My artwork went to the gallery yesterday.

One of the posters for the show.

I've been working on this collection of pieces since the beginning of the year.  Amongst the "Mommy-Mommy-Mommy"s and the udder-checking of the milk cows I somehow managed to churn out (get that little pun, churn--milk cows, I slay myself) 23 canvases ranging in size from 10x14 to 20x30 inches.  Yesterday, I loaded them all into the back of my vehicle and drove them down to Vincennes to The Open Gallery.

I titled my show "Memories, Back Roads, and Tangents" and that really seems to encompass the soul of it.  Each piece started with one of my photographs, and using found paper ephemera, from photos to handwritten notes, I collaged around them creating a unique story for each one.  Along with each piece I also included a poem that I felt best created a mood for the viewer to respond to.  In all honesty, these pieces are nowhere close to what I had originally intended to create.  However, when I got started, the canvases took on a life of their own, and I blinked and this is what emerged.  I couldn't be happier.

One of the pieces in process on the easel.

I also had some small photography prints processed to sell along side of the big canvas pieces, and wanted something unique to display them and my business cards with.  Enter my husband, and his incredible talent to make things.  He tore off some of the fence boards on the old corral at the barn.

Old fence boards.

He planed them down and revealed some of the most beautiful graining I have ever seen.

Freshly plained fence board.

Then he created these nifty little boxes that seemed to absolutely match the feeling of my photographs.  I'm so glad he "gets" me.



I'm very proud of the little group of artwork I came up with.  I'm very interested to see how they will look hanging on the wall.  It will be a surprise for me, since they were going to hang it up after I left.

All stacked up and ready to be loaded in the vehicle.

Below are a few of my favorite pieces.  All of these are 24x20 inches on stretched canvas.

"Accidental Wild Child"

"The Heart of Summer"

Willingly Tamed

If you don't have any plans, the artist reception is June 6, from 5-8pm at The Open Gallery, 329 Main Street, Vincennes, IN 47591.  I'd love to see lots of people there!  It's been such a fun journey to this solo show, and I'm excited to show it to everyone.

After I dropped of the pieces at the gallery, I decided to have a celebratory gallivant in Illinois before heading back home.  I will blog about that adventure soon.  It was such a fantastic jaunt!

Thoughts On My Non-Pierced Ears.

I'm twenty-seven years old, and my ears aren't pierced.  I have to be part of an incredible minority as my generation seems to have more piercings and tattoos than ever before.  It's not that I have any qualms with either form of self-expression, I've just always wanted to be sure that I really know I want it done before I do it.  This decision is a big one for me, and this year I'm finally going to do it.  It's the reward I'm giving myself to establishing an exercise routine in my life.  I've committed myself to keeping it going until the beginning of May, then I'll reward myself.  Of course the next thought is of what to wear in the piercings I'm going to create.  I know for a fact it won't be anything large or dangly or fancy.  I prefer simplicity, and so I thought I'd share some of my favorite Etsy finds with you:

via VerreEncore.

via oblissjewellery.

via jibbyandjuna.

via CraftsGardenofZen.

via MapleandMauve.

via BRadleyBB.

via MapleandMauve.

There are plenty of other beauties, but these have caught my eye of late.  I'll let you know in May when my goal date ends as to how the piercing went and if any of these pretties will be adorning my ears.  Which are your favorites?

Huge Goal Realized Today!

I have always wanted to make the front page with a treasury I created.  Well today was my day.  I got a convo from a fellow Etsy member telling me that a treasury I made yesterday was on Etsy's Front Page this morning.  Talk about a great start to the day.

You can see the treasury here.

Let's hope this trend continues.

New Year's Resolutions--2013 Edition.

This is my favorite time of the year.  How inspiring is a fresh, brand-new year spreading out before you?  I feel like I've got an imaginary pep squad behind me all day saying, "You can do it!  You're fantastic!  This is Your year!"

Cheering Kids via Flickr Commons.

I won't bore you with all my goals.  I've been writing them since early December and have more than two pages worth.  I'll just share a few.

• Wake up before dawn daily (so far so good--up before 6 everyday this week).
• Enter a juried art show.
• Interview at least 20 more artists.
• Try a new recipe a week.
• Make it to 300 sales.

