A TRIBUTE TO MY FRIEND, TINA

I've been writing posts on facebook.
I've been reading posts on facebook.
I've been answering messages on facebook.
And, I've been answering emails.....
all about my sweet Tina.
But I have not been able to bring myself to blog about her.
This is my safe place.
This is where I tell you about the funny things that happen, where I show you new art, tell you about my family and sometimes, but rarely, bare my soul.
That's what has made this so hard....it's one of those soul baring posts because my dear friend, Tina, went to meet her Lord this past Sunday, January 3rd.

What that means to me is that she's not here any more.
She's not here to talk to on the phone, to email, to play "soldering", to enjoy the adventure of the Paper Cowgirl art retreat that she founded with Cindy Mayfield.
All of that is the selfish part of me.
The unselfish part of me, the part of me that drowns in sorrow, will tell you that she has left behind an amazing husband, amazing kids, grandbabies and friends.
Her husband, Will, "Silly Will" to me, gave me the endearing(?) nickname recently, "Nine Toes", telling me that it was my Indian name. "That's silly, Will!"
I've seen Will and Tina together more than once and I know deep in my heart that he simply adored her. He was Mr. World Federation Cancer Fighter during her fight, researching, Googling, putting her on a homeopathic diet (she called him "the Food Police"), doing everything that he could to make her better.
They were married for 27 years and now she's gone on before him and he's sad that she's not here with him.
He has an amazing faith, thank you, God, for his faith in you, or I don't know how he'd get through this.

Also mourning her passing are her children, Nicole and Deke, both so very special to her.
When Deke was counting the days he would be coming home from the war, she was counting them, too, and telling anyone that would listen that her Deke was coming home! Oh, how she had missed him, loved him.
Oh, and, she loved Nicole as only a mother can love a daughter!
She has also left behind her darling "grandbabies". She doted on those girls. She would have them stay with her and Will and they would play "art" and would just enjoy being together.
How do you explain grandma going to Heaven to wee ones in a way that they understand?

And, the friends from her world of Harley's, the friends that she loved going on Harley road trips with - they will surely miss her sweet nature.
One day she and Will and another couple rode their Harley's to the ranch. They were on a road trip in the Hill Country and she knew where I lived - very close to where they would be riding. So, she calls and we make plans for them to come by and go to lunch.
That was the first time we met in person. Oh, my gosh, you would have thought that we had lived next door for years...........once we started talking we couldn't stop! Poor Will and Frank - thank goodness they really liked each other. But that poor other couple...I can't remember their names right now, but both were so nice. I hope they didn't leave feeling left out!
It was at that point, that 'in person' visit, that Tina and I really clicked. Just think, a Harley made us complete. Who would'a thought?

And, this tribute wouldn't be complete without mentioning her art. She had a gift from God for creating and teaching. I have many pieces that she made that I bought from Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat Vendor's Nights, several pieces that she made "for me", and one extremely precious necklace that she made for me last March for my "half-birthday" (celebrating my half-birthday cracked her up).
She was always gifting her friends. That's who she was.
The mixed media art world will surely miss her.
There are hundreds that she touched in some way. And, there are so many from the blog world, mixed media art world, facebook, places that I'm not thinking of, that she touched that didn't even know her.

*click on the picture to enlarge*

The saddest part of Tina's death is when I think of all of the people, hundreds of people, that are reading blog posts about her, facebook messages about her - there are SO many, and they/you don't understand Tina's passing the way that a believer does because you aren't a Christian.
You don't understand what I mean when I say that I look forward to seeing her again, sitting at the feet of Jesus. You don't understand Will's faith that will get him through this horror on earth; nor do you understand the peace I feel because I know that God has healed her.
But, she died, you say.

No. Her body died. She lives on in Heaven. It gives me great peace and joy to know that she is with Jesus.
If you are someone that doesn't understand any or some of this, if you've got questions about Christianity, anything, please email me (polkadotbarn@gmail.com) and I'll answer your questions. And if I don't have the answer, I'll find it.
And remember, there are no stupid questions. Never.

Tina would want you to ask questions.
On her facebook page it says, "Jesus Christ is my Savior. Who's yours?"

That's my "tribute" to Tina. I hope it made sense to you. I hope you were able to see into my heart and know what I was trying to say with words that seem so inadequate.

I loved her dearly. Still do. And until Jesus takes me to Heaven, I'll miss being with her, but I'll keep her memory in my heart every......single.....day.

God bless you, my sweet readers, know that I'm back and know that I love you,

Jan

Can I say one more thing? I think Tina would like it if I mentioned this thought that I can't get out of my mind. . . . .Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone how much they mean to you, how much someone has touched your life, no matter how small, to tell someone that you love them. Don't keep those kind of thoughts to yourself - share them with those involved, preferably in writing so that they can have that tangible piece of you for all times.

