collage sheet

here is an example of one of a collage sheet that will be offered on my e commerce website - i'm hoping to get it up and "live" soon.  this sheet has black and white images of my mom, ruby, ready for the paintover technique, paintover instruction sheet and some inspiration.

anyway, i had a wonderful time going up to see my son, jamie, in santa barbara the last couple of days.  rosie went with me.  i drove the van up to give to  him, and then we took the train home - which was a 6 hour ride.  i didn't think santa barbara to san diego on the train would take that long.

anyway, jamie drove us around santa barbara in the van  - he quickly got used to it.  he was shocked at what it would cost him to own it though, i.e. registration, insurance and gas.  who isn't shocked at the pump?

i returned my twin nephews to their mom in LA too.  i miss their chatter.....i also took a side trip to visit with my brother danny in his la fitness gym.  he was impressing us with his "six-pack" at age 58!!!!!  pretty good.

today, rosie and i finished her back-to-school shopping. - thank goodness, that was really hanging over my head.

tomorrow is all day art making with my art friend meredith cummings.

la jolla cove

so yesterday we spent the day in the water here at la jolla cove.  one of the most places in the world if you ask me.

if you look out past the second jetted out rock formation you might see the cliffs that stretch out into the distance, we swam out to them because inside the cliffs are caves, very exciting and a nice adventure for my twin nephews.

we had a bag of frozen peas and fed the fish, it was like swimming in an aquarium, nice big beautiful and surprisingly colorful (considering it is cold water) fish.  the cove is a natural reserve, so the fish abound, and lobsters and crabs.  on one cliff,   a mom seal or sea lion (not sure which) and her cubs were sleeping lazily in the sun.  we swam clear of her little nest, in case we got her hackles up.  there were millions of pelicans that paddle around us like we belong there too.  it's not too deep, so we spent a lot of time swimming underwater in and out of the long swaying seaweed, the type that are fun to pop on the beach and closer to shore are the glassy type of seaweed that reminds me of comb-over hair that moves constantly to hide the sandy bald spots of the ocean's bottom where the little fishes like to hang out and play peep-a-boo.

  

about me on my bathing suit......er, usually i don't like that i have middle age spread, but i make an  exception while swimming in salt water;  there i am glad to be what i am.   i am so buoyant and weightless and warm as a result of overeating!  except for my bright colored swim suit and light skin tone, i probably look like a pregnant seal.

we are leaving now on our next adventure - the drive to santa barbara to see my son.....

swimming and comics...

sorry i was not able to write yesterday and the day before as well. why? because cox sucks.  again. 

cox our service provider, shuts down whenever.........

the jr. olympics is over now and my daughter did pretty well, bettering her times by up to 10 seconds, which is cool, but still not placing in the finals as the competition here is very tough. there is one girl in her age group who went to olympic trials (the youngest swimmer, kendyl stewart).

 most exciting part and entertaining part of the meet is always their relay, again everyone on the relay team did their best times and they are all great swimmers, they got 8th place all three relay events.  

so i came home with a sore throat from screaming into the wind to "go, go, gooooooooooo..........".

yesterday we went to the comic con with her twin cousins max, and zach.  i think it might be a couple of days before i can write about that since it was so overwhelming, and crowded and new to me that i will need a couple of days to get it straightened out in my head.   the cool thing about comic con is the free stuff.  i will have plenty of fodder to play with for some time.today we are going to la jolla cove to swim.  tomorrow we will drive to los angeles,  then rosie and i will drive on to visit my son in santa barbara.  i will take my apple computer as i won't have to deal with cox service on the road. 

"whistling in the dark".....

i'm just finishing this book.  i love it...it's easy to read, told in the voice of a 10 year girl;  sister to a wilder girl whom she feel she must protect -the 10 year old's voice is full of naive imaginings, but as the reader you wisely know what the clearer meaning is.

i read "water for elephants" not long ago, another fantasic and not too difficult to read book, richly filled with imagery of a train traveling circus in the US about 1930's.  

its author, sara gurin, wrote that she loved "whistling...", that for me was the best recommendation.

i'm a happy reader tonight, as i  have only 90 pages left.   then, there is a discussion at the back of the book, my fave.

