Arte y Pico Award!

Thank you, Phill at CityMouseCountryHouse, for giving my blog the lovely Arte y Pico Award! This is the first award my blog has been given, and it's a real pleasure to receive it from an online friend.

(Phill's blog is an every-day treat. He explores the Saranac Lake district of New York, interspersed with updates on progress to his property in a small lake village and commentary on his theatre/score-writing projects. Since I've never been to New York City or Saranac Lake, his blog is a virtual visit there.)


I was curious about Arte y Pico, so I looked up the origin of the award. Here's what I learned:



The Arte y Pico award was originated by Ana, a blogger and doll maker in Uruguay who wanted to honor the many artistic blogs she visited every day.



Like Ana, I am enriched every day by the blogs I read. So many bloggers are artists--writers, knitters, cooks, gardeners, painters, musicians, poets, textile artists and storytellers. The artistic blog community is like a quilt of vibrant, diverse patterns and colors.

In the year and a half I've been writing it, my blog has become the place I go to communicate-- with family, storytellers, writers, homesteaders, gardeners and poets. It is also where I have made good friends online--Citymouse, Earthheart, Tipper, BayouWoman and many others. I share their lives, they share mine and we are all enlivened by the exchange. In many ways, my blog is my front porch.

One of the "rules" (all five are listed below) of the award is that the nominee must give the Arte y Pico award to 5 more blogs. Here are (ta-da!) my 5 awardees:

1. The Blind Pig and the Acorn: Tipper's blog is like a trip into the mountains of North Carolina. Her paper art is original and full of her lively, positive spirit; her music is a rare type nowadays--the kind made in the kitchen by families who just enjoy playing and have passed the skill down through generations.



2. Storytelling Notes: a professional, full-time storyteller, Priscilla's blog takes us through the day of a storyteller in central Kansas. From planning, preparing and presenting, with side trips to enjoy flowers, firewood and other pleasures, Priscilla is plainspoken about the joys and sometimes the hassles of being a storyteller.



3. Ellouisestory is another reality trip withEllouise, a fascinating artist/storyteller who explores her southern roots, family history, and her textile and other artistry along with trips to places along the way, old photos, recipes and more. It's an eclectic, joyful romp through life, seeing each experience with depth, passion and keen curiosity.



4. Celtic Memory Yarns. No, I am not a knitter. But this blog is full of stories, trips to places like Greece and Norway and remote Celtic historic places. The socks she knits are gorgeous, many-patterned and imaginative. And the photography? Stunning.



5. MK Stover has a lot going on: a writing career, kids, and the renovation of an 1890 building into a coffeeshop in Grafton, WV called the Grafton 1-2-3. She has completed the manuscript of her book Vultures, that she is shopping around to publishers, and maintains another blog or two in addition to her main blog.



There are some rules that go with the award, as I said. So, should any of you award winners decide to pass on the award to another blog, here is what you should do:

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material and that contribute to the blogger community.
(this was hard--narrowing down to only 5!)


2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.


3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.


4.Please include a link to the Arte Y Pico blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.

5. Show these rules.

That's it! Thanks, again, CityMouse!