It's important. Tina would tell you that and it's what I'm going to be doing this year. If I love you, you're going to know it, if you have touched my life in a positive way, you're going to know it. I think that if we all did that for each other that we would all have higher self esteem, we would have higher self worth and we would all be a better person because of it.

Oh, and one more wee little thing.....if you don't have something nice to say about someone, don't say it. And remember that everyone is fighting some kind of battle so always be kinder than necessary. (I promise that's all:)

God bless you all.

the PAPER COWGIRL ART RETREAT was a BLAST!!!

I am so excited to share with you the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat! This is a long post because there are a lot of pictures, so grab something to drink, put your feet up and relax as you scroll through the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat......

As the time approached for me to leave for the Paper Cowgirl Retreat last Wednesday, it seemed like my studio, aka crack house, became more and more dangerous to walk through. I took a couple of pictures just for you to see my work table. . .
Can you believe this? I'm so ashamed.
I arrived in Waxahachie last Wednesday after driving for five hours - I had so much "art stuff" in my car that I looked like I was going to California and didn't know the way.
The retreat was held at the Hampton Inn *my favorite hotel* and my room was so, so nice as evidenced in the photo below of my bed.

Then there was my "art stuff's" bed. . .

Thursday my friends, Rita and Susan, and myself, went shopping in McKinney.

Oh, my. There's this store there called Smitten. I left a large amount of Frank's money there. We had such a good time at Smitten's and the other shops we hit. Then it was back to 'hatchie for the "Meet and Greet" held at the Dove's Nest in historic downtown Waxahachie. Amazing.

Meeting all of the girls, seeing old friends, meeting women I've known like forever through emails and blogs and shopping at the Dove's Nest while enjoying appetizers was so much fun!

My class was scheduled to take place the next morning, Friday morning. I was so excited I could hardly stand it! I LOVE to teach and I had put so much into the prep for this class that I felt like I already knew all of the ladies so I was anxious to spend some time with them!

For those of you not in the know, I was teaching a class called, Home is Where Your Art Begins, and it involved painting and collage on a 16" X 20" canvas. So, okay, I'm on my way down to set up the room.

Oh, I simply must show you what I filled my "students" goodie sacks with - all kinds of wonderful little things that I hoped they would love. Look at that Aleene's Tacky Glue in the wee bitty bottles. Cracked me up - I had to buy them!

I was VERY fortunate to have a lovely assistant. LOL My BFF, Mendy Mitrani, one of the other teachers for the retreat, helped me in class and she was really SO helpful! Here she is with Terri, showing the class the example I brought from home that I had painted the prior Sunday. It's a collage of Marie Antoinette and worked well to show some of the different techniques we would be using on our own canvases.The class started with a blank canvas; literally! They had a wee bit of homework which was to paint their blank canvas with a layer of Gesso to prepare the canvas to take the paint well.

The next step, and first step in class, was to lay out what you THOUGHT your collage would look like. I have found that God always has his own idea about what it should look like and not to get upset when something doesn't work that I wanted to use! So, we all cut, shaped, and laid out our collage.

The next two steps involved painting a light color of their prominent color all over the canvas.

From there they could add other colors that complimented their first 'wash'. Then they added some papers.By changing from painting to laying papers, back to painting to laying more papers, they were able to create layers. It was at this point that I taught them how to use napkins in their painted collages. Boy howdy, was that ever a hit!

Here's my finished canvas. You can see that I used a napkin for the flowers along the bottom, cut papers, torn papers, stamping, coffee stained cheesecloth, glittered rose, a "special event" tag next to a multi-flash (remember those???), a metal circle, the Paper Whimsy girls, of course, and layers of paint.

Everyone worked very hard in my class and at the same time, we caught ourselves roaring with laughter at something someone said. It was a riot!

I had just the BEST CLASS! I loved every one of my students and hope we will remain friends and see each other at least at next year's P.C. Retreat!

Andrea, who is from San Antonio - right down Hwy. 10 from me:), was totally focused on applying her first layer of paint.

I wonder what it was that caused Cara to stop drying her paint to check out Lisa? LOL

Here's Mendy, my lovely assistant, helping Nancy dry her first layer. In front of them, Terri and her daughter, Andrea, are hard at work!

Here's Elizabeth, aka Stripper Girl, AND good sport! It's a long story, but even without hearing the whole story, you can imagine how hard we laughed. It was so much fun. In this picture she is showing us her finished canvas - it's simply lovely!

This is Nancy, a darling woman whom I've had the pleasure of knowing from last year's P.C. Retreat. Here she shows us her beautiful canvas. It's not quite finished (the fence needs to be attached), but didn't she do a wonderful job?

Lisa is rightfully proud of her canvas. She used a picture from a vintage magazine and napkins to make a soft and beautiful piece of work.

Wow. I wish I could tell you who did this piece, but I took the picture without the artist.

