Do any of you remember this cover of Country Home Magazine from way back in 1999?? 

Oh how I loved this Santa! His wonderful smile...his twinkling eyes...his excitement and anticipation
about the nights activities! Well, I loved it soooo much that I decided that it would make a wonderful addition to my holiday decorating! I bought a 24"x30" canvas from Michaels, got my acrylics out, and painted my own santa. 



My painting comes out every December. In my old house, it hung over my fireplace.
 In my current home, it has hung over my console table in the corner of my family room.
{I had to move it in front of the door to photograph it because it was too dark this morning in the corner!}

 

I really had no idea that it was, in fact, 10 years ago {!} that I painted this until I looked
at my signature and date yesterday. Wow--time flies!! I really do love this Santa.

Our tree is up and the ornaments are hung. The house smells so good and earthy. I am a natural girl in my Christmas decorating {if you read my blog, no surprise, right?!} It's just so abundant, simple and accessible--not to mention beautiful. So, I thought I would share some lovely rustic Christmas inspiration....  

























{1,2,3- Eva Lindh 4,5,7,8- southern accents  6-southern living}

After reading lots of blog reviews (thanks Darby!) and online reports, I purchased a new camera a few months ago. I got the Canon Rebel EOS T1I . I think I like it a lot. But my big problem is--I really don't know how to use it  ~sigh~  I know it takes good pics--I see you bloggers with the same camera with the most fantastic shots. So, my plan is to participate in an online photography class {suggestions??}. I'm super excited to be able to take {good} photos of my work.
 
Now enter the next dilemma....a cute bag to carry it in. Now I am not a 'cute bag carrying girl'.
 I have never owned a designer handbag and I have never been impressed with designer labels.
 But, I must say, my current camera bag is not cutting it: 

 Not even a little bit cute, right? I have not liked having to tote my purse AND my camera bag so, for the most part, I just end up leaving the nice camera at home and throwing my little Cybershot in my purse instead. So, I decided to see what was out there in Google Land in the way of stylish camera bags.

After many hours of online searching, I have a little announcement: Ladies... for someone looking to launch a new career, please consider designing CUTE CAMERA BAGS!!! This is a tremendously unsaturated market. You may just make millions!!!

I did, however, find some great ones. These beauties are from Epiphanie:

:
'Belle' $169

   


And my favorite of these is the Lola {$165}:



You would never know this lovely was a camera bag, right?! But look at the inside:
 


And yet room for other stuff which means: I only need to carry 1 bag!! Woo-hoo!
 
But the downside {for me anyways} is that it only comes in black, teal or red. And I really want a walnut.

And then there is the Juju bag from Kelly Moore {$249}:

And the b-hobo ($159):

These are big $ bags. I have never spent close to this on a bag before {I know, I'm in the minority on this, but, it just has never been my thing....before now :) } Most of Kelly's bag have recently sold out. {Surprise!} So, I'm thinking Santa may not be able to get his hands on one of these for me for Christmas. But a girl can dream.

Do you know of other stylish camera bags with a more affordable price? If so, please share!! 

I fell in love with the art of artist Aaron Hequembourg of Big White Dog several years ago.
He was selling at one of our local arts festivals.

{via ghostmap.blogspot}

I was immediately struck by the rich textures and the combinations of all the medias he uses --
salvaged wood, rustic hardware, antiqued book pages and found objects. So many layers... 





 After graduating with a degree in Printmaking and Engraving, Aaron didn't have the funds
to purchase a printing press, so he began to use a woodburning tool to sketch his images into found wood.


 
In the late 90's, he married and moved to his wifes 2000+acre farm in Monticello, Georgia
that had been in her family since 1815. He began to dismantle the many sharecropper buildings,
using the wood and discovering discarded pieces of history along the way--medicine bottles,
 old newspapers, mason jars.


{via ajc.com}
There were obviously wonderful stories behind each piece. The rich history just seems to
seep out of the wood grain. Aaron uses inspirations from old photographs in many of his pieces. 

 
One of Aaron's sons was the model for the piece above.
 {My camera phone photos do not do these pieces justice}

Every blade of grass is a sliver of an old book page.  



His newest pieces involve close-ups of hands. These may be some of my very favorite to date. 

{'Camellia' 46"W X 49"H Engraved assemblage from sharecropper houses
Wood from sharecropper houses,1870s'-80s' pedal organ music, found objects}

Like Aaron explains, this series is so relatable--there are no faces to determine who these distinguished hands may belong to. We get to use our imagination and might even discover our own grandmas wrinkles, or our great-uncles callouses.... What great wisdom these thick dark hands surely possess..  

{'WPA Cotton Worker's Hands'  351/2"W X 351/2"H
Wood and metal strapping from farm buildings,book and hymnal pages}

Every wrinkle and the grain in the wood is a layered strip of an old book page.



If you want to see some of the actual models, he has some great photos of them as well:

 

 

Aaron's work has been described as 'the next generation of folk art'. I agree. He has won dozens of awards in just the past few years and he shows at festivals all over the country. If you get the opportunity to see his art in person--run!! He will graciously share an intriguing story behind each piece. And you may even be lucky enough to watch his process:





This is my treasured piece of Aaron's work that I purchased the first time I saw his work.
I hope to one day own {many} more.