On my way to Illinois!

Hellloooo!

This is a picture of my dear friends from Illinois who I miss so much. And if I haven't told you,

we moved to the Northwest from Illinois about 2 years ago and haven't had a chance to get back to visit yet. But they have come to see us more than once. So tonight I am packing my bags as I am flying out to visit them! Needless to say...I can't wait to see my friends. It will be so fun to reconnect. So...you won't be hearing from me for a little while but I will have lots of stuff to share when I get back. I'll miss you!

Meagan

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's in my life. My Dad is 85 years old and suffering from Dementia. He still knows me though. He is a gentle man who was a writer and a wood worker. He use to build beautiful furniture for my Mom. We cherish the items he built and the stories he crafted with the words he chose. He doesn't remember the stories too well anymore or the measurements he would need to build something beautiful. But he does still remember his kids names and still knows how to love us. I cherish the times I spent with my Dad working with him in his wood shop. I will always remember his advice to "measure twice, cut once!" Now I find myself watching our boys helping their Dad with measurements. Holding the wood steady while their Dad is at the other end making a cut. Watching them together makes my heart so full. They too will have the wonderful memories of being in the shop with their Dad. Then there is our Heavenly Father. The one who never makes mistakes. The one who knows all there is to know about His children and still loves us beyond measure. The one who held the lumber all by Himself, with His arms outstretched wide. Just for his children, for all the mistakes they would ever make. The one who will never forget their names. I am so thankful for the Father's in my life. I hope you have a wonderful Father's Day. One full of reflection about how blessed we are to have them.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Hello!
So after a week of intense voting, we have a winner. The winner of our "What's your favorite berry pole is...

RASPBERRY!!!

Yes, Raspberry took the lead with a whopping 8 votes! And now for second place. It was very close, we almost had a tie, but with 4 votes our second place winner is....

STRAWBERRY!!

Congratulations Strawberry on being the official second place favorite berry. Squeaking in at third place is...

BLACKBERRY!

And last but not least (please don't feel blue), the main ingredient in my favorite salad, the very lovely...

BLUEBERRY

So these paintings are my latest. The colors are coming across a little intense compared to the originals. I am working on getting my product line together for the Bainbridge Island Studio Tour that I will be participating in this summer, August 7-9. I am planning on making sets of cards to go along with prints and the originals. Being that I have never done this before it's a little tricky figuring out how much product I should have on hand. Any advice would be well received and I also would love some feedback on the paintings. I am getting very excited about the Studio Tour. I don't have a studio that is in the tour but I will be set up in a garden area of another artists studio. It will be our (me and hubby) first time attempting something like this. Designing the booth is making our brains spin with ideas. We found a really cool old window that we are going to use to display the artwork inside of the window panes. It has wonderful old peely blue paint on it. Reminds me of the boat picture I painted. As we get closer to putting it together I will share pictures. Remember to vote for your favorite berry painting. I promise we'll move on to another topic soon.



Have a great day!



Meagan

A Beautiful Evening...

Last night hubby, youngest son and I went for a walking adventure. We walked way down the beach until we got to this dock that we could always see when we went over this bridge.

On the way back we walked along the road instead of the beach (because the tide was rapidly coming in!) and came across this little community pickleball court. Hubby grew up playing pickleball...it's kind of like ping pong on a tennis court with tennis rules...sort of. Anyway, we played a few games of pickleball and I was the looser but had so much fun.

Then we went off to have some ice-cream. While eating the ice-cream we drove around some beautiful neighborhoods and came across this great house that had hung their laundry out to dry. I never thought that laundry could be cute...laundry rooms can definitely be cute, but laundry? This laundry was SO CUTE! Makes me want a laundry line...not allowed in my neighborhood...too bad because I could maybe have cute laundry. Hope you are all having a great weekend.

BERRY-LICIOUS

Hello,

So I must ask...What is your favorite berry? Strawberry, so red and juicy...Raspberry, sweet and tender...Blackberry, all hot and bubbly in a cobbler or Blueberry with it's frosted blue skin. I love them all. Funny, I like fresh strawberries and raspberries in jam but it's just the opposite for my hubby. How about you? Let me know on the berry pole...which is your favorite. I am painting a new series of berry paintings and the winner from the pole will be shown on the blog. Can't wait to hear what you think...share the post with your friends and let's find out which berry tops the charts with our very unofficial pole. Hope your day is fantastic!

END OF YEAR PARTY

Last night was the final gathering for our church youth group until the fall. It was a big SPLASH!!! Tons of fun...thanks Matt for the 250 water balloons! We had a crazy fun time with the water balloon fight and the chariot races. The kids in this youth group are awesome - you guys rock!!! Thanks for coming to youth group and letting us be a small part of your lives.

Here is a video of all the fun events.

Enjoy!

Sweet Dreams

Last Thursday night our weather did quite a change. It went from 90 degrees to a blustery 60. In the process the sky got really dark and the wind really kicked up, throwing leaves and sticks everywhere. But on the western horizon the sky was doing something amazing... it was very surreal...it was a gift. This is the sky I would like to leave you with before you go to bed. Sleep well!
Meagan

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Hi!
Wow, I bet you thought that I had given up on this blogging thing. No...just been painting and painting and painting! I gave you a glimpse of what I was working on fully expecting to show you the finished product in a few days and then...new opportunities arose and the paint brush and I have been inseparable ever since.

I found out about this great opportunity in my community to have my artwork juried for an artists studio tour. I thought I might as well give it a shot and what do ya know!!! I'm IN!!! So excited about this but scared too because I have to produce a ton of stuff to sell. Hubby has been my hero, helping me with the whole business aspect of it. ( Not my gift at all) Hopefully before long I will have a shop on etsy and be in business. This last Friday was the "First Friday" event at A is for Artist Gallery where my original work is being shown. It was a lot of fun and had a great time talking with folks. Got some great feedback on my work and a lot more interest than the first "First Friday".

Hope you all are doing well. The weather here in the Northwest has been amazing! HOT HOT HOT!!! But it has cooled down and we are back around 70 degrees. Last weekend we had a great road trip to Mount Rainier. WOW! It is so spectacular. We had so much fun together as a family. It was 90 degrees and we were playing in the snow. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Take care and I will keep you posted on this artistic adventure!

Meagan