NEW YEAR: NEW CHALLENGE 

January 1st, 2013

Happy New Year's to YOU and yours!

Hi Dear Ones,

This is a quickie post to place my books (for one a month) on the shelf for the year-long 2013 challenge...Artful Readers Club. It's run by Art and Sole's Darcy Wilkinson. Today's the day we declare the books we hope to read and the last Friday of each month, we blog our book review and create a piece of art inspired by the book. I'm listing 14 in case I start one and don't care for it!! 

                                Here are my books:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Breath of God by Jeffrey Small

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

The Great Lenore by J.M.Tohline

Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

Little Princes by Conor Grennan

The Panther by Nelson DeMille

Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

It's a real mixture of times, places and themes. I'm

really looking forward to starting my first book...

THE BOOK THIEF!! Will let you know how it is...

Enjoy, everyone!! This is a great New Year's resolution...read at least a book a month! Thanks for the inspiration, Darcy.

Next posting: A REAL TRIP TO POLAND

LAST TWO VIRTUAL COUNTRIES

and

A PROMISE

December 27, 2012

Hi dear family and friends,

Almost back to normal after our Christmas trip to Krakow, Poland. Unpacking, laundry and catching up to do....and since it's the end of my (our) year-long commitment to Art and Sole's Postcard Challenge (Blog,) I thought I'd start with the posting of the last two countries. I'll be posting again within the week about Krakow sites, sounds and smells...photos will tell the story. I hope you'll check back...

For now, the last two countries in the Postcard Challenge are:

Greenland, home of the indigenous Inuit people... Eskimos and their ice brick part-time houses when they're hunting and FREEZING COLD temperatures most of the time! After all, they are in the arena of  the Arctic Circle!!

and finally, our southern neighbor, Mexico...home of the ancient but extremely progressive and advanced civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs; several active volcanoes; the almost extinct indigenous Volcano Rabbit and one of the few places to which Monarch Butterflies migrate annually.

See you later this week for some show and tell about Poland? 
I hope your holiday has been wonderful and that  2013 will be a spectacular year for you and yours!

Hugs and love,
abbyj

VIRTUAL HAWAI'I  

and 

HOLIDAY BREAK

December 14, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Hope this posting finds you well into the spirit and goodness of the holidays. It's such a beautiful time...people seem warmer and friendlier and everyone seems to be more compassionate and caring. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this spirit could last throughout the year? 

I wish you all a blessed holiday and an extraordinarily good 2013!! I'm taking a blogging break for a few weeks...I may pop in here and there, but nothing scheduled.

I made these holiday cards for you...I sooo appreciate who you are and who you are to ME!!

...and for those of you who love graffiti art as I do, this one's for you!

With two weeks left in my year-long Art and Sole Postcard Challenge, participants made a virtual trip to Hawaii- land of hula dancing, gorgeous beaches, active volcanoes, surfing officianados, colorful Hawaiian shirts and lush vegetation. Here's the art for my fat postcard challenge book...

Our 44th state is made up of 132 islands and is the only state that's still growing, due to its continuous volcano activity. Hawaii is the #1 state for SPAM consumption, (a dubious honor,) has 100 of the most desirable beaches in the world, is the birthplace of surfing, has its own time zone, has its own 12 letter alphabet...and has incredibly beautiful flora and fauna! These are islands on which you can picture yourself swinging softly in a hammock hung between two swaying palm trees with an umbrella drink in your hand!!!  Hold that image through the snowstorms that will surely come our way here in central New York!!  :-)

Once again, wishing you all a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year! Hope you'll check back with me soon...

Hugs and love,

abbyj

VIRTUAL SWEDEN...only

December 6, 2012

Hi Family and Friends,

A quicky post this week as it's been a tough week health-wise...bad, bad cold and an uncooperative back have kept me lying down more than sitting!! I'm getting better as I write... I hope your week has been more comfortable and full of seasonal joy :-) !

Darcy Wilkinson's year-long Art and Sole POSTCARD CHALLENGE invited travelers to explore SWEDEN this week...only a few weeks left before the challenge is over and my Postcard Book is complete!

Sweden has some definite stereotypes: Abba, blondes, Volvo and IKEA. Although all of these are evident in Swedish society, it has, of course, grown and extended its horizons. Today, aspects of foreign cultures are woven into everyday life from music to food to fashion. If you visit Sweden, there are some things you must take very seriously:  being on time, taking shoes off when entering someone's home, personal privacy and recycling!!!

My art for this country is of famous film actress of  who starred in 28 films, GRETA GARBO, a daughter of  Sweden...

Hard to see, but in the background is the very first ICE HOTEL ever built. Now, one can find these unique hotels in a variety of locations throughout the world. But, the first one was in Sweden.

The book page for Sweden celebrates its unique Easter tradition. Like our Halloween, the children dress up... here, they dress as old, raggety people and with their face make-up applied and their brooms in hand, they go trick or treating. They often give those whom they visit, Easter cards that they made...sweet... a treat for a treat!

That's it for this week...back to the couch and my heating pad for my back!! This getting old stuff is NOT for sissies!!!

Enjoy your week. I hope that this beautiful season gives you the happy, grateful feeling that it gives me.

Thanks for stopping by.

'Til the next,

Hugs,

abbyj

VIRTUAL ARGENTINA, DIGITALMANIA 

and 

A TURKEY VOYEUR

November 29, 2012

Stop looking at me...GO AWAY!

I know...it's the week after Thanksgiving but this turkey is STILL hanging around our house with his pals. I don't mind when they're around the house, but I DO mind when they stop and look into my office window at me. Here we are...eye to eye... neither of us, particularly friendly!! Don't know what I was doing that was so interesting...

