two kitties

The Still Life Project

I was driving Talia somewhere when she asked me, "How come you have BARK in your car?" [insert look of disgust]

"How come you don't?"

That was the only quick thing I could come up with. And, anyway, if I'm not nice to one of the only two teenagers in my life, she'll quit helping me with my iPod.

But anyway, I'm always collecting things like rocks, shells, feathers, and driftwood on my walks.

Seedpod is creating a new still life every day in February, speaking of thirty day projects, and her photographs have given me some new ideas.

The Noticing Project

(Photo credit: Nat Hansen)

My senior year of college, I took a short painting course from a professor who loved to work al fresco. We painted scenes of Georgetown in watercolor for three hours every morning and I loved every minute of it.

When you take art like a vitamin - every day Vitamin A -  you develop muscles you never knew you had. Your eyes really see what you are looking at; breaking it down into bits that the brain can translate for the hand that hopes to place it on a page.

You don't see just a house anymore, you see patterns of light and shadow on brick, sixteen different greens in the embrace of a tree. You begin to notice everything.

To this day, every time I smell bacon I am reminded of the day I worked on the roof of the art building on a painting of the monuments, looking down the Potomac. Breakfast was cooking at Mother's down below.

From my vantage point, I watched as two of DC's professional panhandlers changed shifts at 10:00, one taking over the milk crate the other had kept warm. I passed by them every day but, until then, it had never registered that they worked on shifts.

During graduation week, I walked by the two panhandlers on the opposite side of the street. I was on my way to mass and hidden in the folds of my black gown and hat. One yelled across, "Congratulations Painter Lady!"They had been watching me watch them and they could recognize the real me under all that stuff.

Today, visit The Noticing Project or 3191. Both are collaborations between artist-friends. Both make visual explorations of their every day surroundings. It is amazing, even inspirational to have someone show you what they see.

Baby Head Paperweight

Over the weekend, Talia and I started working on a new series of multiples. The idea for these baby head paperweights came from Mark Montano's book and we plan to take it to the next level.

We want to make dozens of baby heads, set posts in the neck with plaster of paris, and "grow" them in the garden behind my studio. When they are finished, you'll be the first to know.

A Fifteen Minute Challenge From Two Kitties

  Yesterday, I called my friend Shalondra while I was making cookies. She's a Los Angeles actress and I knew that whatever she had to tell me would keep me from eating a dishpan full of cookie dough.

It had been awhile since we'd talked on the phone, so we caught up by offering each other a bunch of sad excuses for why we weren't doing the things we said we really wanted to do the last time we talked. Like two lazy cats enjoying the sunshine.

Shalondra wants to publish a poem but said she needs to figure out how to go about it. I want to finish writing my novel but that's hard to do when you never open the file on the computer.

Eventually, I suggested that what was holding us back was a combination of fear and laziness. For me, I'm afraid to finish the book because I know I can finish it. I'm not afraid that it will be bad, I'm afraid that it will be good, because what if its good and no one wants it?

This is what we agreed. For the next 30 days (because it takes 30 days to form a habit), we're going to spend fifteen minutes working on our writing. Just fifteen minutes on a kitchen timer, no editing, no worrying, no looking forward or back.

And then we're going to send it to one another. No expectation to read or comment on the writing, just meeting the agreement to follow up on our commitment to one another.

I want to invite you to join us for the next thirty days. Spend fifteen minutes a day working on something you've always wanted to do. It doesn't matter what it is, just put the time in.

EDIT: I've received these ideas - Craig is learning guitar; Pamela and Jeff will be meditating; Miranda working in her garden; Michael H. is learning to edit video and play chess; JBAB is crocheting a blanket; Sheri is stretching each morning; Debra is working on a rug for her show; Caroline has started to draw again. What will you do with your 15 minutes?

Send me the update every day - or another trusted friend.  If you'd like to receive my writing, I'm happy to share.

The reward is that you're doing it - you're making tracks toward what you've always wanted to do.

Dishpan Cookies: The Best Cookie Recipe on the Planet

They may not be beautiful, but these cookies are incredibly addictive.

