No shoes or gloves.....

Flowers and Figures...

These two life size figures were painted on 10st canvas. This was the first big project I did , when I started to freelance in 1979. A new shop in Georgetown, DC, wanted something showy for their window. These panels were painted in Maine, where I spent my first year of marriage and my first year working for myself. We had an amazing apartment, with a large studio in the back. Unfortunately, the Winter, was beyond anything we had ever experienced....snow and ice , starting in September and not letting up till the middle of May. Both my husband and myself missed DC, friends and family ...and really hated the Winter....you needed to carry kitty litter in your coat pocket , to throw in your path in order to get to the car....not good...

Anyone that feels Hell is hot, only has to spend a Winter in Maine..I painted like crazy that first year out on my own...and made very little . I got $130.00 for each of these panels from the shop, and considered myself lucky...my my...times have changed.......

Blue Onion Pattern

This was a pattern that I have painted over the years.....it always has been popular...on all sorts of projects, chair seats, rugs, pillows, box tops ...there is something so old fashioned and pleasing about this pattern... reminds me of crewel work...embroidery with wool...in the 70's and 80's i use to paint on linen, an outlines for crewel work and the shop I started at, American Needlework Center in Georgetown, DC....they had the most amazing Chinese woman , very tiny and very old,that did the crewel work samples and stitch charts...I have never seen anything like her work since...when i think of what she could have done, with all the amazing fibers they have now...she work on linen with Appleton wool..single strand twisted...there colors where great, dusty and very antique looking ,with a wide selection of shades per family very soft...I might need to up date this pattern in Squiggeeland with some beads...we will see...
this piece was painted on 24st...but in Squiggeeland...that is a no go,unless requested...afterall...I need to be able to see, to get out of bed in the future...at it stands now...I already sport bifocals....

A little love note to the main DUDE !

Today, or rather tonight at 8:10 PM, will mark our 29th

Wedding Anniversary. I am lucky, being the high maintenance

nutty artist , to have found someone that looks at all my faults

as endearing and enjoys the fact, that I am all too human at times.

My husband , always makes me feel that he gets me, right or wrong, and to top it off, he says that, at age 57, I am still very pretty in his opinion, with his glasses on ,no less.

Yes, he is full of it...but how can you not love a man that would actually say that to his wife

with a sweet smile... I think when you find your other half....you have it all....everything else that life gives you is a bonus...

We have a great time, and both feel very lucky that we spared

the rest of the world and found each other......

A perfect match of two very unusual people.

Since day one, we love being together , and after a long day painting...the dogs and I , still get excited when he walks in the door every evening...lucky me !

I am entitled to be a little sloppy and kissy faced today....after all 29 years is a very long time !

One of my favorite characters...Eloise !

All them Witches in Squiggeeland...oh my !

Painting .................!!

Some days ...you wish that you had another skill that could pay the rent...anything...

pumping gas...driving a truck...although most people think that the life of an artist is cloaked in mystery...and drama...swishing around the studio in your amazing arty outfit, all the while

you are just overflowing with wild exciting amazing thoughts, that inspire you to create a masterpiece....when in reality...some days just drag on and on and on... you think, if you have to paint one more stitch, they are going to have to come, and scrap you off the wall...because you have climbed it... and your outfit..sneakers with a trace of paint...jeans or leggings with a touch of paint and the odd hole..and a shirt ,faded but for the touch of paint and the missing button...your hair up and out of the way with as many clips as it takes...and the crowning touch........

a painting apron, that could stand on it's own with the layers of built up paint, because since art school...you have developed a terrible habit of wiping your paint brush on your apron..they all end up looking like a Jackson Pollock painting....

to some it up...you are a mess.. hardly what the average person envisions...you being a fabulous artist...

you know when you are painting a killer piece...you open your eyes in bed and the first thing that comes to mind is ..crap !...I have to paint on that thing today again......I would rather clean the house or cook or even the dreaded ,ironing...which I wouldn't voluntary do ,even if I was being threatened by someone with a chain saw...
So anytime you think you job is boring at times...you are not alone ...there just might be a needlepoint artist painting a pillow based on the Washington Cathedral's famous stained glass Rose Window...a pair no less...and all she has to work with, is 12" r on 18st....every other stitch ,is a different color...all abstract ...none of it fun or making any sense......

you know where you can find her...up the Wall...just waiting to be scrapped off!

just venting after a longggggggggggggg day in Squiggeeland...

