Let Me Introduce You to Connie

Several years ago a delightful woman in our church asked me to help her transition from her home into an apartment in an assisted living facility...and of course I was in.  Along with her daughter, Becky, I helped her figure out what furniture to take, what to buy new, and what colors to paint the rooms.  Then came the fun part...putting it all together.  We made a good team and it was the start of a long-term relationship that would bring much joy into my life.

Let me introduce you to Connie...

my friend, and accomplished artist.

Connie's media include
watercolor, acrylics, oil, rug
hooking, basket making, and
knitting.  She has even done a
little Japanese brush painting
and probably other things I
don't know about.

 A few months ago Connie was invited to participate in an art show at her place of residence and I helped her pull it all together.

We created a beautiful collage wall for the show showcasing her varied talents.  

More of her handiwork was displayed in this cabinet .

In addition, over the past few years I have had the pleasure of helping Connie reinvent some of her art.  By scanning and resizing her original work we have been able to turn it into notecards, bookmarks, gift tags, and special little accordion books.  

She enjoys giving them as gifts and is seen here selling her treasures at a craft show at her place of residence.

A tiny set of Connie's floral watercolors 
I made into accordion books that fit inside matchboxes.

Notecards, Bookmarks, and Gift Tags

Her oil painting of a canning jar can be seen in the collage wall above and is a favorite for many...including Connie. The original hangs in the kitchen of her apartment.







Stay tuned to see how we reinvented this lovely painting to give as gifts and more of Connie and her art.

JOY!

It was cold here in Maine today....and tonight it's going to get down to negative 17 degrees fahrenheit with wind chills colder than 30 below. We haven't had a cold snap like this in quite a while.  Thank goodness it's only going to last a few days.

This was the morning light as I took the dried mealworms out for the bluebirds.....I worry about them in this weather. But they know what to do....and I have to trust they will be OK.  

This was a fun day for me!  I've heard from more than a dozen people from all over the country so far....and one from Scotland for my Ounce of Joy Giveaway.  I was out most of the day today....but I'll get things rolling tomorrow and start putting the envelopes together.

I will run this giveaway for a few weeks...so there is still time to participate.  You can read the details in yesterday's post: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2023/02/giveaway.html

A couple people had technical difficulties with the email contact form on the blog....and I have no idea why. So I've created a separate joyful puttering email account...and I am comfortable putting that here on the blog.  

 You can email me directly at: joyfulputtering@gmail.com

I would love to hear from the two people who commented anonymously right on the blog....you can use this new email.

I am trying to do a quick reply to every email that comes in....so if you haven't heard from me please be patient....or try again. And I will go back through my email and make sure I didn't miss anyone.  This is a pretty low budget operation....and my only staff person is busy reading by the fire...and he's worse at technical support than I am. 

Here are some of the joys you have shared with me....I'll post a few each day for a little while while.

• Sunrises and sunsets
• The love of my husband, friends and animals
• The joy of living in two beautiful states...Maine and Florida
• When my 13 year old granddaughter asked for feedback and support on her poetry writing assignment
• Playing with fabrics....deciding  on a pattern and pulling fabric from my stash
• Color makes me happy
• Seeing photos of the natural world and beautiful artwork
• Reading a good book by the fire

This is a snippet from a project I did with Connie many many years ago. 

We shrunk her original artwork and made little accordion books that fit into matchboxes....and she sold at an art fair at her senior living facility.  You can read about my dear Connie....and see that little project here in this post: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/let-me-introduce-you-to-connie.html

Still having fun collecting and cutting up some of my painting experiments....and I can't help but audition a couple things together.  I did this little doodle on some lined paper with a brush marker and gold pen.  

This was another colorblock watercolor that was much better cut up into pieces.  

Thank you all for adding some joy to my day....and giving me a reason to play with....and give away some of the bits and piece in my studio.

Now it can go into 4 envelopes!

Second Look

You know I'm a big fan of looking closely....and now I'm a fan ot taking a second look.

I mentioned a few days ago that I cut out all the birds from a 2002 Audubon calendar.  My lazy housekeeping habits paid off....because today I took a second look at the scraps that were still sitting in pile in my TV room.  A more fastidious housekeeper would have gotten them right to the recycling right away.

What I found were not only more beautiful images....but clear evidence of where the calendar came from....and now I love it even more.

Using two sizes of punches...I punched up all the interesting parts of the calendar that were around the birds...giving me a plethora of beautiful squares to collage with.

The calendar had renderings of birds in trees, marshes, and fields...so the background paintings were just lovely. They were full of soft and earthy colors....and sweet little nuggets like this pinecone. And they all coordinate beautifully together.

Totally worth the second look....don't you think?