I got the recipe from Gay Endicott, Alison's mother, who got it from her mother, Irene Felkner.

This batch is a gift for Mike's brother and his wife, who just hosted us down in New Mexico for a week.

Dish Pan Cookies

This recipe makes umpteen dozen cookies that freeze well.

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups white sugar

2 cups butter (softened)

4 eggs

5 cups flour

2 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup minute oatmeal

2 cups coconut

4 cups cornflakes

1 cup nuts (optional)

Throw it all in a bowl, mix, then drop spoonful on to cookie sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes at 325. 

Mark Montano's Poe Tree: What to do with old love letters, valentines, and books.

Browsing through Mark Montano's Big Ass Book of Crafts, I came across this idea for a "Poe-Tree."

A branch set in plaster-of-paris then leafed (is that a word?) with cuttings from old books, letters, even valentines.

I think it would look good in the corner of my studio - perhaps made with leaves made from drawings Debra copied for me from her sketchbook.

How to Alter Photographs: Bleach and Wax Resist Techniques

I made some last minute Valentines yesterday using photographs I printed from my PC. The bleach and wax resist is a very simple, old school process and can do something special for otherwise ordinary photographs.

The first photo is (obviously) the original, and the second photo I altered with a combination of household bleach, water, and wax crayons. 

To try this at home you will need:

1) an original photograph

2) two shallow pans

3) paintbrush with synthetic bristles (for selective bleaching)

4) rubber gloves.

5) wax crayons (optional for bleach resist)

In one pan, mix a solution of 50% bleach and 50% water. Fill the second pan with clean water.

Dip the photograph first in the plain water, then into the bleach solution. When the colors on the surface of the photo begin to change, rinse it in the plain water pan.

To bleach out only specific areas of the photo, use the brush to dab on the bleach mixture and rinse with plain water when the desired effect is achieved. Set to dry on several layers of newspaper.

To preserve selected areas of the photograph and prevent them from bleaching, you can color in areas of your dry photo with wax crayons before you begin.

Then follow the bleaching process. You can also use gel medium for more precise protection, but I like the color the crayons leave behind.

If you would like to remove the wax, you can press the photo with a warm iron between two pieces of newsprint. The paper should absorb the wax.

Try this technique on a few unloved photos to perfect the techniques. I wound up using less bleach on my PC-printed photos and you may want to try that as well.

Have fun! And Happy Valentine's Day from the two kitties: Kiki and White Kitty.

 

Fierce Bunnies: Recycled Sweaters or, How to Deal with Turbulence

I first learned about Siamese twins Lori and Reba Schappell in the BBC documentary Sisters of Hope. Like all conjoined twins, the Schappell sisters have to negotiate each of their individual desires and tastes within a shared body. One twin became a Mormon, the other a country western singer.

While we were flying through turbulence, I remembered the Schappell twins saying that they could go "invisible" when it was needed, to allow the other twin privacy and space to pursue their own interests.

They said they go inside their own minds, calmly unavailable and emotionally distant to the other twin during individual involvements. A mammoth compromise for two people joined at the head.

I tried to do this while we were flying, to keep my nervousness inside so Mike could pilot without having to deal with my emotional freakouts. It worked for me, but it confused him when I got so quiet, and really weirded him out when I tried to explain it to him later. One of those things that should never be said out loud, I guess.

So it was no small comfort when I came across these "Fierce Bunnies" made by Canadian artist Sonja Ahlers.

They speak to me, not only because of what I'd just been thinking about siamese twins, but because they are made from recycled angora sweaters.

That's the ultimate re-use: returning the bunny to the bunny.

Between the Moon and New York City

Four years ago in April, I met Mike at Smith and Wollensky on Miami's South Beach.

That night, I told him two things: 1) I never wanted to get married again; and 2) I'd never get in his airplane.

I'd never been to Montana but I'd heard about it, the way you hear about West Nile Virus or string theory.

So the point of this story is, last week I flew with my husband of three and half years in his airplane from our house in Montana down to New Mexico.

