Glitter Bones

Parrot Games

2010-10-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

I struggled with uploading this video. Blogger wouldn't upload it so I had to do it through YouTube. Fortunately YouTube can be set to make uploads private. I don't want random strangers making offensive comments on my video. Almost every time I look at a video I see those kinds of comments. At least here I have some control! I am not very happy with Blogger. I don't like the way the photo uploads work. There should be a way to designate where you want them to go without fiddling with the code. And there should be a way to upload a bunch like there is in Facebook. Well, maybe there is and I just haven't found it.

I think I am making a lot of progress with Calvin. She is out of her cage for several hours a day, but of course I have to babysit her because a free-range parrot is not something you want in your house. Unless you plan on a general "distressing" of all your wooden furniture and belongings, not to mention the hurling of objects and breakage. Imagine a toddler with wings and a beak like a pair of pliers and you see what I mean. At least she can stay in a cage without child protective services coming to investigate! Of course a playpen is sort of like a cage, I guess! I really enjoy living with an African Grey. If you read about parrots you will be scared ever to have one--most of the information out there makes it sound as if it is very difficult. They are noisy, messy, destructive, demanding; they live many years. I suppose those things are true to an extent but none of it really bothers me. She isn't that noisy, actually. We have a big house anyway.

I have been having a bit of "clear out" as the British say--I finally feel ready to get rid of a lot of my clothes. It's been a year and a half since I stopped teaching and I realize I am not going to wear 90% of my clothes ever again. Some friends advised me against it, saying well, you never know--you might have a job again and want to wear them, but I seriously doubt it. I no longer feel any attachment to them nor interest in clothes generally, which is quite a miracle--I never thought I wouldn't care! It's a good feeling and will feel even better when they are actually gone from my house.

In addition to playing with Calvin I worked on a frivolous little painting on Thursday, our rainy day. I brought my paints to the kitchen counter so I could watch Calvin and hang out with her.

Fall Flowers, Part II

2010-10-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

And here is another woven piece I've been working on. With a watercolor on gessoed organdy attached.

Fall Flowers, Part I

2010-10-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

The flowers this fall have been especially beautiful. Lots of repeats on the roses and the colors of the annuals seem to deepen as the days get shorter. I photographed them in the early morning light, which shows them off well, I think. I'm wondering if this late show is a result of the midsummer heat and subsequent dormancy of a lot of the plants? Who knows. But carpe diem, because it could freeze any day now.

Part II tomorrow...

Rainy Days

2010-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been gloomy and rainy, though today has been a bit less wet. I did manage to get out and run before we got a shower this morning. I saw several V's of geese flying overhead. Some were not quite V's; I think there was a lack of leadership.

The kitties and Calvin have enjoyed these rainy days because I have been inside most of the time. There's been lots of racing around and smashing of various items (mainly Crim's doing, the breakage, anyway) and some warm lap-sitting. Calvin has enjoyed throwing her toys around and shredding her newspaper and chewing on the antique Chinese bench. She has been out of her cage a lot. I tried to show her how to play with her new toy, which consists of a white box with slots, into which she is supposed to put colored plastic disks. However she finds it more entertaining to hurl the disks to the floor along with the plastic box. Her approach to things is rather aggressive and she doesn't always seem to have the best of intentions. Meaning: she tries to bite.

I've been working on another fabric-strip weaving project; I find the process very meditative. But today I will show you a small art quilt I have been embroidering slowly. I printed a watercolor I did on silk.

I am listening to David Gray today, mostly White Ladder. Jan often says what she is listening to and she has turned me on to most of the music I am currently enjoying. I am most grateful!

Reverse Applique Experiments

2010-10-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

I am sure most fiber artists are familiar with Alabama Chanin, the cottage industry created by Natalie Chanin featuring her signature reverse applique with cotton jersey. Her books are wonderful not just for the projects but also for a taste of history and culture of the rural south. Having lived in Alabama I can vouch for the lively folk art and story-telling traditions that are a part of everyday life in some areas. In fact, the best art festival I have ever attended was in Northport, Alabama, across the river from Tuscaloosa. It is called Kentuck and the folk art is amazing. Some of the artists are definitely a bit crazy and there is lots of art inspired by rather apocalyptic religious visions, something that the anthropologist in me finds fascinating.

Anyway, I digress. I have done reverse applique before, having been inspired by Panamanian molas, but with the recent focus on Natalie Chanin's work I have gone back to it. I am using felt on a velvet background. The advantage of felt (like jersey) is that you don't have to worry about turning the edges under as you do with regular reverse applique done with woven fabrics. I have never really taken to working with cotton jersey (or any knit, for that matter) so using felt is more to my taste and is similarly easy to work with.

I was going to make a cuff from the green piece (the orange one is not finished) but now I am considering incorporating it into a larger assemblage of reverse appliqued patches. I enjoy letting the process unfold!

Here is a piece I bought at the Kentuck Festival in 2000. It is a papier mache rattle. I just love this kind of folk art, and anything that has a slightly morbid or scary tone appeals to me! I have a very cool devil mask from Mexico but I haven't displayed it in this house because it really creeps Shreed out. And that is no small feat since he is as level-headed and non-superstitious as they get!

Today is a perfect October day: blue sky, crisp air, warm sun, spicy smell of leaves and late flowers. Good day to be in the garden and I just received my fall bulbs. I always overbuy and am exhausted by the time I get them all planted!

Some seasonal, some not-so-seasonal, some random...

2010-09-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few photos with you today. We're into some beautiful fall weather; actually it is very warm for this time of year, but with climate change who knows what's normal anymore? Nobody I've talked to anywhere has had a normal summer! But in any case I got a good crop of gourds and some squash, though nowhere near the harvest of winter squash I had last year. I suspect that the gourd plants took over. The winter squash I got are called Lakota (the teardrop-shaped ones) and the other green pumpkin-shaped ones are kabocha. Anita gave me the Lakota seeds and the squash are tasty but out of five plants I got three squashes. The plants were very vigorous too--so I don't know what happened.

Gourds are fun to use as fall decor and even more fun placed on cats. Here is an unusually willing participant.

What's not in season is this Amaryllis. I had them outside all summer and pretty much neglected them. In the past the ones I coddled have not bloomed so I guess this is what I have to do. Not exactly a Christmas amaryllis though. In Alabama we had them outside in the garden. They bloomed in spring.

I really like how this photo of Duckie turned out. She is such a sweetie-pie. However she does think that Edwina the peahen is her mate and Edwina is not pleased to be the focus of Duckie's attentions.

Here are some little zippered bags I made this summer. These are quick, fun projects. The purple one is made from a beautiful hemp fabric from Southeast Asia.

Happy Autumnal Equinox

2010-09-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is a special first day of fall because it also coincides with the full moon, known as the Harvest Moon this time of year. Today in the newspaper there was an article about how the hot and relatively dry summer will interfere with the fall leaf color. I had to chuckle a little because every year the paper has an article about how the fall foliage won't look as good this year, though the reasons are always different: too cold, too wet, too hot, too dry, frost too late, frost too early, nights too cold, nights not cold enough, etc. etc. When I was a child the summers were warmer, the winters snowier, the spring earlier, and the fall more colorful! Indeed! But no matter what the fall is always beautiful here, poor predictions or not!

Jan's blog has a picture of her dog Rocky looking very uptight and dignified. I have a similar picture here of RicRac. I bet they would be buddies.

Sad

2010-09-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

The three little peas disappeared yesterday. I was leaving for a lunch date around 11:40 and got two-thirds down the driveway and discovered them heading towards the road. So I got out and herded them back, ended up being 20 minutes late to my friend's place. We were having such a great conversation about politics but I had to cut out early because the vet was coming to check Levi. I didn't see the little peas when I got home, but as Jessica drove up the driveway they were running along in front of her van. I was busy with the vet call, obviously, so I didn't see where they went. Shortly after Jessica left (Levi is doing well) I had to go out and didn't have time to look for the little peas. When I got back at dusk they were not in the barn. I got the flashlight and searched the whole way down the driveway on both sides of the tall grass, but it was a lost cause.

When Shreed got home he tried to reassure me that they could survive overnight, that it wasn't certain something would prey on them. But today there is not a sign of them or a sound--their whistles carry pretty far. I feel awful. They're just little babies. This brings to TEN the number of birds we've lost since July 12. It's crazy. I wake up in the night and feel so sad and worried that I can't sleep. This is the painful part of having so many animals. There is no way to avoid loss in this life, and the only way to avoid the sadness that goes with it is to practice nonattachment. I'm never gonna get there--might as well admit it. I do accept it though--mostly because there's no choice.

We also got some news yesterday that Shreed's roommate from our university days has died of cancer. Both of us are in a state of disbelief. We hadn't been in regular contact over these many years (he was Greek and was living in Athens, teaching there), but somehow you always think you'll see those people again--someone who was that important at a major stage of your life leaves an indelible mark, even if you haven't seen him for many years. One other member of our larger group of friends died in a diving accident some years back, but this is the first death due to illness. Someone our own age. I can only imagine what my parents feel about their friends.

Nick was such a character. A real slob and the kind of guy who would pick up mattresses on garbage day so that an endless stream of Greek guys would be sleeping at the house. A sarcastic sense of humor but loyal and good.

Here is a picture from 1986. Shreed is furthest to the left. Nick (the friend who died) is next to him. Our good friend Paddy is the other Indian guy, with the beard. He lives in Spain, but he visits and he and Shreed skype.

I wasn't going to write about sad stuff in my blog, but hey, it's reality--life is good and fun, but sad and painful too. They're interconnected and we should all remember that. If you have an old friend you haven't talked to in a while, maybe you should call him or her.

A Perfect September Morning

2010-09-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

It doesn't get much better than this: cool fragrant morning air, crystal cloudless sky, calm, just a hint of autumn color on the mountains. Even for someone who lives for summer and feels crushed when it ends, a day like this is glorious. I had a very easy run, the kind that makes you feel as if you could keep going forever. Yesterday I just went for a walk. I have some sort of irritating minor cold virus I think--the inside of my right cheek feels as if it has been reamed out with a metal brush and that the handle of the brush is being pushed up into my cheek and ear. Rather a baroque image, I know. This started with a week-long nasty headache that I kept thinking was due to allergies, drinking kombucha, or some other environmental issue. I also had a strange feeling in my diaphragm as if I were wearing a very tight belt. Viruses are odd the way they can present very specific symptoms that don't seem to go together. But then you talk to someone else and they describe exactly the same set of sensations so you know it must be a germ. Enough about this. I don't think it is rabies, hanta virus, or tetanus.

Fall features the best riding weather. My mom always enjoyed riding this time of year. She always says the best feeling in the world is cantering bareback up a hill in the fall. There was a time when I never thought I would ever canter bareback. It took Anita to show me that the saddle was actually the biggest impediment to my riding. My body immediately responded once I got that heavy, stiff, leather chair off my boys' backs. It's kind of like trying to swim with all your clothes on. At least for me.

Levi had been going so well for me, not spooking nor dumping me in the dirt, trotting all the way around the hayfield without freaking out. This is no mean feat for any horse; riding in the open is much more challenging than a trail ride through the woods. Being able to see so far in all directions definitely increases the impulse to flee. Unfortunately he got injured Wednesday night/Thursday morning sometime; I discovered it when I went to feed Thursday morning. He has a cut under is right rear heel ball, but the vet believes it did not cut the tendon, though it may have cut the sheath. He is on two injections of penicillin a day and stall rest, as well as having to be re-bandaged every couple of days. As far as recovery time--it's hard to say at this point. The vet will check him again on Thursday and I should have a better idea then. He is putting some weight on it now so I am hopeful. This is the second episode of lameness for him this year after no problems for years. But it happens.

I want to tell you about my kombucha project. Kombucha is a drink made from fermented tea and sugar and is supposed to cure everything from ingrown toenails to cancer to existential angst. Being a very skeptical person I don't believe the hype but I like the taste and it beats drinking vinegar and water, which I used to do for the same sort of general health benefits. What I especially like about kombucha is its fizz. It has a very slight sweetness but is more like drinking a cross between cider and beer, without the alcohol content (though it does have a very tiny amount, a product of the fermentation process). I used to be a diet soda addict, which usually perplexes those who know me because I am such an earthy gal, as an old friend put it! But what can I say? I am a woman of mystery! Meaning we all have our vices. But not any more. About three years ago I gave up diet soda and now if I have any at a party or something I am just sickened by the artificial sweetener. Still, I like my bubbles, so I switched to seltzer with a tiny bit of fruit juice. In India there is a drink called fresh lime soda that I used to love. You can ask for it plain, with sugar, or with salt. It is just seltzer and a type of lime that looks like what we call a key lime and tastes like a cross between a lemon and a lime. Anyway it is very refreshing. That is sort of a tangent though.

I discovered kombucha a few years ago when a friend introduced me. It was just the thing. However it is available only at farmers' markets around here and during the winter I don't go much so I got out of the habit of drinking kombucha. Then late this summer I decided I wanted to start making it myself. What you need is a starter, like you do with sourdough bread. A woman who sells at the Boalsburg Farmers' market promised she'd sell me a SCOBY (stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) but she kept forgetting to bring it so I finally ordered one online for an inflated price. I followed the instructions that came with it but twice my kombucha failed to ferment and the SCOBY grew mold. Not good. I was very frustrated and was complaining to Anita. She told me that some Amish neighbors were selling kombucha and might be able to give me some tips. So I went over there and Mrs. Beiler told me that the kombucha has to ferment in the DARK, which the people who sold me the expensive starter failed to include in the instructions. So many people in the world who can't communicate simple instructions, let alone ideas. But let's not go there. Suffice it to say that my next batch of kombucha turned out wonderfully. Not only that but I bought some readymade kombucha from the woman who kept forgetting the SCOBY and discovered a baby SCOBY in the jar, which I then put to good use making another batch. Now I have made black tea kombucha and also made some delicious green/white tea drink as well. I am experimenting with flavoring it with herbal blends. I bought some from Teavana that included pomegranate and orange pieces as well as hibiscus flowers. Yum! Now I have a jug of green jasmine tea brewing. That should be interesting.

