waiting for the muse

Epigram Pyrex Forsake

2012-01-31T20:23:00.000-05:00

First, before you get going, I've replaced the two Sendak interviews that got removed yesterday, so scroll back to that post and watch them before Hulu discovers I've got them now! They're worth the trouble, promise.

OK, back from that? Can you stand a bit more silly stuff? Listen to this take on captcha words:

Captcha from Gabrielle de Vietri on Vimeo.

We'll see how long this lasts before it's removed but I really got a kick out of MaryBeth's FB when she posted this for me!

Today is voting day in FLorida, and when I got back from the studio today TY wanted to go get something to eat (yeaaa, no cooking!) and we'd stop to vote along the way. OK, I didn't think I could vote in a Republican election but a restaurant meal will lure me anywhere! We got to the library and were turned away because it was the wrong place, headed a few miles down the road to the elementary school they directed us to. Told TY again I didn't believe I was allowed to vote, In we went, showed our ID's, and the woman's arm SHOT up like we do when we hit the brakes roof as and a little kid is next to us in the car- you know that gesture. Well she did that and yelled, YOU CAN'T VOTE-THIS IS ONLY FOR REPUBLICANS- YOU'RE AN INDEPENDENT. You'll HAVE TO LEAVE.

Geesh, those republicans sure are secretive, I wasn't gonna steal ballots or anything. But I do want to talk about my long history of being a GDI:

First time I heard that term was back at Ole SU where I had transferred my junior year. I didn't now anybody and was sort of swept along with the other transfer students and found myself in a sorority rush, not intentional, it just seemed like what was expected of me. So I went from house to house and liked some places and found others insufferable, but learned the Greek alphabet along the way. This went on for days it seems, looking back, and there were some girls I really liked but they were all a bit too rah-rah for me as a new kid, there was another sorority who all wanted to talk about partying day and night, another one who were all quite unattractive and bookish and I knew not for me. One group of girls all dressed alike- huh? And another, when I looked them up in the yearbook all had their noses AND hair bobbed identically so the group picture looked like a Warhol print. Basically I didn't fit and it was fine with me, I really didn't care much because by then I had made a few friends in my independent dorm and they were busy plotting to secede from the university. Now THAT I could get behind! So we did. We wrote up a charter and declared ourselves independent and now we could stay out all night and not sign in and out and basically either run amuck OR run our own lives, whichever way we picked. OK, so it took some time to settle down but we did fine.

I'd see my sorority friends having to be at Sunday meetings, having to run functions, learning how to run junior leagues and young republican clubs and alumni groups, and doing their hair. I spent extra time in the dilapidated hospital building they gave us as studio space, not necessarily working, but most certainly learning things from my odd ball assortment of friends that wouldn't be taught in any Alpha Anything Pi Delta Whatever Chi. One woman, with hair all the way down her back and looking like Cher but Cher wasn't invented yet, built herself a loom hanging from overhead pipes and next thing we knew she had dragged her mattress down the street and into her space to sit cross-legged and hold forth with strange things wafting past in the air and odd boys with guitars they never seemed to really play. I learned from her that you can improvise when you need something done. I learned from her that 'the rules' aren't necessarily real, they were probably negotiable. And I learned from her to do what I wanted to do as long as a goal was in mind. She was about as GDI as a young woman could be and I found out that was where I wanted to position myself too.

Long way of saying I don't register politically as one or the other, I don't go to one church or another, I dance around the edges and make up my own mind. I like some odd people simply for their own takes on things and count them as good friends. I like to listen and ask questions only to clarify if I don't understand a point. And I like to be alone to digest all this information before I have to actually use it.

So, if I am conservative on some issues, and liberal on others it's OK- I'll find the lesser of two evils to vote for in the end.

Postscript Purposive Arousal

2012-01-30T09:24:00.001-05:00

Apparently the woman who is doing the mysterious paper sculptures and leaving them in libraries around Edinburgh has completed her series of 10. I hope this is not there real end, hope she has something else in mind to continue these amazing little tributes! We'll see, won't we? If you've missed seeing some of them, the whole can be viewed on this site, along with where they were found and more about each one. Here is a teaser of the latest sculpture, feathers that look absolutely real-

She certainly has amazing imagination and talent, and patience!

And she's got to be a bit sneaky too- good for her.

I don't as much care about her revealing herself, just want to see more!
_____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

I was looking around for some kids books and of course Maurice Sendak came to mind- always love his books because they entertained ME as well as whoever I was reading to. Anyway, the mouse was screwing with my internetz again and led me here:
PUT THE COFFEE DOWN OR SUFFER COMPUTER DAMAGE!

UPDATE, I've been busted apparently, went to go find the urls for the YouTube videos but it's ALL been removed, not just from here. You can however see snippets of the two long videos by searching for Colbert and Sendak, not the same I know but hey, you should been here yesterday! Get me on your Google Reader and follow more closely, my pets!

UPDATE on the UPDATE, I scraped the YouTube videos and now you can see both on Hulu, if you look fast! The second one started the Sendak interview at 4:54. You're welcome.

Acutely Gilded Wayzgoose

2012-01-29T09:37:00.002-05:00

Joel Cooper does amazing origami masks, as well as other things. Go look around, you'll be amazed.

**************

And, since I am talking about artists again, here's my current favorite, Hazel, back with another horse portrait, this time from straight on. Remember she is looking up at his face and it takes that perspective:

The hell with MassArt, I'm pushing RISD, early admission.

Canberra Adposition Detente

2012-01-29T09:31:00.002-05:00

I almost hate to do this to you but NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH! Yesterday morning my pal Laurie took me by the hand away from the computer problems and led me to the Farmers Market down in West Palm. I wasn't keen on the idea because the last time I was there several years ago they had three hard tomatoes and two soft cukes and it was a wasted trip. But boy, was I surprised! There was a whole tent of just heirloom tomatoes- I picked three big ones and the lady threw in two more after they were weighed, then directed me to a couple of bushel baskets where even more smaller ones were waiting for me- FREE, as many as I wanted. So I had the job of carrying around a whole sack of these beauties for the rest of the day, such a burden. Truly I have long bitched about the icky produce down here on the peninsula- everything good gets packed into trucks and whisked away northward and I haven't had a good tomato since 1992. This just proves THEY ARE HERE. I just have to go pursue 'em.

The Farmers Market was the best one I have ever been to- many tents of fresh beautiful produce, other tents of prepared foods to eat there or take away, interesting things like the spice lady with probably 100 metal bowls of spice blends and teas, the French cheese booth, the olive oil tent, the bread tent, the cookie lady, the fish tent, a tent of large Jamaican ladies with caldrons of oil making conch fritters- a picture I wish I'd taken! Also a Turkish guy in his tent where they were grilling lamb sausage sandwiches- I couldn't go by this one and ended up sitting on the curb to snarf it down. But there's more! Lots more, certainly more than one could carry, and absolutely more than one had enough cash for. And I didn't even get through the flower tents- amazing succulents and a whole tent of air plants, then the orchids... OMG, the orchids... Next Saturday morning I am taking a friggin' WAGON and heading back down.

Meanwhile I roasted up some of the bounty before heading off to dinner last night:

Laurie left me at the Maul to race in and grab my fixed computer, hauled it out through Bloomingdales and went home asap to save my veggies. I then hit the studio with the computer and started the process of setting it up. I plugged in my backup drive and low and behold at some point in October it had been plugged in and had grabbed all my stuff up to that point so I'm looking at recreating only a few months of stuff, not two years like I thought I had lost.

Oh, Happy Day!

And, now with photo streaming with iCloud, this will not be a problem again. Double back-up. And in the process I found the funniest photo. Yesterday was Elias' second birthday and the last time we saw him was at Christmas in our house up north. After dinner he was moving around getting into everything 2' off the floor and at some point, unnoticed, he gathered all the napkin rings off the table and collected them for me in the dog's dish. He topped it with the stick from TY's collection of singing bowls. I didn't notice until the next day and laughed every time I walked by- I left it there because the dog was back in FL and it was so cute. Here:

(Yeah, the dog has a placemat, want to make something of it?)

Electro Desolate Anthony

2012-01-28T08:06:00.001-05:00

And that's how I really feel. Most of my typos can be traced to auto-correct. And that's my story.

My good news is that sometime overnight the Apple store emailed me that my computer is ready for pick-up- that's ONE DAY, when they had promised maybe by Wednesday. So that's the good news. I'm trying to pretend that it's also good news that I get to start from scratch stuff it with junk too, but I am hard to convince. As soon as I get it plugged into the wall I am also plugging in my back-up drive and LEAVING it on.

And that's my rant to all of you- BACK UP NOW.

Beaumont Reciprocate

2012-01-27T10:58:00.001-05:00

The Sketchbook Project is in it's envelope today- It's a story about how
Ginny Saved My Life in 1952, starting with the 'before' picture of me:

and ending with the polished sophisticated me of 1953:

all because she taught me to sew. OK, so it's far-fetched, but I remember my childhood sitting in my room and making improvised clothes for Ginny because my mom wouldn't buy the full sets that were available. First I took apart one of the real outfits and discovered it was pretty simple, a square with a hole in the center made a top, and a rectangle gathered along one edge was a skirt. We are talking 1952 here, remember, and girls wore skirts. And also remember that my mom made all our clothes so it was the norm for me- I thought ALL clothes got made at home. I spent several years building up Ginny's wardrobe before I started working bigger on my own things, so this book is about how Ginny gave me the power to do that, the skill to sew, and the imagination to try new things. Funny how here we are 60 years later and I am still sewing happily, still unencumbered by how things *should* be done, and a willing experimenter to get what I'm after!

My mother used to say, 'Leopards Don't Change Their Spots', but I always knew that if they tried hard enough they just might be able to and in the meantime I'll just knit them a little sweater. With stripes.. .

Injure Lavabo

2012-01-26T08:37:00.002-05:00

LRemember my spider bite? It finally healed and disappeared from my finger and I forgot about it. Then weeks later it Reappeared and the bite itself became visible again, formed a lump, then a blister bigger than the first time around. It got ugly, finally healed up again and now is an actual scar about a quarter inch across- the bite itself was the side of a pin head. Except for the fact that this is ON ME, I'm finding the evolution quite fascinating.

Golden Spiders

More spiders, but these guys are productive ones!

Either scripts and active content are not permitted to run or Adobe Flash Player version10.0.0 or greater is not installed.

Here's a close-up of the cloth they wove from the spider silk

More info HERE. And that's a wrap with the spiders!

Flirtatious Asinine

2012-01-26T06:55:00.001-05:00

The Horror today- 'Leave Everyone Else Alone!'

You may get angry with someone you normally like, but expressing your emotions in a forthright manner is tricky today. You're tempted to find a scapegoat who doesn't really deserve your wrath. Don't inadvertently take your feelings out on the wrong person; this unconscious behavior could sour a sweet situation. Instead, seek ways to vent your negativity without pushing anyone's buttons. Try reducing your stress by engaging in vigorous physical exercise and leaving everyone else alone.

Guess my day will be spent in isolation with duct tape over my mouth in case Mitt calls again- he's making annoyance calls to our phone on a regular basis these days and I am getting all sorts of stuff from the NRA in the mail. Next thing you know I'll be sent a tea party baseball cap... But as usual I digress.

Yesterday I finished my book for the 2012 Sketchbood Project and I took my photos since once I mail it, it's gone forever to the Brooklyn Art Library. The thing is I really didn't devote myself to this one, but I really like the premise and think ti calls for an upgrade to keep for myself- I'll take some time and really do it right- it's about how GINNY saved my life in 1952, gave me something to do, taught me skills, and showed me my lifelong path- all with sewing. First I have to go buy a new set of inks for my crappo printer... Lots of printing involved here of stolen materials! I really should simply get the printer I really want and stop futzing around with this one, a mistake from the get-go- it's OK, perfect for printing letters and stuff on paper not to keep, but I need something archival in the studio. ANYway I'll load a couple of my pages here to show ya before I mail it out to the nether lands (as opposed to Netherland).

HOLD THE PRESSESSSSS: there will be no new printer in this squeakies life. My hard drive took to the woods. I was downloading my images of the new book and it just went poof. Never mind I now have to re-take all 30 pictures, and probably lost everything else in the computer anyway. Spent one day unplugging it and carrying it to a local repair Mac guy who called and gave me the bad news. Spent yesterday hauling it back home, will spend today hauling it to the 'maul' amidst all their special sales to the Apple store to see if there is ANYthing that is recoverable. And perhaps taking the new pictures again and downloading them into the laptop to post a few. Two years of work, everything I did at the studio,

gone.

And I KNOW, I KNOW, I have a backup external drive but kept unplugging it to access the ports for other things and forgetting to plug it back in. My fault, entirely. But that only makes is suck a bit more when there's nobody else to blame.

