Art Farming

Magic standing in front of a large canvas tacked to my barn door - She wants a treat that's
inside the door :)

There is another art farm I've discovered - someday I'd like to go there . It's not far from here and looks very interesting.  

Farm Love


"All creatures through their single imagination are aware of other creatures, seemingly gained by the helpful hand of natural selection, but what explains consciousness, as it may not be an evolved state: imagine consciousness closer to a chemical continuity across the spectrum of all plants and animals, simply arising as a property out of increasingly complex chemical interactions, and like our bodies’ specialized cells racing amok from the never-ending chemical addendum we blend into nature’s stew, consciousness continues expanding, unsympathetic to our aims on this mortal coil, as we are to the aims of worms and cockroaches while we grapple with life’s incoherence."

                                                                                                                            ~artfarmnebraska.org

Bird Brain








Hello friends!

ART    One of my most favorite things about summer is the birds. The lovely little songbirds voices carrying me throught the day and leading me into night. It changes, you can tell, if you listen. The hoot owl deep in the dark.  The sketches are for fabric which will part of an amazing collaboration I am working on for my next art show in July.  "Sleeping with Nature"  in Telluride and part of Art & Architecture Weekend.

FARM   My farm is settling into itself without Blossom.  Who knew what an absence she would leave.
The only solace I can find is in planting flowers where I dare not before...Blossom was a free soul, frree to wander up to the house, sit on the porch, nap on the deck...no flowers were safe!
We did get 2 babies. Remy, my chosen little love, didn't want anything to do with me...ran away from me!
She was already a good 2 months old and didn't know me like Blossom did. So I chose 2 others because you know, a lamb will die from a broken heart if left alone...that night, one of them did indeed die. I couldn't take it...the one left over was so sweet and loved people..but there was a problem...he was now alone. I couldn't face the possibility so we made a decision to take him back - back to his friends, whose fates are unthinkable.  I won't post a pic of him - too heartbreaking - cos he was indeed ADORABLE.
Everything about him made me miss Blossom even more - how "trained" she actually was, how calm and loving she was, how special and irreplaceable she was.
He is happy with his people...about 8 other bums, the gang. We visit him and are working on finding homes.

ME  I have built a new website StephanieMorganRogers.com   with the thought of using Milady Productions as my shop.  The bones of the site will be live TODAY!. Please come and have a look! These matters take me a long time - since i'm distracted by birds and lambies and painting. :)
I decided to go for it and continue shaping it as I go...isn't that the way of life?

 Hope you are all enjoying yourselves, are surrounded by things and creatures you love and love you and are doing what you love.

 xoxo

 S

With Great Sadness...

My dear Blossom has left the Art Farm.

2009 2 weeks old
2010 1 year


 The last photo a few days ago...after her annual shear
 Blossom and blossoms   spring 2013
that wonderful wool!
Free range friends
                                                                 Goodbye Friend
                                                                May you rest well <3 friend.="" my="" p="" sweet="">
Friends, with a great sadness I regret to inform you that Blossom has died. For all of you who have gotten to know me via my sheep, I trust that you know what a gaping hole she has left on the farm.
 She got kicked by her best friend, Magic, the white horse. She followed her everywhere, no fences needed, the pair roamed freely like elegant lawn decor.She never failed to make me smile, seeing her walk by my window, giving me friendly bleat as I rapped on the window or called out to her.Whenever I went out to feed she'd be there. When a car drove up to the house, she'd be there too. She was not your ordinary sheep. She was the incredible Lamb-dog we all (including husband) grew to love as much as I did.
 
Blossom was one in a million. A dream come true - a pet lamb! Although I could never replace her, I am heading to the lamb shed to see who else needs a mom.  I need it as much as they do. I've picked out a sweet little girl named Remy who I had planned to bring home as a companion for Blossom. Remy has that unusual air about her. All lamb with something else mixed in. A trusting friend. More on her soon.

Blossom is buried with our family pets around the box elder memory tree. We had to get a cowboy to come over with a big back hoe and dig a hole. I'm quite certain he was confused.

You may wonder, why a sheep? why so dramatic? Well, all i can tell you is that friends come in all shapes, color and fur.  A bond is a bond and love knows no boundaries.

 "The heart knows a hundred thousand ways to speak -Rumi
xoxo


Fly Little Bird, FLY!







My firstborn graduated yesterday and will be 18 years old in a matter of days. Her time has come to fly from the nest.
This week and the months leading up to it have been a sweet mixture of excitement and dread, love and sadness, nerves and zen...all backdropped by this huge GOODBYE.
I don't have an empty nest yet, there are 2 little brothers in tow, but the family is changing as we prepare to send off the baby girl who started this whole family thing.
We are so proud of this girl, her spitfire soul graced with elegance and compassion. She will soar out there in the world because she is not afraid. She is smart and wise. She is fun and controlled. She can communicate with precision and stands up for her beliefs. She is present and has beautiful strong wings.
Fly my daughter, fly high! I will be right here with my hand over brow shading the bright sun while I watch you soar.
xoxoxo Mama

It's been a whole month - that i've been in this beautiful space. This week, I have my closing party and jewelry "trunk" show. It has been highly successful and a big spirit boost for this artist. I look forward to staying this busy :)

xo! milady

Countdown


My show is just around the corner! Check out Telluride Arts for more info,\ &  show description.
The following is a statement about my process and ideas. It was edited heavily for the masses, but I thought i'd share my unadulterated version for you guys as well. always a challenge to be honest yet accessible.
I so look forward to sharing the show with you. stay tuned!

