Saschi and Squee

Sunday

2011-10-30T10:23:00.006-05:00

Good morning Sunday! I've never really been fond of you.... but then again....... I've always despised Monday. And so maybe dear Sunday you are cursed... guilt by association. Of which I should understand as I have been at both the giving and receiving end of that rope.

But I begin my rant with my usual silent pledge......... (1) try, TRY! to stay positive and (2) please please connie!!! dont use the "f" word........... I read a post recently that stated how a very successful blogger/artists gave one bit of advice being............. do a post where you list 5 things about yourself that people might not know.

I thought about this....... and thought............ and pretty much what you dont know about me is for the most part ......far better for you! I mean, we all have our secrets now dont we? And if I read a post that will reveal 5 things about the blogger of which I do not know... then I expect some little o' bitty hairs to come a standin' up on my neck. I want some lowdown. I guess I would hope for this based upon the assumption that not all people are so country fed. Maybe the Soprano's proved too much for me ...watching season upon season. Or it could be the family from which I came. I come from a very mean bunch of people.

So to tell you five things about me that you might not know......as if you would want to.

(2) I'll begin with number 2...... it seems only right because number 1 has become a distorted number, dont you thinK? To be number 1 for so long must in itself be a curse. I envy the number 1 and I have pity on it too. But there, there, I've already given the number 1 far too much time.......... and so with that

(2) I am addicted to chocolate. I love chocolate more than sex. More than other humans. More than good wine. More than most things. Dark chocolate with a smear of orange. Chocolate porno......... theres a thought. Chocolate bars of all types coming together .....

(2) 2 again. I use the "f" word constantly. Constantly. I use it so much that I hate myself for it. But having said that......... the "f" word sums up things so well that are for the most part basically fucked.

(3) animals are driving me crazy. CRAZY! They never stop. I live my life constantly letting them in and out and feeding and sweeping up hair and washing clothes and preparing food and wiping up pee and poo from ole' Eddie. Cleaning cat litter over and over and over.
Yes its true. I need a break.

(5) because this is getting boring. While I humbly appreciate so many things in life I have total disregard for most other things. I suppose it could be said that I am a "hater". I am not a person that necessarily dwells on revenge because I KNOW that revenge will come. Or to present it in more positive pom pom glitter sparkle verbage......... KARMA. And I always accept my own.

Moving along........... Halloween! I love people that love Halloween! People that think about that one day all year long! Living in progressive preparation for that one day. Over and over. Do any of you people actually "live" Halloween all the time? I would! If I had the resources and I loved a particular holiday or event with such passion I would drink it in and swim around in it. Every single day. Yes Halloween is good. When the veil is lifted between the living and the dead. Or so it is said.

I'm tired of painting girls. My daughter says that my girl paintings look forced. Like Mr. Rogers dressed for and AC/DC event. I have quizzed her on this to some extent. first mere questions here and there and then outright water boarding. She explained more fully to me what she meant when that went down. Try it sometime!

And so I have started on this little fella'. It will be about the pure of heart. arff, arff.
Another break away from the "girls". This is called.........let see........... "fear not!" I am excited to the point of pee pee about using resin again! I was big pee pee excited about discovering a method used by an artist here in Nashville where you apply a layer of resin over your initial painting and then paint on the resin and then apply resin over that! HOT Damn! Do you realize you can paint just about anything and it will look like the biz using that method?!!! Big pee pee excitement! Lets here it for resin! When I think back now I realize that those great looking "forever" breads my mom bought in were probably coated IN RESIN!!!

Okay (1) i dig resin!

My camera does not want to photo my jewelry. Sniff. Funny how that works. My Nikon will photograph things better left unseen......... but it wont photograph my jewelry. But soon I will be presenting kinda a lot of jewelry. I know you're all so thrilled. And you know, I have enough followers now that I should hold the occasional give aways! Only I will ask for say ....... the first person to comment on my blog about what particular form of insanity they love most and oh....... their favorite medication. Hmmmm....... yeah, sounds good.

Well I'm going to make jewelry now.
People bring your babies in for the Halloween. People can do some nasty things to little babies on the majick night. For such tragedy to come from such wonderful events.......... just look out for the kitties........ pray for them.

I would like to take this paragraph to thank new followers. It is so humbling to see a new face. It also makes me a little nervous. Squee and I started this blog to endorse art and art lessons, things however took a different turn. We find ourselves asking what do we want to represent? Our original intention as well as art was to channel money into the animal cause from art. AND WE DO! I so much enjoyed coming home every morning to read happy blogs. But then..... things changed within my own heart. Squees too.

I need to post Nashville pictures! I so enjoy looking at pictures of other cities. I have never really traveled and so when you guys post these pictures I'll just spend lots of time looking and reading and imagining.

I dont want this blog to be about burden. But I dont want false escapism either. So I pledge to take more Nashville pictures and focus on this life around me so that you, the viewer , can visually touch what my eye processes.
Because I do accept your patronage as the most sincere form of flattery.
Thank you.

And Hello Wayne!
you sure are looking good!
connie

Thursday Afternoon

2011-10-13T14:28:00.016-05:00

Hello to all! Most everyone here in the states as elsewhere is going through a seasonal transition. Some dread it, some love it. Here in Tennessee the transition comes slowly. Summer goes kicking and screaming, swearing to God and on its mothers grave that it will return within the blink of an eye. And so it shall. So it shall. The leaves are turning here and on some nights we've even seen the low fifties. But as middle Tennessee goes we wont see autumn until its dead on time for winter. Sometimes if we're lucky here the northern winds will blow up a scary gust for Halloween just in time to make us southerners feel "wanted". Its as if seasonally the south is the red headed step child of post card seasons. No mystical lengthy autumns here. Just merely ......... oops, wow, I guess that was autumn. And then it passes. And so it only goes to serve us in favor that that one night of the year, Halloween, is chilly and windy and frightful.

Here in Tennessee we are seeing Occupy Wall Street protesters and I personally wish them well. I am a most disappointed conservative. The Republicans ......in my opinion, have made greedy jack asses of themselves. And while I might not be a bleeding heart, because I/We (Squee and I) are union and we most certainly work hard for a living, I certainly wont stand in a voting line again to vote conservative. Just wanted to get that out of my system. Thank you.

In the meantime I've found myself taking more time off from my second job. Tired. Just so friggin' tired. All the time. As a psy. major I find myself reflecting on what factors might be bringing this lengthy depression on...........mid life? Stress? Health? Genes? All of the above? As one would have predicted my previous health tests have proven that I am one fit troll! Healthy heart! Healthy colon! Eyes are going bad, but then I figure.......well, if my eyes go bad then I wont see what bothers me so much anymore and that might be a blessing. Because so many things really bother me. Never the less I trudge onward. And while I cant say I look forward to the next day............... I still have the balls to get up and fight the good fight. Because I say to you!.... People......there are an awful lot of assholes out there. I cant even give these people the benefit of an exclamation point. The worst of the worst is coming out like the dawn of a new peak season. And I suppose the best of the best is too. This remains to be seen.

Too many animals, too many children, too many women getting the shit end of the stick. And so we must trust in a higher level of consciousness while traveling through this realm of darkness.
Things could be worse. And I guess it could really be true that there is no light without dark. One must balance the other. No heaven without hell.

One a more positive note.........I've have noticed that "SHAKE AND BAKE" original is back on the store shelves! Shake and Bake people ! Shake and Bake and T.V. dinners and jello and sugar and all the stuff that serves my mind as comfort. sigh.........

Lets see , the above painting is a work in progress. I took two courses a while back online from Misty Mawn. I said to myself "self..... when you take these courses you will know good from evil, darkness from light, talent from no talent" and in the meantime I've also bought Misty's book "Unfurling" which is GREAT! ............but in the end the courses scrambled my already re fried brain. And I would say it probably took a good 6 months for me to regurgitate what I had taken in in bits and pieces and digest it to a more palatable format. Hence the above. Drawn on inspiration of a Mawn state of mind.

Still in progress. It takes too long lately. I just hit a certain point and my ideas go in a thousand different directions. I think however........I will stop painting chicks. Or maybe I just need to stop painting "pretty" things. I find myself constantly re evaluating "what is art?" And what I find most difficult is that truly good art is an extraordinary discipline. Of which I lack and probably about 80% of the people out there claiming to be artists lack as well. Think about it. Are you really a good artist? What is art and what is it that we want to obtain from self expression? See how deep this shit gets with me? I am driving myself nuts.

Hence I dont blog as often.
moving on..............
A necklace I did awhile back. I am a fabrication artist. Metal from scratch. No clay here mama! Play doh artists need not apply! Give it up. Go paint pretty pretty pretty girls. String beads. I dont care. But dont put yourself in the league of the fabrication artist. Hide your face girl! hide your face!
The complete piece with a little picture to snap you out of the lull this post might be bringing on. Is that me you ask? Why yes it is! Just waking up from a beauty sleep with my four jack russells covered in dog hair. Basking in my overwhelming sexuality...............ah yes! To be so sexy................. no dudes, thats not me. Not even close.

A wee little dolls head with no direction or intention.

My Lilly. Such a dangerous child. Here she is resting on a warm pot of tea. Cooking now is a real stresser! We have to pay constant attention to keep the cats away from the stove top.

This picture didn't turn out well. I bought a "frozen charlotte" a while back and made a mold. Then I made a clay (primo) mold and baked it and added accents with shiva oils. really nice results. then I mounted it in sterling bezel on sterling . Now I just need to add the leather or beads or what have you . I plan on making more of these however I will do so in brass/bronze. Keeping it more cost effective.
Lastly.................

Such a beautiful soul. So perfect. So gentle. Such a victim.

It is very hard for me to write this. But it is something I live with everyday.

This beautiful lady with no name lived on the streets of Nashville. She had babies that would follow her. And then the babies would disappear.

It is such a busy street. Very culturally diverse. I came upon her doing deliveries on my Saturday route. She was loved by so many people. I cant tell you how many women tried to get close to her. But she was afraid. Finally there was one particular lady that did get close. And on my 53rd birthday I went to the business where they had a set up ......... a make shift house, water bowl, food bowl etc. That was on April fools day. I took these pictures and I made a promise right then and there to go back and get this angel. And God heard my prayers, which I didnt come to know until much later.

Time got away from me. Thoughts. So many thoughts that go through my head. Where will I keep her? What will she be like with my rescues. Procrastination. Horrible ........God Awful procrastination.

I dont know. I felt comfortable that in all my grandiose existence she would be safe and sound.
That was April. In May we experienced a devastating flood.

The employees of the business that grew to love her told me that after myself and Squee had gone out there to take pictures of her she had taken a wonderful turn! She was warming up to humans. She would get close and take love.

God had given me what I had prayed for.

And in my stupid fucking rat race mind I put her on hold.

And then the flood came.
And she was never seen again.
And everyday of my life I carry that weight.
And I find it more and more difficult to paint beauty.
And I find it more and more difficult to feel lucky.

As a child I was raised in abuse. I have no qualms with that. It is what it is. There are millions of us out there. But there is one thing that abuse "victims" share and that is shame. Shame is all I have known since I was a child. But like I say............. there are thousands of us........so I'm not cryin' here...........I'm just telling you what you may or may not know.

Guilt is another constant. It is part of the shame.

I could've done right by this creature. There are no excuses. None. If someone had told me that they had been part of this dogs story............ I would've told them........ there are no excuses! Dont expect forgiveness from me! You let her down! You fucked up!

And now shes gone.

And I am so very very sorry.

Goodnight Wayne.
I miss you all.

Indeed.........

2011-10-01T06:03:00.020-05:00

Squee (Ashley) sent me this image yesterday via iphone. When I saw this I was moved to tears. I don't know who did this but it sums up beautifully what I have, as well as Squee, experienced since our journey began. It is odd on this side of the fence. And most of the time you can, as a rescuer, feel mighty alone. But we are not alone................we are many. We are humble servants of a greater God. We are destined to do whatever we must do , whatever we can do, to protect the innocent. And for most of us............if given "the opportunity of a lifetime", it would most likely be................ to save more.

God bless and look over those of you who rescue.

And now...... a few members of the Saschi and Squee clan of rescues. Plus some tigers too!

Greetings All!

2011-08-07T11:47:00.024-05:00

Soon, as a attempt at self discipline and self promotion , Squee and I will change the structure of our blog. To what we're not quite sure..... but change is coming. Yes sir, coming down the tracks like a locomotive! Like the cold north winds that creep into the night and take the green from the leaves. Like pms that comes hopefully only once a month and takes the sweetness from the maidens lips. Ah change.............

I've never been one for change. And even though it is indeed the only thing in life that is constant and guaranteed (along with death and taxes which I also avoid) I have never been a realist when it comes to change. I desire the same pace as Mr. Rogers . Coming home feeding the fish watering the plants and putting on the shoes and sweater. I desire simplicity. And yet I live in constant chaos. As I'm sure most of you do also.

Above is a picture I'm pretty much done with. In local "boutiques" around east nashville and then recently on the web I discovered http://anahata.typepad.com/my_weblog/ . I was completely blown away by her art. Why oh why cant I do that? BAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! Why cant I be this chick!? Just too dang cool.

I took a picture of a baby, in black and white and from there I made stencils and doodles and worked with all the usual stuff and came up with the above. I so badly want to finish her off with resin but I'm pushed for time as she'll go into a show next weekend.

