red shoes

I have a thing for red shoes, not just any red shoes, but magical red shoes. they make me feel happy. maybe its the Dorothy aspect, or the romanticized childhood charm...i dunno...its just a love of mine.
again, its so reassuring to discover that others do too. here are a few of my latest finds out there.
Ruby Slippers - flowerpress.esty.com

something i found


another red shoe lover artist


red birkenstocks...not so cute sideways




need i say more?



and these little numbers i am purchasing from Sundance so i too can play.
xo milady




At Peace with It

you know that feeling every now and again when you get a break from your life and are given the gift of perspective, perhaps through some old long lost friend or just a moment in the breeze as you look out at your own backyard and see your kids playing with your friend's kids in the halflit dusty evening and think....yea.....it's all so perfect, i'm exactly where i'm supposed to be, i
really and truly am living the dream...well that is what happened this weekend.
The Peace with IT and the knowing that I am living the art I create.

mommy long legs


Branding party BBQ, fresh rocky mountain oysters, Coors in bottles, kids playing in hay and poop.

I had a great weekend!

Spent most of the day in the blistering sun selling watermelon slices for Color Crew.(my non profit kid/art project -separate site coming soon) then finished off the day at a hay barn shin dig with a bunch of drunk cowboys.

Politics and hard core country folk...and my husband. Interesting AND entertaining.

This week is all about the children's book I'm working on. Too fresh and fragile to share at this point but rest assured, you will see it in good time!


cheers,


milady

Oso Grandioso


Oh boy, we have a problem, a big black hungry problem i call " Humphrey". Its Spring in the Colorado Rockies which means the bears are coming out of hibernation and wanting to EAT! ANYTHING! Its too early and cold for any native berries to fill their caverous bellies so its down the mountain to see what they can smell.

"yawn, i am starving!!! whats that smell? hmmmm i think i'll go down the mountain to the Rogers' buffet and see whats cookin. the people there are so nice, they leave me snacks in these big metal lunch boxes for me! oh what luck!!! a rotten birthday cake!
SWEET
ooooh whats this?? fresh chickens? i LOVE fresh eggs! (one swipe and a few rips later) ah yes...a coop full of scraps and corn and CHICKENS...come here..i'm gonna getcha....rats!@! these chickens are crazy...i'll just eat the feed. that's just too much work for me."
BURP
I know he's dangerous but he's so dang cute. He's a big doofus...sits on his bottom like a big dopey circus bear staring at my tiny dog who is barking inches from his face..."whaaaat ? geez, some dogs..."
i'm off to have some of my large paintings photographed, ship 2 and deliver 1. milady is back in action.
have a happy day,
milady

the way i see time

am
pm

its about time...i'm learning how i learn...seeing is believing .
i am hopelessly not very analytically minded. i have to see time like a preschool pie in order to manage it. i read this article on circadian rythmns and decided to draw it.
if i had my druthers, i'd do absolutely nothing but fiddle in the arts all day long. this way i can see when would be a good time to do all that grown up management stuff like pay the bills!




Bears, Lightning and Thunder


It rained like a m...... lastnight. wind, lightning, thunder and bears ripping through my garbage.
we always know when there is something "big" outside by the way our dogs bark. the nervousness in Pearl is the first giveaway. sure enough, there is a whopper of a mess out there this morning. for such a big animal, bears rip everything into itsy bitsy little shreds and spread it across a vast area.
its official, spring has arrived in the rockies.

artwise? its perfect weather for catching up on some interesting reading (part of my crash course in digital graphics), flip through some pretty books and zines, jot down my brainstorms in my respective journals. mornings are my favorite...i am a creative volcano of ideas -

good day everyone!

milady

Seed Sowing



Well, the beets, carrots, brussel sprouts, kale, chard, collards and mesculun greens are officially in the soil.  Sweet peas, sugar peas and green beans too.  my sights are stretching out into decorating the acreage.  my goal this spring is to strategically place self sufficient plants that re-seed themselves, thrive in this mountain zone and most importantly, provide the feeling that my entire property is a fairy forest Tasha Tudor would be proud of.  quite the feat at 7000ft.

The Pikapackage Project is over for this round.  My package sadly didn't make it across the world in time but is slotted to go into the next one in July.  part of me is kicking myself for being late and another part is grateful for the extra time to set up my Etsy Shop www.miladyproductions.etsy.com  Pikaland is where i like to vacation.  Its a happy shiny place indeed! I had so much fun checking out all the artists involved, this helped me visualize my own shop and approach to selling online.  Thank you all creative souls! 

I'm an old world kinda crafter...i am so excited by the digital possibilities and frantically seeking knowledge to educate myself in the art of computer graphics.  I don't have time to go back to school!! (not to mention i live in the middle of nowhere) Thank God for the Dummies series!

On to the next cafe'!    Andiamo, a la proxima cafe!  a silly little saying  = stay on the course.