Blog travel leader from Art and Sole's POSTCARD CHALLENGE, Darcy, invited us to explore Argentina this week. What a forward-looking, interesting country. It's the birthplace of the TANGO, home to the counterpart of our American cowboy...the GAUCHO, home of the 2nd EVER world radio broadcast, the world's 3rd largest beef and 5th largest wine producer, and the homeland of one Eva Duarte de Peron...EVITA!! Further, it boasts a literacy rate of 97.6% ...and soccer is the preferred sport.

The art of British born artist, Nickie Newfield is DIGITALMANIA's artist of the week. I tried to create images in a similar style to hers...she's a painter, collage artist and her latest work combines lots of rich texture, a variety of layered papers, renaissance and religious images...and often, metallic paint. Since I can't paint, I did what I could digitally...

I wish you all a pleasant weekend...with no turkeys watching you from your windows!!!

'Til the next, I send you hugs,

abbyj

CHALLENGE CATCH-UP

November 27, 2012

Good Day, Family and Friends,

I think my stomach is still full from the Thanksgiving festivities. We had a most enjoyable family reunion...traditions are lovely, aren't they? 

Thanksgiving 2012

I've been playing, as usual, with some of the online challenge blogs... the resulting art is below. It's certainly an eclectic mix this week...
For THE THREE MUSES, "hats;"

TAKE A WORD... "something fishy;"

CRAZY AMIGOS..."gifts;"

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART..."rainy days;"

Finally, COLLAGE OBSESSION..."jesters or jokers."

Thanks for checking in. I'll have a new posting this weekend when the year-long Art & Sole POSTCARD CHALLENGE invites intrepid travelers to explore Argentina. Hope to see you then!

Enjoy your week...

Hugs,
abbyj

VIRTUAL JAMAICA, EYES and

MATHEW STAR THOMAS

November 19, 2012

I

Wishing you a very blessed Thanksgiving!
(...in the style of Hungarian artist, Sarolta Ban)

I hope that this Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by loved ones. But, if not, spend some time thinking of all the things you're thankful for... I pray that there are many!! For those dear ones not celebrating the holiday, I wish you a peaceful and fulfilling week.

This week brought some fun art challenges into my lap... The THREE MUSES want an EYE included in our art...

The Flicker art group, DIGITALMANIA, asked participating artists to create a piece in the style of artist MATHEW STAR THOMAS...

Finally, in Darcy's Art and Sole POSTCARD CHALLENGE, we traveled to the Caribbean island of  JAMAICA...land of lush vegetation, waterfalls, beaches, palm trees... a definite vacation destination for those who love summer weather all the time! Jamaica was the first Caribbean country to gain independence. It was the chosen home of James Bond novelist, Ian Fleming, for at least 10 of his novels; it was the first tropical country to enter the Winter Olympics...and apart from the United States, Jamaica has won the most world and olympic medals; it was the first commercial producer of bananas in the Western Hemisphere; its national drink is rum...and the island's motto is "OUT OF MANY, ONE PEOPLE..." a great reflection of the melting pot that Jamaica is!

Thank you for joining me for this blog posting. Our family will be visiting for Thanksgiving so I hope to see you after our holiday!! Blessings to you all...

Hugs,
abbyj 

VIRTUAL TIBET, AFRICAN PATTERNS and a PARTIALLY BROKEN ANGEL

November 15th, 2012

Turkeys are hiding...it's almost Thanksgiving!

It must be close to Thanksgiving because we have turkeys running through our back yard day and night! Very strange... We always look forward to our family celebration as it reminds us what's truly important in our lives. (The piece above is for the  CRAZY AMIGOS challenge blog... STRIPES is the theme!)

There are a few more pieces of art I'd like to show you... SUNDAY POSTCARD ART's challenge blog asked artists to create a piece with a PATTERNS theme. I immediately thought of Africa where the cloth wraps worn by the women and men are so colorful and beautiful...and the manner in which many of the Ethiopian people (in particular) paint their bodies...patterns!

TAKE A WORD asked for an angel... I called upon a photo I took in a chapel in Orvieto, Italy. She was a bit broken, but nonetheless beautiful.

Finally, this week's Art and Sole POSTCARD CHALLENGE took us to TIBET. Such an interesting place with a huge Chinese police presence mixed in with the throngs of religious Buddhist peoples worshipping at the many monasteries and temples. The Tibetans truly LIVE their religion. They're soft-spoken, warm, honest, friendly people living in a more than uncomfortable oppressive situation. Still under Chinese rule, these people are strong in their traditions, beliefs and values...and they stand resolute defending them. The head of state and Buddhist spiritual leader of Tibet, the 14th Dalai Lama, was born in Tibet, though he's been living in exile in India. Tibet is also the locale of the world's highest mountain...Mt. Everest. It's on the border between Tibet and Nepal. If you have further interest in Tibet, please check out my blog posting from November 4, 2010...Journey to the Top of the World... as it details our visit to this beautiful country.

All for now, dear ones. Hope you have a peaceful but fun weekend and early week...

Hugs 'til my next,
abbyj

MID-WEEK GREETINGS

November 13, 2012

Happy Mid-week, family and friends. Our trees are bare, a sporadic fallen leaf crunches beneath my feet, skies are grey and foreboding...come on, snow!!! I'm ready for you!!!

I'd like to share some mid-week art challenges with you...if I may!!

First, for DIGITALMANIA's Flicker group, some art in the photoallegory style of Hungarian artist SAROLTA BAN...

For The THREE MUSES challenge blog, some animal art...

And finally, for challenge blog TAKE A WORD,  THINK PINK...

Please stop by again for the next page in The Vivere: 
the Life!! Happy to "see" you again.

Big Hugs,
abbyj