So, today, instead of Ginny, you get Hazel's Field Guide. These are from my uber-talented 3+ granddaughter. She is excited about coming to Florida and is obsessed with flamingos:

And sees and cares for horses daily at her farm pre-school:

As an old art teacher I *think* I can be objective but aren't these amazing drawings for such a young kid? (You don't have to answer, I just like to brag a bit when I get a chance.) I wonder if MassArt has a legacy program...

Acquit Gigabit

2012-01-23T20:26:00.000-05:00

Down the street from me, tonights sunset. And people ask what I'm doing down here...

David Waller's installation of 2500 tiny toy cars.

If you don't know how it feels to be OLD, MIT has invented a suit to simulate being 75. Don't think it will be a big seller because it only works if you're under 75, not if you're over 75 and long to feel 75 again!

Spent yesterday afternoon at the huge convention center slogging through crowds of people ogling at some very interesting contemporary art. I was with two perfect companions, we all liked looking at different things and we all learned from each other. There were several things I remembered from last year and it was good to revisit. Some of the gallery owners were quite outgoing and loved talking about their works, others were sullen and angry. The overall feeling though was that we were underage visitors to a grown-up show, and the art they were presenting, with much hype, was perhaps from the 'B' list of good artists. I saw little of cutting edge, when I did it seemed to be a Chinese artist with a western viewpoint. Kind of previous regurgitation or interpretation. This was Ahrt, the kind WITH the 'h'. Frankly I am much more looking forward to the Fine Craft Fair here in a few weeks. At least the work there doesn't start at about $25,000!

Dean Djakarta

2012-01-21T15:56:00.000-05:00

It's not that you set your goals too high, it's that you set your goals too low and achieve them. Michelangelo

I've been fishing the internets and found some amazing very large scale photographs that I was taken with for their atmospheric feelings- I was wondering how he could capture such compelling landscapes. Aren't you?

Then I found how he does it! These are carefully lit and photographed set-ups inside a 200 gallon fish tank! The artist is Kim Keever and there are more on his site. He adds pigments for the dispersion, he changes lights and sets up his scenes under the water! Whatever works, and in this case it does quite well!

A Little Retail Therapy to treat myself after a long dry spell. New Choos: Found some cool new shoes, SO not me, that have a double strap that can be moved around on the shoe:

The strap can be doubled around through a loop on the sole and buckled on the side, or it can be crossed over the instep and buckled behind the ankle, or it can be crossed in back and brought around as an ankle strap buckled in the front. Or it can be completely removed and wrapped around your wrist. These have a pewter strap but it's also available in a luggage tan which would be more versatile for work...if one actually had a job where one wore heels! Super comfortable. i am wearing them 'double strapped' to a magic show tonight, don't ask...

Study of Fallen

2012-01-21T00:57:00.000-05:00

All That Glitters: The History of Shiny Things from Etsy on Vimeo.

A Martha Stewart GLITTER bones project for whenever you want sparkly bones: Martha, or more possible her stable of elves, outdid themself on this! Now to find some bones...

Glittered starfish-

Glittered acorn and squirrel hairpins-

Glitter nails-

Which led me to NEWSPAPER nails-

And the tutorial on how to do them!

The thing is, I wouldn't ant reversed newsprint, I'd want to read them so I am thinking maybe I could use the laser printer and ...and... and...
I'll let you know what I discover!

______________________________I'm serious now, No more silly glitter____________________

A Brazilian artist, Henrique Oliverira, builds giant armatures that seemingly force through walls and floors of gallery installations. These are then covered with stripped wood he finds throughout his city. Check his website for more amazing work, and see his other section of his paintings also.

Chap Gideon Masterful

2012-01-20T08:31:00.001-05:00

Geometric Half-Bound Fore-Edge

2012-01-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Big Old Yellow Thing (working title)

(with apologies to those of you who have not liked me calling it that)

Four Turkeys (actual title) aprox. 64" x 64"

Finally got all the chatzkes sewn down enough so I could stick it on the wall and see a border just pinned in place. Much left to do but we're on the way and it's OFF my table. Next step is to get it OFF my mind! I'm very excited to see the end to any of my projects, but this one has been a long one.

Flirtatious Asinine

2012-01-18T08:53:00.001-05:00

Oh Boy and Oh Joy:

Oh Boy! Today I discovered Jessica Wohl who works with threads and photographs and collage and also installations making 'the invisible visaible'. I was initially blown away by her stitching on found photographs like this:

Title: 'White Family'

But she tackles other subjects equally well- go visit her site because it's large and amazing.

Look carefully for the car that is embroidered in the left foreground.

But then....

There is her installation work too- here a river of hair running down a stairway in an abandoned hotel.

Oh Joy! Joined a book club today- we're in the process of organizing it. Going to keep it small, take turns hosting, and we are open to suggestions for 'thought provoking' books. And ideas to add to our pot?

Textural Demotic Dingbat

2012-01-17T10:04:00.004-05:00

Got some good ones today, pals! First off, go visit these amazing 'taxidermied' animals by Zoe Williams. Please, go poke around because the deeper you go the better!

Yes, they are felted wool! Unbelievable detail, and some (ummmm) 'odd' subjects!

If you've spent too long at her site, tha'ts OK because all I have for the rest of this post is from an ad from FredFlare. I started looking around here for a couple of presents I have that are overdue and decided instead to post some of the weirder choices in the collection. Go get your credit card so you'll be ready- some of these things are in short supply!

A novel writing kit, just in case you don't know where to start.

A wienie link dog leash, hopefully smells like plastic, not hotdogs or you aren't walking anywhere.

An inflatable turkey, for the vegans at the table who are also traditionalists.

Day of the Dead gingerbread cookies- a lesson that every little fat gingerbread man has a skinny guy inside, or whatever lesson you want to believe.

Below, but Blogger won't let me format the way I want to: chewed gum magnets- stick 'em up anywhere you want to leave a message. Contains no DNA in case you worry about such things.

Says it all.

A CAT-LADY action figure, perfect for a few folks I know with litter stuck in their shoes.

Squirrel Underpants, I guess so they don't poop sunflower hulls on the lawn.

I used to love Nancy Drew, but it requires some translation now- things have changed a bit since Nancy got her roadster!

That's tea, not what you're thinking.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have meatier stuff but I've been devoting myself to getting this Largish Yellow Thing together so I can hoist it onto the design wall. Yesterday I broke THREE needles on the machine trying to sew through my fabulous rusted fabric. It simply wouldn't work so I had to get my pliers out and sew the rusty strips down by hand pulling each stitch with the pliers- tedious. Today the plan is that I do the mirror image on the opposite side, same pliers drill. My hands hurt. But, as soon as it's up and I can step back I get to take pictures, reverse them, change them to B&W, and assess what else needs to be done. Hopefully not a lot because I am getting way tired of it now.

Mechanically Festooned Scribe

2012-01-16T16:35:00.000-05:00

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority

has made the world better. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nicole Dextras has done a set of ice sculptures based on typography. This is from her statement:

The Ice Typography series consists of three-dimensional words fabricated in ice placed outdoors that speak to how the viewer’s gaze frames and informs the landscape. The installations have varied from 8-foot high ice letters on the Yukon River to 18-inch high letters set in downtown Toronto. When the ice texts are installed on site, the temperature determines how long it will take for them to change state from solid to liquid. This phase of transition becomes symbolic of the interconnectedness of language and culture to the land as they are affected by time and by a constant shifting and transforming nature.

Lots more on her website, linked above, and I had previously linked to her dresses encased in ice and that certainly warrants a re-visit. I LOVE this work, makes me want to go hmmmmmm...

Huge Careen

2012-01-15T11:01:00.000-05:00

And a few more baby bunnies, how can I resist?

____________________________________________________________________
Here's that 'new subject' line again

This December, in a surprisingly simple yet ridiculously amazing installation for theQueensland Gallery of Modern Ar, artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a large domestic environment, painting every wall, chair, table, piano, and household decoration a brilliant white, effectively serving as a giant white canvas. Over the course of two weeks, the museum’s smallest visitors were given thousands upon thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to collaborate in the transformation of the space, turning the house into a vibrantly mottled explosion of color. How great is this?

First step. bright white paint on everything.

Next step- give out thousands of round stickers for kids to go at it.

No surface goes unattended!

Until THIS happens! How simple, how wonderful! Notice how it's so thick at 'kid height'?

Ahmedabad Mailbox

2012-01-13T09:17:00.001-05:00

And I'm not.

Today I'm gone talk about ruining things for odd reasons.

Wish I had this much money that I could cut it up and sweep up my bugs with it! Note the 'process' part- how it has all been mounted in the broom in order so the whole image is also a dollar bill. Everytime you want a candy bar from the vending machine you can pluck a few strands.

And, as compelling as this work might be,. as labor intensive, as detail oriented, there is a burning question in the forefront of my squishy brain; why?
You just know that everybody who passes this will immediately pick it up and screw up the perfect lineup. Maybe that's good because it will hit the recycle center sooner with all it's pages bent and curled. I dunno. What do you think about these things? Maybe my thrifty background is hanging on too long- thanks to Geneva again, farm girl of the depression. Since I am talking about her so much lately I'll share a picture:

And with that I am headed in to get dressed and go sew old yellow stuff to... yup, MORE old yellow stuff! Seems that the studio internet is kaflouie and unfixable by moi too, so that's a good thing and I won't be distracted! Maybe.

Decorative Fat-faced Errata

2012-01-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

Horrors:

You may not be comfortable with your role as an action hero today as fiery Mars runs into a complex web of aspects. You might feel as if you're ready to boil over, yet the fire isn't quite hot enough to do the trick. Cooling your jets until everything is in order may not be an option because the window of opportunity won't stay open for very long. Even if you don't have a detailed plan in place, just grab the chance while you can and apply your energy to creating your future.

Pithy Poetry:

A POEM BY CHARLES BUKOWSKI:

working out

Van Gogh cut off his ear
gave it to a
prostitute
who flung it away in
extreme
disgust.

Van, whores don't want
ears
they want
money.

I guess that's why you were
such a great
painter: you
didn't understand
much else.

And a peek at the newest encaustic, still in progress and badly in need of it's next layers:

Since I took this I rearranged the panels in different order. In case you can't tell, it's about horizons. And I also need to fix my camera that is doing kind of a fish-eye thing. Why isn't anything easy? Where is the darn manual? Why am I asking Blogger?

I've been changing things around and taking down old stuff and moving things to better spaces the last few days- JUST IN CASE a guy with a fat checkbook comes along. Fat checkbook, fat chances. This is the garage door front of the studio where I do machine sewing and kill bugs that get in under the door.

And by the front door I re-hung the rusty chain encaustic series, not in the same order I had sweated over last time I hung it, and which I liked a whole lot better than this but at least it's up again. I have a whole lot more 'redecorating' to do but the reason Ive even started it is because I am procrastinating on the big yellow piece. Which I am disliking more with every stitch because everything I do leads to showing me how much MORE I need to do before I can even pick it up vertically! Rats.

And finally the loyal studio dog who got into this chair she hates with a bribe of dog cookies. When she found out I was lying, she left. Funny, so many have left when they found out Iw as lying... not just dogs either. She too needs a haircut, that rakish cowlick over her left eye allows her to bump into things. So sad, but at least you got some pictures this time! Un-retouched, stop complaining!

My little piece of good news is I finally found a competent haircutter in Florida so my haircut prices are going down by $500 each since JetBlue is no longer involved in the process. And that completes my move to Florida full time. Now all I have to do is convince TY that 'we're in a better place...'.

Adversary Cowlick

2012-01-10T09:13:00.001-05:00

I need this neon sign in my kitchen!

_____________________________________________________________________________

And an unfortunate segue here, because I am going to talk about Helen Frankenthaler who died at the end of December at the age of 83. Back when I was in college she was one of the very few woman painters whose name was immediately recognized with the 'big guys' of abstract expressionism, and she had earned her reputation in just a few short years of painting. She had developed a method unseen before of 'staining' her unprimed canvasses with diluted paints. In the early 50's she added turpentine to oil paints but soon turned to the 'new' acrylics that had just been developed for the clear bright colors and ease of use.

Early 50's photo of Frankenthaler at work pouring thinned paint on a canvas.

Like Pollock, she preferred to work on the floor.

This immediately made the viewer a part of the painting, one would simply be pulled right in because of the translucency and brushwork. She was aligned with the Abstract Expressionists of the early 1950's and was influenced by Color Field artists like deKooning, Krasner, Pollock, and Kline. Her work in turn influenced Kenneth Noland and Morris Louis

Small's Paradise, 1967

Morris Louis stated that Frankenthaler was a "bridge between Pollock and what was possible."

