Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.
I am such an artist.
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♥ Vintage Scarves
For someone who is completely content wearing jeans and a white t-shirt every day, I simply can not live without my pearls and drawers full of colorful, vintage scarves. And most days I don't even wear them, but do look at them for beauty and inspiration. Look around. Who really wears pearls and scarves these days? Well, me!
And yes, wearing vintage scarves can make me feel silly or conspicuous. And then some days, wearing them can make me feel chic and powerfully connected to my scarf-wearing sisters, like ...
Audrey
Ava
Grace
Jackie
Elizabeth
Lauren
Ann
Doris
Debbie
Ginger
Rosie
and Nancy.
Today I can't resist the hunt at estate sales, thrift stores, and antique shops for lovely, vintage, silk beauties. And I'm even toying with the idea of designing a few of my own.
How about you? Do you have a few vintage scarves tucked away? Pull them out of hiding and let's unite! Dare to be a little different, classic, maybe even chic.
"When I wear a silk scarf I feel so definitely like a woman, a beautiful woman."
– Audrey Hepburn
"Money doesn't buy elegance. You can take an inexpensive sheath, add a pretty scarf, gray shoes, and a wonderful bag, and it will always be elegant."
– Carolina Herrera
"Dignity is an affectation, cute but eccentric, like learning French or collecting scarves."
– Dave Eggers
"Her lips were like the soft beauty of a delicately designed silken scarf."
– Howard Gordon
♥ Figs
The Fig tree at Windy Acre Cottage has been exceptionally prolific this year. I think I'll call her Pomona, after the ancient Roman goddess of fruitful abundance.
Besides bagging up several quarts of fruit to share with friends and family, I kept a gallon for myself to make into jam. My dear friend Sonja loaned me her grandmother's WWII-era cookbook for the recipe. If you would like to see the recipe and step-by-step process, click here.
My favorite meal to make with figs is simple and delicious... Pizza!
I simply take a round of store-bought Naan (from the deli area) and apply a thin layer of herbed chèvre (goat cheese) and sliced figs, and simply bake until warm and melty.
And then there are days when I basically clean out the fridge and make a very tall, Naan pizza with goat cheese, sliced figs, grilled chicken, cheddar, and prosciutto. This one you have to tackle with a fork and knife, but well worth the effort.
"O excellent! I love long life better than figs."
– Shakespeare
"Well there are a lot of things I like to eat but at this time of year I'm finding I'm making fig and chèvre salad at least once a week and that's a combo that's hard to beat."
– Karen Walker
♥ Impressionist Escapes Engagement Book 
Recently a dear student gifted me with a most beautiful gift, a 2021 Engagement Book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York featuring paintings from the beaches of France to the beaches of the eastern seaboard of the United States, incorporating both French Impressionism and American Impressionism.
In. One. Book.
It's almost too pretty to write in, but believe me, I will. Not as an engagement calendar, I intend to use this lovely book as a daily one-sentence journal and be inspired by it's paintings and it's editorial and educational content. For example, Gauguin, discouraged by the lackluster reception of his work in Paris, set sail for Tahiti in order to live inexpensively and to have time to cultivate his art.
What a game changer!
Can you even picture a Gaugin painting that wasn't painted in Tahiti? He arrived in Tahiti in 1891 and shortly thereafter his work arrived on the world's stage and has remained there ever since.
Also pictured is the tiny folio of American Impressionism by William H. Gerdts, also filled with paintings, insight and information on American Impressionism. I love the book so much, I purchased the tome, considered the definitive study of the subject.
"Art, to me, is the interpretation of the impression which nature makes upon the eye and brain."
– Childe Hassam
"If I had to choose a single destination where I'd be held captive for the rest of my time in New York, I’d choose the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
– Tim Gunn
"Some day some of you will become painters, and a few of you will do distinguished work, and then the American public will turn you down for second and third rate French painters."
– John Twachtman
♥ Pumpkins
This month I've enjoyed an outing out with my parents to Amish Country and out with friends to Cheekwood. On both occasions I was completely delighted with the abundance of beautiful and colorful pumpkins. They are so easy to love!
Ringing in the Harvest season in glorious autumn colors, the Amish offered the most charming of Cinderella pumpkins I've ever seen. Cheekwood had the most exotic, including unusual shapes and strips and combination of colors.
"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself,
than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
– Henry David Thoreau
"At last, small witches, goblins, hags, And pirates armed with paper bags Their costumes hinged on safety pins, Go haunt a night of pumpkin grins."
– John Updike
♥ Collecting Seeds
Lately I've become completely captivated by the American Impressionist painters and their obsession with gardening. I get it. Artists crave color, nature, beauty.
