pimp my spleen

xmas card ART....

2009-12-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

ready to go out - i have been working so very hard and now it is almost too late. i must send these little goodies out tomorrow. if you want to get on my card (art) receiving list, please email me (lisabebiart@aol.com) ASAP - with your mailing address. otherwise you might not get yours before xmas. i will mail all out until there are none left. then i 'm getting drunk on spiked eggnog.

why am i doing this? because it is the time of year for giving. and eggnog is good.

and because last year i didn't send out my art cards and i got a ration of shit from you spoiled-assed people. i don't want more of that - so here they are. let me know if you want one (you don't need to let me know if you are already on my list).

a couple of days after my bday.............

2009-12-19T01:44:00.000-08:00

ok on my bday pic and this pic, i admit i was a bit heavy handed with the blur tool in photoshop. i was trying to disguise my age spots, wrinkles, lines, messy hair, etc. in short, i was hoping to create a vision of myself in the way a blind drunk would see me. how do you think i did?

but what happened was ---i see the problem now --- i ended up flattening the look of my nose and it turned into the shape of the back end of a clown's horn. you see, i have a pert little nose in reality.

OH shut up those of you who see me everyday. this is my cyber reality, my cyber self and my cyber party.

so you won't believe how i spent my bday........OK, so we decided to do away with our cable, tv and telephone bundle with cox digital and instead go with at&t. it is a smart move and cheaper. its faster and clearer. except for some reason we decided to install it on my birthday. well it ended up taking 2 1/2 days. i don't blame at&t, i blame bad luck. its true it takes about 3 hours to change things out - there are boxes to install and boxes to remove and then there is the part where the man has to squeeze into a crawl space behind our wall- sided tv downstairs and who knows what he did in our upstairs tv room (er, our bedroom). then the computers and telephone had to be re-(i don't know) re- recognized i guess. something didn't work right straight off -maybe it was some loose wires. it was frustrating for everyone and, ya know, i still haven't celebrated my bday.

maybe after the holidays. yeah, i shouldn't have had a birthday in december anyway. not fair to me or my party peeps.

so we missed some tv watching this week. it was a bit touchy with my husband. he mourned the lose of our tv signal. he sat in front of the black tv last night refusing to move. i suggested he go upstairs and watch it - that tv worked. no, it was a vigil. i'm surprised he didn't burn a few candles in his solitude. i have to admit i was a bit impressed with his ability to stay hopeful in his belief that the tv could "pop" on any second. it didn't - finally it was time to go to bed. it was a solemn night.

so today i had to make sure the at&t man understood that it was VERY important that the TV and remote, both, worked tonight. he tightened a few wires and it worked. OK good enough. i let him go after i made him swear that it would work tonight and also after i made him give me his home phone number in case it didn't. but it did work. whew. (this at&t man looked a little uneasy about giving me his home phone - i bet it was a fake number).

course with all the new channels from at&t - there's STILL nothing good on. can't help that. that's why i paint for entertainment.

so, in short, our marriage survived yet another trying time.

good-good.

other news - on my birthday, grumbacher has hired me to be a local workshop instructor in acrylics - i will be teaching 2 hour workshops in 4 of the local michaels starting march 2010. its sounds like a really easy gig - and it sounds fun -plus i will be getting free paints and brushes. definitely a great perk.

in, yet, other news, my daughter changed swim teams - i know to you people who do not know us think that's nothing to write about - but OH it is. she swam for a small team and the coach is personal friend - his has been her coach of half her life - since she was 6. i'm talking 5 days a week, 2 hours a day all year long. he has completely imprinted her. we stayed very loyal over the years - during thick and thin - and he did a good job developing her. but she is 15, a senior swimmer now - the team is mostly age group. the practices were beginning to get hit and miss because the pool wasn't always available (not his fault)- so i looked for more pool time somewhere. on the internet i saw there was a new team at the local amusement park - belmont park. there is a big indoor pool there -it has a wave machine (not important for this story, but...coool anyway) i inquired about it and the front desk said there was a team but it was run by young men who also taught swimming there. i had never heard of the team - but didn't matter - i only wanted to take her there for extra pool time.

when i got there - to my big surprise - there was a coach (the front desk was wrong) - a good and seasoned coach and another old friend of mine - in fact he was MY coach when i was 17.