as for today at the jr. olympics, i know you all are wondering how my daughter, rosie is doing..... she is preforming well, not stellar, as she had the broken elbow recently, but considering, she is really showing heart. she swam the mile, 200 individual medley and 200 meters breaststroke.   plus, this afternoon she was in the 800 freestyle relay.  that was very exciting.   our relay was predicted to get next to last out of 14.  they got 8th - rosie who swam 3rd, took the team from 3rd place in their heat, to first and her friend ashley, anchorwoman, kept it there!!!!  way to go girls!!!!

 we moms nearly passed out from all the excitement.  i was told to quieten down at least once today by passerbyers. 

 so its been a great day overall.

atc finished - more or less

so now i have glued the slivers down with polymer medium, stamped a touch with script and letters added a few wise words.... for me, these are done - if i were to submit these to somerset, i would probably add some stitches and iron them flat - perhaps make a small booklet or attach them together.

ATC development

ATC (artist trading cards)..... one way or one method i use to develop my cards is by creating a ton of backgrounds all at one sitting. another time i tear slivers of images from a magazine taking note of colors only, not content.

the subject matter develops into a nice surprise.....it all reveals itself as i work.

for instance, here i have a few ATC backgrounds that i created last friday and some magazine slivers i tore yesterday. next, i will put them together to reveal what happens.....stay tuned.

friday's play....

last friday meredith and i did ATCs. i took chipboard pieces and sprayed them onto the blank ATCs; adding little bits here and there --- making a lot of backgrounds. 

then i tossed one of them upon a canvas i was using as a palette....... and that is how i came to meet.... mr. smiley-face clownhead.

i think i ought to clean my scanner...sorry about that.

counter

hmmm, the counter doesn't seem to work unless it is on the current page....

t-shirts

tomorrow rosie and i will spend the day making collage tshirts (again, these were in somerset's altered couture magazine last year).
i am going to use my new set of juicy t shirt pens and spray dye and probably good old sharpie markers.

why are we making tshirts tomorrow? to wear to comic con that's coming this week, of course.
we plan to go sunday right after she finishes all her jr. olympic races.
i'm looking forward to marking up tees tomorrow.
i might draw a robot one. i'm in the mood for robots.

“Three Centuries of Italian Art and Architecture”
Collage by R. Richetts
Coming soon: Art retreat in Umbria, Italy with instructors Lisa Bebi and Renee Richetts
October 7-12, 2008!
Prices starting at $1400---- 50% discount when 2nd attendee or more--- sign up together!
For information, contact Renee Richetts at
760-519-4930 or rrichetts@cox.net

"eggs in a basket"

this is a mixed media piece that's 12" x 24" on a wood panel. she is fresh and has a "gleem" toothpaste smile. love her pigtails. i bought this photo of her a while back as i loved how "all american" she looked. she sort of fits a month of july (4th of july month) theme.

i had fun today working with meredith making fun art. we both happily worked on ATCs. i was going to show mine on my blog tonight, but they need to be scanned. maybe tomorrow night.
i used home made stencils, chip board, spray mica watercolors, soft pastels and papers. too fun. i made a huge batch of them. then i used a book rosie bought yesterday then quickly realized she would never use it...it is a book of 8,000 plus words of wisdom. after 2 or 3 words of wisdom it is completely boring. so, i cut them up and used them in my art - they are like little fortune cookie sayings. its kinda fun to mix and match them. i hope tomorrow i will have time to finish them and share them with you here.

nothing much going on this weekend - next weekend is huge, both the junior olympics for rosie (4 day meet with heats and finals) and the comicon (comic convention)here in san diego. we plan to go to the comicon sunday. if you are going too, i hope to see you there!!!!! i think rosie plans on wearing a comic book dress that renee richetts created.

btw, i keep forgetting to mention that i had finished the book brooke bought me called "is anyone out there". i loved the book and really went through withdrawals after i finished it. i hate and love it when a book is so rich with characters that i actually miss their company. this is always the case with marian keyes books. i love them all. it is an interesting book that hit home for me on many levels. i can't say too much more about it or i will give away the plot. its worth reading and will probably only take you 2 days to read or less. me, i read slowly. but i savor too.

lemon grove

this is my home town, i grew up in lemon grove, home of the giant lemon. and since my dad was the big man in town, he was the editor and publisher of the lemon grove review newspaper for over 40 years, my brother and i believed him when he said that we grew this lemon in our backyard.
it did seem strange that it was made of cement however.

