BSM: Best Shot Monday 5-10-10

Okay, I know - I'm a day late.  But I think this photo is worth the wait ... I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying it.

Ready?   So here it is:

These are the Mother's Day flowers that I received from some of the kids / grandkids on Sunday.  Aren't they luscious?

So there is my first BEST SHOT MONDAY image in I don't know how long ...

--  Princess Magpie

You really really might want to visit my friend Nina Reeba's blog (some of you know her as San Diego radio's RUTH 66, of the DSC show that used to air on KGB ???).   Her blog is all about her artful life, and her life here in San Diego.  It's beautifully done, and the photographs she posts are (mostly) her own.  Take a look ...

www.voicesinmybighead.blogspot.com

this artwork, "Salmon Botanical", is a piece that Nina/Ruth has on her blog right now ... I doubt it's still available, but isn't it gorgeous?! 

Nina has been doing magnificent work for over a year, and I am so glad we met up in an art class (2009) taught by local artist Lisa Bebi.   Now we can ALL say we are "local artists".   Nina's been selling her work lately, and one day, some day ... I will have one, too !!!

And as for Nina's coverage of this year's ACADEMY AWARDS - I doubt anyone could have done it better.  Or more like I would have done it.  Focused on the clothes, baby.  RIGHT ON, Nina.  Love your post about the Oscars.  :-) 

But even more, I love the comment you closed with ...

"I fully support anyone who chooses a creative outlet! Who knows, your dreams might come true too." 
-- Nina Reeba / Ruth 66

And Nina's has pointed us to this great source of inspiration:
http://www.artbizblog.com/ ... check it out !!!

In closing today's post, I want to add one more image of Nina's art:

this is "Pink Dreams"










I hope you've enjoyed today's walk with my friend Nina Reeba. 

-- Princess Magpie

The Joy of Less, by Pico Iyer

Thank you, PATTI DIGH {Life is a Verb: 37 Days} for posting this on Facebook this morning. WOW, what a powerful testimony to the simple(r) life / lifestyle.

The Joy of Less
By Pico Iyer

http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/?pagemode=print

I read it, each and every word, and it so resonated within me. Yet, I am not ready to "give up" and to "simplify" to the same level Pico has. But it's something I aspire to ... with maybe my art supplies left to add to my happiness :-).

Funny thing is, I had a most vivid dream last night:

I was in a large apartment-style building, with hundreds of other families. As we all looked out our front windows to see what the commotion we could hear was all about -- we saw a sea of emergency vehicles -- fire trucks, police cars, paramedics, ambulances -- literally thousands of them - just across the avenue from our building. {now mind you, I live in a single-family house now, but have lived in my share of apartments & condos over the years - yet nothing like this; this was in a big-city setting. ANYWAY ...}

They were trying to shout to us something important -- but we could barely hear them. We asked them to use a bullhorn - which they did - and what we heard was this:

"A huge fire is rolling this way and you MUST evacuate in 5 minutes. TAKE ONLY YOUR MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSIONS, AND YOU MUST CARRY WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOU."

You can imagine, I'm sure, what went through my mind {sub-consciously, or was I now partly awake?! it was hard to tell ...}. PHOTOGRAPHS. CHILDHOOD MEMORIES. THINGS FOR THE CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN THAT THEY MIGHT NOT THINK TO TAKE ALONG. {you see, we were ALL in this one large apartment - and it was filled with "things". Possessions. so the question really became: WHAT is so important about all this STUFF?!} So I grabbed several sacks and totes and bags, filling them with irreplacable items, and even some replaceable items {including a Breyer horse statue from my childhood ... which have in reality long since disappeared from my possession, although I miss them to this day}.

And all the while, my mind kept repeating ... "so now I will get to live that simple life - with not much of anything around me. I wonder how that will go?"

The whole LESS IS MORE quandary -- is that true? Is it true for everyone, or just for some?

And this morning, I woke up to Patti Digh's post that we "must read" this article.

Powerful validation that my dream was trying to tell me something.

Your,

-- Princess Magpie, aka Davielle

and don't you just know that my nickname, PRINCESS MAGPIE, is now ... worrying me. I really am quite the magpie (gathering things), and I wonder if it's offensive to people. I even wonder if somehow, it's offensive to myself.

why Princess Magpie?

Welcome to I AM PRINCESS MAGPIE, my new blogspot for all things creative & artistic in my life. From musings to inspirations to actual art created, this is my spot.
Why "Princess Magpie" ??? Let me try to explain ...

From WIKIPEDIA, "Princess is the feminine form of prince (from the Latin princeps, meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or her daughters, women whose station in life depended on their relationship to a prince and who could be disowned and stripped of the title if he so chose. As women have slowly gained more autonomy through European history, the title of princess has become simply the female counterpart of prince and does not necessarily imply being controlled or owned by a prince."

When Mark and I were designing and building our home, there were many times he would question a design element or feature in the plans, to which I would always explain, "Princess would like ..." {fill in the blank with anything ranging from Maytag Neptune stacking washer & dryer to farmhouse sink to limestone kitchen counters to solid walnut floors}. Finally, he sat me down and said "You really must stop referring to yourself as Princess - you're scaring me!".

As for MAGPIE, again, a very basic bit of lore is that "magpies love shiny things, and steal rings and other trinkets." Okay, so I don't steal stuff ...

But I am attracted to and tend to collect lovely things, not always shiny, but always charming, beautiful, and/or lovely -- for current or future art projects.

If one of you is so inclined to do further research on the Magpie, you may discover that they have quite a bit of folklore associated with them that I find ... totally unfair! Of course, had I done all this research on the Magpie BEFORE opting to call myself Princess Magpie, I might have chosen another creature that hoards shiny things.

But being the unsuperstitious gal that I am, I am not not not going to let those other silly ideas about this darling bird -- keep me from my chosen nickname. So there!

Thank you for visiting my new blogspot, I am Princess Magpie. I hope you will return again and again and again.

-- Davielle, aka "Princess Magpie" {but you can just call me Princess, if you like}