Beautiful Thanksgiving Music - The Arabesque Trio

The Arabesque Trio presents great music of the classical masters -- Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Debussy and many more -- in exquisite performances characterized by precision, expressivity and tonal beauty.  The trio consists of Barbara Rizek - flutist , Gregory Dinger - classical guitar and arranger and (my husband) Chris Eberle - bassoonist.

Chris loves playing in this trio and from the many recitals and performances of theirs that I have gone to I can truly say that the combination of the 3 instruments playing together is gorgeous.

The trio performs throughout New York's Hudson Valley at recitals, graduations, weddings and special events.  They just came out with a new performance video below, the perfect Thanksgiving week music, have a listen and enjoy the beautiful sounds..  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!

www.artfulcreations.biz/arabesque



 

A New Path......

Sometimes you just want something new in your life and you want to take your creative work in a whole new and unique direction. This is what I was feeling like last fall, I really wanted a avenue for my fine art, one where it would be showcased and appreciated. I also wanted to concentrate on my canvas art and spend a lot more time with it each week, working on different techniques and expanding in new directions. It was about that time that I started contacting galleries around the country to hopefully find a good fit for my artwork. I was lucky enough to have taken the chance and contacted Celebrations Gallery in Pomfret CT. Just this past Monday, I took a road trip up to beautiful northeast CT with my car full of painted canvases, ready to start out on a new artful journey. I'm so excited to say that my work is now going to be represented by Celebrations Gallery & Shoppes. I'm happy about the new path I'm taking and feel it will do a lot to push me in different creative directions and be a great challenge for me in the upcoming months. I'm very proud to have my work there!!!! If you are in the area, you should visit, the gallery is just gorgeous, filled with a wide variety of art to please any taste. http://www.celebrationsshoppes.com/

Beautiful Bermuda Flamingos

I really love Flamingos but every time I have seen them at the Bronx Zoo, I've not been able to get any really good photos.....not yet anyway but I'll keep trying.

Flamingos remind me of my favorite season....summer. When we were in Bermuda, we went to a zoo/aquarium that was jam packed with lots to see.

First we took a ferry from where our boat was docked to the city of Hamilton, from there we road by bus to the zoo. While small, the zoo and aquarium were beautiful and of course, they had lovely views of the ocean as well but I don't mean to get off subject.....I was excited to see such a large number of Flamingos in one place and Chris and I had the perfect spot to sit and watch them and of course, take lots of photos.

I moved out of the prime viewing spot only once to let other people have a look and then I was right back in my photo shooting position once they had left. I was able to take quite a lot of pictures but it was a bit challenging at times due to the constant movement of the group.

I tried to watch and get a lot of different shots as heads went up, down, in the water etc.... It was a lovely afternoon, hotter then blazes but lovely and it was wonderful to find so many of these beautiful birds in one spot.

Below is a pretty Flamingo plaque that my artist friend Jo hand painted and was kind enough to share with me so I could include it in my post. She is just getting a new website up and running and putting quite a lot of work into it and her artwork as well, so I hope you will visit her over at: http://www.neereandearcreations.com/ .

I hope you've enjoyed some of the photos of these beautiful birds.

A Special Dog Portrait....

I decided to have a very special birthday present created for myself this year and I contacted my friend Linda O'Neill over at Abby Creek Art: http://www.abbycreek-art.blogspot.com/ to create the above custom portrait for me. Linda is an extremely talented pet portrait artist and she has just launched a new etsy site for dog portraits and prints: http://www.abbycreekdogs.etsy.com/ .

Linda created the above portrait of Snuggles from this photo that I sent her. This picture was taken 14 years ago in 1995, just after Snuggles had his Halloween grooming and was looking quite dapper in his orange bow.

Chris and I had Snuggles from a puppy and he holds the destinction of being the first dog we ever owned together. When we were getting married my parents asked us what we would like as a wedding present and I knew beyond a doubt, we wanted a Shih Tzu. Weeks later, my parents arrived at our house holding a cardboard box which contained the sweetest little gold and white Shih Tzu puppy. From that day on, he shared our lives with us and brought us so much joy. Snugs is no longer with us, he passed away 9 years ago but to this day, he is never far from our minds or hearts. I have photos of him all over our house and because of that, every day I still get to look into that sweet little face. This portrait is a most special birthday present to myself...one Chris and I will both treasure forever.

In case you missed the portrait of my little Dudley that Linda painted for me back in May.....here he is. I hope you will stop by and visit her blog, etsy shop and website....she is a most talented lady. Thank you Linda!!!!!!!!

Romantic Country Magazine.....

I was proud to find out a few weeks ago that my "Sweet Spring Bluebirds" emu egg jewelry box would be appearing in the favorite finds section of "Romantic Country" magazine, summer 2009 edition. I'm excited to say the magazine just came out and I was able to pick up a couple of copies at a nearby bookstore.

