A long time ago a family friend/mentor of ours told Josh and I that everyone has an order to their life and they get to choose what is at the top, second from the top, and so on.
We choose family and continue to do so (as if you couldn't tell from all the kid photos on this site!) But - that doesn't mean we can't do all the other things too - it just might take us a bit longer. HA
Maybe it's because we still have 3 little boys at home or maybe it's because we still feel like kids ourselves.
But either way we don't take life too seriously - it's TOO SHORT. We are finding out what makes us happy and doing more of that.
Memories have the ability to transport us to places we have been and to people we have been with. Which is a lovely thing.
We have to cherish what we have going on in our lives and we can CHOOSE to be joyful, happy, content, grateful or whatever it is we want to feel.
(And trust me - after going through 2 fires in less than a year - I choose to be happy because I don't want to feel what happens when we just feel without a decided choice)
Local blooms are swoon-worthy. Most ALL of them.
They have completely knocked our socks off - be careful - they may knock your off too!
(Maybe it's just that we don't like to wear shoes or socks around here. We like to get our feet and hands dirty and feel the soil between our toes.)
We all NEED connection, and flowers are a great way to be connected.
We connect with the sun, rain, soil and nature when we grow them. When we share them we connect with people.
When we remember them we connect with our MEMORIES and the memories we have with our moms, grandmas, aunts, dads - whoever it is for you.
When I think of my dad and flowers I remember my childhood Yellow Lab, Bogey and one time when my dad was weeding some yellow lillies my mom brought my dad a pina colada and placed it on the ground by him.
Before Dad had a chance to even drink it, Bogey bounced right over to it and tipped it over and lapped up as much of it as he could before we stopped him.
We LOVE sharing the flower love and showing those we love - love through flowers.
We NEED to feel inspired and awed - and art does this.
We also think art should be approachable and FULL of meaning.
It doesn't need to be a big complicated piece from history.
It can be, of course, but it is for YOU and needs to lift you up just a bit whenever you look at it - which - hopefully should be often.
Josh and I have been providing high-quality canvas art packed with meaning through Steel Cow for 18 years now.
Even though the flowers are new - our dedication to making the prints ourselves is not.
We don't just work with printers - we ARE the printers - Which means I can keep an eye on the color and all the prints that come out of our studio.
I have recently learned that I am a Highly Sensitive Person - (I have always known this - I just didn't know it had a title.)
Anyway - I have been in literal tears more times than I can count because I couldn't get the colors of the print to look how I want them to. So - we tweak things until they are right.
Basically - WE CARE.
We have a combined 40 years of art experience and two art degrees (with 4 concentrations) between the two of us and have shipped tens of thousands of prints all over the country and world.
Which means you can TRUST knowing when you order from us you will get what you expect (and hopefully more!)
Time is a funny thing and most of us have preconceived notions about what we should or shouldn't be doing at various stages of our lives.
Sometimes, I honestly think we knew MORE when we were kids.
I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately, and I have awakened so many things just by trying something NEW (growing flowers) - but I am guessing that this works with many other things you learn as well!