What a perfect day! I had to run up to Ptown this morning and ended up at Herring Cove Beach -snapped off a few shots there.

(see the lighthouse in the distance?) It was in the 40's but it felt like summer. The sun was warm and there wasn't any wind. The beach was wonderful to walk on. I got some nice heart shaped rocks too.
Then there was a pond to be explored in Welfleet, out in the middle of nowhere. It was so peaceful and quiet. The only movement was the flight of a graceful Blue Heron flying over the pond, perching high in a tree top trying to catch the last rays of sun.

Looking up in the sky I spotted a tiny rainbow in a cloud. I have a thing about seeing rainbows because I once had a very vivid dream about one. I won't go into detail, (and I think it was more than just a dream) but now when I see one I think they are a sign. A very good sign. :) So I am smiling.

Then a stop at Lieutenants Island in Welfleet. One of my favorite photo taking places. That's the island, cut off from the mainland by this river. At high tide the road is covered by water. Otherwise you can drive on and off the island.

You just have to love the setting sun for photo's. It casts such a warm glow. This was taken on the marsh side of the bridge.

On the other side was the Cape Cod Bay and the sunset, which was amazing today.
What a great day. It was the BEST day of my life! (remember, it's also the ONLY day of my life if you are living in the present)

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving day.....oh what can I say? It was a day filled with food, family and fun! What could be better? Here is my (adorable) lamby Brielle and her adorable little cousin Qena. The oldest girl cousin and the youngest girl cousin.

EVERYone in my family showed up which was unexpected, and luckily we all brought tons of food. If you read my previous blog, you will know that we didn't do the traditional turkey sit down dinner, it was drinks, desserts, and dips, and that's it.
middle= my cousin DeDe, her daughter Lauren and my sis's mother-in-law Caroline. They all wore purple!

In this photo is my younger sis Odin and 4 of her 5 boys, Thein, Frey, Shaydon, and Lukas. By the way, Odin looks short here but is actually tall (5'7")- her boys are just REALLY tall!

Here is my youngest sis Grethe and Brielle. Brielle likes to hang out with her auntie Grethe when she comes home from college. I don't know if it's to see what goodies she has cooked up or to see her little cousins, but either way, it's nice to see them so close. It's wonderful to have family that you like and want to spend time with, and that you can count on in a pinch. My sister is always there for me if I need her and I often give thanks for that!
Sienna brought her guitar and was charming the kids with it. Usually Quince isn't so enthralled with music- he's more mechanically minded (but he LOVES his cousin!) Qena, on the other hand will get up and dance to anything! She's definitely got the music in her.
Here the kids were rubbing her head with a fleece blanket making static hair. She was just loving the attention!
Here are almost (minus Qena) all the girls in the 'Kaeselau' family. We were having fun taking photo's. That's just something that we all like to do (see the camera on my mom?)

And last but not least me and my wonderful girls. (Sienna is 15 and Brielle is 19. )

The Girls are Home!

http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist
It's a cozy night and my two girls are home (amazing!). Brielle and I spent the last half of the day and night cooking and making delectable treats for the holiday feast. It was so nice doing something together with her. Even when she's home from college, she is usually out and about living her life, and not hanging out with Mom so much these days, so I am soaking in these precious moments. Sienna is working on her computer getting us both names of some good new music for our ipods. (Something I'm really looking forward to because I love my music!!) We brought the tree up from the cellar but it's just too late to put it up. I'm exhausted from cooking and it would take another hour or so. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have another nice 'family' day and can put it up. I love having the house decorated before Thanksgiving. Well, that's it for now, going to bed soon.....finally!

Home and Holiday Goodness

Today is Monday and I'm at my sister's house babysitting the kids while she's out. All is quiet and I have a little free time to write. I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We are having it at my mom's and there will be no turkey. Yes you read it right. She and I are vegetarians for one thing, but also it's because there are just too many of us and it becomes too much work. So we decided to do the 3D's- drinks, dips and desserts. Everyone brings their own, like a big pot luck type of deal.

After all, Thanksgiving is really about being together and enjoying each other's company. The food will be good, I'm sure, but it just won't be a sit down thing. It will be easier, and the host, my mom will be able to relax and enjoy her family this year.

I'm excited because tomorrow Brielle will come home from college and she'll help me make some dishes, then maybe we'll put up our tree(s). The house will smell like good food, and if the tree gets up the house will look so nice and cozy. Wed. she's going to my mom's to help her do some cooking. She enjoys the cooking and it will be quality time spent with her Grandmom. I love this time of year when family is together, everyone is happy and the home is the center of activity. Like I've always said, it's not Christmas day that I look foward to, it's the time leading up to it, and that would be now. :)

More posted tonight...

