Howdy!

I am finally feeling better...as far as my back is concerned. Some rest, and doing my stretching exercises each day has really helped. The past few days here in southern Florida have been lovely and it has been nice to get some fresh air in the house. Usually, it seems we have the air conditioning or the heat on. This has been an odd year for weather here. Currently, hubby and I are on a car search to replace one that is out of commission. That's been taking up a sizable chunk of time. I did finish one painting, so I will share it with you. It is listed in my Etsy store as of today. It measures 12" X 12" and is titled "Hope." Hope you have a great weekend....I hope to get more painting done next week. See...we all need hope! ( :

Still here....

I haven't posted much this week, and I apologize. I've only finished one small painting. I've been busy with art lessons, cleaning, and dealing with car stuff. We still haven't found another car. I hope we have time tomorrow. There are two church things, one in the morning & one in the evening, and Saturdays are our only day to look. There's just not enough time to spread around. My back is still killing me, and I don't really know what to do about it. I'm supposed to "rest and take it easy" but there's no one to help with all the random stuff that needs to be done. Just reaching for things in the cupboards is causing pain.
Anyways, that's where I am at. I may not be posting much until things get a bit better. Hope all is well with you! I'm off to take some more Aleve.

Introducing Yee Kwan of The Glass Turtle.....

I've known Yee for a few years, and met her via an online forum for glass bead artists (lampworkers) and jewelry designers. Some of you may remember that I made lampwork beads for 4 yrs. before moving down to Florida. She does lovely work, is a nice person, and deserves some bloggie-love! Here's a short bio from her:
"About me.....

I was always somewhat artistically inclined (at least I like to think so!). Grew up playing the piano, flute, and cello. Teachers in highschool thought I should have tried to get an art degree but my parents (typical Asian parents) would have disowned me on the spot!!

Took a very long, winding detour but finally got back into artsy things when I started making custom handbags. I first came across lampworking when I was looking for enhancements for my bags. I was really looking for unique zipperpulls and in my searches came across a lampwork beadmaker. I was intrigued! After much research I thought "I can do this!" and that's how it started. I got a HH, cleared a little place in the garage and it wasn't long before I moved on to a "real" torch and was collecting glass just like the pros

I've been at the torch for just over 5 years now and am constantly discovering new things. I think my style has changed a whole bunch. Mostly I think I was "known" for floral pressed beads but recently have moved away from that and am trying to my hand in more organic stuff. I don't have much time for glass these days in between school and working as an ICU nurse.

Hubby fully supports my hobby and even converted the pantry in our house to a very mini studio so I can torch year round. I currently work on a Cricket on household NG powered by a Regalia. Am hoping that my Scorpion will be ready sometime this month

Pictures of beads are readily available on my website (www.theglassturtle.com) and pics of the studio are available on my blog (theglassturtle.blogspot.com)

The Mad Hatter & the Door Mouse

I promised I would share my newest addition to my Alice in Wonderland themed paintings, and here it is...The Mad Hatter & the Door Mouse! We finally got to see the movie this past weekend, and it was very enjoyable. My husband fell asleep during the movie, but I loved it. I definitely recommend seeing it in 3D, if you aren't once of those people who gets a headache from it. I've finished up the series, so it is time to move onto different subjects. I will be listing the actual painting on Ebay later this week, but if you are interest in the print, it is available on Etsy. Hope everyone is plowing their way through Monday. I started out the day at 5:30 and I am losing momentum!

Such a pain in the neck....

I haven't been spending as much time on the computer this week, because it is quite literally giving me a pain in the neck...and shoulders...and back. I finally went to the doctor yesterday, as I have had shoulder/back pain for almost 2 weeks now. The day it started, I could barely move my neck. It turns out that (according to my doc) I have a Rhomboid muscle spasm and sprain. I've been trying to avoid things that make it worse, and sitting at the computer is one of those things. For now, I am on muscle relaxers for about 5 days. It is helping a bit, but I am only on day one. I was also given some exercises to do.
Our older car is out of commission, so I have been stuck at home. Since we had 6 inches of rain today, and I'm on meds that make me sleepy, I guess it's not a big deal. The last time we had 6 inches in one day, we had flash floods and I got stuck in one. I am perfectly happy to remain in my home....safe & dry.
I did finish my Mad Hatter painting and will probably be sharing it with you on Monday. Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend.

Monkey Jungle

This weekend, we headed to Miami. My husband really wanted to go to Monkey Jungle and we had a great time there. Basically, it is more like you are in a cage, and the monkeys have acres and acres to roam freely. You can feed them via little pails that they pull up with a chain through the fenced roof. They also had some members of the ape family, whom we found very amusing. The rest of our Miami trip consisted of driving around getting lost (our GPS kept giving us messed up directions and telling us to do U-turns), dealing with huge noisy crowds, honking drivers, and a pack of dudes on motorcycles going at least 150 mph on the interstate like a bunch of crazies. Um....just a little stressful. I'm sorry Miami, but I am just not a fan. There is also a big homeless problem there. A lot of the crime involving gangs and drugs is making its way up the coast to our town.
This week I am working on a painting of the Mad Hatter. I would love to finish him up over the next few days and get him listed on Ebay. We weren't able to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie yet, but hope to go this weekend. Have a great week!

Paintings starting on Ebay tonight!

Hey there, it's been a quiet week on my blog, which usually means it's been a "noisy" week in my life. Lots of stuff going on! I have no idea where the week has gone, but it seemed to fly by. My back went out on Sunday and was very painful for a few days. I did some logo work. I just finished teaching a private art lesson and that was really enjoyable. I've been working on an owl collage this week that took much longer than expected. I finished it this afternoon and will try to get a pic available tomorrow. It will be headed into my Etsy store. In the mean time, my 2 newest Alice in Wonderland paintings are hitting Ebay late tonight and will end next Thursday. I also adding the painting below (a few posts down) of the gal holding the bird nest.
Well, I hope everyone had a good week. I hope to get more made next week! Have a super weekend!