Mardi Gras and Murder Mystery Dinner

This has been a jammed packed month with heart themes, mardi gras and mystery. Over a week ago I attended the local "Go Red" event for the American Heart Association. The day before the event I had the privilege of assisting the coordinator and her team in decorating the venue for an expected 350 people. They chose a Mardi Gras theme of "Krewe de Rouge", and had red mardi gras mask centerpieces, gift bags, red chair covers and other beautiful decoration. I love event planning, so this was right up my alley. Some local artists donated paintings, pottery and other hand made items for a silent auction. My "Felt With the Heart" painting was purchased by a Louisiana Senator and his wife. I was so honored that they chose my piece for their home. Another highlight of the night was meeting Jenna Bush Hager. She was the keynote speaker for the event and was just as beautiful, if not more, in person.

As soon as that event was over, I had to get busy for my own Mardi Gras themed event - a murder mystery dinner! This special dinner for eight included gumbo, muffelettas (New Orleans Style), king cake, and a Mardi Gras Ding Dong cake, something I put my own unique spin on. The ficticious setting for this party was a New Orleans Garden District mansion and included a notorious gothic author, a southern beauty queen, a Las Vegas trailer trash gold-digger, a French Quarter street musician, a bayou boy, a lawyer and last but not least, hired help in the way of the chef and the maid. My husband and I took the roles of the hired help. I love how my friends took the time to dress the parts of the characters. No one read the scripts beforehand (including myself) so we were in for hilarious surprises throughout the night as we tried to guess who the murderer was. If you have never done a murder mystery "game", you can't imagine how much fun it was. We can't wait for the next one.

Meanwhile back at the studio, I have a mardi gras dachshund custom painting in the works along with some canvases that I haven't decided what they will be yet. Want to take a peek?

I have another fun event to attend next week and hubby is already planning our spring break vacation. I told him to surprise me! I'm too tired to think about anything but I will be ready for a new adventure soon.  Thanks for stopping by. I promise I'll have more new art up soon. Have a great day!

Felt With The Heart

Today has been designated as the day that "love" is celebrated. Happy Valentine's Day to each and every one of you that is reading this. If you have come here via the Fly Tribe Blog Hop - a special welcome to you. Please, please don't forget to leave a comment so I will know you stopped by.

I want to start today's post with a beautiful quote from Helen Keller:

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.   I was inspired to incorporate this quote into a painting I created for an upcoming American Heart Association silent auction. I wanted the painting to reflect the "go red" theme, so I painted one of my favorite subject - red poppies. If you look closely, you can see the quote in between the stems, and a hint of wording at the top.     "Felt With The Heart" 24" x 30" ©Melanie Douthit   I think the painting would make a cool greeting card. What do you think?  Speaking of greeting cards, how many of you remember the cute adorable valentines we used to exchange in grade school? Here is one that brings back memories.     And here is one more little valentine images. This is a photo my hubby took a few weeks ago when he saw that his toothpaste splatter that landed in the sink made a heart.  I mean, how many times does that happen?     Thank you for stopping by today.  You can continue the Fly Tribe Blog Hop by going to this link. Have a wonderfully creative day.

It's Mardi Gras Season

It's Mardi Gras time in Louisiana! Our local Mardi Gras parade is tomorrow. I have friends that will bring their camper downtown sometime today, park it and have a spread of food there tomorrow. Mid afternoon is a Mardi Paws pet parade (can you say "aawwee") - with the parade later in the evening. It's a fun time for family and friends, and very different from what you will see in New Orleans. It's the "G" rated version of Mardi Gras. :)

Last week I created this painting for a silent auction fundraiser at a local Mardi Gras ball.

"Let the Good Times Roll!" (Laissez les bons temps rouler.)

Size: 20" x 20"

I'm planning something fun next week for Mardi Gras. I've always wanted to host a Murder Mystery Dinner, so I'm organizing a "Murder at the Mardi Gras" mystery dinner. We are all excited about this fun evening. Everyone has been assigned a character with a description about them. I'll post about it afterwards.

Next week the Creativity Tribe is having a blog hop. Be sure to check back. I'll have links posted to the main sight so you can follow all the participants. Our theme is "Love".

Happy Friday, Everyone and Laissez les bons temps rouler.!!!

Born This Way

I titled my most recent peacock painting "Born This Way". Think about it: the peacock didn't decide to be a magnificent looking bird - it was, in fact, born that way. I got to thinking - are artists born? or are they made. There is much debate on whether artistic ability is genetic or learned, and it seems that it can be both. But if it can be learned, can "all" people learn to be artists or are certain people more likely to be be "better" at being an artist than others? I'm sure that can be a long debate, too.

I decided to go back to the first known accounts of artists in the bible. Bezaleel and Aholiab.  Exodus 31:1-6

AND THE Lord said to Moses,²See, I have called by name Bezaleel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.³And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and ability, in understanding and intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,⁴To devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,⁵And in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.⁶And behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and to all who are wisehearted I have given wisdom and ability to make all that I have commanded you:

I've always understood this passage that the talent and ability was from the Spirit of God. The children of Israel had just come out of a few hundreds of years of bondage. They were slaves and forced to make bricks. I don't think there was a lot of time to learn wood carving and fashioning things from gold. Their talent had to be given to them by God, either from birth, or at a later time. So, does this mean that all talent comes from above or was that just a special occurence. What do you think?

Here is the before and after of "Born This Way"

"Born This Way" 20" x 20"

Born this was was sold to a smart collector of happy art about 30 minutes after I shared it on my facebook page. I love it when that happens.

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Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful weekend!