ORCHID

My  Sister brought me a beautiful Orchid last weekend.  It's still Alive!!!  It is so beautiful I just had to share some photos of it.

Enjoy!

A POT OF GOLD

We spent Christmas with my Parents in Eastern Washington.  It was good and I am so glad we did.  My Father will be 88 on New Years Day.  He is very old and frail now...he has very little memory.  He has dementia and has gone way down hill the last month or so.  There are many times he will look at me, with my Husband sitting by my side, and ask me if I have a boyfriend.  I tell him "Yes!"  "In fact I married him and here he is...and we have two children who are your Grandsons!".  He gets a big smile on his face and says "oh...that's good."  

My Father was a beautiful writer.  He was a newspaper man.  Worked for a small town newspaper and wrote wonderful stories...mostly about his life during a simpler time.  I had been given the copies of the articles he had written and had intentions of putting them together for my siblings some day.  We moved and I had put extra special care into packing them.  The problem was I couldn't remember where.  The other day I told my Sister that I couldn't find them.  It took a lot of guts to tell her that.  She wasn't very happy with me and neither was I.  I went to bed that night feeling so restless about it.  But here's the crazy part...I had a dream about where I put them that night.  I looked where my dream told me to look and there they were!  Talk about an answer to prayer!!!  

My Sister had talked to a woman who works with the council on aging.  She had told my Sister how good it would be for Dad to see the articles he wrote again.  So, with articles in hand I brought them to him for Christmas.  He didn't remember that he had ever written for a news paper.  But after he started reading the articles he started remembering the things he wrote about.

  Finding those articles was like finding a pot of gold.  I can't tell you what it meant to me to see my Dad have a little glimmer of the times he had written about come back to him.  I was so thankful.  On our way home we took the ferry back to the island and were greeted with a rainbow shining on the tip of the island.  I was reminded of the pot of gold...I will cherish this Christmas...most likely the last I will have with my Dad but one I will always treasure.

Glimpses of Christmas

The tree is up and very sparkly it is...some glimpses into my favorite images from the tree.

 This is the ornament I picked out when I was five.  It's ANCIENT!!! and full of memories.  My Mom...sweet dear woman...would give us a new ornament every year.  Sometimes we would get to pick out our own.  I still remember going to Valbourgs gift shop with Mom and getting to pick out an ornament for my collection.  I thought this red plastic star was the most BEAUTIFUL of all.  The way it glows and reflects the light had me mesmerized.  I have treasured it every year since.  More the memory than the ornament...but it's the ornament that holds the memory for me...it reminds me of a sweet time I shared with my Mom.  Now we carry on the tradition and buy or make our boys ornaments every year that they will some day have for their own Christmas tree.

this one... and

this one...

and this one too.

I just love everything that sparkles at Christmas time.  The other night I was looking at a pillow my sweet Sister Larinda made for us last year...it sparkles too!

Isn't it beautiful!!!  Thank you sweet Sister!  I just love your amazing handiwork!

To top off my sparkly post, here is a picture of something we did the other night. Our family went to a really fun, free event on the island...the Christmas Ships.  I have always wanted to see them but haven't until now...they are very sparkly too!

The boat has professional singers on it and when the come into the Harbor they just stop for about 20 minutes and sing to the crowd on the shore.  I cried...I always cry at things like this.  You should see me at the 4th of July parade.  There's just something about nostalgia that gets me every time.

I hope you're having a sparkly Christmas...full of wonderful, memory making times.

Much love,

Meagan

p.s.  I also cried when Frosty the Snowman melted...Karen and I had a good cry together! :)

HOPPY HOLIDAYS!

( Newest painting for Christmas - "Hoppy Holidays")

In honor of the quirkiness of Frog Rock on Bainbridge Island I painted this new piece and titled it "Hoppy Holidays".  I know...loud groans.  Anyway, it turned out fun and I made it into cards that say "Hoppy Holidays" on them which will be available at the Studio Tour.  So this Friday - Sunday (Dec. 3-5) I will be showing my work at the Fenwick Photography Studio on Ericksen Avenue. 

Hoppy Holidays Everyone!

Seattle Half Marathon

It was an early morning at our house. Today was the Seattle Marathon which Hubby has been in training for this 13.1 mile run.  He has been training really hard for this...ooober hard.  Makes me tired just hearing about how far he has been running!  So today was the day...which meant getting up by 4:00am to get ready to be on the 5:20am ferry in order to get into Seattle in time for a 7:30am start.  What was really impressive is that our teenage boys joined us and family drove 2 hours to be here in time for the start of the race.

(obviously early...still dark.  Our two boys and Hubby)

It ended up being a great weather day for the race...cold but no wind or rain which we were very happy for.

The start of the race was an amazing sea of people...never could see Hubby at the start.

We made posters to cheer him on...they said things like:

"Stretchy pants never looked so good"

"Rain or Shine you look real fine"

"Watch where you spit...there are people next to you!"

We rang cowbells and shook our pom poms too...It was a very fun event, especially with family and friends there to help cheer him on.  Here he is as he is approaching the finish line...he's so fast he's just a blur!

He had a goal of 1 hour and 50 minutes.  Look at what he ended up with!

( Way to go!!! Beating your goal!!!)

I was so proud of him I just kept kissing and kissing him.  My Hero!

Congratulation Sweetie...I couldn't be more proud of you!

Bainbridge Island Rowing Auction Piece - Titled "AS ONE"

I am working on a new painting for an organization near and dear to my heart.  Bainbridge Island Rowing Club is an organization on Bainbridge Island teaching young adults to row.  My oldest son has been involved in this and it has been a very important part of his life.  This sport teaches so much more than just the technique of rowing...it teaches how important it is to work in a team as one.  A boat or "shell" as they are called, of eight rowers will not do well if even one of the participants is in it for themselves.  It absolutely has to be a team effort.  The character building and life lessons learned in this sport are like nothing I have seen in a sports setting.  The coaches with this organization are amazing and have given so much of themselves.  So to thank them for all they have done I hope that in doing a painting for their auction called " Dream Big" will help further their efforts financially. 

This is a sneak peak at the unfinished painting called "As One".

I have really enjoyed painting the water in this piece.  It has a lot of depth and movement...it reminds me of a beautiful piece of music.  The painting was inspired from a photo taken by a fantastic local photographer named Gary Matoso.  His work is amazing!  

It was a little unlike me to share an unfinished painting but the week ahead is so busy I probably won't get a chance to share again before the auction.  Best of luck to the Dream Big dinner and auction!

FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK AND OPEN HOUSE - TONIGHT!

I will be showing my art work tonight at this fun and FREE event that is in conjunction with the Bainbridge Island First Friday Art Walk. I have some great new fall cards if you need a special card for the Thanksgiving season.

I have been helping to plan this Open House for the Winslow Building at 400 Winslow Way East for the last month and it will be so much fun.  There are 2 bands, 8 local artists, free wine and Hors D’oeuvres.  A few of the artists are showing their work for the first time here on Bainbridge Island and I have to tell you…it looks GREAT!!!  Be sure to come to the back of the buildings’ beautiful courtyard to find the artists and goodies.

The Weather may be a little tiny bit wet but don’t let that stop you from having a great time!

Hope you see you tonight!

Meagan

Talking Brush Studio