Journeying South Again

Putting the fall in snowfall

 I managed to get a taste of winter in Alaska with an early layer of snowfall before we left and had a  graceful cross country ski out back on the old trail.

We had a full deck of plans as usual this time of year which involved several states and visits and a road trip.

My first adventure after was down in the Hill Country at Lucky Star Art Camp

I had met the organizer Lisa at Squam Art Retreat a few years back when she was one of my roommates. It was her dream to manifest a women's art camp down in the Hill Country of Texas and she made it happen. I vowed to give my self a treat after a very business filled summer of pretty much focusing on my handmade component business.  

I felt I had been neglecting certain aspects of my creativity like the mixed media and journaling that I had been doing a few years back.

My retirement pastime has turned into a full time job it seems!

I  I took a workshop with Mindy Lacefield called "Field Notes" and this guy emerged

I let myself do some freeing journal pages there

I was glad I brought along some of my papers from a Ro Bruhn Etsy set!

We did some reflective nature walking

I took a Mixed Media alchemy class with my friend Corrine Gilman

She challenged us to using just a three colors in our palette and the rest is  just letting your muse go on walkabout.

I took a class on How To Write a Story With write Katherine Center.

She gave us some exercises to loosen us up

I met some great people at the camp and boy did they feed us well. Such a gorgeous location on the Guadalupe River

 After Camp was over we explored a bit in the town of Gruene

Took a short detour to Maine to visit my mum and celebrate my aunt's 94th birthday.

So glad we did. We lost dear old Martha just a few days after her grand birthday party. She had said she wanted to go out in style like her brother Raymond (my father) after a nice celebration.

I guess the those Rogers are true planners.

I ate some incredible seafood stew!

and then headed oback to Austin and got a room at this iconic hotel

It was too cold however to see the bats come out from under the bridge

Sage wisdom at the pizza joint.

We road tripped it back to Arizona and I am back in full production mode for a spell as my shop has been vacant for a bit too long.

I really needed the refreshing break and replenish my well.

The numi-sticks torch fired copper enamel matchsticks are proving ever popular and I try to come up with some different styles.

These are "Painted Desert"

I returned to my vintage tin plate stash and had the idea to cut them up to see how they took the enamels.

Success with the experiment. I love the ghost image of the old paint and the uneven application of the enamels revealing the distressed tin.

I am so pleased to use the frit I made for some more subtle effects

Trying out different finishes

I made a series with murrini

and good old beads

This lady followed me home one night when i visited a neighbor that was down-sizing.

I've named her Bea after my mother in law that I never met...also Bis-Bea

Did I show this already. Some lampwonk that I made way last month

Back to doing my daily desert neighborhood walkies.

Glass mosaic cactus

It's good to be home again

Neighborhood Watch

Feeling better now so I took a little walk around the neighborhood.

This place is a rustafarian's dream. Lot's of distress and rusty collections and rockwork, that's why I love the place.

We're starting with my street side patio which is called a "portale" in Spanish. My road is actually called a trail named after a famous Indian warrior which I also love.

Reminds me of Alaska, the frontier, the trail part that is.

Can you guess what this is? It only cost me $2 at an antique store.

I'll send you a little something if you guess it right!

Here's the handle

The lot next door just waiting for a photo op.

See,  I like it better when decorations and structure go awry with nature.

It pleases me. That's why I couldn't live in Scottsdale.

We're kind of in a different country down here in Bisbee, the border of the border I guess.

Stucco Art

Creative abodes. That mountain in the background is in Mexico.

I hear that a famous comedian lives here. Dave has it in his mind that a clown lives here so it's the clown house. They have lively parties that we can hear. We haven't met them yet.

They painted the rocks in the yard

The place looks like a fun party even without the folks

My neighbor thinks Italian Cypress are ridiculous worthless trees.

I think they're kind of exotic "graveyard trees" 

And look, they are a birdhouse to many.

This is one of those shots that I prefer the manmade phone lines rather than just nature.

Makes the composition more exciting to me and it looks as if the bird is sitting on the line, which it's not.

I haven't seen this particular strain of cacti before or should I call it fracti?

Just beautiful.

Meet the meters

the back side of the clown house, They party on the roof there.

A different perspective of my studio

Lower part of the blue house on the right.

I've never looked at our house from this vantage point before from the street below us.

Do you see a face? I do.  Shades of Easter Island in the wash on Black Knob

parumpapum pum I spy a drum.

OK it's a tank but that's not quite so poetic or Christmasy.

I could make a reference to Tanksgiving  but that would be too corny.

Now if I could just get into this window... treats inside!

patterns everywhere

Old style concrete garages

You can see the imprint of "Drink Coca Cola" on this concrete wall.

How cool is that!

Desert Birch

'Nother garage 

I thought this looked like a crane in this empty garage

Rusty loveliness

And this was just a couple of streets nearby. 

Thanks for joining me on my walk today.

XOXO Kim