This antique gold frame holds a sweet little impressionistic watercolor that my neighbor and friend, Kathleen Upjohn painted and gave to me. The chartreuse ceramic pear crowns the top. This pear was also made by an artist friend of mine, Mary Lou Zeek.  It matches the yellows and greens in the watercolor and makes you smile.

I restored some of the missing detail and chips in this frame. I also left some of the imperfections.

I didn’t want the frame to look new and shiny but to reveal its age and some of the scars of its history. This patina results in a lovely, rich character that sets off the watercolor landscape and pear crown.

I created this little angel because it seems that when I choose a theme to use in a design, I begin to learn more and more about it. I want to learn more about joy. I want more joy in my life and I want to actively pursue it.

I first began to look back in my life and remember the especially joyful times. I know that the birth of my daughter, Caitlin, was at the top; it was a rich and exquisite joy like I had never experienced before.   I looked carefully at this experience and other wonderful times of my life so I could boil joy down to its essence, so to speak. I want to be able to practice with more frequency the basic tenets of this golden emotion.

I have heard many times that if you are feeling down, go out and do something for someone else and it will lift your spirits. I believe there is a lot of truth in this, but I also believe that you need to be filled up with some good things before you can give away anything of value.

When I wrote the enclosure & website copy for this Joy Angel, I wrote, “In the receiving and giving of love, joy wells up inside and blossoms in our hearts.” I put receive first because I believe this is the right order. When we receive love, we are then primed to give it. After that it just goes back and forth and back and forth and joy complete is the final result.

Check out this new angel and the new 3” Love Angel on my website by clicking here.

I have this desire to add top decorations to the art, prints, collages etc. that I have framed on my walls. Once I have framed and hung a picture, I realize I have this mini shelf all ready for a touch of whimsy. The fun part is that this is nothing hurried or too intentional. I will simply have gathered something from the garden or the sea or maybe something from my little piles of vintage collections. If the color and or texture match and maybe even the subject matter match, I’ll balance or tuck it on top and see if it works.

Here I have framed a little collage I made from seaweed that I collected on the beach. While the seaweed was still wet and pliable I formed and glued several pieces into an M for my own distinctive monogram.

For my top decoration, I added a dried flower head from garlic chives and a feather, both from my back yard. It’s a color and texture match and I enjoy it everyday as I cook and work in the kitchen.

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Even though it doesn’t look like Thomas is doing his share of work at the studio, we all agree that his presence here brings peace and joy in this busy Christmas season.

I have been bringing Thomas to the studio lately because I don’t like him home alone for such long dark days. Since he likes to travel in the car and is content to be on my lap for the trip, it’s an easy task to get him here. And once he’s here he is content to nap wherever he pleases.

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Each ornament hangs gracefully in open spaces and the lights shine exposed like stars in the sky. My Christmas tree this year is a Noble Fir that has not been pruned. The natural growth pattern is open and airy with lots of space between the branches.

I started decorating with a tree skirt and heart ornaments that I had made from a vintage red and white quilt. I added red and green glass balls, a collection of hand blown clear and white glass ornaments, and finally my porcelain angels and stars.

As I put each angel on the tree, I was reminded of the thoughts and happenings that inspired that year’s design. And so many times I have also been inspired by the meanings that you have assigned to your angels; your first Christmas together, the birth of your children, a new tradition for your grandchildren, the love of the sea and many, many more. Each year new loves and new joys are celebrated and sometimes sorrows are uplifted with hope as we assign meaning to the symbolic ornaments we choose to hang upon our tree.

My very first angel design, The Trumpeter, was such a sweet gift from God to celebrate my first Christmas as His child. I could hear the music and the words of praise as the angels sang, “Hark the Herald Angel Sing, Glory to the Newborn King!”

A couple years later, the Holly Angel, 1983, held holly to celebrate the Christmas season and also the Northwest where we had settled down to live in Salem, Oregon. I was so excited to pick holly for Christmas in the empty lot next door. I tucked holly in the Christmas tree branches, in a wreath and behind the bows on my packages.

The 1984 angel, The Dove Angel had many levels of meaning for me including peace and especially love as the angel nestled the dove in encircling arms to symbolize my love for my newborn child, my daughter Caitlin.

In 1985, the Heart Angel held a shell heart. The heart had taken on new, richer and expanded meaning as I experienced love for and from my darling Caitlin.

Many years have passed and I have designed many more angels, each with poignant inspiration, but these are a few of my favorite things…