Amish inspired art

I have been intrigued forever it seems with the Amish culture, their peaceful ways, simple living, slower paced-lifestyle, and their deliberate choice to do without modern technology.

I find inspiration in living a simple and slower lifestyle myself that filters down to my painting.

 For the last several years I have been painting stark snow scenes with Amish buggies as the focus of the painting.

 While I paint these buggies on pieces of wood I find a shifting in my own spirit that brings about a peaceful feeling as I paint the piece.

I hope you find a certain peace when you look at the photos of some of the paintings. Many of my Amish buggy scenes have found homes in Michigan, Florida and New York.

New Year -New Ideas

A new year is a great time to clean house and start fresh- art is no exception.

 For me, a new idea is having a contest of one of my mini art abstracts that you could win if you share the photo on your facebook page. If you share the photo of the art piece on your facebook page you will be in  a drawing to win it. The winner will be picked January 26,2013.

Good luck.                       "Jive City"

Welcome to my blog-( second try)

Welcome to my Art and Handmade soap blog.

I love to create soap , I also love painting my abstract art pieces, but my very favorite painting is the the ones that feature Amish themes. I'll be posting my absrtact art pieces,  Amish themed pieces, handmade soap and twig soap dish on this blog -. All of which are for sale. New to my art are mini size canvases

I'll start with posting a piece I painted while living in Florida- a beautiful,fun colorful place to live.
Hope you all like it.

Santa Elf

While Greenlawn, N.Y. is not the North Pole - I believe my studio is. Been as busy as one of Santa's elves these days- filling art ,soap, and twig soap dish orders for Christmas.

This is the last week to order soap if you need it by Christmas- I will be shipping the soap this Friday Dec. 15 -so let me know what you need ASAP.

 Any NEW customer that orders three bars of my signature soap Strawberry/Patchouli  before Fri. 12/15/12 will receive a free soap related gift with that order.


Many thanks again for all your orders. :)

Getting used to the cold weather

Moving from South Florida back to New York after some 30+ years living there has  been quite a change for me. I have been visiting all my old haunts ( the ones that are still here) and taking long rides on the country roads that I used to travel on as a youth and all the old memories came flooding back. Of course I have been checking out handmade soap everywhere I go- and getting inspired by the colors of the leaves ( the ones still on the trees) and the beautiful brown tones on the leaves that have already fallen off and are lying on the ground- there is such raw beauty in nature.

 There is much beauty to see in Florida- the beautiful blue ocean and the tropical greens, purples,turquoise and blue colors of the houses with shabby chic shutters in complementary colors. Florida was were I started my soap making and was inspired to use all the beautiful colors that nature offered. Now I am back home and living in the woods - for me this is where I want to be.I am getting used to the cold weather although it is not officially winter yet it is pretty cold to me. I love getting up before the rest of the world sipping my coffee with my fingers wrapped around a hot mug- thinking about the next bar of soap I would like to offer everyone.

 Yes, for me I love where I am living and hope to be inspired by the trees surrounding my house, the barns, around the corner from where I live and even the snow for a very long time. Oh, and of course I hope my soaps translate the beauty of nature all around me.

Lavender Lemongrass Swirl