"I'm not dead yet" and the magical gypsy wagon faerie party….

Hello Blog land,
"I'm not dead yet"  to quote a favorite line out of Monty Python.  Life is so full, I have just been living and not blogging.  My intention is to start up again, I miss my connection with all of you (that is if you are still there).  I love that I can share so many more pictures and thoughts here than on Face Book.  I love the artistic presentation of my blog so much more than FB too!  And I am definitely all about artistic presentation!
Many events, both weddings and regular life, have happened since I last checked in.   Pretty much all good, even the challenging ones too…  Life is funny that way.  There is good in all things, even if we don't see it right away.
One of my favorite developments is…  (drum roll please)  I am so proud to say that I am now officially a regular contributor to Faerie Magazine.  I have loved that magazine since I first saw it many years ago and now I am so very honored and thrilled to truly be a part of it! Some of my favorite people are involved with it.  Carolyn Turgeon is the editor and chief.  I didn't realize that she is the same Carolyn Turgeon who has written several books that I love, two of which are Godmother and Fairest of Them All.  Kim Cross, the founder and publisher is the one I had the pleasure of working with when they published my Faerie Wedding.  She kind of launched the Faerie aspect of me…  Thank you Kim!  I also had a pleasant surprise when I discovered that the art director was none other than one of my favorite blogs from the past, Medieval Muse's own Lisa Gill.  She is a major cat lover like me so we know she must be a wonderful person!!!  Now if you also count all the contributors…  it is a whose who of the fantasy realm.  You've no idea how amazing it felt to be in the same magazine as Charles Vess and Brian and Wendy Froud!  Super heady stuff I tell ya!!!  I feel like I have found a beautiful home and I am so happy!    The faeries have indeed been good to me.  Through their love and guidance my artistic creative life has been so rewarding and full!
One of the most fun things I have done lately is finally tackle the old Gypsy Wagon I've had for ages.

 I received it in a trade somewhere around 8 years ago but the work required to bring it up to scratch was more than I could deal with, that is until a couple of months ago.  My sweetie Vince and I decided to tackle it so I could have a lovely place to call my own.  He had his man cave but I didn't have my own sacred space.  He has not only the carpentry skills to pull it off but an artist's soul AND eye.  I am a very lucky lady!  Now I have this amazing retreat place that is both nurturing and inspiring.  It is truly my sacred space and here I sit in my beautiful wagon writing this post right now.  You will see it as part of an article I wrote for Faerie Magazine on Children's imaginative parties.  Vince and I had a blast hosting a Faerie-Gypsy costume tea party with four young girls at the wagon.  Vince shot it and now you will get to see the results in the magazine in Autumn.  I believe it comes out in September.  I have posted a few shots that I know didn't make it in the magazine so I won't be giving too much away.  It was an explosion of COLOR and oh so much fun!!!!!!
Here are a few eye candy pictures to feed your imagination and heart…

Notice what she is reading?…  major, gratuitous plug!

The lovely ladies… top to bottom…

Kyla

Lokelani, Sage, Alexandra

All dressed in their finery…

Kyla's mom is an amazing clothing and hat designer.  The hats the girls are wearing as well as the purple hat below and the flower in Sage's hair are from her.   Her beautiful creations are called Garden of Gaia and she can be found in a few boutiques in Santa Barbara.  

Here is the inside looking towards the back…  That bench seat I practically live on!

Looking towards the front on the right…

Looking towards to front on the left…

Details…

Here are a couple of before shots so you can see how far we came!

I can tell you that I ADORE this wagon!  It is my haven and precious sacred space!  I am so very grateful!

I have also been painting a lot lately.  Vince very kindly, yet still mortifying to me, talked to an art dealer about showing my work and much to my surprise, he said absolutely they were gallery material.  He had several suggestions about how to find the right gallery and location so we are slowly 

pursuing that.

I am quite stunned to think that I might actually be able to sell my work for what is a considerable sum of money!  To actually be able to be a professional painter just boggles my mind!!!

Here are some pieces I am working on…

Many of these are quite large…  up to 4' high and 3' wide.  

Many of these are based on some of Vince's photography.  He is an amazing wildlife photographer who then takes his shots and manipulates the colors in Photoshop.  The first time I saw one of his pics I knew I had to paint it.  Look what he has started!!!

The following ones are based on his photos…

Many of these are not quite finished yet.  I LOVE painting these…  I get lost and hours go by.  It really is a meditation for me!  

  Though I think I need to push my boundaries a bit and try a little more color, they seem a little flat : )  

There is so much to report…  almost a years worth of activity!  Wow!  Has it really been that long!  Life moves way too fast!  But, I am having fun, and that is what it is all about for me!

I will try to post more regularly now.  Tomorrow, Faerie Magazine's online newsletter is posting a ridiculously flattering piece on me and the articles I've written.  I am kind of blushing at the moment with a huge grin on my face!  I will post a link here as soon as it is posted.  

Golly…  soooo much goodness.

I hope you are all well and thriving!

Be back soon, I promise!

Like,  real faerie promises…

Enchanted Faerie Blessing to you!