My "Someday Gallery"--aka the old John Deere Dealership in town.

• Go inside my 'someday gallery.'
• Get my press up and running.
• Start and Finish 90 Days of Exercise (I'm on Day 4 Already).
• Do a 365 Day Project (On Day 3).
• Get my ears pierced--yes, I'm 27 and have never had earrings.
• Start working on the 'perfect wardrobe'--(in other words, clothes that fit).
• Volunteer my time.
• Say "Yes" more than "No."
• Teach Joe to write all her letters and numbers (this is going really quickly, I'm happy to report).

That's all I'll take your time up with.  I'm really, really looking forward to this year.  I've got big plans.

What are your goals/resolutions this year?

Craigslist Cravings: Hereford Piglets.

Via Craigslist.

My husband is 100% against any form of porcine coming onto our property.  I, on the other hand, would love to raise some pastured hogs some day.  Hereford hogs would be a part of my breeding program.  As with my goats, I'd create a cross-breed that would be perfectly bred to thrive on our land.  Now, to just convince my darling husband of how great of an idea it would be.

An Interview of Yours Truly.

I was selected to be the first interview of her fellow Etsy Artists by the lovely Madeleine of It Must Be Nice To Be A Bird.  I'm honored, thrilled, ecstatic, and over-the-moon that she chose me.  Here is the interview.

A Step Into The Unknown.

Photo via TwiggyJane on Flickr.

I've got my dream life. I live on an amazing farm, I've got a great guy for a husband, my daughter is absolutely awesome, and I'm the owner of my own business. The part of my life that I feel is incomplete is me. Does that make sense? I have so much that I want to accomplish. I've got more dreams and goals than any person should. I've sculpted everything in my life to match the dreams I've always had, except for those concerning myself. I kind of let myself go by the wayside in order to take care of the rest of my life.

I want to create habits that help me build gradually into the human I want to be. Yoga is something I've always found appealing from afar, but I've only tried it once. I enjoyed it, but then it got lost as does most things I try to start. I want to pick it up again in order to strengthen my body and give me something to help clear my head. I have a garden I tend to when I get a free moment (which isn't often), and it is producing veggies as we speak. I've been making whole wheat flatbread for the household for about a month now, which makes me proud to say I don't buy bread from the store anymore (that was one habit that seem to stick). I'd like to take a crack at making yogurt soon and perhaps that will become habit too. Just keeping up with these things would be a great step in the right direction.

I'd like to join a few clubs and organizations. Get out and volunteer. Support the community, that sort of thing. I'd also like to research things I'm passionate about and never stop learning. Keep up on my writing. Paint and draw and photograph to my heart's content. Believe it or not I miss school so badly. I'd go back to college in a heartbeat.

I just want to erase fear of failing from my life. If I don't try the things I want to learn or do, then I can't fail, but I also stay stagnant. I want to become the person I always envisioned myself being, and I can't do that unless I take a leap of faith and not worry about screwing up or falling short. And if I do disappoint myself, then I need to just not let it get to me and try again.

That's a really hard thing for me to let go of, but this is kind of a vow to myself that I'm starting from scratch here. I'm going to keep realistic and know that change won't come overnight, but gradually I hope I become exactly who I've always dreamed of being. A person Joe can grow up to admire and be proud of.

Perhaps you guys can keep me on my toes.

Getting a Good Start.

Image by Dorothea Lange (October 1939) via Library of Congress

Detail said: "Interior of Mrs. Botner's storage cellar. 800 quarts of 'food for the winter.'..."

This is my dream pantry. I'd love to not have to go to the grocery ever again. That would be glorious. I have already ordered my garden seed for the year, and I'm really looking forward to what it will yield for us. I got $25 extra to spend since I spent $25, so I also bought a Cherry tree which I'm giddy about. My other purchases were: green beans, peas, carrots, roma and cherry tomatoes, onions, spinach, butternut squash, broccoli, pumpkin, garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, black turtle beans, red kidney beans, eggplant, and garlic. I'm going to be a very busy girl this summer.

I also ordered myself a scanner from Canon to digitize all my film negatives. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I could literally do a jig I'm so happy. I've got my film from photography class in college as well as film from before I had my digital Rebel that I've not been able to reprint and after I get them on the computer they will be easily printed for selling. Hopefully this will push me to sell at festivals and bazaars because I won't have any excuse not to.

