Knowing Is The Raven: Exerpt #2

Enjoy!
'Arabella opened the creaky wooden door to the small stone home where she had lived for the past sixteen years. She stood in the doorway and looked around--a feeling of dread crept upon her. There was no familiar welcoming voice, no loving arms to comfort her, just cold, lifeless walls and the old shabby furniture of a poor farmer. She came in and shut the squeaky door behind her. The waning afternoon only allowed a shallow gray light to come in through the windows. She quickly started a fire while she could still see and hung her coat and bonnet upon their usual hook. The dancing flames in the fireplace cast moving shadows upon the walls and Arabella suddenly felt the fear of being alone.
'The confusion of whether or not she actually saw a human standing in the field overtook her imagination and her heart nervously raced as she looked around the empty house. She hurried into the kitchen to the door that led out to behind the house and made sure it was secured then closed and locked all the shutters on the windows. She collapsed in her usual chair beside the fireplace and wrapped a quilt around her shoulders. She began to feel somewhat more secure, but sorry to be in this position and began to feel what it is like to be utterly alone. "Pappa, how could you have left me like this? Who will comfort me? Who will be my true friends? I shall always live in fear and sorrow!" She cried. For a long while, the tears flowed freely from her agonized heart until she exhausted herself in grief and fell asleep.'

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July 4th Coming Up

In light of the upcoming holiday, I thought I would post a couple of my pictures that make me think of or are directly related to our Independence Day. I love this Uncle Sam one. I've gotten lots of compliments on it.

The one with the ship in the storm was painted for my son, Jonathan, on his 23rd birthday. It just puts me in the mind of colonial America and the immigrants sailing to our country.

Then also the first ship makes me think of those who sailed to America looking for freedom.

I hope you enjoy these pics and have a great 4th of July on Saturday!!~

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Another Mood!

Some time back I was in a completely awful mood. When I get like that I have a tendency to paint...let us say...weirdly. At the time I had a canvas board that I had attempted to paint a ship on and absolutely could not do it! I believe, it was just not meant to be. So, I didn't have any Gesso to primer over the ship and didn't want to use so much of my white paint, so I took my little canister of drywall putty (or whatever you call it, I can't remember--Oh, yeah, spackle!) and slathered it onto my canvas board making sure to leave plenty of texture.
I love swirls, I've discovered as I've been painting, and all I wanted to see was a dark background with these swirls of color. I thought as I painted about how there is always something beautiful (in this case the colors) when darkness is surrounding you. It was a rare philosophical moment in my life. (Like I said, I was in a mood! ha!) Then later, I decided to give a counter balance to this one and make another one with the darkness being amidst all the light. Sort of a some days you're in a good mood, some days you're not kind of thing. And, yes, I guess you can compare that to the whole Eastern philosophy of the yin/yang thing, but I don't go in for that. I like my version better.
Anywho, I'm sort of in the same type of mood today as I was when I painted that first dark picture. So I thought it was a great time to bring them both out into the vast openness that is the internet and share them with anyone who happens across them. Enjoy!~

Jane Austen Quiz

Take the Quiz here!

Jane Austen Fan!

Image by allie™ via Flickr

I love Jane Austen, as I have stated earlier. I found a blog of a woman who took this quiz and I thought I would add it here on mine. I am Elizabeth Bennett, the heroine of the very first Jane Austen book I ever read, 'Pride and Prejudice'! I can see it. (I'm having a problem with getting the thing on here. I'll try it again and hopefully I'll get it.)
FYI-I first got interested in Jane Austen while watching 'You've Got Mail'. Pride and Prejudice was Kathlene Kelly's (Meg Ryan's character) favorite book because she gets "caught up in the language." This picture, of course, depicts the book 'Emma', which was the second book of hers I read. I have both of these and all of the others (my sweetie went out and bought them for me!) except for 'Sense and Sensibility', but I did see the BBC miniseries and the movie with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. (Wonderful movie!) At some time, when I get a little cash to spend on it, I still want to get the book and read it, if I can make the time.
I think everyone who likes to read good books without bad language to mess everything up and wants to get lost in another era should take the time and read Jane Austen's books!

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A Strange Mood

Image by Fr Antunes via Flickr

I'm in an odd mood today. I think I'm sort of melancholy. I have a great longing to be near the ocean and I'd love to go visit a lighthouse. I've never been in a lighthouse! Isn't this a great picture?! I'm assuming that is a lighthouse at the end of that road. With my eyes the way they are, it kind of looks like the Space Shuttle!

Every so often I get in a traveling mood, but I want to go to places like on the north eastern coast of the US or somewhere really historical like Pennsylvania or Virginia. I want to be somewhere near the ocean, but not a "springbreak" destination! Know what I mean? If I could only stand on a cliff somewhere and look out at the ocean; that would be the bomb! Going by my really big dreams, I'd love to visit the western coast of England. There are some awesome cliffs there!

I think what I need to do is to go back to my story and write. There I can escape to the cliffs of western England! I'm really excited to get finished with it (almost there!) so that I can begin to send my manuscript off to publishers and see what happens! And I can start brainstorming for a new story!~

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A Couple More

Here are a couple that I really enjoyed painting, especially because they are Autumn themed.

Really Folk Artsy

Here are some of my paintings that are really folk-artsy looking. I think these are my favorite kinds to paint! Sorry about the quality of the photos. I can't seem to keep the camera steady! Hope you like them!~

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Knowing Is The Raven

Image by Desert Dream Photography via Flickr

As you know, one of my interests includes writing. I am very deeply into writing my first novel or novella (not sure which it will turn out being) called "Knowing Is The Raven".
"Knowing Is The Raven" is a story set in 1840's England and follows the life of Arabella Burrage; a teenage girl who is left orphaned and has no other known family. Her father was poor and somewhat of a recluse and kept her at home and away from others on their farm. Immediately after his death, her life would become something she could previously only read about and something she never dreamed would happen to her. This new life would be filled with fear, love, danger, excitement, and mystery and leave her wondering if she could ever truly be happy.
So, I thought I would periodically take exerpts from my story and let you all read them. Here's the first one:
'Just after her sixteenth birthday, the strength of the aforementioned characteristics was put to the test in the form of grave news concerning the condition of her father's health. The doctor had given no more hope for him and all that could be done was to keep him as comfortable as possible. The strength she normally exerted in the care of the household was then devoted to her sickly father for several months with ardent continuity. Arabella was his sole caregiver and the daily tasks of cleaning up the blood he spat, the emphatic attempts to get him to eat, and the futile effort she expended only to watch him still rapidly waste away quelled the hope within her and left her emotionally and physically weary and incognizant of life's blessings.
'On the day of his death, she stared down at her father as he lay in his bed, so quiet and cold, but she could barely see him as her eyes were nearly swelled shut and her sight blurred by tears that would not stop flowing. Her young body trembled as she wondered how she would survive with no one to guide her. Her father's reclusive ways had left them with little interaction with the community in which they lived and, therefore, no one to help her with this difficult and painful task. The doctor was her only source of instruction and informed her of what would happen to prepare him for burial, but there was no one to hold her hand and offer any consolation to her.
'Because of the meager condition of their monetary resources, the funeral was held the following day; the morbid task being hastened in prevention of exposure to the body. Arabella walked alone behind the doctor's carriage as he transported the coffin to the grave site. She had cried so greatly at the moment of his death and all that day that her eyes were devoid of tears at present. Her lively innocent spirit had been reduced to this passive lamentation. Not even the cold of the misty rain or the pungent smell of wet dirt affected her as she stood beside the dark hollow grave where her father's earthly shell would spend eternity.'
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