Artistically Speaking

You know you are a Reader...

2009-07-06T10:35:00.003-04:00

New print in my shop!

I hope you all had a lovely 4th of July weekend. We saw the big fireworks display in Burlington on Friday - Burlington does the show on the 3rd so all the other little towns can do their own 4th celebration. We walked down to the end of our street on Saturday evening and saw the fireworks from 3 or 4 other towns off in the distance, sprouting up over the treeline, with the little booms coming a few seconds later.

I love Smoothies

2009-07-03T16:20:00.002-04:00

In a blender, put

about one cup frozen fruit, partially thawed

about one cup plain yogurt

about 1/2 cup orange juice or lemonade

a generous drizzle of honey

Blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass. Garnish with cut strawberries that look like hearts.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

2009-07-01T00:20:00.003-04:00

She was pretty cute then and she still is today! Happy birthday little sister, I ~~hope~~ know you are celebrating in style!

Studio Revamp

2009-06-29T21:26:00.002-04:00

Where have the last two weeks gone? wait, three weeks? oh my.

I was out sick for a good week or so, including three days home from work and the discovery that sudafed is not remotely helpful for my particular body. After all that time on the couch, I was full of energy and immediately attached my studio, emptying it all out and then painting, a fabulous clean, bright white. I put up some shelves and made two desk areas.

How does this fit in that tiny room that was almost full to bursting before, you ask? Surprisingly well!

Apparently all the pictures I took are of the upper walls. You can see how seriously I take keeping paint off the ceiling. It actually has to be painted too at some point, so...

Did I ever tell you about my serger? I got a serger!

Collagraph

2009-06-08T21:14:00.003-04:00

This one is actually from a couple years ago, but I recently scanned it and decided I might like it after all. Its funny how seeing something in a different context can change everything.

The "plate" was made with cardboard, glue, paper towel, tissue, and some cut shapes. Does that change it for you, knowing how humble are its origins?

Roses and Marigolds

2009-06-06T16:03:00.001-04:00

New in my garden...

Summer sure is good.

Its June!

2009-06-04T21:20:00.003-04:00

June is lovely, its hard to believe its here right now, but its lovely.

I spent most of this week being sicker than I have been in quite some time, which was not fun. But now I am feeling much much better and today was just so lovely, so things are looking up!

This evening I planted three tomato plants and 7 rows of carrots in my little garden, adding to the already planted broccoli, cucumbers, melons, radishes, lettuce, basil, sweet corn, parsley and flowers. That looks almost impressive listed out like that! Lots of things have already sprouted, and a few were transplants from my little peat pot starters. Now all thats left is planting pole beans in a pot to climb the back porch, and figuring out what to do with the herbs. And maybe some more flowers?

2009-05-25T14:31:00.002-04:00

This is the first picture my grandparents ever made together, taken in 1937. On the back my grandma wrote "Just buddies!" - but I have seen her highschool text books where she practiced writing "Mrs. Harold Wright" and "Meryle Wright" over and over.

My grandfather was a wild youth in the back hills of Kentucky. Mommaw got her hands on him and straightened him out, a job she never gave up on for the rest of her life though he turned into the sweetest, most God-fearing man you could hope to find. They were such a pair, after 65 years of marriage I think they really felt they were a part of each other. The year and a half after Poppaw passed away, Mommaw seemed to have lost her will to live. I think all the difficult health problems she had dealt with for years had been tolerable when they were together, and then when she was caring for him, but without him there she gave in. We all knew that she was ready to go when she died peacefully in her sleep this past March.

I think I am lucky that the last few years my grandparents were alive I was old enough to know them for a little while as people, rather than as only my grandparents. Now I am able to look back and admire my grandmother's courage in living alone with her young daughter while her new husband was off in WWII. I am able to understand the hard work my grandfather put in to move his family from Kentucky farmlands to a comfortable suburban life in Cincinnati. When I remember them now, I remember my grandmother telling me of the latest historical novel she had been reading; I remember my grandfather staying up late at night to read his Bible; I remember my grandmother's beautifully elegant hands and my grandfather's hands skilled at carving and other wood crafts. As I grow older I understand the little bits of them that have passed down to me, and I am hopeful of continuing their tradition of strength in adversity, of hard work and perseverance and the basic - and to me admirable - realization of the American dream. My grandparents thought this country the best in the World, my grandfather fought for these ideals. I am much more cynical, but when I think of what they were able to accomplish, and the life they were able to build here, I am hopeful as well.

