Bliss & Biscuits in Tennessee

Bliss/noun
1.supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment:

2. found at Ms. Brenda Bliss's artsy diggings outside of Nashville

We had ourselves some creative wishful merriment!

Day#1: After exploring all her totally delicious mixed media jewelry we dove right into paint, glitter and ephemera. The 3 of us, Brenda and her delightful bright daugther Makena & I made accordian books --color, words & images - all traded to make our own little book about the day! THEN-

Day#2: after being inspired by a local art shoppe - we painted hearts and flowers on big canvases. Mine are bliss flowers in honor of Brenda and her downhome hospitality.

Biscuit/noun
1.a kind of bread in small, soft cakes, raised with baking powder or soda, or sometimes with yeast.

We went to the Loveless Cafe in Nashville -not once but twice - to check out the jams and hams. See why I was wishin' for more goodies;

http://lovelesscafe.com/extras.html

These scratch biscuits are so famous they won in a showdown w/ Bobby Flay. So. . . a girl can't be blamed for a trip two days in a row to "praise the lard and pass the biscuits."

My Wish for Jamie as you begin your thirtieth year of life.

i wish for you the gentle touch of acceptance as you walk your path.
i wish for you the peace and sweetness of love, friendship & partnership with respect from those you share your life with.
i wish you joy and understanding as you express your authentic gifts and message to the world.
i wish you knew just how much i adore and admire you.

but mostly i thank you for your presence in my life and the aspie mama badge you have helped me earn through the years as we climbed and conquered the mountain of autism.

1 mom = 4 women

My sister, Terri, is an amazing power-full woman. She is sassy, bright, fragile and big-hearted.

She has grown four-baby girls into beautiful tenacious women. It wasn't easy - she sacrificed, laughed and cried a lot through the years. AND - the world is more luminous and promising now that Cori, Kristi, Candace and Kim are here among us.

She is hugging her little darlings forever in her heart and spirit knowing that she wasn't just a mommy, she was a creator of life & chief surveyor of shining potentiality. And, for me, Auntie Glenda, I am overflowing with pride and love. [happy birthday Terri!]

saving the ta-tas with art

What a night of wonder*full wishcrafting. Beautiful handcrafted bricks lined table after table at the 7th annual Breast Cancer Brick Auction on Oct 26th. I had hosted a bricktacular party in July so friends and I had several donated bricks to art up for the cause.

http://www.breastcancerbricks.org/

We grooved to music, noshed on delicious snacks and happily arted up around 12 bricks.

we're saving the ta-tas with art.

get naked - play with paint

I'm catching up on my bloggin here - so forgive the late details -BUT have you ever felt like stripping off all your clothes, getting out the acrylics and just body painting w/ a 2 year old? My inner wild child loved the antics and my Ryan had a blast - even got a few 5X7's out of the frolicking!

Moral of the story- out of chaos comes creativity.

Truth Tellers found on the 4th

On Independence Day, to honor FREEdom & Un-Freedom yet to claimed, I visited the National Underground Museum [Freedom Center] in Cincinnati. I always felt a deep pride for living in my current town of Springboro, founded by abolitionist Quakers who housed people on their way North on the underground railroad. This 4th of July felt like a great day to expand my understanding of freedom and invoke the goodness of the Quaker ancestors buried down the road from where I lay my head every evening.

While visiting, I spent a considerable amount of time breathing in the beauty of the visiting work of Artist Robert Shetterly - Americans Who Tell the Truth exhibit. Whoa...beautiful paintings with hand-scratched quotes of humanity expressing their authentic experience, no matter what the cost of offense & loyalty to societal values- these audacious Americans they live their gospel truth.

Portrait above is:

Terry Tempest Williams N

Naturalist, Writer, Environmental Activist1955 –
"The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are

praying for us to see beyond our own time."

What a validation of Independence Day - forgedda about the cookout & a cold one - these courageous dreamers and citizens were the real celebration for me! Check it out yourself:

http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/