tomorrow my art buddy meredith comes over to my place for a full day of art making. i am wanting to create a ton of ATCs. making those are always relaxing for me. my other art friend, karen o'brien, was over last week and dropped off a ton of victoria magazines. oh, i love them. karen is in the middle of a huge move to oregon from here in san diego. that means she is cleaning out her art store room and throwing stuff away - or giving to charity.
i raised my hand for the victoria mags....love them, but one day i will have to give to charity myself. oh i hate the thought - only because there will be decisions to make. ugh, i hate decisions.
or i should say i hate decisions regarding throwing away my stuff - i have zero problem throwing out stuff that belongs to other family members.
its kinda like xmas shopping, why is it that when it comes time to hop for others, i see sooo any things i just need to buy for me?
ah, i know the answer, im a self-centered bi(@h. so i am. that's all there is to it.

i am still waiting for the photos to come to me of the lovely huge reception last saturday of the paris retreat. beautiful job, students. i'm proud of you.

bisquik art

i don't know if i showed you this before. its my bisquik (low fat) art.
where i painted on cloth with biquik, cooked it in the mircrowave, then painted it again and again until i got this nice background, then i added my paintover art sewn to it.

i was going to show you my depressing news of the day, but the computer/scanner wouldn't pick it up.

what i wanted to share was:

i got an invitation today at the pool, while i was drying off an old lady who called my bobbie handed me an invitation to come to their luncheon. it said: luncheon for noon swimmers, tuesday, july 22, 2008, at 1:15 p.m. (just as the pool closes for lap swimming, i noticed) at: (biting my lower lip) hometown buffet.

ah, gawd how old and old bitty-ish can they get. i'm not going because i can eat without just gumming it.
that must be the floaters side of the pool who set this luncheon up. ewww. hometown buffet, makes me barf.
i can't believe these oldies call themselves swimmers - they are dollopy floaters!

paintings

i am soooo far behind on producing new paintings. i'm still working on my ecommerce site which should be functioning by next week.

that is if i can get some work done while my teenager is having a summer break.
the things we could do this cming week......
she only has until august 6 - so i am thinking of taking her to santa barbara to see her brother, jamie. only thing is....she has junior olympics that she has been training for all summer - they are held at the end of july. we can't vacation until thats over. that gives us about a week to do everything including shopping for school clothes. my least favorite thing to do and her favorite thing to do.
oh i miss my life so much. don't get me wrong some of the summer has been truly fun with her. we are very close and have inside jokes, etc. but i have deep art creating passion that gets shoved aside during the summer.
irt is hard to balance everything.
i have been swimming all summer to. at least a mile every single day. sometimes 2 and sometimes i swim all day long. this is causing my skin to turn very brown..
and my arms are now guns.
the rest of me looks like hell.

ah, nevermind trying to picture this, i can tell you that it is not a pleasant sight. i even startle my husband.
ok, so summer is a hard time to divide up what's going to happen in terms of my work time. it is freaking amazing to me how much attention my children need. i remember wanting to have time to myself when my mother was alive - how is it that my kids aren't like me?

counter

hmmm, the counter doesn't seem to work unless it is on the current page....

chariot.....

i liked this drawing. i got it from a new (to me) blog that i'm enjoying called TaKing thE Brim_TooK thE broOm......(see my dashboard) its a wonderful expressive blog filled with poetry paintings, drawings, and words. great community.
also, i am putting up this drawing of the chariot because it reminds me of vehicles, which reminds me of the unusual trouble brooke has been having regarding cars.

she has one payment left on her matrix that she bought new..SO, it broke down last week. of course. on the LA freeway. of course. - a terrifying event. had it towed to a place called frank's auto repair. she suspected that they were NOT "frank", so she towed to a second opinion, which turned out to be a very similar opinion. so, faced to believe them, she had it fixed to the tune of $2K.

BUT THE THING IS....she JUST had it totally checked out or checked up whatever they do at the dealership service department that causes you to pay the big bucks. i personally have never had a service at the dealership that cost less than $600.

