Jonathan's Downtown Art Show...and Art In My Living Room

Our son-in-love has an art show downtown this evening, so Tim and I thought it'd be a wonderful night for a stroll on the streets of Knoxville.

Jonathan makes his living full time with his art. If he were not my son by marriage, I would still tell you that his work is better than most. I am quite familiar with many, if not most of the Smoky Mountain based artists, and Jonathan's landscapes excel most of those artists' paintings. And his portraits practically breathe and speak to you. (If you have ever considered having a commissioned portrait done of someone you dearly love, Jonathan is your artist.)

Having an inside view, as I do, of the life of a full time artist, they pour their hearts and souls into the work of their hands, and they have rent to pay and they get an electricity bill each month. Their art pays the bills. I want to enthusiastically encourage you to become a patron of a Christian artist...and why not Jonathan Howe?



This is after the crowd thinned a bit...for awhile, you could not walk easily through this shop...




Jonathan had several portraits of musicians on display. The top painting, up there, is actually of my son Josiah, playing at one of his local gigs last year.




Josiah, and his beloved acoustic - it used to be his pastor-father's.

This portrait is of my daughter...Jonathan's wife Sarah.

The name of Sarah's portrait...

A grouping of Jonathan's landscapes...


Jonathan and Sarah, who are still at the show, even as I type this...

It was a fun evening for Tim and I. We are proud of both our sons in law - both highly accomplished young men, who would lay their lives down for our daughters.

Last, but far from least - you will not believe what was brought to my house today, and hung in my very own living room:

Oh yeah. A Jonathan Howe original oil painting. Huge. Sofa-sized. Look at that moody sky, and those colors! I know this exact spot, too...I recognized it instantly. My beloved Smokies, from the vantage point of an overlook on Rich Mountain road, in Cades Cove.

Happy Mother's Day to me, for so many, many reasons...I'm blessed. Living a dream I have not earned and do not deserve.

Abundant grace is mine.

I Think I Wanna Tweet

I think you should follow me on Twitter. I can be very entertaining. And I promise to keep it to no more than a couple of tweets a day...

(It's easy. On your cell phone, just text "follow sheilaatchley" to 40404.)

Playing With Paints

I got my paints out this evening...so relaxing.

Jamie and Ryan...

Finally, a picture from our evening we spent with Jamie and Ryan Weeks!

After being on the road since early that morning, driving non stop (and I do mean non-stop, so help me, I do...) to Le Jeune, an emotional dropping off of our son, and GPS'ing our way to the Raleigh area, these two were a sight for sore eyes:

sorry for the low light...that's Jamie and Ryan, on the right. Tim and I on the left. In the background is a restaurant called The Angus Barn.

The angels love The Angus Barn, I promise. I heard them singing when I took the first bite of my ribeye. Jamie and Ryan were extremely gracious to treat us to such a great meal!

The conversation was so, so rich. I mean, the four of us went places some people never go, not even after a decade of knowing each other. We went there within a half an hour of meeting face to face for the first time, and felt completely relaxed and safe.

Jamie was tossing around terms like penal substitution and stuff. How fun is that?

The warmth of their love for Jesus lingers in my memory, along with the chocolate chess pie I had for dessert. I have the recipe, and I am so gonna make it, soon. Momma. What a pie.

Thank you again, Jamie and Ryan. It is nice to find grace-people who don't hate on pastors. (Believe it or not, a lot of saints who are well taught in grace, encounter a glitch in their grace when they encounter pastors...to them, grace should equal no established order whatsoever.)

I keep thinking of the old saying ~

"Make new friends, and keep the old. One is silver, the other gold."

Here's hoping that silver turns to gold...

Puppy Life Jacket

Well, we have a new boat in the family...I say "in the family", because it belongs to Jonathan and Sarah.

Jonathan, his Nissan, and his boat he got from Alabama last week...


Nice boat! Runs great! They don't have a hitch on their Nissan yet...

...but we have a hitch on our old Toyota Previa.

Which means, bless their hearts, they get to share their boat with us, since only our vehicle can tow it. For now, anyway.

::grin::

Soon, I am sure, they'll have a good, sturdy hitch on the back bumper of their SUV. And they'll be able to hit the water with no help from us. But in the meantime, we will be so sorry and upset to have to haul their boat to the lake for them, and take turns riding that boat with them.

