check it out

the new somerset Apprentice magazine is just out - at barnes and noble and other bookstores.  i am in this - jana holstein, the editor did a great job on my work.  you can even see a pic of me in my studio.... : 0

i love the cover.

kathy olsen's gift to me

yesterday my friend kathy presented me with this cute piece she created.  this is on a 8" x 10" canvas.

i especially like the part where you has "just be".  i take that to mean, just be me.

check out the details....fun.

"jet ahead"......

newest painting....almost done.

this oneis of my dad max flying his car with his trusty backseat bartender.  i am going to put something in the upper right and lower left....not sure yet what that would be.   any ideas?

i can't believe the weekend is over.  the swimming meet took up the entire weekend.  rosie did well.  tomorrow she starts high school swimming and a whole new world will open up for her.

as for me, tomorrow...........  i'll be painting. 

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max in la jolla

today was a fun day watching my youngest daughter compete in swimming at the jr. olympics.  she had a wonderful meet crashing her old times.  she was wearing an olympic type swim suit - full body length made of some sort of thin wetsuit material.  i think it did wonders for her psyche.

my older daughter tried to come watch but her car broke down, (the transmission) just before the exit to the pool.  it was really bad luck.

i hate to hear about a car breaking down while my child is driving it.   damn, and the transmission had busted once before too.  luckily she had it towed to safety and she was OK.

this is a painting of my dad, max.   when he first moved to san diego, he loved to visit la jolla cove.

time for bed, rosie swims more tomorrow.

and the word was....a novel

i just finished reading this novel by bruce bauman.  it is a story about a dr. who finds himself working in india (new delhi) as he tries desperately to escape his recent past of emotional upheaval.  new delhi is a refuge but, well you know, escaping emotional stuff never works.  he is forced to go back to new york and face his heartbreak.

i liked it because i love to read about india - there were interesting things in here i didn't know - a little bit about indian culture and holidays,  understandings of siddhartha and sorrow.

its a thick book, not for everyone. 

wash day...

i have been puttering around the house trying ot think what to throw out, what to save.  we are expecting guests soon and need to figure out where to put them.  always a challenge.

but hey, do your laundry whites come out like this?

"backward glance"

painting on paper.

my computer connection has been down, so i haven't been able to update, but this is my newest paper on paper.

anyone else out there have a nasty headache - sinus problem?

ugh!  it's hard to work with one.

i have 2 articles and a project due today too.

it's always like this, make me feel like a flake, 

er,

 ok i am a bit of one......ok 

maybe sometimes more than a bit.....

i will try harder.

sketch or study for a painting....

this is on paper.

i become a facebook member about 3 weeks ago and  i have been totally overwhelmed.....i don't know if any of you are members, but within these weeks i have somehow collected about 373 "friends".  i don't know who 99% of them are. .....of course, i don't know who i am half the time..but anyway....well,  unless i'm drunk, then i know who everyone is.

where do they come from?  what do i say, i don't have time to read everything or respond, this is way too much commitment, i'm panicked....

(head between knees, breathing deep breathes) 

OK, OK, i guess i will get the hang of it, i will probably ignore it like i do most everything in my life.  

and ewww, i don't like it between my knees - who thought that one up? - that's a bad idea.

happy valentine's day!

here is the newest painting of my mom!  

i have painted from the same photo of her many times---but i can't help doing it again.  i wish my loved ones could remain immortal.  (heavy sigh)

anyway, we had a pretty good valentine's dinner.  we went to the local argentinean restaurant called la boca.  they grill the BEST ever rib eye steak and i love their parsley and garlic sauce.   hmmmmm... chimchurri, its called.  i love it.   and a good malbec wine.   heavenly.

i hope you all had a happy valentine's day too.   

and i love you momma.

new painting

this is my new profile painting on  facebook......

jack russel painting...

i tried not to put this little puppy in a party hat....but...well, i couldn't help it.

this is one of the paintings i am taking to show in escondido for valentine's day show....he wil stay up there until sold.

18" x 24" on board (acrylic and papers) $600.

st. rita

my hands are so cold i can hardly type. or paint.

so i'm in this group of artists doing a collaborative of patron saints.  some are real patron saints and some of made up.  

mine's real - saint rita from umbria.  my sister-in-law was named after her.  her attributes are perseverance and stay-with-it power.  also the white bee and rose are her symbols.

so this is part of my book where every patron saint that we create will go into.

blossom dearie - i won't dance-- RIP

my daughter, Brooke, turned me on to blossom dearie years ago when she(brooke, not blossom) worked her jazz radio show on jazz88, here in san diego.  on my birthday without telling me, she would ALWAYS dedicate blossom dearie to me!    somehow, i was always listening.  one time, i barely tuned in and i heard brooke say, "this is for my mom!  happy birthday momma!" and played "i won't dance".  my chest swelled with pride, then tears because brooke knew just how much i love blossom's childlike voice as she tinkles on the piano in 1950's cocktail lounge sound.  i loved to have her songs as dedicated to me.  what an honor!!!   (and brooke always such a sweetiepie too)

 so rest in peace, blossom dearie, maybe you weren't everyone's favorite, but you were mine - your voice always a treat--- better than chocolate cake on my birthday, or anytime.

i hope, dear readers, you enjoy!

