Rosa

                                                                Happy almost weekend!!

   It's been a mixed bag of things in my household of ups and downs all week - the downs being pretty down ( or so it seems in the moments). But I am constantly trying to learn from the "bumps in the road", knowing they still hold blessings in disguise. Scroll further down for the art :):)

   Like this example: our Annie, AKA BooBoo (English Cocker who just celebrated 12 yrs. last Fri)). I just scheduled an appt. on that Sat. to have a growth under her stubby tail checked out for a most likely removal because I noticed it getting much bigger rather quickly. Same day I made the appt. that growth ruptured causing blood drippings all over. An ER visit to our vet indicated it def. needed to be removed and gave me a solution to apply anytime it would open up again before Tues. scheduled sx. We covered everything with sheets, blankets and towels-including areas of carpeting to somewhat protect. I kept a flashlight with me at night just to check on her. Mon. eve it again ruptured and was REALLY bad ( I won't get into details - good thing for my nursing background). I was able to stop bleeding and it was OK til appt. Tues. Chose to have teeth cleaned at the same time(she has had quite a number of teeth removed despite getting her teeth brushed daily since she was a pup). Never had sx. til mid afternoon. Had to have canine and small bony mass above it removed. Stitches in mouth and at base of tail. Picked her up early eve with her still being under the influence of the anesthetics, etc. with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth and spent a sleepless night trying to comfort her as best I could. Even gave her bits of water through a dropper. Truly pitiful - like when you have an infant that can't tell you what's hurting or how bad. She finally slept a few hours and when she awoke , she woke me up by licking my cheek (blessing). She's been improving each day since. Another blessing in this - although it was tres expensive, we had been saving for a new furnace -having been told (falsely) we needed a new one ( a whole other story). Finally found someone very honest and reliable - no new furnace needed! This money paid for Annie's expenses.  Won't even venture into the other stuff, knowing it always works out in the end. Blessings.

  In honor of breast cancer awareness month:

  I have been so inspired by Tracey and so many other talented watercolor/ illustration artists I have "met" through Paint Party Friday that I decided to have a go at it although in no way do I consider myself a sketcher or watercolor painter. I began in my 5" x 8" Strathmore Visual Watercolor Journal. Pencilled in the figure and walkway. Used a combination of watercolors, acrylic paints and Pitt Pens. The hearts are punched from gelli plate prints. PLEASE BE SURE TO GET YOUR ANNUAL MAMMOGRAMS AND BE AWARE OF ANY CHANGES YOU FEEL OR SENSE!
                Linking up to Inspiration Avenue - theme of pink for breast cancer awareness.

  Next up- a Halloween project for Simon Says Monday Challenge - which is "Spooky", Mandarin Orange Monday, and Glue It Tuesday:

                                                         Spook House ( 2 1/2" x 3 1/2")

  Products: wood house ( Michael's); black acrylic paint; Boo girl -ARTchix Studio; beads, wire, stickers, patterned papers from my stash.

  On to my last canvas of the wabi - sabi series inspired by Serena Barton I have been working on over the last few months. "Rosa" was written by Keith Harkin about his young Godchild. We got to hear him perform this song the other week during the Celtic Thunder show. They had silhouettes of little Rosa showing in the back drop. Just beautiful.

                                                 Only You Tube link I could find for the song.

  The inspired canvas:

                                                       Rosa  (5" x 7" canvas board)

  I began by gluing torn papers down across the lower third with words about love, affection, beauty. I painted and blotted on a layer of Artists Loft Parchment paint. "Rosa" was pencilled in at the top rt. Can you see it? Next a light coat of a blue reinker glaze and a green reinker glaze (see Serena's book Wabi - Sabi Art Workshop for the recipe). While it was still wet I sponged several colors of reinkers across the collaged area. Did some tweaking by adding some acrylic paints with my finger and adding and removing paint as needed. Although it doesn't show at all here, there are bits of the words showing through the paint.

  Linking up to  Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Glue It Tuesday, Inspiration Avenue, Mandarin Orange Monday, Paint Party Friday, Simon Monday Challenge.

        " Healing is a journey. It involves stepping out of our habitual 
     roles, our conventional scripts, and 
       improvising a dancing path."    Gabrielle Roth