The Smithsonian has a collection of 16 of her works online here including early works with oils, and a later switch to acrylics and lithography. In her later years she also worked with sculpture

"Every so often every artist feels, 'I'll never paint again. The muse has gone out the window.' In 1985, I hardly painted at all for three months, and it was agonizing. I looked at reproductions. I stared at Matisse. I stared at the Old Masters. I stared at the Quattrocento. And I thought to myself - Don't push it! If you try too hard to get at something, you almost push it away." Helen Frankenthaler 1928-2011

Monstrous Cameron

2012-01-08T12:05:00.001-05:00

Horrors du jour:

You think you know what you want today, but the circumstances keep changing. Just as you become comfortable with one perspective, everything shifts and you need to readjust your expectations. Your willingness to be flexible could prevent a serious headache. Pay constant attention to the interpersonal dynamics and respond with your heart, not your head. Too much thinking now can get in the way of your best interests.

Too much THINKING? ME??? I doubt it. But I did reach a conclusion last night and I am gonna go with it, just not yet- gonna give it some marination time before it goes in the compost pile. But in all projects, they reach a point of no return and I have. Just know this one isn't gonna ever go anywhere so better get on with things that don't continue down this dead end.

Over on Terry Grant's blog, And Sew It Goes, she talks about taking on a word of the year, rather than making resolutions. I like this idea and will adopt it for myself. I have been rolling this around in my head and keep going back to IMAGINE, as in 'imagination' and 'visualization'. Need to make a totem to hang on my door handle to touch every time I walk into and out of the studio. I've kept away from this sort of thing because I am SO tired of the collage-y 'dream', 'love', 'laugh' thing

(ugh)

we currently see everywhere- once it's on rubber stamps, it's like the cupcake, ladies... passé.

I don't want this to be a cupcake-thought, full of sugar, no substance.

imagine |iˈmajən|
verb [ with obj. ]1 form a mental image or concept of: imagine a road trip from Philadelphia toChicago | [ with clause ] : I couldn't imagine what she expected to tell them.• (often as adj. imagined) believe something to exist or be so: they suffered from ill health, real or imagined, throughout their lives.2 [ with clause ] suppose or assume: after Ned died, everyone imagined that Mabel would move away.• [ as exclamation ] just suppose: imagine! to outwit Heydrich!

It's taken me a week to get there but I'm on my way. I'm IMAGINING the fabric hanging on the floor handle already, just have to make it later this afternoon.
Right now I'm watching 'Black Robe' about the Jesuit missionaries in Canada in the 1600's converting the Huron Indians. Should be over soon. A bit too realistic with all the trekking through the north woods in the snow. been there, done that in the 1950's when we had better equipment and was miserable! Always cold, always wet. These folks trek along in long skins meeting killer tribes along the way, then portaging their leaky canoes and half dead party members miles and miles.
But moving up to the 19th century now:
Last night TY and I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie and I didn't like it as much as the first, though Robert Downey Jr. is quite terrific again. It was just that this one was so overtaken with special effects and massive fights that it became hard to follow. His 'urban camouflage' invention I do have to say was worth the price of admission. Also the bulldog, Watson's pet, who should get the doggie academy nod for his stellar job of acting. And that's my movie review for the month.

Argo Gloriana Caddy

2012-01-06T18:10:00.002-05:00

A great way to start out: I found this little piggy video that makes my heart go pitter-pat. Watch how hard the little thing works at keeping up with his family!

A friend sent me this this morning- it had been read to her in a yoga class and it's so appropriate for us makers.

Life is the one gift we’re all given.
It should be unwrapped carefully and handled with love.
But we’re too young at the beginning and inevitably we mess it up.
Still, with time, we can patch and repatch it
until we end up with a quilt of our lives that is uniquely our own.
And as with all quilts
it may be passed on to those who are interested enough to ponder over the pieces
or it may fade into oblivion.
It doesn’t matter.
It’s the challenge of creating it that makes it worth the effort.

by Suzanne Seller, Rockport

And today's Horror:

You may receive a "Get Out of Jail Free" card from the universe, however, you must use it right away. Although you haven't solved any long-term issues, you can sidestep the problems for a while as you relax by taking a scenic ride today. Imagine yourself moving through the day as if it is a dream while always keeping one foot on the ground, so you won't forget what's real. Remain open to pleasurable experiences now without stressing about how you will integrate them into your life.

May all of us find out little piggy today. I won $200 at a trivia game last night (YAHOOO!) but feel guilty because all the questions were right up my alley- art and food predominating. Granted I was hideous on sports and music but this game was stacked in my favor. I am sitting here waiting for the invites to join other teams for the next one! It was really fun to sleep that victory sleep last night. And today I hope that winning-fel stays with me because I have a whole lotta sewing old yellow stuff to more old yellow stuff- am anxious to get this puppy off the table and under the machine for some satin stitching'. I could probably make some good headway today if I get at it and stop this foolishness looking at piggies that break my heart with cuteness.

Just found the answer to going out to dinner with friends and having them all on their phones: The Phone Stack:

THE PHONE STACK

We usually take a pretty hard line against phones at dinner, but a new trick just popped up that gives us hope for the future.

It’s called a phone stack, and it’s a buzzing, flashing reminder of every phone-etiquette rule the world seems to have forgotten.

It works like this: as you arrive, each person places their phone facedown in the center of the table. (If you’re feeling theatrical, you can go for a stack like this one, but it’s not required.) As the meal goes on, you’ll hear various texts and emails arriving… and you’ll do absolutely nothing. You’ll face temptation—maybe even a few involuntary reaches toward the middle of the table—but you’ll be bound by the single, all-important rule of the phone stack.

Whoever picks up their phone is footing the bill.

It’s a brilliant piece of social engineering, masquerading as a bar game. It takes the phone out of the pocket—where you can sneak a glance and hope nobody notices—and places it in the center of attention at all times. Suddenly, picking up your phone is the big deal you always secretly knew it was. And more importantly, it comes with consequences.

But if, after the third ring, you decide your call is more important than your lunch tab, we’re sure your friends won’t object.

I'm SO on this!

Inquisitive Assail

2012-01-05T21:45:00.000-05:00

HORRORS! Barbie is a HOARDER! Yes, this is all a Barbie Dreamhouse photographed here in details not to be missed. I hope Barbie gets the help she needs: remember three piles: Keep, Donate, and Dump! This is all by Carrie Becker and you can see lots more pictures right here.

And since we're playing with scale, here we go in the opposite direction with the work of Francois Fortou. See more here,very strange!

And now back to normal sized stuff but still strange...

Bathroom By Spiderman

Yes, someone actually designed and built a bathroom under siege by Spidey. To each is own, but I much prefer an un-brick bathroom and leave the toilet cozies off too. And that fist? Shouldn't it be offering up the toilet paper? Or something?

The Other Thing that I found on my internets is the Gweneth Paltrow group cleanse she is selling on her blog. Yup, for only $400+ you too can join in the group and get 'clean'. I never need to do this, all I have to do is schedule a colonoscopy and it happens with just the thought of drinking that, umm, goop. Pardon the expression. Why do celebrities try to mess with everybody else's' lives yet complain and duck when anyone is interested in theirs? I think our Gweneth has found the solution- she will give all her followers the runs. That should get even, and give her chuckles all the way to the bank. No thanks, and no pictures.

i can't leave on that note, try this instead- the Best Loved Street Art of 2011:

Many of these pieces are done with things as found, lots of imagination displayed.

More here, go pick your own favorites!

Bless Plough Plant

2012-01-05T10:18:00.003-05:00

See right there where the line hits the arm and says 'wrist extensors'? Well, it seems I have torn whatever that thing is. It's all balled up inside my arm like a big ole walnut. It didn't hurt when it happened but was a golf ball sized thing back then a month ago. Because it doesn't hurt, though watching the bruise grow from just the ball to elbow-to-wrist, I haven't gone to the doctor. But I am thinking that I should probably do it. How did it happen? I picked up my chunk of a grandson, he wiggled on my arm a bit and it felt like when you're a kid and someone gives you an 'Indian burn'. It stopped hurting as soon as I handed him off, and I didn't pay any attention until an hour later when the gigantic swollen golf ball stuck itself through the cuff on my blouse! Wow- WTF??? Never saw anything like it before.

So I am basically fine unless I lean on the lump, but that's getting better as it gets smaller. Besides I'm not supposed to put elbows on the table anyway, right?

So all was well until yesterday when I picked up a grocery bag of trash to put in the dumpster on my way out the studio door and it felt like a needle entered my ring finger near the first knuckle. I dropped the bag and yelled YowwwPPP, but didn't see anything, certainly no needle or pin. By the time I got to the dumpster- 10 steps from the door- it was throbbing and I could see a puncture wound. I think I got bit by some damn spider here. Like TY says, One word: EXTERMINATOR. Yup, I think I need to do it because I am getting real sick of vacuuming up the spider food caches. Had to remove my ring and the finger swelled up quite a bit and the joint really hurt, couldn't close the finger. But by morning it was better, still swollen but didn't hurt.

UPDATE: I went to Google images to find a picture of my spider bite and am completely grossed out! Seems that some spiders venom actually dissolves human flesh and the images are disgusting! Mine looks like a slightly swollen finger, NOT like what Google is showing, thanks god! Oh geese, I'm not going to get those out of my mind now.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have some better news. Spent the day today re-doing 2 encaustics in the latest series and working on the Sketchbook project book, which is coming along nicely so far now that I have my story.

And speaking' of stories, tell me this kid isn't a good example of ICKY parenting. Lettuce prey she is removed from whatever influences she how has teaching her these things and goes on to become a productive member of society, and no, you cannot tell me that 'Beauty Queen' is a productive occupation.

As much as I do not like this young thing, I wouldn't wish a spider bite on her.

Here's to better days ahead, like tomorrow!.

Crummy Balcony

2012-01-03T08:07:00.000-05:00

Oy. Spent from 8 AM until 10 sewing yellow old junk to other yellow old junk (see yesterday's pictures). Spent from 10 to 11 photoshopping some images for the little bookie for the Sketchbook World Tour (!) which I am sending a book to this year again since the tour makes a stop in Boston. I got the front and back on, and fused an image to the front but the whole 18 double pages inside is remaining blank until I can get it organized. It will be yet another autobiographical tome about a tiny bit of my childhood, but never fear, of course I will post the whole thing here when I get it under control.

Anyway, I made some headway. Then I went to my little local stitch and bitch group where I spent an hour UNknitting the inch I added last night as I sat in a meeting I was bodily forced to attend. Let's just say It's Was NOT My Cuppa... and now I have o redo what I thought I was doing just fine on. But like everything, when I really thought about leaving the mistakes in, I know bloody well that is exactly what I will see every time I look at it so better to UNknit one inch then to just never wear it, right? Right. I hear Geneva's voice and she's proud. Geneva was my mom, the perfectionist. OK, so that's what the book is about too. Sigh. And I'm supposed to be an adult. ha.

So after the UNknitting and eating vast quantities of pea soup because it's so cold here today, I went back to the studio and continued for another 3 hours sewing yellow old junk down. And I decided that I need to FIX something there too to make sure it's absolutely square- it's now a 1/2" off and I can either fix it right or try to iron the hell out of it. Geneva says fix it right. And I am a dutiful daughter even ten years after she has departed the planet.

I was hearing from Geneva today so much because my internet was down and I didn't have Boston NPR to listen to or Hulu to watch- nothing but silence so she was coming through loud and clear on all my subjects! By the time I left the internet was back so maybe tomorrow she will have more competition for my attentions (and I may be able to ignore some of it!) And, my horrors:

You're feeling more confident about your job today, even if you're not receiving much feedback. Instead of riding on an emotional rollercoaster, your moods begin to stabilize, allowing you to maintain an overall sense of calmness. Integrate the wild ups and downs you recently experienced rather than stirring up new excitement now. Although this may be a mellow day, there will still be more thrills before your ride is over.

there ya go.

And I get home to this:
We inform you that a suspicious transaction was processed from your account therefore your account is locked for security reasons.
To unlock the account and cancel the transfer, download the attached file and fill it out.

Safety Advice

Bank of America was named Best in Class for the seventh consecutive year on the latest Javelin Banking Identity Safety Scorecard.
The award is based on consistent performance in each layer of online security and outstanding performance in fraud prevention.

Well yes of course, here are my bank account numbers and my security numbers and my passwords to do with as you see fit. What? Was I born yesterday? Good thing Geneva is watching over my stupidity today, eh? Yikes.

Rapidly Sting European

2012-01-01T11:07:00.001-05:00

Unbelievable. I have been spending way too much time here at the Slothpital (yup, that's right, a sloth hospital in Costa Rica!) And watching the videos of the babies getting baths and learning to poop. You can donate here after you read all about them. Cute? I dunno, but helpless- yes! And Judy (shown in picture) has her hands full helping these critters grow up.

Remember I said I was making cigar box centerpieces for the upcoming wedding? Seemed like a cool idea with a cigar roller guy there and being at Hemenway's House and all. I think I've mentioned that I now have over 100 cigar boxes and they are taking over the studio. Have spent the afternoon buried under these boxes trying to figure out which are compatible with which, and dumping out various critter homes and old tobacco leaves and other unidentifiable objects. This is daunting- I was figuring on slapping a few on top of each other and adding some moss, maybe a succulent from Home Depot, but now I am under water here trying how to get a flat of succulents to Key West, and then where on earth to find orchids down there to pop out of the top of these assemblages. OMG.

