Blackbird's Nest

...Steps from Diana's studio in the main barn (see post of August 19th...) there's another talented artist at work, her daughter.

Here's Deirdre Friebely of Blackbird Design standing at the door to her studio. It's a sweet nest of colorful, castoff farm and garden accouterments that seem to cozy up with rakish charm and casual whimsy...

I loved seeing where Deirdre works. Her space is the former milking shed where her grandfather worked each day. It's got a funky vibe that palpates joy and seems to resonate with the artists' throaty chuckle.

The longer Deirdre is in my life, the more confident I am that fate, in her sweetest of moods, brought us together. I treasure Deirdre’s friendship, her constancy of spirit in our business relationship…and most of all…having her art about me to lighten the days.
And my oh my, has she hit her spunky stride in these new paintings!

Her palette sits on brown craft paper on top of the the old milk cooler.









Her studio has a nest-like feel. Here she is ensconced creating some of the best work I have seen her do…

Thanks Deirdre for all those emails, those calls and those car trips to get us to this point. And now to think…I am raiding your Mom’s barn for props for our next adventure together and if I am lucky, she just might invite me back!

We hope you can meet Deirdre at the Country Living Fair next month…and in the meantime, watch the site or email to be on her special list for updates on her work…

xxoo Jen O'Connor

Earth Angels

PS Artists contact me by the dozen each month. There is so much talent out there…and Deirdre’s work spoke to me. It was more than a year until we could meet and come to an accord.

Read about how Deirdre and I met and how she became an “Earth Angel”… http://earthangelstoys.blogspot.com/2007/08/hello-blackbird.html