rosie tried out and really liked it. so we went back 3 times - then we changed. it hurts to make a change like that. it was a shock to her old team - the swimmers, their parents and her coach....but how do you change? is not like you can say - hey we are thinking of leaving the team. in fact we weren't really thinking of it. it was just happened and it is a better fit for her. so there it is.

for my local friends who know me - i bet you are thinking what the hell are you doing driving to mission beach everyday.

well, it turns out to be only a 20 minute drive and a straight shot down the freeway. it took 20 minutes to go to the old pool even though, as the bird flies, it shoulda taken us 5 minutes. lights and cross town traffic at that hour are killer.

it will be harder in the summer when all the tourists come to town - driving to the beach and back - but others do it. and besides, in a year she will be driving herself.

it is a big commitment - so for all my art fans: that is why i can't teach workshops out of town -i can't take the time off - well, except for an occasional european one...(next winter 2010, we're going to have another paris workshop - and in september is italy again) and in july i will be teaching a weekend in the LA area (see sidebar).

oh and i watched the season finale of dexter - OMG....that was good.

i finished reading my Lisa See book "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" - excellent book - although abit sad.

and i must say i am a bit (whats-the-word) shocked - unraveled to find that jenny doh is leaving stampington & company - she was my first editor and i am very grateful to her - i know she will come up with an excellent new product - whatever she plans to do will be magic. but for now, i admit, i feel a little lost. its been 4 wonderful years of publishing for me -over 60 articles..... i will continue (in fact i have some new articles coming up in the next months) contributing to the various somerset studio magazines - but its an adjustment, its a change. if you are interested in knowing what jenny doh is up to check out her blog. www.jennydoh.typepad.com

so that's the all my/our news. this week my daughter Brooke comes back from her vacation in cuba and my son comes to visit from buffalo, new york. i am excited -AND i want a family photo of christmas. i hope they read my blog so they know what to get me.

its my birthday!!!!!!

2009-12-15T23:58:00.000-08:00

yaaaaaaay - oh!

i'm a party of one!

this is for all you crafty - bitches

2009-12-15T00:28:00.000-08:00

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great lyrics - with love, lisa

journal class today.....

2009-12-14T23:24:00.000-08:00

on my that was the best class yet - i had such fun and we laughed and it was good and therapeutic. all my favorite peeps were there. i hope that all my classes for now on are as fun as this one. and everyone learns somethin' new! yay!!!

2009-12-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

i don't know whose work this is, but i like it.

i spent the day with my best friend mollie kellogg juroring a big annual show put on by the temecula arts council. it was an honor and an awesome experience. the work was from as far north as pasadena to the mexican border - wonderful wonderful work.

it took us 3 hours to narrow the entries down by 1/4 of the lot. only about 43 were able to mke it into the show.

more details on this later. i am off to watch Dexter now and then i must get ready to teach my class tomorrow.

SD regional show at escondido municipal gallery

2009-12-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

my painting entitled" ringling road trip" took second place and it SOLD! see the red dot on my title - yeah, thats what that means--- sold.

i'm very happy. i got cash award and sold money.

i also got a second painting in the show. i really like that one - it is one that i created using my friend/fan Joy Logan from Baltimore's family pics. i posted it all in my photo album on facebook.

well, i'm tired. i was painting right up until time to accept the award - well, nearly - i wished i had dressed nicer - but. so, now, its time to go to bed and read. i can already hear my hubby snoring.

(see previous post). no sunflower seeds though.

pulp fiction, 1960's....

2009-12-12T00:34:00.000-08:00

the other day at the used book store i saw these old trashy books and fell in love with them and their old covers. i was laughing to myself about some of the titles, clearly outdated and not PC. like my fave here is "Way of a Wanton" and "Take a Murder, Darling" - hey, that's no way to speak to your secretary!

so yeah, i have been clearing out my studio - so what do i do? yep, i bought two big boxes full of these books. (don't tell my husband). i admit i am a book freak. i really can't pass up a bookstore used or otherwise. i don't know why - i do love to read, but look i bought these for their covers. crazylady.

last christmas my husband bought me a Kindle. you know, from amazon, and thin, light weight computer thingy that can hold a trillion books in it and it has grey letters which are easy on the eyes. that thing already broke!!! i am writing to amazon and complaining. it won't recharge. ughh! argh.