AND, coincidentally we had our white van completely serviced about the same time, through our dealership, chrysler, and paid big bucks to get its OK.

so, this week we loaned the van to brooke so that she could get to work, etc. so today brooke is driving it to work and it broke down - on the freeway near san clemente.
it was due to a hole in the radiator. and old hoses. i told her not to bother taking it to a second opinion this time. i would come get her. they have quoted $600 so far to fix it.

also, another coincidence(?) brooke's boyfriend's car broke down last week, then his mom's car - well, not the car's fault, but she wrecked it going to pick up carlos at his friendly car service dept. so he had to borrow his uncle's truck. thankfully nothing happened it. probably because his uncle had not taken it in to be serviced anywhere lately.

car trouble - our "well looked after" cars - they all must be under a spell. or could it be the moon's position to the earth or sun's influence or perhaps, shell, exxon, etc... a sign.

and this greasy guy at the san clemente place ( i went there with rosie today to pick brooke up to take her to work, , er home in LA, but once i got there i realized i didn't have time to drive all the way to pasadena and back to san diego to get rosie to swim practice on time.....so brooke had been waiting for us in a bar next door. conveniently, i got her drunk then later drove her home to san diego with us. it was fun. i love having grown kids to have a beer with now and again. er, brooke and jamie, not rosie --- yet)

so the greasy, oily guy at the service station explained to me (after i threw a fit about the car breaking down righ after we had checked out)... that dealerships don't replace hoses when the car is over 100k miles. they figure that by the time a car is that old, the owners were likely to sell it anyway.

humph.
do you believe that?

well, brooke flashed him a deadly look (she's really good at that) and corrected him by saying through her teeth, "but the car has only 70K on it, not 100k."

he shrugged, nonplussed, " ok, well, less than 100k miles......, they still don't replace hoses".

brooke and i looked at each other with a slow "knowing" nod and a "squeezy eye" look, we knew better, we knew 'xactly what his deal was....
(actually, by then, we had a beer or two.
we also did the "all knowing look" past each other each other.. as the world was wavering; we squeezed one eye a little too long and then looked back again...but i'm sure he didn't catch that part).
anyway, we KNEW what we were both thinking....we were thinking....damn it! car mechanics; think they can bully women around.....so we helped each other walk away (back to the next door bar) and i yelled over my shoulder..... "wait til my husband hears about this!"


yeah, i know that didn't make us look very "i am woman, hear me roar"ish-but i'm not a fast thinker under such circumstances.

the place was a bit circus-y anyway, there was a talking parrot in a cage outside the office and a (i kid you not) a midget mechanic. after i thought about it, i supposed he would be rather handy working under the car chassises.....

rosie? oh yeah. she was there. mortified.
but she thought it was funny when broke said to her...."heyyyyyyy, look at the midget mechanic"....too loudly
and i was saying, "what? what did you say about a midget?"

(er, sorry to all you short readers, i don't mean to be not PC...... ---ah, the hell with it, i guess i am an insensitive person because i think midget is a very funny word...AND i think seeing one is even funnier.....and I know i'm not alone, cuz why else were they used as sideshow entertainment? huh? but sorry anyway).

well, it was a busy day. we got home safe and sound. i told gastone about the price of the fix and he didn't seem to think it was too much.

"huh! what the...? how do you like that? i can't believe the greasy guy wasn't really trying to rob us women!

but then, gastone is used to paying the dealership prices.........ah well.


another day i will tell you about the time brooke was in an accident (not her fault) on LA freeway.....after she pulled off the freeway and out of harm's way, she sat and dialed AAA. it was while she was talking to them, she saw her hubcap roll past her and on up the freeway.........

i guess you have to picture it.

family.........

thinking ahead to october when we visit my in-laws in italy again.
rosie was not going to go and now she has changed her mind. that's good.
she says she misses her grandparents too much to not go.

tonight, i enjoyed the re-opening of the escondido arts partnership and my little private studio display space filled with art from students of our (renee richetts and me) paris art retreat. i saw many friends, but some i missed too. i am easily overwhelmed at these receptions.
also.... i missed accepting my award for honorable mention for the photo show "beyond the lense" rosie had to accept for me. i was outside checking out the adjoining gallery and art..... -typical. i missed it.
i better go to bed now - tomorrow is another very busy day.

cox sucks.........

for those who do not live in the area....cox is our service provider......i had NO service for a day and a half. or phone service, but for those who know me, know, that's not a big deal as i never answer my phone anyway.

