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

Grapevine Embellishment Over Arched Door

Grapevines close-up

One sunny afternoon I was designing a new note card when I received a call from a client who had purchased a loft in a downtown Denver sky rise. He had no idea what subject matter he wanted, just something painted over the arched entry door to the wine cellar.

Although the expansive loft had no furnishings, at that time, the floors, walls and contemporary cabinetry were finished. The views of the city were spectacular. Based solely on the style of cabinets and moldings and having no fabric samples it was risky to choose colors with so little to go on but my client wanted it finished in about four days so my gut feelings would have to suffice. I had painted another home for him so he trusted I would come up with the right look.

The ten foot ceilings were accented by deep mahogany crown molding ten inches wide which had a smooth, graceful profile. The massive ceilings and room sizes warranted an over-sized design. One and one half inch grapes and large eight inch leaves would add a ton of character to the area. My sense was that stylized grapevines would suit the area better than something realistic/traditional.

Arched Wine Cellar Door

Seldom do I use opaque colors on walls, except to afford me a white background for my painting elements. Over the years I have found that working in four to ten translucent layers of color offers much more depth to the design. These walls were light enough that I didn’t need to base coat with white. This also saved an enormous amount of time.

Bumble Bee on Grape leaf

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

Painting birds has always brought me joy and cardinals are certainly one of my favorite birds. Adding them to murals has always been fun, especially in Colorado since they don’t live here. I find people from the midwest usually miss seeing them and they have actually asked me to add them to their murals.

Two little things I miss living in Colorado,  besides family and friends, are cardinals and lightning bugs (fireflies). Not having investigated it, I’m wondering if it is the altitude that keeps them away. I must admit creating this painting made me a bit homesick for family – well, it is that time of year.

The cardinal is the state bird of Indiana, where I grew up. It also is the state bird of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Let me know if that’s way more information than you needed.

When deciding on a setting for the cardinals I immediately envisioned snow and then the pine trees to add more color and textual interest. You seldom miss seeing the beautiful red of the male cardinal in the snow covered trees in the midwest during the winter.

This is the original painting which measures 8.5″ x 6.5″.

Snow Covered Cardinals in Watercolor

My new Christmas card for 2009 is from this painting. Some cropping was done so the birds could be as large as possible, hope you enjoy it. The cards come in boxes of ten with a bright red loop around it. The price is $15 for a box of ten cards. Christmas cards are available from my website, the Snow Covered Cardinals should be up soon.

Snow Covered Cardinals, New 2009 Christmas Card

Testimonial:

Hi Mickey,

I’m very pleased with the cards.  The ones for Tanya were for my daughter and I was able to get them to her by her birthday on the 11th .  She loves them.
Thank you and I will definitely keep your information for future orders for myself and gifts.  They make such nice gifts.

Jan H