What I find so interesting is that up to the end of the 19th century, most people gardened for food. It was more a question of survival. However with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the mass migration from rural farms to manufacturing jobs in big cities, people quickly tired of smog, noise, and crowds. They craved gardens... big, unkempt, beautiful gardens... and many people began gardening for pleasure. This historical movement was additionally fueled by new house and garden publications.
While it's very easy to simply select a few seed packets from your local nursery or farm store, I like to collect seeds from the gardens of friends, historic homes, or along my travels.
Once flowers begin to fade at the close of the season, most flower seeds are ripe for picking. Seed harvesting should be done on a dry and sunny day. Once seedpods have changed from green to brown and can be easily split, you can begin collecting flower seeds. I like to lay out my picked seeds on a cushion of paper towels and lay a paper towel on top for about a week. I want them to be completely dry before storing them for the winter or they will mildew and rot.
When they are ready to store, I just save them in paper envelopes and write on the outside the plant the seed is from. (Do not use plastic bags. They will spoil.) Some seeds are easily recognizable like the sunflower, but most of them are not. When picking from a specific location, I can't always identify the type of seed or more possibly I've crammed seeds from a variety of plants into my pocket until it's impossible to separate them. In this case I store them all in one envelope and label it with the location from which they came, i.e. Carnton Plantation Garden or Sonja's House.
Store the envelopes in a dark, dry place. I save empty coffee cans for this job. What a thrill to pull them out in spring and start planning the flower beds!
"The true gardener, like an artist, is never satisfied."
– H.E. Bates
"Gardening is how I relax. It's another form of creating and playing with colors."
– Oscar de la Renta
"Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."
– Paul Harvey
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace."
– Mary Sarton
"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God."
– Thomas Jefferson
Note and full disclosure:
In some bullet points I may link to more information, related news, or to a product on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.
Originally the account was created years ago to benefit "Happy Tails" animal rescue,
but now it benefits my pack of rescue dogs and assorted fosters at Windy Acre Cottage.
Thank you!
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 NEW!!! Complete instructional video library filmed from the Creative Spirits paintingclasses and from my home studio is available to you so you may paint from home while following along. Visit my Patreon Channel to subscribe for only $25/month. As an active member, you will have access to ALL content – this means all past content and the new monthly content as it comes out - nothing expires!
Please share with all your creative friends.
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 I'm excited to offer many instructional painting videos at no charge through my YouTube channel. Check it out!
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Check it out... susanejones.com
The work continues on my new website and blog. Please visit often and share it with your friends.
Let's Paint!!
The new session of Creative Spirits painting classes in acrylics starts October 1 at 10am in Spring Hill. Join us at 563 Maury Hill Street, lower level. Registration required, 615-668-8263.
In October we will be dialing down our compositions to simpler shapes as we take a deep dive into the color Orange.
Here is a painting we completed in Creative Spirits painting class in September. The original is titled Clark Voorhees Cottage by American Impressionist Matilda Browne.
To keep everyone safe, we will be observing social distancing, and the wearing of masks is encouraged. Class fee is $100 for four in-person sessions. Or you may prefer to watch the instructional videos from our classes at home on Patreon. Visit my Patreon Channel to subscribe, and please share with all your creative friends.
Please call me if you have additional questions or would like to purchase a gift certificate or register for class:
615-668-8263
The Watercolor Painting Classes at Southern Springs in Spring Hill continue to be postponed until the threat of the virus has passed. We are all praying that day will arrive quickly.
Please continue practicing at home. Free Painting videos are available on my YouTube channel.
Links you may be interested in...
My ETSY Shops...
Colorful and Charming Art
and
Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe
Do you enjoy receiving a personal, hand-written card in the mail? Do you know someone who would, maybe a friend or family member away from home or now living in Assisted Living or a Nursing Home?
Postcards from the Dimple of the Universe is my Etsy shop that offers a subscription of 1-, 6-, or 12-handwritten cards, one each month, depicting an object or scene from my hometown, Columbia, Tennessee, aka the Dimple of the Universe or from around middle Tennessee, and delivered in a colorful envelope with a delightful US postage stamp.
It's a charming and unique gift for yourself or someone you love.
Merchandise, such as shirts, skirts, pants, cell phone covers, yoga mats, thumb drives, and yes scarves, each depicting one of my paintings and soon to be designs, is available at:
Fine Art America
Redbubble
ImageKind
Recommended Supplies lists...
Supplies List for Creative Spirits Classes,
Adventure Awaits Supplies List,
Back Issues of Bullet Point Blessings at Creative Spirits Soar! blog.
The Whole Kit & Kaboodle List of Lists
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