The table of boxes above, the chair and floor of boxes below.

Now I have this Other Idea to make the bridesmaids cigar box purses but I am shelving it until I finish this and see what's left to mess with. This may not be something that will happen. I'm the Idea Guy, not the Follow-Through Guy.

And the Horror today looks good!

You may have something sweet to smile about today because it seems as if your life is moving in the right direction. Although you might not have everything you want, it's wonderful to believe that your patience will finally pay off. But blindly pinning your hopes onto a pipedream isn't such a smart strategy. You don't have to get crazy and turn your world upside down; just start making concrete plans while luck is on your side.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, The Four Turkeys quilt thing is underway and on the table here: First, the Turkey. well one of them:

The Swans

The Pansys

One of the Daffodils

And the usual Kids with Wings and Dogs

See? I toldja I was busy. And I haven't even talked about the book that's due by the end of the month. Oy.

Jug Efficacious

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

(thanks to a Kickstarter project)

I was watching the PBS American Masters series that we taped (is it still 'taped'?)- the one mostly about James Taylor and Carole King and the history of singer/songwriters as they broke off from working just writing songs for other groups and started writing for themselves- here's a preview:

Troubadours: Carole King / James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter

1. The people who used pot and psychedelics all made it through, while those who used coke and heroin washed up and died early.

2. There was a window between the invention of the birth control pill and the advent of AIDS where we all had a Pretty Good Time.

(I know this is a generalization but pretty true from my own experiences. Both of these observations were David Crosby's. Consider the source, I did, and I'm going with it.)

His eyes follow you around the room...

___________________________________________________________________
(the line of new thoughts, not necessarily better ones)

Notice I am starting to reconstruct my badges on the left for the umpteenth time. Every time I try to mess with them they get deleted, and the new Blogger template doesn't load all the time on my computer so fixing it is transient at the best. The Sketchbook Project badges aren't right but I'll work on them when I find the right ones. meanwhile I did find out that the Sketchbook is DUE at the end of January so I have to get cracking' on that next- I have my stuff all assembled but have to get it into the book and looking good and with pictures taken too so you get to see the progress page by page by page! By page.

So, that is where I'll be on the New First Day - starting with a Studio Blitz and a bang. Yesterday I got the bulletin boards all cleared off and already the place is looking better. I've been stacking the quilts on top of each other on the walls to keep them stored flat but it really makes a mess so I will roll them up and reveal the whole wall of homasote I had installed, and USE it for display, not storage! I'm also going to give up and haul the big quilt rolls up the ladder and store them on top of the bathroom, out of the way, because basically they are out of my mind anyway- need to make room for the new. I have two encaustic series that need get up on display (one I need to tweak a bit first) so I'll do that too. There are several people talking about studio visits so if the place looks more like a working area than a storehouse for a hoarder they may be interested in a purchase. From my keyboard to gods eyes...

I just can't deal with an open studio this season so that's off the table for now.

When I get rid of the over 100 cigar boxes I'm stocking for the wedding centerpieces I'll also have less visual clutter so I'll work on that next just picking out the various piles that work together and how to assemble them. And here I am talking about the wedding coming up again, I am so excited about it and it's getting closer every day now that we're finally in the right year! Optimism reigns, love wins out again, and all is happy and bright. in this quarter. Other quarters not so, but we're working on doing our best with that too. Busy year ahead and we're gonna (TRY TO) make it a good one, aren't we?

Horrors, don't resist! : Although you may be able to dazzle others with your song and dance, your presentation might lack real substance today. Your fun-loving approach disarms others, eliminating their resistance. Even an adversary won't be able to resist your charm in the long run because your subtle tenacity is relentless. Talking up a storm is fine; just remember to slow down and listen when following your heart's desires. LMAO

Goodbye to a Crappy Year

2011-12-31T19:52:00.001-05:00

Yippee. This year is over, almost. Things will be better next year, right? Please?

We're headed off to a neighbor's BBQ party and I am still hacking and sputtering so much that I doubt anybody will talk to me out of fear of catching my plague so I'll just walk home whenever I feel the need. It's a lovely clear night with the moon very bright so I will like the silence after the party part, I'm sure. And I will be able to cough in peace on the street! Despite my seeming pessimism, I do wish everybody I know- both friends I have actually laughed with in person, and those who laugh either with me or at me on this bloggy thing. It'll get better, she sez- fists clenched, heels knocking and eyes shut tight. It'll get better...

I'm here for ya, unless you are the Humane Society who has sent me one too many heartbreaking emails claiming that all dogs are suffering because of my lack of gigantic donation. Wish they would check their records a bit more carefully and stop harassing me.

Drought Alleyway

2011-12-30T08:24:00.000-05:00

The following purple stuff is directly lifted from the Robert Genn newsletter today, about working in a studio. I'm a bit better today, my coughing doesn't double me over in death throes nearly as much, and TY gave me some decongestant for allergies that the pharmacist suggested and it works beautifully. That and going to bed at 7:30 and sleeping until 7 AM seems to have brought me back to the living. I even threw in a load of laundry am am listening to it gurgle and swirl as I type. Getting back to normal here after a bad patch.

Besides, it's going to be New Years Eve and I have to get ready to doze through it as is my tradition.

Occupy art studio December 30, 2011 Dear Sandy, Living in a tent city in a public park in the middle of winter had its benefits. Besides the persistent action in the next tent, one got to learn the relative warmth of sleeping bags, use of ear plugs, and how to handle a fire extinguisher. Then there was the pre-dawn police lecture on lawn care. A subscriber wrote, "Six hundred occupiers are now in jail, but not one single shiny-suit banker, and now I'm under the basement stairs, looking for a better painting and a better year ahead." Sounds like a plan. No matter how modest, that studio is both the workroom and the playroom--and with the addition of a computer, the situation-room. (ed. comment: how true)But the main idea in the studio is to raise quality beyond the 99 percent of average artists out there, and join up with the top one percent. It doesn't take much of a studio. "The studio is less important than other things, like the burning desire to paint," says Warren Criswell. "If you don't have this disease, you can't catch it from a nice studio." The studio is where you catch the disease, all right, and you catch it by following your nose around the place. Not entering the studio is worse than sneezing in the rain outside the MOMA. You have to pretty well show up and get inside. In the words of acclaimed author

Annie Dillard, "You need a room with no view so imagination can meet memory in the dark." The studio is an extension of the sandbox and the kindergarten playroom. It has a dynamic unlike any office or factory. It's a room at the service of a dreamer on her way to becoming a master. Wandering from project to project, she moves in a private soup kitchen where there's always something on simmer. With something to get on with--something to finish, something to start--even the tiniest of workrooms has within it the building blocks of talent. Stay out on the streets at your peril. Best regards, Robert
All is well with me. The rain doesn't reach me, my room is well heated, what more can one ask for? There's no shortage of work, either. Paul Klee

So today maybe I can get more accomplished than watching sit-com reruns on Hulu. Guess maybe that Hulu is too much rampant imagination from odd sources so today it's back to NPR. No view there so MY imagination can readily meet memory! How novel. Thanks, Annie.

Worm Kiewit Jock

2011-12-27T14:06:00.002-05:00

Not much to report after my 7 straight hours in the studio sitting in one chair sewing stuff onto stuff. This part is boring, and I always save the more complicated pieces for last, because by the time I reach that point maybe it will be time to leave! I did get Hulu working so zoomed through a whole season of something about a new baby- didn't have to look, just listened. Don't think I'll find out what I was watching, it wasn't that good.

After my hard day of work (OK, so it wasn't heavy lifting, I admit.) I was rewarded with a good dinner at the local Italian place where that night they had a fegato feature (if you look it up it's liver with onions and bacon, my favorite comfort food) preceded by a Caesar salad that they presented sans anchovies so I pitched a fit and they brought me a whole can of the little morsels laid out on a plate. I got everybody in the restaurant who ordered that salad's ration of anchovies I think. But I think I was lacking in certain nutrients because I felt way better after dinner.

Until 3 AM when I woke up with a raging sore throat, thanks to TY who has been snorting and snuffling all over the house for days now. Like he says, 'Ya lie down with dogs yer gonna git fleas.' Hardly. The dog sleeps on the bed every night and I don't have fleas, but I DO have a lousy cold, the rat!

Today I summoned all my energies and got clothes on and rode the wagon all the way to the LQS which is maybe three blocks as the city gal walks. I bought 2 packages of machine needles and wore myself out carrying them. barely made it home, I need a rest now, maybe a nap. This sucks.

Nodal Shortstop Covert

2011-12-25T18:30:00.000-05:00

Since I lost my little list of art badges I think I lost my blog slant. I'm gonna get it back after today I promise. Today is a back to the studio day and I plan on being there all day. But this Christmas thing can't be stopped just because it's December 26th. Around here we keep it going for almost 2 more weeks until Jan 6th when we can finally wrap it up. But for me, it's over except for these few final Christmas thoughts, then you won't hear from me for another year about it:

Kid has it about right.

Amazing Creche Assembly, love the Darth Vader kings!

And because there is so much noise made about Christmas, our Jewish pets sometimes need to show their pride and identity wearing their yarmulkes. Hence, a cute Jewish Corgi:

A Jewish chicken, destined for a good pot of penicillin soup I'll wager:

And of course, a Jewish rabbit. (Unfortunately someone called for a Rabbi but there was a typo...)

Followed by a cat who perhaps won't commit to any holiday and has a bit of an attitude:

A strong feeling about playing Dreydl

And aren't you glad you didn't pay $150 for this ticket to see Russian floating dancers? Don't get too excited watching this- it doesn't get much better at the end.

And finally, Aunt Chippy shows us how to wrap it all up. And we do.

RIP

Blue Dog Smack down in LA, not related to drunk driving over the holiday they say. He was targeted!

Bradford Cornelia Hackett

2011-12-23T22:35:00.004-05:00

As you all know from my ranting on about my fabulous resin 'jewels', I've been a long time fan and buyer of Triian's work. Triian is the husband/wife combo including Brian Burkhardt who is currently the winner of Project Accessory. I was wondering when he would get booted all season because the camera never lingered on him, never spent time dealing into his work, just kind of skirted over him all season as an also-ran. Until last night when he won the whole bloody thing! I am thrilled for him, he is one talented and edgy guy AND he went to the Museum School in Boston so I have a particular reason for following him. I guess my little collection of hie jewelry is at it's end because I'm sure he will raise prices and expand. I'm happy for him, thought wish I would have grabbed a few more pieces before last summer!

_____________________________________________________________________

Christmas Eve

Winter Snow Globes, the creepy variety:

Both from HERE. Too creepy? Then you can allays make your own out of an old baby food jar. Here are some instructions to get you started.

OK, Craft Class over. I have to get back to cooking or these people coming over tonight will have to stop at Denny's on their way home to stoke up! Didja know...

Hope I'm hot enough to work on sweet potatoes too, especially wrapping them in phyllo. I'll let you now if this is a Hit or a Miss. Maybe I'll even take a picture. Happy Christmas Eve.

Guinea Nicotinamide

2011-12-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

Just being an artist is a big sack of abundance. Our blessings come down the chimney every time we squeeze our paint. A small effort is required to think and start, some fortitude is needed to stay with the vexing parts, some patience to stay and watch the miracle of the magic process, and some final joy to sign your name. Robert Genn

Another good one from Painters Keys today, about how artists 'give' with the work they do. The pleasure of giving is year-round as we express ourselves without benefit of wrapping paper or ribbons, or even, in most cases, recipients. It's our way of giving ourselves to the world. Yup, even us hermits! I feel better.

And so, I return to the frenzy world of everybody else's Christmas program where I am pushed and pulled from one event to another, seeing people I don't care much about at the expense of those I love. And tonight starts the final blast. We have a dinner with some good friends coming up, we were invited months ago, and were looking forward to it but recently found out that it's now a huge table with a full family we don't know, including a couple of kids my own grandkids age. I would so much rather be spending time with them given a choice. (And probably don't put me at a fancy restaurant dining room table either- would prefer playing on the floor and grazing with them!) So somehow we will get through these next few days.

I am so rich that I must give myself away. Egon Schiele

Hidalgo Admiral Exchangeable

2011-12-22T09:26:00.001-05:00

Alas, a Missed Opportunity

I've always loved this flamingo, from the original Audubon book. We saw one of the original plates about 38 years ago but were too poor to buy it. Well, that, and TY HATED the way the neck was squashed into the picture frame. That didn't bother me as much as the price, which as I remember was several hundred dollars- simply out of our range back then. Well I saw that it is now demanding a quarter of a million smackeroos! Guess it has managed to still stay out of our range, but gain ground in the process now that I can afford several hundred.

Maybe the only way to own a flamingo is to hire this woman!

Gesine Marwedel is an amazingly good body painter who creates convincing landscapes and animal pictures on human bodies.

