The Raspberry Rabbits

Sunrise yoga on the USS Battleship NC overlooking gorgeous downtown Wilmington, NC. Light, love and peace to all.

On the drawing board. I've been away from my creativity for the last 5 weeks dealing with a very stressful and horrible situation. Hopefully, it's almost over with a happy ending for everyone's highest good. Throughout my life, I have been put in situations to be the strength someone needed and to be the person who cared enough to not give up. I'll admit, this situation has not been easy and there were and still are many a "potty mouth" moments, but I saw a quote that said, "You never know when you are the answer to someone's prayer," and so I persisted.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit! Happy August 1st my friends.
This piece is called "Hare Balls." Do you get it?
🤣🤣

Ten years ago today, I captured my sweet, feral, girl Sabrina. She had been living on the streets of our neighborhood for about 2 years, had her left eye blinded by a neighbor boy and his gun and had several litters of kittens. One litter was born in my bathroom 3 days later. 2014 was a really hard year for me and I know in my heart Sabrina and I were meant to rescue each other.
She's around 12ish and has a thyroid issue, but she is still just as happy and sweet as the day I caught her. Mama loves you Bri Bri and is grateful for your light every day.

A little before and after photos of the crown molding we added to the top of our windows. I'm the designer and David is the Do'er. Lol! We love how they turned out.

A sunroom that looks out to a forest, Mikey B sound asleep on my leg, a cup of coffee and a book that describes my passion for living a simple, joyful and creative life. Today is a wonderful day.

This magnificent creature thought he was visiting an all you can eat buffet in my backyard, but clearly the kitchen had closed. 😂 Hawks follow me on walks and a husband and wife live in the forest behind me. A while back, during a difficult time, the husband landed on my back deck and peered in at me sitting in my sunroom. It always makes me happy and grateful as I know what they symbolize spiritually and in Native American cultures.

Had my morning coffee on my back deck with this beautiful creature. It was a reminder to "Be" in the present and breathe. I have had the same nightmare 3 nights in a row...what freaks me out is that I know what it means. Breathe, just breathe. Be a light in the darkness.

I made a papercut card for a friend who recently lost her dog, Bonny, to cancer. She was the sweetest little rescue dog who would fall asleep on my yoga mat and start snoring during our meditation. 🤣🤣
Pets hold the key to our hearts, don't they? Our hearts miss most what they loved best.

35 years ago today, I asked David out on a date. I've always been an independent woman who wasn't afraid to go after what she set her eyes and mind on. It's what David loves most about me. Happy Independence Day to all those who love, value and treasure their independence.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! I can't believe it's already July 1st!
"Hare Balls" (get it?) is another piece I have in the show, which will be up until July 12th. If you're in Wilmington, hop on over to see it.
Wishing you a fun and happy month filled with joy.
Love and hugs,
Shell

Hope to see you tonight!

The closing (wine and goodies) reception for our Rock, Paper, Stitch show is this Friday, June 28th from 6-9pm here in Wilmington, NC. I hope to see some local friends who may not have made it to the opening. It's hard to believe how fast the month went by!
This piece is called, "Wisdom of the Butterfly." I was inspired to create this after listening to a truly wonderful story/podcast from Michael Meade. I'll leave a link in the comments if you want to listen to it. I was also inspired by my local friend, Laura, who is a yoga instructor and was teaching me about chakras.
I thought about how the butterfly is something completely new and different from the caterpillar and how humans can become something new too if we simply change our gaze and our perspective on things. This piece represents the change I want to be part of. The antenna tune into the information which travels down through the crown chakra and into the heart chakra. From there it spreads out into the wings. You will notice words in the wings. These words express positive thoughts I believe in and, as in all my work, my papercuttings are one piece of paper with the negative cut away. The wing on the right is the mirror image of those words representing what I want to reflect back/mirror into the world. I want to be part of the help in this world, not contribute to the hurt. Every day to continue to change my gaze and focus on all the light, love and kindness there is around me and not give my energy to those filled with hatred, ego, greed, division and darkness. We all have the power to change our gaze and no one with power can take that from us unless we let them.
Much love to you,
Michelle

Thinking 🤔 about getting some of my papercuts printed to use on some gifty type items like this card prototype.
I admit, I still love buying and receiving cards. Happy mail. 😁😁😁 What about you?

Hi my friends! You may have noticed that I've started writing little stories to go with my posts. I miss stories and the kindness and fun of the old blog world and frankly, I need some nice and happy and peaceful! So while you are more than welcome to "like" the photo and scroll on by, I do hope you will choose to spend a few moments here with me and may it bring a little gift of light to your day. Hugs!

Co-Creating
I recently finished my first commissioned papercut piece for a lovely lady named Laurie. She was referred to me by the famous, Annie Howe, who is master papercut artist and someone whom I truly admire! I will share more about Annie and an original piece I bought from her in another post, but let me just say, the fact that she thought my work was worthy of a referral, was a HUGE boost in my confidence! :)
Doing a commission piece can be daunting, but as I did in the past, when I use to design and decorate houses for people, I looked at it as "co-creating" something original and one-of-a-kind that would bring joy to us both.
Laurie loves this Peter Rabbit quote and wanted it to be the main feature. She also wanted some rabbits. Well right up my alley, right? Hee,hee,hee. Instead of my signature black background, she wanted a light blue background because this original piece of art is a baby gift for someone special.
Over the years I have begun saying that my work is "In-Spirit" because if I allow myself to go into a state of being totally open and present, inspiration always comes! With this piece, I happened upon an article about Orion's Belt and how stars and planetary systems are formed. They described the space as a "star nursery." During the stars' evolutionary stages, it explodes into a "Supernova," which provides the perfect space for a new star to be born.
Immediately it made me think of the Peter Rabbit quote and how even the smallest one/star can change the world by shining their light brightly. It made me smile and feel hopeful that this new generation will be the light and the change needed for a more beautiful, peaceful and loving world.
As in all my work, the design is cut from one piece of paper, where everything is connected, just like we are connected to each other and to the natural world.
Laurie and I both loved how our co-creation turned out.

