My Newest Work and My Inspirations

Newest floorcloth

The newest floorcloth is coming along very well. It will be finished on Friday...tomorrow...well, maybe Saturday. I always give it a day or two before I apply the finish coats of poly. It never fails that I find a pencil mark or some detail that I've overlooked...and sometimes it is then, when I should really be finished, that I get a new inspiration and add something that I wonder why I hadn't thought of from the beginning. But, that's the beauty of this business! Floorcloths can be changed and reworked...or even started over before the finish is applied. 

Finish coat?...floorcloth?...what? If this is the first time you've visited my blog and don't know what in the world I'm talking about..In a brief description, a floorcloth is a hand painted #8 canvas(the weight varies by maker) that is essentially a hand built rug. I begin with raw canvas, build up layers of paint to form a smooth and flexible surface, hem the edges, paint the design, and seal the design with many coats acrylic polyurethane. For a more thorough description and the history of floorcloths you may want to visit the About Our Floorcloths page on my website.

This one is another 4' x 6' and will be debuted at the Design America-Texas show in May. Like most of my designs, it will work in almost any size you need. All of my standard designs are available in any size and you can even request custom colors at no additional cost per square foot. Our Standard Floorcloth page on the website lists the most common sizes, but I can do anything that works for you...even the shape.

Because I have a studio on our farm and have very little overhead, I've managed to keep my prices the same for the last few years, even though materials and shipping have gone up annually. I still ship floorcloth orders free in the Continental US, so when you are comparing my rugs with other makers you will want to keep this in mind. The average 4' x 6' floorcloth  ships for about $35 depending on the distance between you and I. If you're like me, it's hard to spend money on something you can't see even if it's necessary...like the plumbing, your heating system and yes taxes! So, it's my pleasure to ship your order free.

This spring, I will introduce four new designs, including one round rug and another in the Neon series like you see below. I'm sometimes very surprised at my inspirations and they seem to come out of nowhere to suddenly now here! (Heard that one from Wayne Dyer and I love it!) 

The Neons have been really popular for recreation rooms and kitchens...and were the idea of my son, who was in the 8th grade at  the time. "Hey Mom, why don't you use the glow in the dark stuff like you used with our Halloween sweatshirts when we were little?" I did, and it worked. When you turn off the lights, the outlines glow in the dark and look almost neon-like.

Neon Cowboy Cafe...inspired by a photo of Dryk Godby from the inside of his CD cover. This one is actually mine but yours could have any caption you'd like! 

Click on the link to Dyrk's website and check out his art and music. I'm a big fan of both and have have decorated our home with several pieces of his art. We have the two shown below are in our kitchen and living room along with several originals.  

Countin' 'em Out by Dryk Godby

Legendary Studs by Dryk Godby

Dyrk's attention to detail has been very inspirational to me. I hope you will try to see it first hand and I'm sure you will become a collector as well if you have a love for horses and the authentic western lifestyle. 

Next week I will have a preview of the newest Neon floorcloth for you. I hope you will stop by for a peek.

Tomorrow, is Friday's Featured Shop Items here on the blog. Remember, if you're local, our shop is open on Fridays and Saturdays now. Come out to see us! 

The Countdown has Begun to Design America-Texas

With February here, I realized yesterday that I have three months to produce a booth full of floorcloths for the show in Texas. I sat down at my drawing table last week while the base coats were drying on two 4' x 6' floorcloths and several pieces of canvas slated for use as table top pieces.

Essentially, I know what is going up for display, and time will tell what I take in addition to those seven pieces. It's been years since I've done a retail show because I mostly work on custom orders and have no inventory to speak of.  It's not by choice that I work that way, but for the mere fact that floorcloths are so easily customized...size, color, design,...you name it.  When I exhibited at the Western Design Conference, I only took one or two pieces with me because it was a gallery style show. So, to be honest, I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed at the moment.

I will tell you, it's a difficult call as to what to paint when I can actually paint anything I want to. I have two new designs in my head that haven't quite come together yet, so I'm starting today on a design from 2009, but with updated colors and a new twist here or there.

The new color scheme

The new color scheme is not too far off from the original, which you can see in a tiny framed version there on the side of my worktable. Just enough though to make it look new again and a few added colors for good measure.

