Seeing in Monochrome

It's funny how I am influenced by my husband without even being aware of it.  A couple weeks ago he painted a giant mural for a client who runs the Traditional Martial Arts Institute in Pantego, Texas.  As the mural progressed, he'd send me images to look at.  It is a monochromatic mural, filled with meaningful symbolism for his client.  I finally got to see it in person yesterday.  I think it is one of his best.

It was during the time he was working on this mural that I decided to rework some photos I'd taken in Puerto Rico this past Summer and have them framed for our home.  I originally processed them in color, but this is what I ended up with.  At the time, neither of us saw the connection.

Arches

Portal

Music Man

Right now, I'm in the middle of creating a series of photos of objects I've been collecting for years while out walking.  It's kind of strange how they they turned out monochromatic, too.

Nest

Duo

Trio

Stars

I didn't see this correlation until about an hour ago, when I uploaded the images of that mural.  What about you?  Are you influenced by the people around you?  How so? 

Heirloom Re-Do

This was my dad's dresser when I was too little to see the top of it.  It's from the sixties, really solid, made of pecan.  I have been craving color for a while now (every piece of furniture in our bedroom is some sort of wood), so my husband and I decided to give my favorite heirloom a little color.  

Sorry about the crappy iPhone pic, but this is what the dresser looked like BEFORE.

The first thing I did was give the whole thing a sanding. Especially the top, where the finish was flaking off. Then I painted the entire thing in two coats of latex paint. I chose an old Martha Stewart color that Sherwin Williams used to carry.   It looked really minty and gross when I finished and I didn't think I was going to like it.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this part of the process.  Believe me, it was pretty ugly.

After the paint was completely dry, my husband removed some of the paint to let the finished wood underneath show through.  He did this by using lacquer thinner.  This stuff is very smelly, so we did it outside and he wore gloves for the whole process.

I like how he just went over the parts that might have naturally been worn off with time.

After the distressing was finished, he painted on a thin layer of oil based glaze in burn sienna on sections of the dresser.  (Don't cover the whole thing, because it may dry before you are able to rub it off.  Just do section by section.)

Then he quickly wiped over the layer of glaze with a clean rag, leaving some in the cracks and crevices of the dresser.  This dresser was perfect for this process, because as you can see - LOTS of crevices.  He went through a LOT of rags.

This is what it looks like after most of the glaze is removed.  He repeated the painting and the wiping until all of the dresser was antiqued.

See the difference the glaze makes in the color?  The drawers have been warmed up quite a bit, so I really love the color now.

When the glazing was finished, a layer of lacquer (in satin) was sprayed on to protect the finish.  Make sure to do this BEFORE you put the hardware back on.

Here it is in it's happy little home!

I say "we" gave this dresser a face lift, but it was really my husband, Scott, who performed his magic.  He does this kind of thing for a living, you know.

Now, what can we paint next?!

One Hot Day in December

It was on December 21st that my husband, son and I decided to head over to Fort Worth, finish up a little Christmas shopping and hang out at the Botanic Gardens.  We ended up a the Japanese Gardens on that day.  I had to take my shoes off because the temp had reached an really strange 80 degrees Fahrenheit.  After I wondered around barefoot for a while with my film camera, shooting up the last of my Kodachrome film, I found this guy!

We were laughing at him because he looked like he was eyeing the giant Koi in the pond, like he was going to have one of those mega fish for lunch!  Then, suddenly... he speared a smaller fish.  And we got to see the entire thing unfold before our eyes!

Taken just before he speared his lunch.

Had I not been so surprised, I might have gotten all his beautiful wings in the shot.

Down the hatch!

I'll never laugh at a Great Blue Heron again!  I wonder if he's ever gotten one of those Koi....

I'm Dreaming of a Round Christmas.... Tree

Every Christmas I am plagued with the grand idea of replicating the Christmas trees of my early childhood. Every dang Christmas, I dig up old photos, turn house upside down for a very un-informative drawing, trying to figure out how my mother managed to create the coolest Christmas tree - ever.  I even asked her how to make it once.




Isn't it cool?  That's my dad handing out
 presents and me next to him.  Those other
kids are cousins, and the woman on the left
is my mom.
1965

  This is what she told me years ago:  You just go to the hardware store and get some chicken wire and some pliers, then go to the tree seller and ask for the limbs they cut off the trees that they'll be throwing away.  After that, go home and form the chicken wire into the shape of a ball.  Then you attach the limbs to the ball-shaped chicken wire with some other florist wire, one by one, until *poof*, you got yourself a round Christmas tree!  Of course, it must be hung on the ceiling, strung with lights and decorated with glass balls and a long pretty ribbon that hangs gracefully off the bottom.  And when you're feeling really fancy, you go have it flocked!





Viola!
1968

  



Keeps the kiddos away from the glass ornaments!
That's me (one the left) and my sister.
1968

  Every year, I get the ambitious notion that I will just whip up one of these doozies and hang it in all it's strange glory in our big front window for all our neighbors to admire.  And every year, I get busy and put it off until I don't have the time, this year being no exception.  Next year, though.  Maybe I'll blog about it, too!

