Finding "the fortitude to head into the future."

I recently had what could either be called a rude awakening… or an epiphany. Depends on perception, I suppose. Anyway, it began when I decided to make some changes to my website – www.deevinemissm.com. To my surprise, it was gone. That’s right – GONE! So I called GoDaddy, found out it had expired and the fee to renew was $90!

Post-holiday depression has always been a problem for me, and I really missed my daughter and grandkids in Virginia. So, I had spent the last several weeks (months)curled up into a fetal position and waiting… for what? I don’t know. But finding out “the deevine miss m” was gone was shock enough to make me uncurl, stand up and figure out how to start again.

While looking for some inspiration and encouragement, I went back to one of my favorite artists – Sue Smith, Ancient Artist. Sue is an amazing person and on one of her blogs I found this list of Sue’s Life Lessons (in bold) – here are my responses to each.

Let go of expectations tied to your personal timetable.
I need to update my blog – the last entry was October 10, 2009. I need to salvage my website, which I lost because I didn’t re-new in time. I need to be creating!!! I want to create!!! I don’t have time to create!!!

Trust in your talent and ability to create even in the face of the unknown.
I don’t know what to do or where to start, so I do nothing. Once I figure out where to start, what will I do with my creation after it is finished?

Do what matters to you.
Seems like all I do is exist just to get through each day. Everything I do is something I must do, not something I want to do. By the time I finish all these necessary tasks, I have no energy left, so I’m back to novels and naps!

Have the patience to wait for the positive outcome.
It’s hard to have patience in the best of times, so how do I find a positive outcome when times aren’t so good?

Live in the moment.
I spent most of my life living either in the past, which was not a good place, or looking for tomorrow, which surely will be better than today!

Regret nothing.
WOW! That’s a tough one! As a very wise person once told me, be careful what you wish for – you might get it! I left my Virginia family and returned to Tulsa, to peace and quiet, my own place - thinking I would have time to do all those things I wanted to do…. eight months later, I sit here looking at what I’ve accomplished - nothing.

So, in summary, to quote Sue once more, I’m going to “find the fortitude to head into the future.” I have purchased a new domain name – www.thedeevinemissm.com. Close enough, I hope, that people can find me. So, I am busy re-designing the site and updating links from my other social sites. I’m going to visit all the blogs I like and start posting comments. And, I’m going to read Ancient Wisdom:Emerging Artist: A Business Plan for the Mature Artist , which I’ve already downloaded to my desktop!

One of my responsibilities outside the art world is that I cook 4 shifts a week, 4 hours each, at the Moose Lodge. We need some kitchen equipment, so Nina, my waitress/ assistant/ miracle worker person, and I are going to do a fundraiser, which will include my artwork, her bead work (see picture below) and whatever donations we can find from other people, stores, etc. This will hopefully inspire me to create some new stuff!




Wish me luck, and comments are gratefully accepted!!!

Pictures sold at auction!

Yesterday was a red-letter day! I donated some 8x10 prints, several packages of notecards and one 16x20 lighthouse print to a benefit auction at the Moose Lodge, . It was so awesome to see people actually vying for my artwork! Also met a couple who do photography and framing... we're going to get together and brainstorm of some collaborations of our different talents. Here are two of the prints -

Above is the old 66 Motel, a series of bungalow-style rooms, which was demolished in 2000. Reasonable rates at one time was $2 a night.

Here is a picture of the old 11th St. bridge, now named the Cyrus Avery Memorial Route 66 Bridge. The bridge has now been recognized as an important part of Route 66 history and is being preserved as such.I have the story of both photos somewhere, and will put them up as so as I locate them!

Oh... by the way... everything sold!

Seeing things a little differently

Another way of seeing things my own way... I send out a desktop calendar every month to friends and family. I love the colors, but one of my nieces asked her mom if I was on drugs :>
Maybe that means I'm a successful artist, huh? Below is the blue version of the horses, and below that, the original photo.

Another Buffalo???

I've wanted to drive along Riverside Drive and take pictures of all the sculptures and see what I could do with them, so today, trying to get motivated to do SOMETHING, I played with this one. For some reason, I'm starting to go for strange colors, but I like them!

Only in Oklahoma...

Went fishing a couple of weeks ago with my sister, brother-in-law, and grandson. Later, we drove through Checotah, OK to the grocery store. I thought I was seeing things when we drove past this blue buffalo! Thankfully, I had my camera in the car, so we stopped on the way back for pictures. There was no plaque or sign or other information on why this blue buffalo lived in a little tiny park in the little town of Checotah. So I googled it and found it was part of a project called The Spirit of the Buffalo.