i did read a number of books on it. i really began to think that i was going to make a big change over to the digital world of books. its great you can buy a book without leaving your bed. (i read in bed).

when you turn it off - it will remember what page you were on and goes right to the last page you were reading. very convenient.

books, paperbacks in bed can be hazardous. the mere sound of pages turning can wake up a normally loving man and turn him into a, well, angry bear at 3:30 a.m.

i know i'm not the perfect bed partner........BUT, i'm better than i was with my first husband. in those days i woke him up eating sunflowers seeds in bed. i tried that a couple of times with my current husband - i am AMAZED that that guy can be snoring (loudly, even) and mid-snore he can shoot up outta bed, take his pillow and go sleep somewhere else. like the bathroom floor. all because of the sound of cracking open (muffled and under the covers, mind you) sunflower seeds! jeesha. it's not like i get the bits on his side of the bed. its me who has to suffer....

i finally stopped doing that. he was just too grumpy the next day.

so i guess it was not a big surprise that he bought me a quiet kindle for xmas last year. only thing is......i still love paperbacks, or even hardbacks, and i still like to sleep at odd hours. or should i say, read, at odd hours. i did get a dimmer night light. dimmer than the floodlight i had before- of course i kinda need to point it in the direction of his face - cuz that where i hold up my book to read. what? its more comfortable facing that way. i have seriously thought about reading upside down in bed - but then i would have to get a more powerful night light and point it toward his feet. hmmmm. naw, i don't think i wil do that.

i used to drive him crazy typing on the keyboard late at night -that's when i preferred to wear my nails long and fake. he would do that same half-snore wake up and then ask (in his sleep, but all irritated) when -are-you-going-to-come-to-bed.?. and, what-time-is-it. ?.

so i bought a laptop and have moved downstairs with it. i also work in the art studio/dining room at night. trouble is, its right under our bed. i just have to do quiet work. i can't use the copier, chopper cutter, heatgun, electric drill or electric hammer, or saw. i found out.

dang. i want to know how he got to be such a light sleeper, because when rosie as a baby he couldn't hear shit.

OK, i better go to bed now. i'm getting obnoxious.

i'm being naughty and breaking my own rule: never criticize a family member on the blog.

i am a baaaad, baaad girl.

for christmas, if you are on my gift giving list - expect to get a vintage trashy novel.

busy, busy next few days.....

2009-12-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

OK so
FRIDAY: i will have a few art pieces (wedding art) at Windemere Realty friday night for Christmas in the village in La Mesa on La Mesa Blvd.
SATURDAY: - come visit me and see some new art - a few great new pieces of vintage robot paintings at my little gallery in escondido, Escondido Arts Partnership, 5:30 p.m. - 7: 00 p.m. - i will have a few Xmas goodies to give away - while supplies last. (see side bar for address)
SUNDAY: i get to help juror a show in Temecula put on by their city council for the arts - a regional show - and also on sunday, the WCA Xmas party at Ciao Bella's in La Mesa - starts at noon.
MONDAY: come take my workshop and learn something new, see sidebar for details at the Stamp Addict.

after that i lose track on what i am doing...... oh, yeah, my BIRTHDAY is dec. 16!!! i plan to celebrate for the rest of december.
AND, if anyone wants to get on my Xmas card list, email me your mailing address - you have until dec. 18. my email is lisabebiart@aol.com. my mailing address is on the sidebar somewhere. its a PO Box - not my home in case there are some stalkers out there. normally i welcome stalkers, but i'm too busy this time of year! ; )

take my class, learn new things....

2009-12-06T23:06:00.000-08:00

look another journal page. includes one automatic painting. (see previous post and article in somerset studio nov./dec 09 issue).

class is dec.14 - see sidebar for details.

journal making class -

2009-12-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

the idea of creating these 8" x 8" pages is for the students to create them and use them as "blanks"; to take the artful pages home and write on them later.

i just feel that it would be to much pressure on the individual student to think up something to write during class---- it is not private enough. as for me, i photocopy and use these images over and over -tweaking the meaning this way and that.

in this piece, this young girl represents to me, a girl infatuated with the idea of love - wondering who she will one day marry. a virgin. this piece might invoke fond memories or perhaps, it can represent a daughter in the present. also she could be used as a madonna for the holidays or a saint - one could create an additional altar for her.

this was created on heavy watercolor paper using washes of color over a resist of matte medium using alphabet stamps. the image is one i have prepared (painted) for class use and is ready to be stick down and embellished.

shhhh, she's about to fall to sleep.....

