A New Addition

We've been wanting a greenhouse for quite some time. The last one we had was used one season before we sold our home and moved. It's been 4 years since then and we are ready to start growing our own food again! 

This was made from recycled glass and cinder blocks. The wood and roofing are new materials, but hey, it's up and AMAZING!!! I love it! My husband never ceases to amaze me!!!

In this picture you see Cody trying to persuade his dad to let him spray the window with water. They were super dirty! 

arboles

arboles

Yesterday marked the beginning of a new year for me. This particular painting marks the growth of time and what lies ahead. 

Arboles

mixed media

8x10

canvas board

$45

undone

broken
NFS

I had high hopes for this painting and it just didn't go the way as planned. Needless to say, it doesn't exist any longer and that's okay. I am getting back into painting and when things don't work out, well. Let's just say I am learning how to let go and move on...

ReLeaSe

ReLeaSe

I've always been a sucker for texture. It's fun to find ways to create a three dimensional look on a flat surface. First abstract of the year!

ReLeaSe
5x10
canvas board
watercolor, acrylic
$25

HaPpY NeW yEaR 2o2o

Happy New Year my friends!! 

Oh my goodness! I can't believe it's been five years (almost to the day) since my last post! I've noticed a lot of people have been posting on social media what the last decade looked like for them and I won't go that far, but I can go back the last 5...

In January of 2015, my husband and I found out we were having a baby! Since then, we've grown from a family of 2 to 3, moved to 40 acres off grid with the view of heaven, and have been plugging along ever since. I've been on a 5 year sabbatical from creating any art. In between raising a little boy, running a business and keeping up around the homestead, I haven't made the time, but I'm determined to now! 

A few days ago I decided I wanted to get back to my creative roots and start painting again. I've missed making art so much! So here's what I decided to do...are you ready? I'm going to paint a painting a day and post it here on my blog. Every piece will be available for sale and once it has sold, it will say so. Here's the cool thing. They are all going to be super affordable! 

Today's painting is Llama. I've never painted a llama before and got the idea from a good friend of mine who loves them. For good measure, I decided to look up the symbolism for llama and this is what Google said:

As a totem, llama is a symbol of strength, perseverance, communication, confidence and often success. People born under the llama sign are people who know exactly what their goal in life is. You won't see them backing down from anything they set their minds on, and that is the only way they know.

I have found it ironic that I chose this animal to start my Painting a Day for the year. Today has been nothing short of amazing and now that I have my first painting finished, it's even better! 

It's late and I have no sun to take a good picture, so when I get a chance, I'll take a better one and upload it for you. 

Until tomorrow, have a great day or night where ever you may be! 

Peace and Love,

Stephanie 

Llama

8x10 canvas board

watercolor and ink

$50

H E L L O 2 0 1 5

love my new calendar for 2015

last month was super busy for muddypotts, therefore, i gave myself permission to not feel bad in the least about neglecting my blog. although, i did miss telling you all about every little sale i had near and far, the amazing show that we saw at crimson hilt in denver, and about my new arctic cat that my love got me for christmas! 

a new year can mean so much to so many. for me, its always meant a fresh start to being healthy, physically and spiritually, swearing off new debt, trying to lose those ten pounds that just won't disappear no matter what i do, making more meaningful art and becoming a more serious artist...well those things are always in the back of my mind, but i have so much to look forward to this year. i have no regrets of last year either. last year was one of the best years i've ever had. and this year will be no different...big changes are happening in 2015! and all i can say right now is....we're SOOO excited!!! 

hello 2015!!! so happy you're finally here!!! 

Goodbye 2014 Hello New Year

WOW! 2014 was probably one of the best years ever! So many good things happened for me and my family...I count my blessings everyday and am truly grateful for all the love and support from family and friends near and far...There are too many stories to share in one post, so here are a few pictures to recap a great year...

much needed vacation in Hawaii (march)

trip of a lifetime in Ireland (july)

Koi in H2O in Times Square (july) 

beautiful bountiful garden (summer) 

the Sangres 

our cats 

see you next year! 

UpCoMinG SHOWS

and 

Fire and Ruin 

 HELIKON GALLERY 

in February

These next couple months are going to go by super fast. I'll be showing work in the 12x12 show the first week of December in Denver as well as in Art Takes Miami with See.Me. Then in February, I'll be joining nine other amazing artists at the Helikon Gallery in the Rhino Art district in Denver. I'm super excited and look forward to showing off some new, never seen before works! 

moths + winter

siblings © samos 2014

I've been itching to paint for days now and finally had time to sit down. It's been awhile since I've posted anything new. Time is slipping away, but its all good...This has been one amazing and busy year! Seasons have changed and the snow is blowing once again.