i find the phone a total intrusion on my "think time" or creative time. it interrupts, and therefore when i do answer it i am already pissed off.
it is not the best way to live.

this habit of mine started well before phone solicitation became illegal. back when my mom was alive and had rotary dialing.

it is bad taste not to answer the phone, i know that, but i'm a recluse that way. i do call back. sometimes. thank goodness for emailing, so much more civil, as i can go to m computer while my paint is drying, instead of while i'm mixing/blending paint.

i know in the early years i missed winning a couple of warehouse, clearing house sweepstakes, or something like that. or a chance to improve my credit or an invitation to go on a trip to hear how much we needed a timeshare.

its kinda like spam, gosh, i had no idea i had so many relatives with fortunes in nigeria. who knew?

anyway, so cox is working today and therefore i am able to show you this very interesting picture of some twisted remains of the glendale train wreck (someone in an SUV was going to commit suicide and chickened out, but left his car on the tracks) .
but like a beautiful flower rising from debris, a phoenix from ash, is my angel brooke: as she was one of the reporters reporting on the jurors visit: the other day caught in this interesting photo. (see LA times)

i love you brooke, sorry you have to cover so many gruesome things in LA. i'm also so very sorry to the families who lost their loved ones this way. its too traumatic to even think about. (i would rather answer the phone)

paris art show

you are invited to come to our show of shows, this saturday night, july 12 from 5:30p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
at the very new (first time ever) escondido arts partnership's gallery on east grand (i think it is 262 east grand, escondido, CA.

renee richetts and i held a workshop in PARIS, FRANCE last march. the show is some of the fabulous work created in paris and after from the residual experience/effect of being there with other artists.
come one and come all. its all free, wine and food and music to celebrate. also the rest of the gallery scene in escondido along grand ave. will be crawling with life, art and culture.
be there or be square!!!

rosie's new camera......

for junior high promotion rosie wanted a camera. she seems to like taking pix of .....herself. i notice she isn't the only 13 year old who does this.....its kinda funny.

she got her full arm cast off last weekend and this weekend she swam a meet. her times were off and at first she was hard on herself. her big sister brooke and (brooke's) boyfriend carlos came to watch her compete. i tried to calm rosie down - to not be so hard on herself for being a bit out of shape.

i told brooke that i thought rosie wasn't really listening to me lecture her about being more understanding about her conditioning.
brooke had to remind me that i would be hard on myself, too, if it were me competing and my times were off. "we would all be like that, momma, we are all over competitive".
humph.
yeah, ok probably true.

sadly, at the end of today, rosie had a fever of 102.

where did that come from?

she seems to have flu symptoms, sore muscles, chills, dizzy, tired. the kind of sickness little kids tend to get, the kind with runny noses and cough without covering their mouths... but she hasn't been around any little kids; colds and coughs or not.....i wonder where the germs have come from.....hmmmm . do you think that someone; a contender, has tried germ warfare on her? a competitor? that might sound outrageous, but this has happened to her so many, many times. rosie is a robust and healthy child; yet gets sick with a fever due to a contagious illness the very day of a meet, almost every time? even when she has not ventured out much into the germy populous; like shopping carts handles at vons..... as someone i know suggested?? (actually we try to use the little towelettes that are free at vons to wipe away those awful germs - gross).

has anyone ever had this happen to them? yeah, i doubt it too.

but.......


who do i know, that she knows, who has kids with germs like that? i'm wondering........

anyway,

looks like i will be nursing her for the next couple of days.

summer flu sucks.
someone just emailed me and suggested that it could be west niles virus.....symptoms are basically the same...damn mosquitoes

kidsssssss..........z

i asked rosie to upload the photo of the cat and dog, then she learned my passcode....................................
at least i got my black background back = but something is different...hmmmmmm

the thirteen year old [=

Okay, hopefully some of you have actually heard of me. I am Lisa's YOUNGEST child. My name is Rosamaria Argentina Bebi and I live in a pink house...with my parents of course. I have a dog named dempsey (didnt pick the name) and we have a cat named kitty (formerly named Princess fifi but i REFUSE to call her that soo her name is kitty!). Wow that cat has had many names. many many many many names. but yeaah. anyway on with my life and jizz....