Duh. But, even though we don't know the exact artist, we can all enjoy the collage she created. I think I know who it belongs to, but not being sure, can't say. But, for the sake of the post, we'll refer this canvas as Rhonda's Canvas. (Gosh, I hope I'm right! LOL)

The canvas below is Cara's. I know that because of the yellow in the first layer:) Didn't it turn out great??? She incorporated several of the House of 3 color copies that I brought and are so beautiful.

I'd almost bet the ranch that this next lovely piece was done by Kim. If you read this post and you know better, please email me and I'll fix any mistakes I've made! But, whoever did it, it's wonderful, isn't it? I like the way the pieces of collage seem to grow out of the one attached to it. (Did that make any sense???)

Me, working hard on my corsage in Mendy's class.

Rhonda and Karen - sweet picture of two friends!

This picture was taken in Mendy's class.

Phyllis and LaVerne working hard, or is it 'hardly working', dragging, pooped....whatever it is, it's in Mendy's Corsage Class!

My finished corsage in Mendy Mitrani's class - isn't it beautiful??? I simply LOVE it and Mendy was such a great teacher!

Me with my happy face on and Mendy.

Just some of the spoils from the huge ATC SWAP hosted by an amazing Barbie look-a-like.

Just a hint of what I received in the Paper Ephemera Swap hosted by the delightful Jamie Miller!

This is the most precious Dale McLain who taught a class with a bird theme, I can't remember the name, but it was so wonderful! And just look at her sitting up there on that credenza like a pin-up girl from the 50's! She's a cutie, alright.

Dana and Leisl are chomping at the bit to get started in Dale's class!

"PUT THE GLUE GUN DOWN, LEISL!

PUT THE GLUE GUN DOWN.

WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS.

DALE ISN'T GOING TO ASK YOU TO DO ANYTHING YOU'RE NOT CAPABLE OF.

THINK OF ALL YOU LEARNED IN JAN'S CLASS.

WHAT? YOU LOVED JAN'S CLASS? YOU WANT TO TALK TO JAN?

WE CAN ARRANGE THAT, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE US SOMETHING.

JUST PUT THE GLUE GUN DOWN.

WHAT??

AND, YOU WANT SOME ICING SHOTS? NO PROBLEM. BUT, LEISL, YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE US SOMETHING."

Shannon is working hard on her piece in Dale's class.

Lisa and Dana can still have fun while working on their pieces in Dale's class!

I LOVE this picture of Kim. We all have that look on our face at least one time when we're working on a new creation!

These following three photos are from the SHADOW BOX class taught by Joanna. There were some really precious pieces made in that class!We had MANY swaps to go along with the retreat and one of them was the CROWN SWAP. Here are two Paper Cowgirls with their crowns atop their heads!

Here's Andrea, her mom, Terri, and Cindy, ready for VENDOR'S NIGHT! They're probably looking for those icing shots!

Two sweet Paper Cowgirls during VENDOR'S NIGHT.

LaVerne and Nancy had a shared "booth". I think Nancy came out ahead in this partnership as LaVerne is buying some of her items!

And just where did Nancy disappear to when it was time to tear down???

Poor LaVerne, on the floor.....will she be able to get up without help? Here are some cards I made to sell at Vendor's Night. I used my precious Paper Whimsy girls on them along with some wonderful "flashcards, patterned paper, hat pins and swirls!

There were some left and I'll be listing them in my Etsy shop and my Lollishop........soon..........very soon.

My pink flamingos are lined up and ready for the long walk to 'hatchie!

Look at them - you can see how excited they are!What to cover my table with at Vendor's Night???

I pulled out some vintage tableclothes and dresser runners, ironed them and they looked mahvelous!

Here's my table at VENDOR'S NIGHT. I packed it full so it would look really good!

And it did:) I had such a good time that night.
Glittered and dressed for a Texas garden with their coordinating pink bandanas, these flamingos were a huge hit!

The PAPER COWGIRL RETREAT is nothing if it's not filled with the most wonderful women and this year was no exception. Everyone was wonderful, lots of fun, kind, helpful, I could go on and on.

This is Karen - she was a doll.

And here's Cheryl playing Queen for a Day with her wee bitty crown! Dale had these little crowns in her goodie bags and they were quite the hit!

Susan and Rita and I terrorized McKinney on Thursday - here's a picture of them at lunch. We had such a great time. Susan is a delight and, knowing Rita for many years, I can tell you that she's a dear!!

There was always time for a hug as Shannon and Lisa prove!

I could simply end here by saying, "The End", but I have to tell you one more thing.

I may have said it earlier, I don't know.

The Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat is a dream retreat.

It's filled with the most wonderful women, amazing teachers, great bosses, lots of fun things to do to fill our "down" time, and it's in Texas!

Yee-haw!

That being said, I'll leave you with one last picture - a picture of the poster women for Glue Guns.

And to show you how well they do their job (they didn't want me to say anything), they are the ones that talked Leisl down. She gave up her glue gun and no one was hurt.

Thank you, Mendy.

Thank you, Jan.

XOXO, Jan