Another bluegrass trio picture

I like this one better. It was done with aquarelle (water-colour) crayons and permanent fine-tip marker for the black outlines. By the way--I have prints of this one for sale!

Bluegrass musicians in coloured pencil

This is a drawing I finished--if any original artwork can ever be called "finished"--a couple of weeks ago during a drop-in artists' get-together I sometimes participate in. The musicians in this picture played at our Farmers' Market a couple of summers ago; they were "busking," or collecting donations in the violin case on the ground in front of them. I gave them a dollar and asked them to play me a tune, which they did. They told me they were booked to play at a wedding later that day. We haven't seen them at the Market since, but everyone wishes they would come back. I was, however, able to take some photographs, with their permission, and this is one of the results.

Farmer's Market, Spring 2009

The Farmers' Market is now open, and you are all cordially invited to come down, look around, enjoy the ambiance of an open-air market where just about everything sold is either grown or made by those selling, and buy something--you'll almost certainly find at least one item you either want or need.

Be sure you check out Jerry and Shirley Witt's home-canned vegetables, preserves and relishes. Their chow-chow (available in several "hotnesses") is delicious on a peanut-butter sandwich, though they gave me a rather strange look when I told them so. Here you see Shirley arranging her display under the interested eyes of several potential customers.

Cold, snowy eastern Tennessee

We've had more snow this winter than in the previous three winters combined. We're enjoying it, though of course things like schools and churches tend to shut down sooner here than in northern Canada where we used to live. There was a time when I considered this laughable, but after hitting the ditch myself a couple of times on invisible ice--and remember, we have LOTS of steep slopes around here--I have become a bit more understanding.

Husband gave me a tip recently on the best way to safely navigate a very steep and twisting driveway in slippery winter conditions: put the car in neutral, then use the brakes to "inch" to the bottom of the hill. He explained that this way, the car will roll more gently and come to a stop faster than if it is in gear. Otherwise, even in low gear, the car will fishtail every time you apply the brakes, which can be disconcerting at best and disastrous at worst if the driveway is both very narrow AND located on the edge of a sheer dropoff, as many driveways are around here. Husband claims he learned this from my father (who never taught it to me, because I didn't learn to drive until long after I left home.)

Try this and see if it helps--I plan to, the next time!

Araina has been sold!

So now just Paul is available!

Paul & Araina--handmade dolls, recycled fabrics

These dolls (named Paul and Araina only for purposes of identification) are of original design, handmade by me, and for sale in my Etsy shop, http://www.bybarbarabell.etsy.com/. I have pictures of some other dolls that aren't for sale that I wanted to post here, but they're not quite on the computer yet, so till then, you're welcome to look at these--and the others in my shop.Paul and Araina are soft stuffed dolls made of all recycled fabrics--body and clothes. Even their hair is cotton knit fabric (old T-shirts) cut in narrow strips and wrapped or twisted to make wigs. I especially like Araina's cornrows, trimmed with multicoloured heart-shaped beads! Their shoes and stockings are integral (non-removable) but their outer clothes are on-and-off, with elastic instead of buttons or other fasteners. Their faces are hand-embroidered but most of the other sewing on these dolls is by machine, as they're intended to be used in creative play by children. I'd say "small children" but because of Araina's bead-trimmed cornrows they probably should be kept for those over the age of three...unless you wanted to remove the beads and just tie a knot to keep the twists from unraveling.

"Rhythm & Roots" festival, Bristol TN

Daughter(12) and I just came back from a pleasant morning in Bristol TN at the annual "Rhythm & Roots" festival held in celebration of country music. Her choir, the East TN Children's Choir, sang at 9:30 am, and after they were finished she and I traipsed up and down State Street looking into all the little booths selling musical instruments, jewelry, handbags, toys, clothing, food and other goods. (Well, we tried to stay away from the food as much as we could, and concentrate on the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we had brought with us; but in the end we did buy a stick of teriyaki chicken from an Asian vendor.)

Did you know that State Street in Bristol goes right down the state line between Virginia and Tennessee? We had been to Bristol, and on State Street, any number of times, but because we were driving and not walking, we had never noticed the little stamped metal plates fixed along the double yellow line every few yards designating "VIRGINIA/TENNESSEE" so you knew which state you were in at that moment. Since State Street was closed to motorized traffic for the festival, we--and several thousand other people--could stroll right down the line if we chose, saying, "Now I'm in Virginia and you're a whole state away from me..."

We got to play some beautiful handmade mandolins manufactured by a company called Eastman. There was one similar to mine that I thought I could live with and enjoy playing, if it were mine. I wrote down the model and serial number just in case I ever have that much $$ on hand, and nowhere else to spend it. (And it wasn't even one of the more expensive ones!)

We also admired, and played with, wooden puzzle boxes at another booth, and in another place we talked to an artist who creates handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces from recycled vintage fabrics and papers. You can see the work of this artist, Betsy Carr, at her Etsy store, http://www.foundling.etsy.com/. It was delightful to talk to someone else who agrees with me about the unique pleasure of creating original art from old or previously used materials.

Speaking of Etsy...you can view MY shop, too! Here's where: http://www.bybarbarabell.etsy.com/.