The Kids

My very best friend has started a blog to document her experiences as she adopts a baby from Kazakhstan during 2008. Here's a link to My Journey to Josie--drop over and say hi if you have time.

She posted this picture of my kids that she took while she was here visiting in September. The kids played football in the front yard (girls against boy) while Kelly and I watched. Note the ferocious look on Jenny's face!

Illustration Friday Soar

It happened at night, in the wild clear starlight: she flew...

Surround Yourself With Dreams

When she closed her eyes she could feel her dreams brushing against her, soft as wind on wings...

Ho Ho Ho?

Stomach flu all day Christmas and well into that night really stinks. Really. And according to Joel, it really ruined Christmas dinner that I was upstairs barfing instead of sitting and eating with them.

No, really? You're preachin' to the choir here, boy.

I'm better now. Tonight Joel's watching his best friend's basketball game with friend's family, and Richard, Katie and Jenny are all at Katie's NJB basketball practice (Richard is her coach). I'm alone. That's a big deal because everyone here is on vacation for three weeks, so I've already had a solid week of togetherness, with two more ahead of me, all of which means not much studio time. So I'm celebrating with a cup of chai tea.

Normally when the temperature drops into the twenties here, the studio is cold, even though it's insulated, but the new space heater that I've had out here (on low during the cold nights) has really made a difference; it's cozy, so I've taken off the sweatpants and sweatshirt and am down to long underwear--lovely. Yes, that's me. It used to be 'art in the garage' and now it's 'long underwear in the studio.' Catchy, isn't it?

I'm hiring the girls to clean the studio for me once a month. Hopefully they can do it tomorrow, because in the last month, with my limited mobility, the studio has turned into a very messy place indeed. (The house, on the other hand, is absolutely SPARKLING because Richard's been doing most of the housework. He's a gem. Much better housekeeper than I.)

I was able to open presents with everyone Christmas morning before I got sick--Jenny loves her PINK kid's video camera, Katie thinks her fashion illustration book is way cool (though the Zune trumped it easily) and Joel loves loves loves loves his Ipod. He really LOVES that Ipod. I got 1 G of additional RAM for my studio computer and some very cool art books from Richard, a gorgeous taupe chenille throw that Joel picked out, and a George Foreman grill that will make WAFFLES! Which I have never made before, ever. As usual, Mr. Santa Claus Smithey bought the rest of the family way too many wonderful presents. Also as usual, Mrs. Santa Claus Smithey (aka the Grinch) made out like a bandit.

My dad sent us a very generous check, so we all get to do some after Christmas shopping. I'm saving for a new large format Epson printer and am over half-way there; Jenny is saving for a Clydesdale (horse) and isn't close even though she's saved all her birthday and Christmas money from the last three years and has over $700 saved.I don't have the heart to tell her that she's not even in the neighborhood. Shhh.

Illustration Friday: Horizon

It felt as though she had walked forever, faithfully following the signs along the way. Suddenly she saw her destination; the end was in sight. And the stairs, the stairs! The end of one journey and the beginning of another, the stairs led her up, over and beyond the horizon...

Hope Springs Eternal

Hope Springs Eternal, original mixed media painting by Karen Smithey, 6"x8" on gallery stretched canvas.

True Blue Blogging Award

Lynn at Getting My Feet Wet awarded me The True Blue Award for being a "true blue blogging friend"...

And now I get to pass this award on to other blogger friends, wonderful people who have praised me, helped me see where I am going, encouraged me, and inspired me. I could never have imagined how many wonderful people there are out there--

And so, without further ado, the list of My TRUE BLUE BLOGGING BUDDIES:

Kelly at Kikipotamus the Hobo
Sue at Sue Doe-Nim
Tammy at Women, Art and Life
Rosie at Smoky Mountain Breakdown
Maddy at Whitterer On Autism
Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Blog
Maybelline at Crazed and Confused
Olivia at Happy Luau

One of my beliefs is that we all need people in our lives who pay attention. My dad is wonderful at this, yet doesn't realize why people love him so much--it is a vastly under-rated skill. The people on this list have done this for me. They have paid attention to the ups and downs of my life and taken time from their own schedules to let me know they are out there in the ether, listening and paying attention.

Last Night's Sketches

The kids all had piles and piles of homework last night so there was no distracting TV or computer, which means that I got lots of sketching done (interrupted at regular intervals by questions about mitochondria, stem and leaf plots, histograms, and spelling, all of which began with "Mom, mom, mom..." but that's a whole other blog entry).