Here's some critters that I took a stab at and in the future might attempt a go at again. Nuff said there.
This piece will go into the art show also. Oh yeah hold on....... http://www.artandinvention.com/
The Art & Invention Gallery! Nestled in the famous 5 points in east Nashville. Home of the Tomato Festival. Womb of all that is artsy in the hood. Kinda sorta affordable for all incomes. A virtual cornucopia of color and texture and sound. And of course right there next to my beloved Wonders on Woodland. Just look at the size of this heifer! Lord almighty! My attempt at the abstract. Perhaps on the night of the show Squee and I shall sport our black berets (once we've bought them) and, whilst sipping Boones Farm shall boldly and loudly critique the art work of the night at hand. We'll laugh and throw our heads back and if giddy enough perhaps I'll get Squee to "whip her hair"!!!! Oh heavens! It is a vision of mine that Squee and I will become graffiti artists with primary mode of travel the motorcycle with side car. Naturally Squee will drive and yours truly will navigate.

Oh yes......... farmers market honey. Local honey. Hopefully..............

yum yum. jams and jellies and relish and chow chow's!!! fetch me some bread and beans!

My sister Donna getting a lesson on identifying an acidic tomato. Simply: if it smells like a tomato........... its acidic. If it has no "smell"......... its not. My kinda lesson!

Having a Martha Stewart moment. Colorful pictures of fruits and veggies.

I love tomatoes. Guys........I LOVE TOMATOES!!!! EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
Squee and I went to an art show at the park a while back. It was hot and rainy day. Thin chicks were getting around scantily clad looking very "eat pray love". is that right? Meanwhile Squee and I were sweating like farm girls. I approached some tents to take pictures and was quickly told NO PICTURES! Whats up with that? Is there anybody out there that can tell me what the deal is there? I dont see signs posting NO PICTURES. What do these artists think we're going to do?

Honestly I dont understand. But this kind man........whos card I lost ages ago , was kind enough to let us take shots of his art. This guy is off the hook !

Killer good shit!!! I'm to the point where I want to do it all! Mostly I find self loathing in that I cant. Waaaaah.

Oh baby! Whats up dude! Preacher man! Cat daddy! Rubberband man! Keep on trucking! Super Fly! Patio o' daddy o'!! Ass whooping mofo!

Shots of the hood. Oh aren't we cool? choke choke.

I need to do updates on my critters. Poor cuss/eddie is having a bad go of it. He's pretty much blind now and spends his time sleeping and peeing in various parts of the house. When he's not sleeping or peeing.......... he's crapping. His little lungs just wheez. I think hes maybe 16 years old now.

Squee and I have rescued our fair share of critters lately. And from rescues and other sources of drama I am pretty much broke. Oh but I'm happy.

Next post I'm going to write on cringe worthy moments. We've all had them. I'm getting this idea from the Iphone App "this american life". I love this app! It really stirs the imagination and it provides me with a few stories of my own. Stories I'd like to share with you. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and possibly gag.

Welcome new followers. I am humbled and flattered by your presence.
Goodnight Wayne.

Dudes... What's Up!

2011-07-28T16:54:00.004-05:00

Hey guys! Hot enough for you? Not me...... I'm ready for temperatures of around 120 to 175! yeah! Because...... those people.........those people who ALL winter long would say "I'm tired of this cold!" "I just cant take the cold!" "I'm ready for summer!" ........well HERE IT IS! Roast away little piggies! Lets see the summer blaze hot enough that no one ever mutters those words again! And speaking of roasting hellish hot, its time for the Tomato Festival. Yes , yes it could've been a pumpkin festival, but that would've been too cozy wouldn't it? Sweaters and hot mulled cider and ghoulish art.

But no my friends........... its the Tomato Festival. August; the month of the dog day as well as into September. High temperatures, high humidity, dead brown grass and a sweaty hot lull over the baking city. Why? Why a Tomato Festival I'll never know. None the less here we go again............... and as usual you wont see my large supple derriere out there. Not for all the money in the world. Well okay, maybe for all the money in the world.

Things have been a bit hectic for me. My daughter took a fall down a flight of stairs at work and broke her leg and ankle and badly sprained the other. Already quite the "nasty" girl I must say that her current pain medication does nothing to improve her "motherly" love. Because I ask you who could not love me? Thats like not loving Mary Tyler Moore. Or Paula Dean, or .... The Singing Nun. I am just plain friggin' lovable! All round and squeezable. Hobbly and wobbly. So here we are together in this house with all the critters. Dogs barking, cats airborne. Phones ringing. Doors knocking.

I've taken a week off from my night job. Sweet. Its given me time to concentrate on art. I need this! Because its starting to occur to me that indeed I am an artist. Suzi doesn't have to tell me that! Also I'm stoked about my next birthday because then I'll qualify for my Kroger senior citizen discount! I'll also be getting a tattoo. Most likely. Yep, a big one. I'm running ideas around my in my head. Where? Well I guess my arm. Only with my job it cant show. I could have it put on my rear. A big flesh eating zombie. Or a butt tattoo of a "perfect" butt. What a novel idea! But I want to be able to see it myself. So most likely my arm.

All of the critters are doing good! Last night while Caly (my daughter) and I were attempting to watch a movie the dogs were wrestling. Mainly Lupe' and P.D. Poe. Bickering back and forth , biting scratching and just doing that dog thing right there on the couch next to me. So I picked P.D. up and took him outside since he's the instigator and came back in to the couch. The other dogs just kinda looked at me like they were about to break bad again and I said........" your buddy, I just killed him" and they just into a state of mezmerization. I just invented that word, I think. Anyway they just went quite. It was surprising and sad and funny in an insane giddy mad man type of way. When the movie was over I let P.D. back in.

These are my tomato paintings. I'm gonna attempt one more! Jeez if I were only younger and could do a couple of lines again. Or a couple of goody headache powders chased down with a giant chocolate coffee! That's how I got through my college finals. I aced them pretty much every time. That is if they were easy classes. But for statistics or algebra I'd have to study like crazy. I should've majored in art. I took one art class. I think it was 2-d art. I sucked.

Right now I have some cornbread in the oven. You know guys, corn bread is really a healing food. Seriously. I cook mine in the cast iron skillet. Butter milk type. Sometimes I add cheese. Adding cheese makes some seriously good cornbread. My next door neighbor is growing a garden this year so I sneak over there when I haven't visited the farmers market and steal his tomatoes. He doesn't water them much so their little skins are tough. But I do love the nightshade!

I'm trying to think about things that have happened to me that might be of note....... but I swear ADD just zaps it right out of you. Not that my life is exciting. Well actually there have been a few things............but they are secret................. yes.............. secret...........sshhhhhh. Remind me to tell you about them Wayne and Deb and Lori. You'll spank me fer sure.

We need to fire up videos again. You know, I need to teach jewelry on line. Simple stuff. But I need to do a lot of things. Tomorrow I go to a heart doctor. Lately I don't take stress so well. But I am coming to peace more spiritually than I have been in a long while. Maybe that's old age. Something that really stays with me is the saying that God knows even when the sparrow falls. I believe this is so. And I'm so glad because of this. I am afraid of the times and yet I feel grateful to be in this "state" with so many artists and good people to see the crap go down. Because it's gonna go down.

Well my cornbread is almost ready and I'm gonna sit with my daughter (who's bitching at me right now) and watch another movie and paint.

Wayne, its been awhile since I've said goodnight to you. So tonight when your lying there in your big ole' waterbed floating around with Deb, just have her put her hands on both sides of your face and say............"Wayne, you sexy beast! Connie says goodnight"

Goodnight!

Wonderful Beautiful Bob

2011-06-13T14:14:00.008-05:00

Greetings on this Monday. It is hot here in Nashville but not quite yet oppressively hot. That will come soon enough. We have endured CMA and Bonnaroo, and the fans have endured us. Music and sweat...........heat and beer......... sweltering temperatures and heat related deaths/illnesses.........and you call that fun? ........okay. Next, the Tomato Festival.

But on to something far more important. Not so long ago our wonderful blogger Diane Salter http://dianesalter.blogspot.com/ posted a photograph of her grand baby Bob. I was immediately smitten. How could I not be? Just one look is all it takes. And its not just the "cuteness" of Bob. Its in the eyes. Its the soul. Little man Bob.

Bob is sick. He has cancer. Diane has posted about this and her wonderful friend Leo in her always uplifting blog. Diane is a faithful blogger and most certainly destined to great things. But right now is a trying time for her.......... and for Bob and Leo. I focus on Bob I guess because he's a dog. My mission in life (and also squees) is to make this world a better place for the forgotten. And while I try, try, try to keep spirituality out of my postings I find myself always coming back to the roots of my faith.........struggling and yet hopeful.

First I would hope that everyday the people who read this pray for Bob and Leo and all creatures in suffering. And then do more than that...........as my beautiful friend Deb would say ..........see them in the love and the light surrounded by happiness and play and abundance. Take one minute..........ONE minute out of your day and pray......visualize...... declare........that Gods creatures are at peace and surrounded by a feeling of love.........a love that is hard to speak of because it is so all encompassing.

Above is Bobs picture.......see his little face and see his healing or see his flight home to his heavenly world. See what is in the ultimate best for Bob. And then take a moment to "see" what is best for each and everyone of us in this wonderful community of bloggers. Each and everyone of us striving to make it in a world that fights against love.

I have grown very weary of the plight of the meek against the evil of the greedy. Most of the time I feel that my heart cannot beat another beat without bursting. I look at the world around me and I see pain and suffering and greed. What is the fundamental difference that separates the good from the evil? The angelic from the demonic?

So many religions preach that animals have no souls / spirits. Because animals aren't capable of the choice of personal redemption. But what would a creature like Bob have to make a decision about? Sin? Greed? Murder? Lust? These animals are the epitome of innocence. The gold standard of love that Jesus Christ himself exemplified in his teachings. These are perfect creatures. And they suffer for not their sins.........but for ours. What good is this life if "the meek" are not given a beautiful home to sleep in in the great halls of "heaven". What good is anything if in the end we leave behind our companions that loved us and forgave us beyond that of which we could possibly ever EVER accomplish within our worldly hearts? What good is heaven then without the meek?
Amen.

Pray for Bob people! pray!

Well as usual its slow going on my art. I find myself too involved in work and Netflix and my own critters yipping and yappin' and just driving me crazy in general. I took Tulip (one of my cats) and had her spayed a while back and I swear she's crazier than ever! Just uber co-dependent! Right now as I am typing this she is next to the keyboard with her head positioned right on my left hand! All the time she is there. I have to lock her from my art room now because she'll walk right into the path of my blowtorch when I'm working on jewelry! She has gone mad!

Anyway........... above is a necklace . I have had 4 leaf clovers on my mind. My mom could go out and just reach down and pull em' up by the dozens, well maybe not the dozens........but a lot! The clover is sterling fabrication as well as the adjustable links and the s hook for closer. the beads are silver glass beads. And the cord is braided and waxed which I did me self. Upon Squees recommendation. She suggested this at the bead store and it made all the bead women squeal with delight! Oh my clever Squee!
One of my drawings mounted on wood and strung on leather. This is an idea in progress.

Another shot of the clover.

A screwed up photo of my favorite lamp at Wonders On Woodland. Have you guys ever wondered why I'm always posting about Wonders ???? BECAUSE I LOVE WONDERS!!! When I die bury my ashes at the local pet cemetery and spread some at Wonders On Woodland! Do it I say! Don't make my haunt yo' ass! Have I posted this old bird already? I dont know......... but I have a thing for owls . When my daughter was just a little girl I would sit in the living room of my long ago house and sew and one night I noticed a baby owl sitting outside my parents bedroom window peering in at me. This went on night after night for some time. It was just the coolest thing. The the owl grew up and hung out in the back yard at night. One night I went outside and there he/she was perched in a dogwood tree. Slowly I approached the dogwood . Closer, closer I got! All the while the wise old owl would turn its majestic head as if to study my features. Let me tell you I got really close to that proud hunter! Jeez! And the owl never flinched. It was only because I chickened out that I didn't touch it. I got that close.
Beautiful colors and memories of a time long gone by. It all surrounds you at Wonders! Go there! See for yourself and meet Deb and Wayne and Lori! Ask for a coke. Grab a tootsie roll! Have a seat and feel the love! These are my friends! My tribe! They keep me alive.
My favorite pole lamp! How cool is that?!! The thing about Wonders is that these ornaments are in mint condition and priced so incredibly affordable that just about anyone could furnish a house completely from this store. And clean.............. this store is always clean in a real good vibe kinda way. Just everything about Wonders is good! And I will rant until I'm old and gray because when I'm out and working and things are shitty I think about my critters or my art or Wonders and all the love it houses and everything is okay.

Well thats all for now. Thank you for your comments on my blog. I do love you people! We are all in it together aren't we? Scattered but yet united.
see you soon!
Goodnight Wayne!

By Golly ! I'm Gonna Blog Damn It!

2011-06-05T18:36:00.019-05:00

Greetings everyone! Welcome to another Sunday with Saschi! I just finished off a bowl of pinto beans and a baked potato and the critters are sitting at my feet staring holes through me. I've noticed dogs are really into mind control. Psychic thought transference. Some are pretty good at it. They just sit and stare knowing all the while that it drives you nuts. Until finally you give in a slip them a piece of whatever it is that you've got.

I've been making a lot of cast iron skillet corn bread.......buttermilk to be exact. Let me tell you, critters (especially mine) dig cornbread! Lord have mercy! With Eddie / the cuss I even break it up and drench it in buttermilk and he just gobbles it up like he's starving. I've figured that Eddie must have been a table scrape eater before he came here. In case you guys dont know the Cuss I've posted a few stories on him in the past for you to read. I thought for sure I was losing Eddie/Cuss a few weeks ago but it was a false alarm.

