Saturday, January 30, 2010

Angel Orbs

I was just reading about Orbs (the round unexplained circles of light you find in photo's) on the website of Diana Cooper who has written several books about angels and the like, when I noticed that a lot of my snowmen paintings have orb-like qualities about them!
I dug up a few of my photo's that have orbs in them so you can see what I'm talking about.



It is said that they are angels, guides, or beings of light and the orb is the energy that they emit.
Doesn't it look like Pat is looking at this one?


There are a couple in this photo of the kids at Grandmom's Xmas party 2 years ago. See the one on the couch?
Anyway, you get the idea. I love seeing them pop up out of nowhere in my photo's, it's like a huge treat. If you like to see them too, you can go on Diana's website and there are about 13 pages of Orb photo's. She even explains which angel (etc) they are. Here's the link: http://www.dianacooper.com/angelsorbsunicorns/angelorbs/orb-pictures/album-5.html








Friday, January 29, 2010

The other day in the mail I received a card from one of my customers-totally out of the blue- just sending me good wishes. It put a smile on my face for the rest of my day. It made me think about how I have the nicest customers ever, and I feel so blessed to be doing business with such wonderful people. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who's bought anything from me and send you all a valentine from my heart to yours.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Gentle Snow

I look outside and I see tiny snowflakes drift down from the sky and gently float on the light breeze to the ground. I suppose if I was at the beach it would look something like my (above) painting. There's just something so serene about snowflakes falling when it's not too windy out. I just finished this, and a few other snowy paintings which all will be on Ebay tonight.
http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist And here's my Kiya all warm and snugly in her, wait... no - that's Simba's bed. My 2 cats are having 'bed wars' again- stealing each other's beds. They do it on purpose to make the other one mad. (They really don't like each other) But it's kind of funny to watch, and she looks so pretty on my soft fuzzy sweater. It matches her perfectly.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

In the middle of the cold dreary winter, there isn't much to do OUTside around here, but it's a good time to go within. That's kind of what this painting is about. It's about breaking free of old beliefs and patterns, and things that look real on the surface, are just a mirage. Everyones truth is different according to their own personal beliefs.

Lately I have been pondering many of life's questions and coming up with some really good answers! For instance, in case you haven't read, my ex husband is now staying at my house (as a guest only). He came just when my life seemed to be on track and I was really happy, so I questioned why? Why now? Why HIM? Why ME?! The answer that I got was really surprising.
He is here for me to 'clean up' old patterns and beliefs. It's as if someone said "Look, you have a 2nd chance to get ALL of your energy back in tact and move forward." Already, I can see that this has been a way to heal unresolved issues -in a whole different setting, with me- coming at them from a whole new perspective. Now I can look at this little 'visit' as a gift.

It's also been healing for my kids to have their parents back together (in the same house anyway) and to have that core family together, for however brief it may be. I know they've really missed it all these years.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Beautiful Trees

It was a mild 50 degrees out here today and even though it was raining, I made it a point to get my walk in. I have been slacking off with the colder weather lately- mostly because I'm so cold in my house that it's hard to go outside and be colder!
Anyway, it was nice to be outside again in the fresh air. About 1/3 of the way through my walk, I realized that it's about that same place every time, when I start to look up from the ground and notice the trees around me, and how absolutely beautiful they are. I can even feel their energy showering down on me as I walk under them. I know at that point Source energy is flowing freely through me because not only were the trees beautiful, the grass was beautiful, the clouds were beautiful, even the rain was beautiful. Nothing is bad when you are one with the Universe.
This gorgeous tree is on Route 6A in Barnstable. There are some amazingly beautiful old trees along Route 6A, but then again, every tree is beautiful.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Giving

http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist
Tucked away in my cold little New England town, it's hard to really grasp the whole Haitian tragedy but that doesn't mean that it hasn't been on my mind everyday since the quake. Tonight I took Sienna and her friend to the mall and there was a booth set up to take donations. It made me happy to watch people as they stopped and offered what they could. I don't have much to give, but I have already given what I could and I am working on setting up some of Ebay auctions to donate a % of my profit to the Clinton/Bush charity (look for the little ribbon). But, even though I'm doing all this, I still feel so helpless, especially when I hear about all the orphaned children. That breaks my heart. I just want to take them all home with me.