Goofiness

2009-05-22T22:05:00.005-04:00

Today was one of those days where not much gets done. I had high hopes, but a series of absentmindedness and wasted time searching for things never found soon got me down. However, once I decided to just go with it all and gave up trying to accomplish the to-do list, I did have some goofy fun making this diploma for graduates of the School of Hard Knocks!

A colorful acquaintance once told me of her many years in the school of hard knocks, and ever since I have had the idea of this diploma in my head. Ta-da! I have made a button on the right sidebar for you to download a (blank of names) copy to present to your own graduate pal.

Lilacs from Maggie

2009-05-21T20:29:00.003-04:00

My friend Maggie is the proprietess of One of A Kind B'n'B here in Burlington - the place to stay for charm, elegance, magnificent lake views, and, at the moment, lilacs. Heavenly lilacs, with an aroma that wafts in the breeze... If, like Maggie's lucky guests, you sit in the metal chairs in her garden and gaze out over Lake Champlain at sunset, the smell of lilacs will surround you, adding that one extra layer of magic to the evening.

Maggie gave me some lilacs to bring home, she tucked them into my bike handles and told me to smash the ends with a hammer.

The view from my front porch is not quite to par with the garden lakeview, but now I do have the lilacs scent surrounding me and, with the candles lit and the gentle evening light, the magic is here as well...

Entrance to Heaven?

2009-05-09T23:18:00.001-04:00

May Day!

2009-05-01T20:28:00.005-04:00

I don't mean to gloat, but what a fantastic day!

I woke up late because the wild winds last night knocked the power out sometime in the wee hours of the morning leaving the alarm clock blinking 12:00, but it worked out fine because I had a full days work to do from home. Completed said project apparently to everyone's satisfaction - a whole festival's worth of ads designed and ready to go!

Cam took me for breakfast at our favorite diner and since it was a weekday there was no wait at all. Then I bought some bright yellow flowers to celebrate May!

While I worked, Cam cleaned the kitchen and then dug out our garden bed so all those little peat pots will have a new home in the near future, where they won't have to worry about the forgetful nature of the bright pink plastic water god (although how much more dependable the outdoor for real water god is it debatable, really).

Then I went to the gym, didn't run out of gas on the way even though I kept forgetting to stop at the gas station, and got an energetic workout with the perfect music.

Home again to dig in the dirt a bit - kept finding pieces of bone which is somewhat oddly disturbing - and Cam cooked our recent favorite dinner (polenta and mushrooms) which we then enjoyed while watching 30 Rock (hilarious).

Next a stroll down to the park in the beautiful spring dusk - the kind that reminds us why we live in the north and brave all that rotten-ness - with a happy dog. Crazy clouds left over from last nights storms and most likely harbingers of more crazy weather (but not tomorrow, please!) made a dramatic display over the Adirondacks and the lake. Forsythia and tulips are blooming all down the street and the leaves are at that wonderful stage after the newly opened early spring green but before the full blown summer intensity; things seem to glow!

Now I will finish a website I've been working on and then watch JFK.

I don't know if its the extra couple hours of sleep this morning, the sun and clear air, or what! But I'm just feeling good. I hope you are too!

Happy Birthday to the Bard

2009-04-24T23:12:00.003-04:00

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them". - (Twelfth Night Act II, Scene V)

(happy baptism day, one day late, to precise - though how precise is really a complete mystery!)

oh, and this is pretty neat: build your own Globe Theatre out of paper!

Happy Birthday

2009-04-17T15:53:00.003-04:00

...to my Dad! The best one I know of and the only one I would want!

The Last Two Weeks

2009-04-14T13:17:00.004-04:00

In list form. More for my own memory than anything else... And in no particular order, because I'm feeling a bit lazy.

Easter = lots of cooking and sleeping

I love quiche and plan to make more in the near future

I need a rolling board for making things like sticky buns and quiche shells

Crocuses blooming along the road

Around half the bulbs planted last fall have shown their shiny heads

Front porch is somewhat painted

Barnboard bench* is close to done

New website projects are up and coming

Winter jacket has been all but banished (I refuse to wear it during the day, early morning walks are the only exception)

Little peat potted plants in the windows are growing bravely despite a certain curious dog

I volunteered at the public library on Saturday and only really messed up once, so hopefully they will let me come again

30 Rock is hilarious

I've been seriously slacking on my gym attendance: this must be rectified

A Brownie 8mm movie camera is on its way to my door...