Rambo hates it most of all. My man says "rules are rules", and the teacup poodle must also wear the proper safety vest...along with all humans, regardless of their size.

Anyhoo, everyone got out in the boat over the weekend...

....and my man insisted on taking his Little Buddy with him...




And here is Rambo, ready and darlin' and rarin' to go ride dat boat wif hiz pappa!

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And we did. And all had big fun. And Rambo was promoted to Puppy Safety Patrol. And we are very proud.

An 0verview of our weekend would not be complete without one of my famous, shameless, grandmommy plugs:

His very first bite of cereal: before.

Now...wait for it....wait for it...

That same bite of cereal after. Bleh. It will take some gettin' used to, doncha think?? As the bib says: "Grandma's Sweetie".

This child lights up my life. And boat rides are the bomb diggity, and my puppy looks way too cute in his life jacket to even be real. But he's real, allright. Just reach down to pet him, and see for yourself. BE CAREFUL.

Life is good, when God is good, and when you KNOW that He is good, always.

Of Fate and My Friend

By this time tomorrow, I will have gotten to meet this beautiful woman (and her husband) for the very first time, even though I have known her for a few years:

One of my first encounters with Jamie, she had my back when someone tried to plagiarize my writing. She flat out called the person out for it, and let me know immediately. I was in love, right then and there. I mean...what kind of cosmic sign is that? Before you even meet someone, they have your back? It was full-on fate. I knew right then, and this was several years ago, that I would meet this woman one day.

Jamie is a grace girl's grace girl. We know a few of each other's secrets, yet we haven't even met in the flesh. She has prayed for me during some of my worst seasons...the internet is a crazy and wonderful thing like that. We have sampled one anothers heart, and I think she rocks. I love her writing style - you'd enjoy her blog, Better Than We Know.

No, wait. If you are a legalist, you'd hate her blog. And she'd consider that a badge of honor.

I hope to get some pictures, even though I'm not packing my camera-camera. I will hope and pray that the camera phone gets some good shots...I can't wait to meet my friend.

Confessin' My Sin

Forgive me, Cool Police, for I have sinned...

For I am forty-something years old, and I am experimenting with a Bumpit...

Don't judge me, like my daughter did.



I just snapped her picture, and note: Alas, she has no Bump.

What can I say? I was in Wal-Mart last night, and there it was...one lone Bumpit-in-a-Box on an end cap, clearance priced. I could not resist the siren song of sporting That Cool Bump.

But apparently that Bump is only Cool if no one knows you are wearing a Bumpit.

Well, I am a full disclosure girl. Always have been.




My name is Sheila Atchley. And I wear a Bumpit and self tanner.



And I sometimes wear a perfume that has a borderline naughty and disreputable name. (I wear it for the smell, not for the name...)



And the nail color is Sally Hansen...



"Mauve It"...

Last but not least, if I am quiet for the next few days, it is because my Man and I are going out of town, to visit friends in Pleasant Garden NC (isn't the name of the place just happy???)

...and to bring our son home from Camp LeJeune for the Easter Weekend. I'll be taking my trusty Netbook, so I might blog from the road...then again, I might be too busy showing off my Bumpit to have time to chat.

I leave you with the following powerful visual:

Bump...


No Bump.

Antique Typewriter

I have long wanted an antique typewriter...one that really works. This past summer, I bought this from my elderly neighbor:

...and that is exactly where I wanted to put it. It was broken when I bought it, so my vision for it was to tuck it in an outside nook, creating an interesting, unusual outdoor vignette.

But guess what I got yesterday?

This!

This sweet thing is in mint condition, and came in its case! (Very hard to find, at a reasonable price...) My daughter Sarah spied it at a church rummage sale, and knew I'd want it.

Good, good daughter.

I can't wait to see what all I can create, with that lovely, old fashioned typed font.

I leave you with a few pictures, all fresh and just-snapped today, as though you came and spent an afternoon here with us...

One of my sunflower patches got tilled up over the weekend - it is waiting for me to plant it up!