Otherwise this spring is going to be full of livestock. Currently I only have a small batch of chickens, two goats, and three rabbits (my original buck and doe and one of their buck kits). Just a week ago I had seven other kits, but we got them butchered and put in the freezer. I was leery about how I'd take the butchering, but it was quick and not as awful as I'd envisioned it to be. I'd never had tame rabbit before and it was a very nice surprise how delicious the meat is. Rabbits are a very dismissed meat animal. They are cheap to raise and very prolific breeders. Butchering 7 kits I got 28 pounds of healthy, tasty meat. They give a much better return than cattle, hogs, chickens, or lamb for sure. I'm going to build three or four grazing pens to raise kits in, and I'll be buying three or four more does this spring. I'm also going to raise a box of ducklings and perhaps another box of chicks, and I'm hoping I can find some goslings as well. We also have three horses, but they don't contribute to the farm much except for their manure which goes on the garden.

I'm a very busy girl, but I couldn't be any happier!

My First Yoga Session.

I got up at a little before five, and decided to try one of the sequences in the Yoga Journal I read yesterday (All images via Yoga Journal Magazine). The first pose was easy enough--I could feel the stretch, but it wasn't painful. It was a nice start to the sequence.

This on the other hand was ridiculous. My thighs wouldn't let me lie back even onto my elbows, so I sat awkwardly with my arms back behind me--it is definitely going to take awhile before I master this pose.

I have a spot in my back that isn't privy to me bending this way. I was okay for this pose, but when I went to go into pose #4 it was all I could do to make my back unlock--ha.

I lasted all of two seconds in this pose before I had to move on. I'm not sure my back will ever let me bend backward easily.

Pose 6 was another nice stretch without being too advanced for a beginner like me.

Believe it or not #7 wasn't a bad pose either. Albeit I didn't quite have the straddle that the girl in the photo did, but I pushed myself to a good stretch.

I couldn't bend very far in the #8 pose, but it was a nice relaxing pose.

Obviously this pose is my favorite. It was wonderful to lay there being aware of my body, but letting myself drift into a relaxing state.

So, my thoughts? I'm definitely feeling more energized today, and my limbs feel wonderful, so I'm looking forward to continuing my yoga-trek in the coming weeks. I recommend giving it a shot if you're thinking about trying it. I'm the kind of person that if I think something could be interesting I research the hell out of it, and then jump head first. You never know unless you try, right?

Yoga and the Gallivanting Girl.

Not surprising to some, but I've always wanted to try yoga. I think it would be a nice way to wake up every morning. Just clear my head, stretch, and get focused for the day ahead. On my recent list of a hundred goals I added 'practice yoga' to the list, and I'm pushing myself to start this week. Of course, my beloved books.google.com has quite a few issues of Yoga Journal available for my perusal and the first one I opened to read had "Yoga at Home" in big letters across the cover, so I think it's fate. To keep myself honest I'll let you know how my first day (tomorrow) went. Hopefully it will be an easy habit to form.

I think my allergy season is over!

So now there is no excuse for any lack of posts henceforth. I shall do my best, and I hope you'll forgive me if I blunder horribly at a later date.

Joe is asleep--hence my ability to write a logical post. That girl has taken to walking, so all we do is meander around the farm except for a quick pause for meals and naps here and there. Not a bad life, but it's not very conducive to a tidied house being outside all day instead of tending to indoor chores (oh well).

My doe rabbit had another litter of kits on Sunday--this time she had 10, but forgot to make a nest (it was my fault--I moved her to a bigger hutch too close to her due date if I had to guess), anyway, I scrambled to give her some dried grass and whatnot to make a nest with, and she did and her babies got warm and seem to be doing just fine. Typical drama of farm life once again.

As anybody who knows me is well aware I have lofty goals of self-sufficiency. I want to grow the immaculate garden and can, freeze, and preserve to my heart's content. I'm daydreaming about what next spring will hopefully bring about--lots of seedlings ready to go into a freshly tilled garden, and more seeds ready to sow directly as well. Our garden is located in what used to be a barnlot and the ground is absolutely awful. I'm planning on tilling this fall to pick out rocks and adding compost a bit for winter in hopes of a better start next spring.

