autumnal touches inspired by the beach

having just returned from the beach

and

 inspired

so inspired!

 by the colors of the sea and sky,

 golden wheat fields

 and sea oats,

i went about making my home feel a bit more autumnal....

 painting by me, barn wood frame by my friend, mark porter, gourds from my garden

 painting and corn husk wreath by me

 hand painted doily pumpkins by me, blue hydrangeas from my garden

 huge leaf bowl made by me, from an elephant ear mold

 gourds from the garden and saved over the years

 my collection of chenille pumpkins by rita, in front of my painting

we have returned to cooler weather, shorter days and longer shadows....

i am urging to nest 

and spend less time in the gardens.

i love to bring out new props to restyle for the changing seasons.

i sure am glad you come by and visit me!

happy fall

y'all!

erin

p.s.  we had a fantastic time at the beach....the whole family together...i won't bore you with the story of how we rented a pontoon boat  (while singing the "gilligan's island" theme song)  and how a freak storm came up suddenly, with 4 foot waves and freezing rain.....mr. dan ("skipper") got the boat to a beach where we had to jump in the water just to warm up.....which is the best view of rain drops hitting the water and dancing up (forrest gump style)..... well, the storm cleared up just as suddenly as it had appeared....we traveled along and came across a big family of dolphin including a BABY with a pink tummy, who did back flips for us....incredible!  as we got close to docking the boat for the day, my son-in-law decided to jump into the water one more time....after jumping, he said in his calm air traffic controller way "wow, this water is really shallow"....it was like 12" deep.....yep, so shallow he broke his ankle and yesterday he had a plate and 5 screws put into it (by some doctors, of course)....

nope, won't bore you with that story.

;0)

p.p.s  we are very grateful that our son in law did not dive into the shallow water.

"fly"

this is one of my latest encaustic art pieces.....
called

FLY

my photos and imagery, old sewing patterns, papers and stenciled letters.....
all lusciously layered with encaustic wax on and old wooden box.

we are flying the coop....

mr. dan is treating me
 and all of our adult children (ages 28, 31 and 32)
to a trip to the beach...
yunno how i love being near the water!
we have not been together,  for a family vacation in years......
due to (of course) jobs, distance, life, etc....

so...
we have been counting down the days
and we are all so very excited
 to spend a week at the beach
 together!

and
FLY
we will.


be well my friends,
erin



p.s.  i have taken a leap of faith....good grief, i am becoming brave..... and jumped into the world of "giclee" printing...this is high quality archival printing of some of my paintings...in order to make my art more affordable than the "original".

p.p.s.  when i get back from the beach, these prints should be ready for my preview.....and fingers crossed.... i hope to be able to offer some of these prints for you in my new etsy shop.

p.p.p.s.   mr. dan is almost done with his training....
almost.

i've been published!

i am thrilled to announce, that one of my photos and an interview has been published!
yep, like in a real magazine!
see it sitting right there.
yesterday, one of my bloggy friends from california (thanks Karen!) informed me that she had spotted the piece in a magazine.....and she wondered why i had not announced it....well, cause i did not know it was out yet and kinda forgot about it too.....
so, Mr. dan and i ran right out and tracked down our copy (o.k. copy(s)) .... at the second store we tried.... we excitedly stood in the magazine aisle at Kroger and quickly thumbed through until we found my photo...and there it was!!  how fun for us.....for me!
he said he was "proud" of me...i think i will keep him.

here is the photo they used.
and here is the original post about my "aqua christmas decor"....here.
unfortunately, one of the photos was omitted.....not sure why....because it was THE photo that sent the magazine to my blog post in the first place....something they had seen on pinterest (i think, not sure).

so....here is that photo....the one that was omitted.....actually, it looks like there is a space for it in the lower left of the article.....so maybe it was the wrong size or something.....anyhooo....
it is o.k.
i am super excited about this.....
 as i have secretly wished to be published in a magazine some day.
and now i have.
yay for me!
toot toot.

thanks "vintage holiday" magazine!!

erin

p.s.  not sure why the article was titled "christmas by the bay"...cause i do not live by a bay.....
the magazine's artistic license, i guess.
p.p.s  i would like to live near a bay though....that would be cool.