Marking off the design

Laying off the design is a lot of fun compared to the previous days of measuring, cutting, priming, measuring some more, and then hemming. I've learned a lot of tricks over the last 20 plus years, and have bought a lot of tools to make work a little easier, but sometimes the simplest things work just as well...

Marking off large circles can be a pill!

Once  you find your center a push pin, a string and a pencil is  just like using a large compass. If only you could do this with a paint brush!

Later today, I will start painting...which is heaven to me. I will resent stopping when it's time and will be excited to start again tomorrow. Check back here for updates on my progress for the show.

More later...I've got to get back to it! 

We Have a Give Away for You!

October has been an exciting month for us! Besides announcing Ranch Dressing's grand opening weekend for November 26th my work has been featured in two magazines. Yes, two. I'm honored...and beyond excited.

First, is the Cree Coaster set that is included in Cowboys and Indians Magazine December Issue and Holiday Gift Guide. Here is a peek at the page, but you'll want to get a copy of the magazine for all the wonderful articles and the complete gift guide.

#2 Pair of painted canvas coasters by Angie Nelson

Look for Jeff  Bridges on the cover. 

The second feature is in Cowboy Way...not the Woody Harrelson movie...the magazine. It is in Thea Marx's section, Ranch Living and is one of the neon floorcloths...the one initially designed last year around this time of year to benefit a young bull rider battling leukemia. He's very healthy and engaged to be married the way.

Fall Issue 2010

Dancin in the Dark...why didn't I think of that!

You can see the entire section from this link...but here again, you will want to grab the magazine and sit down and enjoy the entire issue.

And now for the rest of the good news. I'm giving away the pair of Cree coasters featured in the gift guide. They are original art painted directly on the primed canvas and sealed with poly for many, many years of use. They are cork backed to protect your table top. 

What you need to do for your opportunity to win is to follow our blog or become a Facebook Fan. If you are already a follower/fan we appreciate you and would love for you to help spread the word.  Leave me a comment either here or on our Facebook page that you are following us or that you have suggested us to friends.

On Monday, November 15th we will randomly choose a winner. The important thing to remember is that you HAVE to leave a comment on the blog or on our Facebook fan page so that we get your name as an active participant.

Good Luck!

It's a GO! Free Rein Art and Design has a new look.

We've officially re-launched our website as of midnight Tuesday and are so happy to have all that behind us! It's a simple design with a cleaner appearance than the version we've been sporting for the last few years. Now all that is left to do is get in the studio and produce new work for the new website!

This is our new back ground...I love the bright yellow...so different from what we had.

Normally, I wouldn't send you away, but today, I'd like you to take a look and see what you think. If you find any bugs please tell me.
You can find it at Free Rein Art and Design

Worktable Wednesday...A Peek into my Art Journal

When a customer orders a floorcloth from me they can have anything under the sun they would like...some want something completely original and some like the standard designs just the way they are...and then some want the standard design, but customized. That's the beauty of a floorcloth...it can be tailored to your needs.

On the worktable today is a blank canvas waiting on approval of a design. The customer found something on my website that she liked but wanted something with fringe. In my mind I couldn't see fringe on it in it's original composition and I asked her if I could tweak it a bit in order to make it work with fringe.


Here's where we are today....

The Original Floorcloth Design      Hugging Bear            Angie Nelson© 2009

These are the sketches from my art journal...where I keep records of my designs and ideas..sometimes for specific client's and sometimes just things I'm thinking about painting. For this client I've scanned the page and sent her three options according to her thoughts on color. This is the first time she's seen the idea of using the bear motif as a border rather than as the only focal point on the rug.

Here are a couple pages from 2008 when I first started thinking about tipi art for floorcloths...I either use markers or Prisma colored pencils...and sometimes both.

Since my customer already knows what the bear actually looks like I probably won't do a mock up of the entire piece like I would do for a new design. There is a small design fee for new work that covers the time spent on the concept and I will actually do a small acrylic painting on paper representative of the actual piece. The fee is applied to the cost of the new floorcloth so it really is no additional cost.