A few of the veggies I'm hoping to grow next year are new potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant (because I've never tried it), cannellini beans, green beans, early peas, spinach, and various squash as well. We'll see how it all ends up.

Food (especially when it's fresh and from scratch) is the most amazing thing.

On a completely different topic--in less than two weeks my daughter will be a year old. She is the most amazing little person and I never knew I'd take to being a mother so well. She is the most easy going, fun, and happy little person I've ever met. She's going to love devouring her own little birthday cake--chocolate is her favorite of course--I'm sure I'll get some very dandy photos of the event.

She'll be waking up soon, so I better run and tidy a bit before she does.

I'm a Mom!

On Monday I delivered my daughter Joelee by emergency c-section (everything is okay--her heart rate was dropping because she was under some stress because I was going through labor too quickly). She was 8lbs. 10oz., 20 inches long, and has a beautiful head of hair already. We're home and recovering, and I'm hoping to start another batch of artists to feature really soon. Thanks to everybody for the well wishing--we're so happy she's here safe and sound.

I took myself to the movies...

I'd wanted to go and see "Julie & Julia" since I first saw the trailer--I've always had an affinity for Julia Child since we share the name and she reminds me somewhat of my grandmother in personality. Overall it was a good movie, I laughed out loud which is always a sign that it was a hit with me. I came out of the theater feeling like I could take on the world--which I always appreciate as well. Uplifting/inspiring movies are my favorites. This one being a true story of two women succeeding with their goals/dreams made it even better. I can only hope that my business will become a successful venture and that I will have lived my dream life someday.

I wrote a post last week with my to-do list on it. One of those was to write a goal sheet for myself and my business--I came up with 100 goals--I would've kept going but a hundred was a nice sound number to stop at for the time being. Here's the list:

1. Start Eating Better.
2. Buy Local vs. using corporations--Farmer's Markets vs. Walmart.
3. Buy more fresh foods vs. processed.
4. Keep moving forward with my blog.
5. Use gallivants, find small towns, photograph constantly, interview people, find fixer-uppers, blog about all of it.
6. Clip Coupons.
7. Exercise and be more active.
8. Can and freeze more produce next summer.
9. By a printer that I can use to sell my digital work on etsy.
10. Buy Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop when I can afford it.
11. Own a herd of registered Brown Swiss.
12. Have a small herd of dairy goats.
13. Buy more chickens, some Muscovy ducks, and a batch of geese to raise and sell from.
14. Try my hand at heritage hogs and hair sheep.
15. Learn how to sew, knit, and crochet.
16. Enter my work in a Juried Art Show.
17. Sell my work at an Art Festival or Art Fair.
18. Sell excess produce/livestock at a Farmer's Market.
19. Start fixing up furniture to sell online.
20. Have my art, house, or myself featured in a magazine, blog, or book.
21. Write a book and have it published.
22. Raise a healthy, happy kid.
23. Be a good mom.
24. Read at least a book a month.
25. Do something creative at least once a week.
26. Re-vamp my wardrobe, image, and style to be the person I've always wanted to be.
27. Create a farm-stay/internship program on my farm.
28. Learn all that I can about homesteading, agritourism, organics, self-sufficiency, and all sorts of other subjects that interest me.
29. Join the Greene County Historical Society.
30. Join the Local Growers Co-op.
31. Join some kind of art organization.
32. Go to at least an auction a month (weather permitting).
33. Go on at least a gallivant a week (weather permitting).
34. Take a bee-keeping course and own my own hive.
35. Take at least a hundred photographs a week.
36. Raise some turkeys.
37. Travel all over the country on extended gallivants.
38. Attend the Junk Gypsy Prom in Warrenton, Texas.
39. Go to the Farm Chicks show in Washington State.
40. Go to the Country Living show in Ohio.
41. Make a home out of this house.
42. Become as self-sufficient as possible.
43. Become more organized.
44. Have my own printmaking studio with press and supplies.
45. Learn how to screen print and how to use a letterpress.
46. Someday have the ability to have a larger studio space.
47. Build a couple more livestock barns for our farm.
48. Own a large-breed puppy (most likely a mutt).
49. Go to one of the "big-time" thoroughbred sales.
50. Own a couple broodmares bred to high-end studs.
51. Go back to college and get my Bachelor's and Master's in Fine Arts.
52. Give art workshops/lessons from home.
53. Buy a potter's wheel and kiln.
54. Fill my house with work from etsy artists that I admire.
55. Encourage creativity in my kid from an early age.
56. Encourage a love of agriculture, art, nature, and auctions in my kid at an early age.
57. Balance motherhood, The Gallivanting Girl, and my life effectively.
58. Try new foods often.
59. Learn something new every month.
60. Grow a kitchen herb garden next year.
61. Keep adding to my library.
62. Go to as many summer festivals as possible.
63. Make a point to go to yard sales in the summer.
64. Write stories often.
65. Research subjects and people I find interesting.
66. Keep an idea notebook with me always.
67. Continue to keep a journal.
68. Get a chaise lounge and use it for a reading area in my bedroom.
69. Be a good wife to my wonderful husband.
70. Build a light table for my studio.
71. Find a decent drawing table for my studio.
72. Buy a bigger self-healing cutting mat.
73. Learn Yoga and Pilate's.
74. Have six-pack abs (hey, a girl can dream).
75. Have legs that I can confidently wear shorts with.
76. Have an amazing nature collection.
77. Put a huge front porch on our house.
78. Finish our attic into a usable room.
79. Make a conscious effort to recycle.
80. Learn how to make glass bottles into drinking glasses.
81. Take a glass-blowing class.
82. Put a huge stone wall out by the road (that looks like English fences).
83. Have cattle crossings at the entrances to the drives.
84. Widen the driveway to make it even between the rows of trees.
85. Buy an aluminum stock-trailer.
86. Buy a full-size pickup to pull the trailer.
87. Own a Mac computer.
88. Buy more land.
89. Create our own version of Egenolf Lake.
90. Create a patio/outdoor area on the south side of our house.
91. Meet some of the artists, bloggers, and writers that I admire.
92. Learn calligraphy.
93. Get a non-carsick truck dog.
94. Try to write out Grandma's novel that she wrote pieces of.
95. Start a women's club.
96. Learn to feel comfortable in my own skin.
97. Have a column in a newspaper.
98. Become a well-known artist.
99. Always do what I love.
100. Make my husband, family, friends, and especially myself proud of me.