This has recently been brought to my attention because my granddaughter is nuts for flamingos as any self respecting almost-four year old should be. Hey, they're pink, and that fills some sort of primal need. So for Christmas she is getting a wee flamingo stuffed animal and a tree ornament and various other pinks. I also found this wallpaper but I don't think it quite goes in her little antique house attic room(at least I hope not!) So I won't' actually show it to her.

Things around here are moving at the speed of light, but I am stuck on the turtle just slogging along. Maybe they do't like hot dogs, but something has to move this ride a bit more in the direction I want to head! Not actually me, not actually my turtle BUT

If you like turtles the way I do (from a distance) perhaps the Loggerhead Marinelife Center is a place where you would like to send some bucks. It's a turtle hospital and open to the public. you can adopt one, or watch it's progress as it recovers from shark attacks or power boat accidents or just plain old turtle diseases. The people there are amazing, and the turtles all have private rooms where they can sun and swim as they gain their strength back. They are, of course, always in need of help and one of my favorite charities. They don't eat hot dogs there.

What can I say? I'm Walken here too but in a Palm Tree wonderland. Still it's weird, but I am happily acclimating. C'mon down, Christopher! Bring Tony while you're at it.

And finally a comment about the state of the Arts in schools.

And the clean-out continues. Have a nice Thursday Pre-Christmas.

Ribbon Percussive

2011-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

Good Morning! I've been trolling my internets and found something that knocked me asunder here:

There's this thing called the Szpilman Award that is granted to works that exist only for a moment or a short period of time. The purpose of the award is to promote such works whose forms consist of ephemeral situations. This year's winner is Jaroslav Kysa who did the documentation video above called ' The Barrier' where he uses pigeons to form barriers to places in the city. More information and the winners video documentations from past years is available HERE. Take a minute (OK, a bit longer than that- you'll get hooked!) and check out these ephemeral works of art!

Vintage Pig Poster- Don't think there are any Pig Clubs in my area, but I'll do my part by eating some pork real soon. It's my duty!

And finally, to get my fuzzy head beyond my Rabbit Habit, here are some babies to ponder-

(these were billed as rabbits but I am thinking they are more probably squirrels!)
Which reminds me that I forgot to post these little guys and the time seems appropriate- Thanks Teddy! You know how I like my taxidermic squirrels caught in the act of imitating a jazz band.

(and I think these two, above and below, are most probably the same little guy. I want him!)

I posted all the bunnies to get them off my desktop where they re tempting me. I did this as part of my New Year's Clean-up Campaign here, and instead of reproducing all my badges and banners that I lost. Drat it all.

2011-12-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

As she said, OOPS, I did it again! Im not usually in the habit of quoting Britney but since I did something so stupid I guess it's OK to quote someone of my intellectual equal here. I hit the 'remove' button while trying to correct one of the badges I've been collecting over on the left. Don't see any there? It's because one errant key stroke I made thinking I was removing ONE ITEM took the whole list out. And I can't get it back. I even went to the Way Back Machine and the last they had done this site was back in April when, guess what... that was the last time I took it all out by accident! Anyway I am bummed at my stupidity yet again. And so I get to start all over again collection links to things I'm interested in, things I belong to, good info sites, and all that. There were things on that from 2004, probably obsolete links now but it was nice to keep them as a little memory box. Aaarughhh.

Christmas is over for me, except the cooking part and there is quite a hunk of that to go. I was planning on doing the Seven Fishes thing again on Christmas Eve, but since I've had my fishy fill lately after spending a fortune on fish for last weeks big dinner, I'm downgrading to lamb this year. We are thinking of doing our old fashioned Middle Eastern spread since 2 of our guests are from the Netherlands and one is Greek, and the other one is plain vanilla who isn' very adventurous so I won't worry about. As long as I have enough bread she will be fine- she is one of those fussy eaters and it will be her issue to pick through what she can eat, not mine. So, today we are off to the Middle Eastern Bakery and Grocery to see what they have to work around- between them and the local butcher I think we can pull it off.

TY grew up in a family that was half Assyrian and half Armenian and his two parents were always at odds on how to cook every dish. The cuisines of the Middle East are mostly from the same ingredients but there is a slight variation in preparation, or spices, or presentation that is the ONLY way according to both of them, and of course they only come from a small area. If they went far afield to say, Lebanon for instance, we'd encounter a whole new set of rules because that area was revered as the 'Paris of the Middle East' and was 'very fancy' with lots of different influences. There is also a different spelling from country to country but we're talking the same dish. For instance Boerek (Boereg, Borek, and several other variations) is fillo dough encasing a cheese mixture (different cheeses in every recipe I see!). Sometimes it's cut before baking, like baklava (also MANY variations and spellings according to region and culture and who conquered who), sometimes it's portioned out in huge slabs. The current way of making it, in spite of learning years ago how to 'open the dough' (a required lesson for any young bride entering an Armenian family!) until it's thin enough to read a newspaper through, is to use packaged fillo (phyllo) and build up the layers. Some bright guy now makes a 'country style' fillo which is a bit thicker and more like the old homestyle and therefore a bit closer to authentic. Of course finding this in south Florida may be more of a challenge than I am up for, and I'll probably have to revert to the thinner sheets and just put in more layers. And that's only the first course.

I have two great books about Middle Eastern foods that I follow as my current authorities:

SPICE, by Ana Sortun, and ARABESQUE, by Claudia Roden. I can't recommend one over the other because I love them both. The Roden book covers Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon along with other areas. She grew up in Egypt so has a broad range of knowledge. Sortun is a chef in Cambridge with an amazing restaurant. Your call. Advice- get 'em both.

Efuge Bruin Parlance

2011-12-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

Back from Boston, and this is right, I feel better!

You might feel as if you're not in a position to get exactly what you want, but you still could feel satisfied. It's not likely that you'll be able to leverage your position to come out on top, but, fortunately, you probably won't go down in defeat either. Whatever happens now, remember that there will be time in the next few days to reclaim any ground you've lost.

I do not have a clue what this Horror is talking about. Any takers?

I do however have a really great site for quick decorating of your personal brewery! These are examples of microscopic pictures of different drinks and they are blown up and printed ready to hang. AND affordable!

German Pilsner

Jamaican Lager, my personal favorite.

Last Day in Boston

2011-12-18T09:52:00.000-05:00

This is how Molly is spending her days while I'm gone. The old Doggie Slammer ain't what it used to be. Bet she's looking forward to coming home where there are free hard boiled eggs for the asking and rotisserie chicken on demand.
Are you crazy yet from watching this? Scroll down and get it out of the page........

I'll wait.

Gone yet? We're on our way home today, and I can't wait. I'm sitting here in full wool (like a 'Full Cleveland' but nothing is white) because it's 24 outside. My blood is thin. And I am miserable, not being a winter person in spite of the Buffalo/ Syracuse background, or more likely because of it.

I'm smuggling a pound of smoked salmon back with me, and desperately trying to talk TY into letting me actually check my bag so the TSA doesn't get to enjoy it instead of me. Bet if I tell him what it cost he will relent, sure hope so because I am just not up for one of his rants at the idiots who screen us if they confiscate it. UPDATE: Just made a deal- seems the Patriots are on starting about over DC, and he wants to see the rest of the game when we land, so he gets to go to a bar while I go retrieve the bag! A deal.

Well now, the QR quilt was gifted and they seemed pleased with the results. Now I can finally post the whole thing on here so you know I actually finished it. It's not an artistic coup for sure, that I'm saving for a different occasion, but as a guest bed blanket it's poifect.

And the other thing is that I got the Etch-s-Sketch iPad holder as a Christmas gift! (See previous post announcing I wanted it!) LOVE it! Can't wait to haul it out on the plane today and show everybody in my immediate vicinity what a nerd I am! I was such a failure at Etch-a-Sketch back in the day- this is my retribution!

More to report but it has to wait- I have relatives to visit, and dishwashers to run and bags to sit on!

On the Road

2011-12-15T09:09:00.000-05:00

I'm off the grid for a few days, up in Boston in the rain, but I want to thank Max for the translation of the blueberry thing posted yesterday and hope she can figure out how I am supposed to 'corner' a blueberry. I could figure it out if I was supposed to 'corner' a chicken or even 'corner' a cube of cheese. I even know how to 'corn' a beef if anybody is so inclined.

But today is full of things to do, ending with 12 people here for dinner and lighing all the candles I can find in the house to hide the dusty floors. Of course I don't have to bother with hiding much dust because as soon as the wee people (grandkids) hit the door with their Dervish routine, all dust runs for the hills in submission.

Headmaster Immature Coalition

2011-12-13T07:24:00.002-05:00

Never let it be said I'm not an inclusive thief on the internets. Found this (I think) Blueberry Cheesecake and had to have it. Love the purple polka dot plates too.

And here are the ingredients...

składniki:
spód:
100g pokruszonych, pełnoziarnistych ciastek
1/2 szklanki płatków owsianych błyskawicznych
3 łyżki brązowego cukru
szczypta soli
7 łyżek stopionego masła
kilka kropli aromatu waniliowego
masa:
40g żelatyny
1/4 szklanki wody
400g śmietankowego twarożku naturalnego
250ml śmietanki 30%
1 szklanka cukru
1 łyżka soku z cytryny
3 szklanki jagód umytych i osączonych
dodatkowo:
250ml śmietanki 30%
3 łyżeczki cukru waniliowego
1 szklanka jagód

Sigh. I didn't bother to post the instructions. Do you think maybe gelatin is involved? The cut is soooo perfect and straight. Merry Christmas dessert with your expensive imported blueberry stash. I might suggest another recipe?

Depress Ivan Portia

2011-12-11T15:03:00.001-05:00

Cristmas Cherpumple,

festive as hell. It's three different pies baked inside three different cakes and then all frosted up fancyish.

And the directions to make your own are HERE.

And another not-quite Christmas find:

The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

Which leads us from the Arctic on to The National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech:

Unwanted Visitor: Portrait of Wildfire is an outdoor art installation, which opened October 7, 2011, which educates the public as to the causes of wildfire both environmental and human; its effect on the surrounding environment including plants and animals; fire prevention and the purpose of prescribed burning.

Internationally known sculptor Herb Williams of Nashville, TN, designed, created and installed 5 freestanding, three-dimensional sculptures of wildfire using the media of Crayola crayons for the National Ranching Heritage Center. Because each sculpture is made of wax, they are melting and changing shape in the unpredictable outdoor conditions.

cool, huh?

And more to think about, as if you need it, some ADVENTURES IN THOUGHT!

Are you thinking yet? Me neither- try this next and I'll leave you shaking your head in disbelief:
Skip to about 2 minutes in- OMG!!!!!
And I won't go on a freakin Ferris Wheel! The Mad Teacups made me sick for two days! I need a drink.

Derive Fontaine

2011-12-11T13:51:00.001-05:00

Horrors: Events may take a turn for the better today, yet you're reminded that everything still takes longer than you expect. You might end up feeling disappointed if you think that you can push the river faster than it's already flowing. However, you should be able to relax a bit once you remember that all water reaches the sea in time. Be smart and allow current events to follow their own natural course without any unnecessary pressure.

Working the encaustics but I'm short on studio time these past two days. i managed to get all 8 pieces with the preliminary wax on them and they are drying out for my next onslaught, perhaps tomorrow. If not it won't happen for a week until I get back in the saddle here. Like I learned from the Horror, everything takes longer than expected.

EXCEPT Kale chips. I always think they will take longer than they do so end up burning the first batch and then chaining myself to the oven door so the second batch doesn't meet the same fate. Now I am plowing through a foot-high stack of the little devils and will soon be over-kaled if I don't watch myself. Nothing like them leafy greens...

Now I've added to my friends in dire circumstances, my friend and leader of the bocce team fell off some bleachers yesterday at her daughter's basketball game and broke BOTH her arms. They called from the hospital and she was getting the casts on an her head MRI'd, and the prognosis is that she will be fine but she is up shit creek without a paddle until she gets her arms and hands back. She has 15 people coming for Christmas dinner and can't even grab onto the refrigerator door. I gave her my wise older counsel to simply cancel the festivities and go out with their friends instead but we'll see what happens. I can't even keep yelling at her until I get back!

So today I made white chocolate peppermint bark to take over and have a bunch of flowers ready for the moment she wakes up.

This is a tough one- melt chocolate, smash some candy canes and sprinkle over wet chocolate. Stick in refrigerator to harden up, break into chunks and give away. With a red ribbon. Perfect. So if you invite me anywhere between now and the end of candy cane season, this is what you get. (the peppermint bark, not the kale chips!)

Admitting Purpose Paoli

2011-12-10T11:03:00.001-05:00

Something I DO want, on etsy, with 'Elias' needlepointed on a heart!

How many people know an 'Elias'?

Something more I don't want:

A combo Big Dog and Porch Swing. Kind of puts Lacey McCurtain to Fake Dog shame, doesn't it?

Knee high to a live person, 1/10th scale to Big Dog above!

Wish I were in Asia to see the eclipse.