I mean, I understand the connection between the buffalo, Oklahoma, the Native American culture... and I've read that a white buffalo was considered sacred... but... an iridescent blue buffalo???? So, check out the link above for some very imaginative renderings of the buffalo. I definitely know I'm back home!

GBHS won State Softball Championship Sunday!

We did it ... the team playing hard... me working hard on top of the ladder taking pictures! Good job, Wildcats!

Up Close and Personal...

Went to the Eastern Shore for the weekend with "Thelma and Louise" - 2 friends who are wandering around the world in a motor home. It wouldn't take much to convince me to go, too!

And, by the way, when we're together it's " Thelma and Louise and Stella." (We had to give me a name that fit the image.)

We rode around all weekend in my car with the top down - the only thing we still need to do is drive down the highway and let our scarves blow away in the wind! We all three draw the line at driving off the cliff!!!

Anyway, here's a friend we met at Chincoteague...

Counting Down the Days...

22 days till I leave for Tulsa! Just made a fast trip back there this week - left Norfolk Monday night at 6 pm, got to Tulsa at 11, spent a few hours with my son and grandkids, had an appointment at 10:30 am Tuesday, spent a few hours with my sister and brother-in-law, left
Tulsa at 5 pm, back here in Norfolk at 10:30 pm.

Worked Wednesday, then we had a softball tournament, today after work I get the trailer hitch installed on my car, Friday all I have to do is work, then will spend Saturday and Sunday up on the Eastern Shore with a couple of traveling friends, and back here Monday morning for regional softball tournament.

And what can I do with all the extra time on my hands? Oh - I know! I've still got to post the pix online from last night's game!!!

Never a dull moment! Oh, yeah - I'm trying to figure out when I can meet Deborah Ross at her Blue Skies Gallery between now and the time I leave!!!

But, I did manage to get a picture from the magnolia tree in the front yard...

I thought sure I'd been blogging right along there, then I looked at my last post... it was April 23rd!

So - softball has been running my life! We played 19 games and I took pictures at every single one. Then I uploaded them to a private gallery for the girls and parents to view. We played the last regular season game Wednesday - we won, of course! The standings are Great Bridge Wildcats - 17-2 - #1 in district.

Wednesday, May 20th, we will play whoever winds up as #2 at Tuesday's playoffs. So we are guaranteed a spot in the regionals - Wednesday will determine whether we go as #1 or #2. I'm designing a T-shirt that says : "unufishul teem picher takur" to wear to regionals! That oughta make them proud of me!!!

This has been great for developing my photography skills. I've learned to see the entire field and anticipate the action shots.

OK - gotta get back to work... see ya soon!

In A Pickle???

It's a phrase I've heard often through the years, and Googling gave me the following information:

To be “in a pickle" means a challenging or difficult circumstance.

Its origin is the play "The Tempest"
by William Shakespeare, and I quote:

ALONSO: … How camest thou in this pickle?
TRINCULO: I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last …

Well, Tuesday night I learned it's a term used in softball! My grand-daughter came up to bat, hit one, made it to second base. (Good job, Karen!) Now, I'm here to tell you this girl is a base-stealing champion, and last night was no different.

We're in the bottom of the 6th inning... the score is us 14, them 0. SO! Not a really exciting game, ya know? I'm busy snapping pictures of everyone on the team, not a lot of action shots, except everyone at bat and a few slides. A couple pictures of the flags blowing in the breeze... a passing helicopter... yawn.

Suddenly, I heard yelling and screaming "Get her!" and "Run, Karen!" and I swung my camera around toward 3rd base, pressed the shutter button... nothing. So, while I'm trying to see if my camera is off, if the battery's dead, Karen's "in a pickle" between 2nd and 3rd. By the way, the "pickle" means she was caught between 2nd and 3rd, with opponents on either side of her, trying to get her out! At last I've figured out my memory card is full, and while I'm trying to get the second one out of the case and into the camera, she "landed" flat on 3rd... after some discussion, it was ruled safe! Now, whether she dove for 3rd or was tripped, she still made it... whatever, I missed the whole thing by not watching the numbers on the camera! (From now on, the extra card will be ready in my pocket.)

Below is the last picture I got, where she made it to 2nd base. But, as I told her when she said she got in trouble... it was the most exciting part of the whole game, so just smile and remember the moment!!!

Happy Easter!

Look who came to see me this morning! The Easter Bunny! He even sat there and waited for me to go inside and get my camera. However, I was pretty upset about not getting any Easter eggs. I know, I know... I'm supposed to be a grown-up... but, if you get to see the Bunny, you oughta get the eggs, right? Well, a little later I was passing the kitchen window when I saw the culprit!

