Welcome to my blog!
My name is Melody M. Nuñez, and I’m an artist and a writer. Please look around my website and make yourself at home. I post new blog entries on Tuesdays & Thursdays, and hope you’ll subscribe to my blog and come back often! To learn more about me, please view the “About” page…SUBSCRIBE
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Category Archives: nature
Galleries & Published Works
Hi y’all! Happy Tuesday!
Just wanted to take a moment and invite you to check out some of the pages here at my website. For example, my Galleries page and my Published Works page.
You’ll find images of my artwork in the GALLERIES, including photography, collage, and mixed-media. Here are a few examples of images that live there – won’t you visit the rest?
This photo of the Rock of Cashel (in Ireland) is in the Travel collection.
This pink water lily image is in the Nature collection.
This glass bottle image is in the Man-Made collection.
This piece, made in memory of my Aunt Bobby, is in the Collage collection.
This up-cycled metal can project is in the Mixed-Media collection.
If you visit my PUBLISHED WORKS page you can see where I’ve had my art and writings published – and in many cases you can click on the work’s title to see a scan of the tear sheet (magazines) or can link over to the website my work appears on. Projects range from collages and cards to Memory Jars (love that one!) and more! So please take a peek.
Here are a few projects/articles you might particularly like – I hope you’ll also take a peek at the others:
Sowing the Seeds of Inspiration
Time in a Bottle (Memory Jars)
You may also visit my About page to learn more about my background, my Art Program page to learn how you can help me provide art education and supplies to disadvantaged public school children, and my Contact page if you’d like to email me with any questions or comments.
Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t forget to save your chocolate boxes so you can make your own version of my Heart’s Desire project!
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in art, art supplies, crafts, DIY, inspiration, life in general, photography, travel, vintage, writing
Tagged collage, Galleries, mixed media, Published Works
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Haiku: Lavender
Lavender petals
and a deep yellow pollen -
exquisite beauty.
I love taking a stroll around the nursery, drinking in the beauty of the plants. Between the shapes, textures, patterns, colors and scents I’m in heaven – it’s such a treat for my senses. I yearn for the day when I’ll finally have a garden, and can grow fruits and veggies in addition to flowers. In the meantime, you just may run into me strolling around the aisles and paths at the local nursery – camera in hand and a smile on my face…
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in haiku, life in general, photography, poetry
Tagged flower, garden, nursery
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Haiku: Growth
Outer skin is dry,
but new growth can still prevail.
Life’s what we make it.
With the bulk of the holidays past, my thoughts are turning to the New Year. What do you hope to do, see, and be in 2012? I’m still shuffling things around in my mind, but I know I want my heart, understanding, kindness and generosity to keep on growing…
Warm regards,
Melody
Haiku: Little Bee
Don’t like your stinger,
but I do love your honey.
Thank you, little bee.
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I hope you’re all having a beautiful week…
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in haiku, life in general, photography, poetry, writing
Tagged bee, honey bee
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Letting My Inner Child Out to Play: A Visit To the Pumpkin Patch
Fall is probably my favorite season, and I love Halloween. I guess I’m still a kid at heart! The company I work for allows employees to dress up, and in the past five years I’ve dressed up as Frida Kahlo, a butterfly, a beatnik, a cat, and a beauty queen. This year? I’m still undecided, but will likely indulge my inner child with some sort of costume. I’m a big believer in having fun and breaking up the monotony of the daily grind, and dressing up for Halloween is a great way to do that.
While Halloween can be great fun for adults, it’s a particularly great holiday for kids. Candy AND costumes? What’s not to like?! My favorite Halloween smell is still the smell of all the different types of Halloween candy combined, which you can enjoy when you stick your nose in a full trick-or-treat bag. Yum! When I was a child a favorite post trick-or-treating activity was dumping out all my candy, separating it according to type, and taking stock of my loot. It was then that I’d trade candy with my older brother – swapping any licorice I’d gotten for something more palatable.
Another fun part of fall is going to the pumpkin patch. We don’t have much of a change of season where I live, so I’m happy to embrace one of fall’s brightly colored symbols – pumpkins. Hubby and I recently visited a local pumpkin patch, and had a great time tromping around. We selected three small pumpkins, picked some veggies (including carrots for our bunnies!), and had fun being big kids. I snapped some photos to share with you (hubby took the photo of me and my scarecrow friend), and hope you enjoy this peek at our Southern California autumn.
Do you still dress up for Halloween? Do you decorate your home? What is your favorite kind of Halloween candy? Please leave a comment and fill me in.
Warm regards,
Melody
p.s. Here’s a link to a Pumpkin Bars recipe from last October, in case you missed it the first time!
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Also posted in holidays, inner child, life in general, photography
Tagged fall, Halloween, pumpkin, pumpkin patch
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Haiku: A Floral Lesson
Life will have some thorns.
Must keep growing towards the light,
and share one’s beauty…
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Do you have any life lessons or words of wisdom you’d like to share? I always love hearing from you, dear readers, and I welcome you to comment…
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in haiku, inspiration, life in general, poetry
Tagged floral, words of wisdom
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From the Archives: some blogtastic posts you may have missed the first time around…
I’ve been a very busy girl! I’ve published over 135 posts in the last year, and since you may have missed a few – especially if you’re a newer reader - I thought I’d mention the ARCHIVES feature that resides along the right side of this page – just below RECENT POSTS. Simply select a month and go! You may start at the very beginning (August 2010) and read forward, or just skip around.
