Birthday Totems and Fond Memories

March is my annual birthday collage time.  I have certain themes and totems that appear in many of these birthday collages, but naturally, it's always a different mix. Totems are evocative and perhaps some of these will speak to and for you as well.

Birthday Totems Collage

My cousin Marianne sent me a 1950's photo of our Uncle Carmen with her, my sister and I and cousin Marguerite. I don't know exactly where or when this was taken. The saturated colors were in the original photos.  I often include incongruous elements in my work, but the train here actually has meaning to me, as Uncle Carmen had a large model train layout in his basement. 

Uncle Carmen was my favorite uncle; I always felt close to him. It was interesting working on this collage, as all the feelings of closeness and tenderness would flow, but very few actual memories of events or places with him. I'll happily embrace the feelings sans memories.

Uncle Carmen and The Girls collage

    Till another time.

Artists, Donuts and Mermaids in Cedar Key

Our Cedar Key stay is coming to a close and even though we've been here awhile, it still feels too short.

A tiny town that sports two art galleries is a special place.  The Cedar Keyhole Artist Co-Op  was established in 1977 and continues to thrive.

Co-Op Artistry ~ Cedar Key

You can find quite a few lovely Victorian-style homes in Cedar Key, with their 'gingerbread' trim and sometimes vivid accent colors, like this 2nd Street beauty.  Although bright yellow cakes may not be typical, cats abound on the key.

Donut, Coffee & Cake on 2nd Street ~ Cedar Key

We spend most of our time on walk-abouts through town.  I had a lovely conversation with the owner of Blue House, which she described as always a 'work in progress'.  All the plant features and house/yard art are there, albeit 'adjusted' a bit.  She told me she discovered Cedar Key from a Jimmy Buffet song which mentions going down to Cedar Key and then a series of mysteries set in Cedar Key - which I myself read the first year we stayed here.

689 Blue House ~ Cedar Key

If you find these posts on Facebook, you may want to join the mailing list to get them directly.