Hearts!

I've just been ignoring my blog-no fun lampwork posts for a while. So I'm just going to show off a few hearts. I love arranging beads into fun shapes. The heart that sits at about 2 minutes to twelve is my fave of this bunch- lots of odd color reactions!

Go For a Walk: Focus on Life Week 16

The week 16 prompt for Focus on Life was 'go for a walk'

I decided to take a jaunt downtown to the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden in Little Rock and show you a few sculptures. I was a bad tourist though and did  not take notes on the sculptor or the title of the works. Here are a few of my faves.










Actually, a lot of these photos are of the same piece. There's just something about the texture, the color the swirls and overall shape that I find irresistible.
 

To see where others were walking, start here.

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Aged Beauty- Focus on Life Week 15

 Well, two things came to mind right away when I saw this week's prompt from Sally at the Studio Sublime. One was my eyes- well, got the aging part down anyway! And the second was Wabi Sabi. Don't know about that? Well, you'll have to go to that link, because it's complicated- it acknowledges three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.

What wabi sabi always makes me think of is the beauty of aging things and all that they;ve seen abd been through like this tree, with its woodpecker holes, knurls and plants that have attached themselves to it. And what happened to this other tree to make it grow in so many different directions?

I found myself looking for little bits and pieces all over the place and just had to dig this odd bit of metal out of the ground. Didn't know what it was at first, but it turns out it's the tooth of a backhoe.

I noticed a couple of old 'express' wagons over by the train station a few weeks ago. Wish I could have gotten closer for these pictures to see all the details better.



And last but not least- that closeup of my poor old eye!

Look here to see more aged beauty!

Up Close (and personal) Focus on Life Week 14

 This week's prompt from Sally was perfect for me. I love to look at things up close. And with spring finally here, there are so many things to look at- flowers, stones, birds and bugs- everything is coming to life and it's all so wonderful!

So, without further ado- here are some lovely little bits and pieces all right around my house, starting with the base of some iris flowers- what a cool design!

 I have a bit of a love/ hate relationship with wisteria- the buds and flowers are so pretty, and the twists and curls of the vine are too- but it's so destructive!

The convergence of stones leaves just enough room for a wee bit of a plant to grow!

And these purple flowers- my grandmother referred to them as 'flags' -iris is just lovely!

Go see some more close-ups of life starting here!