So now for pictures. This is what a brewed jar of kombucha looks like. You will note that it is a little cloudier than plain tea. The detritus at the top is the herbal blend I am using to flavor it. I put that in after I am finished brewing it and have removed the SCOBY so that the starter doesn't get flavored.

Here is the SCOBY.

I know, it looks like something that washed up on the beach, which if you were a child you might throw at your sibling. If you were brave enough to pick it up. Or perhaps it looks like it arrived too late for the transplant surgery. But trust me, as disgusting as it looks, it creates a wonderful brew. If you like beer or hard cider you would probably like kombucha.

I'll Try to Update You on my Summer, Part I of ????

2010-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

First, let me tell you that I had to enable comment moderation. I had dozens of Chinese spam comments, which I suppose must have been uploaded by a person because of the word verification protocol. I found that clicking on them brought me to porn sites. Needless to say I am not interested in that and if I could avoid everything made in China I would. I hope that after a while these people will go away and I can turn the moderation off. Blogger claims they have good spam detection but maybe I need to investigate further. Anyway, sorry about that. If anyone has experienced similar problems and has suggestions on how to deal with them other than enabling comment moderation, please let me know.

Now that's out of the way I can start talking about what happened this summer. I did work on some art and craft projects but to a lesser extent than during the rest of the year. I spent a lot of time in the garden and quite a bit of time in a funk, which I did not realize until I climbed up out of it. Otherwise I might have more to show for the last few months.

We had some new avian additions to the family. There are three two month-old peachicks, a female and two males, I believe. There was a fourth, but she died--I don't know why. We had some other heartbreaking bird losses due to predators, but I don't want to dwell on that. I'd rather discuss the good stuff. Recently I let the peachicks out to free-range, hoping that they will begin to thrive a little more--they are much smaller than the others were at this age. I had to raise them in a brooder and I can tell you from experience that the natural way is much, much healthier in every way.

We also have a new indoor avian family member! Her name is Calvin and she is a 15 year-old African Grey parrot. Her former family thought she was a male, and by the time they found out she wasn't the name had stuck. They had a baby and like many parents found themselves overwhelmed. So Calvin came to us. She doesn't like us very much yet and is very territorial about her cage, so she lets us hold her only when she is away from her cage. She talks a lot and takes food from us but doesn't like us to touch her. I hope she comes to like us, but as smart as Greys are I know it will take her some time to adjust.

I also want to show you some bracelets or wrist cuffs that I made this summer.

I worked on them quite a bit while we were up at the Adirondacks in early July. I posted these pics on Facebook some time ago so if you know me from there then you've seen them already. But I have to play catch up with the blog. As well as with everything else...

I'm Still Here!

2010-09-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long silence! Not that many people noticed (pause here for some self-pity). It's been a busy summer and for some reason I didn't feel like blogging but now with Fall coming I am going to be in the studio more and I think I will want to share more detail about my projects than what I can upload on Facebook. I have found the latter to be somewhat seductive due to the immediate gratification it provides--in terms of feedback, that is. A typical modern American, seeking instant affirmation!

I have been working on a few different things throughout the summer. Obviously with the farm I spend a lot more time outside in the garden and mowing and taking care of everything--in addition to soaking up the sun and fresh air. That has got to last me a good 7 or 8 months--I groan inwardly thinking of it. But this is the natural cycle and it's best just to find a way to synchronize oneself with it.

I began the piece below in late August, when I pinned it together. I left it for about 10 days to two weeks until I felt ready to focus again and then finished it quite quickly. I am not entirely sure I am finished with it but I am happy with how it looks at this point. I think it has a very spring-like appearance. Those are just the colors I like. The fabrics are very delicate and I weaved them together and then stitched them to a piece of an old sheet. The figure in the center comes from a watercolor I scanned and printed onto muslin. Not sure how I will display it but I feel certain that I want it to be a part of the show I will have this spring.

The inspiration comes from Jude who had an article in the last issue of Quilting Arts.

More Birds!

2010-05-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

So I don't think I blogged about this but my incubator failed to hatch the fancy bantam eggs I bought, so I thought I'd do another test drive with our own eggs, and after tinkering with the thermostat a bit I set three eggs in and almost forgot about them. Luckily I had written on my calendar when to remove the turner, so I did do that. Then on Sunday I was cleaning up in the basement when I heard a peeping coming from the 'bator. I looked in and behold! A fluffy yellow chick! I was amazed. The other two eggs had pipped.

Later I checked on the two eggs and was a bit concerned. I knew the humidity in the incubator wasn't as high as it should be and I was afraid of the membrane drying out and toughening such that the chicks could not break through it. So eventually I helped one chick out of the egg and within a couple of hours it was fluffy and alert.

I hesitated about the third egg. It only had a small hole and although the chick was peeping the egg had not been "zipped." It was around dinnertime then and I decided to wait until bedtime to see if the chick had made any progress. At 10 PM the chick still had just that small hole. I took a deep breath and started to peel off the shell. Just as I feared, the membrane had toughened and was stuck to the chick in several places, and in addition the chick was covered with goo from the yolk. I wasn't sure what to do about that but I left the weak chick in the incubator and decided to wait and see how it did. I did not have much hope it would survive the night.

The next morning I was surprised to see the chick was still moving and peeping, but the goo had plastered its down and it was clear that it was not going to fluff up on its own. So I took a wet washcloth and tried to wipe it off and remove a little piece of shell that was still stuck to its wing. I didn't succeed in removing the fragment but I set the chick back in the 'bator hoping that I had been able to remove the goo.

A couple hours later there was no change--the chick was still a sticky mess. Another deep breath. This time I held the chick under warm running water and gave it a shower. I put it back and waited, checked a while later. No luck. Still sticky. So I removed it again and this time put a few drops of baby shampoo on its body and lathered it a little. Rinsed the chick and put it back. A little time passed. Chick was still pretty much plastered with gunk. OK, plan D. Filled a bowl with water and some baby shampoo. Soaked the chick. Got the fragment of shell off, finally. Toweled it off and set it back in the heat. A while later... success at last! Except for the head, which I'd dared not wash, the chick was fluffy. But very weak. It still couldn't stand though it had a strong voice. I dipped its beak in water and sprinkled some feed for it and went to bed, not feeling very optimistic.

This morning the little bugger is hanging on! Still not standing up, but moving around as best it can. I took a dropper with a little sugar water and fed it. It was eager. I put a few sprinkles of feed on its beak. It swallowed them. Instead of lying on its side it is squatting. Things still do not look good for this chick but I'm a tiny bit hopeful. I'll say this for it: the chick is a fighter! No doubt Merle junior, if it survives!

Another Kitty and Misc.

2010-05-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I was actually quite productive--it was raining off and on except for Friday, which was very warm. In that week the weeds have grown as if they have been exposed to the Chernobyl blast so it will be tough to catch up. But anyway, since I don't weed in the rain I spent more time in the studio. I did a lot of different things.

I like to check out etsy for trends--sometimes to look for things I might like that I can do or make myself. Recently on another blog, an artist took umbrage at the people who look at art at, say, a craft fair and comment that "I could make that myself." Well, what creative person hasn't said that? Let's face it, not everything requires original genius, or reflects it. Anyway, I have noticed a number of people making plant markers out of spoons, and I decided to try this. So I went to the antique store and bought some silver-plated spoons. I basically pounded the crap out of them on the back deck and then began the finer touches on the surface. I cut out some images I liked and glued them down; then I applied many coats of varnish. I think I may stick them in pots where they may more easily be noticed than in the garden proper, which tends to become quite overwhelming in midsummer.

When I was doing the bird series earlier this year, my sister-in-law Lisa, to whom I gave one of the paintings I did, remarked that she wished she could find some cool vintage paper for me to paint on. I didn't find anything marvelous but I did purchase some dictionary pages and other ephemera. So I did this Indian kingfisher on a dictionary page, glued it to a piece of 6" by 6" gesso board, sprayed it with fixative, and then varnished it. I'm not sure how to affix the gesso board to the wall though. I guess it could be hung with one of those stretchy clamp-frames. Like the kind used to hang plates on a wall. Not sure.

Finally, another stuffed cat made from a cashmere sweater. Slowly my teaching wardrobe is being upcycled into stuffed animals and whatnot. A much better existence for it.

Keets, Peas, Kitties

2010-05-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been feeling rather ill. So yesterday evening I had dozed off on the couch. Suddenly I heard the peas making a fuss, so I went out to check and they were all by the car, screaming. Guess what?! Charlie was in the car!! I had left the hatch open while I was getting things out and I guess he went in and got comfy and then I closed it. I'm glad it wasn't hot!! Anyway thanks to peas for letting me know. It's the first useful thing they've done.

The keeters are now in the chicken yard with the rest of the avian gang. (See below: It's hard to get a good photo of Guineas--they really do have great camoflage.) After some initial bullying by peas and hens (mainly Loretta, whose behavior is proof of the adage that those who are abused grow up to be abusers!) things settled down and now there is a kind of detente, though the peas are keeping a close eye on everything. I don't mind as it keeps them out of my garden and away from my flowers, which they have a twisted and destructive desire to behead. They also like to pull plants out of containers and drop them next to the pot.

Another example of bad pea behavior: One morning last week I noticed Sushi staring intently at something on the back deck. I got up to see and there was a beautiful little yellow warbler just sitting there. I called to Shreed and just as he arrived a peahen stepped onto the deck and tried to attack the tiny warbler! Shreed ran out and shooed her away. He almost caught the warbler--it seemed sort of stunned but then flew away. I had no idea peafowl would attack like that. I have often seen them run towards small wild birds. But I always thought they were just curious rather than aggressive. I've started calling the peas "peavils"-- pea + evil.

Tofu continues to grow and to expand his mischievous activities. He has a toy monkey that he loves to carry around--that is when he is not harassing one of the other cats. Wabi is so hefty that when she slams him to the floor it looks and sounds like a WWF wrestling match. Tofu doesn't seem to care though. He keeps coming back for more. He also loves to jump on Crim's head. Crim is a very large, moody, somewhat deranged cat and I am always surprised at how tolerant he is of the little one. When Crim gets sick of being used as a punching bag he just meows unpleasantly and walks away. Of course Tofu's behavior is nothing compared to the tenacious and destructive behavior of Crim-kitten. We were convinced that little Milkweed (as he was named in the beginning) was actually an albino ocelot. He destroyed a very large jade plant and he chased Bella Janey all over until she was panting. And she weighed at least ten times what he did. Eventually Crim shredded the bottom of our box spring cover--he crawled up in there and I had to sew it shut using some heavy duty fabric and carpet thread --after I got him out, of course). It was like having a snow leopard cub in the house. Tofu is a mild mannered little cream-puff compared to that kitten!

Last week Daniel and Elam cut our hay. Extremely early this year! These guys below did most of the work:

Not in the Studio Lately

2010-05-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

As predicted, the gardening season has kept me outdoors and away from the studio. But that is OK--it's a different kind of creativity and I expect the seasonal change. We've had an early and warm spring (at least the first bit) but of late the weather has been crappy: rainy and cold. I take advantage of these days to get back to the studio.

I've been sewing again lately. I found this incredible vintage linen, more than 100 years old, that appears to be as strong and beautiful as it was when it was new. I also got hold of a W.W. II Russian letter that I scanned and printed on cotton. The letter had a nice tea-colored patina that came out well on the print. I though the linen called for neutrals to play up the texture of this amazing cloth.

My other project, started and completed this week, is made from a felted merino sweater. I love how this sweater (originally from J. Crew) shrank up and took on a crepe-like hand. Making stuffed animals may be my most favorite sewing "genre." And of course cats are my favorite subjects! One of my cashmere sweaters had a little pocket so I used that here. Incidentally, cashmere doesn't seem to felt all that well. Not sure why.

So these are my rainy-day efforts--one way to feel less blah when the weather keeps me in...

The icat

2010-05-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

The new icat plugs into your mini mac with a USB cable. It gets hair in your keyboard and types enigmatic sentences...

Catching Up and Thoughts on Mother's Day

2010-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

I guess I've neglected the blog for a while, for a number of reasons. Busy with other things. Ambivalent about blogging. I feel bad about not posting pictures of my tulips. I did take the pictures though and they're on Facebook, which seems to be my preferred means of communication lately: a pithy statement and a picture of an animal or bird. At least I know someone sees those truncated posts.

We have more birds. I sent for Cayuga ducklings and silkie chicks. Some of the silkie chicks have little bouffant hairdos. The one I picture here is a male, I believe, the bit of fluff on his head makes him resemble Kim Jong Il. Let's hope he is more benign. That would not be difficult.

Tofu and the keets are growing fast--they seem more adolescent than baby now. The keets are outside now though I've been a bit concerned with the low morning temperatures we've had lately--it was 28 this A.M. We protected the tomato and pepper plants and covered up the keets with blankets and a duvet, but I'm afraid we may lose strawberries and apples. Such is the life of a farmer! At least it's not our livelihood.

