A few new paintings that I finished up this week . . .

"Dreams Can Take You Anywhere . . ."



"Soar" . . .

"Celebrate". . .

"Andiamao a Mangiare!" or "Let's Eat" . . .

"Music and Magic abound . . ."

It has felt really good to paint. These are all on canvas - size 10 x 10 and 12 x 12. A few messages to myself during these crazy times.

My braing has been exploding with ideas and things I want to do. Then I sit in the studio and I go blank. I was so happy to be able to pull some of the ideas and get them down. I hope you enjoy them!

Eat Cake!

Once again, almost a month has passed since a post on my blog. But in my defense, I do have a pretty decent excuse this time . . .on March 9, 2010 at 2:56 my oldest daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. What a miracle that was.

I was blessed and honored to be able to be present through the entire experience. To watch her labor and turn herself over to the miracle of the human body and to allow it to do exactly what it was meant to do. To bring life into this world.

The experience was one of the most emotional things I have ever experienced. I have four children and was certainly present for their births. But I was a little preoccupied and had a slightly different vantage point. This experience was life changing. That may seem a bit dramatic, but it truly was. I have never felt such a spiritual experience and I am grateful for that opportunity.

I think the most miraculous part of the experience was witnessing the moment, during labor, when my daughter transitioned from young woman to "mother". It was a visable change - and she has accepted the new role with grace and integrity.

So I would like to formally introduce you to Cameron Davis . . . the newest man to steal my heart!

Besides not attending to my blogging, I have not spent much time attending to my art as of late. I have doodled and dabbled - but not enough to make my happy. Over the last 2 evenings; however, I have worked on changing that.

I spent a few evenings in the studio painting. Not working on inventory for a show, or a special order . . .but just painting for the pleasure. WOW! It felt really, really good!

The little mermaid girl is a reflection of the way I have been feeling lately - somewhat overwhelmed and beaten down. This was a reminder to myself to quit sweating the small stuff, don't get discouraged and to just "Dive In!".

This painting was in honor of my father. On March 20th he celebrated his 78th birthday. There comes a point in your parents life where you just can't buy them any more "stuff", but you still want to honor them on their special days. Instead of gifts that he doesn't need or have a place to keep, I like to make my parents a wonderful meal and give them the gift of family time. I love to cook dinners for special occasions and I love to bake - especially cakes. I pride myself on making cake from scratch and feel that it tells the person that I love them enough to go the extra mile. Silly maybe - but its the way my brain works. And there is nothing my father likes better than devils food chocolate cake. So that is what I made him - a moist, dense cake from scratch with a delicious fluffy chocolate cream cheese frosting. So these are my new words to live by . . . "Sometimes, the only answer is to MAKE CAKE!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lauriemillerdesigns - PS - check out the new Etsy shop. I still have a lot to learn, but it's a start!

An Oceanside Weekend

This last weeked the family spent a few nights on the Oregon Coast - we were blessed with mild temperatures and sunny skies. A truly soul-recharging weekend. The photos speak for themselves. My favorite is the first - a beautiful "painting" created by Mother Nature in sand, full of texture and organic content. Although you can't tell by the photo, it was changing as we watched it. There appeared to be some type of an air pocket (maybe a clam or some other creature) in the middle and the water from the wave that had just receded was filling the hole and bubbling out. We stood taking it in for several minutes.

While there I went to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center (http://www.latimerquiltandtextile.com/) to look at the work of this woman and left there feeling inspired and regenerated. I bought her book - her approach to art is unique and beautiful. Having seen a clip of her on OPB's Oregon Art Beat, I was impressed with her unique style, and I had perused her blog and website - but nothing prepared me for the intensity of color and detail that we saw in person. She lives and works in Sisters, OR. and if I get brave - when I go to Sisters next fall for the Harvest Fest, I just may get brave and look her up and see if we can get together for a cup of tea. . .

assorted recent work and some later...

Again, my posts have been few and far betweenm but believe it or not - I have been very busy. I have been working on a variety of projects. Most are more for personal use and gifts and such. It feels nice to work on some things that I know will be used in my home.

Although these are not for the house, I have been working on some vases. Imagine these with some of those beautiful flowers from your summer garden. . .

This is an old wooden bowl that someone gave us years ago. I have been wanting to give it a makeover for a few years now. It has been sitting primed and ready to go. It finally is done. It was part of my new year goals of finishing all the projects sitting on my shelf waiting to be completed before I invest in something new. The colors on this were somewhat muted. I wanted to give it more of a "Tuscan-aged" looked, so I softened the colors with a layer of antiquing medium.

This is the underside. . .


