So here I sit with the blank canvas...ready to start. I'm looking forward to seeing her decision...I'm kind of leaning toward the red fringe myself...how 'bout you?

Cowboys and Indians Magazine...My Favorite!

I'm checking in this morning for a quick hello and to touch base with you all. I hope you are having a wonderful summer...seems like it's hotter all around the country than ever...I know it's been killer here with the 90 degree temps and 80 % humidity.

I'm spending my time during the heat of the day in the studio or online researching the values of things going into the shop. I am working hard on my time management skills...the ad I mentioned earlier is now in print in the latest edition of Cowboys and Indians Magazine -look for Reba on the cover. I got a preview about two weeks ago and wanted so badly to show you...

Most months, there is a handsome cowboy on the cover, but every so often they will feature an outstanding cowgirl. This time it's our girl Reba with a 10 page feature article.This is also the Western and Native Art issue. Good stuff!

FYI, I have 8 years of back issues that I'm going to start parting with  soon. Who's your favorite cowboy? Real or movie star, I bet he's been on the cover of C & I. And, just so you know in advance...Russell Crowe is not going anywhere.

At any rate, my website traffic was somewhat improved over the weekend and I am excited. This issue will be distributed through September at lots of interesting venues such as the Western Design Conference in Jackson Hole, Wy and the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. My ad is in the back in the General Store section.

I had wanted badly to try and exhibit at the Western Design Conference this year. I haven't been since 2003 or since they moved it from Cody to Jackson. After some discussion with Rick back in March and a few tears later I decided he's right...again...and that it would be crazy to throw another element into my life right now...I am, after all  supposed to be enjoying this journey I'm on. So, I thought I'd take a shot with my favorite magazine and see what happens.

I chose to use an old pet portrait that's still on my website because it's one of my absolute favorite pieces. It was exhibited at the WDC in 2002. The adult dog is my dad's and is still alive and well, while the pup, Cowboy, was my son's. We lost him 2 years ago to kidney disease and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about that dog! He was the one I yelled at every morning of his life with us until his last couple..."Bad dog, bad dog!" He reminded me of the dog from the movie Hope Floats that chased and barked at the ducks everyday...well Cowboy barked at and annoyed the horses coming into the barn every morning. It's just what he did. Good memories.

I hope you will run out and get a copy of the September edition of the magazine if you don't subscribe to it already. It's full of interesting articles and the ads have more eye candy than you can absorb in one sitting. I always check them out first to see what's new with my peeps!

Talk to you soon.

Worktable Wednesday

I am using my worktable again and it feels sooooo good to know where all of my supplies are and have space to work. This was worth all the effort of the re-do. I hardly remember the bumps and bruises.

Today's project is for me. I am working on a collage with 20 years worth of memories...from day one in the floorcloth business. My first hand lettered and hand drawn business cards and brochures created by my sister and I in 1989 to accomplishments in 2009. I'm not quite sure where to draw the line or just how big this thing is going to be.

I wanted to do a collage to save wall space and put the history all in one area. I didn't realize until today what an accumulation I have! I have impressed myself. I think sometimes we forget how we get were we are.

This is me in 1990 from a newspaper article....I look like a kid! 

I had just mailed slides off to Country Living Magazine.

I think getting into the magazine gave the confidence to continue and build a business rather than to supplement our income while I was out of work raising our daughter.

The plan was to go back to work once she was in school and I did try that for a while but it felt WRONG! I am so happy the way things have turned out.

I can't wait to show you the collage when I'm done. No promises when...it will evolve as I am inspired. It will most likely be done this month. I will keep you posted. 

Has anyone else taken on such a project...so much in one piece? I don't think it will have any rhyme or reason, but we will see. Talk to you soon.

Taking a Breather

Thought I'd surface and come up for a little air and catch up...

It took almost two weeks to paint my studio. When I started moving things out away from the walls one thing lead to another and I ended up throwing out loads of things and reorganizing. After being in business for over 20 years it was beyond time to purge and start fresh in some areas. It had gotten to the point that it was too cluttered to work on more than a couple of projects at a time and ideally I needed to take it back to the basics of more floorspace with better storage.