Press release version.


heaven
earth

Stephanie Morgan Rogers

inspiration :  I have always been fascinated by the sky and where it meets the earth and where we fit in as people fleeting from one realm to the next.  History, dreams , folklore and mythology a have always inspired and provided me with the framework for my version of these timeless wonders.

Processes:  the ideas for work are always with me and part of how I make sense of where I am, and what I’m doing quite literally, on earth! always starts with a feeling like I’m on a hunt spurred on by imagery that pulls me in , beckoning me to take a second look , challenging me to find the next clue where then my own imagery starts to reveal itself. It’s as if the work calls me to give to it life…my job is to listen and take good notes and tell the story visually.

Meaning: Heaven and Earth concept is about dichotomies  - What’s visible and what’s unseen. As above so below and so on. I’m not so much interested in the black and the white but the grey – that magical intersection where the 2 realms mix. 

Characters/ Imagery:  I am interested in rural life,  “salt of the earth” daily work and how the seasons affect that work and the relationships between people, animals, weather etc...living close to the land gives me a unique perspective.   

My work has been described as a seamless blend of Old World ambience and American Folk Art – which I think says it all.  Although I move around and use different media – and in this show – giant tin shapes inspired by 15th century ex votos – my work continues to explore the endless possiblities of making sense out of life, here on earth.

Enjoy the journey

Now, where was I?



oh yes...10 Lords a Leaping! My Christmas photos are still on the camera...and here we are 2 months into the New Year!  I've been busy. And very soon will share the fruits of my silence....I am preparing for a one woman exhibition which opens in just 9 days.
Back to the studio...
til then
xo milady

Home

I can't believe its the Holidays again. We have our heads down focused on the present.
 Thanksgiving came and went...a tradition of elaborate cooking and baking, feasting and sharing

 Eventhough we are experiencing a dry snow-less holiday, it is cold, and i drink ALOT of Earl Grey tea
Morgan and I made our traditional spritz cookies gluten-free...a friend told me they tasted like sand.
Meet the newest addition to my prized collection of kid created creatures...Mr. Turkey by Morgan

"dad! you have pie in your hair! "....
now that's a sign of a good time :)

Working on 10 LORDS A LEAPING for a month long show in Telluride as well as a delivery of new
art for Over the Moon  where I am the feature artist! 
2 more art/craft fairs this week 
Then, all this orange and yellow will give way to pine and  sparkle.


xo

Little Red Riding Hood - Drawing Challenge


I finally did it, joined in on the Drawing Challenge, albeit a few days late.
This weeks theme: Littel Red Riding Hood hosted by Patrice.



I've been scribbling about this for years....


inspired by my own childhood classics
And into my grown up life living at the edge of a great wood...In my fairy tale, the beast is a misunderstood friend and it is he who is terrified of the girl!

someday i will write and illustrate it.

what is your take on this tale?

xo milady

Beauty and the Beast
A Woodland Tale 
Classic Tales of my childhood.

where for art thou?

dear people,
I have been silent
inside
working



credit: marc burkhardt

sometimes 
it just doesn't feel right
to come up
and share

Berta

its just the nature
of diving deep down
to see what i can see
                                                                               
its cold at the Art Farm

winter's beckoning 
to turn inward
clothe the seeds
safe and warm...

.....and wait for the magnificent birth


i hold you all close in my heart,
xo milady

Progress...




holy moly, how time flies. its snowed lastnight and made me realize just exactly how much time had passed since I last posted!  illness, busy-ness and a crappy computer are all to blame.  as the holidays approach, craftiness trumps studio art. life goes on, middle boy goes to first dance and first born gets
accepted and offered $ to go to University. mama needs to make alot of crafts!!!

im working on a large commission that's too shy to show just yet.

life is nothing but full

wishing you all warm autumn love,

xo milady







i am working on a large commission that is just too shy to show itself just yet.

i hope you are enjoying the autumn changes and bundling up against the promise of more snow!

xo milady

Peekaboo

Yes, it's me. I'm alive!  Art fairs, farmer's markets, commissions and outdoor wonderland have kept me away from my desk.  All this with a dollop of Crohn's disease. ; /
I have missed all of you.
Here's a peek for now.
an angel came to visit me in my booth at Carbondale Art Fair.

some of my latest Art Blocks - will be available in Etsy after this week.


lots os speckled fawns this year

The Art Farm looking back- my 3 sidekicks, Pearl, Ollie, and Blue (who is red)

The Art Farm looking ahead- this is my front yard with a skipping little 5 year old friend.
xoxoxo Milady

Goodbye Duke

Duke the wonder horse is on his way to greener pastures today. 
He was the gentle grand- dad of the herd.  Picked on a bit, off alone alot.
He was the one we'd pile babies on, ride double, bareback, backwards, stand on him
and hug for long spells muzzle to forehead.
Duke had freckles and a kind loving heart.
WE will miss you Duke.
ALOT.

With great love,
your human family,
Tate, Stephanie Rosie, Roscoe and Morgan.