Just a Few of the Women Who Inspire Me

When I was growing up, the most artistic person I knew was my mother.  She would tackle things like photography and oil painting and once she'd mastered it, she stopped doing it.  The only exception to this was sewing, which she did until her eyesight  wouldn't let her do things like threading the needle.  Her work was always awesome.  Being a mother to six kids, I'm sure she needed some kind of outlet, an escape from the craziness of mothering that many kids, but she couldn't go far, so her outlets were artistic.

I never thought of myself as being particularly creative.  The only thing I really felt like I could do was write.  Give me a blank sheet of paper and tell me to draw something and I'd still be sitting there a half hour later trying to come up with an idea.  Give me the same blank sheet and tell me to write something and I'd have both sides filled up and ask for more within 10 minutes.

These days, I'm trying all kinds of things.  It's not that I have more time on my hands - I don't.  It's not that I suddenly feel like an artist either.  But as my circle of friends on FaceBook widened, I realized that I am attracted to creative people.  Some of them were "friends" before FaceBook - blog friends who would post about this or that, but WITH FaceBook, I've come to realize just how daily their creation is.  They always have a paint brush or a crochet hook or a wooden spoon in their hands - not just during great gasps of inspiration.

Thanks to these wonderful women, I've been inspired to do things daily myself - and I'm trying everything!

Christine started out as a blog writer.  She would bring me to tears on a regular basis and I wished I could write as beautifully and movingly as she did.  Once she felt like she'd said what she needed to, she stopped writing that blog and I missed her so much!  Then I found her on FaceBook and I absolutely love what I see her doing these days!

Loved this and bough it

I love these.  I've asked her to make me an oval ring for my Mother-in-Law.

Lisa has moved around a lot and done some traveling.  Her hands are always busy though!  She knits some beautiful things and seeing her stuff made me want to try my hand at crochet again.  She's also a wonderful photographer!  Her blogs and FaceBook page are full of her marvelous pictures.  

A beautiful picture - timely for Easter season

This blanket is just amazing

Karisma is also a master of the yarn arts.  She crochets and knits and makes beautiful tiny things for babies as well as hats and sweaters for bigger people.  She also has an amazingly green thumb and a lovely garden that she harvests to feed her family.

I admit this makes me a little jealous of her skills!

I wish I had her green thumb!

Memory has been a watercolor artist for as long as I've "known" her.  She comes by it honestly - her father was also an artist of some renoun.  She has her own style though and it really speaks to me.  She was my first artist that I bought art from and I still love my painting.  In recent years, she married a wonderful man and they opened a restaurant together.  Now, in addition to painting, she cooks and sings at the restaurant. 

I just love her style

I bought this one - perfect for my bedroom.

It's probably a good thing I live far away - I'd eat at her restaurant every night!

Pattie is also a painter.  She caught my eye several years ago when she donated some work to my tv station.  It was displayed in the lobby and I just loved her chickens.  Dad had just started keeping chickens and I wanted to get him one for Christmas.  It was not to be - then.  Now I have several of Pattie's pieces and every time she tries something new, I love that as well.  She's local, so I've actually met her and spent time with her.  She donates her time to our public radio station, and often she donates some of the proceeds from her art to various animal rescue agencies.  She loves animals and it is very obvious in her work.  I have a set of pictures she painted of my own animals and I love them.

I want one of her owls someday

Not the exact chicken I gave to my dad, but close!

Pet portraits - Pattie is pretty famous for those!

There are more women out there who inspire me every day to be more creative, more spiritual, healthier and happier.  If I wrote one blog post about all of them, you'd never get away from me.  So I'll start with these four remarkable, amazing women.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

And thank you, Christine, Lisa, Karisma, Memory and Pattie.  You have no idea how much I treasure each one of you.