Drive 'em cowboy...
On my way up to Baltimore I passed this Mercedes in the parking lot at AnnMarie... Giddy-up y'all!
If a tree falls in the forest...
Getting ready for the Washington Post reporter coming to cover the project tomorrow. The Master Gardener found this lovely spot, nestling them into crepe myrtles. It reminds me of a Van Gogh painting of olive trees. When we put them in and I looked I thought to myself, "Vincent, if you were alive today you would have really loved this." Wish me luck!
Finish line...
Can you tell an engineer cut the bottle below? I think I'm almost finished with the roll of wonder. It is at about 15 feet and they are considering hanging on the wall in the gallery so I think I am going to cut off the last ten feet. Lest the scale of the chair deceive you, it's a child's school chair. 
Never, never, grow up....
My last customers today in the ArtLab were so much fun. They reminded me of something Madeliene L'Engle said to me at a writer's retreat many years ago: "You know, God is not a grown-up." Thanks, ladies, for helping me remember that I don't have to be one either.
On a roll...
Continuing on my never ending roll-o-fence but somehow I never get tired of it. I think it's because of the colors, the colors, the colors!
Hidden art: Grant Wood in the hood...
or is it in the woods? I love the way Ann Marie hides things to be discovered. What a great way to get kids to notice fine art. There are a series of painted vignettes alluding to master works. Here is one of my favorites.
Getting started with the public on trees...
and my fence is almost half-way finished. I love the grasses in the background.
Birdhouse condo and the new fairy neighbors with garrish taste...
I went for a walk this morning and found this birdhouse condo which is where I would choose to live with my chickadee pals if I were a chickadee.
Then I came across these flowers at the base of a tree. Apparently, a new fairy family just moved in and is causing quite a stir in the neighborhood because of their affinity for Betsey Johnson colors. The trolls are threatening to plant poison ivy by the entrance to the patio.
Blue bird of happiness
I finally got a picture of one of the bluebirds on the property. He wouldn't let me get very close so it's a little blurry, that illusive blue bird. I saw one play dead today. It dropped down and lay in the grass looking dead as a doornail for quite some time. There were no people nearby, I was looking through a window at some distance, so I couldn't figure out why he was behaving so strangely. After a couple of minutes I went to check him out and he flew away. I read that they do something called "anting." They roll in an ant pile and the venom of the ant bites get rid of parasites. Good to know. I'm going to go look at the spot where I saw him playing possum to see if there is an ant pile there. Speaking of possums, I saw a giant woodchuck just up the road from my little house.
Below is a picture of Solomons Island. I ventured down today and it was alive with people strolling up and down the boardwalk. Had a little lunch, cukecumber sandwhich and soup with Key lime pie. Lazy Sunday. 
Liken the lichen... pops of color at Ann Marie Garden.
I continue to experiment with how to make floral branches to tuck into the woods but I needn't bother. The fairies have it down pat. Look what they put by the entrance to their hollow. Or maybe lichen just grows like that above a fairy house. I believe these fairies are of the same clan as the ones from yesterday because of the colors. Some people say they are messy because the leave glitter wherever they go, but I know it happens the same way a rose leaves its scent. It can't be helped.
The fairies are coming!
A week from tomorrow AnnMarie has their fairy and gnome home festival. In preparation for my trees being installed on Monday, I am hiding little hints along the nature path of what is to come. I'm still figuring out the engineering of the foliage. Actually, I didn't do it at all. It was the fairies, gnomes, and brownies that come out at night. 
Look what they left on the steps to my front door!
Road-trip!
What a whirlwind of energy and emotion. Wednesday I said good-bye to Natalie who leaves for Africa in a few days and will be moving into her college dorm when I get back from this escapade/ adventure, and to my sweet son James who was a major cheerleader in my having the courage to set off into the unknown of becoming artist-in-residence. I forgot to say good-bye to the dogs, but they won't end up in therapy over it, I hope.
We arrived at Ann Marie on Friday after a night on the road in Rocky Mount, home of the Eastern Carolina Barbecue that I have been eating since I was a kid. We got an early start and arrived at Solomons Island around noon. John does what we affectionately call " the geography thing" where he takes a drive to survey the environs. (That didn't take long as the island is not very big.) We stopped for lunch and shared the biggest crab cake I have ever seen. It was the size of a tennis ball.
I will keep you in suspense about my accommodations at Ann Marie as I am
waiting for the video to process. Until then, CHEERS. (How could anyone resist this cutie.)
Patina-patata...
I buy my brass stampings from a manufacturer here in the U.S., a fourth generation family business. Raw brass arrives shiny and bright yellow gold. It is tricky to patina and is often electroplated or painted. I prefer colors that are a result of a chemical reaction to the metal itself, though I am planning on trying a product called Gilder's Paste that can yield a range of interesting shades.
I happened upon this Youtube on using vinegar and salt to treat brass. It didn't patina my stampings at all. I probably needed to sand them lightly first. What it did do was clean the surface so that it accepted my Flemish grey colorant. I have tried various cleansers to no avail so I'm a thrilled with this discovery.
I love juxtaposing. That dinosaur next to a filigree pendant is right up my alley. I recently was chatting with Heather (who flies home today for Natalie's high school graduation!) about my installation at AnnMarie Sculpture Garden this summer. I am planning on having trees appear and disappear, gradually manifesting more recycled plastic foliage. She suggested I have James do a time release film and mentioned how she loved the ephemeral nature of the art juxtaposed with the enduring ever presence of plastic bottles. In trying to come up with a word to capture the opposite of 'ephemeral' I came up with 'pernicious persistence.' My brother liked the alliteration though I find it too cheeky. Then he suggested I consider 'universal ubiquity.' You do not want to play Scrabble with these people.
My ideas for this summer continue to evolve. I am hoping to have tree branches growing and moving from day-to-day, adding as many elements of surprise as I can. I am tickled that the installation will retain the element of 'the bottle tree' of which I have become so fond. Two more weeks and I move away for almost three months and have to pack any tools and materials I think I might want: box of old journals, guitar, unfinished paintings along with mother-of-the-bride dress, supplies for wedding projects, wedding gifts. I'll be staying in a 'rustic house' on the 30 acre garden. Half-way through my stay I'll be trekking up to Baltimore for my daughter and future-son-in-law's fab wedding. Talk about juxtaposed. Pedicures and paint clothes, hauling my precious cut and painted recycled trash along with blingy wedding gifts for starting a new household, and this 55-year-old Mother-of-the Bride travelling into the wild unknown of a new adventure.
I'm a little dippy...
I just have a feeling if I have this stuff I will be able to make some really amazing looking something-or-others. Here is a link to their pinterest board! My favorite is the turquoise dipped antique key.
Tabletop jewelry tour...
This is such a quality production. You can even see me with the flip camera reflectiing in the mirror.