I woke up to go to work and he had barfed everywhere. Barf and crap for days. Really nice to wake up to especially when you've got about 10 minutes to be ready for work. Anyway I got to the dining room area and there he was laying there at the water bowl looking all deathly. I called in to work and bundled Eddie up and went to bed (after a massive cleanup.... it was awful)

I was laying there with Eddie just chatting away. I was recalling what I thought his life might have been like before he came here. I told him that someday soon he'd be in heaven chasing cats and birds and eating fish with his old masters. All the while the Cuss was just looking at me like "what the f ?" panting like a june bride. I went on about his life making it all seem like a kodak moment until finally I broke down and cried and kept telling my story. The Cuss all the while could've cared less. He was bundled up with only his face exposed breathing his fowl little breath taking it all in. "Oh Eddie, my little cuss " I cried. I was breaking myself up pretty good. I drifted off to sleep and when I woke up the Cuss was gone! Oh my God! Oh lawd no!

But instead of being dead, the Cuss was in his own bed staring at me and feeling quite happy with himself. And he's still here today.

Well so much for that. Above is a painting I'm working on that involves inktensils , pitt pens, shiva oil sticks and just a bunch of stuff. Down below are some earrings I've made modeled by my lovely assistant.
I'm starting off on a more simple note this time. For these earrings I chose a more organic cup with no specific exact ....... what am I trying to say here? An organic circle . Nothing exact, more free form. Polished on the backside and around the rim with liver of sulfur stain on the inside . They are sterling, and are fabricated with the exception of the silver small beads which "drip" from the bottom. All of my jewelry is fabricated (made from sheet silver) except for a chain here and there or some beads.
With the same theme I made a necklace which is adjustable. The beads that hang here are actually bronze beads that have been patinaed.

Another painting/drawing done in ink and a tiny bit of acrylic. He's my Mr. Sandman and the dreams he sends me really bother me most of the time. I've been having some really symbolic dreams. I have never been one to concentrate on dream interpretation but perhaps I should now.
A closer shot of ms. thang. Come on baby ....talk to me! Talk to me! Tell me what I do with you next! To be continued............
I found this old soap box I started on sometime back. I got so far and then petered out.

Look at my beautiful Ms. Puss! Just sleeping the hot day away whilst the cicadas hum in the swaying trees. Ms. Puss has been with us for a long time now. She has had a good life, not the best, but good enough. She is loved all the time. I wish she could have a better home where she could get better care. I think shes having problems with her little teeth and it makes me feel so bad. But she can come in when ever she wants to and she gets treats and lots of love from me and my daughter and that's better than most I suppose. Heres an "om" pendant I made. I'm braiding waxed linen with beads. You know.... the "Sundance" thing. I want a more organic feel with the jewelry I make next. I'll probably bring in some leather and go from there.

The "om" after it was fired, before the pickle and cleaning.

A bracelet I had started on a long time ago, but after I had gotten so far I realized that I absolutely hated the cabs I was going to put in the bezels so I stopped there. Tisk tisk.
Just my solderite block with jewlery stuff where I work.

Well thats all for now. Its late (9:22 p.m.) and I'm tired and so are the critters. Tomorrow begins another hectic hot work week. Before I go I'd like to say to Diane Salter of My Art Journal (please visit her blog) that I am so sorry to hear about your beloved turtle. I hope all goes well with this wise old being. I pray for your friend a lot while I'm busy at work and I want everyone else to also.

And please pray for the animals that dont have the luxury of cool water and rest during this hellish summer. Pray that God grants them peaceful sleep and a soothing touch with sweet dreams of happier days to come.
Thank you!
Goodnight Wayne....................

Sunday morning..... april 10th

2011-04-10T07:55:00.004-05:00

Good morning all! It'll be another hot one today here in music city. Yesterday at about 6:00 pm I checked the temperature outside and it was right at 90! The ants are bad this year I've heard via the exterminator people. I dont like the thought of crawling things taking over but as a whole we deserve it so......bring it on. Its Sunday morning and I dont want to start a rant. Its come to my attention that I bitch a lot. I'm turning into a grumpy ole' croon. This could most likely be eliminated to a large degree if I stopped reading the news. Bear in mind..... I am aware of my potty mouth and so when I say things which require a dose of Clorox I blame it on (a) lack of self discipline (b) working with truckers (c) having a tinge of red neck in my blood and lastly for now (d) not thinking before I speak........... having said that....... I've considered the reality of the state of mind of people who dont engage in "news". I say this because once a week my job takes me to places where luxury is the prime objective. I deliver to the very "well to do". I will note that there is never ever a blade of grass out of place much less a starving dog or sick cat. No homeless person selling The Contributor (a local homeless paper) no "check into cash" joints, few taxis, no Walmarts.........nothing. An alternative reality. A reality so far removed from the real world, or at least my world, that I would think the "news" would present something so foreign that "they" being the wealthy could only dream about after a bad mix of say Long Island Teas served with organic portobellos and cheese. Long breath....... in other words I feel that if I won the lottery today as much as I would love to and probably would retreat to a mountain home........I'd still come out to see the real world. You know..... Jesus wanted to be with the "real" people. I try to pray and wish with my heart that I can have strength to go out into the "real" world and make some sort of difference. As I'm sure you all do to! I'm not saying that the wealthy aren't capable of doing good things ........I'm just sayin'.

Be a person that makes a difference! Make one thing "good" on a daily basis. God has gifted me with a world of beautiful people. And as I get older I realize that I have caused pain to those who loved me. I have done so many things that were thoughtless and hurtful. As I get older I find that forgiveness gets harder to truly feel, especially when it involves the meek feeling pain at the hands of a bully. I, like so many others , find it hard to feel satisfaction when I "save" one dog or cat . Or help a person in need. Because you realize that that one soul represents thousands. We are all a vast sea of souls that need the most fundamental element of love and compassion. As we drift away from the truth of Gods teaching we enter a reality of destruction and pain. So maybe , possibly, by doing one good thing everyday we can create an energy that ripples on to other things.

Jeez........... but I still cant take anymore "news". I guess thats how I got started here on this rant. Art wise, above is Miss Puss/ Polly. Her face is from a photo Squee took some time ago and I converted that into the image above. I'm going to be posting things on ETSY myself. Crude little images taken with my pocket Nikon but none the less up for sell.

I have a good stock of silver now. So today I start making jewelry. I'm kinda skeered . Its been a while since I've fired up the torch to do intricate work so I'm going to start small. Today I'll make an "OM". I'll also do some crosses. These are my two favorite symbols. I've made plenty of them in my day. So the next post you see will be the finished product.
Just in case you dont know the meaning of the "OM" here it is...........
I pulled it from somewhere.............

In Sanskrit, the meaning of Om is avati, or rakùati. Rakùati means
‘One who protects, sustains’. So that which sustains everything is Om. And
that which sustains everything is what we have to see as the order. We can
go one step further. That order, which is the reality of everything. The
order itself is a reality. And so, that which is the essence of the order itself,
is Om. That means Om is the name of the Lord, who pervades your being,
who pervades everything in the world in the form of niyati, the form of the
order that sustains.

Well thats all for now. Yobo'............. you've got to let me know your favorite symbol..... A cross? heart? do tell!
see you later wayne
Saschi
connie

FARK!!! EVERYBODY HEAD FOR THE SHED!!!

2011-04-04T14:23:00.008-05:00

Monday afternoon 1:00 ish'............... The past 24 hours have been warm and windy. My kind of weather! At work I opened the bay doors and the wind blew in on me and Squee throughout the whole shift. I have about as much hair as Tom Petty and just as straight so after 4 hours of 30mph gusts I looked pretty pathetic........but I felt a "deep connection" with the wind gods. Yes standing there at a computer in the middle of the night with huge bay doors open to the forces with my Squee ............ bring it! Bring it I tell ye! I've worked many a shift at my computer with 3 bay doors open directly behind me with all hell breaking loose outside. Crap blowing in from the trailer yard. Rain, thunder. Just one of the perks of working in "the pit".

At about 1:30 my dogs woke me up for the 7th or 8th time within a 3 hours span. Barking, standing on me, fighting, running from my room to the living room and back and forth. Just basically going more hysterical than usual.

Cursing (of course) I got up and made my way to the bathroom to do my business. Usually all 4 dogs make it in and a couple of cats but this time just PeeDee Poe came in looking nervous. There was some serious thunder and lighting outside, I thought maybe it was time to whip out the thunder jacket. The concern in PeeDee's eyes told me to hasten with my business and tend to more serious matters.

I put on my afternoon cup of coffee and headed for the mailbox camera in hand. I have to make it to the mailbox fast now because theres someone who likes my mailbox more than me. They took some checks I had made out and from there used my checking account number to pay their electricity bill and their cable. A 265.00 dollar cable bill . Now what on earth would that be for? Gee let me guess. Anyway at this point I started taking random shots of the street. Focusing on................... the sky.................

Lord almighty! Looks like we're farked! Impending doom or something like that.

To the right of me a heavenly contrast of good vs. evil....... sirens going off....... trashcans turning over from the ginormous winds.................and a dead stillness, which I experience only when I go outside into my neighborhood that tilts on the fringes of the city. Whilst inside my house is pretty much most of the time pure chaos.

Look upward !!! There up in the sky! Its like a giant fish might come soaring through the clouds with sumo rodeo boy riding its back to glory! Or maybe a UFO............. yes possibly! Think of all the possibilities ! Oh lord please send something out of the ordinary ...... typewriters, water balloons .................. money.................... tomatoes. Something we can talk about for years to come........... bring it I tell ye!

Back inside three of the squad await my return from the mailbox in typical fashion. The sheet is there to control the shedding that the Furminator cant take care of. And with 4 dogs, nothing will take care of shedding but constant vacuuming, "furminating", and brushing. Just in case you're wondering...............
Notice Precious Blessing Hallelujah there on the right end. Not a care in the world. Just has her mind on the prize and that is WINNING !!! She wants to control everything all the time. Its all about play. Then theres PeeDee Poe in the middle................. he needs to pee but theres no way he's going outside to do it. Only Eddie (Cuss) went out because he's pretty much blind and has no clue. And then look at Huhbin' / Dudley on the left........right ear hanging low......full of woe.
A giant rain came. The sirens blew and my email was jampacked with weather alerts. I got outside and took some film of the storm . I'll learn to post the videos I make with that phone soon as I know you all would love to see my "reality".

One last thing.............. heres a good article on the puppy mill and the wonderful people who took part in the rescue and the angels who will be up for adoption soon.
http://www.nashvillepaw.com/blog/2011/04/03/into-the-light.174813

Have a good day my friends
you too Wayne!

Saturday April 2nd

2011-04-02T15:56:00.016-05:00

Greetings from the hood! Its a beautiful Saturday early evening here in Nashville. I've still got clothes on the line and I did my share of weed pulling out in the front yard. Its windy out there and its about upper 60's. Tomorrow will be about 80 and then a cold front will move through with lots of April showers. And I do love the rain.

Up there is a painting of Dudley/Huhbin'. Who I just caught with his nose in the kitty litter. Damn that Huhbin'!!! I just had to get up and check the litter...... and nothing was there.... I need to break down an get a litter box with a dome. Anyway I did this picture of the Huhbin' because I really enjoy seeing happy paintings. I think I might just start doing quite a few of Huhbin' and see if they sell.

Involving animal business this week .... around midweek there was a raid on a puppy mill in McMinnville Tn. The heroes that went in to the shit hole rescued around 120 or so dogs and some birds. Seven of the dogs died . The conditions were described a horrendous. The dogs were kept in the dark filthy basement of a worthless cunt named Wilma Jones of 263 Mears Road , Mcminnville Tn. 37110. I've heard it'll cost around 65,000 to undo the damage that this waste of life did. The Nashville Paw Foundation http://www.nashvillepaw.com/blog/2011/03/11/new-nashville-paw-foundation.170690 take part in the rescue and coverage of it on their site as well as the local news papers. But for those of you who'd like to drop Wilma a line and tell her that Jesus loves her too , or that you'd like to say goodbye to her executioner style then theres the worthless piece of shits address. Bless her heart.

Another painting. Blah.

Ah...... to be at Wonders!..... Wonders on Woodland! And of course the cozy Back East Shop. Look at all the pretty colors! Pepto Bismol Pink and goldenrod yellow! So nice!

Check out that cigarette lighter! Hollywood! Thats the kind of lighter a real dame would use. With one of those long black fag holders. Puffing away with red alert lipstick on and long red nails. And a sequined dinner jacket thingy. I dont know what they're called but I saw them in lots of Bob Hope movies. I would've never quit if I had had a lighter like that....................

Probably the coolest pole lamp ever! Dang! I've been eyeballin' that lamp now for about a year.

Little piggy salt and pepper shakers. Vintage also.

Check it out! Now, this is a kids bike from when I am not sure. The banana seat may have been a later addition. And if that bike was mine I'd have to add some cards to the spokes. And how about that light?! Thats a big light for such a little fella to use isn't it? That there is what I would call a night ridin' bike. Going out late on a summer night with your bud's , in your second clean tee shirt of the day (per mom) dirty tennis shoes , no socks, fresh mosquito bites and dirty finger nails. Out riding with your buddies for hours on end with not a care nor a fear in the world. Unless of course your talking about that house that sits back a ways from the street .......... the one thats always dark............... where the old lady lives. Just about the time the scary stories of neighborhood haunts are starting to make your arm hairs stand up you hear you mom calling from a couple of blocks away. Time to rest and start again tomorrow.
Thats what that bike says to me. That is its story.

Golden wisdom.