Hi my friends! I just remembered that I showed you a close up of this piece, but never showed you the finished piece. It's called "Fellowship of the Flowers." Each hexagon is hand cut from one piece of Rock Paper. I then embossed the flowers and leaves and used watercolor pencil on the leaves. Next I hand stitched around the border with Valdani size 12 perle cotton and then attached them to the black background. This piece took me several weeks to complete. It's currently hanging at the Rock, Paper, Stitches show at the WHQR gallery here in Wilmington.

The Bend in the Tree

Last year, we had to have a new roof put on Bayfield Cottage. The original roof was 22 years old, worn out and we were worried we wouldn't make it through another hurricane season without serious damage.

While our front yard is more manicured, I call it "HOA approved," our backyard is more natural and has lots of mature trees that I absolutely adore. One particular tree is a Sweet Gum with a bend in the trunk. It's right outside our bedroom window and is close to the house. Some of the branches were very large and almost touching the new roof. We didn't want them to scrape off the new shingles in high winds, so we called a tree service.

I met with the young fella to discuss what I wanted. I said, I know it will look rather dorky, but I don't want to take down the entire tree. I simply want you to cut off all the bits that are hanging over the house and leave the bend in the tree.

He looked at me strangely, not quite understanding my reasoning. I then said, it's where the squirrels take a nap and find a moment of peace and that makes me happy. He then looked at me like I was totally bonkers or perhaps a bit squirrely, but he was happy to take my money and do as I asked. LOL!

The other morning, I looked out the window to see this little baby squirrel. Her eyes were closed and she looked so peaceful as she took a nap in the sun. I noticed she had a wound on her back from a Bot fly that must have recently hatched. It made me think of all the heaviness in the world right now and how it sometimes feels like it's stuck to our backs, sucking the life force out of us, just like a Bot fly. Then, I stopped myself and shifted my gaze and my thoughts back to the present moment and to the sweet baby taking a peaceful nap. My smile returned, joy filled my heart and I was once again reminded why I kept the bend in the tree.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! Happy June 1st, my friends!
This is "Jack, the Bean Stalker."
Get it? 🤣🤣🤣

I really enjoyed talking to visitors about this piece at the show. It was fun to see if they got my pun. 😂
The name of the piece is "Jack's on Five."
Do you get it?
Hint: zoom in on the flowers.

Looking forward to opening night! Hope to see you there!
My work and the work of the incredible, Leslie Marsh.

Tomorrow, 6-9 at the WHQR gallery on Front Street in downtown Wilmington. Wine reception! Hope to see you there!

"Tom, Dick and Harry" is another piece for the upcoming Rock, Paper, Stitches and More show. Hand drawn and hand cut from one piece of Rock Paper. Opening wine reception is 6 - 9 p.m. May 24th at WHQR's beautiful MC Erny Gallery here in Wilmington, NC. Come meet me and 6 other artists whom I admire and am thrilled to exhibit with!

A detailed view of my "Fellowship of the Flowers," piece for the upcoming Rock, Paper, Stitches...and More! show. Opening reception is May 24th at WHQR's beautiful MC Erny Gallery here in Wilmington, NC. Come by for some wine and meet all 7 of us!

The day has come. Officially starting my new adventure into creating original hand drawn and hand-cut papercut art. It's never to late to start again.

"Honeybee Haven" is another piece for the show at the end of the month. The idea flew into my head after visiting my friend, Laura, and her gardens. She literally plants things for wildlife to enjoy, as well as herself. I came home and drew it right away. Cut from one piece of Rock Paper.

Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! Happy May 1st!

As promised, this post is to kick off my new adventure. I will share more over the coming weeks, but for today, I thought I would give you this introduction.

In a nut-shell, I have been working since I was 12 in "survival" mode and this March I turned 56. I have worked very hard the past 5 years to simplify my life and remember my nine-year-old self. The strong-willed little girl full of curiosity, a passion for creativity and a love for nature, especially trees and rabbits. So, I decided it was time to take a huge "hop" of faith and be what I always wanted to be when I grew up, a full-time artist creating whatever wants to be brought into this world through me.

So, like they do in artist interviews, I thought it would be easiest to answer these questions.

1. What do you do?
I'm a Contemporary Folk Artist. I create original, hand drawn and hand-cut papercut art in-spirit with the world around me.

2. What is your process?
My work is a discipline in cutting away the negative space in order to reveal the place that is simply enough, and thus creating calmness and comfort in the continuity.

3. What do you want people to know about your art?
My desire is for my work to evoke joy, peace and harmony and to be a gentle reminder that we are all connected to each other and all living things. Thus, my art is cut from one piece of white paper and placed on a black background. Together we can be the light in the darkness.

More about my new website, etc. coming, but for today this is a piece 18"x24" for local gallery show the end of this month.
"The Scarborough Hares- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme." ;)

Much love and hugs,
Michelle