A quilt for Madison

My nephew and his darling wife just had their first baby, a precious little girl... This is the quilt that I made for her. It's a bit larger than the others, which I think will come in handy when she gets a little older, and it's also a new pattern for me. I was pleased at the final result after Sally and quilter finished with it... the binding fabric was a lucky find- it matched well, I think.

Jimmy's birthday quilt

Our oldest son, Jimmy, had a birthday a few weeks ago. It was a gathering of family for the traditional crableg dinner, and 4 types of homemade cookies, rather than the birthday cake that most are accustomed to, but which were the request of the honoree.... We had a fun time, and I gave Jim the quilt that I had been making for him.
The quilt was made up of many Japanese style batik printed fabrics, in a masculine style of pattern and quilt stitching that will even stand up to the likes of Jim's dog, Castor, who has been known to lay himself down on the bed on occasion... I was happy with the results. It's a queen size, which is 90" x 108", and machine quilted.

Group pics @ Bella Vista

Fun time in Bella Vista

We had a fun time in Arkansas, with our old friend, Judi, and her new hubby Paul... We were privileged to meet new friends, Ellen and Gene, from North Carolina, and Bobbie and Mike, from California. We all had a week of golf, great food, great conversation, and a super get-together...
Thanks Judi and Paul, for including us--- we had a ball !


Ellen is very involved with a great organization called "Project Linus", which collects hand made blankets of all sorts (knitted, crocheted, quilted, etc.) to distribute to those in need... They do a great service, by giving a needy person a gift that shows that someone truly cares for them...
Ellen shared some very touching stories of the people she has met along her journey. We can all be inspired by her dedication and commitment.....

Bye Bye Guys !!

Graduation stimulated me to give out some portraits as graduation gifts... I will miss looking at the faces on my studio walls... They have become part of my environment, but the paintings have served their purpose, and "schooled " me in the art of the portrait, so they must be on their way !!!
All the recipients were delighted with their gift, and the best gift to me was the fact I learned that three, YES, actually 3 !!! of my former students, who I painted, WILL GO TO COLLEGE TO BECOME ART TEACHERS !!! WOW ! It made my day, and year !!


Yeah, Mehlville High--- I loved being part of the lives of the students and faculty there ~~

Spring Cleaning ?

Me and my sis worked for almost 6 hours on our booth at the Antique Mall. We rearranged, straightened, cleaned out loads of stuff, and generally spruced the place up !! Lin rearranged the upper shelf to create a theme, using vintage aluminum on most and childrens things , too. It looks great, I think. Somehow, moving things around seems to stimulate sales.... Hope it works !

On September 30, 2008, the unthinkable happened at Mehlville Senior High School. A darling, smart, sweet, and beautiful girl, named Ashley Marsters collapsed an died from a severe heart condition. She was sitting in her art class, in room 345, with fellow students, and her teacher, Kristen Kleyer. Ashley had previously been diagnosed with a heart condition, but her parents were told that she could not be operated on for it until she reached 18 years old.
Of course, the family, students, and faculty were in shock, with counselors trying to help grieving fellow classmates. The students and teachers decided to commission a portrait of Ashley and raised the money by collecting donations. I was asked to paint the portrait. I knew that it would be difficult, since I had never met Ashley, to obtain the type of "likeness" that would be required for this very special painting. Several photographs were sent to me, only one of which was suitable, but it contained two other people. I worked for quite awhile on the painting, and had to combine several images to finalize the hair, since much was covered in the photo I was using...
After finishing it, I had it framed in a frame which I thought would be a nice compliment to the portrait. I thought the piece should be presented to the parents- Ready to Hang...
It was a very solemn occasion, but a rewarding one. Meeting her parents and older brother, David, was a privilege.
I was most satisfied with the comments from her father, brother and mom who said it looked exactly like her. It was my foremost goal.
I felt good being a part of this, and watching the outpouring of love from the students, teachers and administration for this family. It also gave her family an opportunity to tell some stories and memories of their beautiful daughter to the people who had gathered at Mehlville High School to honor her.

Surprise, surprise !