Pigeon Forge Pottery.
A cool picture of my beautiful Lilly.

I am a huge fan of The Invisible Fountain ! The artist name is Luke Cavagnac and I think his art is just so dang cool! I ordered the picture above and with it I got treats galore! I was one happy camper! He included his cd by his band called Claudia Malibu which is great! I really dig this guy. He's up in easthampton ma. Check out his site http://www.etsy.com/shop/InvisibleFountain?ref=pr_shop_more

Lastly the book about a child's visit to heaven................. I had never thought about this until a thanatology course in college.............. but what must it be like for different religions throughout the world? Death I mean. The death experience? I have heard that different religious persons experience death in ways specific to their belief system(s). When my father died I was alone with him , as well as my mother. This would later become an uncanny coincidence or one good reason for me to demand to NEVER BE LEFT IN THE ROOM ALONE WITH A SICK PERSON!
I dont really ............... really.... remember taking in the vibe of my mothers death. I guess because it was so prolific and so mind bending to me. I still dream about my mother to this day and its been almost 20 years.

With my father things were different. Both of my parents died from lung cancer, both cancers were of different cell origination so the amount of time it took to kill their bodies, along with the aid of chemotherapy, varied. My fathers battle took longer. As most will tell you the chemo destroyed his will to live and after about 2 years he gave up. No, no , that is wrong to say. Because my father wasn't a quitter. He suffered from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and I remember that his last winter here was spent praying for the strength to live to see spring. He felt that if only he could make it to spring, his health could/would take a turn for the better. He died in a hospice one week after my birthday on the 7th of April.

Dad died in the middle of the night. I was sleeping on a recliner on the opposite side of the room. The air conditioner was on in the room (i think) and it was cold. The room was dark except for night light that was made in the ceiling above dad's bed. The light cast a very soothing halo upon his poor sick old body. He was still so handsome . Wait maybe I can find a picture of him......

Well, I will post some of him later. But he was a handsome man. Or more like real cute.
It was still dark and around 4:00 am when I woke from a dead sleep in the hospice there on 16th avenue in downtown Nashville. I had my head turned away from dad toward the window looking out onto the city streets. I was tired and heartbroken from watching my dad succumb to the bitch called cancer. And his poor ole' body, with his "porto cath" and breathing tubes and suction. Only I dont think my dad had a breathing tube in that night. I remember a nurse coming in and giving dad an "extra" shot in his leg. I told dad that when he woke up in the morning we would have soup and ice cream whatever he wanted. I just felt positive about the next day and full of hope.

What woke me up was this feeling of being surrounded. Surrounded by a very slow moving whirl of "being". Something with intelligence. Something that was aware of my presence but not concerned . Something very powerful. And cold. It was at once an eerie feeling and alien. I can say I felt fear and a very calm dread. I reached up and felt my nose and it was cold. I slowly turned my head toward my fathers bed. His head was turned toward my chair and the nightlight lit up his sweet boyish face.

I got up and went to his side and touched his hands. They were cold and stiff. I found that if I rubbed them briskly the heat would return and they would feel more life like. And so I did. There was a small amount of blood on his pillow. His battle was over. All the while the "presence" made its way around me and my dads body in this slow swirling motion.

I went to the nurses station and told them that my dad was dead. They looked at me and commented on how odd that was because they had just been in "about 30 minutes ago, and everything was fine"....................

Which means that when "the death" came to visit its presence woke me . The "death" stayed in the room for about 45 minutes all the while lifting like a fog. And all presence of my dad went with it. Every single last drop of his goodness and his humor and his strength.

It was such a profound experience for me that I made it a point to talk to one of the directors at the Hospice. He told me this was a very common experience and he shared more stories with me involving different patients now deceased. On a more interesting note he talked about one lady who believed through her religion that upon dying one of the devils angels would come to fight for the soul. And sure enough, in the last minutes of her life a horrible struggle took place with an unseen visitor.

I never dream about my father. I dont have to. Hes with me every single minute of every single day. Gone are such men of his greatness. Of his purity. But if...............just if............. somewhere in a heaven that I will know.............if only for a hearts beat in time.................is my dad, fishing in boat , just a simple boat. Casting a line with a cricket for bait. Only to reel the fish in and then set it free. Forever and ever more.

Goodnight Wayne.
My friend.

The Doodle.... I Mean Tangle

2011-03-21T14:34:00.007-05:00

Greetings! Third day in a row! Lord. Speaking of the "LOrd"....... when is that guy coming back?! When I go to my doctor its not rare to walk in on big empty barrels and signs that say "will by all silver coins (dated some odd age) and gold. He's a real tranquil guy that gets around with his little prescription zapper thingy and the next victims personal chart. He's determined that I will take Abilify or Seroquel damn it! .............. but i wont...................... never ever take that stuff guys! Its poison! But anyway..... I asked him about the sense of urgency regarding the hoarding of barrels and metal and he explained to me that those days are heading this way so "head for the hills!" "take seeds and grains and guns and bibles and head for the remote country side!" and I do believe him. IT Is WrITteN that before times come to an end its gonna get pretty bad........ I too tired for pretty bad, I'm not 36 anymore. So if anybody out there has a clue as to the whereabouts of the 2nd coming......... I want to know.

A while back I stumbled upon a very interesting blog. Yes indeed. And heeeeeerrreee it is
http://beezinthebelfry.blogspot.com/
I like the way everything looked about this artistic form of doodles. IT sPOkE tO ME! I was like "trippy" "groovy baby"! MUST DO! and so i bought the book. theres also a great website for the financially challenged (which gets closer everyday). And here it is!
http://tanglepatterns.com/ this is also a great link. after reading I thought that becoming a "certified tangle master" would look good in my office next to my bogus college degree so I tried to contact one (a tangle master) here in Nastyville Tenn., however I never got a return call. So with pen in hand I set out to take on the doodle.

The cool thing about the doodle is that you can do it whilst glued to the t.v. Or in my case the computer. I watch all my movies via netflix right there at my computer . The cat picture I did that I posted on the last post was a doodle. Its so cool to doodle! You can doodle a thousand different ways. There are actual tiles made for doodling but to me they're too small. The challenge is to do it large! And you can. So take a look at these sites and add some doodles to you art........... everybody's doing it baby!
And right there is the book! Look up yonder! Order amazon and pretty much about as soon as you complete your order the friendly UPS man is dropping that pkg. at your door! God bless those poor UPS'ers, they sho do take a lot of shit. Just makes me wanna hang my head and howl like an ole dawg.

Its in the 70's outside right now. Or heck, maybe even the 80's who knows. I havent walked the babies in a few weeks now. I need to be horse whipped for that, or at the very least carried out back and rolled like a chicken in flour. So I've promised the dogs that they'll get a good walking. And I suspect they'll hold me to it.

Have you ever slept with 4 dogs? Seriously, I mean 4 dogs at once and I mean literal k-9's? I specify the verbage there because if you're like me that question could easily go a few different ways. ................
Well its hard. Quite difficult. I believe my dogs look up to me as the alpha dog. I've read that dogs wont do this if they are allowed to sleep with you but mine are different. And they're like velcro. I've figured out I'm tired most of the time because I wake up to 4 dogs and a couple of cats. Now I just need some chickens. At my last house I didnt have chickens but at any give time (at night) I'd have a porch full of raccoons! They loved the cat food. It was back when I smoked and I'd be working on jewelry in the evening at stop to take a smoke break. I didnt smoke in the house (which made no sense to me) and it started with one raccoon. Up it came! Raccoons are big "f"ing animals! And the scary part is that while they're eating the goodies up, they come off real cutsey like.. This one raccoon would scoop the food up with his little paw with the juggler severing talons and put the food in his little mouth. And then he'd scoop up the water and drink like something from a Disney movie. He would just look at me.......like "please dont hurt me bad lady........ I only want some nibbles"

It went on like this for about a couple of weeks and then one night I went out to smoke and here he comes......... by now I had started to worry because I do believe that these cute critters can rip your heart out and show it to you before they take your face off. So.... what if I made the "wrong" move and that triggered some kind of raccoon gone rabid outburst? I had been thinking about this and other scenarios for awhile.

About a minute later here came another raccoon. And then another. And another. And another. I was frozen stiff. I was surrounded by raccoons.
How did I get to this story?
I dont remember.
Good night Wayne.
connie
saschi

Sunday

2011-03-20T19:43:00.010-05:00

I've been having grand visions of this years tomato garden. I can visualize my garden out back with all sorts of tomatoes and eggplants and herbs. I told my next door neighbor Johnny that this year it could be a joint effort and that I would learn to can. I thought about going in halfsies with my daughter on a freezer and storing shit. You know, hard times stuff. Bread. Some meat I guess. Cool whip..... yeah lots of cool whip. Ice cream. Ice cream has snapped me out of many a funk. So when times are getting real bad I'll just keep a pint of Moose Tracs Extreme in my "drinking" hand at all times.

I've started to really talk my 2011 victory garden up. Bragging about it in all its glory. So happy to see the day when I can tell the grocery man to take his mexican tomatoes and shove them . The day when I can head out to the back yard and pick em' off the vine................

Then my daughter informs me that this is the year of the 13(?) year cicadas. 13 or 17, she's not sure which. hold on I gotta check this out............... okay I'm back and yes its true. Shit. Oh jeez, they are coming back......... and they eat everything in sight. Do you guys have cicadas? Here take a look http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/ . I remember back in 98' when we last had them, my neighbor had a beautiful cherry tree and they destroyed that tree. They emerged from the ground up by eating their way up through the trunk. The trunk from then on had these eerie funnels from where the cicadas had burrowed their way to freedom, only to torture the shit out of us. And that poor tree was never the same again. Dogs eat cicadas like popcorn you know. They'll eat dead cicadas until they puke, I think maybe even a few have died...........maybe. So I dont know if I'll have tomatoes or not. But if not then theres always the farmers market.

And then there's the Woodland Street Kewpie. ( ABOVE PHOTO) Another great Wonders find. I took a picture of her/him/? sometime back and now I'm doing the doodle hoping to transform the Kewpie to my version of art. If one were persistent and creative enough there is probably some great potential for the Kewpie doll "HELLO KEWPIE". Attack of the 50 foot Kewpie. Kewpie zombies. Kewpie vampires. ............
Okay lets get on with these pictures. Up top is a picture I did using Derwents Inktensils. I love Inktensils! They're great! You can do a lot of cool stuff with these pencils. You can buy them open stock at Jerrys Artarama try them when you can. They are a joy to work with and the effects are mostly surprising and beautiful. Really nice art supplements to have around.

The next picture is one that I found at Wonders on Woodland . Its a picture of John Wayne and some old chick .......... and whats that going on in the back ground. These girls might very well be the original Thelma and Louise, who knows? And why are all three of them just out in what appears to be the middle of nowhere? And maybe its me but Johns pants look to be polyester. And I get this vibe that by the time this photo was taken John had had enough of the cowboy life. He just has that look about him you know? Maybe its his "figure". But I say he was probably ready to retire to some skillet fried potatoes and green onions and corn bread and ice tea. That poor man didnt want to be out in the middle of the desert with a couple of old women.
I should've bought that picture. Just one more thing for me to obsess about.
Some Chihuly photos from last October. I have to say I was somewhat disappointed with this show. Apparently no one else was because it went on for frickin' ever. I just didn't get the ooooh and ahhhh of it.
A weird thing I did. I call it "to conjure". I'll be coating it with Envirotek lite resin, which is the bomb. Kinda tricky to work with and not a good choice if you're going for the organic look. I think I've said this before but I couldn't see a shiny resin coating on a Misty Mawn piece for example. Applied to the right type of painting/picture and resin makes the art piece pop! Killer sweet!
An "abstract" I've almost finished. I wonder if it'll pass the Wayne and Deb test??? My harshest critics, and my best friends!
And lastly the rest of the painting/drawing. If you zero in on this to the left you can see the "pencil strokes" that the Inktensil made. Similar to crayon. But once you hit it with a brush and water it just flows like magic. And its very workable! I just love everything about this medium! The black on the drawing is done with pitt pens. And thats about it. The only problem I have with this sort of art as a whole is the fact that when you're finished you're left with a piece that is ready for framing. Drag! So if you want to mount it to wood for instance then you have to spray it with a workable fixative and then start the whole mod podge bit. Smoothing and smoothing all the while being understandably paranoid about wearing at the colors or missing future air bubbles. I just dont care for framing because its way too expensive, and its dated. I'm just sayin'

Well thats all for now. I'm going to watch another clip of Trailer Park Boys and then call it a day.
Have a good day everyone
and............
Goodnight Wayne.
connie

Saturday..... thoughts.......

2011-03-19T17:32:00.007-05:00

Greetings on this Saturday! Life is good for the fortunate yes? And indeed if you're reading this right now then most likely you're at that cozy spot in your "space" or in the library or where ever and for the moment you are fortunate! And patient. And curious. I'm surprised and grateful to see my followers, thank you! Sprinkled here and there across the universe are my friends. NICE!

You know a long time ago when I started this blog, well me and the Squeester , I had this vision of a happy happy place. I'm not sure how this happened exactly. I think what brought this about was Suzi Blu. I was watching Suzi videos and I was just marveled by all the happiness. At the end of the day I could sit down and escape via Suzi. It was encouraging. And to this day I still check in on Suzi and watch her evolutionary transition into an Oprah type "art chickie" .

