My Horoscope

Katie had her first orthodontist appointment this morning. When we were done, we went into Jamba Juice as a treat. While waiting, Katie read this horoscope to me--pretty accurate, in this case!

What a Difference Charcoal Makes!

Thought I'd share one of the things that I think makes an amazing difference in my paintings--charcoal. The top image is missing the footstool, the tree, Kelly's lips--and charcoal.

Regular matte medium gives enough tooth to use charcoal, as do matte paints (whether cheap or expensive). I usually smudge the charcoal with my fingers, although you can use a paper stump--amazingly enough, the two give totally different results! If you don't like your results, a damp cloth or baby wipe (my favorite) will completely remove the charcoal. If you like what you've done, a light coat of Krylon's Workable Fixative will set the charcoal and allow you to paint over it if you wish.

(Note: the first picture was taken with a camera in natural light, the second was scanned. This accounts for the glare on the first one.)

A Late Night Experiment

Came out late last night at 11 p.m., slogged down the hill in the rain (why haven't I finished those stairs???) played around a little bit with different colors. I was inspired by the pink/white, blue/white, and gold/white collages I've been doing...

Basketball Saturdays

Both girls are playing NJB basketball this year--Jenny for the first time and Katie for the last. They play at 11:30 and 12:40, respectively, at two different gyms down in town, so a good part of Saturdays are spent on basketball. Richard coaches Katie's team and is assistant coach on Jen's team, so he's a busy guy. All Joel and I have to do is go and watch, which is fine with me!

I have such mixed feelings about organized sports--I wish that kids could just go out, round up a group, and play on their own, but that's not the way our society is set up these days. I know this is a cliche, but so many parents take this sport thing WAY TOO SERIOUSLY--it makes me very sad for the kids. You can see it in their bodies; the set of their shoulders, the hang of their head, when Mom or Dad is screaming up in the stands, obviously dissatisfied with their child's performance--as though a kid plays badly on purpose!

Gotta head down to town--just wanted to throw this out for discussion--

From Yesterday

This one's not finished, but I worked on this face yesterday--hung her by the kitchen table last night--I just love her face. There is something uplifting and good about her countenance...

Illustration Friday: Climbing

On she walked, up the endless stairs...

What Else?

I have been working out in the studio recently. I've just noticed that the computer can suck me into surfing the internet instead of working, so I'm trying to paint, as opposed to blogging. Eventually I'll find a happy balance.

Joel took an elbow to the mouth in his basketball game last Friday, so we spent the evening in the ER waiting for the doctor to stitch up the HOLE in Joel's upper lip. Yes, HOLE. When the doctor cleaned it out, the fluid went into Joel's mouth even though his lips were closed. YUCK.

He didn't miss a game or a practice; in fact, he came back into the game after the incident, with a huge piece of gauze held over the cut with athletic tape (that was all they had in the first aid box). He scored two baskets and had an assist for the winning basket, all after he got injured. What a guy.

Everyone else is healthy and happy here.

Waiting for Josie

My Best friend, my roommate from college, is adopting a baby girl from Kazakhstan. Worked on this the last couple of days, for her. She and her two kitties have waited a loooong time to welcome little Josina Margaret into their family...

Ionic Bonds? Covalent bonds? I Can't Hear You...

Up till one o'clock last night helping Katie figure out some science stuff. Lots of tears (I won't tell you who cried), but in the end I think I explained it so that she could understand chemical bonds. She was so frustrated that I had to do some reading and talk with her before I had it all straight in my head--at the very end she said, "But Mom, you're just supposed to know everything already." Hmmm. Haven't had Chem since college (1982), never liked it that much--but apparently part of the job description is that I must be able to explain anything and everything without any reference materials.

Hmmm...

Finished (?) these today--the images are from my photos. Love that color!

One Other Thing--

And then I'm going to start scanning and painting, I promise!

Got a call last Tuesday from the gallery where I have my pieces--it's closing at the end of this month, and she wanted to make sure I came at some point to pick up my canvases. (Oh, and by the way, Karen, you were right, I did have seven canvases, not three--I found four more in storage!)

Next day, she called again, to tell me that someone had just come into the gallery and bought five of the seven pieces.

!!!

Went in on Thursday to pick up my money from her (And you'd better come now, Karen, while I have the cash, because I don't know how long I'll hang onto this money! Sorry I can't pay you for the two pieces I sold last fall, Karen, but I'm really strapped right now. But you know I'll get the money to you, right?)

Question: The gallery owner had originally said she'd give me the names/addresses of the people who bought my pieces, but now says that would be a breach of confidence--any comments or advice on that one? I feel as though she's acting as my agent, and the people bought the paintings from ME, but she doesn't seem to want to budge...

A Warm Welcome to the Newest Member of Our Family

Bloggers, meet Sugar, Jenny's new guinea pig! She was born exactly one week ago today, and she's just the sweetest thing ever, which isn't surprising, considering how friendly and cuddly her parents are.

Jenny got her first guinea pig, Pumpkin, last June from her teacher. This fall we got another piggy from Miss Linda, so that Pumpkin would have a friend. Guinea pigs are herd animals, so they really are happier with a friend--honest, this wasn't just Jenny trying to snow me. We asked for another boy, so we wouldn't have the issue of reproduction to deal with--but as soon as we put Patch in the cage with Pumpkin--well, let's just say that there was some, uh, action. Jenny said, "Mom, do you think maybe Patch is a girl?" Later that first afternoon, I kept hearing Jen saying, "Pumpkin, stop that! Pumpkin, behave!" Obviously, Patch was indeed a girl, and last Monday morning when we checked the piggies, there was Sugar. This picture was taken when she was approximately 4 hours old--guinea pigs are born with teeth and fur, ready to run around and play.

Here's a picture of Patch and her new baby, Sugar, taken that first morning...

Don't want to leave Pumpkin out--here's a picture of the proud daddy...

Whew!

Kids all back to school this morning, so I have the luxury of a whole day in the studio--Going to scan some of the things I've done since my last blog entry and post them.

The image in this piece is a photo that I took in England twenty-eight years ago. My high school had an exceptional choral group, and every other summer the director, Mr. Stevenson, took a group to England for a three-week concert tour, singing in cathedrals and churches there. I've recently come across the pictures, and have been playing around with them.

Feeling as though I'm going to do some more collage-type work in the coming months, along with painting. We'll see. I do love the mystery of collage.