Decisions, Decisions...

Which Angel would you pick? The soft blue angel of dreams or the vibrant red and green angel of hope? Someone has a decision to make. Choose well, Grasshopper.

Merry Christmas! (a day late...)

Now how do I get back up that chimney?

Had fun putting a ridiculous santa hat on all cats we could capture and lots of eating and drinking were done by all. Santa was good to me. He brought me a sturdy new easel which hopefully will not collapse backwards when I press too hard and photoshop elements. Woo hoo! How DID he know...I know what I'll be doing this coming year...

I hate my life...

Greensleeves Was My Delight...

Before Greensleeves...

Actually, she was my embarrassment. I have a hard time showing my art work to others. I can accept a compliment on my hair, accessories, the way I dress, my home, or my family, but God help the person who tries to compliment me on a piece of artwork. I usually look the other way and run. This week, I had a monthly appt with my massage therapist. This woman gives me a present every Xmas and I return it with generous tips through the year. This year I felt the need to give her a present also. We had spoken about our artistic leanings before-we both painted. So I decided to paint her a little something. Of course I left it till the last moment and finally brainstormed in front of the computer. I came up with a little lady dressed in green standing outside on a winter's night. Daughter #4 said, "What's the point?" Umm...I don't know. Do paintings need to have a point? So I thought some more and embellished it with this and that and finally remembered the old folk song Greensleeves. I wrapped it up and cushioned it with some of the Husband's cookies. And took it off to my appt. My therapist presented me with her gift, I presented her with mine, and then she didn't open it....What does that mean?!!? She said she was keeping the surprise. I kind of interpret that as, "What if I hate it?" Arrghh! So now I have to wait till my next appt to get her opinion which as I type this, I realize I did not make. Sigh.

And After...

Psychic Sketching

Sigh, It's Christmas time  and Santa Claus is exhausted and stressed but apparently the psychic connection between mother and daughter is running high. Yesterday after making football food for husband and friends who gathered to watch Army lose to Navy for the umpteenth time...I retreated to the studio to listen to music and doodle. And no, daughter #3, I did not paint that hand. I avoided all projects and sat with my sketchbook and a Christmas lager. While I sat there sketching away, Daughter #4 came downstairs and looked at what I was doing and said that her sister must have sent me the photo of her painting that she was working on. I said no I hadn't seen any of her sister's work yet. She said "spooky!" I later received this photo of her sister's painting and here also are my sketches from yesterday. I can only strive to catch up to #3. Awesome painting.

Daughter's painting

Mother's psychic scribble

Harry Potter and the Deer Maiden

Someone Not So Busy....

Long time no write. I was busy Harry Pottering about working on decorations for the Library's Hogwarts Holiday tree. After I finished the owls (and got seriously hooked on Doctor Who and Stargate Atlantis), I worked on the sorting hat. It was a Halloween witch's hat but after distressing it with some paint and embellishing it with patches, stitching, and felt eyes and mouth-it passes for a pretty decent sorting hat/tree topper. No picture though. I took one with my phone but I'm not quite sure how to transfer it to the computer. Maybe through Picasa? Headed off to get a massage the next day and ended up laying on my back with my hands on my chest and needles poking out of them. I had some rather large knots between my thumbs and forefinger so Renee was wielding her acupuncture magic. All I can say If I don't see the needles-they are not there. So I keep my eyes closed. Sometimes when you have a massage you get some pretty strong visions while you're lying there being pummeled to death. My own personal theory is that your releasing a lot of blocked energy or badness out of your system leaving room for some interesting ideas to come through. What I thought of when I tried to lay still  and not  move my hands because of the needles, is that my hands had turned into deer hooves because I was holding them in  a C-shape. I then proceeded to tell Renee that I felt like a Japanese deer maiden. To which she replied,"WTF?" and rightly so. She told me to draw it when I got home so I did.    

A Doodle....

Five Little Owls and Dr. Who...

I spent a marathon day in the studio yesterday finishing up these five little guys for the Library's Christmas tree. I came out only for leftover pizza and cups of tea. Who knew sewing five little critters was so time consuming? It was rather relaxing in a way. Since I wanted to finish them this weekend, I ignored all other projects. I pulled my comfy chair up to the computer, put the owls in a tray on my lap and streamed Dr. Who and Stargate Atlantis on the computer with netflix. A perfect day. I could hear the husband hammering away on shed #3 but I was tucked in my cozy studio with my tea and Dr. Who. All I need is a mini fridge down here and I'll never come out!

Mermaids, Angels and Owls! Oh My!

Stage one, a pale angel...

I spent the whole day in the studio and am now sporting multicolored fingernails. Paint, not polish. Manicures and I don't agree. I think the first and only time I had one was before my wedding. It wasn't a soothing experience. These days it would probably be a waste of cash. I usually have dirt or paint under my poor nails and I tend to walk into things.

What to write...

