my other job.....

I just got home from my other job - I'm exhausted - it's a very physical job, but one I love. My dearest friend Lisa and I have done window display and art installations together for the past four years. We just finished the display work at the 'Delucca', Lisa's hair salon, for December. I can never get very good pictures of the window because of all the glare inside and out, but this one was so fun, just had to share. Lisa comes up with an idea then we just knock it out on the fly which is the fun part - we never know how it's going to turn out - People wait every month to see what we are going to do. Always alot of street traffic stopping and giving us a thumbs up. The first two pics are of the window display.


this first one is from the inside......



and this second one from the outside.......



and finally I finished another painting.....




this is mixed media on board 24x24 - 'She Took Her Second Chance'

have a great week everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving.......

The snow came yesterday. I'm not a fan. FB was absolutely alive with snow reports from friends all around the area. A state of giddiness seemed to prevail. I was not giddy. It causes all sorts of disruptions and extra challenges I would rather not deal with. By the time the storm finally blew itself out, we had almost a foot of snow on the ground. Sigh. It's just cold and extremely difficult to get around - yesterday I wore two sweaters, two pairs of socks, my dads old fingerless gloves and actually worked in the studio and finished a painting. I could see my breath the whole time. The only reason I can think of that I did that was because the part of my brain that sends me all the messages about living in a reasonable manner was frozen and not functioning. I'm still not warm. Today Jim and I had to go in search of pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Nightmare. Not the roads, but the grocery store. It was teeming. We got a parking place and very carefully made our way across the icy parking lot , found a cart and entered the chaos. Everyone was on a mission. It was a huge traffic jam of people and carts. 'Excuse me', 'oh, sorry', 'thank you', 'uh oh', 'excuse me', 'oh, hi', 'uh, no I'm not doing theatre anymore', 'right', 'good to see you too', 'who was that?', 'can't remember his name', 'excuse me', etc., etc., etc........the photo below is our backyard.



and here is the painting I finished yesterday - after I posted it on flickr someone said it reminded them of straw and ice - very good interpretation....




this is mixed media on paper on board 10x10 - 'She went too Far'

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

domino effect.......

It's cold here. Just a few leaves are left on the trees. The days are short and I find the idea of changing from pj's into work clothes is really just a habit that helps me keep track of time - when I have my work clothes on, then it's daytime even if it's pitch black outside - when I have my pajamas on, then it's night time. I drink alot of tea this time of year. My favorite right now is Cocoa Chai Tea - I think I like the name more then the tea. As I was heating water to brew up a cup, I decided I needed to stretch my back (since the dampness is back, so are my aches) and as I was bending over to stretch it out, I saw something - upside down peering between my legs the bottom of the refrigerator came into view - what was that? Geez, when was the last time I ran a vacuum cleaner hose over the vent at the bottom - UGH - thank god the teapot whistled that my water was hot -

I finished the painting that I posted about last week. This is it -



mixed media on paper on board 24x24 titled 'She Wasn't Sure' - hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

thankful........

As I pushed my cart through the store today, picking up a few groceries, I was bombarded with all the special food items now lining the shelves for the holidays. Boxes of prepared dressing mix, cans of cranberry sauces, special dinner wines, exotic fruits and vegetables, specialty cheeses, roasting pans, basters, new holiday cook books, and on and on and I happily thought to myself, I don't have to cook a single holiday meal this year! It kept me smiling for hours after. I love being the invited guest who brings just one special thing and helps with the clean up afterwards in someone else's kitchen. I'm thankful already.
I did finish this painting today. The starkness of outside appears to be planting itself on my surfaces.



This is mixed media on board - 'She Said Eventually'

and it begins......

FINALLY! I'm back to work in the studio. It's been almost a month since I've been able to spend time working. The photo above is a work in progress. A starting point to get back into the rhythm that develops when I start showing up on a regular basis. As always, a bit awkward trying to get started. Finally I just put my blinders on, grabbed a board that I had collaged paper onto last month and made the first marks. I could feel the tension starting to release as I worked. The light is so different now. The sun, when it's out, getting so low in the sky. My little heater on next to me. A scarf around my neck now. The darkness coming as I decide to finish up for the day. Hot tea instead of cold water. It's all good.......

NY

Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art - NY

I'm very lucky! Those of you who have had the pleasure of actually meeting face to face with people you originally met online in blogland will know what I mean. I was in NY last week. I spent time with two friends I met online and one new friend. It was last year at about this same time in NY that I met face to face with Daryl from Out and About in NY - Daryl is an amazing photographer, has great energy and we clicked right away last year, so this year I was eager to hook up and cover more ground with her. We had dinner together two of the nights I was there and the talk was nonstop. Also last year I met Lyn from Two Ghosts. Lyn is an artist in many areas - visual art, writing and the art of life - She met me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in her neighborhood. It's Disneyland for artists. It was a magical day and ended up in Central Park sitting in the sun watching NY go by. Then this year I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Seth Apter, whose blog, The Altered Page, has just been picked up by a publisher to go into book form.. We had breakfast together and talked nonstop (I believe actually, I talked nonstop). It was wonderful and next year we plan a day of doing some art together. Check out their blogs. You won't be disappointed. I'm very lucky! I highly recommend making the effort to meet face to face.

Metropolitan Museum of Art - NY

I don't need to say NY was wonderful. It's my yearly treat to myself. I'm filled up again and eager to get back to work. I'll be back later in the week with some new work to show. And a side note. I flew Frontier Airlines this year. Their motto should be "WE APOLOGIZE". My list is too long to go into right now. Have a fabulous week.