For the Love of the Lake

White Rock Lake in Dallas has been a lifelong friend of mine.  My mom and dad brought me there as a child.  We'd pick up a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and have a little picnic by the water.  It became the permanent home of my childhood pet duck, Herman P. Duck, when he got too big for the bathtub (much to my dismay, I might add).  In the early eighties, it went through a rough period, seemingly forgotten by everyone except for motorcycle gangs and druggies.  Then in the early nineties it had its renaissance.  People began taking an interest in it again and recognized it for the jewel it is.  When I worked in Dallas through the nineties, I'd ride my bike around it several times a week - which soothed the artist in me that I was trying to force into a "real job".  And it was a place for healing when my world fell apart over ten years ago.  There is a bench there that I would sit in for hours at a time to watch the sailboats race and the sun move across the sky.  What I wouldn't give now to sit in one place for that long! After my father died (only a month before my son was born), my brother and I planted a tree there in his honor.  He loved that lake too.  The tree overlooks the playground, giving shade to the kiddos on the hot days we have here.  Each time I visit White Rock Lake, I notice new improvements they've made to the lake.  Right now they are building a new spillway - complete with an observation deck!  It is such a beautiful and well loved place.  Thank you,  For the Love of the Lake, for taking such good care of my lifelong friend.  Thank you!

I visited the lake last week when I had some time to myself.  The whole time I was there I kept wondering why I hadn't come there to take photos yet!  I guess there's a time for everything, right?

I remember this day at White Rock Lake.  That's my dad's Impala.  He took this picture.  I'm 3 1/2.

I loved my soldier dress.  And I LOVED my dad's car.  We went fishing in it together and
I spilled a milkshake in it.  He didn't even get angry.  I just had to sit in the milkshake until we got to the lake!

Keep Dreaming !!

Gosh, I have never been so proud of my husband! As you may already know, he has illustrated his first children's book! Written by his friend, Jake Brittain, this little book has a very powerful message for kids ages 2 to 12. It even comes with a cd of accompanying music recorded by Jake himself. Kids can look at the book and follow along with the lyrics of the song – in three fun versions! We keep our cd in the car and play it while we’re out running errands. We like it and our seven year old loves it, too! 

The message of the book is about how our dreams can become realities. In essence, Scott and Jake hope to give children the inspiration to begin to have dreams of their own and to nurture their dreams. Just think of what wonderful things could happen if children receive this message early in life – to remember their dreams. Isn’t that how wonderful things happen?

What dreams do you have for yourself? Your family? Have any dreams you’ve had come to fruition?

The message is strong and the music is fun to listen to, but the kicker is that for EVERY book sold, one book will be given to a child in need.  Their first donation of books will go to The Boys and Girls Club!  One for One.

To purchase the book, learn more about Scott and Jake, and find out where they will be talking about their wonderful book, go to http://www.newdreamstudio.com/.
 
And have a fabulous weekend!!!

I've Got the Sky in my Pocket

Tuesday's Walk to School

My husband and I recently jumped on the iPhone bandwagon.  My justification was so that we could synchronize our calendars and get email "on the road".  Well.... honestly, I think I might be regretting this decision.  Not only did it take practically all day at the Apple store to get our phones switched over (AT&T likes to put people on hold), I have been trying for days to figure out how to set this Mobile Me doo hickey with Outlook (that I thought I had when I purchased the subscription to Mobile Me and had to purchase in a bundle with a bunch of stuff I didn't want).  And to top it off, our internet is acting funny because apparently with all the iThis's and iThat's in the house, there's way too much firewall action going on, so I needed to change some settings which meant lots of learning about something I really don't care about.  Holy freakin cow!  My little brain hurts....

The worst part of this bandwagon is how my husband jumps whenever he hears the "new email" bell go off on his phone.  He stops mid sentence to see what it is.  And I know our son notices this because he was happy when I took his dad's phone away to set up the calender today!  I have to confess, I sometimes jump to see what it is, too.  Once I even caught myself grabbing the phone while driving because the bell went off.  We may have to set some boundries here.

On the bright side, I love the camera!  Whenever I see something interesting and don't have my Canon with me I can just whip it out and shoot away.  So far I have video of my son singing when he didn't know anyone was watching (I'd post it but he was in his underwear!), pictures of goats, my dog smiling really big, and lots and lots of clouds....

How do you manage technology in your life?  Has it taken over?

Happy Father's Day

This is my favorite picture of my husband with our son.  I just love watching them together.  We have one lucky little boy.

If you like a good story, you might like this.  Oh, and this is great, too.

Happy Father's Day.

My Heart Goes Out

Destin, Florida July 2009

I am so sad to hear that the oil spill has reached the beautiful beaches of Florida today.  I have been looking forward to visiting Destin with my family again this July.  We all were looking forward to the soft powdery beach, the gentle surf, and the rays we could spot just off the shore in the crystal clear water.  The beautiful emerald water.  I'm so sad for what this means to the wildlife that lives in and around this water.  And the businesses.  And the thousands of families that will most likely change their vacation plans.  Some of the families that we met last year had been coming to Destin year after year.

God, I hope we all learn something from this.

