fear folds in, grace gives
as the sun’s center pulls in
joy like light pulls out

From the movie ‘Junebug’
“God loves you just the way you are! And he wants you to improve!”

You can support me by purchasing prints on Fine Art America or printed on products on Zazzle.

This is the outside of a Christmas card I made. The inside says, “Do you know what I want? A warm room and 100 lizards living in a Christmas tree!”
Friends would ask, “Do you have a living tree this year?”
I’d say, “Oh, YEA!”

lizzard decorations for Christmas.

Paul tells his sister, “I don’t mean to be unkind, but your ideas sometimes sting as they surprise me sideways inside my mind.”This is from book 2 of: The Dragon, Superman And The Mad Mermaid Queen.
My mind is speeding along and suddenly someone else’s thought slams it shut, rips me open, and shoves me in another direction. It’s painful when my mind is caught with one foot up in the air ready to take the next step, but instead my mind teeters without balance and falls over- plunk to the floor.
This most often happens at home in my family. I’m in shock, but I can choose to deal with the resulting BRAIN PAIN with either anger or humor.

Dance of Pained Glass

Visit Nancy’s art on Fine Art America.

This is my guess: my sister is not happy at all about getting a dress. When Mom asks if she likes her gift Anna answers, “I’m naming myself The Mad Mermaid Queen because I don’t really like dresses, but at least this one’s not pink which I would not like at all, but I was hoping for a basketball.” To make my cape fly behind me, I twirl, “Well, I wouldn’t be happy either if I got a dress on Treasure Day even if I was a girl. When I grow up I’m invent a flying car for my kids to be shrunk down and hung on a string so it’s easier to carry around, and that way it can always be found. I love my family more than I’m disappointed, plus no one else I know has a mom who invents holidays like Treasure Day, so, I’m lucky.” I say. “But, moms can’t hang from strings and definitely clothes can never ever be real treasure.

Updated version available on Amazon.

The Dragon, Superman, And The Mad Mermaid Queen: 1: The Gold Key (Volume 1)

“Let’s go to Goodwill!” John announced. I scrambled into my clothes and gleefully linked my arm in his and danced out to the car- but no car! It was stolen.
I turned around and drooped my way back to our front door to call the police (people didn’t have cell phones yet.)
John didn’t move but laughed and called out, “April Fool! I got up in the middle of the night and moved the car around the corner!”
I was a fool and glared at him but saw his intent was not to make a fool of me but to have fun. I forgave him, dropped my anger, and saw the humor.
The next year and the next and the next I fell for the same joke and each year felt progressively more stupid, but each time I forgave him and it became progressively laughable. John waited three years, and he did it again!

Almost All The Girls Are Taller Than Me All I Can See Are Breasts

I write crazy kid’s books, illustrate them, photograph the illustrations, and hire Amy, my best friend, to put all this information on the computer, so you can buy a book from Amazon.
Yesterday I watched over Amy’s shoulder as we worked on the cover of, ‘The Dragon, Superman and the Mad Mermaid Queen’. The cover needed something- I wasn’t sure what.Then Amy made a mistake, and what I saw on her computer screen solved my cover problem.
Amy laughed, “You need me to make mistakes so you can be a better artist? Thanks!”
I’ve always learned from my mistakes so why not hers too. On the flip side I don’t always notice strengths in my work so I depend on others to see what I miss.

I’d been longing to see my son for a while and set this thought aside to work outside. I had a tool with four very long, bent, and sharp fingers which I’d catch high branches with. I gently pulled the apple tree branches down so I could grab them. Next I wove the bent branches together just over my head, and in this way I could maintain my trees without a ladder.
By the time I was done I was sneezing and covered with dust, and my plan was to take off my work shoes at the back door and head for the shower, BUT I had lost my tool with its long, SHARP bent fingers. The ground was covered in tall wild flowers, and if the last time I dropped the tool- its fingers were reaching up for the sky I was in danger of finding it with my foot!
I carefully looked for maybe 20 minutes, prayed TWICE, but I could not find the tool!
Finally I gave up, and at the back door I heard the phone ring. It was my son who was at the front door and thinking my door bell didn’t work. He was in the area, so he had stopped by on his way to another appointment. If I had found my tool right away I would have been in the shower, and I would missed him completely.
The next day I easily found my tool, and I still feel full of joy having seen my son.

A small child was quietly told again the answers to the whys and the why nots by Mom, and this time she added, “Don’t do that again; if you do it again I’ll punish you.”
The child came to Mom a half an hour later saying, “Mom you need to punish me because I did it again. I can’t seem to turn around without help.”
Structure and punishment need not be an angry reaction. They can lead to learning and advancement.

Why did women wear horn headdresses throughout history in Europe and in the Slavic countries? Why were women here to wear hats and veils to certain places until the 1960s?
I searched for years and finally found a small mention of this in a very old piece of writing from Russia. A man said only women could bring LIFE. It is so powerful that people felt they needed to, ‘put a lid on it!’
I belong to the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, and I’ve seen men hesitate to enter our women’s meetings many times. When someone finally asked we were given the answer, “You are so powerful- important. I hate I to interrupt! You’re probably creating worlds or something!”
Giving life- I hadn’t thought of it as so BIG probably because in this world anything immense will be used by a few in an immensely bad way, and that’s about all we see in media today.