Summer things

 I feel like summer is just flying by! 

It has been very hot and incredibly dry too. It has only rained twice for about 10 minutes in the past 6 weeks as you can tell by my straw-like grass. Because of vacations and the weather we just set up our patio furniture last weekend. Two sweaty days of staining and oiling...but it looks beautiful and now we can stare at it from our air conditioned house.

 I can tell you that my russian sage loves this weather and they are constantly covered in hundreds of honey bees from the hives in the farmers yard behind our house.  Can you find the bee in the photo? You can literally hear the bushes humming.

 I also just had to show you the cute daisies my mom bought me for my birthday. I'm so afraid to plant them in this weather though, so I think they will stay safely potted until the rain returns.

 Here's a snapshot of my creative mess making! I've been getting in a lot of studio time but I'm feeling the time crunch before my show in August. 

You can see my latest piece here inspired by my trip to Europe. I finally used the drawing of my daughter May too.

 I wanted to show you the interesting pinecones I picked up in Italy. I think they are from the umbrella cypress trees that grow everywhere in Italy. So unusual aren't they? At least they are to me!

And this is the pile of ephemera I saved from our trip. Maps of London and Paris, tickets to the Louvre, and Uffizi, metro tickets, and lots and lots of receipts. Unfortunately the carbon in the receipts make them turn black as soon as the heat gun is on them. I tried just painting the wax right over them but then the ink totally vanishes, so I might have to find a different use for them instead of using them in my encaustics.

Enjoy your day!