Published Art

Over the holidays, I discovered my art was published in Somerset Studio Gallery.  I was thrilled to find not one, but two pieces.  The artist Colette Copeland is on the cover :D
Congrats Colette @>--------------


I love birds and the thoughts of nesting.  I have moved a lot.  Every home,  I have lived in has had something,  I loved.  I always dreamed of a home, by the sea with a white picket fence, like my childhood home.   I remember the day the fence was made and it was time to paint it white.  In Tom Sawyer fashion, my Dad convinced me to help.  I did...lol.




  I  have memories of our neighbors blurring the property lines. You have to put a fence on so much of your own land, so you can tend n' paint the other side.  Raspberries grew on the other side and our neighbors argued they were theirs.  The land, the home had not been tended to, for years.  Sweet fruit became a prickly subject.  I do remember we had bushes at the very end of our property.  My Dad dug up some of the bushes and planted them sidewards on our property.  We had been  picking the sweet fruit and sharing the berries with neighbors, the ones on the other side of the fence.  We had to prove that we owned the property, on both sides of the fence.   It reminded me, we can't pick our neighbors, or family, but we can pick our friends.  This inspired my Fenced in Ladies, named Gate Guardians.   I am privileged, to share the page with artist, Becky Shander.



I love birds-as a child, we often took stale crackers to the town wharf.  We fed the birds. Yes, primarily seagulls. When my son was little, it was ducks in Alaska, small birds in Florida.  No, we didn't feed the birds in Hawaii, but they woke me every day. I had a Mango tree in my yard and another tree in the front, with these odd berries.   Every morning by 6 am, you would wake.  The  birds were jumping up and down on the roof trying to get the fruit.  They were loudly squawking over berries...sounds familiar.  My Mom had a cockatiel.  She named him Aussie.  I taught him to wolf whistle,  knock and say "Come in", he said pretty bird and he actually barked like a dog.  I can't take credit for the barking.  My mother's dog taught him that, lol.  I tried to teach him to say "here Kitty, kitty"...no we didn't have a cat.  I just thought it would be funny.  He use to perch on my finger and I would give him a special tiny cup to drink out of. He would sit with me and tilt on the edge and give himself a bird bath. 


I dyed two dryer sheets in tea and then printed out an image of a bird. I stitched light blue felt behind them, so you could see the image.  I glued on vintage Forget-me-not flowers and blue feathers.  I made it to put in my closet. A place for dried lavender, to keep the moths away.   You could also use it to gather thoughts n' quotes. 



I was also in Somerset Life's winter issue.  My cards were enclosed in wax paper and I was selected for a Creative Living Idea.  It was fun to be featured! :D  I can't find the issue, at the moment.   I am cleaning now and I bet I tucked it in a special spot.  Why when we tuck things away that are special-we lose them?!



 My idea was the wax paper sleeve, for the card. How many times have you lost the envelope or penned a mistake?  I know, I have!!!   I stitched a sleeve out of wax paper adding a bit of torn paper, some lace and a definition, from an old dictionary.  You can't see the card, so I thought I would show it here. 

 



Thank you Stampington, for selecting me!    Special thanks, to Jennifer Jackson Taylor and Christen Olivarez, for all they do!!  :D


Comments

Anonymous said…
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Mark Means said…
Hey, that's awesome! Well done!

I live in Florida and, at our last house, we had a cardinal that woke us up every morning (without fail)at 7a.m. A hunter I know told me to buy a rubber snake and put it on the roof of our Florida Room (where the cardinal pecked) and he'd go away. Sure enough, it worked.

Again, congrats! :)
i SO admire your creativity, Ella! Congratulations on being published (again.)

you are my idea of a modern renaissance woman!

Ell, congratulations!! What a great surprise.
And yes, teaching the bird to call for the cat (even if you didn't have one) was funny.
Mary said…
Ella, congratulations on publication. You so deserve. I am so glad that so many others will now have a chance to view your beautiful art.
Anonymous said…
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Brother Ollie said…
Nice work Ella - you are one creative person!
Shelly said…
Hugs and congrats! My paternal grandmother loved birds. She even grew certain trees to invite them into her yard. It had a bird bath and feeders.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
Kerry O'Connor said…
I am so thrilled to see your work featured in this magazine, Ella. It shows that persistence pays off, and creativity cannot be kept down.
Vicki Sheehan said…
congratulations ellen on having your beautiful art published! i love birds too...just hearing them sing every morning reminds me there is good in our world.
Sherry Blue Sky said…
YAY! awesome that your art is being recognized! The items they featured are very lovely. Everything you make is so romantic looking. I LOVE your banner with the darling little bird. What kind of bird is that?
Jennifer Wagner said…
Ella, you rock! No doubt about it! Congratulations creative lady! I love that new picture in your header too.
nutschell said…
Congrats Ella! And how wonderful that you keep mementos of all your memories.
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Createology said…
Huge Congratulations! Very exciting and special to be published. Your art is wonderful. Creative Hearts are Happy Hearts...
Wanda said…
Congrats to you Ella on being published. Continue to pursue your bliss.
Ella said…
Hi Wanda-Thank you :D you are sweet!

Createology-Thank you! <3 are happier when they are busy :D

Nutschell-Thank you! It is kind of funny, I do not connect the art and story, till after it is done. My muse just leads me to make something... Later I connect the dots :D

Poet Laundry-Thank you! You rock, too! We both wrote about berries, lol I don't know what kind of bird...don't tell Sherry! ;D

Sherry-I think it is a special breed here in NC-lol. I haven't a clue....but I will try to find out :D Thank you!


Vicki-Yes, their cheery tunes do offer us hope! I love your view~ :D
Thank you!

Ella said…
Kerry-Thank you :D I have had a few curve snowballs tossed at me lately! It really does lift one's mood :D

Shelly-I love that you shared this with me! How wonderful, my grandparents were like that :D
Very sweet, just like those hugs n' chocolate!!!

Ollie-So is a wise monk I know ;D
Thank you~

Mary-Thank you! It is fun to be surprised in this way~ :D You are kind~

Alex-Thank you! Yes, I did grow up practically in a movie theater, lol. I love the element of surprise~ Thank you! You did that for me yesterday, by mentioning me on your blog-you are sweet!

Ella said…
Dani-<3 lol, I have a book about that. Creative types who can't pick one thing to focus on-that is me!
For my next act I would like to decorate windows! I could plant flowers, in rubber rain boots and hang vines from upside umbrellas. Slick ay! lol I have this book-off to find it!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Renaissance-Soul-Design-Passions/dp/0767920880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359564809&sr=8-1&keywords=renaissance+personality
I so admire the beauty on your blog! :D

Hi Mark-You know I have heard of that! You should of seen this roof! It was a Navy house from the 50s. I wouldn't have climbed up, but I could have tossed rubber snakes onto it-maybe!
lol Thank you for sharing and your kind words! :D
Johanna Garth said…
Ella, Alex's post this morning reminded me I hadn't been by to see one of my favorite bloggers in a while! Congratulations on your art in Somerset Studio. That's really amazing, but hardly surprising given what you post on your blog.

scarlett said…
Wonderful work, Ellen! yay! It's really one of the prettiest issues I've seen in a while and your art contributes beautifully.
Monica said…
Congratulations, Ella! The stitched envelope is such a beautiful, brilliant creation!
Hugging you
xo
Congratulations on your artwork success!!! That's wonderful!

My grandmother had a neighbor who argued with us about the ownership of a set of plum trees. They were on my Grandma' property, but the neighbor had planted them . . .we were willing to share, but she didn't think she should have to do that. It was an interesting dilemma and thankfully, it was often handled with humor.
Jeremy Bates said…
That is wayyy too cool, Ella. It looks great here but I am sure even better in person.

We don't have as many birds in the city where I am in Manila. I don't know why that is. It's very unlike the U.S. or Canada,where all varieties seem to frequent.

Anyway, great job!
Ella said…
Jeremy-Thank you! You never know what will grab their attention! I will keep trying ;D I hope to read your book, soon~

That is interesting-ooh, you could write a book with that intriguing view! Thank you Jeremy :D

Tyrean-Thank you! :D Humor is always a great way to handle a situation, like that! We just made the best of it~ The home my parents purchased had been vacant for awhile. They were use to the berries being theirs~ I see this in a book, now lol ;D

Monica-Thank you, so much! It is the simple things that stand out most-so it seems! Now, all those botched envelopes do not matter, lol. I will just make a new envelope or sleeve out of wax paper. Mail lady is going to love seeing my mail ;D (((hugs))) Congrats to you n' your lovely article!

Scarlett-Congrats to you and your lovely boxes! I loved reading about your Mom! :D Thank you~

Johanna-You are sweet! I will be by! Ella Lyons needs to visit you ;D I love what you share! Hope the book sales are going well! I have you on my list!
Tamara said…
This is SOOOO cool!! Congratulations!! And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the little bird bag. Dryer sheets,hmmm? How do you come up with this stuff??
Ella said…
Tamara-Thank you! No, I never put Toasted Cheese in the VCR, but I did think that of it, when I put dryer sheets in my printer! Crazy good...lol YOU use large sticky labels...peel off the label and you have sticky! then add the gently used dryer sheets! You can dye them before hand and let them dry or use as is. Insert upside down and print..let set before removing. I use two sheets per 8x10 page. YOU will want color behind the image, to make image pop! I just put my big girl boots on and play brave, lol ;D