But then...... as hard as I tried I could not find that eternal state of bliss, even if it meant that I.... if only for the time it takes to produce a post......... went there to the happy place. Dont get me wrong now..... I'm happy, pretty much downright daft most of the time....... but always way down deep I'm regretting something. Pick a subject from a to z and I have a special regret for that letter. So my aspirations of being Suzi or a Naughty Secretary went down the drain like the red orange dye that I use on my hair. I couldn't do it.

I dont want to harp about being bi-polar. Because I'm starting to think that being bi is better than the norm.....in most cases. So while I'll still continue to blog about art , cause I'm always doing it, I'll talk about my life. My day. Squees day. Now I know you might think "well you already do that" yeah kinda sorta I do. But bloggers have balls. We sit down at the keyboard and we tell all......... or what we want the world to see. When you type it out and hit the send button........well, thats all she wrote. Hello world! Now if the world should end tomorrow, and that would be all too cool with me, then I.....like you....have a story to tell. So friends you dont have to follow me if you dont want to. I wont be offended. I might even have Squee eliminate the "followers" and comments. Those things tend to make me more self conscious. I'll write into space and hit the "publish post" and know that ready or not......... there "I" go. Out into the world of earthquakes and Charlie Sheen and porno and Paula Dean. Just like the rest of you.

Okay, so lets see if theres any art stuff I can post.......... hold on......... okay I've posted 3 pictures. The first of Lilly. Lillys never really been outside except for when she was a baby. She has a partial cleft palate and the people that originally "owned" her took her mom away from her and her siblings when they were way too young back during the drought in 07' I believe. They sat out a bowl of cows milk under an old window air unit and gave themselves a pat on the back. They had ridden themselves of a female cat and provided nourishment for the babies which they knew would surely die. And die they did. Except for Lilly. Every day when I come home from work Lilly jumps up to the window and I raise the blinds. She'll sit there for the longest just looking out at the trees. I say "Lilly.....if I could only take you to the top of the trees I surely would!" I guess shes watching the birds, maybe shes thinking about her mom, wondering why she left. Maybe shes thinking about fish, or rain or some fragmented "cat thoughts".

The second picture is one that I did for an art auction which took place at the Tinney Gallery.
http://www.tinneycontemporary.com/

I was blessed to have done well as it was an auction for a spay neuter event. Spread the love! I look forward to doing more.

The third is a self portrait of sorts. I took a Misty Mawn video class awhile back and she had us draw our faces without looking at the paper. You know, one of those.........well once finished I was happy with the results and so I just kept going. Squee liked the drawing/painting and now its hers. By the way....... Squee is a wonderful gal! Yes indeed.

This past Wednesday whilst working my night job fate took an unusual turn . Now when I present this scenario I do so with the utmost respect and humility. Please understand this! I am however presenting an event that I consider myself most fortunate in experiencing.

My night job is somewhat boring. Sometimes dangerous. And a little..........wee bit......... oh, jeez, cheesy. Its the product(s) and the clientele and most likely ..me.

It was rollin' round 8 o'clock. Thats when we close. I was putting up stock when I heard the door bell ring and a customer entered. A plain lady. Quite ............ plain. Neglected. Unappreciated. Overlooked. Unloved. Broken hearted. Polite and perhaps lonely. But arent we all? Anyway she starts talking about this and that and before you know it the subject matter becomes so far out there that I cant let her go on especially so close to closing time. So I say to her......."lady, you're either crazy or you're walking history". Before I could say crazy she had already thrown the word in for me because by now shes heard it a thousand times. yeah most likely. I say " can I google you?" ........ "Probably so" she says. and so I whip out my Precious (i-phone) and I give it a google. Sure nuff' I was standing with a legend.

She has had quite a few strokes. This was visible from the left side of her face. Her whole being generated a world of street wisdom as well as book smarts. I dont know if it was the fact that she felt a connection with me, or if it was just standard protocol but her conversation was laden with eyebrow raising "confessions". I was in awe. We discussed art, of which she is a profound painter, and we discussed animals . She has 10 dogs and 4 cats. From the moment I talked to her I was at once haunted by her. I will never forget her. I gave her my phone number and told her that if she ever needed me for any reason I would be there. I told her I was honored to meet her, humbled............. and when I did she just looked down in shame and humility and then went on her way.

Her name is Anna Sandhu Ray. She is the ex wife of James Earl Ray. Pray for this soul. Wish for her peace and tranquility. Her burden is heavy.
http://theannasandhuray.com/

When Anna left my co worker said......."you know, you'll never hear from her" and perhaps I wont. I told her I could help her. I wanted her to meet my best friends Wayne and Deb at Wonders on Woodland............. they would love her art. But in a way, Anna is long gone. Long gone at the hands of others greed. God bless Anna Sandhu Ray. May she find peace.

Well thats all for now. I'm working on a couple of projects and this week or next I'll start jewelry. I know, I know, I keep saying that......but I will.
Will post soon, God lord willing and the creek dont rise.
connie
saschi

The Shed The Panties The Victims .... The Lowdown....

2011-01-17T12:12:00.009-06:00

Hello all! Yes indeed it has been awhile. Fruitcakes do that sort of thing. We disappear. Vanish. Its not always pleasant, but its usually necessary. And so I am back, still cold from the earth and the twisted roots. But none the less summoned to sit at this keyboard and tell a tale.......... and so here goes..........

Not so many months ago..... but what seems like eternity, shortly after I had gotten Eddie/ "the cuss" I discovered that in his younger day he must have been quite the hellun'. A real rebel yell. One night, in the dead of all slumber whilst leaving for work I let Eddie out to "do his business" . Inside I rushed about gathering the what nots for work and barely noticed Eddies incessant barking in the distance. As it came closer to leave, which I usually do in a mad rush, I headed for the laundry room to fetch my pants, dressed only in my tee shirt and "big girl" panties . A true vision of womanly delight. Well there are the proto type panties.... judge for yourself. I'm sure you'll agree.

Before I could locate my pants I realized that "the cuss" had lost his mind. Not only had he lost his mind, he had gone jihad. What little teeth he does have were bared in bloody glory. He was reliving a part of his youth. He had encountered a possum in "the shed". And I knew I had only so much time to retrieve Eddie , get my shit together , and hit the time clock. Fast as old lady lighting I torpedoed my way from the back door to the shed, dressed only in the aforementioned and flip flops. It was dark. Eddies barking was loud. And chronic. And interwoven in the sick tapestry of the moment I could hear an unnatural growl and hiss.

I had no flashlight. No light in the shed. Nada. Quickly I got my phone and called work. " I will be tardy" I reported, "as I am in some sort of twisted hell". Like something out of a John Waters movie gone wrong. Very wrong......... I called the police, no not 911.... but the local number. "Please help me" I pleaded, "theres a possum in my shed and one of my dogs is attacking it". "And what would you have us do" asked the dispatcher. "I don't know....... shoot the possum?" (how the hell would I know?) That night I was surely the "butt" end joke of the law enforcements donut break time . I can just hear it now. I don't know what came over me..... I guess I had watched one to many "Cops". Seriously , I just don't know.

So... there I am...... alone in the night with a dog gone mad and a possum fighting for its life. Really some sick noises coming from the shed I tell ye'. So I run to my next door neighbors house, I bang on his bed room window. His name is Johnny. I didn't use his picture to "protect the innocent." There he was ..... dressed, and there was I. Not dressed.

"Git the hose" he tells me! "Git the hose and spray it into the shed!!!" And so I fetched the hose and turned the water on full blast, which was necessary because all I have is a hose with the end cut crudely off. Therefore having to position my thumb in just the right way to cause "a spray". And spray I did. Into the vast darkness of the shed I cut loose a vicious spray of water thoroughly saturating everything in site, and not. But to no avail. All I had done was soak the hell out of all the clothing and "stuff" and made two smelly creatures more smelly.

Johnny thought for awhile. Viola! Fast as old man lighting he runs into his house and out he comes with a ginormous flash light!!! He shines the light into the shed and there in the corner behind my daughters bike is the possum and Eddie/"cuss". Both are quite bloody. And I am in my tee shirt, flip flops, and "big girl" panties........

I don't know why but I recall thinking about the movie "Evil Dead" . Something about that moment. I was at a lose. What the hell?........ there were wet clothes everywhere! Shit was broken...... sick I tell you... sick!

"You're going to have to pin the possum down!" Johnny commanded! "Pin it down and I'll grab the dog!"............. well well, now ain't that somethin'? I'm going to have to pin the possum down. Its funny what goes through your mind in these situations. But I suppose in the aftermath of it all it only made sense. It was after all my dog, my shed, and Johnny's sleep time. And so with time progressing as it was I grabbed a curtain rod. I made my way through the shed...... Johnny behind me......... "pin it down!!!" he ordered! God I felt so bad for that possum......... seriously folks, I don't like possums but come on.... little fella', so ugly, so..... well... you know.....born with a bad rap. I seriously believe that people aim for these critters when they see them on the road.

Grain fed ? Whats up with that?! Huh?! Here in the south there are people that eat these things! Poor friggin' possums.......... sorry, sorry, I cant keep going on about it. jeez.

So anyway, with curtain rod in hand I close my eyes and spear the possum. OH MY GOD.
There simply are no words to describe this. But it didn't work. And so I spear him again. Only this time through the mouth. Straight through the mouth and into the shed wall. I'm screaming and gagging , the room is spinning out of control and in the midst of all this I'm wondering what poor Johnny is making of all this insane shit?

In an old mans lighting flash Johnny grabs the Cuss by the tail and flings him out into the night. We're both yelling and screaming and for a moment, well........... we're kinda like Scully and Mulder. Some weird twisted redneck x-files .

I drop the curtain rod and make my way out. Me and Johnny just look at each other. I cant recall how much time this took. But I can say that we, the dog, the possum, Johnny and myself... we all bonded that night. Johnny never mentioned my panties. Most likely he has blocked it from his mind..................

I didn't want to look in the shed the next day. I sent my daughter. To my surprise she came back with the news that the possum was gone. Nothing but water and broken glass was all that was left.

On my death bed.......when my life is flashing before my eyes this is one of the scenes I will relive. And you my faithful friends........ I do miss you. And so there you have it. Just another day in the life of me.
This is a very rough draft of a piece I'm doing I'm hooked on the zen doodle right now. And I do have much art news! But later for that.
I caught Huhbin' doing the nasty with Lupe' . Shocked doesn't even describe the emotions I felt. Nor the breaking of my heart. And so now I court another man............
Above is his best friend. Obnoxious type. Drinks too much. Hurls insults. Sexist pig. Probably couldn't get a hard on if you handed it to him. But none the less he's a constant at the house right now. And alas my new man!..........
Ain't he a honey!
Nice to be back!
peace and love
Goodnight Wayne.

Tennessee in the snow

2010-12-13T19:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday and today, snow has been accumulating here in Nashville. The schools are closed, some businesses are closed, and where I work (which was NOT closed, by God, even though we started at 2 AM when the roads were mostly untraveled and more dangerous), about a third of the employees called out.

There have been a lot of wrecks. I've seen several cars abandoned on the side of the road, and in one case, still partly in an interstate on-ramp.

I made it to work just fine. I made it back home just fine. The situation reminded me of a previous icy-road situation I was in back when I was a fairly new driver.

When I was eighteen or so, a brief but nasty ice-over hit the greater Knoxville area, where I lived at the time. My boyfriend (now husband) was leaving for his National Guard stuff. I went to the airport in Maryville to see him off, during which time the roads got a lot worse.

I was driving a beat-up '88 Dodge Aries with nearly bald tires.

My first path home was blocked by a 12-car pileup, so I had to go through the hilly subdivision instead.

I drove home, by myself, just fine, while the local yuppies in their massive SUVs and fancy Mercedes and BMWs slid and spun all over the place. I probably passed at least half a dozen wrecks. It was sad.

But I, in my Dodge POS with nearly bald tires (a vehicle which my mother would not allow me to take to college because she felt it too unsafe/unreliable to get from Knoxville to Murfreesboro), came out completely unscathed. (My mother, however, just about had a heart attack about me being out in that weather... this was a few years before I got my first cellphone, too.)

If, as a teenager, I was able to do in a junker with bad tires what people with decades more driving experience and much, much better vehicles than mine were apparently unable to do, I feel pretty good about my ability to handle the slick roads. But not too good--overconfidence, as the noted sage Luke Skywalker once said, is a weakness.

I'll be making my 2 AM trip again tomorrow morning. Bring it on, snowstorm. I'm not afraid of you--but I will slow down for you all the same. Way down.

Squee's Guide to Holiday Shipping

2010-12-09T23:06:00.000-06:00

I created this guide in 2006 and I like to re-post it every year as a helpful reminder. This year I have updated it with a chart. Here you go:

Where I work, my primary job is address correction on shipped packages. I see a lot of stupid mistakes in both addressing and packaging, and here I offer some basic, common sense tips for making sure your packages get to where they are going in a timely manner.

DOs:
-Put the full, correct address on the package. You'd be surprised how many people ship packages out with just a name and a zip code, or a first name only and no street number. A wrong zip code can (and often does) result in a package ending up not only in the wrong hub, but in the wrong state.

-Put the full, correct return address on the package. If your package is undeliverable, it has to go somewhere. An overgoods warehouse is probably not where you want it.

-Put the receiver's and shipper's current phone numbers (with area code) on the package. If there is a problem with the package or the address, a phone number on the package allows the carrier company employees to easily clear up the matter. (This is often helpful for new streets that are not in carrier companies' computers yet. Employees can call the receiver for directions.)

-Write legibly. G's can look like 6's. B's can look like 8's. Lowercase o's and a's can be hard to tell apart. Anything scribbled haphazardly can be almost impossible to read--thus impossible to deliver. Type a label or have a computer-generated label made by the shipping company.

