Mo'a Romig-Boyles

Signs Of Spring

I can feel it coming...it warms my face as I lift it to the sun.  At other times I feel the soft spring rain.

I hear it coming in the sounds of the birds...flirting with and calling to each other.  "I have made a nest for you and our little ones to come." ...I imagine them saying.
I have my ear tuned to the sound of the spring peepers.

Yes, I can feel it, spring is on it's way. I see signs everywhere...little red buds appearing on the Maple trees.

Daffodils  pushing their little heads up through the soil.

The Hyacinths pushing the soil aside and saying "Hello world here I am!!!" Soon their fragrance will delight all passers by.  I will buy pots of them to bring home, as they are my Husband's favorite spring flower.

The other day I noticed a most interesting nest in a parking lot tree.

The bird who made this nest is like a Mixed Media Artist.  Look at the use of plastic bags and nylon rope so artistically placed.

....And here just a bit of green and a dark blue ribbon.  This nest, I imagine, would fit a bird the size of a Robin...I wish I knew what kind of bird made this masterpiece.  I must say, I was rather impressed.

I know that the reality of spring is different for my friends in other parts of the world...and that my Australian friends are looking forward to Autumn.

Tell me how is Spring or Autumn in your area?

An Artful Journey

Each year I try to learn something new by taking a class, usually it is art related.
Some classes I take on line and then sometimes I go to an art retreat. 
In the beginning of the year I did both with the same instructor, DJ Pettitt.  I took her Online Image Editing Workshop...using Photoshop Elements 8. Then a month later I did her Mixed Medley class at
The Presentation Center in Los Gatos, CA.

I loved everything about An Artful Journey  ,the location, the many wonderful women I met, the instructors, my class with DJ Pettitt and last but not least Cindy Woods O'Leary the organizer of the event, who said in her bio on her blog.
"I'm a mother of two young men, a Nonni to two precious little granddaughters, a good and loyal friend, a seeker, a leader, an organizer, a gatherer, a nurturer. I've transitioned into a new phase of my life, and am open to the possibilities. It's all about the journey..."  
She is all that and more. 

The surrounding were lovely and  peaceful.  All around us there was beauty to be seen. Inside and out.

DJ's class was great and I learned a lot.  I take classes from my favorite artists to learn technique and about materials...so that later I can create a piece, with my own imprint, using what I have learned.
Here are a few of the pages I created in class and later at home when I returned from the retreat.

Many of the fabrics and laces that I used came from my stash much of which was inherited from my Mother-in-law, my Grandmother and the Aunts.
Some of the members of the class gave sandwich size bags full of ephemera, laces and fabric as gifts.
I used many of these gifts on my pages.
On the inside front page I have the signatures of each one of the members of the class.

In one of the bags was a photo frame that I used around my two little Grandchildren Julie and Victor.

The front cover is a painting I have now done three times. Each time it comes out a little different.
I first painted it on canvas, then I printed it on fabric and repainted it to use in a mini quilt (that now belongs to my Son and his wife and lives in Denmark) and this time for a front cover for the book.  I think I shall retire her now :)

 

I hope that you will have a chance to go to An Artful Journey...I highly recommend it...you would not be disappointed.  I would go again in a heart beat.

Los Gatos

I had two small windows in time...one was that,  between snow storms I went to Los Gatos, California to An Artful Journey.

I spent an afternoon and a morning in Los Gatos...an idyllic town  at the base of the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve.

As I walked around town and took in the warmth of the sun and looked at flowers and blossoming trees, I thought of you.  I wanted to share some of what I saw.
The orange tree in a lucky persons yard...I wonder if they go out in the morning to pick oranges for their orange juice...I would like to think they do...I know that I would.

Here is a lovely low fence and a flower in front of it...this was a beautifully landscaped yard.

Just on the other side of this fence there is an Camellia Tree in full bloom...a Camellia Tree!!!

Everywhere I looked there was beauty...at my feet and...

 

...above my  head.

And look Palm Trees.

And a Tulip Tree in full bloom.

As I walked back to the Inn where I was staying...The Los Gatos Garden Inn...Where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio  stayed  on their Honeymoon.

I saw this gate and was reminded that Los Gatos means The Gates. Just as I turned around from taking this photo I saw this beauty.

Then I walked, through gates, into the courtyard of my hotel/inn and took this photo of the courtyard.

 

Then in front of my door were the Succulents smiling in the sun...

 

Wait!!!.....I have not even begun to tell you about the An Artful Journey retreat. It was wonderful and if you have a chance to go to one, do...They have one coming up in July.

I will tell you about the retreat in my next post and show you what I created in DJ Pettitt's class.
I loved her class and learned a lot. DJ is a wonderful teacher...I highly recommend her class.
She will be teaching at the July retreat.

One Year

She is one year old today.
Happy Birthday to our little Viking Princess.