Pamela Griffith's Botanical Art with Soul

Meeting people is one of my most favorite things to do.   I love being part of a group and listening to and learning from other people.  I'm especially drawn to people who are natural teachers.

Magnolia

You know that person in a crowd who is gutsy enough to "break the ice"?  The one who, with one well-placed story, question or observation can get the whole group talking and having a great time?   On my trip to Taliesin, I met the loveliest lady who has just that ability. 

Poppy Plant

Pamela Griffith is a beautifully talented Australian artist, who works in nearly every possible medium and through her sense of place and appreciation of the Australian landscape "brings art to everyone."  

Pamela has designed for the Kleenex brand of Kimberly Clark; designed commemorative toile fabrics for the Australian Bicentennial and the Beatification of Mary MacKillop; and, if youhappen to be in New South Wales, she designed the waratah flower logo on your driver's license. (I had to google waratah, too.  Here it is!)

Blue Wrens Nesting

In her printmaking studio, Pamela also creates etchings and prints that celebrate the fascinating Australian landscape.  There are so many beautiful paintings and etchings to browse through on her site, but if you're lucky enough to be heading to (or in!) Australia, you can check out Pamela's exhibition in person:

If you go, tell Pamela, "Hello from Wisconsin!"  :)

Here are some more of my favorite etchings I couldn't resist sharing with you!  Enjoy!

        

Feathered Gliders in Gum Blossom & Black Chinned Honeyeater in Gum Blossoms

Wren and Fern

         

Poppies & Christmas Bells

Cheers to 40 Years!

Today is the day!
Happy New Year to Me!
Celebrate with me!...

Live the moment...

...Put on your party pants and just dance...

...Smile big, just because!

After all, the sky is the limit!  Or is it?  As one great explorer once said:  "To Infinity and Beyond!"  :)

And a favorite quote from one Mr. Thoreau:  

Do you know what you are? 

You are a marvel. 

You are unique. 

In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. 

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. 

You have the capacity for anything.

– Henry David Thoreau 

You have the capacity for any.thing. (!)

Ah, to be new again! Hooray for today!

 Love to You!

Gwyneth, Nora, and Me, Myself and I

Many of you have seen these style picks from Goop and JCrew, but there are two reasons this pick is still on my mind.  That of course, I must tell you about!  :)

1. #7 is the basic uniform I wore while student teaching in 1994.
Jacket, jeans, dress shirt. I even had wine colored slippers with a pink monogram on the top.

I thought I was so smart, "mixing" professional (jackets & tops) with jeans.  I'm sure other people were doing it too, however, my supervising teacher did not appreciate my jeans, jacket, dress shirt look.

She took points away for "dressing too casually."  This was particularly crushing because I thought I was being "creative" and "thoughtfully dressing" for being on my knees next to a student's desk or out on the playground supervising.  Also, I loved my supervising teacher and wished her criticism had come sooner (maybe she mentioned it and I missed it).

I still wear a version of this outfit almost everyday - You too?

2.  Gwyneth and I share a (momentous) birthday (this week), and, really, is there anyone's life that could be more glamorous?  And aren't we all a little relieved when someone glamorous faces the same challenges that we face?

goop.com

On My Mind

This dining room, specifically the Schumacher Chenonceau, has been on my mind lately.

Country Living

This idea keeps nagging at me:  Use white colored pencil to recreate a wallpaper look on a dark wall.  

Maybe using a stencil?

This one (imagine the black & white reversed) could work...(Are these stencils thick enough to trace with pencil?).

I'm also thinking of making my own stencil and utilizing this tool to keep things straight.  What do you think? 

White Floors

Lately I'm dreaming about replacing the wall to wall carpet and vinyl (gah!) in part of our home with white floors.  Any of these would work just fine...:)!

Whitewashed;

Design Traveller

glossy white;

via, and NE Home

rustic white;

My Scandinavian Retreat

               Love to you!

Everything's Fine

After receiving an anon. comment, "Visited your blog twice, thanks for explaining more details." I wondered:  Really? What have I explained?  What can I explain better?  Or have I explained plenty?  Let me know, would 'ya?

In the meantime, here are two little details about me:

1)  I am not a professional photographer.  This is the last time I'll mention this fact, because, looking at my photos, it's really quite obvious.  If I ever do begin to take professional photos, I promise to let you know!

2)  I have a love/hate relationship with "styling".  Like all of you, I appreciate when styling is done well.  Unlike many of you, it's a complete puzzle to me!

So here's a little project I've been working on in my "office."  Leave me lots of wonderfully critical comments.  Please!

This lamp is part of a pair I found at Goodwill.  The right lampshades are part of that mysterious styling puzzle...still on the hunt... ideas?