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creating pink petals.....

ah, i can hardly think of anything except my princess fifi. it's so hard to lose a pet - especially such a pretty girl.

maybe i should create a little memorial. :(

dempsey the dog, sits like a man....

Dempsey is sitting on our couch very sad, indeed. well, it has been very sad around our house since our kitty princess fifi has gone missing. there has been evidence of coyote trouble in our neighborhood. a couple of days ago i found a mauled cat's head (no body) in our street gutter. it was not our cat. it was an all black cat's head. our fifi was a snowshoe Siamese cat, her face was black and white. ...so not her, but coyotes have ben on the prowl around our neighborhood. we spotted a rogue the other night in a residential area near our house.

princess fifi:
she had very beautiful velvet Violet blue eyes and a glorious silky sheen coat (that cost a pretty penny in wholesome catfood). she had the longest tail i have ever seen, that elegantly curled and uncurled around chair and table legs. never meowing, always sophisticated and stylish. she looked as though she was dressed in evening attire.

she was a detective cat... i called her "detecta-cat" because every morning i would find on my landing a paper or two she found in her night hunts within the house. she often found art supply receipts or small art papers that i had been hiding from .....(you know... my husband). and i was always amused to see what she brought up to the landing. one time after my daughter brooke had been house sitting (while we were in italy) fifi brought up brooke's parking ticket!!! often i would collage with her hunts. i took her finds seriously.
fifi also loved the doberman, dempsey. she slept with him everynight---and during the day. she bossed him around, flopped her butt on his nose whenever she could. but also she adored and imitated him...just like dempsey, she would ring the bells on the front door knob as a sign she wanted to potty outside.
she would sit on our coffee table as we watched tv, to get our attention. when i was painting, she would come to be with me, she loved the sound of the scratching my paintbrush made against the canvas. in the winter months she slept at our feet on the bed--- the same place every night. she loved to barge into the bathroom when anyone of our family members were sitting on the pot for any length of time.

she also hunted outside and brought to our doorstep all kinds of lizards and small prey.
so sad are we. i hate to think of her being killed as prey - oh how awful, she was too pretty. but it has happened to many of our cats in the past - we tried to keep her indoors, but she loved to go outside even for a few minutes - she never traveled far.

well, i love you, princess fifi, we have about given up hope as it has been three days since we last saw you.. it has been a wonderful 6 years, but our hearts are heavy.

today's work...

i created this painting on paper from a photo of my mom (middle) and two friends. my mom had polio as a child and had an atrophied left leg. she would hide her leg in every photo....looks like she had some good friends who agreed to hide one of their legs too. i think this was in nashville.

today i found a cat's head in the gutter in front of our house. it was gross, so i posted in on my facebook account!!! i can't believe how fast time flies when you get a facebook account.
anyway, this cat's head, alone by itself, was eerie. i know the coyotes ate him/her - they often leave heads. this fact was confirmed by swim team mothers tonight who have also had such things happen to their cats.

tonight i can't find my cat, so i'm worried that she too was a coyote's meal.....princess fifi, come home. i wonder why we have so many coyotes hunting around now. my husband and i saw one by our gym the other night - just walking alone down a residential street. beautiful creatures, but.......
pray for kitty....

another beginning.....

i'm kinda on a roll with these glam women.
in case you don't read my facebook....i have had trouble with my across the street neighbor (who is a gym teacher). she has bought herself a megaphone and broadcasts at 6 a.m. to the neighborhood that (my other neighbors, 3 doors uphill) need to shut their barking dog up......well, i didn't hear the dog....but i heard her! this morning she shouted. SHUT UP YOUR DOG, SHUT UP YOUR DOG, SHUT UP YOUR DOG, a mantra she yelled over and over, over and over again, then finally she shouted, "OK DON'T SHUT UP YOUR DOG BUT YOU ARE BEING A NUISANCE IN THE CITY OF LA MESA." (we live in la mesa)

the person with the dog was at work of course. and clueless. but not the rest of us in the neighborhood.

we live in a nice residential area with wide street and few dogs, but we have one big bitch and she has a megaphone. can you believe it?
so, i found out that breaching the peace at 6 a.m. is actionable. grrrrr. i will have to get up and call the cops tomorrow morning.

*********

also, i'm pissed that our gas and electric bill was over $400 for one month. now, we live in sunny southern california and have not had a reason to turn on our heater. in fact we have done nothing different in the past month. (last month our bill was $200 - which is plenty).....i noticed we were charged for $120.99 for "public purpose programs" what the hell are we supporting? anyone else out there have this problem?

ok, i'm done bitching...goodnight. sorry about that but i had to get this off my chest.

yellow gown

sometimes the trick is to not over do it.

a new beginning...

the start of a new painting.

workspace

so just to clarify...... (for someone who emailed me) and asked if i always worked in such a neat space......er, no.

the sad truth is this is our dining room table.
please note pizza box in background.


and my med.s

for depression...


i'm probably depressed from the mess i have for a house.