2009-12-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

i have been creating journal pages for a workshop i will be teaching next week.

this is one of the pages.

i first teach how to do the background colors on watercolor paper - which are washes in transparent acrylics, then a bit of deconstruction using stamps and gesso. the main image (which is only lying on top of the page at this point - i glued it down later) is something i will bring to class. we will paint the image in coordinating colors. it's not as hard as it looks. the painting is created with (only) washes of color over a color photocopy. it has a nice dreamy quality that way.

this journal page could either be de-constructed further or it could be used as is -or a place to write your private thoughts or dreams.

the workshop is listed on my sidebar to the right.

the thanksgiving campers.

2009-12-03T22:53:00.000-08:00

camille and rosie (camille is in the foreground). what a wonderful experience for our daughter. thank you dehne family - for having her for 6 whole days. who is that generous? thank you thank you thank you.

she came home wiser and more appreciative of god's creations. she had a solid great time too.

too funny that there were wild turkeys running around - 'specially since it was thanksgiving. they were lucky to be alive.

well, our rosie is sick. i think it was going back to school that caused it. we hope its not the ugly h1n1 flu.

some pictures of my demo at the women's retreat in julian......

2009-12-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

i didn't think i needed to dress up.........

i had a wonderful time and everyone was very nice.

the first pic i am showing just how wet (with matte medium) a magazine page needs to be before adhering it to a substrate.

check out this great common room that was ours for the entire weekend. there was a crackling fire going in the background and lots of wine sipping.

i got these photos from jaime lyerly who taught encaustics earlier that day.

www.facebook.jamielyerly.com (i'm not sure of that address, but she is on facebook and her name is jaime lyerly). enjoy!

any questions?

the long holiday is over....

2009-11-30T00:49:00.000-08:00

it seems like it has been years since this holiday started. my youngest daughter went camping in Big Sur, CA since tuesday morning. we live in san diego - so big sur is a long drive north (like 2 days drive unless you are a maniac or a person on a mission).
so no cell phone or communication since tuesday.
it seemed like forever but she made it back in one piece and happy that she went (with her friend and her family). they were so nice to take her onboard. actaully, it sounds like she had the time of her life - although tired. we wondered how she would like it since she is used to a nice soft bed with an electric blanket. she admitted she missed her bed.
and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

she said it wasn't too rough sleeping in a sleeping bag and tent for a week. boy, i can't imagine myself doing it. well, i did do it, once. one overnight in a tent when i was in charge of the girl scouts. - actually i had given up my position and the new charge did it, under the one condition -that i remain onboard for the camp out in order to help. it wasn't far - it was only at the beach here in san diego (imperial beach). it was for only one night - but what a fricken nightmare.
first of all, i didn't know that the sand at imperial beach was so lumpy. it has ice plant or something like that growing in it everywhere. some kind of gnarly roots. ouch.
and i put the idea out of my mind that there were sand fleas and other bugs that scurry around. that night one of the little girls (the big loud mouthed one that no one liked) needed some attention - she had a belly ache. so i took her in my tent with rosie. rosie wasn't too happy (neither was i) and yep, she did, she puked up again and again inside my tent. ugggh. made me wanna puke too - and rosie.
it. was. so. awful.
what kind of bad luck was that? i had a tent with a floor attached so there was no way to clean it. if i hadn't had a floor to the tent i could have just carried it to a new clean area. but noOOOoo.
let's just say it was a looong night.

and that really settled it - i will never camp out again.
i really don't like to be away from my "bedsy" for any length of time. that's one reason i don't go traveling teaching too much. apart from the really big reason - which is, i don't want to leave my family behind.

please follow me.....