So here are some of the sketches I did last night, done on the back of scrap paper. Thought I'd share...

Illustration Friday: Backwards

Estelle no longer needed to continually glance over her shoulder, looking backwards into the past that she feared would catch and engulf her; she finally felt she could look forward as she strode through life...

Estelle, Original mixed media painting by Karen Smithey on 8"x10" gallery stretched canvas

A Christmas Meme

Sweet Maddy at Whitterer on Autism tagged me with this Christmas meme. Apparently it is the season to be tagged. I've been very bad about accomplishing much of anything during the last six weeks, so I'll do this.

“When people say ‘Christmas’ you immediately think…”

Snow.

“Favourite Christmas memory…”

My high school choral group provided Christmas for several needy families every year. My first year in the choir (I would have been fourteen--thirty years ago--Oh my!) we took a tree and presents and bags of food staples to a family that had small children, including a little girl of around four. The look on her face when we brought in the tree, singing, and then when she opened the big present, and it was "a doll! a doll! a doll for me! Look, brother, a doll!" all said in an amazed whisper... And I realized that though my family did not have lots of money, we certainly had plenty. This little girl had never had a doll.

In this day and age, I think, is that even possible, that she didn't have a doll? But it was clear that she didn't when she opened the package. It still fills me up with tears...

“Favourite Christmas song/carol…”

The Christmas Song--"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." and all that.

“Favourite Christmas movie…”

I've always had a soft spot for Rudolph, who 'doesn't fit in.'

“Favourite Christmas character…”

Well, other than Santa, my favorite is probably the inept but wise angel in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

“Favourite Christmas ornament/object…”

The ornament I made out of yellow styrofoam egg cartons and hat pins and glitter in Mrs. Bacon's 5th grade class. It still lives in Michigan at my father's house, so I can't share a picture, but it's quite an eyeful.

“Plans for this Christmas…”

We'll be at home. I don't much like to travel, especially on Holidays, and where would we go?

“Is Christmas your favourite holiday?”

Yes, though as a child Halloween was a close second. I loved dressing up.

So I shall tag:

Rosie at Smokey Mountain Breakdown

Kelly Jo at Journey to Josie


Maybelline at Crazed and Confused


Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Blog

and, last but not least, Olivia at Happy Luau

Anyone else want to join in, please leave a comment and I'll put up a link for you!

Wishful Thinking

Playing: A Color Study

Messing around a couple of weeks ago--fun to see how the colors blend--this is an example of visual blending (as opposed to physical blending). These paints are transparent, and each layer is dry before painting the next one is applied--an area appears green because the light shines through successive layers of yellow and blue and yellow and blue etc.

Sorry. Always the teacher, I guess.

Number The Stars

Number The Stars, mixed media on 8" x 10" stretched canvas, original by Karen Smithey

Untitled

What is she saying? Is she inviting us all to dance? To be joyful? To breathe, to be in this moment right now?

It would appear, no matter what she is saying, that she, at least, does not have a bum ankle...

Too Big To Be Real

She eyed it suspiciously. Surely it was too big to be real.

Too Big To Be Real, original mixed media painting on 6" x 6" stretched canvas.

Tiny Bubbles

Tiny Bubbles, original mixed media collage, 6" x 6" stretched canvas

Illustration Friday Little Things

Susannah's mother made it for her: the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. She loved it fiercely, until a neighbor girl called it 'homemade.' It never looked the same after that, a little thing that broke her heart.

Improving

Almost four days on the couch in the familyroom with my ankle propped up high above my head, and the ankle is looking somewhat better. Above and below the ankle the swelling has actually decreased; the ankle is still huge; the whole thing is turning a rainbow of colors. Jenny wrote about it in her journal, and her last sentence was

"Mom sprained her ankle really bad and now she lives in the familyroom."

Starting tomorrow I'll be allowed up and around more, and can even, very slowly and very slightly, begin putting a tiny bit of weight on that foot. It'll be awhile before I'm sprinting around (as if I ever did), and carrying things is going to be tough for a couple of weeks while I'm on crutches. My friend Dianne, who has her master's in athletic training and therapy (I'm not sure what the actual title is) has come up twice to visit and check out the ankle, so I'm following her advice to the letter. She has also offered to provide me with a walker once I begin doing some real weight bearing, so I can do things that require standing, more easily.

I'm figuring that when I eventually can make the trek down the hill to the studio, I can sit in the chair with wheels and put my foot up on the table while I work. I'll be quite a vision for the next few weeks, won't I?