HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Pam !!!

I hope my Maryland friend will have a special day filled with fun, surprises, love, friends, family, good eats, and BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

Sending love and ((hugs)) to you today, Pam!!

Family and Friends...

Wishing you peace and happiness on this Thanksgiving Day!

I am thankful to have each of you in my life.

♥

A Thanksgiving Eve Reminder

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Susie !!

My dear friend from many years ago...  What a wondrous God we both know and love... for He was truly kind to bring you back into my life.  Our roots are planted firmly and deeply in our childhood neighborhood we both love and remember so well. 

I wish you much joy today. 

My Soul Soars

If your artwork could talk, what would it say?

It would convey to the viewer the joy I feel when I am making art ~ my soul soars!  Being a caregiver leaves me little time to myself.  Art is my passion and I cherish those moments when I can escape into my studio and create.

Yesterday, I was honored and excited to see my piece of art, My Soul Soars, on Seth Apter's Blog, The Altered Page.  Seth is using the internet to showcase his 5x5 Project.  The author of The Pulse of Mixed Media, Seth put out an open call for artists to submit artwork created in response to one or more of the following questions:
1.  If your artwork could talk, what would it say?
2.  Who has had the most impact on your creative life?
3.  What is the one thing you have never shared with the creative community?
Submitting artists could chose 1, 2, or 3 of the questions and respond to each by creating artwork in any medium in the form of a 5"x5" square.  They were asked to include words as a part of the artwork as well.  There was a tremendous response to the call and Seth is posting each submission every Sunday throughout the months of November and December.
All of the pieces are wonderful and reading how each artist responded to the question in words, and in their art, is very interesting.  Check Seth's Blog each Sunday to enjoy the 5x5 Project.  The Altered Page

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, Peyton !!!

Grandpa Patrick is sending hugs and smiles from Heaven.

"Paint what your eye can see and give it a soul, your soul, and let not the onlookers make judgement .....  fill your mind with the wind and the air and colors of everything known to man and animal alike."

~Fabriozi

1471 ~ 1502

artist

This is one of my favorite quotes.  You may have noticed it on my sidebar, but I felt it worthy of posting.  I need to dig way down deep in my soul and paint like this.

Election Day

This church, in the center of town, always has the best messages.  I thought this one was quite appropriate for Election Day.  Leaving you with that thought, I am off to vote!!

All Souls Day

 A Day of the Dead Altar in Mexico

ALL SOULS DAY is the day the Church commemorates and prays for the holy souls in Purgatory, who are undergoing purification before entering Heaven.  All Souls Day is November 2nd, the day after All Saints Day.

Many people visit cemeteries and decorate the graves of their loved ones. The living can help these souls on their journey with prayer, sacrifice, and special Masses.

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Top 2 Photos by Tony Burton
Bottom 3 photos taken from abc Website

Dia de los Muertos

Dia de los Muertos

November 1st and 2nd

The time has come to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead).  It is time to celebrate our loved ones who have gone before us, to celebrate the afterlife, to honor those we love by remembering them with joy and celebration.

Take time to be still tonight, and listen.  The wind you hear might be a loved one returning to visit.

In Mexico, there will be many celebrations, with parades, altars set up in homes, decorated cemeteries, marigolds, special foods to eat, candy calaveras (skeletons & skulls), calacas (skeletons), music, and dancing.  It is believed that the spirit of the dead return to visit.

My thoughts today turn to family I've lost in the past two years:

Brother Patrick

Uncle Steve 

Uncle Andy

Mother-in-law Jean

Sister-in-law Joan

Other relatives and friends have passed in prior years.  I will take a little time to think about each of them and how they touched my life.

I had planned to make a shrine, a sugar skull, or paint a Day of the Dead painting.  Alas, with those ideas still in my head, Dia de los Muertos has arrived.  I must start working on those ideas soon so I can be prepared for next  year.