Ciao,

milady


Pika Package Power!









I'm all about the Pikapackage right now...its all i can think about. I am focused and in the groove of mindless creating...and I Am in LOVE with IT. experimenting, embracing the hand-made-ness of it all, crookied stitches and all.
as i glue, brush, snip and sew, i feel that i am doing exactly what i am meant to do...opening up my Etsy shop come May 1st is the next step. even my mess inspires me (see pics)
let me remind you, i create from a ranch-vacuum...i am literally all by myself in this, me and all my little milady friends and the freaky coyote that keeps running through my yard in broad daylight looking hungry. the choices i've made to live out here, have a bunch of kids, kiss the city art scene goodbye...have lead me right back to the heart of what I need: a global community of like minded artists.
THANK YOU AMY NG from Pikaland. Your excellent organization of creative crafty souls around the world is most appreciated!
knowing about this big world of kindred soul friends pushes me to do more, expand the image boundaries, draw that weird rabbit man i've been seeing in my journals for 20 years now.
Its all such a relief.

Pikaland


I am getting my pikapackage ready for shipping to Malaysia today. Pikaland is a virtual market/adverstising place for illustrators worldwide. http://www.pikaland.com/ The pika package is a cool little way to get samples of product out in the world...i'm working on a few of my Milady Productions items that will be on my new http://www.etsy.com/ store launching early May. I am doing what I set out to do in New York 4 years ago...linking myself with the licensing market, fishin' for a gig, giving my best who-ville holler.

American Beauty




between the one stoplight and the next tourist town is a little valley where milady lives. neighbors help and hand write thank - you notes, lend time and hands, stop and chat in the road and always wave at least a finger in passing. families work hard to keep it open, feed the animals, nurse the calf twins, swap tools.
American Beauty is 24x36 oil on wood farm santo.., who is very close to my heart. she is the ultimate valley dweller and caretaker of all things growing and pure. she stands stall and strong in gentleness. she is my idol.

Birthday girl


April 16th was my birthday...just so you know i'm turning "8". from now on i'll be 8...

When i turned 8 the first time i remember feeling like i had just arrived. the world my oyster, childhood faith intact, moving independently in the world a bit. this is me truly happy.


Happy Spring! (despite the snow)

On Track



Make Believe by Sabrina Ward Harrison




This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy….argue not concerning god, have patience and indulgence toward the people….go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families….dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every moment (motion) and joint of your body…. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass -



april 15th, 2008
On Track: this is how i know...how i fumble and stumble upon the treasures of my adventurous life. I opened my e-mail to find Sabrina Ward Harrison's newsletter with the above quote. and what's this? MAKE BELIEVE? a book based on the above quote from Walt Whitman full of random and delicious photos and doodles? and here i thought i was so original naming my art show MAKE . BELIEVE! instead of feeling like a fraud, i am grinning right now like the Cheshire Cat...this is how i know...i'm On Track...my thoughts run in the same vein as someone i admire and am inpsired by. This is how i know i am on track.


Milady goes to Santa Fe






I like Santa Fe because it smells like pinon and people, the real people are genuine and funky. rosie and i found a little farmers market and bought an assortment of home grown and packaged chili mixes from Gloria Trujillo herself...a delightful little woman all of 4' who has sold her family's farm goods for over 40 years. we chatted with the egg man who had such a nice chicken coop he thinks he might move in when his dad dies and rent the house out. i'm a sucker for old folks ...drawn and seeking some bit of wisdom.


I got a good dose of Santo viewing in and checked out the International Folk Art musem.


I never stepped a foot into a gallery.


I may never forgive my husband for deliberately zooming past Georgia O'Keefe's studio.


next time? leave the guys at home.

V-8 moment

unbeknownst to me i have been part of this bloggy scrap journal movement for a very long time. this is a cheap Australian binder that i used as a journal keeper back in 1991 when living in Australia. i like weird basic school supplies from other countries. this binder snaps shut all along the seam so you can add or take away paper as you wish. neat.
what's so wonderful now is the knowing there are so many others out there all over the world doing the same. I may start a seperate blog with all my old journals in it...well, at least the scribbly side of it, the collages, the travel logs the coveted collection of international postmarks torn from my very own mail ...and the most important one of all, the journal of Roscoe's birth.
i've been gathering up info and spewing ideas. this whole digi thing has got me right where it wants me: thinking about, getting excited about, producing, organizing, sharing ART! (A Real Trip)

Milady's Walkabout


I'm on to something.

I can smell it.

I've decided to pack up the kids, give them each a journal and camera, drive to Santa Fe and explore.

Our main destination: San Miguel Mission - the oldest church in America.

Check out this little santo ....living art.

I was told by a dear friend of mine to go to this place a long long time ago.

Something wonderful awaits me.

Milady meets her maker.