-Inside the package, place a copy of the receiver's and shipper's addresses, their current phone numbers, and an inventory of the package contents. Sometimes labels are damaged or torn off so completely that no information at all can be determined without looking inside the package. Sometimes packages bust open and it's hard to tell if everything made it back in.

-Keep a record of your shipment. There should be a tracking number associated with your package; write it down so that you can check the movement of your package online or call the company if you have concerns.

-Use an appropriate size and weight box for your shipment. Placing a small item in a large box will probably result in a crushed box, and crushed boxes often have damaged labels. If the item you want to ship is irregular or you cannot get a proper-size box, fill the empty space with packing peanuts or another filler.

-If you recycle a box, make sure that any old shipping labels are removed or completely marked out.

-Secure shiftables and liquids. It's been my experience that those arrows denoting which side of the box should be facing up are pretty universally ignored.

-Insure high value items. Refer to your shipping company for specifics.

-If you are sending something to a person in an apartment complex, make sure that you include the correct apartment number or specify on the shipping label that it is to be delivered to the office.

-If you are sending something to a person at their work address, make sure that you include the business name and the suite number if applicable. "Bob Jones" somewhere in the mall isn't specific enough.

DON'Ts:
-Don't send packages to PO Boxes without checking to make sure that your chosen shipping company can deliver to them. Not all do.

-Don't assume that your package will be treated with the utmost care. Each facility handles thousands and thousands of packages per shift, and packages may be thrown, shoved, dropped, smashed under other boxes, or caught in conveyer belts. Package accordingly.

-Don't send cash through the mail or other shipping service.

-Don't send drugs through the mail or other shipping service. Especially with the wrong address. That's usually how we find them. You really should steer clear of the drugs completely, but if you get busted because you or your dealer shipped them to "Bobby" on Jones Street with no zip code, well, you kinda get what's coming to you.

-Don't send live animals through any service without thoroughly checking the specifications. Some animals (fish and insects most commonly) are allowed and others are not. Don't ship a puppy. Don't ship yourself. It's not a clever way to save money, its a stupid and cruel way to kill a living creature.

-Don't strap boxes together. Seriously. It's allowed by many companies, but such strapped boxes often fall apart and the straps can cut handlers and trip people. Just humor me here.

-Don't seal your box with scotch tape, duct tape, masking tape, Elmer's Glue, string, bubblegum, or voodoo spells. Using these will almost guarantee that your box will open before it reaches its destination, and you don't want that. Use packing tape.

-Don't assume that shipping company employees can read your mind. You may know exactly who "Aunt Jane" in New York City is, but we sure as hell don't. Once again: put the full, correct address on (and in) the package.

Arts and Crafts Fair Tomorrow!

2010-11-19T18:36:00.000-06:00

We thought we'd missed this event, but apparently it is tomorrow--and we'll be there!

From the event sponsor:

LOUDHOUSE COFFEE

Arts & Crafts Fair

Sat. Nov 20th

11am-5pm

FREE ADMISSION

Indoors, pottery, jewelry, paintings, drawings, arts & crafts galore...

food, great coffee & loads of FUN!

LOUDHOUSE COFFEE

2427 Hwy 41 S

Greenbrier,TN

NaNoWriMo

2010-11-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

This month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I'm trying to write a novel with the purpose of deconstructing many of the common tropes of the "paranormal romance" genre... even fictionally, I'm critical and mocking. Such is my nature.

Saschi is not participating (but she totally should since she is full of interesting stories) and I don't know if I'll even be able to... the goal is to write 50,000 words of a single work in one month, and I'm awfully neurotic about what I write. However, if you're interested, check it out! My user name there is Riyana if you would like to 'friend' me.

Goings-On

2010-11-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

Saschi tends to make most of the posts here, but her internet connection has been down since last week. She should be back soon if all goes well.

Anyway, a while back I mentioned that I was fostering another kitten. Her name is Sara, and here she is playing with Ziggy:

Sara had a very rough start. My teenage neighbor and her friend found Sara in a ditch with her dead sibling, but both their parents refused to allow them to keep her. My neighbor, who knows that I do cat rescue when I can, brought her to me. My husband answered the door and immediately took her; apparently, I've trained him quite well.

She was very small, very anemic, very dehydrated, and covered in fleas. Her throat had huge abscesses on it. She had trouble standing up and her eyes seemed out of focus most of the time. Her fur was rough and patchy. It was too late to take her to the vet when we got her, so I bathed her and bought some kitten formula for her. I took her to the vet the next day, where she was given an IV fluid shot and dewormer, and I was given instructions to force her to drink water every hour. The vet said that Sara was no more than a month old, if that. She also warned me that Sara might not make it.

My husband and I held her most of our waking hours. She got worse before she got better; her body felt cold and she wouldn't move for hours, just laying limp in our laps. We kept checking to see if she was still alive, and at one point my husband couldn't wake her up. She quit eating, so we had to force feed her formula for a few days.

She had three more vet visits in the space of a week and a half. She got two more IV fluid injections, antibiotics, more dewormer, and two Capstar flea pills.

After all of that, though, she pulled through. She got more alert and more lively. Her anemia and dehydration were resolved, the fleas were gone, and her appetite improved dramatically. Her abscesses slowly cleared up. We nicknamed her "Sarabear". We were finally able to test her for AIDS/feline leukemia and she came back negative, so we let her roam around with our other pets some to get used to other animals. She and Ziggy became nearly constant playmates, chasing each other all around the house. This was a massive improvement for her considering that less than two weeks previously even the vet wasn't sure she would survive.

Unfortunately, we already had five cats, two dogs, and two cockatiels of our own; although we'd grown quite attached to her, Sara could not stay as we were already past our manageable pet limit. My husband's friend (to whom we had previously given two kittens and whose judgment I trusted) recommended a couple of his friends as good kitten parents, so I drove 45 minutes down the interstate to deliver her and see if the two cats they already had would deal with a new kitten.

The two older cats grudgingly accepted Sara, and I saw that my husband's friend was indeed right: his friends would make great kitten parents. So Sara stayed behind, and I returned home with an empty cat carrier and a good feeling about Sara's new home.

Indeed, her new humans have reported that she is doing very well. We miss her, but I'm really pleased that she has a home with people who will love her and take great care of her. They kept her name and elaborated on it a bit; she is now "Sarabear Drizzle". Here is the last picture we took of Sara just before her departure:

Now we just need to figure out what to do with the little dog that wandered up to our house the day before we gave Sara away...

THE IPHONE REALM......

2010-10-20T15:35:00.002-05:00

I got an IPhone! Of course Squee escorted me to the A T & T store to "translate" for me, or basically pick everything out that I would or could need and disregard the rest. As usual she proved to be a good second "daughter" . So for the past days I have been sucked into the world of this tiny instrument. As a baby boomer I can tell you that this phone is easy to use and friggin' off the hook! BUY ONE!

I bought an application called Hipstermatic. It comes with four retro lenses and film and flashes. Killer investment, and uber cheap! The above photo of my one and only Lilly was captured using this film. Is that not cool!?

I didn't get the text message data because of my A.D.D.; not a good idea. But I got everything else..... I think. Anyway its just the best little bitty thing I've purchased in a while. Remember that scene in Lord Of The Rings where the creature (I'm too a d d to sit through entire movies so i don't remember its name) finally gets the ring and he gets around calling it his "precious"? Well that's where I'm at right now. A name for this phone is inevitable ..... I'm thinking Marsha. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! And of course I'll be buy all the cutest clothes for her! I've already ordered a pepto pink leather carrier and a hot pink case.

I'll be posting some little work I'm doing in a couple of days. Until then....
Lookout Wayne! I'm coming with my camera!

October and November Classes

2010-10-17T14:06:00.000-05:00

Here we go... finally! Here is the class information for the rest of October and the first half of November. Sorry for the delay! You can click our "Classes" link at the top for a Google calendar with links to each registration page, or you can click on the calendar on the right sidebar. We will be adding more classes for the second half of November as soon as possible.

Currently scheduled classes are:

"Mother Mary" Art Box Class: Classes held on Thursday, October 21st and Thursday, November 11th. This class runs from 6 PM to 9 PM at Fairytales Bookstore. Each class is $45 and all supplies are included. This is a BEGINNER level class.

Necklace Pendants- Sugar Skulls and More: Classes held on Friday, October 22nd, Thursday, October 28th, Saturday, November 6th, and Friday, November 12th. This class runs from 6 PM to 8 PM at Fairytales Bookstore. Each class is $25 and all supplies are included. This is a BEGINNER level class.

"Ganesh" Art Box Class: Classes held on Saturday, October 23rd, Friday, November 5th, and Saturday, November 13th. This class runs from 6 PM to 9 PM at Fairytales Bookstore. Each class is $45 and all supplies are included. This is a BEGINNER level class.

"Skelly" Art Box Class: Classes held on Friday, October 29th and Thursday, November 4th. This class runs from 6 PM to 9 PM at Fairytales Bookstore. Each class is $45 and all supplies are included. This is a BEGINNER/EXPERIENCED BEGINNER level class, a bit more difficult than our other art box classes.

New classes will be announced as they are developed. We hope to see some of you in class soon!

The Zig

2010-10-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

Life has gotten the best of us this month, but our class schedule should be going up tomorrow. I'm still working on it; I had to recreate all of the classes in a new registration site because Eventsbot kept going down. Computers and the internet are your friend... but they are fickle and back-stabbing friends.

Until then, let me update you on Ziggy. We rescued Ziggy (aka Wendell) and ended up keeping him because he's just so darn cool. He is our FIFTH cat... break out the straitjackets! Here is a picture of Ziggy the very first day we met him:

He had a burnt paw and a pitiful little pink squinty eye and bad ear mites. He was very small and a bit lethargic.

Here is a picture of him today:

"Turd" doesn't even begin to describe this cat. He's hilarious, though, and we love him.

We are currently taking care of yet another stray kitten. I'll post about her soon.

Class schedule tomorrow!

A Wee Bit Odd......

2010-10-12T15:19:00.003-05:00

I remember during one of my many fruitless years in college asking an environmental science instructor a question; if say I were in California , perhaps chillin' with Katy Perry, sippin' on gin and juice whilst exchanging romantic glances with Russell....... how prey tell in such a land of 24/7 surfer weather (?) would the "seasons" know to change? I remember he told me about the seasons being governed by the rotation of the earth on its axis. I was astounded! Especially since I could only image a giant saucer like figure spinning uncontrollably like a UFO. I'm still astounded that we all dont go flying off into space! Sometimes in the dead of night I have risen out of a dead sleep only to find myself confronted with such a dire dilemma. I have discussed this with my "Huhbin" and there are times when he too finds the need to make extra back yard potty calls after pondering such a plight. Sigh. Now I must say that once the professor explained this to me I felt somewhat empowered to know and found it only more delightful that I should take an empowered powder in the ladies room................. but enough of that.

Remember the tree from my front yard on SUNDAY! DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY! ? HUH?
WELL LOOK AT HER NOW! Its Tuesday! What the hell!? Its frickin' two days later! I came home this morning and took the "lay down" to a warm tee shirt and shorts day (which it still is) and when I woke up............... holy bat shit! I poured my afternoon coffee which is slowly annihilating my kidneys and took a look outside and this is what I saw! I almost spewed my coffee across the window! UFO's in China...... a drunken "frat boy" cat leaving incoherent porno posts on our dear blog and now this! Add to that cats meowing and dogs barking and you have the house of Dr. Doolittle on lsd here in the hood. Funny.... you wouldnt know it by looking.....

In the meantime... there are now people, findings that beg to differ on the seasonal / axis rotation changie / thingy in case you're interested......
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html

Goodnight Wayne
and from the looks of things
pray for the hoods salvation!

Eternal Summers..........

2010-10-10T15:35:00.008-05:00

Hello All! Sunday late afternoon ..... 87 degrees..... dry... hot...... mosquito weather.........still. What a nice break we had for such a short while. Crisp nights! It was so nice! Almost like we were going to experience "true" seasons or at least what I think of a "true" seasons when I read about the northeast. Apple bobbing. Bobbing for apples.............slipping into your favorite jeans and sweater and heading out for the pumpkin fest where you'll sip on hot cider whilst "bobbing for apples". ................ when we southerners think of places like Vermont, Mass., Maine, this is what we think of. Sure you have grueling winters, but none the less you "bob for apples". Sigh.
I cant think of what southerners do that would be the seasonal equivalent of bobbing for apples. If there are any hillbilly readers out there throw me a bone on this one.

A view from my front porch. Green trees. Dead dry grass. Its also cat season here. I guess that would mean its cat season every where huh? Cats by the thousands! No! By the millions! Right now Squee is at home nursing a baby stray. Within the past 3 days shes spent around 300.00 on one stray. Just a wee child it is. Itty bitty would be the best adjective. Squee comes into work saying things like...... "God I'm soooo tired! I was up with the baby all night." Squee doesn't have any human babies but she sure does sound like a mama doesn't she?!

Between the cat incident and a bit of a late merchandise arrival we haven't posted our October classes yet!!! What a shame! But they'll go up real soon and the poster that Squee whipped up is killer sweet! I think Squee has found her "calling" when it comes to poster design! She quite the pro!