Waking up is hard to do

There is no excuse for baby presents to be a whole month late - I had 9 + months of preparation time!

I am trying to learn Flash, what a techie!

Tetris has been consuming way too much of my time and eye power lately

I am searching for the perfect cotton knit dress, comfortable and simple and solid colored

Also the perfect pants, but those are too hard to describe, I will recognize them when I see them...

Picture:

*exciting project, more to come when I have completed sanding, burning, varnishing and bolting

A Fool for April

2009-04-01T18:14:00.001-04:00

Mr. Beaver

2009-03-23T15:07:00.002-04:00

Whilst walking the other day, Ramona and I happened upon this busy fellow getting his home prepared for the spring.

We saw him last year as well, when he shared his disapproval of our swimming along the rocky shore near his home. He didn't seem thrilled to have his photo taken either, I have a sneaking suspicion that he doesn't care too much for me and my dog at all!

Miniature Living

2009-03-13T10:47:00.002-04:00

I made everything in this little room and that makes me really happy. - click on the picture for a larger view on flickr.

(By "tomorrow," I obviously meant "day after tomorrow"... oh well.)

Tools and Such

2009-03-11T09:24:00.002-04:00

What could this mess be about? Its been spread out over the dining room table for the past three days, and I am having so much fun!

I'll show the results tomorrow...

(or you can have a look on flickr, I just couldn't wait!)

A Flash of Spring

2009-03-10T11:07:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, Spring popped in for a visit. Though I sorely wish it would have stuck around, at least it served as a reminder that eventually warm weather, mud, rain, and most of all warmth will return to the North.

Of course, we all know that Spring will come eventually. At least we can be reasonably certain, as it has a pretty good track record thus far. Still, at this time of year - when the winter boots have started leaking just a little and the winter jacket could really use a good launder, when closed-window radiator-heated air has turned skin into sandpaper, fingernails into flimsy shells and hair into a frazzled frizzy mess best kept under a hat, when waking up in the morning to fresh snow is so depressing the only option is to crawl back into bed - I begin to, not doubt exactly, but feel a desperate urgency bordering on mania, for the end of winter.

Perhaps a warmer climate would be a healthy choice.

Home Improvements

2009-03-08T19:36:00.004-04:00

This:

recently became this:

(stove)

(and floor)

And to celebrate I made these:

Even better? There is more Home Improvement on the way! (That pink ceiling is high on my list, and the buzzing fluorescent light - I swear, those cupcakes were not at all green in real life...)

Introducing Irma

2009-02-25T18:52:00.003-04:00

This is Irma, the newest addition to the AmandaMay paper doll collection:

She is just a little shy, but has a vast imagination and can actually be pretty silly.

I am having so much fun making these dolls, especially deciding on fun clothes for them. Irma has a raincoat and a red umbrella, a pink snowsuit (a la A Christmas Story), a fabulous dress up costume, and a couple more...

Next on the drawing board, some more historical style dolls - I'm thinking Renaissance would be really fun - and maybe some fairy tale characters.

Cover Art

2009-02-22T17:53:00.003-04:00

Quite some time ago, someone contacted me through flickr and asked about using one of my Bread and Puppet photos ona book cover he was designing. I said sure, as long as B & P was ok with it - I just snapped the shot, they built the costumes after all! Then I sort of forgot about the whole thing.

When I walked into Borders last week, this was front and center on their "don't miss these titles" table!

That's my picture! And my name is on the back!

It was sort of exciting. And it looks like a good book, too.

Lightbox Revisited

2009-02-21T16:07:00.003-04:00

There is lots of talk on etsy about the proper way to photograph - those pictures, after all, must take the place of any and all tactile experience a buyer would have with the items in questions. The one thing that usually comes up is using a lightbox, and from there it is a short step to the questions of making said lightbox at home. Not too hard, actually, that part.

I made one, from a tutorial on Strobist, some time ago and used it for a while until the box started getting in the way too often and the tissue paper got punctured and the whole deal went into the recycling. With a new paper doll ready to be photographed in all her finery, I decided to try the light box once again. This time I was inspired by this post from another etsy seller to make a collapsible version of the box.

You will notice that the current back drop is a placemat. Not a great option, as it turns out. Maybe wallpaper would work better? And my lighting situation is not working out quite right either. It seems that although making a lightbox is a piece of cake, actually using it requires a bit more effort.

Happy Love Day!

2009-02-14T02:19:00.002-04:00

(My real-life valentines are still in progress; I think extending the love-holiday is ok, don't you?)