After returning from a 2 week trip to San Francisco, my husband surprised me with a complete bathroom REDO ! It looks fantastic, although the pictures don't do it justice. It's hard to get a good picture, since it is such a small space, but it looks so much more up to date and nice !!
He told me later that he had the whole place in an uproar, with fixtures and tools in every corner of the house ! He had to figure out plumbing, wiring, flooring, and walls, as well as decorating it, too ! His color picks are so great, with new fixtures, beadboard, trim, and matching towels, rugs, and shower curtain, too !! I'm so proud of all the great work you did ! Way to go , Bus !!!

San Francisco Fun

Two weeks in San Francisco- don't ever let anyone tell you that it is warm there.. it is breezy and the air is generally moist and cool to cold !! take a heavy coat !! But it was such fun ! My daughter and I just "hung out" and had fun, as well as working to fix up her new (old) apartment. It needed painting and sprucing up, and we put together lots of IKEA furniture ! he ! We rented a car for a couple of days, but usually we were on public transportation, which means bus or train (BART) and I can tell you, that is an experience. I'll be posting some of the adventures, so I'll start with a few of the choice pictures.... It REALLY is a beautiful city !!, and the architecture is out of this world ! Thanks, Buff, for showing me such a great time !! I love you !

42 and counting

Recently we had an anniversary, in fact, it was on St. Patricks day !! (St. Patricks day was not as big a deal as it is nowadays !) Anywho, the first year anniversary my husband brought me one single rose, to commemorate our year together, and the following year it was two.... well, never could he imagine the 42 long stemmed roses that this year would barely fit into the vase... they were truly gorgeous, and I love them !! (and the man who gave them to me!)
p.s.- that other handsome man is my sis's husband, Roger....

Aussie girls

Here are two new portraits that I just finished of my friend, Marlene's grandbabies... They live in Australia, so I wasn't able to take my own photos. That makes it more difficult, because I have something particular in mind about how the finished painting should be, and that just changes the process a bit. There are certainly times when it's just impossible, though...

Marlene will have all 4 of her grandchildren's portraits now, because last year I completed the two grandsons...

We'll miss you, Christy !

We went to a very sad funeral today for a fun-loving friend, Christy.... She was taken too soon from us all, and makes us realize how precious each and every day is ! Christy was a great mom, and a wonderful, caring wife. She was a funny, charismatic, dry witted friend. She was fun to be around, we traveled many places together, with couples, and with "the girls"
Christy, we had no time to say "goodbye"- let us all take the time to tell those that we love how important they are to us. You made our lives a little richer for knowing you ! We will miss you, Christy

Eddie (Skagetti)

Here is our wonderful, sweet, funny, entertaining, mail carrier, Eddie Tappen. He, for so many years kept the neighborhoods around Kirkwood, Glendale and Warson Woods alive with his presence. Never would a day go by without the laugh, and joke of Ed the Mailman !!! Sometimes we would kid him about talking so much to people that his route would take him extra long to deliver the mail.... He forever would tease my husband about his golfing, and then he would say to me,"I guess he's out "working"today, right?" and then laugh... The joke between the two of them would ALWAYS end up with the phrase, "Hey, man, I've Got Your Back!!!"
Well, Eddie was supposed to retire last June, but due to circumstances he was not able to, anyhoo, I had taken a photo of him for a portrait, and then decided to give it to him when He Actually DID retire... well, long story short, I presented it to him for a Christmas present in 2008 ! In early February Eddie had some heart trouble, and will have to have a bypass operation. We Miss him terribly, and his smiling face !! Such a wonderful person! We all hope to see you again, soon, and wish you all the best!! You ARE the best !!
Here's Eddie with his portrait, and the painting in the process....(Eddie Skagetti is our nickname for him)

Booth 10C and 13C at the Antique Mall !!

My sissy, Linda, and I have a double booth at the Great Midwest Antique Mall in Eureka ( on the outer road next to 6 Flags ) We spend lots of time searching the sales and thrift stores for goodies that we think might sell for a bit of profit.. We usually paint, fix, glue or clean some items, and others just need a bit of TLC. It's hard to keep the booth looking great, since we don't work there all the time, but Friday we spent the day painting the walls. Roger, Lin's hubby, was nice enough to build us a shelf which goes around the booth at the top, and gives us so much more display space-- thanks, Rogie....
Anywho... we were there all day Friday, moving, painting, and rearranging our "merchandise" which spruced everything up a lot !! Then we added a few new lights, and a rug, to complete the "homey" feel... We were proud of our results, take a look !!!