A WALK IN THE PARK

Last week my photography class met in the park for a lesson on "street photography". Too bad our parks in Houston are NOT all that interesting. I did find a few ducks, homeless people, and a body of water, but where are the hills or mountains???? Here are some of the images I managed to capture.

This is the train that has gone through the park for over 50 years! Steps of water (i like this one the best) The new Japanese Garden. A statue with a cut out. This was captured through the cutout when they walked by. A park bench at a different angle An ugly duckling. Statue of Sam Houston overtaken by the birds.

TATTOOS AND COFFEE

How do tattoos and coffee go together? I am not sure but I do love both of them so I decided to draw this in my art journal. Tattoos are either admired or hated. I look at them as body art and I LOVE ART! Sometimes I wonder why someone would want to put a certain image on their body but that is what makes tattoos so unique and different. Some people think that tattoos cheapen your look. Well, I guess you better think about it long and hard before you tattoo. (THEY ARE PERMANENT) Shock value is big with younger people. I didn't get my first tattoo until I was in my 50's.Coffee is another love of mine. I didn't drink it until I was in my 40's. That morning cup, the smell, the feelings you get, are so soothing! Maybe that is why "coffee dates" are so popular among friends. The first coffee I tasted was at Starbucks. They had just come to town. I loved their lattes with hazelnut syrup. I bought my first espresso machine and taught myself to make them at home. (talk about money flowing out the door at $4.30 a cup) Now I can drink coffee black and be happy.

Think about the things that make YOU happy!

A GUY WHO PAINTS HIMSELF

Known as the GHOST MAN, he takes the image and then paints himself into all his photographs. Isn't it awesome?

WAITING, WAITING, WAITING FOR THE STATION

My Rabbi sent this message out this month and I wanted to share it.

FABULOUS FINDS

Fridays are usually great for driving around and looking for treasures at garage sales. Today my friend Teri and I did just that. I can't wait to start working on this table that I found. I will clean it up, paint it, and then mosaic the top. They told me it was a very old plant stand. You can see the two buckets which will hold new plants when I am done with the renovation. Stay tuned for the grand reveal!

A PATISSERIE

Yesterday I mentioned Sugarland, Texas so today I thought I would follow it up with a Patisserie called JEAN PHILIPPE. This store is located at the Bellagio in Vegas. We ran across his store after eating a huge breakfast one morning. So we didn't get to taste any of his creations! They are rather extraordinary though. When you walk into his store there is a huge chocolate fountain displaying a series of melted chocolate cascades. YUMMMMMMMMMM Take a look at some of the photos I took. You will be amazed!

Go visit their link and start drooling! http://www.jpchocolates.com/

50 BEST THINGS ABOUT SUGARLAND

THREE D ART

My daughter made these three dimensional sculptures while she was in high school. She needed me to take photos of them for her portfolio. I decided to show them on my blog today. They are displayed all over the house.

You can click on each photo to see the detail she put in each piece!

ONE TWO THREE FOUR I especially like the first one. It is so unusual! I need to ask her if she named any of them.

PHOTO CLASS

I haven't mentioned my photo class in a while so I thought I would share some of what we have been doing. The obvious is taking lots of photos for different assignments! Here are some of my shots from last week. It was a free week so here goes: The first photo was taken in the plane on the way to Vegas. You can see my eyes and the man behind me looking at the camera. I enhanced my green eyes with photoshop. This was a window washer at the airport. I thought the lines made a perfect shot! The dancing fountains at the Bellagio Hotel at night. Pretty cool, huh? This lion was playing with her toy and she looked right at me. I was only a foot away but of course there was a thick plate of glass between us at the MGM.

This week we are shooting portraits. I won't show you those yet...

HOMELESSNESS

My art journaling group had a prompt for homelessness last week. If you really think about all the people who are loosing their homes due to being laid off from their jobs, mounting bills from an illness, or any other circumstance, it is a very frightening thing to consider. The thought of having to just walk away from your house, close the front door, and go who knows where, is NOT something I want to happen to anyone!! Our physical structure we call "OUR HOME" is just a facade that gives us a sense of security, but it also represents a shield of protection from the outside elements. I am so thankful to have a solid home to live in. Let's say I could wish my home to be anywhere else???? I would choose to drop it near the beach so I could walk there everyday! Ha...

WALKING AND WALKING AND WALKING

I have spent the last few days at the International Quilt Festival walking and walking and walking up and down every single isle at the convention. Add in a few classes and that has been my week! Boy am I exhausted!! Today I learned how to paint on fabric. I chose Yogi as my subject. The teacher was Pat Blair and the class was called "A Portrait Quilt Everyone Can Do". Now the project is ready to thread paint.

QUILT FESTIVAL TIME

Tomorrow is the start of the International Quilt Festival and I can't wait to go. I have two classes scheduled this year and both of them are so different from anything I have ever done. But the most important item on the agenda is SHOPPING!!! http://www.quilts.com/home/

FALL IS COMING TO TOWN

Perry and I just returned from Vegas where the Bellagio had their atrium set up for a Fall Wonderland. There were so many beautiful fall flowers all around and even a talking tree! Crisp fall weather is made for walking, running, biking, swimming. Time to de-stress and get moving! Wish it would come down here to Texas though.

Pumpkin Recipes Packed With Nutrition

4 eggs 1 cup veggie oil 2 cups fresh pumpkin, puréed 2 cups sugar 2 cups cake flour (all purpose has worked for me) 1⁄2 tsp each ground cinnamon, nutmeg 1⁄4 tsp each ground ginger, cloves, allspice 2 tsp baking soda 1⁄2 tsp salt confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350, butter and flour your muffin tin.

Beat the eggs in a bowl until they’re smooth, then beat in the oil and pumpkin purée. Sift the remaining ingredients into a large bowl, then stir the two together. Pour into muffin tins, shake to get air bubbles out. Bake until solid.

Let cool, turn out, serve with powdered sugar.