And the inside . . .

As some of you know, I am going to be a first-time grandma soon. I must admit, I am getting very excited. Our new little family member is due the end of March. I can hardly wait. His mother will need a rocking chair to hold and snuggle him in. I felt such happiness as I worked on this project. . .

Last summer, a friend of mine gave me a little cabinet that. It was originally all wood. What a lovely blank canvas it proved to be. I had a lot of fun with it. I experimented with the top. I blocked in some squares of color. I layered some textured shapes on top of that with some hand carved rubber stamps. Next was a layer of old dress patterns. I love using those for texture. The tissue has that wonderful golden color, they are thin, transparent and stand up to various mediums. It allowed the colors to peek through, but muted them nicely. Then I finished it off with a vine and quote.

The front and side panels are all different. The front door has some uplifting words and sentiments. one side panel features a woman with soft transparent wings. The verbage "I do believe in fairies" completes it. The other side features a sun and moon. A few details like a beaded tassel on the door handle completes the look. I can't wait to get the final coats of sealer put on it so it can find a permanent home in my house.

Add to this celebrating the birthday of my 18 year old daughter, enjoying our first days of sunshine, spending time with family, and working on the final details of getting an Etsy site up and running and that leaves me very little free time. The next project on the list is to customize our aging dining room table. Another project I have been wanting to accomplish for at least 5 years.

We recently redid our bathroom. we have living in our home for about 14 years - the longest I have lived in the same house other than the home I grew up in. After 14 years, the house begins to need repairs. The floors were needing to be replaced, and that opened up a world of possibilities. I also must confess - this particular bathroom is the only room in the house that has not been painted since we moved in. It was time!

We chose a very contemporary neutral taupe with a gorgeous olive green. We wanted a spa-like feel. The backsplash was originally an oak border -kind of bulky and very dated. We thought about throwing it out, but decided instead to try and salvage it to save a few extra dollars. But, of course, it needed a little help. . .so . . . it received my personal touch!

A Beach Chair

In December, I met Lorraine. When I go to various art shows and sales, I never know who my neighbor is going to be. Sometimes I sit by someone who is friendly and chatty, and sometimes . . .not. In December, while in Seattle, my husband and I sat right next to Lorraine and her family. Lorraine does wonderful work with reclaimed fabrics, felts, and wools that she hand stitches into pin cushions, needle books, and other fabric treasures. All of her fabrics and buttons and embellishments are reclaimed and recycled. They are beautiful one of a kind creations. But the best part of having Lorraine as a neighbor was getting to know her and her family!


I have met so many wonderful people at various shows. I feel truly blessed by these new friendships.

Lorraine wanted a chair that I had. But it had unfortunately sold to someone else. I told her I had one more of this style of chair at home and would make one just for her. They have property on the coast and wanted a special chair for that home. She picked out some phrases that she liked and let me know her color preferences. This is how it turned out.

I love this style of chair - and they are somewhat difficult to find. I thought it turned out really sweet. It seems to glow when the light hits it.

I hope this chair will add to the wonderful memories that are being created whenever she spends time at her beach house.

Thanks for the opportunity to do this, Lorraine!

The Simple Things

I am a mother. I have four children. I think of them as young children but am regularly reminded that they are no longer small. My baby is 14 . . .and a half. I no longer need to make them a peanut and butter sandwich, or fix their hair in the morning, or pour their Cheerios. I don't have to make their lunches for school or wash and fold their clothers. No diapers, bottles, or spare clothes are packed up before we leave the house. I don't have to worry about car seats, or boosters or keeping the "big" kids in the backseat because of the airbags. And indeed, I do not miss taking out a second mortgage on my house to buy diapers or formula.

But I do miss playing. I miss the trips to the library for preschool story time, sitting at the park and watching them swing from the bars, helping to dress a doll, and building a whole city out of Legos and Lincoln Logs. I miss watching them discover a new miracle on a walk. Those precious moments of time will remain in my memories and I look forward to continuing some of those things with future grandchildren.

In the meantime, however, there is still the "boardgame". There is something about the winter months that make my adult children crave playing a board game. In fact a few Christmas's ago, I reinstated the tradition of buying a new board game as a family gift. I love the simplicity of sitting around the table with my family and playing dominos or a card game or Pictionary. We laugh, we talk, we engage in healthy competition, we eat popcorn or drink tea. Sometimes on a Sunday evening, we invite the grandparents over to have dinner and join us in a game. On those nights, full of simple pleasures, I go to bed happy, content and with an overwhelming feeling of peace. I look forward to the spring and summer - but I secretly do love those long winter nights.