My mother and I have a veryyy....lets say unique relationship. To me she is my best friend and not my mother, so I treat her that way. I think the same thing goes for her. My dad and I arent veryy close, well not as close as my mother and me. He likes things very different from me. He likes routine, I like my life to be filled with surprises ; he listens to blues, reggae, and classic rock, i listen to alterative, indie and electronica ; he likes to watch westerns on tv(ew), I like to watch reality tv shows and all that ; he likes to be in his underwear all day, i just like to be fully clothed all the time ; he eats potato chips loud and obnoxiously, where as i dont eat them at all. As you can see we are pretty different and stuff. Anyway, my mother and I have a lot more in common, thats was supposed to be my point.

Anyway about myself (I guess this post is a tid bit out of order),

I have blonde hair and hazel eyes. I am 5'6" and i weigh---lets skip that part. I am a swimmer and i swim 2 hours a day everyday ( except on the weekends ). I recently fractured my elbow and I have to wear a big bulky unattractive neon yellow cast (that went up to my face) fer 3 lonnngggg weeks. We took it off 4 days early but its all good. Today I have a swim meet and so yeahh. Uhh anyway, I am allergic to chlorine, and I have bad circulation in my legs. I am obsessed with music even though I am VERY picky with what I listen to. But its all good. I am attending high school on august 6th, and all thattt. I have anger issues at times. I am very emotional. But once again its all good.

One Word that describes me: awesomelycooldawgg.

yeaah, I really dont have much to say except my mom doesnt know I am posting something on her blog so hahaha great surprise! [=

uhh stay classyy I guess.

love,
Rooossaaaa (ermm the 13 year old)

pets.....princess fifi and Dempsey dog

see previous post...

this is posted to prove my point about our dog, dempsey, and our cat, princess fifi, sleeping together in an obscene way....i'm sorry to those who can't handle such indiscreet behaviour.

counter

hmmm, the counter doesn't seem to work unless it is on the current page....

watercolors........

its been a long time since i have painted in watercolors. i prefer acrylics.
this painting is of my old cat named bemstein (slimmer days). a white heavy set cat that lived a dangerous double life - half indoors and half outdoors.
one hot summer night while painting just inside the slider screen door i heard a meaty "kerplunk" into the pool. i thought, of course, it had to be those awful backyard neighbors; these twin teenage girls who both had dated my son jamie at different times, (at least he thought he dated both-----they were tricky that way) - all i know is that there was an embarrassing day (his sophomore summer home from college) when he had to retrieve his watch for a bed stand over there.
anyway, they would throw rocks in our pool or their boyfriends would........
so that night i kept painting. eventually i wandered outside to see what was going on---there was a funny scratching sound.

oh yes, it was big, fat bemstein in the deep end trying to scratch his way out of the pool. i don't know how he fell into the pool, i fished him out and dried him off. his hissed nastily at me as if i caused his problem and ran off.
maybe he was pissed cause i was laughing at him. it was a funny scene, though, as his wet fur head looked so small and his huge white body was magnified in the water.....he had a pin cat head and a white beanbag chair body.

sometimes i wish cats could talk. i wanted to know why the hell he felt like a night dip in the deep end. i imagined putting goggles on him.

he was a tough old cat too. he fought dempsey tooth and nail. dempsey, our HUGE doberman, is a gentle soul and did nothing but stand there like a dog statue as bemstein had his paw stuck on him; his claws were dug deep into dempsey's face. they would stay frozen in that position for 20 minutes. this relationship/ claw war took place may times daily. neither of them learned from the experience or cared to change their position on the subject - day after day, i was always unclawing bemstein from dempsey's face. you would think bemstein arm would get tired stuck like that.
dempsey loved him and considered him part of the pack. aw, dogs. so forgiving.

bemstein lived a long life, but finally met his match with the local coyotes. this devastated the family and dempsey mourned.

about a month later, we got princess fifi from the pound and have loved her since. she doesn't fight with dempsey, she loves him, she parades around him and flops on his nose. he never moves. they sleep together everynight and most the day. which is almost disturbing.
princess fifi would like to go on evening walks with dempsey, but she isn't allowed, she could get eaten by those damn coyotes. so, she sits by the door everynight waiting for her bed mate to come home..........
i love our pets.