 

Then the 2nd...."second look" find was clear evidence that this 2002 calendar was Connie's.  She had written in dinner dates with familiar friends and family, trips to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and various church activities.  I didn't meet Connie until 2009, so this is more evidence that she was just like me....saving old calendars she knew would have a purpose one day.  And the funny thing is...a few years before she died....I got her into punching squares and making cards. Once she started, she couldn't stop and she would have loved punching up this calendar! 

For those of you new to the blog, I met Connie when we first moved to Lexington...and she became a dear friend and mentor.  I was her friend, but also her decorator, gardener, errand girl, art buddy, and ultimately one of her caregivers. 

Connie's things are scattered all over our home and pieces of her furniture are some of my favorites. She's a voice in my head on a regular basis and her warm and generous presence is always in my heart. She was a fellow putterer.  

If you put her name in the search box in the upper left hand of the blog....dozens and dozens of posts come up of our adventures together.  

But this one...is where I introduced her here on the blog...back in 2015:  https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/let-me-introduce-you-to-connie.html

 

We did some good stuff together.  

Here's a calendar I made of her artwork back in 2017.

Connie loved her balcony garden.  One year this little pile of plants, along with a fall clematis....

became this. Location Location Location!

And here's how it looked from down below.

I enjoyed my second look at my Connie posts. 👀

A Beginner

Much to my delight I inherited some interesting art supplies from Connie....including these water soluble crayons at the top called Neocolor II,  a starter set of another kind of water soluble crayons right underneath, some pastel pencils, watercolor pencils, and a black charcoal pencil. I already had a set of round pan pastels and the soft pastel set at the bottom....and I didn't know how to use any of it. 

All the above are water soluble....but I also inherited these old school pas sticks and oil pastels which are not. And I didn't know what to do with these either.

 

So what do you do when you want to learn something using things you already have?  You do what Connie would do....sign up for a class. And it just happened that an artist I follow,  Roben-Marie was offering an affordable class called Blending Abstracts...

"a beginner's course for learning how to use different tools and mediums, blending them together into colorful and messy abstracts." 

Score! I had a variety of media I didn't know what to do with....I have a hard time working loose and messy....and I'm most certainly a beginner. 

https://www.robenmarie.com/       

https://www.instagram.com/robenmarie/

Blending Abstracts is a self paced online class using videos and a classroom Facebook page for sharing your work, getting feedback and asking questions.  I'm off and running....and although it's way out of my comfort zone...I'm finding it quite intriguing.  It has even involved coffee grounds.

Here's a just a few inches of one of my practice pieces.  It's a wild crazy mess when you look at the whole thing...but when you just focus on a little chunk it seems to suddenly have some hope.  Connie would be proud of me.

For those of you who are new to the blog....Connie played a huge role in my life for 8 years.  She was my friend, mother figure, and teacher, and I was her decorator, gardener, shopper, caregiver, and art buddy. I introduced her here in this post back in 2015: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2015/01/let-me-introduce-you-to-connie.html

If you put her name in the search box at the top left corner of the blog...dozens and dozens of posts will come up where she is mentioned.  We went through a lot together....we collaborated on art projects and shared some interesting adventures.  She continues to be one of the most influential and life changing figures in my life and I am surrounded by useful and colorful things that once belonged to her.  I miss her.

And...the pad of sketch paper in the photo above was hers too....and turns out it's great paper to work on for this project. The price tag was still on it....she paid $1.89.  Just perfect for this beginner.

Life

"There is no joy without sorrow....it is in fact the pain and the suffering that allows us to experience and appreciate the joy." The Book of Joy

I'm so lucky to have so many good friends....a few have reached out since my last post. So just in case you're wondering....I'm just fine. There has been a lot going on....so much of it good and wonderful. But, the most important priority in my life right now is my dear friend Connie.

I have talked quite a bit about Connie on this blog. As a matter of fact if you put her name in the little search box in the upper left hand corner more than 40 posts come up where her name is mentioned. That even surprised me. I've been Connie's friend, decorator, gardener, seamstress, caregiver, driver, and errand girl.  We've spent hours and hours crafting, problem solving, and puttering....she is an inspiration and a role model. My fist post about her was called "Let Me Introduce You to Connie" in the first weeks of this blog and she has been a regular presence ever since. It was always with her permission and she has loved reading her stories here so I know she won't mind if I continue.


Just recently Connie's health has declined and she is transitioning to Hospice care. I will be part of the team that will be helping with this end of life process whenever and however I can...it will be both difficult and powerful.

But....spring is coming, creative projects continue, and decisions are being made about houses and homes. Yes...life is full...but life is also very good. I'm so grateful for my very full life.

"The more we turn toward the suffering, our own and others, the more we can turn toward the joy." The Book of Joy