2009-11-28T09:19:00.000-08:00

this is "twirl girl".
hi everyone, thank you for coming to my blog. i have a request, if you have not already done so, please follow or subscribe to this blog - see on the right in the sidebar in light blue text(ok, robin's egg color)- it says - subscribe to pimp my spleen? just click that. or up top - the bar up there says "follow", click that. i mean, if you wanna.
you won't get forced into reading my blog -you will not get emails from me or other harassment. in fact nothing happens to you, you are merely doing me a favor. at the very least it shows my readers that you read it too. you can connect or network that way.
and, further, if you feel gratuitous, if you have a blog and you like mine, i would very much appreciate and love it if you mention that you follow mine on your blog's dashboard. if you email that you did this and want me to return the favor, i will. it will remain private that you did this. lisabebiart@aol.com.

the reason i am requesting this is because the fuller my readership, the more opportunities i will receive and that means i will be able to show my work in more places. that is a very, very BIG deal to me.

truthfully, it is a little frustrating to me, i know for a fact i have a better readership than i have followers because i have a hidden stat counter. the ratio of readers and followers does not make sense.
thanks, i promise to help you network too.

thank you and god bless.

twirl girl's mom, lisa

colorful bag art - thanksgiving

2009-11-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

maybe you remember i did series of spiritual paintings on brown paper bags (see previous posts about a month ago. there is a big article about it in the current Somerset Studio magazine) well now i am experimenting on colorful bags - this is a bag family, a thanksgiving family.
so HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone.
my family is a little broken up this year. our daughter, rosie is away on a camping trip - she went to Big Sur, California with her friend's family. beautiful big sur - she is lucky - and i have to say that was a good idea - good idea until driving home on sunday when everyone is coming home from north to south down the major california hyway. but hell just think you could be stuck in that traffic jam after visiting ugly in-laws in downtown bakersfield or someplace less nice than big sur.
my middle child, my son is in buffalo, NY studying and working away --and overcoming h1n1, poor baby. he will visit at xmas. then my oldest daughter is comfortably tucked in her happy home so happy to have NO place to go this year. that might seem odd that she and her carlos are not coming this year -- but its not really. every year for every holiday they have been pulled this way and that - brooke's father's family, me, carlos' dad's family and his mom's family, plus cousins galore. then they (brooke and carlos) have friends who want to spend time with them - so its really a gift to them to let them be.

as for us, we are having lobster. gastone hates turkey - i like it OK. which leads me to the thanksgiving rant i have every year and if you are a facebook person, you may have read some of this already. some people responded by telling all the various things the pilgrims were supposed to have eaten - still, why did amercians embrace the big bird?

RANT: so, why the hell did the pilgrims in cape cod settle on a crazy wild bird they had to chase down a tree when they could be having clam chowder and lobster.
i always have thought that the Indians put them up to that idea of shotgunning (ok musketing) a turkey from a tree just for their private laugh. you gotta admit, that had to be comical. and let me see if i get THIS straight - the pilgrims went the ocean and got perfectly good fish and used them to grow corn? corn is what livestock eat. those indians were holding their sides in laughter. OK OK livestock had to eat - but cornbread? that cornbread, i am sure, did not taste like marie calendar's. have yo ever tried to eat corn meant for livestock? (i have eaten corn that should have been used for livestock in italy) its frickin' pah-to-ey awful.
corn should be left alone - well, until it becomes something like moonshine.
i personally think that the feathers that indians wore, were worn in jest - or as a reminder of the pilgrim follies, their favorite entertainment of the day - much like men wear baseball caps today. they were probably really turkey feathers and the indians were laughing their butts off.

today: 2 things to be thankful for......

2009-11-25T00:07:00.000-08:00

that's me by the pool with a work in progress (see last post) of my mom and me as a baby in red).
so i got my advanced issue of Artist's Cafe - best of somerset studio art and design in the mail today. i am proud to say that i am in the publication twice. one (pg. 82) is my very first interview and the other(pg. 46) is my art and article about personalizing christmas cards. i want to thank amanda nolan executive editor for placing me in this awesome magazine with only their topnotch submitting artists. such an honor.
the other thing that happened today was i found out that my newest painting called "ringling roadtrip" (which i don't have a pic of yet) was awarded 2nd place - which means cash - from the san diego regional show entitled summation at escondido arts partnership. this is wonderful news - i have entered 3 times this year and received 3 awards, one 3rd and 2 seconds. i'm liking this track record.

and as you might know, earlier this week, i got my advanced issue of Art Quilting studio and was in that as well.
so this week i have had lots of recognition - always a welcome thing.