Coherent Hightail

2011-12-09T08:12:00.001-05:00

What I want for Christmas. A car, just a little one. Ain't gonna happen. So therefore I'm going to stop wanting and just deal with what I have, which some might say is copious stuff. I want the elves to come in and wrap the few little token gifts I am taking home. And I'd love for them to break into my house in Boston and prepare my dinner for 12 that I have to get together on Thursday. I'd like a miraculous driver to appear drop Molly at the kennel so I don't have to see her do her 'sad-eyes', and to take me to the airport, and he could actually come with me to vacuum the house and go pick up the things I need for the dinner. He can also pay for it all and I will say 'thanks'. Why is it I have simply lost all momentum? I don't want to travel, don't want to cook, all I want is time in the studio.

Two unrelated things have happened this week. One dear friend had to race her husband to the hospital where he had emergency surgery and his prognosis isn't good. He seems to be fighting his way through but the whole situation os dicey. I wish I could be there for her to do SOMEthing- walk the dog, clean a cupboard, water plants, I don't know. So a day after that news reached me, I got a short email from my long time great friend and mentor back in Boston and her husband died unexpectedly the evening before. He has been gravely ill for some time and was awaiting a triple bypass in the hospital when he passed away. I really am glad to be going home for the single reason that I need to hug her. I have always admired both these guys and both these long term marriages, and it just is a real blow to lose one and have the other hanging by a thread. Both these events are sobering, and thus, my lack of enthusiasm for wanting stuff. These reality checks are whomping me from all sides lately, so I gave TY his second Christmas present this morning. Time for that line changing the subject:
________________________________________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The series I'm working on now is somewhat sober- I have printed the essence of a sky or cloud formation on 8 panels, and here it's being mounted on a board to accept the wax. I finished four the other day and will go work on them today- here are the four with just the printed cloud images, lower left is too subtle so I will re-print today.

First coat of wax and one fusing later. Next I am going to paint over the surface or add collage elements, the jury is out, but while I am thinking and doing try-outs I will be working on the four at the top.

And I may as well show Four Turkeys as its progressing, v e r y s l o w l y, to it's end:

I know, it really looks like a ragg bagg exploded, doesn't it? Basically only the top third is worked on, the rest is pinned and ready to appliqué but I'm mulling over edge treatments before I go any further. The left vertical orange stripe is actually the edge of a tablecloth I will use on the back if it still fits after all my fooling around. I am aiming to have this top done before the first of the year so that's lots of hand sewing of all these elements. Maybe Easter? Whenever. The point IS just to finish, not meet a deadline. But (see above paragraph) I am feeling short of time with so much to do.

Riven Gyrocompass

2011-12-08T08:13:00.001-05:00

I've hit an impasse today, there is't anything in my Inbox ads that I want, except perhaps the entire Vince collection- hold it, I'll take just the stuff on sale at Vince so as not to appear greedy. This unfortunately wasn't on sale so I held myself back- a FUZZY METALLIC sweater!

This particular little number is over $400 so it will never be mine.

Oh damn, I couldn't stop myself and several things are now on their way to me, all sale stuff. You know the old Christmas drill: One present for someone, One present for me, Another present for someone, Another present for me, and so on and so on. I found out long ago that it's the only way I ever get anything, especially stuff I want!

TY does the same thing and I know it's Christmas when the Amazon book boxes start arriving and the stacks pile up beside his bed and his chair and his couch and in the bathroom...

Anonymous Elf, Dressed for Frivolity in his RedSox Chapeau

Professional Photoshopping by moi.

I have no idea who this is, nor do you, because who you THINK it is doesn't wear tree skirts, ever! Nor do I recognize that box on the table as one I bought on Marshall St. at Syracuse University in 1964 when I was supposed to be buying art supplies. Lets just say that it retains a lovely herbacious odor even now. Hmmm, must be the wood species.

The Christmas Bird

I have a whole crop of these guys right outside the studio, they are great at stripping carrion but not much else. They sit on the lampposts and wait and wait for their chance. I figure as long as I am able to move they will stay away but I dread falling in the parking lot and breaking a hip and having to fend them off using only my car keys and cell phone...

Bellwether Drought

2011-12-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

More Presents for Sandy! Yeaaaaa!

oh, be still my heart... This is IT, what I want for Christmas! And while it would store all my tools, it would look spectacular while doing it, Maybe I should install a 'donate' button over in the margins? ? OK, I won't, but if you have $849 and want to write a check to Costco, it is HERE. And I can be available for delivery whenever they want- Christmas Day, New Years Eve, whenever. And whoever gives it to me will have the privilege of coming over and helping me fill it up and make little tags for each drawer with my P-touch (which will live in drawer #3, left.)

Horrors:

Don't waste any energy doubting yourself today because your intuition is right on track. Unfortunately, your uncertainty could lead you into an argument as you attempt to justify your point of view without the necessary facts at hand. But it doesn't matter whether anyone understands why you have chosen your current path. Just give your presentation your very best and your friends will eventually see the wisdom in what you do.

Gee, only thing that worries me in posting what I want here for Christmas is that I will get DUPLICATES of my stainless steel chest! Oh well, I can always use the second one as a jewelry chest, but I don't think it's big enough for all my crappy chunky stuff! And certainly I could dispense with the locking ability.This thing is just so handsome that I will put one in every room! But hurry, while it's on sale.

Want to see what I DON'T want? Here you go:

Ostrich Taxidermy, this guy got caught hiding.

Running Ostrich that didn't get away in time

Bookended Feet

Ostrich Purses

And Ostrich Bustles

Don't want anything ostrich.

Heretic Degenerate

2011-12-06T07:41:00.001-05:00

Suggested Christmas Presents for anyone named Sandy

the current series of obsessions

Isn't this the BEST fishbowl you've ever seen? Available HERE, and your little fishy will thank you. Maybe you could put his wee Christmas tree under the bigger 'mountain'- just an idea.

Dentist patted me on the head and told me I was a good girl for not biting him yesterday. And I passed with flying colors. How I dread getting teeth cleaned because they always unearth some major looming problem that costs me $2000. This time though, nada. I am a happy camper to not have to see them for 6 months.

Since I was down in the area I hiked on over to the art store to grab some more encaustic boards. I have an idea for the next series as a way to use all my sky photos so now I can start messing with wax again to get that underway. As soon as I get the Four Turkeys quilt wrestled into submission. So much to do! Unfortunately the art store is next to a consignment store so that took some more time as I poked through dead ladies clothes. I ended up buying a bag full of stuff and all good deals. The consignment shops are now lined with fancy dresses for balls and expensive cocktail dresses, never over size 2, as well as amazing shoes with no scuffs on the bottoms because the prior owners never had to wa wa walk anywhere but on soft carpets. But it looks like all their stuff is being unloaded lately, a sign of the times. And I am the Turkey Vulture to take advantage. Because I have no pride and happily wear these old clothes that no one else has worn! I actually found a friend's gorgeous hand dyed charmeuse silk jacket that she had made years ago. I really wanted it but already have a closet full of 'art clothes' that haven't gotten enough play, and the $160 was just too much to add on to an already too large collection. But I wish I had it! Well, I wish that I was going somewhere fancy enough to wear it actually, cause it was a beauty. So I got some retail therapy in yesterday and am feeling pretty perky today having gotten that out of my system.

And I am off now to take my purchase over to the studio and meet up with my stitching group for a few hours. Hopefully that will be enough socializing to hold me for a few days and I can concentrate on the damn turkeys again. So, off I go with my carafe of coffee and a good attitude, something new!

Eunice Mccluskey Impulsive

2011-12-05T08:07:00.001-05:00

I'm a simple woman (!) so this year, being tired of giving lots of money to charities every day or daily showing weird Christmas sweaters or finding items to match the 12 Days and make fun of, I am gonna start posting some Things I Want. I hope they are cheap so somebody will see them and mail them off to me quickly, but probably not. Today's Kick-off item is this, available here:

An Etch-A-Sketch iPad case.

Perfect for this retro gal who could never master etch-a-sketch way back when, and frankly feels the same about the iPad. Except that may not be for long because Laurie told me about the 'Color Splash' App and I have been busily uncoloring and recoloring some cute pictures in the files. Wow, this one was fun and I know I will use it more. Also, I got the iPad now picking up Hulu so I can sit outside and watch old tv shows any time I want- though the 'sitting down' part doesn't come easily.

New Fangled Times: Last spring I broke a molar in half while drinking coffee, and I was dentist-less here in South Florida AND we were packing the car to head for Key West for a few days. I called TY's dentist and they took me in right away while he sat in the car waiting, and installed a temp molar so I could eat. A few days later I had the new toof installed and they set me up for a cleaning and transfer of my records from the Boston dentist. They also gave me an appointment for today for a cleaning and x-ray session and who thought December would ever come back then? Well, let me tell you, I have been emailed with reminders for weeks now, and this morning I got a text reminding me when to show up. I am going to ask them to cease and desist with all but one reminder because I am not that old or stupid yet. But geesh, texts from my dentist? Sigh. I would so much rather get texts from friends, so text away, but please do not include the number '8' in your messages because I read that it not only means the past tense of 'eat', but also refers to oral sex*. The list had a bunch of other codes in it too, mostly referring to parents being present. And at this stage of life I don't have to worry about that, and in fact my kids don't have to worry about that either. And hopefully they are too old to text friends about '8'. Guess pretty soon we will have to intercept the grandkids texts but for now getting the almost-2 year old to just talk and getting the almost-4 year old to not talk is more the issue.

*funny story: Back when I was teaching middle school, my Art Room was directly across from the Home Ec room and the teacher and I became friends. At that point, Home Ec was evolving into more of a Family Living/Sex Ed class and her curriculum had an anonymous question box in the back of the room for kids to clear up some odd preconceptions. She shared one with the staff when it came through one morning- some 12 year old kid wanting to know more about 'Verbal Sex'!

Excuse Groan Mean

2011-12-04T10:14:00.001-05:00

Horrors! Be careful if someone tries to convince you that he or she is right and that you are wrong. Other people's arguments may be so persuasive now that you might be tempted to drop your agenda for theirs. Unfortunately, your lack of attention to details can have you moving so fast that you overlook an important fact. Give yourself time to think through any change in plans before you find yourself backed into a corner. A bit of common sense prevents an unnecessary headache later on.

ME? Overlook something important? ME? Wrong??? ME? Lack of attention to details??? Oops, somebody must have switched my horoscope for theirs.

Dawg and me are at the studio procrastinating. We bought some supplies to keep in the emergency stash and Dawg seems to think they are all for her and now. She is sitting and staring at the refrigerator willing it with her Tibetan Mind Meld to open and spill forth it's contents.

I had a great day here yesterday and got lots done, and because it is a deserted wasteland here in the industrial park from Fridays at noon until Monday at 9, I had the computer cranked up and was watching old episodes of 'Community' on Hulu. Yeah, I broke down and got their monthly rate but I'll tell you, there isn't much there I want to watch. I am stickling to my missing episodes of that and whatever else I can find when I finish up with 'Community' today. Got through the first year yesterday. It's company while I do handwork and am basically in one place. Usually I work all over the place so just have NPR on. Free.

Later: I opened the door to take Molly out for a walk and a friggin' LIZARD scooted in and now I can't find him. In fact I won't be able to find him until I move something and find his little petrified body stuck behind something SOME DAY. Aaarugh, I hate this. These things are fine out in the wilds but not here inside where I get the creepie crawlies waiting for him to jump down from the wall onto my head!

I'm going home.

Hibernia Homeown

2011-12-03T08:08:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning at the studio- I hereby vow to spend some time cleaning up a few areas before I get going on additional messes! But before I leave I have some things to share since I don't have any Christmas giftie suggestions today:

Starting out Arty today- first of all crocheted sardines with little pink bellies and sparkly scales!

And if dead fish aren't your thing, you can knit a pet! I particularly like this little wrinkly bulldog.

Both of the above come with whole slideshows of similar items, so grab your tiny needles and knit along!

From the Zander Olsen description on his site,

Tree, Line

‘This is an ongoing series of constructed photographs rooted in the forest. These works, carried out in Surrey, Hampshire and Wales,involve site specific interventions in the landscape, ‘wrapping’ trees with white material to construct a visual relationship between tree, not-tree and the line of horizon according to the camera’s viewpoint.’

Go check out this series of photographs of installations, you won't' be wasting time. OK, so you won't' be wasting time with the next two videos either, plus you can work while you're listening. Win/win.

The Animals 'House of the Rising Sun' on computer electronics by a Canadian guy known as bd594.
Amazing.
And there's another one too- Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. (Puts ME into rhapsody!)

So now it's time to get to work. I mean Real Work, not mining the internets!

Ecliptic Protuberant

2011-12-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

One of the best blogs I follow is over at 'Advanced Style' where they mine the streets of New York for women displaying ageless style. Granted it flows into eccentricities at times but for the most part, these are the women I want to be! Here is the little video on today's post- simply fabulous!