In addition, here’s a compilation of links, by category, to some of the more popular posts I’ve published in the last year. I hope you’ll all find something interesting (and possibly “new to you”) to enjoy!*
Photography
The Joys of iPhone Photography
Harvesting Bounty at the Farmers Market
Life in General
Letting My Inner Child Out to Play: Roller Skating
Art
Making the Most of a Travel Journal
Drawing a Blank? Prompts for Writers & Artists
Recipes
Something Sweet: Triple Chocolate Cake Recipe
Something Sweet: Blueberry-Lemon Muffins Recipe
Something Sweet: Almond Brittle Recipe
Crafts
Green Craft Project: Upcycled & Embellished Metal Cans
A Helpful Hint for My Fellow Paper Addicts: Making a Paper Swatch Ring
Paper, Glass & Wire Butterflies
Travel
A Photographic Tour: New Orleans, Louisiana
Haiku
Ethnic Markets
Little India: So Near, Yet So Far Away
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Friendly Giveaway Reminder
My blog birthday giveaway winners will be announced on August 30, 2011 so please enter today. You could win a $15 iTunes gift card, a pack of my handmade photo notecards, or a $25 Visa gift card! (Giveaway details/entry HERE) I hope you join the fun…
Warm regards,
Melody
Also posted in art, art journaling, art supplies, baking, crafts, ethnic food, ethnic markets, family, giveaway, haiku, inner child, inspiration, life in general, movies, photography, poetry, recipes, restaurants, travel, vintage, writing
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A Photographic Tour: Kansas
I had the pleasure of traveling to Kansas two years ago, and really enjoyed my trip. Three Southern California friends and I converged on Lincoln, Kansas in August of 2008, and we met up with three other friends there – including a friend who actually lives in Lincoln. We were there to attend an art show that many of us had artwork in, and to see some of the local sights. Lincoln, Kansas may be a small town, but they’ve got a great art center, and an active arts community.
What a great trip! We visited, laughed endlessly, saw the sights, shopped, tromped through sunflower fields, and ate some yummy food. Oh, and attended the art show! It was a wonderful trip for me – one I’ll always look back on with fondness and a big smile. Thanks to my two friends who live in Kansas and hosted, we had lovely breakfasts – including a printed menu of what we’d be dining on each day. Many other special touches – like a surprise guest, scrumptious desserts, and handmade souvenir books – added to the “they thought of everything” glow the weekend took on.
We did a fair amount of rambling around the countryside and surrounding areas in a vehicular caravan, and did some sightseeing in Lincoln proper as well. Here are some of the photos I took – I hope you enjoy them.
Oh, and I found out well after my trip that my beloved maternal grandmother, Neva, was born in Lincoln. I was flabbergasted! Of all the places in Kansas, I ended up staying in the town she was born in?! I may share more on that in a later post, but in the meantime I’ll say that I think the six degrees of separation just shrank to about three degrees…
On our first morning of sightseeing we came across this field of “spent” sunflowers.
The blooms were dried, but the sunflowers were still beautiful.
And yep, the field was out in the middle of nowhere…
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Our next stop was the town of Hunter, where I photographed a lovely, worn building.
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This window was “compromised”, but was still beautiful to me…
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We continued on to Cawker City, and saw the World’s Largest Ball of Sisal Twine!
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They let folks add twine to the ball, so here I am – tying some on!
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While on our way back to Lincoln, we hit the motherlode – a blooming field of sunflowers!
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We jumped out of the cars and started wading into the field of flowers, armed with our cameras.
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This experience was heavenly – pure bliss – for an adventuresome photographer and nature lover like me. And how wonderful to share it with friends!
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The art show was fantastic, and the Lincoln Art Center is a jewel in Lincoln.
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My submission was a series of collages that combined autobiographical sentiments with vintage images and ephemera. You can see five of the nine collages here, in my gallery.
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Our second day of sightseeing started in Lincoln proper. I found some great bargains at the local thrift store, as well as some other goodies at one of the stores there on the main strip.
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Another town we visited was Minneapolis, Kansas.
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I found this gorgeous, rusted car in between a few buildings when I was roaming around and taking photos.
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Proof that the post of a simple street sign can be beautiful…
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After lunch and some more shopping in Concordia, we stopped at this INCREDIBLE brick mural. Look at the surface texture, and the movement of the brick. It undulates – undulates, for God’s sake!
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A detail shot of the custom mural, that was painstakingly created – brick by brick. AMAZING.
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I only had two days to sightsee in Kansas, and it wasn’t nearly enough. I know there are many things yet to see and do there. However, I’ll always be thankful for all that I did see and do on this first trip. Hopefully it won’t be my last. I hope to visit the state and town that my sweet grandmother was born in again, and soon.
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Warm regards,
Melody
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p.s. Have you entered this month’s giveaway yet?
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Also posted in art, life in general, photography, travel
Tagged art show, Cawker City, Kansas, Lincoln Art Center, Lincoln-Kansas, sunflower fields, World's Largest Ball of Sisal Twine
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Haiku: A Santa Barbara Morning
Pelican flying
glides above a glassy sea
such tranquil beauty…
I hope you’re all having a tranquil and beautiful week, dear readers.
Warm regards,
Melody
Haiku: Nature’s Lace
Sunlit gossamer
A spider’s diligent work
Delicate beauty******
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Speaking of beauty, have you entered the hand-dyed ribbon giveaway? You could be one of two winners, and you just have to leave a quick comment to be in the running! Thanks to those of you who have already entered…
Warm regards,
Melody
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Also posted in art, haiku, photography, poetry
Tagged Japanese poetry, nature photography, spider web in sunlight, spider web photo
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