You can click on the photos to read the caption and view larger images.

It was very exciting to send my egg away in the mail to be professionally photographed for the pages of this beautiful magazine. Thanks go out to Fifi, the Editor In Chief of Romantic Country, who was so sweet to work with and did such a beautiful job on the photos.

Next time I'll try to post about what has been going on in my painting studio these days... I hope everyone is enjoying some wonderful June weather.

Dudley In The Sheets

The most amazing piece of artwork arrived at my doorstep this past Saturday, this gorgeous portrait of my little Dudley. This beautiful painting was done by the very talented Linda O'Neill over at Abby Creek Art: http://www.abbycreek-art.blogspot.com/ .

You might remember some months ago, I took these photos of Dudley on laundry day. Every time I bring the sheets downstairs, I always throw them in front of the basement door so that the next one to go downstairs can load them into the washing machine. Dudley very frequently makes a bed in the sheets until they are brought down to their final destination.

Linda used my laundry day photos as the inspiration for her pet portrait.

Linda signed, dated and titled this 8" x 8" gallery canvas on the back side. If you haven't seen Linda's beautiful work before, stop by and pay her a visit, you will not be disappointed with her very expressive dog portraits that always capture the beauty and personality of her subjects. Thanks Linda....I will always treasure this piece of artwork from you!!!!

The Tea House Times

Today my mail carrier delivered my copy of The Tea House Times and I'm thrilled to say that my egg art is in the March/April issue.

In addition to talking a bit about how I create my own form of egg art the article also talks about the long history of this art form....how it spans centuries and time and has endured through the ages.

Click to make the photos larger and you will be able to actually read the article. I hope this lovely article provides a little insight into this old world art form and the reason why I enjoy working so much on this delightful and fun surface.

Country Victorian Magazine - Artist's Feature

Pinch me so that I know I'm not dreaming this, I have an artist's feature on my vintage ceiling tins in the winter, 2009 addition of Country Victorian Magazine. Available in book stores on Sept 9th.... It is all I've thought of for months now but couldn't talk about until I actually saw that it was happening.

This has been a dream of mine, I cannot tell you for how many years I have dreamt of having my work featured in a home decor magazine. I remember it all started when Iwas first learning to paint many years ago....I would pick up decorating magazines and dream about the day that I perhaps could be in one. I'm quite thrilled to be in this edition of this very lovely magazine.

I probably cannot express quite how excited I am , lets just say....VERY EXCITED!! Harris Publications was such a pleasure to work with and I want to thank them for having me in one of their beautiful magazines, it really is an honor! I was also lucky enough to have my friend Kathryn Bechen , do the phone interview with me and write the article for this feature. You can click on the photo to get close ups and read the article. I'm off to my new home for the next few days atleast....Cloud 9.

Hot Cottage Collectibles & Today's Vintage

"Hot Cottage Collectibles For Vintage Style Homes" is a beautiful book (lots of home decor eye candy in this publication) written by Dianne Zweig.

I'm very honored to say that two of my faux windows made it into this lovely publication. The window above heads off the "At The Beach" chapter and both are featured on a page in that same section.

Dianne has also written a very nice piece for a west coast publication called "Today's Vintage". It is an on-line magazine as well as a printed publication that comes out in 5 western states...CA, WA, OR, NV & AZ. Dianne wrote an article about vintage ceiling tins being used in today's modern decor and featured 5 of my vintage tins in that article. While the print version in not out just yet, the online article can be found at: www.todaysvintage.com under the "Decorating" section.

It was really a lot of fun working with Dianne and a thrill to be featured in both these publications.

New Website & Taking A New Path

After months of very hard work by my husband Chris, my new website is up and running and ready for business.

I'm so thrilled with the way it turned out, he worked so hard on it and I know he is thrilled it is finally finished. It is the polar opposite of my last website and features the kind of work that I'm now interested in creating and selling. I've updated and redone photos...changed the layouts, I have all new catagories, a new and updated professional bio and have used my own artwork as the backgrounds for all the pages.

I'm going down a new path with my artwork that I'm very excited about. My site address is still the same: http://www.artfulcreations.biz/ . As you are looking around, should you find any areas that don't work, pages don't load, nothing is there, any mistakes we've made, please let me know. While I'm still in the process of going over everything, it is easy to miss things.

In The Spotlight - Manic For Mosaics

Recently I bought 3 beautiful mosaic pieces from different artists and thought it would be fun to do a combined post featuring all 3 at the same time.

This absolutely gorgeous birdhouse was made by Michelle over at The Mosaic Queen blog: http://www.mosaicqueen.typepad.com/ . Michelle's work is eclectic, whimsical and simply fabulous! If you visit her blog, her March 1st post was dedicated to this birdhouse. She took some lovely outside photos of the piece, along with one of her sitting next to it, that photo will really give you an idea of how big this piece is.

