Blessings of the Season
Each season has its own blessing. For me, one of the blessings of Spring is new life, new beginnings, i.e., beautiful spring flowers leading to summer flowers and on to fall flowers. You get the picture. Will I ever get tired of flowers? Doubt it. And with Spring comes the urge to clean house, what ever that means to you. To me, it is letting go of things that no longer serve me. Those things could be clothes, accessories, books, what ever. Letting go of old or not so old things is a wonderful gift to you and to those who receive them. For you it is lightening your load. To others, well that is obvious, good, new to them stuff.

After all that work I always like a little something new for my home. A new piece of art that really speaks to me can give a room a whole new attitude. This month I am celebrating a glorious Spring after a long, snowy winter in Colorado Springs. Since this is Easter weekend it seems fitting to showcase the Lily, in this case the Day Lily. The name of this painting is “Tranquility”. As I finished this painting I had an assistance packaging some orders for me. When she looked at it her comment was, “It looks so tranquil.” I said, “Ooooo perfect, I’ll call it Tranquility.” And so it is.

By next month I should have a new website up. It will be Mickey Baxter-Spade/Just Flowers or Flowers, Flowers, Flowers, or All About Flowers. Needless to say you will find my floral paintings and interesting info about flowers. Why don’t you leave any ideas you might have for a name in the comment box. If I choose your idea I will send you a complimentary box of my fine art note cards.

Bella’s Insights

Happy Spring Everybody! Boy, mom and I are ready for nice weather – you know, no more shoveling snow for awhile. I get my exercise when mom shovels, back and forth, back and forth across that driveway. If it’s not windy I have a lot of fun bouncing in the snow. If there is a blustery wind I would rather be under the bed, and I’m not kidding.

Hope you all had a nice Easter. I found a new friend Easter morning. A big bunny holding a basket with treats was here when I got up.  The treats were delicious so I gave the big bunny a kiss. I’m looking forward to his visit next year.

You just never know what mom is up to. A couple of weeks ago she found something new. Carrots, nooooo, carrots aren’t new to her but purple, yellow, red and white carrots were new to her. She is kicking herself for not buying them – she thought she would wait until closer to Easter so I would have a special treat, you see I love orange carrots! Well, she chose poorly, no more colored carrots. What was she thinking?!? Then she told me all about colored carrots. . .

Mom read that carrots have a storied and murky history. Carrots were originally purple and yellow. Purple and yellow carrots originated about 5,000 years ago (What!) in present day Afghanistan according to England’s Carrot Museum. It’s thought that mutations and natural hybrids derived from both cultivated and wild varieties of the purple and yellow carrots producing an orange “mutant” carrot. Oooooooo, is that a good thing?!?

It was around the 16th century that the Dutch took these mutant orange carrots and created a sweeter, more practical modern orange (yummm) or “western carrot.” It’s said that the modern orange carrot was invented by Dutch growers to honor the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. Though we love our orange carrots we can be thankful for their purple and yellow roots. (roots, hee, hee – get it?)

Color means something when it comes to carrots.
* It’s beta carotene and alpha-carotene that give orange carrots their color and their reputation, lots of Vitamin A.
* Not only are purple carrots higher in beta carotene than their orange cousins, they also possess the anthocyanins which provide the purple pigmentation. These powerful antioxidants are good anti-inflammatory agents and also help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting.
* Red carrots derive their color from carotenoids. Carotenoids are made up of lycopene and B-carotene which are effective cancer fighting agents found in Tomatoes. Depending on the color, each variety has individual health benefits that your body will thank you for.
Well, that was a little different, huh? You just never know what mom will come up with. Stay tuned next month. This is Bella “the food expert” signing off.

Ta ta for now,
~Bella

DayLily
The lily, especially during Easter time, also symbolizes ‘new life’. Day lilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis and are not true lilies. “Hemerocallis,” derived from a Greek word meaning “beautiful for a day.” The day lily is aptly named due to the the fact that their flowers open at sunrise and wither at sunset. A lily is seen, as a graceful flower symbolizing all that is elegant and graceful.

“Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass . . . It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greenered

Why would a muralist paint a bumble bee in nearly all her murals? The story behind this question began over fifteen years ago. While I was busy getting word out that I had a passion for painting murals I also needed an income. My graphic design background came in handy.