I found a new gallon of blue paint I had left over from a job and decided I'd love to have a Carolina Blue ceiling. This was an ambitious undertaking to say the least...but me and Rock 92 got the job done. When you are painting walls and ceilings all you have to do is think or sing...so I solved all the world's problems and sang all my old favorite songs from my teenage years...funny how you never forget the words.

Here is a peek at my office...I've started putting things back in place and this was the first area of business. There are a few things that need tweaking but this area is pretty much finished. I'm waiting on Hobby Lobby to put their frames on sale for 50% off and I want to finish the skirt to hide my "shipping department" and then I'll be ready for the big reveal.

I already like the blue sky above...I thought I would paint the floor but, now after some serious thought I'm leaving it the way it is...very paint splattered...because in a week of working it will become newly paint splattered.  Too much new will make me feel like I can't work as freely as I am used to...isn't that the point of having a studio?

Rick has been working hard on his shop...the longest project on record...nothing about it has gone right or on schedule, but it's coming along. 

Not much different from the last few photos really, but much has gone on inside...

Walls and ceiling are primed and we will paint the ceiling this evening after he gets in from work...looking forward to it in the 95 degree heat...NOT. But, I am looking forward to this being FINISHED so I can get started downstairs in my shop. 

I have designed my lighting plan and am going to order the lights next week. I'm going with track lighting similar to what we had in the gallery but with smaller spots. There is so much more to choose from today compared to only 6 years ago. I loved how the gallery looked, but I am really going to be happier with the look of this shop because it will reflect more of my personality...it doesn't have to conform to anyone's rules but ours.

Today, I've been catching up on neglected things...like my blog, my Facebook Fan Page and my website. I have an ad coming out in a national magazine the end of the month and I need to get this part of my biz organized as well. So, if you need me, I'm not in my nice newly painted office in the studio...I'm sitting under the ceiling fan on the porch with my laptop...with my sweet tea of course. 

The view is pretty nice too...our Crepe Myrtle is in full bloom and will be this pretty until frost. 

Just my two cents on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Talk to you soon.

Worktable Wednesday

If you are a follower you know what my worktable "really" looks like these days...but I actually finished a commissioned floorcloth last week...Benadryl and all.  If you are a Face Book fan you've already seen it there.

Normally, I don't show commission work online because of piracy. My clients pay me to design and paint something specifically for them and it really hurts us all when a knock off shows up on ebay for mere pennies...yep it's really happened.

Anyhoo...this one was commissioned by a woman that is donating it to an auction that will benefit breast cancer and the more people that see it the better. It will be part of the silent auction at the Rally for the Cure - Golf Tournament at the Old North State Club July 14th, 2010.

She called me in May and said she wanted a floorcloth with a woman in pink on a golf course and that she liked the gate there and would like to include something from that......

So this is what we ended up with.... Stylized gal and stylized trees with an argyle border to coordinate with her pink sweater. The emblems in the corners are from the sign at the gate with the club's logo. Very "cutsie". Lots of fun.

Live, Laugh, and Do whatever it is you love!

Where Bloggers Create Party...Welcome to my Studio

I'm always a day late and at least a dollar short...and here I am again late for the party I've been looking forward to. Not my birthday party which was last night and lots of fun by the way...but the Where Bloggers Create Party sponsored by My Desert Cottage. To visit all the participants follow the link and look on the sidebar for the "Party Guests"

There are never good excuses for being late but always lots of reasons. On Friday which was my 50th birthday I had planned to finish up work in the studio around noon and take the afternoon to do some fun stuff for myself and write this post. Well, I ended up spending the day in a Benadryl funk and in and out of consciousness. I got stung by a wasp on Thursday and by Friday morning was absolutely miserable...swollen, red, blistery and itchy like you can't imagine. I didn't even celebrate my birthday until yesterday....anyway...I am now much better and ready to party!

My studio, as some of you that follow, may have guessed, is in complete chaos as I write. I've mentioned it in many posts recently that it looks like a hurricane blew through. When I signed up to participate in the party, I thought I could show you old photos and you'd never know the difference...but, that just isn't right! I will show a few old and a few current.

This post will serve two purposes....1. the blogger party. 2. the before pictures for our renovations that are soon to start.