however, i have to confess . i am beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. i know this is going to sound flip - but i don't mean it that way - what i mean is i am getting uncomfortable about bragging about myself. i know some of you have probably fallen off their chair over this. but its true. its kinda like an itch under the collar feeling
i am thankful for my recognition and i feel i should share - plus, i feel its my responsibility to my field and family that word gets about about my successes, but dear me, its a lot. (and i know there are many of you that have had much bigger successes and you are thinking - gawd just look at her, she is getting all hoity-toity about herself).

so tell me, must i mention everything? if i don't mention something would that be a snub? an extravagant motion - like a shoulder shrug and a flick of the hand -as though the honor was really nothing - when it is?
like, "oh well, its just another award."
or do i pound it out to everyone, making sure i know everyone knows. this is risky because you can easily turn off people - hell i have turned of myself!
its an ugly "fix" to be in - i guess this is why business people hired PR firms. they hire someone else to do the bragging for them.
hmm, i'm wondering if i should start a group of artists where we share public relations..... for instance my duty would be to brag about renee and renee's duty would be to brag about jaime and jaime's duty would be to brag about joan, and joan's duty would be to brag about me, etc.
hey i kinda like that idea. i think i will present it to my art friends. what do you think?

another view of my mom.....

2009-11-23T22:20:00.000-08:00

that's me holding a painting of my mom, Ruby. i love this particular image of my mom and have used it time and again. i enjoy expanding ideas, trying out new ones and this is one way to do it. using the same image is not limiting, oh contra-re. using the same image over and over loosens me up. i don't have to spend time and angst thinking of what to paint. i have my subject, ready made. i am free to take liberties, to push the envelope of different colors, shape, sizes and meaning.

a previous post-- about a month ago showed me working on this image of my mom is deep blues and clear yellows. here, today, ruby is in red. a couple of months earlier still ruby was depicted in whites and light blues.

each color theme has its own mood. the light blue is airy and feels more like a day trip in reality time, enjoying a ride in a new car. the dark blue painting brings me to a place; a long ago memory---almost a fantasy--- my mom, riding the dark skies like santa claus.

this red one is a color that stirs in me a "want". a want to experience something elusive, to have an experience, a vision of fleeting beauty; like an opening rose in the early morning sun. its a mood of a state of moving, an opening, a renewal--- like a brief cast of sunlight (just for a moment) on the translucent petals of a flower. the red to me is most spiritual of all and it causes me pause to bask in it.

i feel so blessed to be able to paint and experience emotion this way, to carefully wander where everyone has been but few have had the ability to freeze its essence in time.

this is what i am thankful for this thanksgiving season---- the captured time, the hanging on to a second for longer than a second, the birth of a new idea and the exalting of it.

what is memory if not a series of seemingly insignificant moments? just like this one now. i get to capture and examine these flittering, fluttering bits of time and string them together into a tidy bundle. then i get to place them on my wall, to view and ponder some more.

happy thanksgiving week everyone. and cheers. let's indulge in red wine and remember.

still, still, still....

2009-11-20T02:01:00.000-08:00

working on getting things out of my house and studio - the fodder build up. i am getting a new box ready to ship out to new york today. i can't help but wonder what this person - a stranger to me, would want - what would this person (a man) value? papers? cloth? old vintage papers? i put in all those things plus stuff that i bought and will not use, like paints, ribbons, embellishments of all sorts. i wish i knew if he is a 3-d person or a painter. i did send out a query to him, but got no response. so off goes another box with about 7 lb.s of studio fodder and my studio (after shipping off about 20 boxes now) looks exactly the same. argh!

****
rosie didn't want a bday party, new clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc. - what she wanted in the worse way was an aquarium. just a simple little one that could hold about 15 small fish - tropical fish. so that's what we did - we went to our neighborhood tropical fish store and bought an aquarium. turns out aquariums are not that easy to put together. i guess we thought we would walk out of the store with fish to swim in this aquarium - but no - its a big process. she won't be getting fish for about a month. you have to cycle the water through the pipes a few week first.

she assembled it all herself. i love that all three of my children learned to read instructions. good job rosie!
i was always one that thought i could figure it all out (assemblies) without the instructions - or that i would only need to look at the pictures - i hate to admit that. because it is a pretty foolish way to be.

she had fun picking out the sand, coral, rocks, plastic plants. its only a 6 gallon one. we got one called "the edge". nice looking - solid glass, no plastic top. i think of all the folks in my family (except my husband) rosie is the most responsible one. oh what's that? that only leaves me in the family. yeah, er, that's right. everyone but me is responsible.

i'm going to stop writing now cuz i am talking my way into a very bad light.

meet my "birthing experience" doctors.....