The frame was picked up for 50 cents at a summer garage sale.  I used a cardboard backing, covered with a scrap of drop-cloth, & painted it the wall color (Glidden's Elephant Ear).

I printed my favorite response to "How 'ya doin'?" in AKKA & traced the letters with a sharp pencil on the painted drop-cloth.  Then I used a sharpie to go over the lines in the paint left from tracing.

Detail Number 3:
I love simple, easy, done in a day projects!

              Love to you!

Furbish Giveaway

Jamie is having a pretty pink giveaway.
Enter to win here.
Good luck!

Love to you!

Rest, Relax & Remember...

via Pinterest

              Love to you!

Taliesin Tour

Tour of Taliesin in Spring Green, check. 

I can officially cross it off my list!

If you go on this tour, you'll get to sit in the theatre within Hillside school and in FllW's Taliesin Living Room (after putting on booties and being instructed to never lean on anything!).

Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and kind.  She told us, on the way up to Taliesen, "This will be the last big hill, I promise!" We were rewarded on the Taliesin patio with a rest & lemonade, tea, water and scones - the chocolate chip were tasty!

Interior photos weren't allowed, so this will be an outdoor tour.  There are tons of books and sites that have much better photos and information -  this is just my two cent tour!  Enjoy!

Unity Chapel - still in use by the Llyod-Wright family.
The boxes? ... preparations for a wedding - a tent was being set up to our left.
To the left?  A cemetary! *Insert nervous laughter.* I completely missed the part of the tour description that we'd begin at the chapel and cemetery.  I was a bit creeped out, even in the bright sunshine with lots of people around!  The story about FllW's remains being exhumed only added to my anxiety.

Hillside SchoolCommissioned by "the Aunts,"  FllW's aunts who began Hillside School as a boarding school for local children/family members.  
In the north wing of the school (not pictured), FllW Fellowship Architecture Students still work and live. 
There were computers (& working students!) in the drafting room, the dining room tables set for the next meal, a dryer was running in an adjoining room & the theatre stage was set for a student performance that evening.

The Windmill:  Romeo & Juliet
Romeo points to the Southwest
Children from Hillside school would climb the hill to play on the tower...this looks "rolling" - it's quite a steep climb!

Tan-y-deri
FllW's sister stated she wanted "a home," not one of Frank's "experiments."  Tan-y-deri is located just opposite the windmill, which would be to the left of the house in this photo.  Like all of the buildings on the Taliesin property, Tan-y-deri is in need of many repairs.  Until this summer it was used as Fellowship living quarters.

The View from Tan-y-deri to Taliesin (on the left) and beyond.

The secret is:  though FllW's sister's windows were small, she had, I thought, the best view! The hills in the distance represent the opposite side of the Wisconsin River, follow them off to the right, about 30 miles, and I'm home!

The walk to Midway Barns.

Midway Barns 
(Named because it is "midway" between the school and Taliesin)
As a farm girl, I wanted to see FllW's interpretation of the classic barn.

Built into the surroundings, it didn't disappoint.  The milkhouse was in the round tower. The roof, at one time, extended out to the stone piers.  Unlike the classic barns that are so visible from the road (which I love, as well), you have to really look from the highway below to find Midway in the hillside.

 All the buildings on the property are still in use today, including the barn.  Storage (below) and living quarters for Fellowship members or students (the windows on the far right).

The round balls decorating the top?  Old toilet bowl floats!

The Walk to Taliesen

The visitor center (in red), where we began, and the highway that cuts through the valley. The same highway that, at one time, Frank may have tried to get moved.

Off to Taliesin...It was a bit of a hike! That smudge of white is a plastic temporary wall for the (extensive) work being done to shore up the building from years of water damage.  Those mowers had been going all day - there was a lot of activity on the whole property the entire time.

From this spot, below Taliesin, we could hear children on the patio (the most visible part of the house in the photo) just outside of FllW's room  
...it was lovely.  

We climbed up the hill to this classic closed in space that led to the open patio.
(The arbor is made of recycled stations!)

My favorite part of the house was that, while FllW was alive, it was his living experiment - I can relate to constantly wanting to change my home!  
After touring the house, we had a final look around.

The bit of white across the valley is the tent at the Unity Chapel - which was our first stop.  The low wing at end the house is FllW's bedroom/study which is surrounded by the patio.

You can just make out Tan-y-deri's dark roof, between the trees in the distance.

Beautifully Landscaped Grounds
There is evidence that these fields may have been terraced, not unlike the house, the land was experimented with as well.

The Road Home 

(Well, a road connecting to a road home!)

If you come visit, plan your tour here!
Love to you!