Best Friends: a 2018 calendar has arrived

Hello, friends. I am sending you to the new site to see a preview video of the just-published doggie calendar I produced as the second 2018 calendar, which idea I must have gotten in some amazing spurt of energy that I have now depleted for awhile. Just kidding. Sort of.

I am pretty proud of both calendars and hope you will go look at them and consider purchasing one. I think you will find them unique and artful.

I am hoping you will consider moving on to the new site and bookmarking the new one to replace this blogspot site. While the archives are still here from 2008,  I have opened a new shop, a new site, and a new blog at www.dianemoline.com, which you can also reach at www.oneredchairstudio.com (no "blogspot" at the end of the latter.) I am only touching base at this blogspot site once a week or so to let you know about new things. I am trying to increase the readership and subscription list and would love if you would join, if  you already haven't. I do not give or share in any way my mailing list and do not use it for any other purpose.

If you love the artful life,
or enjoy seeing amazing or creative endeavors by all kinds of artists,
if you would like hearing about delightful surprises in everyday life,
if you are always looking for new inspiration and ideas for your own home or artful adventures,
if you like having an opportunity to see unique items (mine and other artists, too)...

then I think you will enjoy my website. When you have a chance in  your busy life, a tour through the whole site, not just the blog, might pleasurably surprise you. It is still growing and new things are added weekly.  There's lots there! I hope to see you there.

Diane Moline

WHat's new...

 There's a NEW post or two at the NEW site and a NEW Daily Amazing. Just to whet your appetite:

All r recycled cardboard!  Pretty Amazing.  Read more. 

Best Friends...coming soon

Wander over to the new blog site to see a preview page from the 2nd 2018 calendar: Best Friends, Dogs We Love to Love. 

While you're there, consider subscribing to the newer blog and site to get immediate notices of posts. I sure would love to have you on the mailing list for that purpose (only.) 

The 2018 Calendar, Hula Hoops and Howdy Doodies, is ready and at the shop! You can see a video and details over at the new site and blog.

Calendar Countdown

Hope you'll mosey on over to the blog and new site to see the first of peeks into the 2018 Baby Boomer Toys and Joys calendar. It will be available for purchase on the site and Etsy beginning Oct. 16.  It will be followed within a few weeks by a second calendar "Dogs" (working title!) which will be in the same 5 x7 format as previous calendars.

There are also some new posts and new Daily Amazings in the Paper Series. Please consider a visit! The door is always open!

New items at the blog:  A video memory of magic days on Lopez Island, an update on the new blue crayon, two picture books, and a few other odds and ends. And, on the site, a new Daily Amazing series, this one on PAPER, and new Artists Who Inspire Me.  Find it all here.

Crayons Are a Gateway Drug

So begins the latest post on my love of Crayolas which, it turns out, is shared by many. C'mon...who doesn't love the simple crayon?  Over at the new site and blog: dianemoline.com

Not me, actually...but it coulda been. Add mid-century wallpaper. 

Chairs Are a Map of a Family, Laid Back on Lopez, Build  Yourself a Strong Box, You Can Travel to Switzerland, Too Soon for Pumpkins....

These are some of the blog posts since you last visited the new web site. There is also a series in Daily Amazing featuring amazing (yes, amazing!) art in miniature format. And an updated Artists Who Inspire page.

Do come over to catch up! dianemoline.com or oneredchairstudio.com. It's the same place either way!

Inspiration in a bottle?

A couple of blog posts,  updated pages with links to favorite artists, and new Daily Amazings in the "miniature" series are over at the new blog. 

There's also a call for your loved pup to be on calendar pages. Come join us.

A new book and a growing page...

highlighted at the post over HERE.

 You see this page by clicking to All Things Arts in the "ladder" contents upper left corner of the site.

Show me a day...

Recently, though, I remind myself quite often that things can change in an instant ...

some thoughts on a book about living and dying.  HERE. 

Some Annoyances and Some Pleasures

By now, if  you previously had subscribed to the blog, you should be getting emails that take you directly to the new blog. If you aren't, I would love to know it, since I will not be updating this blog anymore one day soon. And I don 't want to lose you! I appreciate your support very much.

New posts and a happy little monkey at the new blog here.

There are three new blog posts and two new Daily Amazings over at the new site. Where have you been?   Do come over.

These Are the Days

There's  a video of personal memories in my homage to summer over at the new website. Come on over!

Announcing the birth of...

my radishes!   A bit of opinion on gardening and the joy of watching things grow. And a teeny watercolor posted yesterday at the new site.

Be sure to double click each daily photo on the All Posts page. That will take you to the full blog post where there are more photos and text.

I like this place.

Today, find random shots of the studio...HERE.

My pile of books gets taller and taller....

Two new posts: discovery of a new local place and books I am reading and are waiting for me.
Here or here: www.oneredchairstudio.com

A wolf in ink's clothing

I created a short video of the growth of our backyard. Also, at the Daily Amazing page (find it at the 3-line ladder top left)...a video of lovely ink drawing as the artist is creating it. Watch the magic.

A reminder that I will not be posting here sometime after August 1, although this blog will stay as is.
For all new posts and website pages, I hope you'll subscribe over at dianemoline.com or oneredchairstudio.com. Both roads lead to the same place.

And where were you?