2009-11-19T14:33:00.001-08:00

in light of rosie's birthday and my last post, i thought i would show you the doctors who helped me through it.

Happy birthday to youuuuu, happy birthday to youuu, dear rosieeee...

2009-11-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

about this time, 15 years ago, (fading to dream music goes here) i was wheeled into the operation/delivery room crying and pleading with a farside looking nurse to please, please let me go home. i was tired. it was the end of the day - the 18th . the 18th was a very important date for both gastone and me. the 18th is his mother's birthday and also, believe it or not, my mom's (deceased then and still is) birthday as well. both our moms, although they never got to meet each other, shared the same bday.

but it was after 11:00 p.m. when my doctor decided to take the baby out by c-section. i wasn't kidding when i said i felt too tired. i was nearly 41 years old, had been in labor (induced) all day long and besides we were going to miss that important date. so "please please may i go home and think this over. suppose she is not ready to come out yet, suppose she is undeveloped, like no lungs or something...."

it was no use, the operating nurse and doctor would not consider it. my husband wasn't there - he was in the scrub room cleaning up for the delivery. and the surgeon came in the room just in time to pry me from the strangle hold i had on mrs. farside nurse's waist. i was desperate to go home. she didn't seem to be listening to me. i needed to get my message across.
then the man with the twilight magic came in. the drugs. i didn't believe him when he said that the drugs were my answer. that the drugs would calm me down and cure everything; even too tiredness, my too oldness and my too panicked-ness (although i did not like being called a panic) i fought him too.

while he was fitting the oxygen mask on me i was asking "hey how do you know if i can't breath under this mask? you can't hear me breathing, and you can't see me breathing and i don't trust those bleeping lights, what if they malfunction? what if i stop breathing and no one pays attention to me? hey, i'm talking to you. i am NOT a panicker" he didn't seem to be able to hear me.

but then,

"hey wait a second, what is this stuff - oh, oh, OOOOh, what pleasure. i could vaguely hear my husband come in the room and the surgical doctor say -- "boy, your wife sure is susceptible to panic attacks. she had a real bad one. she must of had a bad time with her last birthing experience."

"birthing experience", humpf! i never thought to call it that exactly. i would have called it.....umm, i don't know, uhm how about surgery? surgery with a baby as a prize at the end.

but then...(gentle music playing...and me, eyes shut and feeling warm and kinda comfortable and snug. amazing i was thinking how comfortable an operating table can feel. i was beginning to smile.....i lost my train of thought). well, it was too late for me to feel embarrassed, i was on that lovely night train, the journey that only drugs can give you. and the operating staff played such relaxing music in the delivery room too.

"no", i decided, "i didn't need to go home, i was perfectly happy right here, right now, with nice music and smiling doctors (behind masks) and, ' oh hello farside nurse, thanks for coming......to... my.. daughter's... bday... party. smillle (for a very long time). then zzzzs.

until,
"WAH""" that was the end of my relaxation for the rest of my life. she was perfect, nice and healthy.

and
everybody agreed she was a beautiful baby. cuz its true. even when she was 10 months old and baptized by a san diego mission priest who has seen baby after baby, stopped mid head annointing and announced to the congregation, "wow, now this one is a beautiful baby".
so at birth, she was 7 pounds, only. no ounces to complicate things.... just 7lb.s even. even steven.
and oh yes she did. she did demonstrate immediately that she had powerful, working lungs. i didn't mind i was having a sleepy trip in twilight land. i was thinking who let the kitten in here, meowing.

it was a happy and proud moment. gastone had to fill me in on the rest of the day later. he also took a movie of it. there was one part of the movie where gastone was being filmed. puzzling. until i found out the surgeon also films during the birthing experience. he even had his own camera.

if i had been awake, i would have panicked about the state of my hair.

oh rosie, you have made us all very happy in the deepest sense - just to have you in the family. even if you were born 33 minutes past midnight and on the 19th.

happy birthday sweetie. now let's eat cake.