On a more positive and local note, I just heard about someone else who is doing nice things for animals here in our country. My customer/friend Pat (ebay user name: lotsasalsa) is currently feeding and giving fresh water to 5 ferrel cats every day, that live around her house in Pennsylvania. She's even tried to entice them inside on the colder nights with treats.
I wish I could send her some cash to help pay for cat food but unfortunately all I can send her right now is lots of good energy and love. Thanks Patricia, I appreciate what you are doing.

Here's a link to her Ebay items. She makes lovely glass things and sells them at great prices: http://shop.ebay.com/lotsasalsa/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

These pictures made me happy today. Thought I'd share them with you......
As you might have guessed it's ANOTHER cold rainy New England day, so what better than to look at photo's from when it was sunny and warm out?

Tourists at the beach. That's when you know it's summer here on the Cape. They are easy to spot.
They are usually the only ones with umbrella's and all the beach gear as if they are going to stay at the beach for a week.

Ahhh I could go for a nice long, solitary walk on the flats right about now. And look, not a soul in sight! That would be heaven.
I remember this day. Sienna was posing for a commissioned painting (well, not THIS pose lol) but anyway, the mud was warm and gooshy under our feet. She lost her flip flop in it, then finally took them off.
It was such a beautiful day out and I was so happy to have my little girl with me for the entire day. (you know... with no friends, computer, cell phones, or ipods!)
There's nothing better than watching the sparkles dance on the water to make me happy.


I love this photo of Payne's Creek in Brewster because there is so much going on in it. Look at the people wading across the river near the red kayaker. I don't think they know about all of the big crabs in there!

Happy happy happy. The end.




















Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Another rainy, glum day here on Cape Cod. At least all the snow is washed away and we're ready for a fresh start (of more snow I mean). If only we could see the sun!
Yes, I'm having a little SADD ( seasonal something or another disorder where you get depressed without sunlight). It still gets dark here around 4:30pm, so the days are very short -on top of the cloudiness. Every winter I start considering what it would be like to move to a warmer, sunnier part of the US. What about Sedona AZ? (It's pretty far away though...and I've never been there....) How about somewhere in NC? SC? I don't need it to be hot in the winter, just warmer than here, and sunnier. Pretty soon my kids will be out of the nest and I'll have the freedom to go wherever I want- but if I move too far away, I'll miss them, and the rest of my family. I'd have to take them ALLLL with me! Not a tall order, is it?
Because I'm a little depressed, little glitchy things keep happening. For example, I just got Chipolte Ranch salad dressing in my eye! Ouch!!! I feel like just hibernating until it's warm and the sun comes out again. Maybe until April.
The only thing that saves me from all of this is diving into my painting. I totally get lost in it and nothing else exists for a while.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Bunnies and Bird Seed?

There's still snow on the ground and look who came to get a bite to eat! I never knew that bunnies ate bird seed, but I suppose when one is hungry enough....I put out some carrots for him later on, and even some celery the next day, but again, I saw him eating the bird seed. I think he likes it. Now my deck looks like a frozen salad.
Here he/she is sitting on one of my kayaks. He might even be living underneath it. Either that or under the deck with all the other animals that find shelter there in the winter. I know a little mouse lives under there, I saw him come out an eat some bird seed too! He's adorable. My cats love to watch the mouse. They don't really care so much about the bunny, probably because he's almost as big as them.
Today it reached 44 degrees out and a lot of the snow has melted. It felt like summer compared to what it has been. I got my 2 mile walk in (and I didn't freeze) so I was very happy.


