yum

Loot from my monthly Asian grocer trip. Our family goes through the red (& panang) curry like crazy. I always love the packaging.

( Hello Jenny if you are reading this! Wish you could've come too.)

what a life...

Since winter here is so beautiful, we spend lots of time in the backyard on a cozy blanket or two. Usually I'm the one on the blanket actually, while Enzo plays like a wild boy (sword fighting the trees/plants, "fixing" the fort, chasing/being chased by Clementine and basically running around like the maniac he is.) Yesterday after drinking some fresh squeezed orange juice (the oranges were actually on our tree 20 minutes prior) I got this picture of the two of them and I just love it. Their bodies, similarly posed, stayed like that for just a moment and they were off again, running.

Before & After

I found this stool at a yard sale with my mom for $5 about a year ago and have been looking for the perfect fabric to cover it since then. I found it but unfortunately ikea doesn't ship it, so my sisters friends' (Wendy--thank you so much for orchestrating this!)co-worker was nice enough to get it for me on her recent trip there.I like the way it came out.

On another note, I recently discovered my yahoo account has gone haywire. If you have emailed me w/in the last few months there is a really good chance I deleted it and never read it. I've always automatically deleted my Bulk Folder without even looking at what it was. Apparently a big mistake--when I checked into my other account, there in the bulk folder sat MANY legitimate emails. I guess my account has been randomly throwing emails into the Bulk. I'm usually a good responder so if you have emailed me and never gotten a response, please try again...I'm on top of it now. I really hate the thought of having missed even one.

dinosaur dreams

I propped this against a jar (right next to my palette) to take a picture. As I leaned back with camera in hand it fell forward , face first into the wet paint. What a mess it was! I ran over to the sink and rinsed it quick and only had to do a little fixing. Thank goodness for acrylic.

*I started this as an illustration for IF's theme:Theory. I had the boy with his eyes open, thinking of a "theory". I couldn't think of a theory for him, so now he's dreaming. Good intentions count, right?

"something shroomy"

I am now the lucky recipient of an Amy Ross original collage! I had sent Amy a couple of those mushroom ornaments I made around Christmas since she liked 'em so much. Being the sweet and kind person she is, she insisted it be a "shroom swap". Friday, I opened my mailbox to be greeted by this beautiful birdshroom original.
Amy has a wonderful blog that does a great job articulating the process of an artist. She takes her readers through the many facets of being a professional artist; from "sketching", creating, fixing and finally installing her work in some of her many shows. (And lots of stuff in between.)
I am so happy to have met her...thanks Amy!

P.S. As for my last post, my image was finally pulled :)

bummer

Yesterday, a close friend sent me a link, wondering what was the deal. I went to the site and my stomach dropped. An image of mine, artwork I had produced had been slightly altered and sent to Post Secret.(UPDATE: It has now been taken down!) I now know who sent it and know their intentions were not malicious. It's just the fact of seeing something you made, that was posted as their main picture (because of the image, not the words)....it's really unsettling. I just don't like it at all. It feels unfair that I had no say. I've since tried to email "Frank" the guy who runs postsecret and have yet to receive any response. I'd ideally like it down from the site and not published in their books. What a bummer.

I'm tying up some projects and am feeling somewhat disenchanted with the internet, so I'm going to take a week off from here.

On a lighter note, life is good. Thanks to my sister Ali, there's now a swing in the lair and plans for a tire swing. And it is beautiful out today! See you next week......

(The above image is some newly thrifted plates.)

the fair

Went to the fair this week. Enzo the Fearless went on every ride the height requirement would allow. I ate all the french fries my belly would hold. Saw a long lost friend. Pet some sheep. It was nice.
Kind of a boring post, will try harder next time. :)

Also wanted to say thank you to Maria who surprised me with a beautiful (hand developed!) print of a photo I had told her I liked. So thoughtful and so nice to get unexpected gifts in the mail. Thank you.

The Lair

We have a Lair. OK, Enzo and his Aunt Cassidy (my sister--she's twelve) have a Lair. Most people would probably call this kind of thing their "fort" but Enzo dubbed it the Lair and that's what has stuck. I love this Lair so much. Had I been a child when this section of woods was cleared out for hangin' out I would have taken up residency for good. I still might. The Lair has a "living area" which is a room sized area that has been cleared with a couple of chairs and contains the "soup pot" (it's also where that little hanger guy is located). Then it has a main path that runs up, down, around and through this big section of woods (it's a really long, fun path). It is beyond cool. Cassidy and her friends (and Enzo) have done the majority of the clearing out while I have taken it upon myself to do the signs and hanger guys. We have big plans too. We, I mean They are going to get a tarp up over the living area, more clearing, some more chairs, etc.. And of course, some more signs, maybe more hanging guys (where else are they going to hang their stuff!?!).
I love this Lair.

a collection

Nothing new to show...I'm working on things but no results just yet. So instead I thought I'd show off my much valued (only by me) antique minnow/frog harness collection. My most favorite is on the top left, second one in. This seems a little like Show and Tell, but I guess that's essentially what blogging is.