My husband built the studio in late 1991 and I began working in there full time in January 1992. I had the upstairs portion and he had the downstairs. This is what it looked like last summer. This summer it will get railing and a board ramp like I showed in a previous post. And be updated with white trim and red screen doors. The garden in front will also be replanted with delicious smelling herbs like scented geranium and lavender.

The studio has served me well as my floorcloth studio and as space for art classes over the last 18 years. You can imagine the beating it has taken with all the hauling of materials up and down stairs and kids regularly running in and out.

I have had the same white walls and stenciled wild horse border since day one...ugh! My tastes have matured quite a bit but I just haven't had the time to make any changes until now. I'm going back with white walls but the border will bite the dust by the end of this week I hope.

 So here's where I am today....working simultaneously on floorcloth commissions, making items for the shop that will open in September, and renovating the studio upstairs and down.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT GOING TO WIN AN AWARD FOR PRETTY! Maybe next year...

You will be greeted by one of our sweet dogs upon arrival. This is Ada. She usually comes in for the day unless she's shedding...like now. By July we will be good to go again. Bless her heart, she just doesn't understand I can't have black dog hair in the finish coats of my floorcloths.

Welcome

As you walk in the stairs are immediately to the right...this is one of the first floorcloths I designed 20 years ago. The one on the floor is maybe 10 or so years old and yes that's dirt! I know I should be ashamed!

You see my office in the corner when you arrive at the top of the stairs. I've taken out the giant old Gateway computer and rarely ever take my laptop up there. We've also taken out our land line and it's actually been quite liberating to go unconnected while I'm working. I'm in the process of finishing a small floorcloth and once it's delivered I will stack as much as I can on the work table and begin painting the walls and ceiling this week. I've already unloaded some shelves.

This is my inspiration board where I have been accumulating ideas for my shop for the last couple of years...it has spilled over into a folder now but I leave the original things up to remind me that dreams come true and start with an idea or two. The custom boots have always been inspiring to my floorcloth designs...and too I am giving myself a pair sometime this year to celebrate being 50.

The corner where I keep my paint...outgrew it quickly so I also have a cabinet just for acrylics and specialty products. Another one of my first designs..."1840"

Multiple projects going on here...finished projects and loads of supplies underneath...You just don't know how much I am looking forward to opening the shop and having order back in my studio.

More finished projects and more stuff literally stuffed under the table, in boxes, drawers and cabinets.

I look forward to the day when I have floorspace again to paint large floorcloths...My worktable is 8' x 8' and my available floor space used to accommodate room size rugs. It will be so wonderful to have that much space when most of this stuff goes downstairs into Ranch Dressing.

So, this is my studio where I create. I hope you will come back in September to see the finished shop and renovated studio. I apologize for the length...when I haven't written for a while I tend to ramble. Now, I'm off to visit the other bloggers that create and look forward to seeing the beautiful places they work and live.

Oganizinig 101

I have been organizing like crazy these last 2 weeks. The studio, the website, the blog...and a little in the house.

I put myself on a schedule a couple of weeks ago and it is working great! I feel more satisfaction at the end of my day now rather than that feeling of never completely accomplishing anything. If I'm going to do everything I say I'm going to do I HAVE to be organized.

When I volunteered at the zoo's wildlife rehab center, we were extremely organized. The entire organization runs on volunteers with only 2 paid employees. The same people are rarely there two days in a row and the place runs like a top.  Lists were the key. There was one for daily, weekly and monthly jobs. I loved it and always intended on getting my home and studio on such a schedule.

This is NOT my nature...or it hasn't been until now. It may be that "age thing" again creeping up on me. Whatever the reason, though, it's working. I'm on a daily/weekly schedule so far...the monthly, I'm working on. I like this feeling of knowing what to do and when to do it. It's not like it used to be when someone else dictated my time or even when I had the gallery open and had to be there when I really had other things I'd like to do. This time it feels right and easy so it must be "meant to be".

So, the blog has some new features now, if you want to take a look. I found that you can add stationary pages (I'm always the last to know these things) so I listed my new services and workshops that will be available in September when we open. Yes, we can safely say we will be ready by then. Finally!

They are listed under the banner at the top. Let me know what you think or if you have suggestions for workshops etc.