Friday, January 15, 2010

Old Photo's

I spent a good part of yesterday morning going through old OLD photo albums from when I was a kid. I wanted to put them on disk before the original photos faded away, so I took pictures of the pages (instead of scanning each photo- which would have taken forever). It was fun to go down memory lane. Here are a few that I liked.....


This was my whole family (Dad was taking the photo) at our family restaurant- a little breakfast and lunch place in Orleans. My older brother was home from the air force and I was about 18 in this photo.


This is me and my 'Brinney'- Brindle really. She was such a sweet dog and I loved her sooooo much. I was about 16 here.


I was on my ex mother in laws sailboat. I can't believe I climbed way up the mast. I'm not too thrilled with heights and that was very high- we were sailing along too! I guess I was pretty brave back then- or stupid, I'm not sure which.

I guess they trusted me to steer! I like this photo because of the way my parents were looking at each other. My dad was really happy because sailing was something he really loved.

This was our pet skunk, Peppy. He was a sweet, loving animal who slept under the covers with my dad every night.
He got along with all of our dogs and cats. Occasionally he's stomp - trying to spray if he was scared, but he was 'de-scented' so ....no problem. It's illegal to have them in Ma. as a pet now.

My brother must have been taking this photo. We had just gotten out of church. I think my mother made my poncho. My little sister's face was fat because she was on prednazone for her arthritis (which she got at age 2). She also walked with little tiny crutches and when she got made she'd 'kick' us with them. That's all I can remember about this photo.
Anyway, I feel relieved to have done all that. Now I only have about 10 more photo albums to go!








Thursday, January 14, 2010

My Angel Stories

Here's why I believe in angels. When I was about 19 years old, I lived in Havelock NC and was riding to work on my motorcycle, at 4:30am, -in the dark, -in the winter. It was only about 40 degrees out so my hands were pretty much frozen into one position- open throttle. I was driving like a maniac just to get there before I froze to death! Anyway, out of the blue, I felt as if someones hand was on mine prying it from the throttle- pulling it back. I actually went from going 80mph to 60mph in a couple of seconds- I know because I looked! And just as I was looking at the speedometer, a large dog ran right in front of me- inches from my front tire! One second sooner and I would have hit the dog and most probably killed it AND myself.

Here's another story. Again I was living in North Carolina and was driving to work- very depressed. I think it was one of those moments when you think your whole world is falling apart. I remember crying so much I could hardly see the road (and I rarely cried about anything), so whatever it was must have been devastating at that time. (Funny I can't even remember it now!) Anyway....here I am bawling my eyes out thinking it's the end of the world and I felt a hand- a heavy hand- on my right shoulder. It actually startled me so much that I looked in the back seat to see if someone was there. (nope!) But then a sense of calm came over me and I just knew......


The same thing happened to me after my dad died and I was - once again - driving and crying! I felt that same hand on my shoulder; heavy enough that it startled me and I looked in the back seat again. I was alone. This time, I just laughed and thanked the angel for coming in my time of need.
In reading Sylvia Browne's book of Angels, she says that all you have to do is call for an angel to come. In fact, they will come even if you don't call, but she advises to ask for them to help you ANY time, even for the small stuff because that's what they are here for.
It's nice to know that we're really NOT alone, and we can have all this help whenever we need it.


Monday, January 11, 2010

Screens and Squirrels

This cute little squirrel was eating happily outside my sliding glass door when he noticed my cat watching/stalking him from inside. So he went over to the glass door right in front of her, and climbed up the screen like Spiderman, and taunted my cat Kiya. Now, I've never had a squirrel climb up the screen before so I think this little guy was from 'out of town'- maybe the next yard over. Anyway, Kiya, immediately jumped at the window hitting it with a loud thud. (don't worry, she was fine) Then the squirrel disappeared off into the woods. A few minutes later he came trotting towards the house again and leaped onto the window screen!

He stayed there long enough for me to go across the room, get my camera, focus, and take a picture! He was actually looking inside the house. I think looking for my cat, probably saying in his little squirrely voice "You want a piece of me?! Come and get me!"



