Creative Women

Oh have i ever been AWOL! 

Such a crazy time; landscape designs and installations soar as Fall is truly the best time to plant, an out of state landscape, helped move my Mom whom then fell scarily ill, but all is on the mend, and lastly preparing for my annual England jaunt for a glorious 3 1/2 weeks, a magical time to catch my breath, re-group, see treasured friends and re-spark the creative juices!

Speaking of creativity, let's put our feet up and enjoy the rewards  of women artisans, in photography, art, and design. If nearby, come on over to our event on October 3rd for a night of design and your own creativity. 

Nancy Villwock,  Photographer

A friend and neighbor, Nancy Villwock, is a self-taught photographer extraordinaire. Nancy can photograph any topic but her particular passion is animals, our beloved pets.

Look at this guy, in action, muddy paws and all, I could fall in love......

This handsome little guy is the love of my life, Cooper, my Cardigan Corgi, with his ever-present frisbee, surveying our party to see who would play next

Nancy's images are soulful, capturing the essence of each animal

Nancy has a gift for setting the scene, her backdrop here is reminiscent of a french impressionist painting and the green of the backdrop plays off the green of the chair.......a masterful composition and to me what separates the good from the brilliant

Hope you will visit Nancy, here

Sandra Mehl, artisan

            

Then there is the talented artistry of Sandra Mehl. Sandra is a part of the Scentimental Gardens family, you will often find her at the shop on Saturdays or Sundays. She truly captures the essence and nuances of each animal.

This handsome boy, a Boston Terrier, is on 6 x 7 colored paper, a gouache, "tightly" painted. It could be a photograph the detailing is so strong.Time to completion is 13 hours.

Painted "loosely" in watercolors on 7 x 7 watercolor paper. Time to completion, 4.75 hours

Then there are the two little Jack Russell terriers, pencil and graphite on drawing paper, 6 x 8, 

 6 hours each

These two dogs are my friends Mary's, Clark above, is no longer with us, Finn below, is her current pooch. Clark was a real character in a moment of serenity

Sandra unquestionably captured the spirit of each dog, exquisitely.

What art medium do you prefer? I would love to have Cooper immortalized and can't decide. I am leaning towards the gouache. Being an artist has long been a fantasy of mine and look upon Sandra's work in awe that three different mediums are equally mastered.
By the way, I mentioned the hours for each work should you consider engaging Sandra, she charges $27.00 per hour, which I believe to be a bargain, for the quality of work, for an original. A photograph of your pet is all she needs. If you are so fortunate to have that photograph via Nancy above, it's a true win/win


          Linda, 'Calling it Home' blogger and the 19 designers

Have you visited the uber talented Linda at one of my favorite blogs, Calling it Home? Recommend a peek if you have not been. Linda runs a series twice a year called the ORC, aka

'The One Room Challenge'. Linda chooses 19 talented blogger/designers who guide us through the process of creating a room. For 6 weeks, each participant explores the before's, the during's, the how to's and the completed room, theirs or a clients. The upcoming series begins on October 3rd, follow along and enjoy the inspiration

......LOCAL NEWS....... 

                                 An evening of creativity

Great to connect again, now I am off to visit my blogging buddies!
Cheers
Debra

Before and After........An Urban Landscape

 I always like to think that problems are a great opportunity to stretch yourself. I welcome them. Often dilemma's steer you into a direction you might never have thought of. And, was this ever an opportunity!

The PROBLEMS;  Upper level deck has a terrible view! Depressing!

On the left side is a neighbors home in pink, white and green......Lily Pulitzer it is not!

(my clients rail is dark blue)

His siding was taupe. Did i say the space was very very small?

My client wanted to replace his sagging deck. "Can you make this inviting, he asked?"

Viola, he loves this space!

The view is greatly minimized

The colorful siding is camouflaged.

It does not feel like being in a cage

A "window" on a pulley allows him to look below or pulled down to block out the world

Let's head down to the ground level before and afters

This is a series of vertical buckets interconnected

I love this container, gray resin, slender, which is perfect for a limited space and how about that inner cut-out?

Then there is the "gangway", a tight passageway between two extremely close buildings. In the urban dictionary it states, "A Chicago term.........

The scattered flagstone was replaced with gravel and MASSIVE pots.

A nook, in need of love

Embrace design dilemmas, you never know, they can lead you down a path of creativity

Thanks for coming along!
Debra

The winner of the Tom Scheerer Decorates book is Steve of An Urban Cottage Blog. Enjoy Steve!