Winter has always been one of my favorites. I love warm socks and slippers, sipping on a cup of hot green tea, listening to my favorite Pandora station...painting, drawing, glazing... Life couldn't be better.

moth ii © samos 2014

The other night I was checking out some other artists on Instagram, and found a New York artist that is just phenomenal! Anyways, she inspired me to look into moths and those native to Colorado. I found the Hera buck moth to be quite beautiful. I started out by painting the background in watercolor, drew the moth and then painted in the wings with white titanium acrylic. I then made a couple photo transfers of the same moth and strategically placed them around the first moth. And then added more texture and color. The second image is digitally altered, both are available on RedBubble. 

the beginning of a painting

Stay warm everyone! Winter is here!!! ~samos

growin' like weeds ii

grown like weeds planter

inside

drain dish

Dandylions + Lemons

dandylions and lemons 

Last week I made this print using my dandelion bowls. You can find it on RedBubble. And if you really like it, you can get it made as a pillow, tote, or cell phone case! 

                                             

You can also find the original bowls in my shop, HERE...

dandylion bowls

dandylion bowl

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are off to a great start for the week! ~ samos

Fresh from the Kiln

chocolate monsoon mug

red pod vine planter

Spotted Kaleidoscope mug

a muggy day

a drying mug

big handled mug

another drying mug

Pickles + Jam

bread and butter pickles

Pickles + Jam. 
Quite the combination, I'd say! Well, it wasn't exactly planned that way... Besides putting up fresh produce from the garden, I had an abundance of cucumbers from my last bountiful basket. So I decided to make some bread and butter pickles. That was yesterday's project. 

plum jam

And then a couple nights before, I decided to make some plum jam from all the plums I had. Boy, am I glad I did! It is y u m m y if I do say so myself! 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

Enjoy your week and I'll check in again soon. ~ samos

H O R S E LOVE

Appaloosa LoVe

I've loved horses since I was a little girl. I remember asking my parents for one for every birthday and Christmas until they finally gave in. My first horse was Gypsum, a short but stalky bay. We spent a lot of time together, that horse and I. You see, we didn't live on a ranch or a farm. Dad built a beautiful home on the outskirts of town, but we were still in the city limits. So we had to keep Gypsum somewhere else. Dad leased some pasture from Mr. Paquette that lived up the  highway. Gypsum came to us in February. Actually it was Valentine's Day if I remember correctly. Anyways, when summer came, I would sneak out of the house about 6 every morning and ride my bike about two miles to where Gypsum was. I'd catch her, groom and saddle her up and a way we'd go. My best friend lived on county road 140, so we'd head that way to see if she wanted to ride. More than not, she did and we'd ride all day...Ah, the memories...

Besides the love of horses is my love for art. I was always drawing and drawing horses was no exception. To this day, I still enjoy painting them. And lately, I've done quite a few. Here are a few of my latest works, I'm sure you've seen some of them, but I felt like sharing again. 

Qianili Ma

Painted Horse 

the Run

Running Free

Warrior Paint

Hope you all had a wonderful week and enjoy your weekend! ~ samos

transformations

transformations © samos 

the beginning of a new abstract

I've been painting abstracts since high school. I remember Mr. Farney, my art teacher, teasing me sometimes by asking what I was smoking. Of course, I wasn't smoking anything! I just like being different in what I created. And looking back, I am indebted and most grateful to my teacher for the independence he gave me in his class. I was able to explore my creativity without limits.

Today, I'm still painting abstracts. They have evolved quite a bit from my younger years, but I still enjoy painting them. 

I was reading a post earlier on the Mind, Body, Green blog by Susie Moore. She talks about unleashing your creativity and it inspired me to dig into my stash of older unfinished works and break out the paints. 

It's not unusual for me to do this. Especially when I feel like painting and don't have the right size canvas that I really need.

I also decided to do something a bit different in my approach to working this particular painting. First I took a picture of it and then started adding different filters in Photoshop. I found one I liked and started to paint. I won't make the painting look exactly like the image I manipulated, but it has given me a direction that I wouldn't have normally taken.  

in progress...

detail

Feeling Blue...

cobalt blu planter

white peacock planter

G O L D + S P L A S H

© samos 

© samos

© samos

A Book Review: The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau

If you haven't heard of Chris Guillebeau, you have now. He is a world traveler (been to 193 countries before he was 35 years old), an accomplished writer (The Art of Non-Conformity, the $100 Startup and The Happiness of Pursuit), blogger and head of the WDS(World Domination Summit). 

I am just finishing his third book, The Happiness of Pursuit which is about finding a quest that brings purpose to your life. In his book, Chris talks about his travels and delivers the stories of other adventurous people and their quests. Sasha from Tulsa cooked a meal from every country taking her a total of 195 weeks. Josh is on a quest to visit every baseball stadium in the country. And almost 30 years later, a magnificent symphony was played in Brisbane, Australia. 

This is only a glimpse of what Guillebeau has to share in his new book. If I were you, I'd grab my copy now! Chris is traveling to 40 cities promoting his book and I'm excited to see him once again at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Highlands Ranch. If you're in the area, stop by!