Tricia Saroya 

Our Hobbit hole, garden and Faerie work space...

First I want to mention that I loaded a bunch of new beautiful goodies in my etsy shop.  It has been dormant for too long now.  Not any more!  It is simply bursting with fabulous finds.  From Indian Jewelry...

To art work...

to jewelry...

and of course.....   faerie finery.

 come by and take a look!  Here is a link and you can also click on the for sale items on the 

right side bar.  Happy shopping!

Now onto other things...

I mentioned in the last post that I would share some pictures of our home, garden and workspace soooooo....  LOADS of pictures to follow!

You've have been warned!

Lets start with our home.

This is the outside leading up to the front door.

When you walk in the front door here is what you see. Living room on the left and the kitchen on the right.  That's the office tucked in the left corner.

This is the kitchen, taken with my back to the couch.

The house is tiny!  Minuscule as in Faerie and Hobbit size.  Go figure...  I was all by myself in my other house, 3 bedrooms,  2 baths, huge kitchen and then I move into this adorable little doll house and gain a big bear of a man within 3 weeks!   Ya just never know!

The kitchen island complete with a map of Middle Earth on it.  Ever square inch of surface space in our home is covered with our art and favorite belongings.  I am threatening to hang things from the ceiling before too long!

This is a cabinet above the TINY refrigerator that contains our tea things.  We drink tons of that special brew being good Hobbits.   And of course tea is to be expected when your heart belongs to both the Shire and England...  Ireland and Scotland for that matter too.  I expect if I ever make it to New Zealand and Australia I will have to make room in my heart for those beautiful places and people too!  Anyway we have lots of tea!!!

The spice rack.

Looking back towards the living room with my back to the kitchen.  The office is to the right.  Don't you like the way I refer to the areas as if they were rooms in a big house?  It is really one big room but we manage to split it into areas.  We really love our home, in spite of it being small.  We have everything we need and a lovely outdoor space where we spend a great deal of our time.

The book cases behind the couch.  Vince and I love Native American culture and art and between us we have quite a collection.  

More of the book cases...  We also have rather a library size supply of books.  The Native American section is a bit overwhelming!  Not having cable means we don't watch TV.  We have a television that we enjoy rented movies on but other than that we don't sit in front of the tele.  It is wonderful to spend a quiet evening reading and talking, or sitting on the porch.  I haven't had TV in close to 20 years now and I don't miss it at all!  

The "office"

You can see Cleo through the window.  That goes into a screened in side porch that we use as storage for us and my business.  She has a shelf out there that she loves to sleep on.

The books and our nicknack's...  I mean beautiful art collection! 

The front of the armoire.

The top of the armoire.

More goodies...

My altar.

more details...

An Afghanistan wedding dress. 

The bathroom.

I adore vintage clothes.  I have several hanging in the bathroom.

Now lets head out into the garden...

We planted bushels of bushes, flowers and herbs and as we watered beautiful surprises came out of the ground!  Someone long before us had been an herbalist and much of what they had planted still remained.  It was just lying dormant until someone came along that cared.  What magic in the garden we discovered!!!

There is Passion Flower vine growing all over like weeds!  That's it in front of the 

bird (I mean squirrel) house.

There are pathways that lead all over.  Between what we planted and what popped up we have a veritable Apothecary shop!  There is sage (many types), rosemary, thyme, marjoram, basil, tarragon, oregano, lavender, yerba santa, echinacea, mint, jasmine, sweet peas, yerba mansa, mugwart, and a whole host of other beauties!!! 

Lots of gorgeous roses!

some visitors... 

We created a medicine circle with a fire pit where we host men's and co-ed groups.  Sitting under the stars at night with the fire going talking and supporting each other feels as old as time!

Here is our side porch where we spend most of our time.  It is lovely out here is Santa Barbara, never too hot or cold (usually)!  That is a vegetable planter box we put on the railing.  It has all our lettuce in it and for the most part keeps the bunnies out so we can actually harvest a salad for us.

Here is the view out the front door looking into our compound.  

That is our workspace in the middle and my prop house on the right.

We had some high winds which tore up the roof a bit.  I haven't fixed it yet so forgive me...

Going in the door of the workspace...

aaaannnnddd.... what else would you expect to find but...  faerie costumes!!!

When I am not in the middle of flower preparations for a wedding it is set up for our art.

Between us we paint, make jewelry, leather craft, drums, rattles, shields, and a myriad of other goodies!

Jewelry I'm working on.

Ribbons a plenty!

And tassels...

Some of my paintings in progress.

some of Vince's Mandela paintings.

His jewelry work area.

A new set of earrings he just finished for a special order.

More bits and bobs...

Wings everywhere!

And faerie shoes.

Well...  I think that is more than enough to be going on with!!!!!!

I didn't post pictures of our bedroom because it is a HUGE mess right now. Think walk in closet with a bed... seriously!  I will post that later, I think we both need a break.

I hope you are like me and enjoy looking into peoples homes.  Especially collectors (pack rats) and artists (great with a glue gun!)!

If not I expect you dropped off long ago!

I have lots of event pictures to post next time.

For now...

Blessings to you!

Tricia