At first I wasn't sure he did it... the first few pictures didn't prove anything...

but in the last one, I caught him! That just goes to show ya... you just can't trust those cute, little furry critters!

Now THIS is Spring Fever!

This is an example of what I've been doing lately! Girls softball season is going strong, and I go to all the games and take pictures of the team. This is my grand-daughter in her last high-school season, so I'm assembling a "brag book" for her. So far this week, we've had two games and another tonight. And so far, I've taken almost 600 pictures! Of course, I weed 'em out before I post them. Still, the last game has 200 pix. They're in a password-protected gallery, so I can't show them all, however, Karen's pix are located at www.pbase.com/deevinemissm/

The great thing about going to so many games is that I'm learning to anticipate the plays and I'm getting much better action shots. Well, that's it for today... stop in and say hello!

Funky Daffydils

A little touch of spring fever there in that title! (I didn't know the botanical name for daffodil is narcissus).The sun has been shining for almost 2 days now... I'm ready to put the top down on the car and go fishing!!! Actually, I did have it down Saturday for awhile, mostly so I could clean it out. But Sadie and I went for a short ride, before the clouds came back and the temperature dropped.

Continuing the theme...

The background started out as a picture of an orange feather on a gray background. I did lots of cutouts and overlays, color changes, until I saw something I liked. I knew I was going with flowers but waited until the background was done, then I found these photos of roses from our yard last summer. Now that I'm started I want to do a whole set!!!

Something New

I don't usually do abstract-style work, but read on one of the blogs - I think it was Deborah Ross or Uta Mooney - about doing a background first, and then seeing what came from that. So, here's my first try. This one was from a stock background shot and a photo I'd taken of a rose, but I'd like to start creating my own backgrounds and see where it takes me. I'm already seeing a whole new thing with all those flower photos I've been taking.... whoopee!

Rain, rain, go away...

Even though it seems like it's going to rain forever, every once in a while we get a brief hint of spring. Here's another new friend I met in the backyard last week. Well, actually, he was in the neighbor's backyard... and I was standing on tiptoe, taking pictures over the fence! Sure is a good thing she's a friendly neighbor - I gave her a nice print, just to keep her that way! :D

Words of Encouragement.

Yesterday I decided to check in on a couple of blogs I like and I discovered a real gem! A post named "The Near-Extinction of Blind Faith" by Ancient Artist. If you ever feel like you're not very good at what you do, be it creative endeavors, your role as parent and provider, or even your value as a person... you should read this! I had a recent stumble in my plan and it was very depressing. But we really do have people who care for us - we just need to look around us. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did.

Daffodils - it's Spring!

In spite of a 30-some degree drop in temps between Monday and Tuesday, and a change from sunny to cloudy, Tuesday morning I found this brave soul in the backyard. It's amazing the beautiful things to be found all around you. I don't have to leave the neighborhood, or even the yard for that matter, to see flowers and trees in bloom, robins, cardinals, mourning doves, woodpeckers, squirrels, and rabbits. Good job, God!

My Irish is surfacing...

I think I'm on to something here! Every month I do a desktop calendar for all my friends. This month my daughter wanted one with her dog on it. Well, her best friend wanted one with her dog... my sister has a dog... I have a dog... 4 calendars later, the Oklahoma Cat Ladies protested for equal treatment for cats, so... I did a cat. Today I decided they would make great St. Patrick's day cards - check out the Greeting Card page at my Cafe Press Store!

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Lots of new things are happening nowadays.... maybe it's because Spring is finally peeking around the corner! (Thanks to Ralph Waldo Emerson for the quote.)

In 109 days I'll be going back home to Tulsa!

I recently found a site called Meetup.com. It's a place for finding or starting groups in whatever area you live in, and with common interests. I've joined a photography club called Picture This Photography Club of Hampton Roads - figured it wouldn't hurt to learn how to use that great camera I have!

I have a new online shop for my artwork. The great thing is that they do all the "work" part of it, like printing, shipping, taking the money, etc. All I have to do is be creative - (well, there's a little more to it than that!) The name is The Deevine Miss M's Shop (original, huh?) and it's hosted at Cafe Press.

Today, February 26th, I graduate from physical therapy! I had a total right shoulder replacement October 3, 2008, and I can't begin to express my gratitude and appreciation to everyone who was a part of this. Being right-handed and a computer artist, I admit I was very scared that I would lose some of the use of my arm, but I have way more than I've had for years. So, thank you, Dr. Mancke - you're my favorite surgeon. And Sentara's Great Bridge Therapy Center - I'm gonna miss you guys! Thanks!