Like 12/7/41, 12/11/01, and 11/22/63, and if we are old enough, we remember where we were, or at least lived, on these days and on 7/20/69. The only difference is that the latter of them was the happy occasion. An homage to the date and another post about a bug I like is here  Swing on over!

How to Paint a Garden Table

...a video of my progress. At the new blog here.

Four Lovely Seasons

A short video tribute to the seasons over at the new blog here.

When you go to the garden store.

...where I expound on the myriad and colorful wonders and canine companions on a visit to buy more flowers. Because one cannot ever have too many flowers. Take a walk over here.

We forget all too soon the things we would never forget

A photo from my past, an observation from Joan Didion, a few observations about memories, good and bad, and on keeping a journal. Over at the new blog here.

Faces in the news

This face...

..and two others, from today's news. At the new blog here. 

The President is in Paris but

it should be me.  My argument for this is over at the new blog.

Step on over....

to where you can read this post about my new shoes! There's more over there....

Mailbox goodies today

I'm sending you over to the new blog site today of more about this:

     Have a safe trip.

There would be no butterflies

Although I am double posting for a small while, I invite you visit the blog at the new website. This blog will no longer be current by the end of this month. There is opportunity to resubscribe to blog posts over there.  You can get there with either of these two addresses:  dianemoline.com or oneredchairstudio.com. Please do come join me at my new home! I am still "moving the furniture" through the month of July; watch it grow!

 

My intention to post every day this month got sidetracked yesterday, a full day of planting and our neighborhood regular Pour @ 4, always a welcome 90 minutes. But that's okay...I forgave myself around noon when I could see the writing on the wall. I planted lots of things that are supposed to attract butterflies - dahlias, foxglove, Bishop's Hat, Echibeckia - HAH! bet you didn't know that last one, unless you're an avid gardener. My botanical vocabulary has skyrocketed this week. 

Happy Red-White-Blue Day

Happy Fourth of July, friends!  Eat hot dogs. Watch baseball. Enjoy your friends and family. Thank our lucky 50 stars, even - nay, especially! - in this crazy time for our country.

Painting flowers, planting flowers

The table is coming along. First, a coast of gesso.

Then blobs of garden color. 

And the start of drawing flowers.  I am using India Ink and Carbon Document Ink.

Besides my sketchbooks, the flowers we recently  planted were great and patient models.

moving furniture

I have been busy this past month preparing for a new design for the blog and website. I am like Lucy Ricardo. I need to move the furniture around occasionally.

The new site and blog can be reached using either of these addresses:  oneredchairstudio.com or dianemoline.com.  As always, you will find the stuff of life I love to talk about over coffee or wine with friends: art, books, play, learning, travel, favorite places (both IRL and URL) and the daily amazing. I'm also making new things in the studio, some of which will be available in the shop at the site by the end of the summer.

To celebrate the unveiling on July 5, I have promised myself to post something either to the blog or website every day in July. Barring emergencies or events I can't predict or schedule, I'll post on the new site. Archives to the old blog will be readily available. It would be foolish to toss out nine years of groundbreaking posting (wink wink.)

So what do I have that much to say about? Well, here are a few things that could come up:

We are building our backyard garden. This is how we started:

I am discovering the wonderful trails around our neighborhood now that warm mornings have arrived (which took an excruciatingly long time this year):

I am creating next  year's calendar, Baby Boomer Toys. I posted a month previously here. Another peek:

I am painting this former kitchen table, now patio table. Alisa Burke's whimsical and wonderful flower lines will be my inspiration. Watch its progression:

Hope you'll check in often.  I also welcome and love comments. Most bloggers do!

Watercolor Drip Animals

Bugged

Fashionista

High-Stepper

Is this what giraffeter?

Am I the only one who has never seen this? It was put-up on YouTube in 2013...however did I miss it?  Amazing and laugh out loud funny.

https://youtu.be/nPrWo5pEvyk

Looking forward....

I am in the mood to paint and create. I went through a creative funk recently and had a hard time getting going; perhaps it was the long, rainy winter finally settling into my bones. Now that the sun and warmth as returned, the days aren't long enough for me.

I am...

working on the 2018 calendar (one of two or three I hope to produce this year if I can maintain this level of ambition, that is) called Baby Boomer Toys. Oh boy !  That is quite fun. Everything is at the draft stage, but here's a preview of one month.

Be sure to get on the mailing list at the website if you would like notice of its arrival. 

starting another series similar to the Pears series I did here.  My friend Carol asked if I had ever done apples, so..why not? Just the first steps (painting a coat of red bas a base, painting and blending the local color):

I will be selling these (finished, of course!) in prints, cards, and other forms in my new website shop come late June. 

And I have also started a series i call "Family" using old family photos to paint a little collection. i like to think of myself as a watercolor artist, but I gotta tell you, I am enjoying the magic of painting over mistakes or changing one 's mind midstream ...easy to do with acrylic paints, almost nonexistent with watercolor.

Here's a snatch of the first one:

Still a work in progress but getting there.

Finally, my long-delayed Megazine will be revised and updated of for publishing soon, and i am doing my best to keep  up with Carla Sonheim's 365 every day. Well, at least I'm looking at the videos and prompts and thinking about them. That counts a little.

So my funk seems to be over for now, energy returning...now if only my Cubbies could get out of their losing funk lately...