I spent the whole day in the studio and FINALLY took apart the Four Turkeys and remounted it as I should have done from the beginning. I had a huge chunk of pristine vintage linen damask so used that for the foundation, sort of like wearing my good underwear on this one! If a bus runs over this quilt neither of us will be embarrassed in the ER... So I left at about 4 feeling great that tomorrow I can pick it all back up at a good place. Tomorrow I start some embroidery and some more appliqué and I think I can easily complete the first section (of three) now that I have eliminated the things that weren't working. Whew. I think having Laurie back in the studio energized me and gave me the go ahead to just start it over. So I did. I *think* that when someone is around I become hyper aware of where the problems are and get the push I need to simply FIX it- this is all without any prompting or even talking about it! When I finally do ask for input Laurie is great at finding the exact thing that's bothering me and giving me the go ahead to zap it. She has no idea she is so helpful! Anyway, it was one great head-way day and I am back on track.

The oxtails are on the stove, the wine is being poured, but we will probably polish off the bottle long before the tails are done- I got a late start.

The Closing Shot---If you don't have anything to do, you can teach your dog to sneeze on command. bet you never considered this as a parlor trick, did you?

Bit Thinks Balance

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Something to think about for all you hard-working traveling teachers out there: Kim Kardashian makes 75K for a speaking engagement AND she doesn't have to pack a sewing machine or a trunk load of quilts to get there. Also I bet she doesn't have to stay in the least expensive No-Tell Motel in town with vending machines for dinner. What is wrong with this picture? Don't we glitter and twitter enough? Sometimes being smart isn't it's own reward! Now I'm gonna go outside and flag down a Maybach to see if they will let me look inside behind the curtains... closest I will ever get, IF I can get one to stop...

Notice, I have UPGRADED the ole blog again. Where, you ask? How, you query? Well, take a gander up at the url and you will see my shiny brand new favicon I made last night from a bakelite button. I know, you can't tell it's a button, but trust me- it's this one:

but ever so tiny

___________________________________________________________________________

there's that line again, that means a change of mood is coming...

So I found this Tibetan throat singer guy in a Christmas sweater singing in front of a fake Christmas tree. The tune was indecipherable and unrecognizable but the guy was so enthusiastic... I have tried to post three times and it won't work, sorry. BUT it got me looking at Jingle Bells videos and because I have nothing else to talk about I'm sharing them. You really haven't' missed anything with the throat singer, but you can do a search on YouTube for Jingle Bells throat singer if you are crazy bored enough to do that. And lets face it, if you're here, you are!

So, because the throat singer is out to lunch (yak butter sandwich I'm sure) I have some substitutes:

A chorus!

Diana!

Pretty Birds without a clue

Yeah, that's Frank!

OK, I quit, Here are the Victorias Secret models. Time to hang it up.

This is my fourth day in a row of being too busy to get to the studio except that today Laurie is back and we WILL be there, though probably not for long when she sees the mess I am in. Tuesday I bustled about trying to get to a meeting and then dealing with a bocce game we had scheduled. Yes folks, our record is now 4/0 undefeated! The ugly truth is that we have showed up at four scheduled games and never once as the other team bothered to cancel. Oh well, I'll take that winning (imaginary) trophy any way we can get it. Wednesday I drove my friend with the broken arm down to Boca to grab some stuff from the nearest Crate and Barrel- also did some rudimentary Christmas shopping and had tacos and sliders at a great little restaurant. On Thursday I met Beverly-the-North (who is now officially Beverly-Mid-Atlantic) in West Palm to study the watercolor show at the Armory and discover that my favorite restaurant has closed. I am so bummed, loved that place and the chef/owner was a Boston guy. Hope he can pick up something better and soon! We had to hunt down another place to eat and found lunch- lamb and feta on a pita with red pepper and crab bisque. And today it's friend-time again- THREE DAYS in a row I have been loafing and eating great lunches. The other great thing that happened is Teddy sent me an envelope of 'stuff' for the Four Turkeys piece I'm working on. And that gal has 'Stuff' (with a Capital!). Cant wait to go pin it all up somewhere on the quilt and move it around until it finds it's home. Time to hit the showers and put on my pants! have a great Friday-

Prom Criterion

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

If they simply have everything, I bet there is still room for a mounted zebra head. Only $2500 and right here on this link. And it comes along with this disclaimer: I find it odious that this beautiful animal is going headless now and his pelt is lying on someone's floor. I do not condone humans slaughtering zebras for any reason, especially to live on their walls. Do not buy this, it is here for the Christmas parade of ridiculous things available on the net only. Now, as a substitute, and cheaper too, I offer this:

It's a rusty iron (we call it patina when it costs more than a tin can) replica of a Kentucky Derby winner, way down in the $2200 range and no animals were hurt making this. I do have to caution you that you may need some wall reinforcements to hang it without losing the whole wall. Want it bad? Go here. And I will endorsee your choice.

And now, for you amusement, but take my word for it- go pee first:

Laurie Politburo

2011-11-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

Know someone who drops their slippery deodorant stick? Here's the gift for you to give! The Old Spice Bear Deoderant Protector. Perfect. AND with a video!
Bet you didn't know you needed this, did you?

Shield of Hand

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's Never Too Late. Available for $5700 on Mr. Morad Jasim's Etsy site HERE.

Yup. It's a plate.

Just a plate

Now, don't get scared with all this text coming up- this ws sent to me in a bulk email yesterday but I think it's really funny. Read on!

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?

Interesting History.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot

And then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery...

.if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...

They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature

Isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,

And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,

Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,

Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.

Last of all the babies.

By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals

(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.

When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.

Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings

Could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.

That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery

In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door,

It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.

Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.

Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables

And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers

In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.

Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the rhyme:

Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old?.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests

And would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter.

Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,

causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes,

so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,

and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; of holding a wake?.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks

on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin

and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.)

to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be,

saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

Verse Moved Error

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

How to get fit quickly so you don't get murdered in jail. Yup, it's available on Amazon HERE, and it you're on trial any time soon it might be a good time for a pro-active order.

And speaking of robbery, here's what you can wear at your next escapade! New from Beard-o, and available in several beardy colors too. Cheap at twice the $24 price (bet it's acrylic yarn!)

Nice- it shows how much self esteem you must have to wear it!

Transaction Fairport

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

A Photojojo! To make it even more apparent that an iPhone camera is lacking, here is a case with three additional lenses for your photo-ing pleasure. You need this, I do too. Bet I'd attach it for a day and then rip it off to my naked iPhone and never try again. But you can have it HERE.

(Humming along to Jummy Cliff:

You can get it if you really want

But you must try, try and try

Try and try, you'll succeed at last

Thank you.)

Have accomplished a lot today, mostly on Blurb getting my book finished up. I know there are spelling and format errors but I've gone over it with my little lice comb and can't find any more lurking about so I punched the 'publish' button and my book will be here soon to wrap as a present under the (imaginary) tree. Basically I consolidated our over 500 pictures that we took in Ireland this summer, added a few from one of our fellow travelers who had a camera the day mine lost it's battery, and even put the expensive cover on it! Hey, if TY could spring for that fabulous trip, I can at least go for the extra cover. (But I balked at the new fancy matte paper. Enough is enough) So I am scratching a line through that problem and moving on.

Tonight I am scheduled to work at the Special Olympics silent auction, and tomorrow I stand around on some hole at the golf course being bored but LOOKING enthusiastic and yelling 'nice shot! whenever I get the urge. Nothing in it for me, just raising some dollars for a good cause. And maybe I will put my name on a few items tonight, but usually the stuff goes for way more than retail so I bid heavy in the very beginning, like $50 for the week in Costa Rica- and then I sidle up to the bid sheet every half hour watching it go in the thousands. But hey, maybe someday I will get something cool! You'll be the first to know.

Let me know how you like the camera!

Produce Haunt Box

2011-11-26T07:53:00.001-05:00

Since I have about covered the turkey feather subject and it's now after Thanksgiving, I will spend my time finding YOU some spectacular gift ideas for Christmas, or whatever. First, a new way for us gals to carry a bag on a bike. And it's available HERE

And comes in several pretty nice colors. I bet it ages well too with all the rubbing it will get. (Aw, c'mon- I bet you were thinking that too!)

Had a good day in the studio yesterday, arrived at 9 and was home by 4 and worked the whole time with no messing around on the vast internets like I usually end up doing. I got the whole top piece appliquéd and in good form to move on to the second banner part. When I arrived there was nobody, and I mean NO cars in the industrial park- guess they all took Friday off to stand in lines to buy cheap stuff the stores discounted to get rid of. Anyway, Miss Molly likes to start off her studio day by sniffing ever friggin' blade of grass on our personal grassy knoll, so we headed over towards it but there was an awful lot of crashing and banging coming from the dumpster right next to the knoll so all I could imagine was the two of us fighting off a herd of raccoons, really mad ones! I pulled her right inside, locked the door (because those critters have tiny hands and could probably pick the lock!) and went to work. Molly pouted for the entire day and was doing overtime begging for cookies to get even.

See? Tiny hands...

I cannot imagine what the raccoons are looking for- the plumbing supply guy dumps in old porcelain stuff like broken toilets, the skateboard guy dumps plywood edges, the car guy throws in chunks of old metal, and everybody has tons of cardboard, and occasionally there is wire or metal pipe but there is always a pickup truck with a couple of guys grabbing that before it'a carted off. It's not like old sandwich heaven out there.

I've been hearing about a new restaurant, Italian, from several people, but they all caution that it's Really Small and you need reservations. I told TY about it and we decided to give it a shot at 5 last night, thinking we might have a shot at getting in. We did, it was really REALLY good and I'm not telling anybody about it ever so we can go again perhaps later so I don't feel like I'm getting an extraordinarily large late lunch! Unfortunately I was over-served a pretty nice zin and lost the rest of the evening. So, if I really like you, I will call for reservations so we can go again and I can show it to you. You'll love it, and eat very well.

And off I go to see about the second section of the Four Turkeys piece, hope that I can accomplish more again today, and maybe start picking up the mess I've made.

Jug Efficacious

2011-11-25T07:40:00.001-05:00

Horrors: Imagine ME in competitive sports, but that' what I'm supposed to do today.

You can take the edge off your anxiety by engaging in competitive sports, either as a spectator or as a participant. You could even temporarily forget about your worries while you're totally absorbed in the game of your choice now that today's Sagittarius Solar Eclipse activates your 5th House of Fun and Games. Although strenuous physical activity will have more immediate positive results, nearly anything that allows you to be spontaneous is healthy.

As my old pal Buddy Holly said, 'That'll be the Day...' LOL. And I guess that brings me to the Bocce Update. We were scheduled to play yesterday, yes Thanksgiving afternoon of all times, and we sent three of our team members along after their dinner to show up with their case o' balls. And that makes three forfeits in a row so now we are 3-0 UNDEFEATED in spite of the fact that we haven't played a game yet. So much for competition on the Bocce court for this sedentary lump!

Bocce Mascot

Meanwhile, back at the studio, the place is a shambles as I am digging through the compost piles and burrowing through the drawers and bins collecting stuff that may or may not work on the current project. I look like some sort of large rodent with ass up in the air and things flailing around me in all directions

Not a pretty picture, and as usual I need a manicure, and perhaps I should also check on a nose bob... and some exfoliation. The difference between me and said rodent is that *I* have to return all this crap to it's rightful place when the pile reaches my knees. Rodent doesn't even have knees.

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

So, I think I would like to start a campaign to eliminate this ridiculous holiday 'thing' that runs from Halloween through New Years Day. Or perhaps we could have a four year rotation and celebrate each one in succession. I'm OK with Veterans Day and Columbus Day because nobody actually travels for those and they don't have annual traditions of buying and cooking and entertaining. Football is even OK, because it's random but please, can we have moratorium on the Big Four? When I arrived in Florida in early September the mall was being decorated for Christmas. Huh? There has been so much hype over a made-up day, Black Friday, that I want to throw the computer across the room if I'm offered one more deal! And no kidding, at Thanksgiving dinner last night some of the women were planning their strategy to save $13 by hitting the parking lots at 5 AM. Saks and Bloomies are loaded with black sparkly clothes like we all have a succession of holiday cocktail parties where we are required to wear 5" heels, also sparkly. What ever happened to wearing plaid?

And stupid sweaters?

I don't want to look like a Kardashian, certainly not ACT like one.

So, off I go to dig like a mole, or a vole, or a naked mole rat, or whatever that thing is up above, and contemplate how I can get a viral movement going to stop the insanity. Oh where is that Susan Powter person when we need her?

And with that I now am headed to Google find Susan, wherever she may be.