Getting Lighter

It's Spring time. Time to go through your closets and get rid of the things you no longer have a use for. Time to give up habits that no longer serve you. Time to shed old opinions and see things in a new way. Time to lighten up!!!

Isn't he a little cutie? This is what I did to my husband today. He was sweet enough to pose so I could finally do the before and after I've always wanted to.

I've used a film made for my Polaroid SX-70 by The Impossible Project called TZ-Artistic Paul Giambarba Edition. I love the muted tones in this film. Here's another from that film pack.

If you want to see more photos taken with this film, go here. Also, I am shooting this pack of film with a beautiful Polaroid SX-70 camera that I intend to sell in my new photography shop, as part of the grand opening in May. I have three of these lovelies and I need to lighten up. So stay tuned.....

A Couple of Crazies

Just wanted to share with you my crazies, Jackson (the dog) and Frank (the cat). Jackson weighs about 9 lbs. and Frank weighs about 13 lbs. They do this at LEAST twice a day, usually before it's time to eat. Nobody ever gets hurt or runs away angry. At first we would force them to stop and I would scold Jackson for beating up on Frank. Then we realized that they both LIKE it! Crazy, huh?

If you can't see this, go here. Here's the address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annadykema/4345872815/.

BTW, I shot this little scene on a tiny little camera I got for my birthday.

The Zumi Digital Camera (2.0)

Buy it at Photojojo

(LOVE them).

Happy Wednesday!!

Hazel and the Visitor

Look who showed up in my in-law's backyard yesterday. He's an Eastern Screech Owl and I guess he was just staking out his hunting ground before the sun went down.

We had an owl as a pet when I was a kid. My mother accidentally shot the poor thing when she was out hunting with her brother in Tennessee. She felt so bad she took him to the vet and nursed him back to health. We named him Hazel, which I couldn't say at the time so his name ended up being Hay Sue. I remember the wonderful sounds he'd make at night. I don't remember what she fed him, but I do remember he was very happy.

circa 1968

Cute, wasn't he?

Needless to say, I have a little thing about owls now. Thanks to Hay Sue.

P.S. Did I mention how sweet my in-laws are? They called me to tell me about their visitor so I could capture him with my camera. :)

Treasure

Feeling so grateful for my husband, holding our newborn son 6 years ago, who has a gentle heart, an old soul and the most beautiful hands I've ever seen.

When we recognize the divine presence everywhere,

then we know that It responds to us and that there is

a law of good, a law of love, forever giving itself to us.
- Earnest Holmes

**This isn't the best photo in the world, but I just couldn't resist sharing it.

Mommy, Look!

I happened to have my camera this time...


And this time...


And this time...

:)

Baby Shower Invitation

It's gonna be a BOY!!

This is a little image I created for my sister-in-law's baby shower invitation. I printed them on square Crane & Co. cards. AND I finally learned how to make rounded edges for my images using Photoshop! Click here to learn how, too!

I will be listing this as a Custom Baby Shower Invitation in my Etsy shop soon. Hmmm.... I suppose I should make one for girls, too?

Mom's Ice Cream

This is my mother, circa 1976, as she was photographed by one of the great loves in her life, Ivan White. He was a Navy pilot, artist and photographer and they were crazy about each other. After they married, we moved to Saudi Arabia for three years while he worked for Saudia Airlines.

Today would have been her 68th birthday. She passed away from a rare blood disease about 5 years ago. Since her death, for some crazy reason, I've felt closer to her than ever. Perhaps this is because I've been slowly going through her recipe box, attempting to remake some of the things she made for me and my brother and sister as we were growing up. I have some very happy memories that took place over a plate or bowl of my mother's wonderful cooking.

One of her best recipes is her Homemade Ice Cream recipe. She made this for us when we lived in Saudi Arabia (as noted on the back of the recipe card). We three kids had to hand crank that dang ice cream maker for what seemed like HOURS. We HAD hours to crank that thing because there wasn't any television on the compounds back then.

I love making this for my kiddo. He goes bananas for it, too! I can feel his grandmother around us when we dig into a big bowl of creamy yumminess. And today, I make it with an electric ice cream maker (yay). It isn't as tiring, but the wait just about kills my son!

In honor of my mother's birthday and what a fabulous cook she was, I'm sharing her recipe with you. Its really easy to make: if I can do it, anyone can do it.

If you want a little something in your vanilla ice cream, add it to the maker about half way through the mixing time. This time we added M&M's.

Enjoy!

Mom's Homemade Ice Cream (1 gallon)

1 quart milk

4 eggs

3-4 cups sugar

1 T. cornstarch

dash of salt

1 pint whipping cream

1 pint half & half

2 T. vanilla

In a large pan scald 1 qt. milk. Place in bowl 4 eggs, whip slightly. In another bowl combine 3 - 4 cups sugar, 1 T. cornstarch and salt. Add to egg mixture, slowly, stirring.

Pour scalded milk over egg mixture, slowly, stirring.

Put all back in pan and cook and stir until sticks to spoon. Let cool.

Add to cooled mixture 1 pint whipping cream, 1 pint half & half and 2 T. vanilla.

Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker and enjoy! :D