On Friday the mailman wished me happy Mother's Day. In our family we never observed the Hallmark Holidays--my family has always been rather iconoclastic. But the mailman's good wishes got me thinking. I was instantly pleased, and I am pretty sure he knows I have no children. But clearly he sees something maternal in me, and he's quite right. I am actually one of the most maternal women I know! I think we need to expand the idea of mother's day to include those women who don't have children but choose to nurture other forms of life. In some ways we might be considered more genuinely selfless because we choose to care for that which helps the planet instead of contributing to its ever-bulging population. Of course I don't mean to belittle mothers of children. Many have told me that it's the hardest thing they have ever done and I believe them. At least they have chosen it. Most women the world over have little choice in the matter.

Listening to Mark Knopfler now. The Get Lucky album. Beautiful album. Even better than the Dire Straits days, though I liked them too.

Garden Season and Copying

2010-04-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Is it mid-April already?? You see what's happened--gardening has indeed taken priority over art. Usually it doesn't happen so soon but we've had an early spring. Today it's 39 degrees and windy and rainy so I shall be indoors.

I have a boat to show you today, but I can't claim an original design--it's based on Ann Wood's tutorial. But I have always liked boats and made some when I was a kid. Thinking about Ann's tutorial and reading a blog post about copying got me thinking about intellectual property and art. Of course I dealt with plagiarism when I was teaching but it's not as cut and dried as people would like to believe, particularly in the arts. We'd all like to think that copiers get their just desserts but it's just not so. The internet has made the whole thing even more tangled and messy. I have come across artists whose work is very similar, but I doubt if one copied the other. Perhaps we just learn from one another. At least, much of the time. My boat is based on Ann's tutorial but not identical to hers. Does that mean I have the right to sell it or not? I'm not going to, but would it be wrong if I did? She says she doesn't want people to sell boats based on her design but could she really prevent it? I think that we are entering a post author/artist-as-owner society. It is becoming both easy to accuse but hard to prevent copying.

Well, I don't want to wander too far into that minefield. But I don't think that telling "copiers" to "jump off a cliff" is useful. And saying that you get really angry when you hear someone remark "I could make that" is disingenuous. We've all said that, I'll wager. You can see my comments to that post on the site, if you are curious.

I think people don't like to read my blogs because I make contentious remarks. I'm not warm and fuzzy enough. Oh well, I've always been edgy, in every sense of the word.

More Better Keet Pictures

2010-04-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

I had Shreed take some more pictures of the keets. They are very skittish and apparently that is common for baby Guineas but I think I will work on taming them a bit. They have a total panic attack when they see my hand reaching for them!

In my new incubator I have Mille Fleurs D'Uccle bantam eggs. We will see how the incubator works. This is my first attempt at it. I probably should have tried it out with a few of our own eggs but I really couldn't stomach the idea of more Merles, possibly. I might get some real Auracana eggs from Anita. She has the rumpless tufted birds--not just the Ameraucanas that are more common (and of which we have two).

Raising birds is very addictive!

Springtime and a New Friend

2010-04-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

Since I last wrote spring has been upon us with few relapses into winter. It did not snow in March, which is just plain unheard of. It was the warmest, most pleasant March I can remember since I was a child. If every March were like this past month winter wouldn't seem half so bad.

Good weather means more time outside and less time in the studio or at the computer blogging. I have to admit I have become a Facebook regular as well. I never joined during the time I was teaching--I just didn't want to be there with all my students. But it's been a nice way to be in touch with friends from college and my cousins who live in Oregon, New York, and Egypt. And also friends who live just a few miles away.

I've been riding a lot and gardening, getting the plots ready for planting and I did get peas, lettuce, and chard in already. The chickens need to be locked up this weekend so that the plants can grow undisturbed. Chickens can be very hard on gardens, mostly because of their scratching.

Since I last wrote we've had a few additions to the family: some Guinea keets that arrived this week (The pictures of the Guineas were taken through the plastic brooder, so they're a little cloudy), and a little Siamese kitten named Tofu. He is an adorable little baggage and after being here two days slept quietly between us all night. He is a very noisy little kitten and very agile, true to his Siamese heritage. For my sixth birthday my parents gave me two Siamese kittens so I have a sentimental attachment to Siamese cats. Also, our beloved cat Tippy was a Himalayan, but not one of those pushed-in-face Persian types; he looked and sounded and acted like a long-haired Siamese of the old fashioned type. Tofu is also an old-fashioned, "applehead" Siamese, not the elongated Siamese with the wedge-shaped heads you see at cat shows. That type never appealed to me as much.

The other kitties' reactions vary from fear and loathing to curiosity, and I think that eventually everyone will get along. Surprisingly Sushi is the most afraid, which was totally unexpected--she has such a feisty personality. But you never know, I guess.

So our house is now a place of much peeping and meowing, with spring babies among us.

Fun with PanPastels

2010-03-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

Recently I heard about a new product called PanPastels, which was touted as being a superior form of pastels, more versatile. So being a pawn of advertising, I bought some to add to my ever-growing stash of art supplies. Soon I'll be able to open my own school. Anyway, I experimented with them this morning and wanted to share the results. Just a quick sketch on a square of claybord.

It HAS felt like spring!

2010-03-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

Yes indeed, we have had a very spring-like week, not at all March-like, though today it's pouring and in the low 40s. But it could be snow, which would be worse, believe me. I rode and ran all week, and played around with some oil paints. Doing those things makes a day close to perfect. If it were a little later and I were working in the garden too, it would be perfect.

Shreed came back from Norway yesterday and it's good to have him back; however, he is leaving this afternoon for a meeting in D.C. His Aunt Shanthi called while he was away and asked me if I had anyone to stay with me while he was gone. I usually get asked this by his family because being alone just isn't done in India. I think his mother has now accepted, however reluctantly, that I can stay here by myself. But it's taken her the better part of two decades!

I'm not going to show you my oil painting yet. This morning I found yellow ochre paw prints on my art table (and for a minute I was scared they were something other than paint) and so I had to go around and pick up all the cats and have Shreed inspect their paws. They struggled and were not pleased but we couldn't find anyone with yellowish paws who wasn't supposed to have them. So I decided to put this worry away in my "later" box. The paints are water based and are supposed to be nontoxic. I had worried about this very thing when I was contemplating oil paints. It's worse than hair in the palette.

These are the watercolors I've done this past week. Again they didn't scan very well. The red panda is much cuter than he appears here--you can see his little pink tongue. I paid only $30 for the scanner/printer combo so I guess I shouldn't expect too much.

Welcome, Dr. Aziz!

2010-03-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in several places that all my peas are hens (well, maybe one of the whites is a male) and so I decided that the girls needed a boyfriend. Enter Dr. Aziz. He comes from the same farm as the girls and I picked him up yesterday.

I think yesterday was possibly the worst day of Aziz's life. He was taken from the place he was hatched and put in a cat carrier (a large one, really dog-sized) and driven to an unfamiliar farm and placed in a chicken tractor where a bunch of other birds could gawp at him. The girls were just thrilled to their little topnots (poor Aziz has no topknot--the other male with him in his aviary pulled it out). They stuck their necks out and approached the enclosure slowly, then started to honk and even scream (sort of) which I had not heard them do before. Obviously they were excited to see another of their own kind.

Towards dusk I decided to put Aziz in the barn; he was panicking as I tried to grab him and got away and flew off to the hay field. My heart sank as I realized I would probably never see him again. But I spotted him in the hayfield and sneaked up on him--fortunately he did not fly to a tree (and there are none--that helps!) and after one miss I was able to pounce on him and I carried him back to the barn and placed him on the hay, where he stayed--poor thing was probably in shock from the worst day of his life so far. I closed up the barn and I hoped that in the morning he would be cheered by the sight of his five houris.

This morning I heard ruckus as I approached the barn, honking and screaming. Aziz was up in the rafters with the girls. He flew to the same rafter as one of them; they perched right next to each other. One of the whites flew down--I am beginning to suspect that one is a male. Sometimes the spurs take a long time to grow and he does seem bigger than the other white.

My hope is that Aziz, who is not used to being-free range, will stay with his new friends. I hope he doesn't fly off and take the others with him. Gene (the guy whom I got them from) advised keeping him confined for month or so. But I am gambing on the fact that as gregarious animals they will stick together and that the majority will rule. After all, if I got a new horse he probably wouldn't run away from my horses. Unless he took them for a joy ride! We shall see...

Dreamboat

2010-03-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

This is the guy my peahens are dreaming about. It appears that even the big white pea is a hen--no spurs. Can you believe it? Five peas and not a single boy? Of course when we had Blondie raise a brood of four chickens two ended up being rootards. Murphy's law, or something.

So this is a painting of the peacock of my dreams, and the peahens' dreams too, I'll wager. If you were to look at this painting in the sun you would see the shimmer of the twinkling H2Os. I may buy a peacock. There are a couple of them for sale locally. I know if I were to buy more eggs I'd probably get all girls again! Not that I don't love them. They are cute and silly and entertaining.

A Stinky Friend

2010-03-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last year at about this time we were visited by a skunk. Unfortunately I think that a few days later the neighbors shot it--I know they shot a skunk. Why? Because they are ignorant. Ignorant people can be very dangerous, and not just to animals. Skunks have very little fear of humans because they have very little fear of any predator. Sometimes that lack of fear is mistaken for abnormal behavior, which it would be in most species. As animals find their habitat being taken over by strip malls and tract mansion developments they will adapt to living near humans and their fear will decrease. This will be a mistake. It has already happened in some places with certain species.

On the PBS Nature program Sunday the focus was on skunks. Apparently they are no longer to be considered part of the weasel family but are a family all their own. Their scent glands contain two nozzles that can be directed with precise aim at a target. Pretty cool! A biologist who specializes in skunks and who rehabilitates them claims that he is not affected by the odor. To be honest I have never found it that unpleasant myself, though I do find it very strong. How interesting that some of us tolerate or even like the smells that others can hardly bear. For example, the odor of a privet hedge in bloom makes me gag and I have to hold my breath when I go by. My father, in contrast, likes that odor. He hates the fragrance of clary sage while I love to stick my face into the flowers and breathe deeply! A friend of mine always wears Diorissimo perfume and again I have a headache after spending a short time with her. But I used to like that perfume and even wore it myself. This belongs in the other blog, I guess.

I hope to see another skunk this spring and I will advise her to stick around on my property and not wander off.

Thanks for the Boost!

2010-03-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Jan and Eileen, for your comments on my lonely blog! I hadn't meant to disparage your support, Jan. You've been such a good friend it's hard to believe we haven't met in real life! You're right about commenting on others' blogs. I actually do look at a fair number of blogs, but most of them are written by Blog Celebrities who have countless admirers and no time for the small fry! Maybe I should form a support group for under-appreciated blogs.

There's a dusting of snow this morning; compared to our usual March snowfalls it is nothing (it's not unusual to get 2 or 3 feet this time of year). Nevertheless I am impatient for spring. Seeing those photos of daffodils in Oregon makes me insanely jealous!! The other day I thought I saw a crocus shoot sticking out of the ground where the wind had rendered the surface free of snow. But yesterday when I looked again I couldn't find it. Probably one of the peas ate it.

Speaking of peas, it appears they are all hens. One of the white ones could be a male--it's a bit hard to tell. I never knew that both males and females strut so when I first saw them fanning each other I thought they were males. So far nobody has started calling "MAO MAO" to blow my socks off. I can't seem to get answers to my questions about when they start calling and if hens do it too. It seems there is no peafowl handbook and the websites don't answer my questions--they seem to cover diet and building aviaries, things like that. I may buy a male from a guy in the valley who has a pied a couple of months younger than mine. This peacock is tame, which would be a plus. The guy I bought my eggs from has a couple of males he might sell so I'm waiting to hear from him. His prices are a bit lower than what the guy here is asking.

Yesterday I went to Home Depot to buy seed-starting mix and pots. I was pounced on by about six employees. The store was empty and they must have been bored out of their minds. Across the road is a Lowe's, which was built last year after a Lowe's about half a mile away was torn down. I don't understand this. How many home improvement stores do we need? And I can't understand tearing down a store that was built 15 years before and relocating to a piece of undeveloped land. More and more strip malls are being built around here when most of the existing shopping centers have about a third of their space unrented. I just don't get why State College can't learn from other towns and cities that have made the mistake of allowing uncontrolled sprawl. The town is in the hands of developers and real estate people. There are also more banks in State College than anywhere else I've ever been.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand: seed-starting. I had not planned to start any seeds this year because every time I do it I end up losing all the plants after I set them out. Last year I think I went through 5 sets of tomato plants and finally after seeing the last set through the vulnerable stage all the tomatoes got blight. But Shreed really wanted me to start some seeds and I have tons from last year. Fine, I told him, let your heart be broken. I'm not going to get attached. Right.

Enjoy a random cat picture as that's my default illustration. Crim checks all the plumbing every morning--he's so conscientious! Shreed is in Norway so Crim has to be the man of the house.

White Throat and Cerulean Warbler

2010-03-02T12:14:00.001-08:00

When I paint birds that have a lot of white or pale colors they do not scan well. These were not entirely successful. Birds with a lot of mottling or bands of subtly colored feathers are a challenge to depict. So the best approach is to keep practicing.

The white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) is very common around here. Their song is familar to most: "Peabody peadbody peabody!"

The Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) is native to North America and winters in South America. According to Wikipedia, "In fragmented forest areas, this bird is vulnerable to nest parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird. This bird's numbers are declining faster than any other warbler species in the USA; its population nowadays is less than one-fifth of what it was 40 years ago." I'm learning a lot by painting these birds; not all of it is uplifting knowledge.

Sorry for the Silence...

