Freckle Face

I used to hate my freckles. I have a face full of them, and as a young girl, I just wanted them to disappear. I looked at the flawless skin that graced the covers of magazines and longed for a clear complexion, free of spots. 

My face was flawed.

My parents liked my freckles. My grandparents thought they were cute. I couldn't understand why anyone would like brown spots covering what would have been decent skin. And there was this one freckle on the side of my nose that I particularly despised. It was big... no HUGE, a monstrosity that just ruined my face. For some reason, though, every time I walked down the street to visit my grandparents, my PaPa Jack would make it a point to give me a kiss right on that giant freckle. He would make a big deal out of looking for that special freckle, the one that belonged to him, and when he finally found it, he would plant a kiss right on that huge flaw. 

After a while, although I still wished it wasn't there, I didn't mind it quite so much.

I used to hate my freckles

...until I had kids of my own, and all of those years of wondering why my parents liked my freckles, why my grandparents thought freckles were cute, and why my grandpa loved that one particular freckle on my face finally made sense.

I adore these freckles...

These freckles are so cute...

And don't ask me how many times I've kissed that one freckle on the side of this little boy's cheek...

I love them because they are a part of these faces. They are like sprinkles on top of an ice cream sundae...they just make it a little sweeter.

My own freckles have faded over the years, and that one freckle, that monstrosity on the side of my nose is getting harder to see. But oh, how I hope it won't fade away. I never knew how much good could be wrapped in what I once considered a flaw. It was made special, and every time I see it, I smile.

xo

nessa dee

Travelling Musicians

Just a quick post to pop in, say hi, and show you a sketch. 

I've been settling into our new school schedule, but Labor Day threw me off quite a bit. It's also been quite an adjustment with a very active toddler in the mix. I'll get back to my regular blog posting soon, but if you want to check out some of our goings on you can look at my Instagram page, or follow me on Twitter for few there as well.

And just for the grandparents...

xo

nessa dee

Prepositional Phrases

on the easel:

in my head:

upon the drawing table: 

 outside my window:

inside my drawer:

without shoes:

against the wall:

around his little finger:

[as in I'm wrapped]

Happy Friday!

xo

nessa dee

Exciting News!!

Would you like to have one of my prints in a larger size? How about on canvas?  Matted and framed? On birch wood? Or you might just want to go browse this site and see the name Nessa Dee. [Okay, maybe that's just me.] For everything else, you can visit Gallery Direct.

Gallery Direct is now offering high quality, limited edition prints from Nessa Dee Art! Each piece can be printed in several different sizes on a variety of materials. Right now there are seven different paintings to choose from, but more will be added in the weeks to come.

You can also find my work over at New Era Portfolio.

How cool is that? 

I'm so excited to get to join the family of talented artists at New Era, and am so thankful to those who've given me this opportunity. 

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

Hello, Monday! How are you?

Tell me, tell me, what is new?

How are you, first day of the week?

What is new? Please tell me. Speak.

I do so love this day today!

The kids are back in school. Hooray!

What's that you say? Oh, I didn't know.

I'm so sorry... your kids don't go.

This year, I'll be juggling a 7th grader [eek!], 2nd grader, 1 year old, and an attention-starved dog. I often wonder if I'm losing my mind.

Wish me luck.

Happy first day of school!

Happy Monday!

xo

nessa dee

Confession

Remember this silly picture I posted on Monday:

I have a confession to make. I might have edited the photo a bit.  It actually looks like this:

That's my brother in between us. We were at our cousin's wedding when we took these and I think they're hilarious. Jonathan and I took some together, just the two of us, but I think Jon took those to work because I can't find them, so I was forced to alter these. I felt guilty, though, and needed to confess. Also, I wanted to explain why I was leaned so far over in the pictures. Well, now you know why.

Phew. I feel much better. 

Here are some more, for your entertainment:

xo

nessa dee

Random Friday

I've been busy this week. "Doing what?" you may ask. "Well, stuff," I may answer.

Actually, it's been a week of random. On Monday, Jonathan and I went on anniversary date. Audrie asked if it was unlucky since we'd been married a spooky thirteen years. I told her that was silly superstitious stuff, but then I thought about our date, and maybe it was a bit unlucky. My car's transmission decided it didn't have a reason to live and called it quits on my way to meet Jonathan. Thankfully, I was able to make it back home and borrow my mom's car... which had a low tire. Fun. But I made it downtown to find all of the parking garages full. I circled the downtown area about five times before I stumbled upon a parking garage right above the fancy theater we were going to. [a bit of luck!] We were 30 minutes late to our movie, and upon the trek to our seats at the very top of the theater, I knocked someone's drink off their table and broke the glass, liquid and glass spraying the backs of my legs. [Yay!] It took me a while to get into the movie after that incident, but I eventually found myself laughing, and by the movie's end [and after waiting until that particular person exited the theater], I was feeling lucky. We stopped into a restaurant for a night cap, and ate the most delicious chocolate dessert. It was seriously good, and seriously full of heavy cream because we both felt like we'd eaten a brick after finishing. [Yummy bad luck.] Not feeling well, we called it quits, and headed back to our cars, where I spent 20 minutes looking for my validated parking ticket and another 20 minutes sitting in parking garage traffic. I finally made it back home, we put the kids in bed, and bid farewell our [perhaps a bit unlucky] 13 year anniversary mark.

My car's been in the shop all week getting it's rebuilt transmission rebuilt again. Audrie's been doing school [she started last Thursday]. We've been swimming, and playing, and painting, and creating, and eating, and baking, and painting and creating some more. I've been trying to get a few projects knocked out this week one of which was painting the family of nesting dolls sketch I posted last week. They still need a background, but here they are in all their round glory:

 

I've also been trying to revamp a few old projects. Here are some rough sketches of one of them:

Once I get the final painted, I'll post it.

I've been working on this:

You can't tell what it is? Well it's obviously a...hmm...a... okay, I don't know what it is either. [chicken? rocket? goose?] It's actually the base for a yet to be determined paper pulp sculpture I'm working on. I'll be teaching a mixed media art class this fall. I'm super nervous because it will be the first time I'll be teaching kids who aren't easy to please [ aka middle and high schoolers]. I'm trying to come up with lesson plans that will accommodate all skill levels, AND are fun and exciting. Just wait till we get to sculpt chicken rocket geese.  I'm sure they'll be impressed. 

August learned a new trick. Can you guess what it is?

Also he's super cute...just look at those baby blues:

Everything I accomplish each week happens with this sweet guy hanging on my legs. I'm reminding myself that there's a reason I'm so exhausted and don't have much to show for it. But he sure is worth it.

Enough random rambles.

Happy Friday!

xo

nessa dee