When Mark and I moved from the beautiful hills, forests, and caves of Southeastern Ohio to the equally beautiful hills, forests, shoreline vistas, and incredible big skies of Northern Michigan, I debated within myself as to what to do about Appalachian Morning, a blog I started soon after we moved to Athens, Ohio, in 2008. Could "Appalachian Morning" be a term that related to a way of thinking about my surroundings, wherever I might be? An attitude and perspective of looking at the world around me with an open heart and a creative mind? I thought perhaps it could be.

Now that I have lived away from SE Ohio and within Northern Michigan for five months, I see there is a difference in these specific environments and the term Appalachian Morning no longer seems to fit my relocated shoes. Also, I am examining carefully my time on earth, as I think we all do now and again, and want to lay the foundation for my fictional series on a wonderfully imaginative locale known as Pletonia. Creativity abounds in Pletonia, from the very beginnings of unusual life there, encompassing the plants and creatures I will be drawing and sharing at a related website and blog. If you'll bookmark this link, www.janicephelps.com/findingpletonia.html, you'll be kept up-to-date on Pletonia-related creative projects and events.

Thank you for four years of encouragement and support for Appalachian Morning. Knowing that my essays, photographs, and art projects posted on this blog have been viewed over 40,000 times fills me with happiness, and your comments on the blog, at OpenSalon, and on Facebook have helped me to feel a part of a large community of people who love art and crafts and writing and books and photography…people who approach life with an open heart and an inquisitive mind.

I will continue to post at Open Salon, from time to time, on subjects that interest me as well as a blog feed directly from Pletonia's forthcoming blog site. OpenSalon is a wonderful community, and I want to stay connected. Here is a link to my blog at OpenSalon: http://open.salon.com/blog/janicephelpswilliams

Below, I've listed links to popular Appalachian Morning blog posts (alphabetical by subject). I will also make some of these available in ebook format soon for folks to download and share at no cost.

Altered Book Projects and Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

Altered Books (July 2011, with links to 4 other posts on altered books)

Artist Trading Card (ATC) Sketchbook from an old board book (Feb. 2010)

Bubble Wrap Altered Book (Jan. 2009)

Altered Book Project: Part Two, A book I created on the subject of motherhood and various musings (Jan. 2009)

Altered Book from a Board Book (Aug. 2008) my love and marriage book)

Artist Trading Cards, some of my designs (Aug. 2008)

Art in Public Places and Memorial Topics

How We Remember Together: Public Memorials, Part One

Public Memorials, Part Two

Earth, Water, Sky: A song I wrote to commemorate the Japanese Tsunami, 2011

Discovering Relatives: My Genealogy Post (July 2011)

Children's Book Illustrations

2012 Books (with contributions by or illustrations by me)

Drawing with Markers or Colored Pencils

What Nothing Teaches (Jan. 2010)

Drawing in Colored Pencil (Prismacolor Brand)

Drawing with Various Brands of Permanent Markers (Sept. 2008)

Avian Art with Sharpie Markers (July 2008)

Commemorating Cancer Journeys: My drawing for the Lilly Oncology on Canvas exhibit (June 2008)

Illustrating a Children's Book; Illustrating Book Covers

The Steps to Create Illustrations for a Children's Book (August 2012, a link to a guest post)

Birth of a Book Cover and Illustration: Norah (August 2011)

Creation of a Book Cover and Illustration: My Beginning (July 2011)

Creating a Children's Book: Illustrations for "Still Her Spirit Sings" by Robert W. Kurkela (Kidzpoetz)  (March 2010)

Miscellaneous Essays

David Pike: Visiting a Friend Turns an Ordinary Day into Something Special (Feb. 2011)

Pain: A 5-part series (Jan. 2011)

Part 1, "An Introduction to the Subject of Pain"
Part 2, "My Personal Pain Story: The Pink Porcupine"
Part 3, "Creativity in the Midst of Pain"
Part 4, "What Others Have Written on Pain and Suffering"
Part 5, "Resources Related to Pain Management"

A Patchwork of Christmas Memories (Dec. 2010)

On Luck, Resolutions, and the New Year (Dec. 2010)

Things I Found Not To Be True (Nov. 2010)

I Am Crone, Hear Me Sigh (Oct. 2010)

When a Child Is Different: Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (Oct. 2010)

Me Posing as an Artist, Literally!  (Sept. 2010, Photos and text)

What Nothing Teaches (Jan. 2010)

Winter Renewal (Jan. 2010)

At Each Home a Towering Tree: A visit back to the places I grew up in, musings on my father (July 2010)

What Nothing Teaches (an example of my colored pencil drawings and musings on  remarriage) (Jan. 2010)

10 Tips for Launching Your Creative Business (Aug. 2009)

Choosing Color: What Inspires You? (June 2008)

Needle Crafts and Art Dolls

Free Patterns from Yarn Companies and More! My 2012 List

Art Dolls (which I've made, with links to more info on the subject) (May 2010)

David Rakoff and My Mod Purse (May 2010)

Discovering Needle Felting (wool roving felting) (Feb. 2010)

Your Craft Hobby Can Benefit Others (April 2009)

My Crocheted Satchel (or purse) for Kindle (April 2009)

A Crocheted Hat Project (Jan. 2009)

Outsider Art

The Art of Autism Exhibit in New York City! (Oct. 2011)

Michael Jackson Drawings by Bryce Merlin

Our Time in NYC, September 11, 2001 (Sept. 2010)

Learning about Outsider Art  (June 2009)

Photographs

Tree Photos (Aug. 2011)

The Endearing Katydid: Photographs revealing the personality of a katydid

Flowers and the Memory of Flowers (August 2011)

Emptiness as the Beginning of Everything (July 2011)

Tyler at Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills, Ohio (July 2011)

The Diana and Diana+ Cameras (June 2008)

Photographs of Harbor Springs and Petoskey, Michigan (Emmet County, Michigan) 

Harbor Springs, Michigan, Photos and Descriptions (Summer 2012)

Harbor Springs, Michigan, Photos (Spring 2012)

Harbor Springs, Michigan, Photos and Descriptions upon driving around (Spring 2012)

Photographs of New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans: 5 posts with photographs (Spring 2011)

1) Wonderful Food and Restaurants

2) The French Quarter and Street Bands

3) The Garden District

4) Shopping, Books, and Miscellaneous

5) People and Animals

Photographs of Southern Ohio

Small Towns, Farm Towns in Ohio, a Photo Essay (Dec. 2011)

Washington Courthouse and Chillicothe, Ohio: A Photo Essay (Dec. 2012)

Photographs: Travel in Central and SE Ohio, Part One (Dec. 2010)

Photographs: Travel Southern and Central Ohio: Part Two (Jan. 2011)

Publishing

For the Path to Publication, the Map Is under Development