Above is one of the Ganesh boxes that we'll be making throughout the winter. This particular box has really been a pain in my ass. I'm not quite sure why, it has just been really difficult. I am pretty much now convinced to use public domain images instead of paying unless its pieces for jewelry. Also the "free" sites that are featured in many many blogs are wonderful! For a while there I hit a real brain drain. I up'd my meds went into a fog. But fog is far better than that long dark tunnel........... I am striving to accept the fact that this life is far from rosy. Living this life as a "sensitive" is most difficult.......... but I would think its far more beneficial than being say.............. Paris Hilton!!! hahaha! It would seem that all artists, true artists, are intuitive beings to different degrees. Each artist contributing their beauty or truth to ease pain or create release within their realms. Where would the world be without the touch of the artist? What a sad world it would be......................

Here are some pendants we'll be making in class. Simple, yes. Fun, yes! Squee and I plan to incorporate less expensive CHEAPER classes that take less time for "crafters" on the go, or simply for cool holiday stocking stuffers! I want to include paper garlands and mirror garlands so I'll be whipping those up this week. Good times!
Look, how can I not talk about my Lilly! Look at that fluff! I love ALL my babies! Yes I do! But damn! Lilly is just so photogenic! Such a natural. Last night I was watching a movie called THE NAME OF THE ROSE, such a loooonnnnng movie omg! I couldn't make it all the way through! I was like, "give me an "f"ing break here!" So I locked my tv chest up and called it a night. Jeez! It was like watching some really twisted version of one of my favorites "The Black Adder". Anyway, I went to bed right after closing up the chest at midnight and slept until about five a.m.. I got up, made coffee, let the dogs out, turned on the computer and began the usual............ then I heard the frantic sound coming from the television chest!!!! OH MY GOD! I locked Lilly in the chest!! Poor poor Lilly! Sometimes when I'm watching movies the cats crawl into the chest and do their cat thing.......... and I didn't see her and locked her up and went to sleep! Oh God somebody rip my arm off and beat me with it!

Little animals..........they do the weirdest shit. And it gets them in trouble...... such is the plight, jeez! Anyway shes okay. She came out a little dazed. She'll most likely think twice before she does that again huh? !
Buddy: Buddy is in good spirits. He had to have more cancer removed this past week. Buddy is not my dog , he's my brothers dog. My brother rescued Buddy and Little Mama several years ago . Buddy had heart worms and had been a drug dog reject. It took my brother and his wife a good long while to soothe Buddy's soul and give him peace. Buddy has known many troubles, but he couldn't have been more blessed than the day his abusers threw him on my brothers front porch along with Little Mama. Both were torn up pretty bad. But for years now they have lived the life of a king and queen. Its like they say...... saving one dog or cat wont save the world.... but it'll save that little dog or cats world! So remember that!

I'm sorry that I don't blog so much right now. I just have been going through a "spell". You know..... and holiday times might make it a wee bit worse. But I do have the blessing of my sister Donna and my daughter Caly and my extended family Wayne and Deb and Lori , and of course my Squee and her husband Kevin . I don't get to talk to my brother Mike a lot (the brother with lymphoma) . I email him but......... maybe he is busy surviving and so we don't have opportunities to talk. And this breaks my heart. But you know, life is good. And life is what we make it. We can make it good for others too! We can keep the blessings flowing! We can walk together through the darkness, and we can lead each other into the light! We can! We must!
Thank you to all who read this blog. You are blessings to me! You are a part of my wholeness.
and lastly
Goodnight Wayne.

HIBERNATION....ZZZZZ......

2010-10-03T18:49:00.005-05:00

Ahhhhh...... Nashville has been blessed with cool autumn weather! 40 - 50's at night, 60 to 70's during the day! Crispness comes to mind when describing the scent of the night air. Its almost real...... almost what you hear about in other states where people really do experience "seasons".

Our forecast has the weather elevating back to the 80's later in the week. The norm. But for now all is bliss. Not quite magical, but just wonderful. Wonderful!

All is well here in the family. I have had incredibly wonderful luck! And maybe its the weather, but I've been hibernating so very well. Rest is deep and thoughtful now. When I wake up during sleep spells (as I always do) its to take in the soft fur of my babies sleeping close to me.
I haven't experienced many manic spells lately. I suppose that's a good thing for me, but I tend to procrastinate when I'm not manic........such with blogging. sigh.

I read about the weather in the northeast where my YOBO is and I pray for her safety. Every ones safety . And the heatwave on the west coast............. whats it all coming down to people?

Above is a painting I did a couple of weeks back. I used epoxy resin for the first time and I must say I love the results...... even tho'..... I used a 500 watt bulb for lighting and it still wasn't enough! I missed a raisin sized spot that didn't cover with resin. My heat gun was most excellent in doing away with air bubbles but I'll have to apply one more coat to correct the small mistake I made by not spreading the resin evenly. But I will definitely do resin again! For more surreal paintings it adds just the right bling! More "organic" mixed media pieces would find such a coating a contradiction in terms...... understand?

Above is a box we'll be teaching in class. Another voodoo love box. Buy using patterns the project goes more smoothly and yet allows for individuality in choice of papers and color theme.

At first this was the finished product but then I looked a second time and went back and re-did a few small things. I didnt take a picture so you'll have to take my word for it until it's posted on the class schedule! Squee (ashley) and I were a tad bit late on our scheduling ...... naughty, naughty! A day late and a dollar short! But we persevere! Classes are such a good thing! I hope to do them for a long while!
Here are some book marks that I'm doing just for fun! These are made from two stamps that I have and then I had Squee type some random words out for me and I went from there. I figure I can put our website address and phone number, etc on the back and sell them for tree fity whilst promoting our classes! Its fun, its quick, and who knows it could bring in some money for something cool down the line!
Oh my! Lilly is a tired little tiger! Where ever I go in the house she follows ! Once I settle in be it in front of the computer or sitting down to paint shes right there, and she nestles down for a cat nap.

All my babies are doing really well! Eddie, the old cuss, is getting around fat and happy. Coughing and farting living the life. I put one of Huhbin's collars on him and it just made him light up! He's like an old fat pimp now! Inside I am glad to have given him a chance to experience happiness and a warm place to sleep, and of course belly rubs.

Every day I receive "pleas" from different rescue organizations in an attempt to rescue dogs from horrible situations. There are some I have volunteered to do and some I cannot. But each and every plea every single day has been tearing at my soul. I tell you friends...... I was once blind to the plight of the meek, perhaps I still am in many ways. But once my eyes were opened to the world as it is ..........and what people can do.... especially to the meek and innocent, I found it impossible to swallow the truth. And it, the reality of evil, made a mark that changed me profoundly. And now when times are good and I feel the warmth of Gods hands I still feel the sting of anguish that the lost desolate souls feel that wander the streets for a mere morsel or the touch of a loving hand. And it destroys the joy of the moment. And so I had to stop the receiving the "pleas". No amount of prayer or rescue on my part can redeem a world gone wrong. There are thousands of us out there, and this is soothing to know. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we were suddenly gone? In the book of Revelation it mentions that a day will come when the Holy Spirit no longer dwells on the earth. Sometimes it feels that way now............... but love still travels the boundaries of our physical planes and protects the masses whilst others fall behind. And so is the plight of humanity.

Past Halloween season is a difficult time for me. A time of intense reflection. So for the time I will post and reflect and preach and aspire to better things. So stay tuned for my mellow adventures and happy findings! And remember to love all animals!
Goodnight Wayne

Well, I suppose we aren't TECHNICALLY crazy cat ladies...

2010-09-22T16:33:00.001-05:00

Though we are cat ladies, and we are crazy... and we do like cake.

Check out Cat Versus Human for more of these comics. They're great! And oh so accurate.

A Beautiful Soul

2010-09-19T18:10:00.002-05:00

I was just gazing at blogs of all kinds ..... which I often do. I came upon this sweet soul who is taking a journey that many women know. I suppose that all people know in some form or fashion. Please take a moment to peek in on her thoughts and share a word with her. Because with the world as vast as the days are long............... at the end of the day.......alone is alone.
love
saschi

goodnight wayne

http://anightintheforest.blogspot.com

Hedge Hog and More Hedge Hog.......

2010-09-18T11:34:00.008-05:00

Friday nights class proved to be a classic. If things keep going like this them I'll for sure get a karaoke machine and provide entertainment . Being a "virgin" (choke , choke ) at this I am finding my way through the labyrinth of artistic individuality. I want to go out of this art class world with a bang! And once I've acquired the confidence of old timer at this thing , I'll be laying on more tricks than a world class whore!

I didn't take my camera to this class! damn! And what a shame! But never fear because I have taken portrait classes from an olde' master! And so, with the powers deemed to me from my wise and strict master I have created the likeness of which so keen, that I will keep the names anonymous so as to maintain my code of student privacy............

Above....... AQUARIUS: real estate, beautiful hair, a fan, witty with a mind so keen and sharp I dare not take it on! I suspect that in her private time she ponders the life the belly dancer. In her closet one might find various types of whips, and different sizes of cuffs. I wanted to mama this one. Truly delightful. This ones a keeper!
LEO: My most compatible sign. A photographer. Earthy. Real. And whilst she seems like a peace lover.............. I sensed a strong whoop ass factor behind those flaxen braids. No wait, they weren't flaxen...... they were brown. But flaxen sounds more Joni Mitchell which is what I imagine she gets down to in her resting time with a good bottle of Black Doctor, or who knows... a fifth of Wild Turkey. VIRGO: Keep it simple! When I finished the class Ashley gave me the sound advice to , upon demonstrating "techniques" , take her box instead of a students............... She was sporting a most groovy ETSY necklace. She had traveled a long way. By the end of the night she was a tired gal, as were the rest. In the end I don't know if mixed media could be her "thing". I think possibly something more classic and refined would suit her. But she was a hoot, and her finished work was really cool. I could see that the inside of her box that she did was more in line with her "vision" than the outside........... but like I say, as time went on we were hungry and tired.....
Next time we'll bring pizza and suggest that students b.y.o.b!

A morning snapshot of Lilly in one of my boxes. Isn't it nice how cats like to compartmentalize themselves! I used to could do that.... about 60 lbs. ago.
And yet another Buddy update: well, we went from cancer to a brown recluse bite and now so sadly.......... back to cancer. Its a rare form of cancer that only predominately light color boxers get. And so........... perhaps within a few months Buddy will venture on to a life of no sickness. Or perhaps he will return to his owners who have provided him with the life of a king. Oh Buddy, what a sweet gift from God you have been. How you will be missed. Long live Buddys spirit! And may God light his path with rainbows in the course of his ascension.

Last nights class made me think of the movie Death Proof by Quention Tarentino. Perhaps the ultimate chick flick........at least to my genre of womankind...... my Friday nights comrade's made for an intellectual but yet... motley crew! If I am blessed with students like these during my art life then I can die a happy woman! I am truly honored to have had them in my company. Truly! And I wish them all well. And from now on I'll never think of Mod Podge again as its given name.......... from here out its Hedge Hog.
Long live my Friday night girls!
thank you!
Good day wayne!

A QUICK NOTE!

2010-09-13T15:12:00.001-05:00

For all you Halloween, ghost lovin' , campfire story tellers and for just a remarkable read all many things supernatural check out this blog! I enjoy this blog everyday!

http://abnormalssanctuaryblog.blogspot.com

Monday, Monday.......

2010-09-12T20:11:00.010-05:00

Hello all! I've been reading all my favorite bloggers right here from this computer of mine that sits in front of , or behind depending on how you look at it, a picture window overlooking my portion of the woods. Everyone seems knee deep in busy "ness" . I have discovered in my fifties that I am not one for busy "ness". I don't like change, unless of course positive. But I have been busy too in my way gathering my nuts........speaking of nuts..... wow autumn is coming! I am a happy camper indeed!

Above is the almost finished painting that I have deemed "Darlene and the Salvation Flower". Ashley has the finished copy which is quite a bit different now and shes doing the pro photos because I'm entering the Cloth Paper Scissors contest. I'll post the finished photo soon. I've grown to really LUV this mag lately! If you mixed guys haven't joined the site you should, its free and its packed with groovy stuff. Stuff being all inclusive of all good things artsy!

Here you go.......... http://www.clothpaperscissors.com
click there and have a good time! They're good people!

In case you don't notice and I probably wouldn't either, I've added mirror to "Darlene" along with more vines and stripes and the "yellena" flower has been transformed to a "connie" flower. The finished painting has gone through even more changes . I could have kept going but the deadline for the Cloth Paper Scissors is today so I had to let er' go.

Oh my lovely Lilly. Lilly takes kisses. Well most of the time and that's good because she gets enough of them. For about the past four weeks when I am showering Lilly will jump up between the shower curtains and just have a cozy little lie down and watch the water droplets fall down the clear shower liner and occasionally take a swat at them. Its so very nice! Now... ahead of time I put a towell on the bath edge and give her a call and shes comes eager to shower! Such a wonderful addition to bath time! God bless Lilly! In case you don't know of Lilly she was given to me by the most wonderful man in the world. My best friend Terry Gene Smith. A remarkable cartoon artist who had been in love with me most of our lives. Seriously! Since the 7th grade. Terry had a head full of red hair and eyes like Gene Wilder. A Scorpio. A natural born comedian and just the best company a human could want. Terry died a few years back from diabetes and heart surgery complications............ to this day....even now..... when I imagine his face, and conjure his spirit, it twists my old heart into an aching knot.
How I miss you my best friend.
I always enjoy coming home from Wonders on Woodland with a few photos! I enjoy visiting Wonders so much! It is my refuge. It is that corner barber shop..... that little diner.... that special place that in time many people call their own. In all of East Nashville Wonders is my niche'. What a wonderful pin cushion! You know.... I don't know if the pins are old or new, but for now we'll call them old and let the cushion tell its tale.
A Halloween scardy cat! As I was taking pictures in the corner of my eye I spied Wayne putting this little piece on the table ready for a photo. Wayne must either fancy this little cat or enjoy my photos........or both. So here you go! Buddy update: I posted recently on Buddy , my brothers dog. He developed a lump, which to my knowledge was diagnosed as cancerous. Yes this is what I was told. But as fate would have it after his surgery on Monday (last Monday) he was back in the hospital the next day for more surgery! Well.......... now the physician has a strong notion that Buddy was bitten by a brown recluse spider!!! His flesh was dying and turning black at a speedy rate and with the other symptoms the doctor went in and removed all the dead tissue and with crossed fingers deemed it a done deal. Buddy is okay now thank God.
Long live Buddy!
Love them maters'! I planted my tomatoes late this year. And I didn't use fertilizer. Not by conscious design but I just never got around to buying it. Anyway my three vines are just now cranking em' out! And they're little..... but good!
And to end this post heres a wonderful picture of Wonders on Woodland from the main room looking down the hallway into the veeerrrry back. The stairs to the left lead to the upstairs gallery. I wish I was there right now.......... but I'm not.
and with that
Goodnight Wayne

Where Have I Been You Ask?