Identity Crisis

The title of my post today is in jest but it could be an actual theory if I were to stop and think about it long enough...but I won't do that. Who has time for contemplating these days?

This image of chaos has been evolving for months now and only since my husband suggested to me last night that I "may be having an identity crisis" that I realized it looks like I truly am all over the place these days. My studio looks like an explosion occurred leaving things from one end to the other.

I know the importance of branding and doing that one thing and doing it really well. The experts continue to teach these first steps to success. For over 20 years I've essentially done the "one thing"....floorcloths... and my brand, Free Rein Art and Design, is established. When I look back at my accomplishments they far exceed any first thoughts I ever had about painting rugs. I just wanted to sell enough to afford to stay at home with Erin until she started school. I never knew that before she would be a year old my floorcloths would have been featured in Country Living Magazine or that the year she actually started school we would build a new studio with the profits from my sales.

Now, our daughter is on her own, we have a son in high school and I am about to turn 50. Time flies when you're having fun! I guess it's really going to jet now that I'm having major fun. I almost feel like I should be apologetic that I'm not painting so much anymore. This time I've had to wait for Rick to get his shop built so I can begin working on my store has been a blessing.

I have found that I have unlimited resources from the trailer for being creative and I am thrilled that so much that may have been thrown away will be recycled and re-loved. I am first a designer by nature and degree, and secondly an artist. Below is a couple of boxes I have on my work table this week. They are almost finished and will be available in the shop this fall...possibly in my etsy shop as well if I find more string boxes. On Wednesdays, I will be featuring what I am working on during the week. I'm trying to make myself some sort of schedule so I will post more regularly.

Wooden Cigar Box (from my junk swap partner) decoupaged with selections from vintage 1960's travel brochures.

Inside lid still has original cigar logo

Banjo Strings box sealed with poly with marbles for feet

 Lid and bottom fitted with old sheet music

So, if you have wondered if I still paint, the answer is yes. I have begun accepting commissions again and have work scheduled on my calendar for June. This means a busier summer since now we have to begin working on the store rather than working from it as previously planned. Due to the time constraints I will not be traveling to Wyoming to exhibit this year as I had hoped either but nonetheless I am very excited about what is happening here on the home front.

I hope to in the future continue to design and paint floorcloths, but too I want to be a designer on a daily basis and do more than that "one thing". I think turning 50 does something to us that says it's okay to do it our way and the heck with what the experts say. If I want to design a belt today and an rug tomorrow who's to say that's incongruent and won't work? Not me. I feel like diversity is essential today.

What do you think? Diversity or that one thing? There is no right or wrong, I suppose...just whatever works for you.

Hand Painted Spring Placemats and Table Runners

Happy Spring! We had a beautiful day on Saturday and I worked outside all day enjoying the sun on my skin...something we haven't felt around here in a very long time. It was a wonderful day.

 While I was pulling out the dead in my herb garden it reminded me of a series of table top pieces I designed about 16 or 17 years ago for Lexington Furniture's Weekend Retreat Collection. It's a beautiful classic pattern that never goes out of style so I decided today to pull it out of retirement and offer it once again on my website for Spring, Summer and Fall  2010.

They can be totally customized with your favorite herbs, with or without sunflowers, in all shapes and sizes. The heart-shaped herb wreath on the placemat is also available as a circular wreath. The possibilities are just endless and that's the beauty of hand painted accessories.

The Ivy pattern was a major design in the 1990's when Waverly introduced the ivy wall paper and fabrics. We actually built the studio with the profits mostly from the Ivy floorcloths and tabletop pieces. I retired the pattern completely in 2001  because I just couldn't bear to paint another one. Now, I look at them with fond memories and too am bringing them out of retirement...for a while. I believe I will update it somewhat if I keep it open.


All the tabletop pieces are created on a #10 weight canvas, primed, hand painted with acrylics, and sealed with 5 coats of acyrlic poly. They are hemmed and cork backed to protect your table top.

For complete ordering information click here to go directly to the ordering page on Free Rein Art and Design.

Pay it Forward. Nominate a Kreativ Blogger!

