Read more about the ribbon cutting here:

Our Everyday Earth

We could paint whatever we wanted to, I of coarse chose to paint flowers and butterflies, one of the other artists painted a fairy and a daisy and inside the box the artists painted peoples faces and some abstract work, it was really interesting to watch the creative flow. As the weeks go by different framed spaces will be added to the box and other artists will add their own unique visions. I can’t wait to see the evolution of the box, I’ll keep you posted.

January

2011 is here, and I am off and running. So many things to be thankful for and I am so looking forward to 2011. This will be a year of wonder, creativity and living to the fullest. I am working on the Common Grounds painting, more on that in a later blog, I will be participating in the sketchbook challenge, and I am going to paint and create all year long. My business plan for this year is almost complete, and I have so many great things coming up that will push my art, my art business and myself to the next level. Today is the first day of the New Year and I will be spending time with my family, which is one of the most important things for me in this new year, I will also be painting and throw in stitching up my January quilt block, and my day will be complete. I wanted to share this great calendar I got from my son-in-laws parents, they brought it all the way over from the UK and I love it. The pages are blank and you add whatever you want, to the page for that month. I have decided to do a graphite drawing each month. For January I have drawn the white hydrangea that Katie and Martin received as an acknowledgment for the arrival of Finley. I loved the glass bowl with all the stems in it, thought it would be interesting to do it in graphite. Here’s some snap shots of the journey.

Buon Giorno Wall

The Funky Finds Experience this past weekend was definetly a different venue. Enjoyed meeting all the different creative people and seeing their wonderful creations. It is so inspiring to see so many folks using their gifts to create. Monday afternoon I took a few paintings and giclees over to the Buon Giorno Coffeehouse to hang on their Gallery Wall through November. Such a nice cozy venue. Drop by, have a cup of coffee and enjoy the artwork.

http://www.buongiornocoffee.net/

Clematis

I have finally finished my painting of the Clematis in my side yard. I was inspired by the beautiful Spring Clematis blooming in mass on our side yard trellis. These Clematis are perennials that come back ever year, they love the cool spring and fall and will bloom twice a year, spring being their most showy bloom. They grow best when another plant shades their roots and their tops receive full sun. Interestingly enough the Clematis is famous as a flowering plant, but its true flowers are in fact very tiny, the parts that we think of as the colorful flower petals, are actually the sepals. The blooms and sepals eventually fall away, leaving a cluster of seeds and tails. These spring-blooming clematis, flower on the previous year’s stems, summer/fall blooming clematis bloom only on the ends of new stems, and twice-flowering clematis do both.

So here is the finished image and I am so excited to read the creative and heartfelt names you folks come up with for this painting.

You Could Win This Painting as an Open Edition Print!

How to Enter:

1. Leave a comment against this post with your suggestion of a name for this painting.
2. Sign up for my monthly newsletter, only those people who have signed up for The Art of Smiles Newsletter will be eligible.
3. I will choose the winner and that person will get a free signed and numbered, open edition print of the Clematis painting.
4. The contest ends on August 31st, 2010 at 8PM CST, so what are you waiting for, get creative, leave a comment with your name for the painting and sign up for my newsletter, you could be the winner of this wonderful signed print.

Gallery Postcard

It feels like Christmas! Having my work on exhibit in the Gallery at Texas Discovery Gardens is so amazing. I feel so very blessed to be able to intertwine my art with such a beautiful venue that supports our environment. My work will be on exhibition beginning March 22 and ending July 31, 2010. There will be an Opening Reception for the Exhibit on March 26th from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at the Gallery. Texas Discovery Gardens’ 7.5 acres offer a wonderful diversity of garden styles and botanical collections. The Gardens feature native plants and plant species from other regions of the world that are adapted to the challenging climate and soils of North Texas. Plants are also selected for their benefits in providing habitat for native wildlife, including butterflies, bugs, and birds. You can also enjoy more than 15 native species of butterflies in the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium, as well as many new tropical butterflies. They offer many fun, hands-on environmental education programs for children and adults. What a great place to spend a Saturday enjoying art, flowers, butterflies and fun!

Zebra Longwings Butterfly photo by Sharen Chatterton

According to an American Indian Legend – If anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly cannot reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish. So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

Most People just like butterflies, whats not to like, they are graceful, beautiful, colorful creations. I don’t think any other insect has been the inspiration for so many, artists, writers as well as naturalists.

However butterfly populations all over the world are being threatened by loss of habitat. Butterfly gardening, is a great way to provide additional habitat for butterfly species in your area. The species of butterfly vary by region, but by doing a little investigating and planting both nectar plants to attract the adult butterflies and also planting larvae foodplants for the caterpillars, you can increase the local population of butterflies in your area. Not to mention increase your gardens beauty with these colorful winged flowers. Throughout the country, the general requirements for butterfly gardening are the same: full sun, nectar source plants, larval host plants, a pesticide-free environment, and knowledge of the local butterflies. Many butterfly-attracting plants are natives and require little attention, as they are naturally adapted to the region in which they live. Butterfly gardens are best planted in the spring with younger plants or in the fall with mature plants that will become dormant quickly and re-emerge in the spring.

Butterfly Attracting Plants

Host Plants and the Butterflies they Attract

Look for an opportunity in your area to participate in a butterfly release. This is one of the most phenomenal events you will ever attend.  We attended one this weekend at the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park. It was their first annual “Come to the Tropics Butterfly Release”. We had a great time. While the outside temperature was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit; we were browsing the booths, listening to tropical music, then releasing a butterfly and observing many other butterflies, all in the warm and humid Tropical butterfly house. I released a very large Paper Kite, or Rice-paper Butterfly, which is white with black lines, it had about a 3-4 inch wing span. Carter released a Zebra Longwings butterfly, which is the mascot butterfly of the Butterfly House. We really had a great time, taking pictures and watching the people and butterflies. I now have lots of photos for new flower and butterfly art!

Check out the following sites for more info on butterflies:

http://www. TexasDiscoveryGardens.org

http://www.dallasbutterflies.com