2010-03-02T05:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter because no one reads my blog anyway! Two-plus years of attempts to be clever and entertaining, wonderful pictures, writing skills that exceed those of 99.9% of the people out there blogging... all that equals no readership. Why can't my experience be like Julie Powell's in Julie and Julia? Oh well, I'm probably too much of a snob and it shows. Someone whose blood pressure rises at a misplaced apostrophe probably deserves to be in Bloglandia Incognita. But why are people writing things like "Puppy's for sale, good temperment, get's along with kids"? Once I asked one of my students why he introduced an apostrophe into a word when he was copying a sentence from an exercise manual (I gave that up soon enough). He just shrugged. He didn't know.

Contrary to what most people might think, grammar does matter. If you only had shorts and tee shirts in your closet you wouldn't be a very competitive candidate in an interview at a bank. Standard grammar doesn't matter in every situation, but it's nice to be able to choose to use it if you need to. But I'm probably wrong. People wear shorts and tee shirts everywhere now; no one cares.

I hadn't intended to lecture on grammar. As Shreed says, "You're an English teechur." We share a good laugh over that. I am actually an anthropologist.

February is a hard month to blog through. The risk is that the posts will all be complaints. I don't like winter and for those who dislike it February is usually the worst. We had lots of snow this month but not as much as DC or Philadelphia. Of course those folks could enjoy the novelty, though I am sure that wore off pretty quickly.

Life on the farm goes on--Levi has sore feet, which is my fault, and the boys are all on a diet. My hay was too rich, which was a fear I had from the beginning when Daniel told me what he wanted to plant. Of course his horses and mules work hard and mine sit and watch TV and drink beer.

Kitties are all fine: last month's highlights (lowlights?) were when one of the peas crapped on Charlie (he's still got the remnants of guano on his back after 2 weeks), when Sushi dragged one of my dresses down two flights into the basement, and when someone unplugged the router and caused me a painful internet-free day.

Birds are fine. I have more Merle scars. It looks like I had smallpox, at least on my shins.

Happy March. The month when we hope spring will come, but never does. Maybe this year...

Purple Martin

2010-03-01T08:29:00.000-08:00

The first bird of March is a Purple Martin (Progne subis), a member of the swallow family, as you probably know. Swallows always look like they're having so much fun when they fly around.

I am pleased with how this turned out. The Daniel Smith Primatek watercolors are made from real minerals and I can testify that they are worth the expense. I used real amethyst in this painting and I love the effect. The blue is from my Twinkling H2O set.

I hadn't planned on going beyond February in the Bird Series but I will continue until I don't feel like it anymore. What will probably happen is that when the gardening season is really underway in another month to six weeks I will be painting less. I know spring comes in just three weeks but it really doesn't arrive here until another 4-6 weeks. I always seem to fool myself into thinking spring comes in March but around here it never does.

American Avocet

2010-02-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

So the final bird of the February series is the American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana). It's a shore bird that makes its home on the Pacific coast and on the shores of lakes in the Midwest.

I had a lot of trouble with this painting. First of all, SOMEone has been walking all over my art table and leaving fur on my palette. Probably more than one culprit. So every time I put the brush to paper I was adding cat hair to the painting. That just infuriates me but I can't bring myself to make the studio off limits. Then I smeared the eye after carefully adding it with a tiny brush. So I had to rub that bit out and the texture of the paper is changed by rubbing. Then I ripped the bottom of it as I removed it from the block. And then it didn't scan well. But I can't be happy with every painting.

Today I was feeling a bit better after feeling awful yesterday. Shreed left for Norway yesterday as well and with the weather awful and him gone and feeling extremely tired and headache-y I was not in a good mood. But today I strapped on a pair of borrowed snowshoes and traipsed across the fields and down into ravines and patches of woods and watched the sky, which was very dramatic and spring-like. Being out definitely lifted my mood so I think I am going to buy a pair of snowshoes. Snowshoeing is very good exercise.

Paradise Flycatcher

2010-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

I like this painting. It was pretty much the only worthwhile and positive thing I did today. It was a crappy day--wind and snow--the guy we paid $100 to plow our driveway got stuck and gave up. I wouldn't have given him the full amount but Shreed did. He left for Norway with his project still up in the air due to last-minute actions of the Norwegian government. I had a terrible headache all day and did only the minimum; felt useless...

...Except for this bird, which comes in both Asian and African varieties. I think this little dude is very cool. He has an attitude--you can tell. Flycatchers are little birds with big 'tudes.

Great Egret with Fish

2010-02-26T07:43:00.000-08:00

Here is another "nature red in tooth and claw" painting. I scanned this and wasn't happy with the resulting image: all my shading on the neck and head was virtually invisible. So I photographed it as well and will include both images here. This is the Great Egret (Ardea alba) also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret. You see lots of these in Florida. The neck on this birds is incredibly long and thin. I'll have to do a painting of the whole bird to show its graceful body.

Though I dislike Florida in general I sort of almost wish I were there today. The wind has been gusting up to 40 knots and our driveway has blown completely closed again. It is snowing horizontally. Enough!

Great Kiskadee

2010-02-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) is a member of the Tyrant Flycatcher family. I like that classification. This feisty guy lives in Texas on south down to Uruguay. He reminds me a little of a loggerhead shrike. I used to see shrikes daily when we lived in Alabama. I used to run around the cemetery in downtown Tuscaloosa--there weren't many good places to run in that place--the few sidewalks were broken and heaved up and covered with trash. I recall when we first moved there a realtor was driving me around, and as I sunk deeper and deeper into despair she said, by way of cheering me up, no doubt, "We have very low property taxes!" "I can see that," I replied.

Anyway, the shrike and a very bad-tempered mockingbird were my company at the cemetery. The mockingbird mama would actually attack me each time I passed her nest, hitting me on the top of the head. They don't make 'em like that up here in the north. These mockingbirds got no heat. Did you know they sing all night down south? This is not supposed to be about mockingbirds, though I should try my hand at one of those.

Kingfisher

2010-02-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is a Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting), indigenous to India and other parts of South Asia. In India one of the most popular beers is called Kingfisher, and Indian beer comes in bottles the size of wine bottles here. I recall my first trip there and how much of a surprise that was when we ordered beers all around! Of course the idea is that you would share--an interesting cultural phenomenon compared to the American way of drinking. Speaking of such, there is a fascinating article in the most recent New Yorker about culture and drinking. Since this is a much-discussed topic in the area dominated by Penn State (and a very tedious discussion it has become, in my opinion) I found the article quite fascinating. I reflected that I might have missed the mark as an anthropologist, and might better have studied drinking games among an ethnic group. Too late now! I don't enjoy alcohol, and participant observation is a must for anthropologists.

Birds in Paint and Cloth

2010-02-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lest you think I have abandoned my textile art completely I want to show you a current project. I actually took this piece to Italy with me last summer with the resulting TSA Bead Debacle, when the clowns charged with protecting us from people with bombs in their underwear decided to search my luggage. Having found the tin cannister of beads in my checked luggage, they opened it, but being ever-so-competent, neglected to put the lid back on. Among the beads scattered throughout the bag was a friendly note from the TSA, explaining that my bag had been searched and that I could call if I had any questions. Yes, I do have a question. Why are you such a moron? Shreed is still picking beads out of that suitcase every time he travels.

In any case I have strayed from the point. This piece started out as a watercolor painting that I scanned onto silk, and then applied to this piece of silk/wool blend that has a wonderful sheen and drape. I have continued to add to it and recently cut up a quilt I didn't like (You can see it here) and recycled bits onto this piece. I like having this to work on but the desire for immediate gratification comes from my painting, which, as I have said, takes very little time.

So here we have a Red-legged Seriema (Cariama cristata). Before you start in on the colors again, pointing out that the legs are, in fact, orange in this painting, I will tell you that this is what the photograph showed, and i can't help it if the person who named this bird couldn't tell red from orange. This bird lives in the grasslands of South America. I like her whiskers.

Spoonbill Again, Fantasy hummingbird

2010-02-22T07:36:00.000-08:00

I decided to do another spoonbill, this time in his habitat. I'm starting to do a few backgrounds. This where the masking fluid will come in handy, I think. Haven't tried that yet in this type of composition.

The hummingbird started out as a real species, but then I decided to give him a little extra color. I thought I should jazz him up a little.

Can you believe it's less than a week until March? Every year I have to remind myself that March is actually pretty much deep winter in this climate, despite the equinox. But hope springs eternal, as they say. Or Spring's hope eternal. Eternal hope of Spring. Whatever!

Another Sunbird and a Scarlet Ibis

2010-02-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

Here is another colorful sunbird, the olive backed, Cinnyris jugularis, also known as the Yellow-bellied Sunbird. The latter seems a better moniker. Its habitat is in southern Asia to Australia.

Yesterday I mentioned that the ibis is related to the spoonbill, so here we have a Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber). Here is an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: "While the species may have occurred as a natural vagrant in southern Florida in the late 1800s, all recent reports of the species in North America have been of introduced or escaped birds. Eggs from Trinidad were placed in White Ibis nests in Hialeah Park in 1962, and the resulting population hybridised with the native ibis, producing 'pink ibises' that are still occasionally seen." I know we saw ibises in the Everglades, but the white ones only."

I like this bird's expression; I think he's saying, "Dude. Put away the binoculars and hit the road."

Roseate Spoonbill

2010-02-20T08:38:00.000-08:00

Now here is an odd bird! How specialized some animals are. The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) can be seen in tropical water in the Americas and if you've every been to the refuges in the Everglades you may have seen one. They live in the Americas only, but they are related to the ibis, which of course was important to the Ancient Egyptians. We have seen the Scarlet Ibis in a beautiful bird refuge in Tamil Nadu. I recall the primitive lodge in the lovely setting, watching the sunrise over the water. I also remember the mosquitoes, but never mind that.

Crimson Sun Bird

2010-02-19T07:41:00.000-08:00

A quick sketch this morning, of a crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) a nectar-feeder found in tropical southern Asia.

I'm going to lunch with a friend today, but wanted to do a bird painting quickly. Yesterday my dad asked me how long it takes me to do these watercolors, several hours? I laughed--probably 15 minutes max. I made my first sale of a bird watercolor! To my parents--so I'm not sure it counts... They are buying the vermilion flycatcher for a friend who's been especially kind and who's crazy for the color red.

Anita is coming this afternoon and we're going to work with the boys. Yesterday I took Levi on a 25 minute walk through the deep snow. I was drenched in sweat; he, needless to say, was not.

Bee Eater and Flicker

2010-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

The Yellow-shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus), sometimes called the Yellowhammer in the south (it's the state bird in Alabama, where we used to live) belongs to the woodpecker family. I often see and hear them around the farm, especially when I am running past the patch of woods between our place and the Fishers, our neighbors. They're quite big birds, the size of a grackle. Their plumage is fun to paint, but I am not sure I got it that well.

The Green Bee Eater (Merops orientalis) bears a striking resemblance to some hummingbirds, don't you think? Indeed the bee-eaters are indigenous to Asia and Subsaharan Africa; I saw them occasionally when I was in India. Hummingbirds are native only to the Americas, so perhaps this bird fills part of its niche in the old world, though I don't think nectar is a part of its diet. Sunbirds are nectar-eaters in Asia.

I got some new paints from Daniel Smith yesterday. The poor UPS man waylaid me on Decker Road and said he had a package for me but couldn't make it up the lane. An advantage of living in the country is knowing your UPS man personally. I think Jan and I have discussed this before???

Anyway, Daniel Smith watercolors are pricey and some are made from pure gemstone pigments, like lapis and amethyst. I couldn't wait to try them out, along with some new, better paper. Art supplies are my new obsession--a couple of years ago it was fabrics, but I have way more than I need now. Before that it was clothes, but now I have no place to wear them. How many pairs of Carharrts does a gal need?

Red-collared Lorikeet

2010-02-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

Parrots are among the most colorful birds in the world, and this red-collared lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubritorquis) is one of the brightest of the parrots. This species lives in wooded habitats in Australia.

Again I am not happy with the paper I'm using for the larger paintings. I can really tell the difference between it and the higher quality paper I'm using for the smaller portraits. The flow of the paint is affected by the paper quality.

I gave this one a bit of a background.

Blue Birds

2010-02-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite birds here, the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) and the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). The latter is related to the cardinal and other finches and the former to the robin and thrushes. I haven't seen the indigo bunting but a few times a year, usually in May, but I often see bluebirds; they seem to stick around here all year. We put up a whole bunch of bluebird boxes on the fenceposts when we first moved here and last year we had a couple of broods. Tree swallows tend to want to horn in, so we put up a lot of boxes. Fortunately more and more people seem to be putting up boxes and the local extension office does a good job of promoting this practice.

I was pleased with the depth of color I got in the bunting painting. As I mentioned before and you may know, the feathers are not really blue but black, and the effect is different from the bluebird's plumage. The indigo bunting has a metallic sheen. So I did an underpainting of cobalt blue and painted over that with azurite in the twinkling H2O line. This is a learning process and it's fun. I am sure I could take a watercolor class and learn things like this but I enjoy experimenting and achieving the aha! moment. With watercolor experimentation is easy--paper is cheap compared to many substrates so if you screw up it's not a big deal. Archival gallery-wrapped canvases aren't so cheap and nobody wants to be throwing those out.

Anna's Hummingbird

2010-02-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a cute little hummer native to the western U.S. This hummer (Calypte anna) was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli. I was looking forward to using my twinkling H2Os in this painting but I didn't have quite the right pink. So I did an underpainting of orange and hot pink gouache over that. I guess I need to get some more Luminarte colors.