A doll house rug

This tiny little rug was on 24st....

I have a customer that is thinking of doing

a similar rug......but people size...

will be fun to rework the design in a large

venue...and Springy...just enough flowers to be happy , but not enough to overpower...

You can almost smell the flowers!

Even though it is so cold here in rural PA, and I am still wearing my heavy winter sweaters, in my mind it is Spring. Coming from the DC area, where Spring is already popping out with masses of flowers....the trees and grass are already starting to show signs of life...nature is finally paying attention to how dull the months after Christmas have become . But alias here in the north...we won't get to see real progress till the later part of April. Yes the tress are budding a bit, and yes Miss Squiggee and I are having the first serious signs of Spring allergies, but all other signs are hidden.
This great big flower is a wonderful way to start your week. What scope for stitchers that love to flaunt how expert they have become at all the fancy , dancy stitches they do........making others ,that are content with the basket weave, and the occasional french not ...marvel....their pursuit of the ultimate stitch is amazing...like real work !
I just wish that Spring would hurry, as I have the greatest new pair of little skimmer Spring shoes...navy and yellow with lime green polka-dots...they really don't go with my brown sweater...big sigh!

Happy Easter from Squiggeeland

the girls...Little Miss Squiggee and her big sister ,Miss Bubbles want to wish all a very Happy Easter......

Springtime ...

Here it is the first day of Spring and all we have in rural PA is mud....
now don't get me wrong, it is some really super mud..sticky , just like baby poop...too descriptive?
Now being a city girl and only really coming into contact with potting soil or the occasional garden dirt , free of anything remotely rural..like the little gray bugs that form a ball and worms large enough to throw in the crock pot and feed a family of four..too much !
Trial by fire !!!!! I learned about mud our first Spring here, in the country...It was a nice March day,not unlike today, cold , but at least the snow had melted ...your first clue...March here is officially mud month.....
...I was in our newly purchased old pick-up...everyone out here has a pick-up...attempting to turn the truck around on the grass in back of the house...I thought this was easier than backing down the driveway, not really use to the big side mirrors on the truck...only driving my little sport convertible and VW bug ...NOT truck savvy yet....the back yard slops and as I started the turn, then attempted to pull forward...all four tires just spun in place... the the more gas I gave it the deeper the ruts ... every attempt to go forward,I would lose ground, sliding backwards,heading straight towards our well pump cap, sticking up around a foot...I can usually solve my own problems, but truly the mud was a worthy advisory...I needed expert help...someone that knew the Mud ! a local ...
I called one of my new neighbors...... in her 70's ... born and breed to this valley , an expert on the mud...... the locals are tuff..no salads or health food for these guys... pish ! ..they eat pork and cook with lard...and all live well into their 90's...
my neighbor arrives and quickly takes me in hand... she tells me that we need traction... finally something I know...like all city people I have kitty litter in the trunk of my sports car....and being married to a master cabinet maker ,we always have wood somewhere , so I retrieved two boards from the storage shed..... also finding that this is all turning into a messy situation, mud wise, I throw on a black slicker and boots....we put the boards under the front wheels and the kitty litter under the back wheels...she gets in and says, push !!!! while she proceeds to gun the motor...mud and spinning tires everywhere , but we manage to get it on solid ground...my husband will never know I thought ...how cleaver of me to get myself out of such am embarrassing situation..my neighbor is laughing so hard she is crying...I am a sight....covered from head to foot in
mud, I even had some up my nose...not until I am standing on my back porch ,that I noticed the deep ruts in the yard , it looked like a war had been fought ...I had killed the yard......
In my best, being vague mode, I tried to fain ignorance... aliens maybe?.. didn't know ...but no such luck...the dead give away ,was the truck cover in mud......my husband laughed at my expense,for months...one of my crazies ........ I have learned that ,you can tell a city person about the mud...but truly they won't believe you..... many aspects of country living have amazed me....a whole new world......

Easter's Past

They always say " a picture is worth a thousand words".....so I will just leave this to your imagination...just one thought...it is almost impossible to get a photo of three dogs together!