And I thought, no, he couldn't be looking for my cat squirrels aren't like that, but then he came around to the sliders and......


came right up to the door! It think (I heard him knock, but I'm not sure.) Seriously though, he was definitely looking for my cat!! How funny is that? Maybe he was bored and just wanted to play?









Rainbow Sparkles

This morning I looked out my window and this regular scene turned into something magical!All of a sudden I noticed that the snow was sparkling like diamonds- but not just regular white sparkles, each one was a little tiny rainbow of color! It was fantastic!!! Every little glimmer was a different color and it was so beautiful to look at. (click on to supersize the photo- even still, it doesn't do it justice). I was totally entranced by it, almost like you get when you look at sparkles on the water.
The funny thing is- Brielle and I were just talking about rainbows yesterday in the car, and here, today they were all over my snow covered yard!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

To Provincetown and Back

The girls and I took a little day trip to Provincetown for a much needed change of scenery (for me anyway!). On the way we veered off at Fort Hill. I just liked this photo for the glow in the foreground.

Here's the view from the top of the hill looking towards the Coast Guard Station. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

I always feel like....ahhhh.... when I hit this spot in Ptown looking towards the wharf, and the sun was hitting it just right, making a million sparkles on the water and the wet mud flats.

Here's a view from the west end of Provincetown, or Ptown, as the locals call it.


On the way home we took a little detour to Leutenants Island. This is the road leading to it (and the front of my Lexus 400h.- I wish!), but at high tide the entire road gets covered with a few feet of water and is impassible. There are a lot of summer homes on the island. I don't know about year round though. I think living out there would be kind of hard because you have to schedule your life with the tides. But then again, most summer people schedule their lives around the tides anyway... You know -high tide for swimming, fishing and boating -low tide for clamming or walking the flats, making sandcastles and collecting shells....
What else is there?


Friday, January 8, 2010

Brielle's 19th Birthday

It was Brielle's 19th birthday yesterday. For her special day she wanted to make her own cake (how lucky for me!) and have the whole family over.


And here we are, the motley crew.
(Hey, I used to like Motley Crew!) ha

Everyone was here -even her dad. It was easy for him to make it this year since he didn't have to go too far!
Quince was actually eating carrots- not instead of cake, but with it. Well, at least he got his vegetables in. He helped Brielle open her presents- ok -he did it for her because he was so excited he couldn't wait.


Good thing Sienna is very light! Hey look -she's eating veggies too! I actually put out celery and carrots for me to munch on because I can't eat cake (gluten). I guess I'll have to do that on every birthday!
Brielle got some very nice gifts, but I think her best present was....

having all the people she loved around her. (especially THIS little bundle of pure light!)
Happy Birthday Lamby.



























Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Cats and Angels


The last couple of days the paintbrush has been flying and I've been coming up with some pieces that I really like. (I love it when that happens!) Here are 3 of them.... all listed on Ebay right now: http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist

I've decided not to force any faces onto my angels. For some reason it's not the way they look per se, it's their essence that is coming through. I'm reading a book about angels by Sylvia Browne. It' s all very interesting. At some point I'll have to tell you a couple of stories about when I think I was actually saved by angels. Pretty neat stuff!
You know, I feel wonderful when I finish painting a batch of angels. I think the word that best describes it would be "high". I feel elated and ecstatic. I ask for the healing energy to flow through me and while it's doing that, I end up getting charged up myself! It's awesome. If only I could paint angels all day long, I'd be one happy camper.

About Me

My Photo
Cape Cod, MA., United States
Hi! I'm Breten, an artist (painter) working primarily in acrylics. I live on beautiful Cape Cod (Ma. USA) and have 2 wonderful daughters, and 2 crazy cats. I paint nearly every day (I just can't help myself!) and you can visit my website for more info or to contact me, or to see more of my work; http://www.BrydenArt.com http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist