Tuscany Beckons -Spring on my Mind

I went to sleep last night dreaming of ferns, just pushing through the ground as it warms from the spring sunshine, unfurling their heads as if awakening from a long winters sleep. I have been contemplating this for awhile and want to include it in my entry for the PCAGOE challenge for February. I have it all planned out in my head but just haven't been able to get into the studio to work on it, as I have been organizing in there and can only do so much before my foot starts screaming at me to rest ( I think I broke something in my foot months ago and refuse to go to the doctors after having to deal with them about a heart condition for weeks).

This is one of my beauties hanging in the bay window with the morning sun peeking through just after sun up.

So today I must get to work on this fern piece or I may not be able to sleep tonight. Especially since when I got up and went to etsy, I found a convo awaiting me, telling me that one of my pins had been featured in a Treasury by grizzlymountainsoaps who makes soaps from Buffalo Tallow, (sounds really interesting and I will have to check out that shop as I am still searching for the perfect soap maker for me on etsy). She has added my Tuscan style Oregano blossom pin to her beautiful collection. I love Tuscany, the light is wonderful there, the old patinas, the stucco, the tiled roofs, the vineyards, the open spaces, the relaxed way of life, and the Olive Trees, can't forget the Olive trees! I think besides wanting to move to Israel, this may be my second choice of the most beautiful place in the world. The light there alone is an artists delight, and even the most mundane thing has a glow of beauty about it that words cannot describe.

So, I have done a few of my pieces with Tuscany in mind, old villas, cobbled streets, and the earthy goodness that is abundant everywhere. And since oregano is prized in Italy what could be more fitting? I made this to look like it was pried (notice the 'chips') off a Tuscan stuccoed wall, perhaps in some Contessa's kitchen? and then simply framed to not take away from it's natural beauty. The tiny blossoms are barely noticeable but are beautiful just the same, and the leaves, although small, are very distinct, and when rubbed between the fingers, Yumm....gives off the most wonderful aroma that brings all kinds of Italian delights to mind.

Ah, see what I mean? So I have to get to work on my ferns, before I am carried away once again to dreaming of Tuscany, and all the treasures it offers. ........


Here's the brooch just laid down on a local grocery store advertisement, Tuscan can look good anywhere! .


But Spring is heavy on the minds of many, especially with the temperatures all across the nation dipping into the teens and single digits. As I look outside, snow covers the ground, the birds scratch through it to find the seed we've left for them, and the sun glares off, making one think, it's not that cold, yet a glance at the thermometer hanging on the porch tells me, no, it's even colder! That's why it was such a delight to find that my Bok Choy Switch plate was included in a Treasury Titled, Summer in the Meadow! It looks wonderful among all the choices, and I love that textile bowl, if only I'd continued with my experiments with soluble stabilizer, I'd made some earrings with it years ago, but that is as far as I got. Anyway, here it is, take a look and forget about reality outside right now.Thank You Lynn Davy of nemeton a wonderful bead artist from the UK! Who made this wonderful treasury!