No Jeweled Eggs in Squiggeeland, Just Crabs

It seems that here in Squiggeeland , we are on a toot.....you know how it is ...an artist goes on a bender with a particular design format and creates in that vane until , she or he is off on another toot....I had to take a brake today from a rather complicated set of custom pillows ,that involves counting and mixing what seemed like thousands of colors...so I finished this crab and a small ornament...ever so often , I need to recharge your batteries...and today this little guy helped revive the creative juices...that custom work sometimes zaps...these wonderful pearl eyes came all the way from down -under.....
looking at the way the light shines on them...he is looking at me...spooky...

It is St. Patty's Day in Squiggeeland !

It is March 17 th...and today our sweet Irish

lass, Miss Bubbles, celebrates her 11 th Birthday.

Steak is the menu of choice...topped off with her

annual treat , slice of coconut white cake with a touch

of green for good luck and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Of course the cake has a candle and a wish, and the

traditional birthday song...even Miss Squiggee chimes in

with a howl or two.

It is the only time of year when we act like crazy people

that you read about in a Doggy magazine......and yes we know Bubbie ( her nickname) is a dog,

but she is family.....our little Irish girl...part Lab...part Springer Spaniel....one of

the sweetest creatures on earth......

FYI...my maiden name was McGuire...so today is big in our house...

For Frog Lovers

This sweet little guy is a

frog that can be used as a frame weight or just stuffed , sitting by your side at the computer....

and just maybe, with one kiss , he can become the prince we all dream of.You know, the cleaning, cooking, loves to listen , hangs on your every word, kind of Prince...the fairytale kind !

Natures girl, I am not. Here in rural PA, we

have all kinds of creeks , loaded with a vast variety of toads and frogs, and other things too creepy to mention . We have lived here since the Fall of

94, and every Summer, a frog family moves in

under our back porch. Now I , personally don't know the life span of a frog, but I suspect that we have had many generations of the same family.

They look the same, same coloring, a modulated tan and brown.... the adult is about the size of my fist. My sweet little Boston, Squiggee-Buns, loves to snort and sniff them, when one appears at night. They freeze and play opossum. Squiggee wouldn't hurt them , she is into bugs , only curious. Sometimes she will roll them over and the frog won't move a muscle...smart frog...only once did the Squig attempt to give the frog a lick, but made a funny face and backed away, I fear the frog didn't taste too sweet ! After we go in, they hop on back under the porch......... long gone, after a sniffing session. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall and hear that conversation,....Papa frog, relating his near death escape from that bug-eyed monster that smells like kibble.......it is never dull here in Squiggeeland for us

city folks/country livers. We could live here 100 years and we will still be referred to as" those city people", by the locals.

There are always plenty of Frogs in Squiggeeland....... the Enchanted pillow ,was worked by

Penny Schowalter of MA, a valentine gift for her husband.........

Finished Squiggee

I personally enjoy having a stitcher send me a snap of a finished Squiggee

Design. The stitcher has taken great care to enhance your design by picking

wonderful fibers and enhancing the design with their needle skills...just like a

painter does with his brush.

Mrs. Santa is just too cute,

way too round , from too many sweets I dare say !

You just want to pinch her cheeks.

Funny when I see a cute finished project like this, I enjoy it ,like anybody that loves Christmas...I never really think that I am the designer...I look at it in an entirely new way !

First entry in Squiggeeland

I thought I would start this new blog , with some brand new Squiggee Designs. These little crabs

make me laugh. When I was a child , my family spent every Summer , in Maine at our cottage on the Island of South Harpswell. The Island is connected to the mainland by a clauseway.

I can't count the number of hours in any given Summer, that my two sisters and baby brother would take our string fishing lines with their very rusty hooks, a pale of salt water and go the big dock on the west side of the island , and proceed to catch crabs. This was done without a net...so it turned into a test of wills ...who would win,,,always the crabs..My mother would give us bacon for our bait , and off we would go.The crabs were very cleaver and seemed to enjoy the game, just as much as we did, because after all , if we managed to get the crab , up on the dock and into the pale, we would always toss them back, they were to small to eat ...Most of the time, the crab would toy with us, hanging on till he or she was almost to the top, them turn that beedy eye, wink and let go...we would roar with laughter, then start all over again...children today miss all the good stuff, by spending too much time indoors and at the computer.

This was the most fun that a kid can have on a Summer afternoon. We would have really laughed if one of these crabs had appeared...especially one with a plaid back......