Jenny Mendes

Emily explaining scraffito This turned into a house, and below, it's maker! lot 'O texture! This is going to live in an insurance office cubicle, perhaps to protect and defend it's occupant? I couldn't have done it without Kelly, assistant extraordinaire! 

I had so much fun at Arrowmont that I decided to get matching tattoos with Tolley, my new bestie.   Not!!!!!!!!! it's a fake, but thanks Kathy King for leaving them behind....

I'm back from my mini blog vacation.....lots to share, but first I had to pass this along, from Glynnis! Actually it's a caterpillar.  But what a great face to distract predators!  I definitely think I'll be using this as inspiration next time I am painting scully cups!  

Hybrids - Teri Frame from Judy Anderson on Vimeo .

Having a great time here at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, my class is wonderful!  Here is a little video for you.  I'll be back next week blogging again!  

Having a great time here at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, my class is wonderful!  Here is a little video for you.  I'll be back next week blogging again!  

I will be at the  Ann Arbor Street Art Fair,  http://www.artfair.org/ this week and then off to Arrowmont to teach a week long class. See you when I get back at the end of the month! 

The scarlet runner bean has won my heart.  Her color is stunning in its boldness & subtlety.  I can imagine a piece of the thinnest silk dyed this color, and the puff, an added delight!  The regular climbing variety An ornamental with a lovely leaf edamame!!!!! someone took a bite out of that leaf.

What is that you say? They are among other things, called cucamelons, or mouse melons and I hope to grow them next year.  The size of a grape and tasting like a cucumber with a squeeze of tangy lime. But in the meantime, I am hungrily awaiting my cucumbers, hoping they don't up and die on me.  I've learned all kinds of things about the way they vine this year, first intuitively, finding their little tendrils, and helping them climb.  And, then I did a little research, which made me love them even more, and their sensitive little tendril leaves that they send out into the air, looking for a connection.   A fun fact about cucumbers: " Cucumber tendrils are literally touch sensitive. When the tendril comes in contact with what feels to be a solid object, it will slowly and tightly wrap around it. Cucumber tendrils are made up of specialized cells that  react chemically and then electrically  (much like our own sense of touch) to being touched. ...

This book took a long time for me to get through. Non fiction, takes place in Berlin, 1933. It is a stunning eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold, as witnessed through America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany, William Dodd & the people around him.  It was both horrifying and illuminating.  But I was glad for the experience. Then I tried to listen to Walden.  The classic.  I guess I wasn't in the mood, or maybe I didn't like the sound of reader's voice, but I bailed after the first CD.  Will have to try again maybe in the winter? Next..... I had read this once, but it was delightful to listen to again.   Clearly I am a fan of Muriel Barbery.  I think I enjoyed it even more the second time.  And I think my dear Claude might also smell like brioche. and now... Just started this today.   The author was recommended by a reader of this blog!!! Thank you so much! I can say, I am loving it, and just one disc in. ...

I could use an extra pair of hands right now.....

You might not think that much about peas, but actually they are incredible. The tendrils are delicious to eat, and the way they grow is so interesting.  A tiny breeze might be all it takes for the little voyager end of a tendril bit to find a bit of hope for something to hold on to.  I've enjoyed building trellises this year, and helping them navigate a little bit closer to an open branch.  Lots of rain = stellar pea year!

The anticipation, and subsequent opening of this iris that my sweet former neighbor shared with me years ago, is way better than fireworks!  all this rain was finally good for something.  Happy 4th!

you'd think i'd get faster, and yet the opposite seems to be true.  

I totally have a crush on this flower.   We have had so much rain things are looking great A pink Astilbe cloud continued larkspur pleasure ...............!

http://allysonandjeremy.org/drawings-a#/id/i4946236 Where True Power is Born  by: Max Strom We own nothing in this world. Everything we own is contained in our heart center. Everything outside the heart center is not ours. It passes. It’s temporary. Everything in the heart center is real. The love we have for others, the love we feel from others, all resides in the heart center. It is the place where we sometimes experience the greatest pain, b ut it is also the fountain from which unconditional love flows—where joy, gratitude, forgiveness, and compassion are born. Where true power is born. The heart center is not a physical organ that beats in our chest; it is the temple of our highest emotions and even our highest Self. It is experienced primarily in the chest region, and this is why the chest is the most difficult area of the body to open, because it is the home of our emotions and our memories. All spiritual healing involves the heart center. It is where we truly live and ...