As you can see from the top photo, she used teacups by the bird holes, also note the lid that is right above them. This is a photo of one of the sides of the birdhouse, notice all the beautiful detail there is everywhere you look.

My only requirement for this birdhouse was that it be really colorful and give everyone passing by my front garden this year a real "WOW" when they looked at it. I really wanted a piece of art for my front yard that would pop, not fade away into the background. I think Michelle more then captured the wow factor here.

Michelle planted a whole garden of flowers growing up each side.

A view of the back of the birdhouse, just as pretty as the front with a rose at the top and a teacup, dove and red heart at the bottom. Thanks Michelle, for all your hard work on this piece, I'm very thrilled with it and will be taking lots of outside garden photos with the birdhouse as my centerpiece this year.

I ordered this very beautiful tissue box cover from Penny of Lavender Hill Studio. If you visit her blog at: http://www.lavenderhillstudio.blogspot.com/ and go to her Feb 27th post, you will see some really gorgeous shots of this piece, also if you click on any of my photos, larger versions will appear and you will be able to see more detail. I wanted this tissue box cover to go in my bathroom which has light blue and chocolate brown as the color scheme. Penny did a beautiful job of incorporating both colors in this piece, it fits just wonderfully in my bathroom and is a real show piece on the counter. I asked Penny to encorporate a sweet little blue bird somewhere on the tissue box cover and she used a lovely little bird from a vintage pepper shaker, you can just see him in the upper left hand corner of the box.

I already had a mosaic hand mirror I bought last year from another artist and this looks so pretty with it. Be sure to stop by Penny's blog, she does really beautiful work and is very creative. Thanks for this lovely piece Penny, I enjoy it every time I reach for a tissue.

I ordered some TEA letters for my kitchen counter from Brook over at The Home That Love Built: http://www.brook-thehomethatlovebuilt.blogspot.com/ . Her work is very pretty and she sells a variety of different mosaic items on Ebay.

Her mosaic letters are very popular and when I saw them on someone else's blog, I knew I had to have a set for myself. I just told Brook to use whatever colors she wanted and to surprise me. I was very happy when my package came to see my beautiful TEA letters. They now have a prominent place on my kitchen counter as a dedication to my favorite beverage. Thanks Brook, I really enjoy them each day when I'm making my tea!!

In The Spotlight

This month Melissa Michaels from the Inspired Room, has stopped by to be my "In The Spotlight" artist. Melissa is an interior design consultant and an accomplished writer. The first time I discovered her blog, I remember thinking I had stumbled onto a new HGTV show. I hope you enjoy learning a little bit about her and her business and that you will stop by her, beautiful and inspiring blog.

I am so humbled that Ruth selected me to be her featured guest this month. I am pleased to be able to share a little bit about what I do, because it is something I am passionate about. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved houses. Not every house had the power to charm me, but the ones that did pulled me in and enchanted me. It didn’t matter if they were large and castle-like, small and cozy, or a seemingly ordinary rambler -- certain homes radiated something special. As I grew up, I started to realize what they all had in common. I was drawn to homes that reflected the joy and life of the people who lived there. Those homes wrapped you up like a big hug when you walked through the door. You wanted to stay awhile in houses like that.

Being an interior design consultant for my own business, The Inspired Room, is a dream come true for me. It has allowed me the opportunity to help other people achieve something in their home that they sense is missing. Whether it is helping someone find a personal decorating style, a comfortable furniture arrangement or giving advice on accessories, it has been really satisfying to be a part of the process of creating homes. I enjoy seeing people start to love their surroundings.

This past summer I started a blog designed to be a place for me to share bits and pieces about my business. I didn’t expect it to end up having a life of its own! It has been a whirlwind of activity and fun I never imagined it could be. My blog is not only another creative outlet for me, but it is a means by which I am able to connect with like-minded people. I have a tremendous group of wonderful readers and blog writers in their own right that never cease to amaze me by their support, talent, inspiration and encouragement. I love getting to know them!

A few months ago I was asked by the editor of Christian Women Online Magazine to write a monthly column. I was taken aback at the thought because I didn’t consider myself a writer! But it has been really exciting to have another avenue to encourage women by using the passion I have for the home. I now write on topics for their magazine covering topics such as decorating, homemaking and lifestyle.

Between my life as a mom to three children, a wife to my husband and my careers in decorating and writing, I am a busy woman! But I feel really fortunate to be where I fit best. It may sound cliché, but getting paid to do what I love makes all the time and effort worthwhile.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to share a little bit about what I do!

I hope you've enjoyed meeting Melissa and getting to know her a little better. Be sure to stop by her website: http://www.theinspiredroom.com/ and visit her blog at: http://www.theinspiredroom.wordpress.com/

All photos are used with permission by and are copyright to, Melissa Michaels, The Inspired Room.