I am tired today. I spent more than two-and-a-half hours cleaning the barn. I was so disgusted with the dirt and mess, and I discovered that Charlie has been pooping all over everywhere despite the fact that I have provided a litter box. He is such a bad kitty. This morning when I went into the barn, Miss Char and Sabi's daddy and the peas and hens were sitting together on the hay in a very peaceable way. Charlie was already meowing at the door. He is a real pest. We have been calling him Charlie Barley Butthead. We now have a new stray, a beautiful gray cat whom I've named William. That makes four strays and six indoors. Sigh...

Baltimore Oriole

2010-02-14T08:06:00.000-08:00

Here we have a Baltimore Oriole dining on an orange. I have to say that I have tried this approach to lure orioles but I have never had any success. I have also tried the special feeders intended for orioles. But that hasn't attracted any either. I do see them occasionally when I am running. One of those birds you feel a little thrill when you see.

I don't like this watercolor paper. I bought the cheaper one the other day at the art store and once again, you get what you pay for. I was shopping for brushes (having bought cheap, crappy ones) so I was already racking up the bill and felt as if I shouldn't buy expensive paper. But you see how these things work: soon I will return to the art store (or get online--that is even more dangerous) and buy better paper. In case you're interested, the paper I bought was acquarello studio, with "cotton content." Probably like 20% or something. The paper I didn't buy was Arches Aquarelle Watercolor 10-sheet Block - 300lb, Cold Press.

I also was very tempted to buy a handmade watercolor book, a beautiful object with many sheets of high quality deckle-edge paper. Do you ever see something you want to buy and you don't, but then you think of it later, again and again? What was the most recent object that had this effect on you? I probably will go back and get that book. I'm pretty sure it will still be there. Students don't dump $45 on such things. Think how much Natty and cheap vodka you could buy with $45! Pizza too!

Vermilion Flycatcher and Baby

2010-02-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how "baby" birds that are as large as their parents demand to be fed, fluttering their fully-grown wings as if they are helpless nestlings? Shreed and I call these "feed-mes." The funniest example I ever saw of this phenomenon occurred when we lived in town. I was looking out our big picture window one spring day and saw a pair of crows on the sidewalk--one was crowing in a very raspy, plaintive way and following its mother, who was the same size. Crows are always entertaining and this little tableau made me laugh.

If I can digress a little I will tell another funny crow story. In India crows are ubiquitous; they look a little different but are still unmistakably corvidae. Indian crows are rather more bold than their American cousins. Life is a bit harder there and you have to compete. Anyway, when I was there doing my doctoral research I used to share my meals with a group of foreign students who had gotten together and hired a cook and rented a little place where we could all get together and eat (Fulbright fellowships left most of us pretty flush with rupees!). One day I was on my way to lunch with Georg, a German student. Suddenly a tube of Colgate toothpaste fell at our feet; we looked up to see a crow cawing at us from a small tree. This may have been the same crow who swooped down and stole a young undergraduate's plate of food right from her hands as she came out to eat on the terrace. When I was in the hospital in that town a crow came through the window of the bathroom (I was in a private hospital) and took my soap. Probably he was going to re-sell it on the black market.

OK, I have digressed from talking about baby birds. Here is a vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) with baby, a typical "feed-me."

You can see the insect he is bringing if you look closely. The vermilion flycatcher is common from Mexico down to South America and is also found in the southwestern U.S. Only the male is brightly colored. But as you can see, he shares the parental duties. With a feed-me like this, it is no doubt necessary for both parents to search for victuals.

A Painted Bunting, Edward Lear, and The Mighty Quinn

2010-02-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

More paintings and trivia today. First, one of the most beautiful American birds, the painted bunting.

The painted bunting (passerina ciris) is native to the southeast and south-central U.S. into Mexico. Its status is "threatened." I have never seen one of these but what bird could be more appealing to an artist?? How often does one get to paint a bird using large patches of color from throughout the spectrum?

Most of us know about John James Audubon, the famed painter of birds who was born in Haiti and lived in France until the age of 18. Bet you didn't know he was born in Haiti! Another painter of birds, of parrots for the most part, was Edward Lear, a nineteenth-century Englishman. He was a talented painter but he had a very difficult life, as he was an epileptic, among other problems. This year for Christmas my dad gave me a calendar of parrot portraits by Edward Lear; each page is perforated so you can remove the calendar part and frame the print. They are beautiful. Edward Lear is also the author of the famed bit of nonsense The Owl and the Pussycat. Bet you didn't know that either!

Last but not least we have the Mighty Quinn. This is the only bird I have painted so far that I know personally. He is my nephew's pet, a Fischer's lovebird, sometimes known as the hate bird or the Tiny Pecker. He is a very loud, belligerent little creature. I am always excited to get Quinn out of his cage when I visit. Shreed is not a big fan of Quinn's--the little guy bit Shreed on the lip and it was very painful, I understand. Quinn tried to give me a pedicure last time I visited and that was not pleasant. My mom is afraid of Quinn. He likes pasta, as my birds do.

Another Parrot and Godzilla Warbler!

2010-02-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

One of the blogs I enjoy is Stokes Birding. I am not an expert birder by any means but I grew up in a rural area and my parents, especially my dad, taught us a lot about birds and trees, so that we knew all the names of the trees that grew around us and could identify them by their leaves or their bark, or their growth habits. Though I didn't think much of it as a kid I am very grateful now. It is hard for me to understand how people can call a Norway spruce a "pine tree"--for me the differences are so obvious--it's like mistaking a camel for a horse. But it all depends on what you were taught to see. I don't notice cars very much and couldn't tell you the make of the cars most of friends own. I only know it's an SUV or a van or a convertible. So it depends what is important to you, of course. For many people any conifer is a pine.

Anyway, I started out talking about birds, didn't I? I grew up knowing how to identify common (and some rare) eastern birds by their plumage, habits, and calls. One class of birds that can be hardest to identify precisely is the warblers. In fact, there's a whole class of warblers called "Confusing Fall Warblers" or CFWs as my parents used to call them. Stokes Birding had a great photo of a warbler they sighted in Florida, eating a lizard, an unusual meal for sure! I was inspired by this warbler photo and I call it the Godzilla Warbler, but it's actually a yellow-throat. What an astonishing photo op it was and a great subject for a painting. "Nature, red in tooth and claw"!

Can't get enough of parrots. Here we have a military macaw (Ara militaris, found in Mexico and South America. Not sure why they're called "military" though I think it has something to do with the military being the first to import them from Mexico for the pet trade. Others say the name derives from the color. I suppose some military personnel have quite gaudy plumage. The military macaw is endangered. No surprise there.

Hyacinth Macaw, Lilac-breasted Roller

2010-02-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

More colorful birds to brighten the winter. We had more snow overnight and it's still coming down. It's starting to blow too so we will get some major drifts. Good thing Shreed decided against giving the talk at Princeton.

Right now Wabi has dived into the rubbish basket and is rummaging for who knows what. These cats are all nutjobs. Her favorite thing is to race towards me and jump at my leg, wrap her paws around my thigh and bite me right on the butt cheek. She has done this since she was a kitten. Little stinker!!

Back to the birds: we have here a hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), the largest flying parrot species in the world. Did you know there is a flightless parrot in New Zealand? It is even larger than this macaw. The hyacinth lives in central and eastern South America. It is endangered due to the pet trade and habitat loss.

Less rare is the lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudatus), which is both Kenya's and Botswana's national bird. This little guy is feeling a bit chilly so he is puffed up.

Painting these birds is a real education as I make sure I read up on them as well as paint them.

Golden-Breasted Starling

2010-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here is another interesting non-native bird. Who knew that starlings could be so attractive? Did you know that the ubiquitous European starling was imported here by people who thought we should have all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare? And apparently it is only mentioned once. What a dumb idea! I am not fond of starlings as they colonize our barn and poop everywhere. Truth be told I did rescue one a few years ago. The silly bird had gotten its head stuck in a hole in an old bank barn on a property I was visiting. I climbed up to the loft that had big holes in the floor and was very precarious. I found something to stand on and freed the bird by cutting into the wood and whittling it away with my trusty swiss army knife. I was badly cut in the process and had to go get a tetanus shot at the emergency room. But I cannot bear to witness any animal's suffering and will help if I can.

Anyway this starling (Cosmopsarus regius) is native to Kenya and Tanzania and is quite a handsome bird, as you can see. Like many birds with plumage that looks blue, its feathers are actually black but the refracted light makes them appear brilliant blue. The indigo bunting is another familiar example of this phenomenon.

I feel that painting these birds is very good practice. I tend to want to paint in a style that is not at all realistic but I find this exercise to be an excellent mental challenge. It's a useful discipline to try to portray exactly what you see. For example, we may think of a shadow as gray. But if we really look at it, we may see that it has pink in it, or some other unexpected color. I remember the scene in Girl with the Pearl Earring where Vermeer asks Griet what color the clouds are. She replies "white" but then says, "No wait..." and begins to list the colors: blue, yellow, and so on.

Green Magpie, Alien Tarsier

2010-02-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

I gave this little tarsier some colors reminiscent of Avatar. If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it, especially in 3D. It is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It must have been fun to work on it and come up with all the flora and fauna.

The tarsier is a relative of the lemur and lives on various Southeast Asian islands. Sadly, it is endangered.

Here we have a green magpie (Cissa chinensis) found in the lower Himalayas and into China and Malaysia. We have never seen this species but we have seen black and white magpies in mountainous regions of the US, Europe, and Asia. They are members of the crow family and thus are intelligent and mischievous.

I did this in watercolor and then realized that I have been reinventing gouache by adding white to a lot of the colors. Duh, I have many tubes of gouache. What I do need it one of those single-hair brushes used in Indian miniature painting. Well, maybe not a single one but something finer than what I've got. The Dick Blick brushes are crappy and don't hold much paint or water. I guess you get what you pay for. I have been considering cat hair or horsehair (lot of that around!) or even feathers--I could fashion my own brushes. If you have suggestions about brushes please speak up.

Moluccan Cockatoo

2010-02-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

I admire cockatoos. Did you know that they are cuddly like cats and dogs? I would like to have one but Shreed said, "No no no no no." I am calling him Dr. No from now on. Yesterday he was looking for some plastic wrap and he opened a drawer and couldn't find it and he said, "Why don't you clean out this drawer instead of wasting your time on that crappy art you make?" Actually he did not say this. You know that, right? He did say, "You should clean out this drawer." You can imagine how a statement like that could cause a marital meltdown. I am sure you can fill in the rest. However, since we have been married more than 20 years the scenario did not play out the way it would have after 3, or 10, or even 12 years of marriage. Instead, I said that he thought I was a lazy slattern who spent all her time making crappy art and I ought to spend more time cleaning house. He replied that he thought exactly that. And we had a good laugh. But guess what? I did clean that drawer. And I have opened it several times since cleaning it and have admired it. I am so pleased that I may do another one today. That is so lame, I know!

Anyway, I have digressed. About the cockatoo painting, it was challenging to do this head-on view. I understand the appeal of oil paints. You can add to a painting and change it and play around with it until you are satisfied. Watercolor does not lend itself to that approach. Watercolor is for the impatient, which certainly fits me. However I think I would like to try oils again. I did have some of those water-soluble oils and worked with those a few years ago. They dried more quickly than the standard oils and maybe I will try again. But the cat problem looms large. I would have to shut them out of the studio and they would scratch at the doors until the wood was shredded. Sigh...

Pomegranate

2010-02-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

I have always loved pomegranates, both to eat and to look at. The history of the pomegranate is intriguing and of course the symbolic significance is fascinating. Persephone, the Greek goddess of the underworld and daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), ate pomegranate seeds and thus was doomed to spend part of the year in Hades. Thus Demeter is in mourning for this period and that is the explanation of the seasons. There are many other myths and stories connected with the pomegranate.

We had a pomegranate tree in Alabama and I am disappointed that I can't plant one here, unless we build that conservatory that my brother and SIL planned for us! They had fun when they were in Costa Rica imagining how they might remodel our house to include an enormous conservatory complete with flora and fauna.

This pomegranate is made from thick Nepali wool felt and garnet beads. It is large, nearly as wide as the real thing, so it won't make a good brooch. Not sure what to do with it; Shreed suggested a "hanging thing." It would make a good Christmas ornament. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them.

White Cheeked Turaco

2010-02-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Jan pointed out that my Scarlet headed Blackbird has a bright yellow head. No, I am not colorblind. Actually in reality the head looks orange and I based it on Andrew Zuckerman's photo, in which the bird's head is decidedly orange. I looked up some more images of the bird and in many photos it is scarlet. I don't know why the variation. But I do know that birds' plumage can change based on what they eat (hence the practice of feeding flamingos brightly colored red or orange foods), and anyone who has chickens can tell you that hens fade as they lay more. The color goes into the eggs.

Anyway, here's yesterday's portrait, a white cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis), native to Ethiopia and Sudan.

If you're familiar with the artist Mincing Mockingbird, who sells on etsy, you may want to think of a caption to go with this portrait. If you have one, feel free to leave it in the comments. I think he's saying, "I'm not going to repeat myself here."

More Watercolors

2010-02-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

Here are two very different subjects. First, a bird sketch, scarlet-headed blackbird (Amblyramphus holosericeus), native to South American wetlands. I thought it turned out well.

Then, a self portrait, "Learning to Rollerskate, 1969". I thought I captured the expression pretty well here!

Listening to the Swell Season. Thanks again, Jan!

Poultry Personality

2010-02-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

As I have said before, I could watch our birds for hours. On a sunny day in winter (such as today) they, especially the peas, like to gather on the back deck. So I can sit in comfort and watch them through the French doors and get some good photos, though they would be even better were I to wash the glass.