Narrow Dehydrate Galilee

2011-11-24T08:44:00.001-05:00

The Last Turkey Feathers

This spectacular platter was used in the White House and now resides in the National Gallery. I can't imagine putting anything on it, especially a slippery greasy turkey! Isn't it beautiful? Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

I am not cooking for the first time in years, a fact that nullifies the turkey leftover problem which is frankly more important than the actual day-of! So I bought 4 huge turkey thighs (most people go for the breasts and the leg parts have to go somewhere, right? I stuck them in my slow cooker yesterday with the ingredients to make a North Carolina style BBQ normally used for pork, and within no time the house smelled simply wonderful. I pulled them out of their spicy vinegary bath last night and they were cooling. TY looked at the pile of meat with distaste and I left the house for my annual Thanksgiving eve shopping tour (because nobody is in the stores!) When I got back the bowl was half full- he had picked at it all evening and loved it. So tomorrow we WILL have turkey leftovers, but on a BBQ roll and spicy shredded meat.

And next, for your holiday meal entertainment: Turkey

and Mashed Potatoes

Served with Biscuits and Gravy!

(time for that line separator telling you when I am changing to more serious)

____________________________________________________________________

Yesterday I got THREE copies of the new 'Pages' book from Cloth Paper Scissors- the one my little artist's book appears in. I am so happy- one for the studio, one to take back to Boston to show the crit group, and one TYgrabbed and happily installed in the bathroom. Sigh. I was kind of thinking coffee-table but I guess more eyes would see it in the bathroom. Oh well. They really did a great job putting this together with all sorts of different ideas for exploration. You can also see the table of contents and get a digital copy at their site. If you are at all intrigued about Artists Books, or multiples, or looking at great pictures!

This has been a bounteous publishing autumn for me- two more books coming out soon with my stuff in them, so stay tuned. It's been along time since I've had bragging rights and I may get a bit insufferable.

Or maybe I have already achieved that. Don't tell me, please.

Spend Centavo Jeremiad

2011-11-22T07:20:00.001-05:00

(nearing the end of turkey feather file, thankfully)

There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking. Joshua Reynolds

Poifect quote for me lately as I move through life without getting anything thought about. I am now the Turkey Hot Line for my family back in Boston and have to carry my phone around with me all day waiting for the next turkey emergency. Hopefully we got the thing salt rubbed and into it's bag yesterday, and it will be massaged and turned today to try dry-brining which is much more appropriate for a small apartment kitchen than keeping a cooler full of brine and maintaining a cold temperature. Ugh. Been there done that.

And then I have this friend currently residing in the Bayou who proudly told me about taking a package of Sweet Potato Biscuit MIX back to his family. Mix! OMG. I informed him that biscuits are about 4 ingredients available even in the most rudimentary kitchens and there is no reason for a mix. He said it was orange powder, I am gagging just contemplating it. All you need is a real sweet potato but he doesn't believe me. Oh well, glad I don't cook for him. But I am wondering how the TSA will treat bags of orange powder...

So today my goal is to turn from THIS:

Into THIS:

And finally folks, since you all know I'm from Buffalo and have made fun of me for years:

Scary. it even makes me want to visit!

Roll Bravo Clapclap

2011-11-21T07:28:00.001-05:00

turkey had a bad night

I've been gone on a road trip, buzzing horizontally across the state past 150 miles of sugar cane and storm clouds. We visited TY's college best friend and they showed us around the 'new' Ft. Myers, a city that I hadn't really seen since the mid 80's when we would freeload February vacations on Sanibel. We didn't drive out there this time, instead stuck to the mainland and took advantage of some of the upgrades to the town since the way I remembered it. First of all I finally got to the Edison/Ford houses. They are old wood structures from the turn of the last century on gorgeous sites. The Edison office is an outbuilding and his work spaces are amazingly tiny. The grounds are covered with all sots of rubber producing trees- I never imagined there were more than one, as in,

'Oops there goes another rubber tree plant!'

But trust me, people gave him rubber trees from all over the world, one of which is a banyon that has grown to cover more than an acre. Apparently there is a bigger one, and acre and a half, somewhere on Hawaii, but here is the east coast, errr, maybe west coast since it's on the Gulf, version:

This is about 1/4 of it. As you can see they have roped off the edges to keep people from trying to get at the rubber for themselves, but this whole thing grew from a 3' plant, a gift. It was very interesting to see inside both houses and their associated out buildings- even the most wealthy families lived frugally, small rooms oriented to the breezes off the river, large windows and doors opening to wide verandas, kitchens in nearby but not attached buildings, and of course tiny rooms dedicated to the secretary and the maid.

The Ford house had a large garage and in it, guess what!

A BEAUTIFUL 1929 Model A! Only difference is mine didn't have a 'Henry Ford Museum' sticker on the side, and it was green with yellow wheels.

Here is a few out to the dock where once there was a summer house loaded with wicker furniture. It had no walls, only supports and a roof but I think they got tired of rebuilding it after every storm. This is the sight-line as you enter the property.

And this is the 'moonlight garden' behind the office building! And actually the first Moon Garden I have ever seen except in pictures. I'm afraid I got a bit overexcited about this- it's surrounded by Mina Ford's white roses and a shallow reflecting pool in the center with water plants. Why, you ask? Because of this:

My 'vintage' Moongarden' quilt!

(probably 1985 or so, exhibited in the SAQA Diversity show way back when.) This whole thing was made with a box of fabrics that a friend in the garment district saved up and sent me: silks and linens and sample sets from Barry Bricken clothing. It was my first shot at broiderie perse which I have continued to use all these years (see trailing flowers cut from a toile moving up the right side) I always thought of this as a break-through quilt for me, but apparently nobody else does- it's hanging in my studio over my refrigerator now, probably the source of the daddy-long-legs family in residence. Pssst: wanna buy a quilt? No? OK, neither do I, but if I can sell it I can use the money to buy Other Art and pass it on!

Reginald Evidential Inventor

2011-11-18T08:18:00.001-05:00

feathers du jour, might be from Madam Toussades Turkey Petting Zoo

Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. If you look at it to admire it, you are lost." (Samuel Butler)

Today Robert Genn in his 'Painters Keys' email talked about critique, specifically self-critique. This is a subject dear to my heart having suffered the slings and arrows of so many critiques back in school. Every class seemed to do a weekly big deal critique with stuff on the wall and a class ready to pounce! It took a while to get over the personal part, though I maintain still that some of my peers had a thought that making someone else's work look bad was a good way to make theirs look good (or, ummm, 'gooder'). But that aside, the process was invaluable. We learned to divorce ourselves from our work, stand back and see it with new eyes, and forge ahead with new ideas on how to improve it, or a direction to take 'next time'.

As I grew into doing actual art work, I was fortunate to fall in with a bunch of local quilt artists back in the late 70's and early 80's who were at similar stages of their art making careers. This merry band of women met every three weeks in the evening and we shared stories, shared what we were reading, and finally shared work in progress. They were of the supportive mind set, and we wordlessly decided that it would only be constructive criticisms with helpful advice which may or may not have grown from my story about an old painting teacher who constantly compared my shapes to food items: "And what is this MUFFIN over here?" or "Are you actually going to leave that FRIED EGG hanging off the tree?" and "Oh look- a BROCCOLI forest!" Sigh. He did this to everybody, not just me. He also talked constantly about two shapes 'kissing' when they came together at unfortunate areas. Paintings shouldn't have any kissing going on. OK, then.

But back to my group: We would flop our work on the floor o a dimly lit hallway because that was the largest space to show, and many times it was simply blobs of fabric pinned in place and too fragile to hang. We would walk around the piece and see it from all angles and would listen to the artist talk about inspiration or intent or whatever she wanted to talk about. Then we would ask questions or clarify things, and finally offer suggestions or cudos or give encouragement to search a little deeper. NONE of us ever miss one of these sessions.

But alas I have moved away and only get to a crit group meeting now and then. They now meet once a month because without kids and jobs now they all travel a lot, so meetings are not as full as they used to be. In addition we have all gone in different directions now with our work and are exhibiting in different kinds of places if at all. But we are still all very invested in our crit group.

I work alone. Occasionally I have a studio partner but she is soon moving away and I will be back to no extra eyes or ears to talk my way through a work in progress. Here Richard talks about how necessary that alone-time is:

Divorcing yourself from the preciousness of your efforts and seeing your work as it really is takes time and mileage. This means "alone time" in your working area. I'm sorry, but my observation has been that no quality work or strong direction will arise in environments where consultants are readily available.

This is good news for me, because working in a vacuum gets hard sometimes. Frankly I receive a lot of criticism for spending so much time at the studio (alone!), and find that people just don't get it. He goes on to list some of the things that the lone-artist can ask herself about her work:

Not surprisingly, when you switch from creation mode to critique mode, you tend to lose the magic of inspiration and substitute a more pedestrian, mechanical approach. A checklist is valuable. In serious sobriety you need to write and follow your own list. I use a series of varying questions: Meaningful subject? Strong patterns? Middle tones? Interlocking gradations? General gradations? Echoing shapes? Flowing design? Alluring counterpoint? Lost and found? Focal point? Big and small? Overall simplicity? Complex shapes? Visual depth? Interesting surface? Arial perspective? Sophisticated colour? Natural believability? What could be?

Note the last phrase, "What could be?" This is a translation of my own 'WHA'IF...' that spurs me on until the last stitch is taken in the last side of binding! Wha'if I added green here, wha'if I cut it up the middle and reverse that side, wha'if I just set this aside and let it compost awhile?

Wha'if?

But I still miss my crit group.

Dense Fortunate Modus

2011-11-17T08:28:00.001-05:00

scan those feathers

Today is Bocce Day, and thankfully we have thunderstorms predicted so perhaps maybe perchance I am going to be curled up with my knitting this afternoon rather than sobbing on the bocce court and trying to look sportsmanlike. I've been self analyzing lately, wondering why I hate sports competition so much and have come up with a little insight- basically I need Do-Overs! In art and life there are lots of ops for starting again, for messing with until it gets right, for fudging the edges, if you're 'one of my kind' you get what I'm talking about. In sports you are either a winner or a loser. I am basically a loser, not just because I actually DO lose about everything I attempt sporty-wise, but because I 'lose-it' internally too. Cannot stand to not do things right or at the very least have options open to give it another try. Rather than be the fat blob girl chosen last (though I can't remember that ever happening nor am I a fat blob yet) while everybody on the team sighs in resignation, I'd rather not play at all. OK, so it's probably the Leo ego raising it's maned head, shaking it back to big-hair, and stalking off to the veldt or wherever they stalk off to, to pursue whatever egos, err.. I mean Lions, pursue. I am gonna pursue knitting today, so go do a rain dance for me. Thanks!

Remember a few posts ago where I had found a woman whose paintings include little redwork patches and we both had used the same goat? Well, she found my post and she lives in the town next door to me! And we wrote back and forth a few times and she showed me a few more of her paintings that also include the same star patch I've used from an old quilt. There must have been something in the air in Newton because of the serendipity of this odd choice. One of her pieces is called COWGIRL and of course one of mine is COWBOY. How odd is that? LOVE her stuff, and she will be having a show at the Bromfield Gallery in March so I am gonna be there. She sent me a squirrel, I am so excited, you do know how obsessed I am with squirrels...

____________________________________________________________________________

Putting Giant watermarks over your portfolio work is like peeing in your own been to claim your territory. Christian Jackson

________________________________________________________________________

Last night I go a phone call from Nate, at a gate in the San Franscisco airport, about brining a turkey, and coincidentally just an hour earlier I had been reading about the Zuni Cafe (Sand Francisco restaurant) dry-brine method of cooking a turkey so I explained it briefly and sent off the recipe for reading when the plane lands this morning in Boston. (Where we have actual turkey farms where you pick 'em out on the hoof, then revisit them a few weeks later when they are plucked and rinsed and wrapped in butcher paper.) Plus it'a a much easier method they swear has even better results.

That got me thinking to traditions and our former family Thanksgivings over the years, and I remembered that I make stellar Cranberry Sauce. I gag a little when I see this jelly from a can and cannot understand why making sauce is too tough. My favorite recipe takes 5 minutes and lasts in the refrigerator for weeks. I can't even think of Thanksgiving without it. In fact, though we are invited out this year, I am taking this with me, a double batch so I can hold back a little for turkey sandwiches, even if I have to get deli turkey!

NO NO NO

**********

Sandy's Cranberry Ginger Sauce YES YES YES

ingredients

16 ounces fresh cranberries, picked over and rinsed

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup fresh orange juice

1 /4 cup finely chopped crystalized ginger

Finely grated zest from 1 orange

1/2 c. toasted pignola nuts or slivered almonds (but pine nuts are best)

preparation

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the berries pop open, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Skim foam off the surface with a metal spoon and discard. Cool to room temperature. (Add nuts just before serving or they turn red!) Refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 months.

And since I am sot of talking about cooking today, or at least thinking about it, I have a video for you.

Love this TED talk- my favorite quote from it: "If you can cook, nothing will happen to you!"

And so, because it's bright and sunny and I don't go outside, I am headed for the dark and cozy studio to wallow in my messy ways until Bocce time, which, if god is good today, will be cancelled for weather.

(I know I should put a piece of tape over the comma key! And probably the exclamation key too.)