Today was the first day of the 2011 season, that I got to hang the wash out on the line...bliss. ...a project Hannah is working on, for her new online shop (which sold out over the weekend! New items are being created, even as we speak.) That's my knee, there in the foreground. Dinner is in the oven, my honey and son-in-law are doing Wii golf, my knitting is calling my name.

Spent some time here today, with the grandbaby...just a few minutes was all we had, but we made the most of it, swinging and chatting together. Big Poppy Tim (as opposed to grandbaby Timothy) got our teacup poodle Rambo bathed and somewhat groomed today. Doesn't he have the biggest eyes of any poodle you have ever seen?

Wish you could come by and have a cold glass of diet Coke, and chat of cabbages and kings with me. It is just that sort of a relaxed evening - so nice after an overworked and very busy weekend.

I Am Stinkin' Sloppy-Blessed

I. Cannot. Stand. This. So unbearably adorable. My grandson. I'm still wrapping my mind around the wonder of it all. And he smiles at me, all the time. Just like what you see up there. My cup overflows...or, in my own paraphrase, I am sloppy-blessed.

Easter/Spring Decorating

Our Easter table. Blue ticking tablecloth - the fabric is antique, and was fashioned into a large round tablecloth. You can also see the chandelier that my daughter Hannah made from a thrifted light fixture that she painted and glued real crystals to...and just wait till you see her baby's high chair (you can see it peeking from behind the flower arrangement). She is almost done with it. We can't wait to show you!

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The not-quite-finished tablesetting - "Grace" salad plates (Hobby Lobby), on top of white porcelain plates (by Martha Stewart), on top of hand painted chargers, each with a beautiful rose on it - chargers were a gift, don't know where they came from.) napkins from Target, "birdie" napkin rings are heavy black iron and came from a local interior design store, "Southern Market".



The three candles, represent the weeks between the time this picture was taken, and Resurrection Sunday. (Today, there is only one candle on the table, since there is only one more Sunday between now and Easter/Resurrection Sunday), daffodils from my garden, tucked in a vintage ceramic watering can, surrounded with moss and speckled eggs. I elevated all of it on a glass cake plate, just to make it more special.

Simple things, really, but it helps me feel more celebratory, more fixed and focused on the beautiful, scandalous, mysterious, historical plan of salvation enacted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Next week is our family's Holy Week, leading up to Easter. I hope to get time to share some of the details as to how we mark this important week. Hope your Thursday was blessed, and that you are a vital part of a local church, where the Resurrection Season is always so fresh as it is retold once again.

Blouse "Upcycle" - From a Thrifted Dress and Skirt

It all started yesterday, when I made this pillow out of a linen thrift store dress... As I was gathering the scraps to throw them away, I noticed that the top of the dress was still intact: So I saved it, and began thinking about what I wanted to do with it. I remembered this thrifted skirt I bought last year, also for .75 cents, but have never worn - it is super cute, but a little too short for my liking.

But it has several rows of gauzy ruffles...


...which I utilized (cut off) to make a ruffled trim for the cut up dress-turned-pillow-and-blouse...


Here is the ruffle, sewed on to the bottom of the dress-top, making it into a tunic-length blouse:

Then I decided the neckline needed a little somethin'-somethin'. So I cut out about a zillion circles, and made four rosettes:

Here is all that was left of the skirt:

Here is the finished product - this thing is so cute! It looks darling on! I can't decide whether to keep it and wear it, or start a little online shop and sell it.

I am so enjoying this little season of not homeschooling. I have not "not home schooled" for twenty years. Isaac will be completing his apprenticeship, and finishing up a very few things for his senior credits, and it is mostly all on him now.

I basically get to wake up every day, play with grandson, and decide what fun thing I want to do today. I have never had that luxury, ever. I graduated from school, went straight to work full time, got married, kept working, and got pregnant with twins before our first anniversary.

Then I chose to home educate all four children.

Now...here I am, in the enviable position of being a young "forty-something" who has absolutely no regrets, is not burned out, not skeptical, not jaded, and getting to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life - how would God have me spend and be spent for Him in these finest years that lie ahead of me? I am considering a part time job - since staying at home to raise and home educate four children with a husband in full time ministry was/is the equivelent of financial suicide. We have some ground to catch up on. I simply have to decide which job do I want? All advice will be eagerly considered.

God is good. And for now, waking up and sewing stuff is crazy-fun.