Just put these 2 on Ebay along with several others. http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist I liked the peaceful feeling of this one. It is Wood End Lighthouse in Provincetown in the winter. We haven't gotten any snow yet, but I'm anticipating it soon.

Now here's one that I was thrilled to see manifest before my eyes. I actually had it finished with ONE stroke, that's how pure and directly it came to me, but then I added a little color to it and made it brighter. (it's actually not this bright though, the camera doesn't photograph colors on black well I've noticed). It's so neat to see the angels just 'appear' on paper. Sometimes I'll be painting (seemingly) random weird shapes and can't figure out what they are then all of a sudden I'll put one more line down and I can see the angel clearly! I get so excited! I love painting them!!

2.5"x3.5"http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist
It was an unseasonably warm November day here on the Cape. 57 degrees to be exact. So of course I had to go for a ride on my motorcycle. It wasn't quite so warm while riding, but fun anyway. I keep thinking it will be my last ride of the year, then another warm day comes along. I'm not complaining!
2.5"x3.5" http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist
Now I'm watching a Christmas movie on TV. It really doesn't feel like that time of year yet but I'm trying to get in the mood.
9"x12"Speaking of Christmas, I put this painting in the holiday small works gift show at the Cape Cod Art Association. It is a little cottage in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard. Ok, back to the Christmas movie.

3 New Paintings

Sorry for dropping the ball lately. My Internet has been on the fritz. It's amazing how much I rely on having it at my fingertips and when it's down....I can't seem to function. Everything I do relies on my computer. How did I manage 20 years ago?!

Anyway, I did get some painting done and here are a few miniatures that were completed this past week. This one, I'd say is here on Cape Cod, where it's not too warm out....the water looks a little cool. But this one is definitely somewhere tropical. I'd like to be dipping my feet in this water right about now and going for a long walk on this beach.

I've been focusing on painting skies lately. I always enjoy the evening sky- it's my favorite time of day- right after the sun sets but before it gets totally dark out. I feel like the world is at peace at that time. I suppose, it's just me that's at peace, but, let me dream.

Babysitting

Today I babysat my niece Qena. She's such a little bundle of sunshine. She was all smiles for me. She still has a scab on her nose from last week when she fell in the driveway. Poor thing. It's amazing how babies/little kids can take a tumble, land smack dab on their face and get right back up.

Her smile can just light up the world. She was enjoying me taking photo's of her (and us) then showing them back to her on my computer. She also LOVED to hear my music on Itunes while watching the visualizer.

Awwwww I sure miss having babies around. Ok, maybe just for a few hours, then I'm good.

Maybe I should have cropped out her messy shirt, but hey- she's a baby. Babies are messy and drooly. That beautiful, happy face is all that really matters ( hers too) JOKING!

Beautiful Angels

I painted these 3 angels last week and was amazed at how different they were from the ones I had been doing lately,
especially these two. I love how I never know what they will look like until they are finished.

You can see my up to date Angel paintings on Ebay-ranging in price from $9.99 up. (click this link) http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist
What a great day!

Sea Turtles

2.5"x3.5" http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist I have been painting up a storm lately. I guess this cold rainy weather is conducive to working inside, and not playing outside. Last night it even snowed a little- I saw it on my windshield this morning even though it's raining. So instead of feeling cold and dreary, here are some tropical sea turtles to help brighten (and warm) your day.

2.5"x3.5" http://stores.ebay.com/Cape-Cod-Artist I think this one is actually smiling. I love it when animals are happy and free. I feel good just looking at him/her.

Have a happy day today- I know I'm going to!

Blue Skies ahead

I've been feeling like painting clouds and skies this past week. I guess you could say, things seem to be looking up lately! (This one is just a miniature, but I am working on an 8x10 too. )

I have been having a really great week. I've met so many nice customers from all over, who have shared their lives and stories with me. I feel so blessed to be connected with all the people who are in my life for one reason or another. There are no coincidences. There have been many other wonderful things happening too. (I'm all smiles) It all started when I decided to say: "Today is the BEST day of my life". It's true you know.

Hand Colored Prints

I'm finishing up on hand coloring several antique prints from a large dealer out west (of course, anything is west of Cape Cod!!). These were some of them. Many were wood cuts, which are on a slick, magazine type paper- easy to work with, then some were steel cut prints which are on an extremely porous (thirsty) paper-very HARD to work with. The paint sinks in the second you put it on the paper making it very hard to do a large area without seeing any brush marks, -if you don't know what you are doing. All in all, the prints came out great and they look so much nicer hand colored!