As you can see it is quite the varied list, but it's a list I plan on accomplishing a lot of in the coming years. If you don't have goals what do you have to live for, right? It never hurts to dream--that's for sure.

Second Trimester and a Chance to Refocus

This is a painting I did of Rosie the Riveter

I always liked the slogan "We Can Do It!"

It helps remind me that

I can make this business, and

my dreams work as long as I keep moving forward.

Next week will push me into the second trimester--I'm already a third of the way through this pregnancy! With the end of my first trimester I'm hoping there will also be an end to the fatigue, nausea, and the overall blah feeling. I've got to get refocused and start moving forward again. I've sort of slowed to a snail's pace since I've gotten pregnant, but now that I'm feeling human again I've got to speed back up.

First, is getting out of this house and gallivanting to small towns and such like I said I was going to. Second, is to get more things listed on etsy, AND get my name out there for people to see. Third, is to continue to blog on here and let all of you know what I'm up to.

Dreams of Gallivants to Come.

Spring has to get here eventually and I'm really having a hard time waiting for it. As soon as it begins to warm up I'm going to be off on some back country road taking photographs and looking for forgotten towns to explore. Since I'm in southern Indiana I think Kentucky will be where a lot of these gallivants will end up. I'm wanting to furnish my house with flea-market and auction finds as well as just random things I find in small shops and roadside sales along the way. I'm also looking forward to meeting all the people too.

I thought to myself last week that I would pull out the map and choose some potential gallivanting locations, but that really goes against all the rules of gallivanting (I stared at the map and felt nothing). You can't choose where you're gallivanting to. Instead you have to hop in the truck and just go where it feels 'right.' In some scenarios you can choose a general direction, but that usually is just a suggestion and you end up in a completely different area than you thought you would. That's the beauty of gallivanting--the unknown.

I'm wanting to showcase all my gallivants on this blog. That's my biggest dream. Letting you guys have a chance to call 'dibs' on all that I find, and hopefully showing you the best of what the countryside has to offer. I'll also be showing my newest listings from my etsy site on here too.