I made a start on angel # 2 and then got bored and started to paint the beam that runs the width of the studio with blackboard paint. The first coat went on all slimy and drippy. It took two more coats before it had any resemblance to a blackboard. Meanwhile I learned from daughter #3 that people actually do not use chalk to write on their blackboards at cafes and shops. They use chalk markers! Who knew? I thought they just had extremely nice writing and skill with chalk. I need to get me some of those...
In between coats of blackboard paint , I sat at my computer and made a mermaid playlist for some inspirational painting music. A lot of whales yodeling and ocean waves battering the shores. Yep, I made one for angels too. Then I got started on my mermaid picture by creating a background with acrylic paints and my fingers.(Another good reason to pass on the manicures.)

Make an ocean...

Add a mermaid.

Lastly, I found this sweet little felt owl pattern at www.juicy-bits.typepad.com. I haven't made one yet but I have cut out the pieces and have my felt lined up. Need to purchase some rick rack too.

Wrestling with Printers and Angels

Angel #1

Well I spent the afternoon finishing up Angel #1 and installing a wireless printer in my studio. When I got the lovely new computer, of course the scanner from my old printer did not work.  Looked it up online and found out it wasn't compatible with Snow Leopard. Go Figure. It was perfectly fine with my fuzzy little Tiger OS. I guess all great cats are not created equal or at least their operating systems aren't...and so one purchase leads to another until I eventually go bankrupt.
Daughter #3 was home this weekend in order for us to take her out to dinner for her 20th b-day. We celebrated last night and this afternoon I had her take some photos of me while working. Major discovery. I frown and look angry while thinking and working. I do not look peaceful, blissed out, or contemplative. I look like I am going to wrestle that project on to the ground and make it squeal uncle till it's complete. I think from now on I will only show hand shots. In my head, I see 19, but my face definitely says 48. Sigh...

Grrrr....

Beeswaxing leads to candy corn craving...

So here I am adding embellishments with beeswax until I get a severe craving for candy corn from the smell and end up adding the rest of them with matte medium. All I have left to do is to add some fibers to it. Unfortunately I need to go shopping again to get them, (Can't blame the computer or printer for that purchase) and then it's on to Angel # 2. I might make a slight detour through mermaids, the latest Suzi Blu class. Wings, fins, it's all the same.

Did someone say wings?

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Some Angels and Some Devils...

A Very Studious Cat...

Still dealing with the loss of furniture to daughter #1 and boyfriend. I moved a card table and assorted chairs up to the kitchen and camouflaged it with a tablecloth. Working cat Al said, "Thank you very much" and promptly jumped up to lay down on his new bed. I guess the card table is rather low...I moved a chair around in the living room so it doesn't look quite so empty also. This Columbus day weekend I took my camera for a walk in the woods accompanied by Binx who cleared the path of any dangers due to falling leaves and grasping branches.

 I also holed up in the studio to practice angels. I owe one to the lovely person who made me my chakra bracelet. This one isn't done and it's just a practice one. I'll give you a choice Annemarie!

Angel in progress..

Towards the end of this afternoon I realized I didn't have any gold leaf.Horrors! This called for an emergency trip to Michaels. I asked the husband if he would like to accompany me. I knew he would agree because the Red Hook brewery is close by and somehow we would end up there testing the beers. We did.

Lots of space now in the living room for napping...

The Nest Empties...

Daughter #1 came to visit this weekend with her true love. They left our house with a budget rental truck containing my kitchen table and chairs, the upstairs vacuum cleaner, two living room chairs, and various odds and ends that she had stored in the basement. And she's only the first one who has left home. Eventually I will be living in a tent. Ah well...it was all a part of my evil plan to get new furniture. Now that I can actually walk through my basement to get to the studio-I went in to work. Daughter # 3 gave me some advice on that one. She said her prof always has to force himself to got to his studio every day. I thought I was the lone ranger. Another gem of wisdom from her teachers...don't let your paintings become precious to you. When you are afraid to work on them for fear of ruining them, it is time to work on them and let them be destroyed. I do have one that I have been hiding from. I love her hand so much that I am afraid I am going to ruin it by working on it and the painting is no where near done. In an effort to avoid my painting, I started work on a drawing for the base of another only to find out that the head was going to be too big for the body. Oh well, I guess I'll use it for something else.

Head without a home...

I got the Power!

R.I.P. my pretty!

Well I'm sad to say there was another death at Working Cat Studio. Yep you guessed it, my beautiful Imac died. It was the flat panel half dome G4 and it was sooo beautiful. I loved that computer. Sniff. As mentioned in my last post, I was suddenly getting very limited or no connectivity down in my studio, or as my co-worker put it-the girl cave. I had the Comcast guy here for 2 hours Wednesday trying to fix the connection. Nothing worked.We finally decided it must be the computer since a laptop was picking up the connection fine. Next day I headed off to our local Mac store to explain my problem. The guy agreed it was a dying airport card. My computer was already 6 yrs old and at most I had another year on it. So I turned around and said I'll take one of those. The husband would've had a fit. He takes forever to make a decision. I however don't have the time to mess around. I needed a new computer and I knew what  wanted. So I took it. I mean bought it. And guess what? It connected to the Internet with no prob. And I had 4 bars. I've never had 4 bars in my studio. I am ecstatic and while this computer is more handsome than beautiful....it is da bomb! I never knew what I was missing.