 

While I was in the barn last night brushing all the loose hairs off my horses, unbeknownst to me, I was being mentioned for The Kreativ Blogger Award by my favorite North Carolina born/Wyoming Cowgirl Artist...the digital art guru...Deb Trotter, Cowboy's Sweetheart.  Thanks for the nomination Deb!

I discovered Deb's blog a few years ago, and found out that we had many things in common. Not only were we both from NC, but she lives and works in one of my most favorite places on earth, Cody,WY. I could move there today and live happily ever after. Snow and all! ...and the one thing that I think is just too funny is that she is crazy about Sam Elliott. So am I, so much that I named our son Sam. And as much as I love, love, love Robert Duvall as Gus in Lonesome Dove, I love Tommy Lee Jones' accent as Capt'n Call better. Nothing sweeter than a really good Southern drawl!

So, in keeping with the blogger's before me, I will give you the background information that Debra Cortese found and included in her blog.


I’ve become a bit of an information addict, I couldn’t do this without a little background research. I quickly found reference to the original ‘Kreativ Blogger’ post and requirements for nominated Kreativ Bloggers. I believe they have been edited and abbreviated over time and cyberspace. 

Kreativ Blogger originated in May 2008 in a post by Huldas Verden as noted by Clay Garden author in this April 2009 post:
“Finally I found that it was started in Norway by a blogger named Huldas Verden.”

When the Clay Garden post was written in April 2009, the author’s Google search came up with 712 entries for Kreativ Blogger.
When I searched today, Feb 28, 2010 for ‘Kreative Blogger’ awards, Google comes up with 23,200,000 entries! Hence, the power of blogging!

Here are the requirements that I found, and am passing on to 7 fellow Kreativ Bloggers (names and links to blogs at the end of this post):

The Kreativ Blogger award comes with the following requirements:
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Seven Things You May Find Interesting About Me 
1. I live in the same town I was born in and only 2 miles from my parents' home where I grew up. We, (my husband and son), my parents, my siblings and their children  have Sunday dinner (here lunch is dinner and dinner is supper) together at my parent's home each week. Our daughter now lives in Oklahoma and says she misses Sunday dinner with us and wonders each week what Momaw has cooked.

2. Our 2 barn cats follow me back to the house every morning to share a can of Friskie's and then sleep all day in the patches of sun peeping through the windows.  I let them out just before my husband gets home from work. On the weekends I have to sneak them in after hubby goes about his day...they know to lay low.

3.  I don't start anything creative until I get my "chores" done. If I do, I will never get anything done in the house, yard or barn and then will feel stressed and resentful that I have to do the domestic stuff. I also don't have scheduled business hours but I work in the studio usually 6 days a week for as long as it takes to get to a point in my projects that I am happy with.

 4. I once opened a beautiful gallery and moved my studio from our farm into town. After a while I discovered I wasn't inspired to paint, nor did I have the time. I made the heart wrenching decision to close it up and come back home. Good move both ways. Learned lots!

5. I took a break from painting full time from 2005-2009 to homeschool our son. During this time I taught art to about 30 students (mostly homeschooled). People will spend money on their children even in a recession.
 
6.  For 3 years while Sam was homeschooled we volunteered with the NC Zoo's Wildlife Rehab Center. I gained a wealth of knowledge there and even wondered several times if I had missed my calling. My favorite area to work in was the aviary nursery in the spring and summer. I loved taking care of the orphaned and injured baby birds, especially the blue jays. They were the sweetest...robins the meanest and starlings the most annoying. My most memorable experiences there were catching up raptors (hawks and owls of all kinds) and force feeding the (educational) king snake it's weekly mouse.

7.  And lastly, ...I grew up in a haunted house. I know, some of you don't believe me. I dare you to spend the night there. The house we built here on our farm too, has had it's share of "sightings" which could be a post all it's own. I even saw a "ghost party" in an old cabin we stayed in for a week in Wyoming. I should really write about that one!

 And the Nominees Are:
Amber Jean Sculpting a Creative Life
Bella Dreams
Junk Sophisticate
Lone Wolf Cowgirl Art
Notes From the Rookery
The Lucky Star Gallery
The Mares Tales

This was hard for me to narrow down to only 7 You guys and gals rock! I hope you will pay it forward.