On the whole peas are much more peaceful than chickens. They do squabble but they are quiet about it and it usually just involves jumping around. Yesterday I had given the birds one of their favorite treats, cooked spaghetti, but they get so busy fighting over it that they leave half of it lying on the ground, unnoticed, and in weather like this it freezes and is less appealing as food.

This morning one of the peas was making himself a nice dust wallow, and Loretta chased him away twice and appropriated it for herself. A little later Tammy did the same thing. The peas are quite huge and could whup those hens' fluffy butts, but they choose not to. Whether this is because they were babes while the chickens were all adults or young adults I don't know. The peas have no fear of Merle, however; they scarcely move out of his way and he shows absolutely no interest in them. He doesn't seem to know they exist.

When I watch the birds from the French doors Merle comes and pecks at things right on the other side of the glass. This is one of his behaviors when he is feeling aggressive (or shall we say particularly aggressive) and is frustrated. He pecks at random things and it's obvious he wants to kill us. And later when we go out this frustration will erupt in a frenzy of spurs and I will have the wounds to show for it. He is one lucky rooster as I can't imagine anyone else tolerating him for anything other than Sunday dinner. Though I think he is too tough for that now.

My Ameraucana hens (you see one here) are looking so nice since I got rid of the rootards. They are the best layers for us and have already produced quite a few Martha Stewart blue-green eggs.

The detailed picture of the peas shows the blue feathers that are beginning to appear on the neck. Before I had peas I would have drawn their headdresses sprouting from the top of their heads, but as you can see, they emerge from further back. They are so interesting to observe in detail.

Raptor's Head

2010-02-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

A new watercolor on Acquarello cold press. Tracey pointed me to another awesome site. Andrew Zuckerman's Bird.

Listening to Bright Eyes. "You're the yellow bird that I have been waiting for." What a coincidence. Thanks, Jan!

Super Bunny Quilt

2010-02-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Super Bunny has had many lives: a cat toy, a watercolor, and now an art quilt. I scanned the watercolor and printed it on silk and embroidered it on some hand-dyed fabric. I was going to embellish it further but decided I liked it as is. This is one of those UFOs that's been in my pile for some months. I'm making an effort to to finish those things.

Another artist discovery: Greg Simkins. If you like weird stuff, he's your man. Tracey introduced me. Maybe a little too cartoonish/nightmarish for me, but very intriguing.

Listening to Charlotte Gainsbourg.

I See into Your Heart

2010-02-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

I did this on gesso-covered cotton organdy. This time I used watercolors from tubes--would you believe I have never used them before? I've always used half pans or liquid. I used Cotman watercolors, made by Winsor & Newton; they are inexpensive so good for experimenting. Someday I would like to buy an entire set of Daniel Smith watercolors, all zillion colors. When I become wealthy. In the next life, maybe.

I seem to be on a heart theme, don't I?

This past weekend I came across a painter whose work just took my breath away. It was fortuitous that I found her--I was just clicking on "next blog" in Blogger and hers came up after a few clicks. Her name is Tracy Clarke. Her blog is called Brainworks. Her paintings are so compelling, sad, and creepy--numinous and other worldly. Very dreamlike. This is one of my favorites.

Please check her out.

My Constant Companions

2010-01-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

During these extra cold winter days the cats are happy that I'm inside most of the day. In better weather Crim always goes nuts climbing the side door and peering out when I am in the garden. Now he's happy to follow me everywhere and jump into my lap and get fur all over what I'm working on. If it's fabric it's not so bad but if I'm painting it's a real pain. Earlier today he was playing with a feather and he put it in a trash bag I'd been filling as I was trying to straighten up the studio. Consequently he spread the rubbish all over.

I'm really neurotic when it comes to Crim. I have to find him before I go to bed and about once a month (or more often) I panic because I can't find him. Since he's gotten out a few times and he's deaf I'm very worried about this happening again. So if he's not with me I look for him until I either find him or go crazy with anxiety. Usually he just appears after I have turned the house upside down. It's a well-known fact that cats can enter into the Bardo (a kind of Tibetan Buddhist other world) at will.

I haven't done much of anything today. It's wretchedly cold and I am having one of my headchey extra tired days, which seem to occur about once every two weeks. I don't mind too much because a year ago they were happening once a week. I figure they will become even more infrequent over time so I try not to get too upset when I feel useless. It is rather boring though.

Heart Pins

2010-01-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

Little heart brooches for Valentine's Day. They'll be in my shop shortly.

Uses for Neon Pink Kimono Wool

2010-01-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

Last year sometime (or maybe even before that), I bought this fluorescent pink very fine printed wool that was intended for a girl's kimono. I bought it online and the photos did not reveal its true retina-damaging brightness; when it arrived I was a bit chagrined, particularly because I bought two pieces. I didn't know what to do with it and it sat on a shelf until yesterday.

Valentine's Day has me focused on pink and after making a couple of embellished hearts from felted cashmere I looked around for what else I might use for more hearts. Voila, the pink Japanese wool! After making a heart I decided I wanted to make a stuffed animal, and what else but a pink elephant! So here are the projects. This stuff is a dream to work with. It's hard to believe it's actually wool--it's so fine. But I suppose if a child were going to wear wool it would have to be fine and soft. When I was a kid I could not bear the touch of wool next to my skin. It sent me into a near frenzy.

Rescue Me

2010-01-27T05:35:00.000-08:00

Off and on since I was in graduate school I have done volunteer work of one kind or another--at the UW Hospital oncology unit, for animal rescue and wildlife rehab, in libraries, and in the Museum of American Folk Art in Santa Fe, which was my favorite gig. While teaching I didn't volunteer anywhere because, as I have said many times, I had no mental or physical energy to spare.

However now since I am a lady of (relative) leisure I have decided to volunteer again. I got in touch with Shirley Fonda of Fonda's Foundlings, a local cat rescue. At this point Shirley is down to "only" 47 cats. She told me that in 11 years she has rescued more than 950 cats! She does this all in her house and as you can imagine doesn't have much time to do but the minimum of media stuff to help promote her cause. That's where I come in. I have offered to do posters, come up with a logo, and do a website. And look for grants to write. So yesterday I went to visit Shirley and her rescued cats.

Shirley is an awesome woman. She is tall and straight, looking far younger than her 74 years. She has an MS in zoology and a Ph D in geology, and her house is stuffed with curios and souvenirs from her decades in these fields as well from her travels as a musician. A jar of snake vertebrae sits next to the huge jawbone of a mastodon; on the walls are wool weavings created by Incas from Cuzco. A whole cabinet is devoted to crystals and geodes of various kinds. Another cabinet contains dolls of every costume and hue imaginable. The sheer number of objects is overwhelming, and we haven't even gotten to the cats.

Among the objects and the kitties weaving around them, Dennis, Shirley's nearly 4 year-old grandson, plays nicely with a dilute calico. Scamp, Shirley's elderly hound cross, snuggles up to another cat. After chatting a while Shirley takes me upstairs to meet the first set of cats and begin the photo session.

In the first room is an orange tabby with part of his jaw missing, the result of a raccoon attack. A young gray tabby female is trying to take his food, which he is getting all over, and Shirley gently scolds the cat, who I think is called Sandy. Shirley has names for all her cats and in this room we have Sandy and Piper, who were found on Sandpiper Drive in State College. Others in the room are from farms. It's hard for me to process all the information she is sharing; I am definitely in sensory overload. I am helping to scoop litter boxes, something I am very good at.

In another room Shirley introduces me to Cirrus and Nimbus, two beautiful long-haired dilute calicos, who are there with their mother. The rooms are furnished by someone who knows cats very well--there are lost of nooks and crannies where the shy cats can hide and shelves where others can sit and look out the window. They have a view of some outdoor cages that Shirley used during her career as a wildlife rehabilitator. Is there anything this woman can't do or hasn't done??

There is one red tabby in this room, Sarge, who has ears like a Scottish fold--well, sort of. They are more twisted-looking. "Ear mites," Shirley announces, and I can hardly believe it. But Sarge's story pales in comparison to the unhappy tales that brought other cats to Shirley. Some stories make me wince and I don't even want to think about them.

In another room we meet cats who are still pretty much scared and mistrustful. They have been here three to four years. Some are hiding, but one, an elegant black cat that looks like an oriental shorthair, is sitting on a desk. I speak to her and she opens her mouth wide and hisses at me. "She's come a long way," Shirley notes.

We go down to the basement where Shirley has her FIV+ cats. Sarge's brother is there and one of his ears is similarly afflicted. He is an adorable guy who badly wants to come out of his cage. She shows me where she kept the last litter of kittens; she will not take anymore. She needs to start scaling down and she is worried about the future, who will look after the cats when she can't. It's hard to imagine her not being able to do all she does. She seems so robust and has twice the energy of most people half her age. But I understand her concerns because I have them too, on a much smaller scale. And at the rate I'm going I will have more and more responsibilities in the coming years. What I've done seems like a drop in the ocean in comparison to what Shirley has sacrificed. But I can tell she wouldn't have it any other way.

Cashmere Heart II

2010-01-26T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here is another heart; this one is stuffed with fiberfill and lavender (the other one has buckwheat groat stuffing--sounds like Thanksgiving!). The buttons are from my vintage collection and I cut a piece off a vintage handkerchief and stitched it to the point. These embellished hearts are lots of fun--rummaging through my stash of odds and ends to find just the right touch to add. I have more ideas and hope to be back tomorrow with another in the series.

Oh yes, I am including two photos here--one I "enhanced" and the other I left as is.

Stag in Rut

2010-01-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

Watercolor and acrylic gold paint on gesso-covered cotton organdy. One problem I am having is CAT HAIRS that get on all my paintings! A real hassle!

Winter Rain

2010-01-25T06:15:00.000-08:00

It's been pouring since yesterday and since the ground is probably a bit frozen (though maybe not--it's been quite mild recently) there are streams and puddles forming everywhere. The boys are encased in mud and their paddock is a rather noisome bog. While everywhere else in the country there are generally four seasons, on the farm there is a fifth, called Mud, that can appear anywhere from November to April. It's always hard for me to believe that people actually wear shoes in the house, but in this season particularly it is awful to contemplate. I suppose I am glad right now that I don't have a dog!

No doubt this is the January Thaw and soon we will be back to the normal cold, which always feels much worse given a reprieve. I guess it would be folly to imagine we are finished with the really frigid temperatures. There are things I should have done given the recent warm period (like protect more of the trees and shrubs) but as usual I didn't get to them.

This is rather a boring post. What can I talk about that is more interesting? The fact that Trisha laid an egg in Levi's stall, thinking that the uneaten hay created a nice nest? It turned out not to be a good idea. The chickens have been laying in the hay bales and since the supply is dwindling the nest areas have become fewer. I am sad to be almost finished with our hay. When I sniff it I recall the summer, with all its fragrance and sound of insects, profusion and color. Winter is a season at the drab end of the palette: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Siena, Payne's Gray. Maybe a wash of Cerulean here and there. My eyes are starved.

Fabric Pictures on Claybord, a Valentine

2010-01-24T15:38:00.000-08:00

So I did these fabric collages on claybord squares. I am doing a set of coasters with the smaller squares (4 inches) but I have not finished the other three. I think I should have photographed these before I varnished them. I'm sure there must be a way to remove the glare in Photoshop but I hate to start messing with images because hours can pass before I come up for air. I don't want to get into that now.

The heart is made from the same raspberry cashmere sweater that starred in yesterday's piece. I have a whole jar full of vintage buttons I bought at an antique store two years ago and this was the first time I had opened the jar. I have a potentially hazardous hoarding habit. It was fun putting this together and I plan to make a few more before the end of the month and reopen my shop on etsy. I let everything lapse and I need to rethink what I'll renew and what sort of schtick I want to have. The most successful people on etsy are those with a recognizable style or particular item they specialize in making. The problem for me is narrowing down what I like to do. Am I going to focus on painting, fiber art, 3D folk art, stuffed animals? How much can I diversify and still attract a following? I'll be thinking about it. Even though I am not terribly motivated to market my stuff or myself, I believe that having goals will lend a little needed structure and help to keep the existential crises from overwhelming me. We shall see...

Valentine Kitty

2010-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

This is made from another felted cashmere sweater. I was quite the clothes horse in my day! The color of the sweater is more raspberry than is showing up here. The close-up shows the most accurate color. She also has lavender in her tummy. Sushi had to check her out.

Bird Sightings

2010-01-22T07:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday Anita came and she said that on her way up the driveway she saw a kestrel. I see one almost daily. We got to talking about hawks, and I told her that I see one hovering over our hayfield very often. She thought that it had to be a swamp hawk (I've been told the correct term is Northern Harrier) because red-tailed hawks do not hover. But I emailed the Stokes and they confirmed that red-tailed hawks do hover. They also vocalize quite a bit and if you ever watch TV shows about American Indians you've heard that mournful whistle. Lillian Stokes says the whistle is often associated with the wrong species in these shows.

Yesterday on my run I saw bluebirds, a mockingbird, and a flicker. The bluebirds and mockingbirds seem to stick around all winter but I haven't seen any robins since fall. Of course we don't see as many robins out here as they do in town. In summer their favorite thing is to follow the lawnmower. We call them run-runs because they don't seem to like to fly very much. We did have them nesting in our spruce. In winter it's mostly manure sparrows, hawks, and the few species I mentioned above that I see when I run. I am grateful not to have so many starlings around. They make a terrible mess in the barn and I hate to find drowned starlings and sparrows in the horse trough. Maybe I should put a floating object in it so they wouldn't drown. I am sure one can buy something like that at cheappplasticcrap.com for only $39.99 plus S & H. In any case if I know the boys they would toss it out of the trough just for fun. They used to do that with the de-icer, but so far they have not done it this winter.