My new love...

Whew enough of my techie drooling. I did take some pix the other night of the full moon. Still working exploring my camera. And then today wandered around the garden taking "Fall" shots. We have had a bumper crop of acorns this year. I wonder what this means...Are we going to have a hard winter or just fat squirrels. Thank God we don't have a metal roof like some of our neighbors. I felt like was walking in a war zone yesterday. The acorns falling on the roof sounded like machine gun fire.

spooky moon

green tobacco plant

                                

Old "Man" shed and now new chicken coop!

My Super Dorothy still being super!

Working cat Macadam picking his way through the acorns..

Have you seen a spider web like this?

Site of the new Man shed

Grandpa Ott morning glory still hanging around like old men do..

Disconnected

No, not with life or my creativity. We upgraded our Internet package last week and somehow I have little or no connectivity in my studio. So in between bemoaning my fate, I have been on the phone with Albert in India and fiddling with router channels while I act like this is no big deal for me. It is! I love my Internet. This has happened before in my studio and I'm desperately trying to remember how I corrected it last time. I suppose I should take it as a challenge and work on projects without computer distraction. Maybe I will if I don't get this fixed pretty soon, but until then---Waahh!

Gimme a signal!

Virtue and Roses

I'm feeling very virtuous today. I went to the gym this morning and had a walk through of the weights with the personal trainer and even stayed and did my reps and sets with a dash of cardio. Anything to eat pizza without guilt. I aim to kill any creeping poundage with exercise. I will wear my pants with comfort and ease!  Leaving the gym rather carefully, I headed to the town safety complex and voted. Finally arriving home, I put the family's meal in the crock-pot and headed to the studio. Boy am I good. If only everyday would go this smoothly. I worked on the Jumping Cat painting and then wandered around my garden taking photos of the last roses. I tried for butterflies but they all ran away from me. Silly things.

   I forgot what this one is called but it's the only one left on the bush. It looks very droopy and romantic.

                            This is rosa "Outta The Blue" which is weird because it's deep pink.

                      This is rosa "Fourth of July" which is growing alongside my potting shed.

                       Whoops. Not a rose, but a lovely hydrangea against the Autumn sky....

                                    Grrrr.... Don't take my picture while I'm in the woods.

That's better.

When The Moon Hits Your Eye....

How 'bout a little pepperoni on that moon pie?

A quiet weekend here at Working Cat Studio. We finally had an overcast day and I finally felt I could enter the studio again after battling the garden for the last month. We've been eating a lot of tomatoes at our house. Caprese salad, tomato sandwiches, fried green tomatoes, gazpacho- you name it, we've eaten it. So I am sitting down here tidying things. I've weeded out my gardening magazines, hung up some finished work to get it out of the way, and puttered with a little cat painting. And throughout doing all that, I was not in a state of artistic bliss. All I could think about is how hungry I am and that I really really wanted to scarf down some food that is totally bad for me. A greasy pizza, cheeseburger and fries, fried clams and a coffee frappe. SOMETHING. But no, I am trying to be good and healthy. I want to remove a few pounds so I have been snacking on grapes, apples, and carrots. It is so sad. Maybe I'll paint a pizza instead. A vision of my true love....

Daughter-free Dining

This is what you can dine on for Sunday brunch when your children have all disappeared on a road trip to Virginia-panko encrusted fried green tomato stacks with basil, topped with a poached egg and served up with a mimosa on the side. Yum. Life is good.

Lost: My Energy. Somewhere Between Now and Then.

I am struggling to work up some energy to get working again. The garden is weedy and full of vegetables and herbs that need to be picked, projects are laying around the studio, yet I can't find the time or energy to do what needs doing. All I really want to do is to lay on the deck with a good mystery. I want to read and drink sparkling water and just "think" about gardening, drawing, and painting...as an intellectual exercise of course. So now I'm going to really complain-I gained 6 pounds on vacation, my cat died, and all four of the daughters are on a road trip to VA. Stress city!!! So now that I have vented, here's the plan of action- I am holed up in my studio decluttering. I have a cup of tea and a couple of cookies(only two!) and I am listening to some good music. I will take baby steps to climb out of my hole and hopefully I will find my motivation laying hidden under my mess.

In Memoriam To Hamish June 17, 1996 - August 17, 2010

Working cat Hamish went to romp in the big garden in the sky at 10:45 am today. We will miss you Hammie. May you always have catnip to eat, mousies to crunch, and a warm spot of sunshine to stretch out in. We love you!