One day while meeting with a desktop publishing client who was also a friend I took a phone call from a woman inquiring about my murals. Normally I would not take a call while with a client but we had pretty much finished and he insisted. During the course of that conversation the woman asked if I had formal training for what I do. My response was, “No, I’m self-taught” and she didn’t have a problem with that. After finishing the conversation I hung up the phone and commented to my friend, “Wow, at one time in my life I would have been embarrassed to say I had no formal training for painting murals.”

My friend responded with this question, “Oh, kind of like a bumble bee, huh?” I said, “What do you mean?” He answered, “Well, aerodynamically a bumble bee should not be able to fly but somehow he does.” Since that moment I began painting a bumble bee in nearly all my murals as a reminder to follow my dreams no matter what.

Quite often a client will ask if I will paint a bee in their mural. On the few occasions when I have forgotten I usually get a phone call saying they can’t find the bee. I always go back to add the bee.

When I began designing greeting cards I decided to do a series of Happy Bumble Bees. Tennis is one of my favorite sports so I painted this frisky little tennis bee. This Tennis Bumble Bee print makes a great gift. He comes in a bright yellow mat measuring 8″ x 8″ to the outside of the mat. Inside dimensions are 4″ x 4″. Custom framing is available.

Tennis bumble bee, 4" x 4" matted. Fits an 8" x 8" frame.

Well thought out gifts are nearly always appreciated. A great stocking stuffer for a tennis fan might be a box of eight Tennis note cards. You never know when you might need to send a card to a fellow team mate or just someone you know enjoys tennis. Little things like a hand written note can make a person feel very special especially if you can tie it in to something they enjoy.

"Bee Courageous" Tennis Note Card, 5" x 4.25" Box of Eight $15

We are happy to drop ship your orders to those on your gift buying list. And for those really “difficult to buy for people” on your Christmas list, consider a Gift Certificate.

Hope you are enjoying the Holiday Season!

Creativity has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. Whether trying to capture the beauty of nature in a watercolor or creating flowing designs with sumptuous color in an abstract or collage, the intrigue never wains.

Surrounding myself with fine art and fine art prints I love to look at and that inspire feelings of contentment and joy has proven to improve my quality of life. Whatever life brings my way somehow being surrounded by beauty makes anything a bit more palatable.

For me a still-life painting usually relaxes me, a floral makes me smile at the wonder of a flower’s radiant color and intricacies. Abstracts evoke many different emotions depending on color choices and composition. Most of the abstracts I have on my walls make me feel “Happy”. I think these are delicious.

"Collage Triad"

Along with the fine art I do like to add a bit of whimsy. This is one of my first watercolor paintings appropriately entitled “A Leap of Faith“. The little toad is ready to jump out of the picture to anywhere life might lead him.

"A Leap of Faith"

One little thing I have left from my many years of teaching freehand design on ceramics and porcelain in my twenties and thirties is this silly little goose. It peeks over the ledge above my tub. On days that are going to be hectic I opt to start it as relaxed as I can. So I get up early and soak in a relaxing tub of bubbles and when I look up at Lucy Goosey, well, what can I say, she always makes me smile.

"Lucy Goosey" peaking over ledge

What do you do to add a bit of whimsy to your life? Do you have something in your decorating scheme that brings a smile to your face each time you look at it? Life is much to short to be taking it too seriously, don’t you think?

Quote: “I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” Martha Washington

Poppies have been one of my favorite flowers to paint. This is another of the paintings I finished in time for my Autumn Art & Jewelry Show.

The flower symbolism associated with poppies is beauty, magic, consolation, fertility and eternal life. Poppies in Chinese art represent the loyalty and faith between lovers.

I find poppies to be beautiful, glorious in color and oh so graceful. My husband on the other hand did not. He considered them a pest. He didn’t like digging them up  to thin them. Oooooo, the dreaded poppy.

When looking through my pics if I can’t find what I am looking for I go online for photos of poppies and if what I find isn’t appropriate or detailed enough I search stock photos and download something that will work. This isn’t something I do often but it is a wonderful resource.

While painting these poppies I decided to paint all those tiny hairs on the stems. One of my house guests was watching and asked if the tiny hairs had a name. Well, I was sure they had a botanical name but I didn’t know it. After searching the internet it seems they may be called sericeous which are “silky” little hairs. This may be more information than you ever wanted. If so, sorry about that, I just get a little curious at times. Do you know if this is correct?

Tiny hairs on poppy stems, "sericeous"

My initial sketch for this painting had more leaves at the bottom but as I was finishing the painting I liked the simplicity of the painting without all the detail of leaves. It felt as though without the leaves more attention would on the blossoms.  Do you agree?

"Crimson Grace", Poppies in acrylic, 24" x 48"