advanced issue Somerset Art Quilting Studio and my article

2009-11-17T10:40:00.000-08:00

i just received my advanced issue of the winter 2010 art quilting studio by somerset studio. i am pleased to have an article in there (page 108-111) but i have to say....i love all the articles. very very cool publication this time especially. yummmy.i love "painterly compositions" by evie zaccardelli, first and foremost. dinah sargent's work has me completely spellbound. i am so glad to finally see a quilting magazine that actually shows real art -far from patchwork and stitching points. (not that there is anything wrong with that), but finally a magazine that shows the opposite and the extreme. love it love it love it.
jette clover's work - very interesting. jude hill i can relate - i have a soft spot for hearts too.
ruth rae steps away from her off white fabric with red thread and does gorgeous sheers also too cool to be true. burnt and bound - jen osborn a must read- very, very mind expanding.
ok i have to stop listing now but before i do.....there are articles on rust, poetry, pockets, calligraphy, beetles, bottle tops, birds, quiltages, advice on composing with spontaneity, and even moby dick. i even noticed that and more, more more. just awesome. job well done stampington. i even noticed that the artist danita and i have some of the same stash. hahaha, small world sometimes. i think it hits the newsstands dec. 1.

back from the retreat....

2009-11-17T01:24:00.000-08:00

i am waiting for photos to show up from the other retreat participants so that i can post them here.
i am talking about the WCA (women's caucus for art) artist retreat last weekend. i went with my older daughter, brooke. we drove up on saturday night (because i had a swim meet to attend saturday - my youngest daughter swam).
anyway, brooke and i drove up. we were late, we were lost- there was fog or perhaps it was a low cloud because we were very high up on the mountain driving around. we aren't sure and it was eerily dark out. so we were 45 minutes late. or i thought we were late-- turned out we were not late at all. stressed for nothing. i was to be there for an after dinner "glam paintover" demo in the cabin's main room. but it was fine. turned out it wasn't to start until about 7:30 when all the ladies got back from the dining hall and settled in to the main cabin's large room with a toasty crackling fire and wine for all.
my demo included a few juicy secrets as i was talking while drinking. oh dear. aw well, everyone had fun. we all laughed.

so now i am going to admit this. i was not looking forward to sleeping away from home, especially when i was told to bring sleeping bag. i had half way planned to come home that night after my demonstration, BUT, the cabin was newly made, sparkling clean, the beds were built into the walls and each wide enough for two people. there were 6 beds to each room. we only had four people in our room. brooke and me and 2 others, jamie and ellie. brooke had bought me a sleeping bag so sweet of her. it was actually pretty soft. i was worried it was going to be made of nylon and all noisy like a taffeta skirt. but it was made of soft fabric. modern times.
we all talked and laughed until bout 2 a.m. (don't worry the sleepers were far enough away- we didn't bother them and they didn't hear us). then we all woke up with headaches from the altitude or perhaps the wine and late night chatter. it was a total pajama party. an aspirin each in the morning saved us.
then we laughed and laughed everyone in such great spirits. many tried their hand at the glam paintover in the morning. their work was excellent. i think the relaxed atmosphere helped everyone produce good work.

the food was awesome, organic and made from what is grown on the grounds. very rustic and heavenly.

so, basically brooke and i didn't want to come home. i mean we barely got there. we envisioned ourselves standing at the door as everyone left, waving goodbye, and saying see you next year, then turning our attention to organic gardening and living the camper person's life. but we didn't, we left too saying all the way home, wow, that was fun and i'm so glad we went. see, the night before when were were lost on our drive up and i was seeing ghosts only the dark deserted highway we seriously thought of turning around and speeding home. or maybe turning into a nice motel that had a bar. but we braved it and should be honored a girl scout badge of some sort.
********
i saw the art that everyone had done all day. the encaustics workshop produced some amazing work and the portraiture class looked as though everyone had taken portraiture before. but they hadn't. not everyone anyway. there were (free) donated paints, paintbrushes, supports and many other materials. all this, including workshops and meals (friday afternoon to sunday breakfast) was included in the $135 price. can't beat it. so i hope to see you there next year. we had 17 participants.

in the mail....

2009-11-16T01:22:00.000-08:00

fredricka from long island sent me these humorous inches and atcs. i love getting something in the (snail) mail. don't you? these made me laugh for hours. very clever. i like witty art. click on the you might be able to read them.

thank you fredirika. big hugs.