Security Pillow

2010-01-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

I imagine some child cuddling this catloaf. Maybe me a long time ago. She's made from a cashmere sweater of mine. I didn't hesitate to felt it because 1)it was among the clothes I wore to teach, and represented a different life, and 2)there were holes in it, thanks to Sushi. I know it was Sushi and not a moth because she likes to play with sweaters and probably ruined about half a dozen of them. I kept them in a zippered storage box and did not zip it up. That will teach me.

Anyway this little cat is stuffed with a bit of lavender so she smells very nice (and not like scoopaway).

Another Bird, Giant Armadillo

2010-01-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

These portraits are done on cotton organdy covered with gesso. I also use this substrate when making paper cloth. I suppose I am just re-inventing canvas! My new Dick Blick order arrived today so I will be back to my aquabord paintings. I can't afford to screw those up though. Too expensive. Oh yeah, this is a giant armadillo. Not the kind we used to see in Alabama.

Do you ever feel like asking yourself, "What is the point? Why am I doing this?" When you have a "real" job you are lured into thinking that what you are doing matters, even if you dislike it, because somebody is paying you a salary. I keep reminding myself that when I taught I would come home so exhausted, as if my life force had been drained out of me. Even if I had part of an afternoon left to do the things I liked to do, I usually just ended up crashing on the couch and waking up in time to muck stalls and make dinner. Now I can spend an entire day painting but I often feel as if I'm just a kid staying home from school. Am I doing this just to amuse myself, or what? Just to pass the time? Shouldn't I clean the house instead? Well, pardon my existential crisis. Winter has a way of bringing those on. Maybe that's why I want a puppy--something to take care of and keep me busy all day and all night!!

Crim is sitting here looking at me; he's been my constant companion all day. He says, "Whaddya need a dog for?? I'm here." Yes you are, buddy.

Criminal Mischief

2010-01-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

Crim has been acting up a lot lately--scratching at doors and furniture, knocking things around, jumping on my art table while I'm painting, jumping in my lap while I'm painting and getting his fur all over, asking for water from every faucet in the house, yowling at night while he plays with his toy, putting his toy in water dishes and spilling water all over as he tries to get it out, and making his loud trilling sounds. He is completely deranged. Somebody emailed me to ask if I specialize in adopting blue-eyed white cats who are blind! Somehow they got mixed up about which sense blue-eyed white cats are often lacking. I guess I specialize in blue-eyed white cats who are deaf and insane. I wonder how Crim would be as a nursing home therapy cat--we could go visit the seniors in assisted living. I see a New Yorker cartoon possibility there.

This is What Merle Does

2010-01-21T06:29:00.000-08:00

Just to give you an example of what that f*&%^$ of a rooster does. And this damage was done through fleece running pants. Imagine if I were wearing shorts? Actually he has attacked me while I was wearing shorts. I just want to say, however, that if I were wearing shorts I would have shaved my legs. Sorry but I didn't want to go to the trouble of photo-shopping my leg. It's winter and I just don't bother shaving. I'm a farmer, after all, not some pin-up. So get over it. I hope I don't get tetanus or have to have my leg amputated. These marks are from Merle's spurs and they aren't the cleanest body parts in the world. And yes, it hurt like hell, and activated some very violent thoughts that resulted in Merle finding himself in an icy puddle in the back of the pick-up truck. He sat there stunned for a couple of minutes and I felt terribly guilty. But within a couple of minutes he was right as rain. And after me again.

Wabi and Terry

2010-01-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Wabi mauling Terry. Terry is a teddy bear named after a guy who was friends with Shreed and his roommates back in grad school. Terry is a very 80s bear. I don't know why he ended up with us nor can I remember whether he actually belonged to the human Terry or what that story was. Shreed would know. In any case Wabi likes to stand on Terry and knead him until he is smushed and misshapen. I don't know whether this qualifies as obsessive-compulsive behavior but there is an article about such behavior in dogs in the New York Times.

Narwhal and January Bird II

2010-01-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

In both of these portraits (as well as most of the others) I have used shimmering H2O watercolors, which have a metallic sheen that might not be visible in the scans, unless you do a super close-up. I love these paints although I hate the company's website. They don't provide any swatches except for a few pdfs for small sets. This is very inconvenient. The web and newsletter editor is also semi-literate, which is always an irritant for me. The company nearly went out of business but due to customer demand went back into business. What I didn't understand about this was that their stock was 40% off and I assumed it was to get rid of stock on hand. But they actually ended up ordering more colors to be made. And that created a terrible backlog in their orders and it took months to get the products. I haven't ordered since then. It's difficult to figure out which colors I might want!

Hornbill, Gator portraits

2010-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

More watercolor sketches on paper. I have learned about the joys of frisket. Basically it's like rubber cement that you paint over areas that you want to keep white when you do a watercolor wash. If I had known about this ages ago it would have made my work a lot easier and more versatile! I learned about frisket in one of my fiber art books. It might have been Melanie Testa's. Anyway, better late than never!

January Bird I

2010-01-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

Watercolor and acrylic ink on paper. I tried a similar bird on claybord but the gouache got all gloppy and didn't work. The surface is not right for watercolor and gouache and I actually forget which medium is supposed to be used with claybord. More aquabord is on the way. I like paper but the advantage of the other substrates is that you don't have to frame. Which, as you no doubt know, is expensive.

A Break from the (Bitter) Cold

2010-01-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

Today the sun is out and the morning temperature was 22 and promises to get above freezing later on. This is a real boost to the mood! I'm looking forward to going for a run later. I've run through a lot of this cold weather but I can't say I've looked forward to it. Though I have looked forward to the finish, very much.

Shreed and I have been thinking of adding a dog to our menagerie. Or, to put it more precisely, I have been thinking about it and I have consulted Shreed and he is not 100% against the idea. He wants to wait until spring. I don't know why--it seems to unreasonable not to jump at the chance to take a puppy out to pee when it's dark, 12 degrees, and blowing 30 knots. I don't know what his problem is!

Last weekend we went to see a Newfoundland/poodle puppy, about 4-5 months months old, and I fell in love with the shaggy beast. Shreed vetoed him. The pup was nearly the size of a Shetland pony, I must admit. Shreed mentioned that he might "knock over stuff," possibly meaning the couch or the dining room table. Anyway I have mostly gotten over my disappointment and am thinking ahead. Shreed probably thinks I'll have forgotten about this come spring, and if I were 8 years old, indeed I might.

It's hard to decide what kind of dog. I would adopt an adult if I could be sure he/she would be OK with all my other animals. I just feel more confident about training a puppy. I like Australian shepherds and have read that they are not as intense as border collies. Jan has had several pit bulls including her current dog, Rocky. I was one of those people who was prejudiced against pits before I knew Jan. I never agreed with breed-specific bans but I still thought they were scary and that only people who wanted to scare other people had them, or worse, people like Michael Vick. When we lived in Tuscaloosa, our neighbors, who were students (guys) at UA, had a pit bull and they used to swing the dog around by his teeth. This did not make a good impression on me. I don't think I would ever get a pit bull, mostly because we're not experienced dog owners, but I thank Jan for teaching me about this oft misunderstood breed. So now when I see one I am not afraid and in fact I have a warm feeling. It makes me sad that every time I go to the shelter I see that more than half the dogs there are pits or pit crosses.

So even though nobody reads my blog I do solicit the opinions of dog owners to tell me about their dogs and what they like (and dislike) about the breed they have. Of course I know that breed only means so much. Pennsylvania happens to be the puppy mill state. Unfortunately many of the offenders are Amish. But as of January first wire-floor cages have been outlawed. A step in the right direction.

Thinking of Spring

2010-01-13T09:42:00.001-08:00

Just a quick sketch of a spring bulb. Gouache and watercolor on pastelbord.

Goldfish

2010-01-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

Again: gouache, watercolor, acrylic on pastelbord. I'm finding that the trouble with gouache is that I squeeze way too much out of the tube and then waste it. I can sort of use it like pan watercolors when it's dry but that's not as good.

Avis Rara

2010-01-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

Gouache, watercolor, and acrylic on pastelbord.

Party Whale

2010-01-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

This cetacean is obviously not your average gray humpback whale. He's a colorful fellow and surrounds himself with other splashy friends.

Gouache, watercolor, and a tiny bit of acrylic on Aquabord.

Skating

2010-01-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I went skating on my neighbors' small pond. It had been 10 years since I laced up the skates and I was rather graceless at first. Actually I don't think I cut a very good figure even at the end of my session but I had fun and only fell twice! It was a cold and perfectly clear day, and unusual for here, it wasn't windy. The Amish kids have been skating regularly and had cleared the surface of snow. Thankfully they were not there to watch, though I'm sure they saw me and no doubt word has gotten around: "I seen Martha skatin'--she fell down twice."

The Amish and I have very similar habits and taste in recreational activities. Sometimes I think we have more in common with them than with our other neighbors. We don't use engines to do every single chore, we hang out the wash, use manure on our garden and fields, drink raw milk, and have our own eggs. We have a different taste in fashion though. They favor black skirts and bonnets and I favor Carharrts.

Fox among the Prairie Coneflowers

2010-01-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

I was quite happy with this. I feel as if I have achieved the folk-art balance I was aiming for: something between realistic and naive. I am very pleased with the sky, which is ironic because I made a mess of it and almost threw out the panel. But because I was working on a relatively expensive substrate (aquabord) I couldn't bring myself to toss it so I painted over the background with white gouache and I got what you see here. I had expected to use the gouache as a cover-up but it ended up creating an effect I really liked. Even Shreed said he admired it and his usual comment about my art is "Look at that!" This always makes me crack up because I think of Dear Abby's iconic advice to people who see a friend's ugly new baby: "Aren't you proud!" But probably I am spoiled by my parents' overly effusive praise!

Scarlet Tanager

2010-01-08T05:47:00.001-08:00

This is my attempt of the scarlet tanager (a rare bird I've had the good fortune to see a handful of times) in watercolor on aquabord. I am not happy with it. The tree limbs turned out OK but the rest is not right. Watercolor is awfully difficult to work with if you're doing realistic painting. I had to wipe off the board once because the sky was muddy. I suppose I should take a watercolor class. I have a book that I've begun perusing. Many of my older paintings are watercolors but they are fantastical with no attempt at realism, so while I do get the concepts of wet/dry, washes, etc. I have never tried to mix colors to create realistic natural scenes. Well, just wanted to show you what I've been working on, successful or not.

Coldern a Castahrn Commode

2010-01-03T06:44:00.000-08:00

Wishin' I was in 'Bama right now. Why did we ever leave????? Oh yeah, I remember now . . . the smell of burning tires that greeted us every morning. The abandoned couches on the road. The city council who put Klieg lights in the only park in town so them homosexuals wouldn't do nuthin' nasty in the bushes. Right. OK, it's cold, but not cold enough to move back to 'Bama. Not that I didn't love magnolias in February, or strangers asking my advice on tea in the grocery store, or the sound of cicadas in summer . . . oh well, every pleasure has its price. I've lived a lot of places. And I can't think of one that didn't have its redeeming qualities. Even Dallas, Texas.

But it's hard not to wish I were somewhere else today, like Costa Rica, where my brother is, or Manly Beach Australia, where Shreed was planning an outing. But soon they'll both be on planes headed home, and I wouldn't trade places with them for anything at that point. No lavatory during the last hour of flight??? Can it get any worse? Don't answer that.

Been on a writing spree lately--seven pages in the journal today, six yesterday. The quota is three, and some days I've had trouble writing one. Been blogging too. Guess I'm just feeling verbal. Too much time alone, with the wind howling in my head.

Let's hope this cold snap ends soon. The barn is on lock-down and horses can produce A LOT of manure. That will be fun to clean up. I wonder how much of my day I spend cleaning up poop of one kind or another? I'll tell you one thing--it's better than teaching as a fixed-term lecturer at the Number One Party School in the nation. Even on the coldest day of the year. Jan sent me this: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=396

Photo credit: Tiffany: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrl_saturn/3105152435/

Les Trois du Jour

2010-01-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

Jan suggested this phrase for my "three things." It has a certain Je ne sais quoi! I think I'll adopt it, being a Francophile since childhood.

Yesterday Les Trois were to clean the chicken coop, pick the boys' hooves, and make something out of felted sweater. I mentioned this yesterday. I did the first two. The chicken coop was difficult, smelly work. There was no bedding in it, so the guano was several inches thick in places and partially frozen. Yech. Not to mention I had to crouch with my upper body inside, allowing my olfactory nerve to process the full effect of the odeur, plus strain my back rather badly. I did not care to kneel inside, even with Carharrts on. Some things are just too heinous to contemplate.

Charlie kept me company throughout. He is a very companionable cat and follows me everywhere, though his recent operation has not rendered him any less likely to take my hand off when he becomes overstimulated. Which is often. He still shows no fear of Merle, which amuses me greatly and causes Merle to utter a slightly alarmed "Buk buk BAWK" when Charlie brushes by him. I have never really figured out why Merle is so obsessed with attacking me (preferably from behind) while leaving alone every other animal on the place. And I feed the stupid pinhead of a bird, and clean up his stinky crap.

The boys' feet were not bad and not difficult to do, except that Tenzin was having a panic attack and running out of the stall every 10 seconds, which is one of my least favorite of his many bad habits, despite his very beautiful gait. I never really know what makes him do that, and as anyone who is acquainted with horses is sure to know, when one does something the others follow suit, which means that more than three thousand pounds of muscle and fat comes racing towards me when this happens. I have learned to be very quick on my feet. As well as quick to demand wtf is the matter.

