it with your garden. I went right to work...

I started with a very light brush of white acrylic paint on the highlights. Then comes the part I would never think of: dirt. You add dirt to the creases and crevices with a touch of the white paint, which is no longer white when you poke the dirt into the recess of the statue.

At first my kids were content to watch me, but before I knew it they had taken over the dirt part. Gotta love a project that involves art, gardening, and kids!

Has anyone tried brushing on buttermilk to encourage moss? I wasn't sure about that one.

Echinacea Flower Essence

Today I tried making my own flower essence! It was easy and fun. My purple coneflower has just come into bloom so it would make a good flower essence - at least according to "The New Encyclopedia of Flower Remedies". I've used Bach Flower Remedies for many years since a co-worker introduced me to the gentle power of Bach, but this was the first time I made my own.

It was the right time of day so I grabbed a glass bowl, filled it with filtered water and cut the blooms to rest in the sun bathed water for 3-4 hours. I even set my timer so I wouldn't forget about it. Inside I strained it and put the infused water in a glass container with a lid, filled it with equal parts apple cider vinegar since I have it on hand. Next time I may go get the traditional brandy, but I don't know the last time I had alcohol in my house.

Now I'm going to try using it in my morning juice to help rebalance my body.

Gargoyle in the Storm Drain

As you stroll along the river walk in Wichita, Kansas if you happen to look down as you walk over a huge storm grate you may have a surprise in store. My sister-in-law showed us a gargoyle down in the drain while we were visiting, but she said it scared her to death the first time she saw it. I can't imagine why.

Reportedly, there are 5 or 6 of the gargoyles in various storm drains around the city - putting statues in your storm grates is clever and different, IMO. Now if only they had put angels down there instead...

39 Forever

Mom says I get to be this age for the rest of my life, and everyone knows the mother is always right. Don't you think?

Money Does Grow On Trees

On my tree, money does grow. Gold coins to be precise. Alas, I can't grow it in the garden, but I still enjoyed making a money tree. It's now above my desk in my studio, and it has my first $1 I earned with my business...really it's a $20 bill but I figured that was even better.

Tutorial Design Lesson: Rule of 3

If you mean to do something in your creative project, do it 3 times so people know you did it on purpose. It brings harmony and unity to your effort. This is true in art, in gardening, or in designing anything.

Here's what reminded me of this "rule" from my college typography class: As I design with stained glass I find myself always looking for a pattern to subtly bring forward. Not too much or it would be just plain boring.

In the planning the panel "Celebration", I introduced the yellow triangles to break up the monotony of all the squares and rectangles, I purposely included smaller green triangles and orange diagonal lines, too. I didn't just throw any ole triangle, but echoed colors used previously.

The small squares in "Celebration" were added to bring variety to the size - which creates tension and balance but notice all the colors are not the same. Nor are they all on the same row, but they are all organized toward the middle and the small squares are the same size. The type of glass is even similar.

Repeat the shape 3 times, the color 3 times, or the line 3 times. Whatever you want to emphasize. It doesn't have to be exactly the same for repetition, in fact it would start to look canned and contrived.

Snow, snow, snow!

We've gotten more snow this year than I've seen since moving home from Montana seven years ago. Now, lest you think that's a good thing...I've missed the snow almost as much as the mountains. Not quite, but close.

Last year the boys got sledding saucers for Christmas and never got to use them. Jan, Feb, Mar...no snow! Spring, Summer and Fall my middle son kept saying he wished there was snow. Always it was because he wanted to go sledding.

It took awhile for it to snow, but when it did, wow! Not only did they get to sled, but make snow forts and a snowman. Winter fun.