To avoid some weather, we cruised east towards Billings and then dipped down into Wyoming. We wound up in a kind of no man's land, where the only thing considered notable enough for our aviation maps was "numerous sand dunes."

It was still a little bumpy, but I kept from nervous barfing by concentrating on trying to find The Pioneer Woman's ranch.

She never says exactly where she lives, probably because folks like us with small airplanes would just drop on by. I figure (because of the wild mustangs) it has to be eastern Montana or Wyoming.

I never did find her but it helped me immensely.

Making Tracks

We spent last weekend at our house in Montana, the first time I've seen it in three months.

Everything was quiet, snowy, and peaceful.

With Buddy the dog left behind in Oregon and our resident bear asleep for the winter, the animals have once again claimed the woods as their own.

These are their tracks: deer; wild turkey; raccoon; rabbits, and squirrels. 

We built a fire in the big fireplace and kept it burning for two days. No one knew we were in town. I finished knitting the sweater and remembered the cherry vodka in the fridge downstairs.

It reminded me of the first summer we spent there - before the remodeling started. When we let our cherries fall to the ground and our biggest responsibility was to decide whether or not we would spend the day floating on the lake or hiking in Glacier National Park. Most days we floated.

Mexican Retablo

, originally uploaded by larry&flo.

While I'm down here, I've been looking everywhere for ex voto paintings like this one. You can read about ex voto paintings or "retablos" here.

On vacation...

Pink Store Las Palomas Mexico, originally uploaded by Splinter Group.

I'm off for a week to visit family in the El Paso area. Top of our list is to cross the border to eat and shop here, at the Pink Store, in Las Palomas, Mexico.

I hope you'll stick around and search the archives in the meantime....

Thread Heads: Reusable Shopping Bags

Make (or buy) a reusable shopping bag this weekend. I've been thinking alot about my trash lately (more on this later) and I've decided to quit thinking I'm just a drop in the bucket, man.

Buying Goodwill: Thift Store Books and Magazines

Lately, I've been finding most of my reading at Goodwill, just browsing until I make a random love connection to an author or a title that begs me to pull it off the shelf. That's how I came across two recent titles I've always wanted to own - Autobiography of a Face, and Cinematherapy.

In bookstores, I choose books the way I choose wines: I look at the title and if it resonates, I pull it off the shelf to read the back cover.

All too often, the copy was written by some publishing intern that probably never read the book - "What happens when a (fill-in-the-blank) meets a (fill-in-the-blank) with a (fill-in-the-blank)?" I hate that. Back on the shelf.

I read the first few paragraphs and if the story completely sucks me in, I buy the book. This strategy has served me pretty well - it's how I found favorites like Necklace of Kisses.

Occasionally, I'll take a book home and find that, no matter how promising it seemed, it can't keep my attention. Like Atonement. I just couldn't get through it.

Book Lust librarian Nancy Pearl says that you should use the "Rule of 50" in those situations. If you are 50 years old or younger, give the book about 100 pages before you put it down. If you're over 50, give it 50 pages. Life is short after all.

How to Wall Make Art with Preserved Leaves

Back in the fall, I wrote a blog entry called "How to Preserve Fall Leaves." I don't know about you, but I've been kind of baffled about what to do with them. They are beautiful, but incredibly fragile and not things you can just leave around.

Browsing through my extensive stash of vintage craft magazines, I came across this little project in the Summer 1969 issue of McCalls Needlework and Crafts.

It's a simple idea - to glue preserved leaves to gessoed board in various shapes. Here the artist Kay Seiler has created a series of birds by finishing the images with brush and ink.

You could use these techniques to create almost any image you want - simple, abstract arrangements or collections of colors as you see here would be beautiful.

Vintage Embroidery: Crewel Pillow Kits and Hot Iron Transfers

My sewing closet is OVERFLOWING, so I've decided to sell some of the best quality vintage items from my stash.

I think some of these florals would look great cut up and embroidered with crewel wool on a felted sweater pincushion.

Visit my shop and you'll find this and other vintage crewel embroidery kits and hot iron transfers!