Today I have decided to be a little kinder to myself. I had thought of cleaning out the car but since it's so cold I don't want to do that. I did go grocery shopping yesterday, which is another rather unpleasant task. I decided to write a thank-you note to a friend in Norway for a gift she sent, and I have already done that. I decided to scrub my bathtub. And I will finish something in the studio, I hope.

Happy New Decade

2010-01-01T07:07:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot of people talking about how the past decade was rather awful. Certainly the beginning and middle were bad (9/11, the war, Katrina, the Tsunami, Bush, to name a few), but I think the end was better. Obama's election was earth-shattering and had many of us weeping with joy (at least in the circles I move in).

The same goes for me personally--the end was certainly better than the beginning. Living here is a long-held dream come true. Not teaching is fabulous. Being a full-time artist was a goal since childhood.

Anyway, it's all rather arbitrary, but because such things are culturally recognized as significant it's hard not to join in the practice of critiquing and looking ahead that comes with the New Year. I haven't made any resolutions but I have decided to strive to accomplish three things in a day, an idea I came across in a blog called Zen Habits. I tend to view such self-help gurus with a rather jaundiced eye, but it's possible to pick and choose without becoming anyone's disciple. I gave that up during the last decade too. I used to meditate daily or even twice daily but it just didn't suit me. The only thing I got out of it was that often I would remember stuff I'd forgotten to do. Which is probably worth it--maybe for five minutes every day. Running also works, and I'd rather move than sit around in the lotus position and think about grocery shopping, or how I should dust those bookshelves.

But back to the three things. I actually hate the phrase "three things" because in the beginning of the decade and towards the middle I took dressage lessons from possibly the most tedious instructor on the planet and I'd say I hated her except that I believe that one should not despise the mentally ill. Clearly she had a severe mood disorder and though I do believe she was medicated (based on the evidence that her hands shook and her fingernails were weird), I think that the meds needed adjusting, or maybe that was the best that could be done. In any case she used to demand that I recite three things I learned from each lesson, and much as I would be tempted to say "1. I learned that you are a sadist, 2. I learned that my body is incapable of sitting on a horse correctly, 3. I learned that I should not move the mounting block or you will have a meltdown" I came up with something inane to recite. The point is that I need to think of another phrase because I don't want to be reminded of Hellshire Farm every time I make my list of three tasks.

Yesterday my threefold plan of action (that is a stupid phrase--help me out here, please) was to clean the refrigerator (ugh ugh ugh), pay the bills online (ugh ugh), and finish one of my art projects. I did the first two but did not accomplish the third, though I did work on a couple of them. Today my tasks are to clean the chicken coop (ugh ugh ugh), and pick all the boys hooves (ugh ugh ugh), and to make something with one of my felted sweaters. I don't clean the boys' feet often enough, which is extremely bad of me. The snow does do a pretty good job though. The fridge was like a huge compost bin on wheels, and after I cleaned it I had a six-pack of beer, two parsnips, some cheese, mustard, ketchup, and salad dressing, and a bottle of wheat germ. Which means I will have to go shopping today, unless you can come up with a recipe that includes those ingredients.

Truckin'

2009-12-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Peas were in the back of the pick-up and had the Grateful Dead cranked.

" Truckin', like the do-dah man. Once told me 'You've got to play your hand' Sometimes the cards ain't worth a damn, if you don't lay'em down ...."

You can tell a lot about a girl by what's in the back of her truck.

29 Seconds

2009-12-29T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I read on Weather Underground that today will be 29 seconds longer than yesterday (in terms of daylight, of course). Now there's a cheery thought! The weather during the past week has been changeable and mostly unpleasant, with the exception of Christmas Eve, which was sunny and more moderate (in the 30s) and one other day that I forget now, maybe Sunday. Christmas Day and the day after it poured cold rain and with the ground frozen there were icy puddles everywhere. Then it turned bitter cold and windy.

I slept very badly with the wind howling all night--I could hear things banging and at one point I got up and as I came down the stairs I felt a cold breeze and I almost had a heart attack--but it was only the draft from the front door. Crim was lying there next to it like a draft tube--he has always done this. While other cats seek heat he likes a cold draft.

Christmas was fun but it always goes by so fast, and after cooking up a storm (assisted by Wabi, see photo) and hanging out with family and friends I find myself alone again eating chocolate. Renee gave me four chocolate bars and only the white one is left. That is pretty bad. But I get a lot of exercise tossing manure around, even if the weather is not good for running. My nurse practitioner told me that I needed to take fosamax and go to the gym and lift weights but I told her that I lift plenty of weights around here--bales of hay, 100 lb bags of grain (I can't lift those but I can wrestle them from the back of the truck to the barn), buckets of water and pitchforks of heavy manure. Yesterday I managed to catch a fresh one just as Levi was depositing it. A satisfying feeling.

Levi made me so mad yesterday. I didn't want him to go in Tenzin's stall because it's Tenzin's, so he stood outside and watched me for a long time, as I cleaned it and put new shavings in, and then fresh hay. And when I went back into the barn he went into the stall and peed on the hay. I swear he knew that what he was doing would make me mad. He just had this look on his face, like he was thinking about how to get me back for kicking him out of that stall.

Charlie (have I mentioned Charlie? I think I have) got evicted from the side porch. I kept him there after his neutering (he had three kinds of parasites, an old injury, and a respiratory infection, but thankfully was not FIV +) in the green crate with a nice heating pad and a litter box some distance away from his bed but still on the porch. He thanked me for my $350+ investment in his health by pooping on my handsome leather cowboy boots. So I booted him off. He was all healed anyway, and was back to trying to take my hand off. He's a nice kitty--I really am fond of him, but he pees and poops wherever he happens to be, like a dog. He peed in the barn the other day and I was so mad.

Now there are three strays in the barn, including Sabi's daddy who is not yet fixed. He's really feral. He was in his little cubby in the hay and Tammy decided she wanted to sit there and kicked him out this morning. She looked like she wanted to lay an egg but it will most likely be a couple more weeks before they start laying again. They need more than 29 seconds added to the day to get back on the job.

Cielito Lindo

2009-12-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a mixed-media piece I created yesterday. The only idea I had in the beginning was the bird in colored pencil, and the rest just kind of happened. I know I violated a rule of composition by having the background so busy and bright. But guess what? I don't care. I've never been one for rules, and my intuition tells me it works. It's a different sort of piece from what I usually do. It's good to change things up, don't you think?

Scent Signals

2009-12-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

Scent Signals

Gotcha!

2009-12-15T18:37:00.000-08:00

I caught a Pea display on my camera today. If you look closely you can see the blue tipped feathers growing on his/her neck. The Peas are getting so big now. They are such charming birds. I never tire of watching them. I love how they walk with their necks all ruffled and their heads bobbing forward and back. I love how they peer carefully at a bug before jabbing at it quickly. I love the way they turn their heads almost upside down and look at the sky. I love the way they are so curious and come beak to whiskers with the cats at the French doors. I love the way they get excited and jump around and flap their wings every once in a while. I love their plaintive honking. I love their very muted disagreements with each other. Here's to you, Peas!

Oscar's New Bed

2009-12-13T12:06:00.000-08:00

I made this for Oscar today. For the last three weeks he his mobility has diminished almost by the day. It's very mysterious. Shreed left November 9th and I recall emailing him about how Oscar was racing around playing. Then he began to have trouble moving around: first he couldn't go up and down stairs, then he couldn't get on the couch. Now he's pretty much confined himself to an area of about 50 square feet. Since he has to be on the floor I made this bed for him. I didn't think he would like it but he got right in. So at least I hope to give him some comfort. Renee was going to come out last week but I didn't get her message in time. So I think I will have to take him into the clinic this week. I hope it's nothing very serious. He eats and is alert. But the poor guy missed meals before I realized he couldn't go downstairs to eat. I felt so terrible. So he is thin. He's a very old kitty. But he has to stick it out. He's so special to Shreed.

Things Could be Worse

2009-12-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

I think that if one hasn't blogged for a while it becomes more and more difficult to emerge from "private" life again. Nothing terrible has happened; I have been turned inward, perhaps because I'm alone.

It's been more than a month since Shreed left for Antarctica and at the moment I can't believe his weather could be worse than ours, eleven degrees and blowing about 40 knots. All this is a transitory unpleasantness for most people as they exit their cars and dash to their office buildings. But for many of us it means making sure other beings can be as comfortable as possible in these life-threatening conditions, and coping with the layer of constant anxiety weighing down on our daily activities.

Whenever you move to a new property or build, you discover little quirks about the place that despite your best efforts seem beyond redress; they stubbornly continue to irritate or make life just a bit more difficult. Around here the problem is doors that won't stay closed. I now have the French doors bungee-corded (what a verb!) shut and the side door must be pushed on and rechecked several times before one can be certain it is secure. Despite the fact that I was sure that the people door to the barn was closed, I found it wide open when I went to feed this morning. The terrible wind had blown everything about and thoroughly chilled the peafowl, who, instead of roosting in the rafters, were huddled on a corner of the floor next to the tractor.

Several burning oaths later I had closed the door and was going about the morning chores. After finishing I went back to the house and upstairs to my study. A little later I casually glanced out the window and saw the door open again! I rushed out, swearing, and locked the door from the inside, making my way out through the stall door and the gate. On my way out I noticed that one of the peas was shivering badly, so when I went back to the house I searched in the basement for a heat lamp. I went back out side carrying the lamp and I wrestled our large animal crate from the porch down to the barn in the wind (it almost swept me away like a sail), scared the horses in the process, and got it set up with the heat lamp, AWAY from anything flammable (!).

Yesterday the peas had stayed in the barn, much to my relief, but for SOME reason they decided to fly out right at sunset and went under the porch. It was cold and windy yesterday too, and the peas soon realized their mistake, so with a little coaxing they stumbled on the ice and were blown about a little, but they made it back to the barn and through the slightly open sliding door. Except for one pea. He decided to go into the chicken yard and after chasing him around the coop several times I gave up, and then he went into the chicken coop with the chickens. I decided that was good enough and I shut the coop and could hear him honking plaintively, no doubt missing his friends.

So this morning I began to worry about the stranded pea, so I crawled into the coop and grabbed him, sustaining attacks from Merle, and managed to back out of the small space, make my way to the horse gate, unlatch it and go through the stall and let the pea go with his friends. The chickens are a bit hardier and have survived one winter here, so I am not too worried about them, except that I need to buy another electric water dish as they have no access to water next to the coop. Their waterer is frozen, of course.

To tell you the truth I don't know how I ever held down a full time job and managed all of this. In the past I would be drowning in student papers right about now. Then I would truly be despair. I would much rather do farm chores in the terrible cold and wind than I would look at a student paper. Things could be worse.

Christmas Quilt

2009-12-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

Here's my contribution to the season. Since my patchwork left something to be desired I decided to embellish the hell out of it.

Love Bunnies

2009-11-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed making these simple bunnies, which I stuffed partly with lavender so they smell wonderful. They have little pockets in the front, each with a small trinket: a bird and a heart with lavender inside as well. For the purple one I appliqued a paper-cloth heart on the front. By the way, my paper cloth is as stiff as cardboard and it doesn't seem like that is the way it's supposed to be, based on what others have said. Anyway, I have found multiple ways to use it. These were fun to make and I think they would make nice gifts, for women friends and family, not for guys, obviously...

Giraffe

2009-11-22T17:22:00.001-08:00

If you're feeling a bit blue, make a giraffe. That's what I did.

New Critters

2009-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

For me, making stuffed animals is a comforting activity. I suppose it's the adult equivalent of playing with them, which used to be one of my favorite activities as a child, second only to playing with real animals!

Here we have a sleepy bunny wearing a little dress--the straps cross in the back. This is ultra-cute, if I do say so myself.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

This walrus hasn't eaten any oysters yet and doesn't have a carpenter as a friend. But he is quite a distinguished fellow nonetheless, don't you think?

The elephant joins a rather substantial herd--for some reason elephants are one of my favorites to make. This guy is based on a vintage pattern; I'm not sure how old--1930s or 40s, I think. The hairdo of the little girl pictured looks like those my mom and her sisters wore. There are couple of unique things about this pattern, at least in my experience. The elephant, as well as the rest of the animals included in this pattern series, is constructed with a band that is sewn to both halves of the body, between them. Most modern patterns seem to feature a gusset. The instructions recommend hand-sewing the band, which I did. I usually do gussets by hand as well, at least where they join both body pieces. Otherwise I end up with a puckered mess.

The other cool thing about this pattern is the button joints. I've seen this with dolls but not with a lot of stuffed animal patterns. The elephant stands and you can position her legs. That's kind of cool.

Paper-Cloth Birds

2009-11-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here's what I did with my paper-cloth. Kelli has a project for birds in her book, so I took the cue and made my own. I stuffed mine with a little bit of polyfil though, and both sides are paper-cloth. I strung them with some fabric beads I had made. The pictures aren't the greatest because of the light situation near my front door. But you get the idea. I 'm hooked now! I love working with this new medium! I bet little mobiles like this would sell.

Christmas 1991

2009-11-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

Love the acid-washed jeans!! And that's Teddy Ruxpin, I believe--the gift for kids that year. I think we had a lot of fun with that dumb bear!

At lunch: Me, Shreed, my dad (standing), Bruce (Holly's partner), Chris (my bro), Holly (cousin), Mark (cousin), Lisa (SIL), my mom. I think my mom is speaking to her grandson, Matt. Sadly my cousin Mark died in India in 1998.

At top, the cutest kid in the world, my nephew Matt (now 20 years old) and his grandpa.