2010-09-05T19:47:00.011-05:00

What a busy week I've had! Full of nothing but work and thought! Thinking deep thoughts. I've slowly worked on the above painting that I thought I'd have done in no time. But its evolved! I'm trying out different styles so that I can morph them and do a little tweaking and make them more mine. No matter how hard I try I cant stick with a simple color theme. And I find it hard to deviate from the psychedelic. But all in all I'm happy with where this little boy is going.
Above is Buddy. Buddy is a pit bull mix that my brother rescued from a life of beating and heart worms in East Nashville. Here in East Nashville it seems like you have two distinct groups (1) those who torture and beat and kill and (2) those who are running themselves ragged trying to save and spay and neuter. I believe my brother came upon Buddy in around 2001 with the beautiful Little Mama pictured below. Both babies were torn up pretty badly. For the longest if you so much a raised your arm around Buddy he would drop to the floor. To this day he is just a timid boy. And sadly now he has cancer. We had to take him to the emergency room this morning because of bad hemorrhaging. Pray for Buddy.
Oh this is the sweet Little Mama. Little Mama is getting on in the age category too. She's started having seizures and takes meds and wobbles along when she walks. Such a sweet soul. Such a gift from God!
This ole crab is Sooty! Why he must be 18 if a day! He gets around East Nashville like he's the king! And he is to me and his family. This is one of those boys that just loves to cuddle. But the age has turned him to a bag o' bones. Still he enjoys the good life on the warm porch under the ferns. Long live Sooty! A rather peculiar plant I saw today. Looks like a mandrake root doesn't it? I'm not sure what this plant is, but it has such personality! Like an old man with tales to tale.
Another interesting shot........at least to me. I like the colors and the subject matter. Nice and clean.
Yesterday, as well as today, the weather was divine! Huhbin' and Lupe' wrestled out in the back yard. Here Dudley / Huhbin' has Lupe in a head lock! They carry on like this all the time! Even in bed when I'm trying to go to sleep.................... yep.
And lastly Huhbin's favorite position, belly up. No matter where we are or who we're around anytime is always a good time for Huhbin' to go belly up. He is a whore for a belly rub. He lives for belly rubs. Belly rubs , cat turds and long walks with mom; these things make my man happy. Long Live Huhbin' and Lupe'.

Well that is all for now. I have been a bit under the weather this week which is a bit odd. And I've spent some time with an old friend who is worthy of several posts himself and I will be doing some spots on him soon. His name is Mark Wray and he has become very important to me in my artistic endeavors. He's probably one of the most talented men I've met in a good long while.
I've still got lots of pictures to share and stories too, and we have classes starting this week!
Talk to you soon!
Night Wayne............

DIY Art Rack

2010-09-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

As I announced in my last post, Saschi and I will be leading art classes at Fairytales Bookstore in East Nashville beginning next week. Tammy, the lovely proprietor of Fairytales, wanted to be able to display some of Saschi's art without putting holes in her plaster walls. I suggested that we could have a special rack just for displaying art, and after a bit of measuring and conferring, here is the design I came up with:

I drew it in Google Sketchup. I didn't draw in the back for two reasons: firstly because I wasn't completely sure how I wanted to do it--I considered a few different materials, and secondly because I'm a Sketchup newbie and I was getting frustrated enough already.

I went to Lowes and bought some supplies. I got a bunch of 2x2s, a bunch of 1x2s, a couple of 2x4s, and one 1x8.

I assembled my workspace. My garage is a dark, dank, spidery hellhole at the moment (okay... always), so I opted to work on my bright, uneven, awkward deck instead. (I also built my very large bookshelf on said deck.)

Those rocks? MODERN ART. Totally not there for lack of a better place to put them. And NONE of them got smashed with a hammer in a smashed-thumb-induced rage. Not a one.

I started by putting together the 2x4s as a base. Then I built the two side pieces, using the first one as the template for the second one so they would be as close to identical as possible. I attached them with the middle shelf, then attached the whole thing to the base.

I put some more supports on the sides. I got the angles by trial and error... who needs math when you have a miter saw? (Apparently, I do.) I also put the top structure on. I cut the arbor-looking ends with a jigsaw. If the nice man at Lowes tells you that you can cut curves with any jigsaw blade, do what I did: smile and thank him, then buy the little blade that is made for curves anyway. You CAN cut curves with most jigsaw blades... but they look terrible and they are harder to cut. Your mileage may vary (as his apparently did), but the finer-toothed blade was much, much better for me.

Don't be fooled by the above picture: Peanut was not actually allowed to operate the saw. However, I did have to discourage her from misguided cleanup efforts. She thought that eating the sawdust was a reasonable and clever way to dispose of it. I imagine many dog foods are composed largely of sawdust anyway, but still. She also tried to take off with small pieces of scrap wood a couple of times. 'A' for effort, Peanut.

Next I put the backing on the rack. A key design element of this rack was some kind of backing that would allow us to hang artworks on it and move them around and change them out easily. I considered steel wiring, chain-link fence, wooden dowels, and just more horizontal boards.

Turns out steel wiring is sold by the foot for more than I wanted to pay, chain-link fence is only sold in massive rolls, and dowels or boards would not be as versatile as I wanted. Ultimately, I went with galvanized hardware cloth, which I think is usually used in building small animal cages. If you use this stuff, WATCH OUT! When I was trying to attach it, the part I trimmed snapped back and sliced eleven cuts of various depth and length along my arm. Ow! I stapled the bejesus out of the hardware cloth and put trim over it to hold it down even further. It won't be coming back to slice anyone else's arm to shreds.

I put trim and wheels on it and primed it.

I painted it white initially thinking that a) I would rub wood stain over the white like I did with my bookshelf and it would make it look antique-y, b) that I would be at last making use of the cans of white paint that the previous house owner left and c) that it would be neutral-looking, since Tammy requested a neutral color scheme.

Alas, I hated the white.

Hate, hate, hated it!

It actually looks not too bad in the picture, but in person it looked awful. The white brought out every tiny little flaw, and even after the stain, it still looked white (just dirty). I find solid white to be quite boring, though I know it's all the rage right now. (In fact, it being all the rage is probably part of why I find it so objectionable, but that's just how I am.) White is sterile and grandma-ish to me, and like both my late grandmothers were, it is best approached in moderation and with much caution. (Sorry, Grandmas S. and J.) The stain didn't help; it made it look like someone had spilled iced tea on it. I had built iced-tea stained grandma furniture, and that just couldn't stand.

So I slathered some black on it. Here it is, partially obscured by evening shadows:

Here is a closeup of the finish:

Now it looks like acid-washed black jeans from the 80s, which still beats solid white. Black is neutral... right? I only hope it looks distressed and not diseased.

After a coat or two of polyurethane, this bad boy will be heading over to Fairytales. Wish me luck; I will need it to stuff the whole thing in my car. I really should have gone for a pickup truck...

Art Box Classes Beginning September 8th!

2010-08-29T18:06:00.000-05:00

Beginning September 8th, we will be teaching art classes at Fairytales Bookstore in East Nashville. Click the 'classes' link at the top of our main page for a schedule with links to the registration pages.

Here is our September poster and schedule. Each month we will have a new poster with an updated schedule, and we will continue to develop and offer new classes each month. We hope to see some of you there!

Just A Quick Note!

2010-08-28T17:39:00.007-05:00

Here's my latest project. I don't know where this subject matter came from or why. I think mainly I wanted to do something "over the shoulder" . By tomorrow I should have this little dude finished.

Here's kinda sorta the beginning. I most definitely will use epoxy resin (enviro-tex lite) on this one because I'm just dying to try it. This is my fourth work free Saturday, not by choice, and its quite the drag. On a positive note I am painting and sleeping. I actually slept nine hours last night. And then I woke up for about two hours and went back to sleep for about three hours more. Ambien really helps. I was given another "death sentence" on my sleep deprivation this week. I have been severely sleep deprived now for almost 20 years. God that's funny. I cant believe I just typed that. But its true! Twenty years! Twenty years of sleeping two to three hours at night and two to three hours during the day. Its gotten to the point where , unless on Ambien, my body will automatically wake up every two to three hours.

I start to worry most when I stop dreaming. I went through a long phase of no dreams. Things get weird then. But it all started with my glorified slave labor job and the schedule assigned. Then college. Then the commute from work to school. I didn't even consider college until I was thirty six years old........ and for the longest I survived on Goody Headache Powders and caffeine. I was never much for cocaine. Here's a little treasure I happened upon right down the road from where I live. This little angel is right next to the railroad tracks that run parallel with my street. When crossing I often see feral cats running too and fro, in and out of the tall weeds that surround the tracks. Hopefully people will let this little guardian be so as to protect the feline wildlife. Wouldn't that be nice?!
A nice little pic of the eccentric Ms. Tulip! Tulip is a cat that craves attention. Shes a very sweet soul, but she can get on your ever lovin' last nerve. Between Tulip and Lupe' there are parts of the day when I could pop xanaxs like Chiclets.

And lastly yours truly. You know...... after looking at the pictures I took of myself I find myself wondering why in the hell didn't any of my "buds" tell me that I have a moustache?! HUH? Would it have been so hard to say............. "Uh, Connie...... listen..... you're sporting a SBJ (sammy davis jr.).................. WOULD IT!?????

Oh and lastly , I , for some strange reason cant access my/our followers. This is quite upsetting to me because I do value the people who look forward to reading this blog. And whilst there arent many I am so very flattered that you do take time to look in on Squee and myself, and I want to thank you. Honestly, I see these other blogs that have hundreds of followers and I find myself thinking....... " I don't think I could dig that" Perhaps because I would feel more on guard about what keys I strike on the keyboard. And so for now I am very happy with the company I keep...... so thank you so much and God bless you.
And Wayne,
Goodnight.

Ziggy: Drunken Frat Boy Edition

2010-08-23T19:08:00.001-05:00

Slinky, below, is deeply concerned...

Saturday Evening....

2010-08-21T22:43:00.006-05:00

Wow look ! It's almost eleven o' clock and I'm still going! Its been a rainy night here in Nashville, raining on and off now since about six o' clock. I headed out to my sisters house in Mt Juliet Tn. and I left clothes hanging on the line not expecting rain. I don't think rain was in the forecast. But I should know better because it seems that with the constant advancements in meteorological technology the weathermen just get dumber and dumber. Why back in my day, the days of Mayberry, the weathermen had nary a thing to help them and they were mostly dead on accurate! Just another sad trip down memory lane. Anyway its raining and its just a nice evening . In case you don't know I love the rain. I could live where it rains every single day. I have loved the rain since I was a child. So did my dad.

I decided to bring some metal into this piece I'm working on. I also now know why artists take long pictures and split them into halves or triples...... balancing the imagery out is soooo hard to do. I'm having a pretty hard time. But on the other hand breaking out my copper was a nice change which I might incorporate more often. I had already annealed the copper so it was nicely patinaed from the fire of the torch. I selected a very thin gauge , about oh say 30 gauge, and cut out heart patterns and took a touch of mod podge and used that to secure the heart to the copper to cut it. Once it was cut out I used my chasing hammer to give it texture and to smooth out any serrated edges from the metal shears. I also ended up having to file the edges. This had inspired me to use metal more often as well as mirror and what have you. I also really need to learn how to balance a composition!
I always MUST finish what things I have started. Or at least it seems that way. And this piece because of its length will really bring me some woes. I'm looking a books, especially the book by Anne Baldwin, and trying to understand the idea of balance. It just does not come natural to me.
Well suddenly I'm tired..........zzzzzzz.
Goodnight Wayne

Cool Image Transfers

2010-08-20T14:22:00.006-05:00

Check it out. I've found "my" method of image transfer! I've not seen this used in mixed media lessons so I'll call it mine for a while!

This piece is far from finished. And I hope to do this in all shades of red/orange and browns. I didn't mean to land on this particular subject matter but viola! It choose me!

Its a long picture, like my monster picture, which I have a difficult time photographing. Maybe I'm having a blond moment but I find this quite hard to do.

Anyway, most image transfer methods are taught using gel medium (and yes Golden is the best) in "soft". However try switching from that to "heavy". Generously coat your image in the heavy Golden gel medium and place on a white or light surface. This particular surface has a layer of gesso on it. Once you have coated your image in gel medium (heavy!) then position it on your surface and remove any excess gel and air bubbles with an old plastic card by scraping. Of course if your reading this post then you're into image transfer and you've done this already.... now....... after you've scraped the image take a heat tool ( I use marvy) or possibly a hot blow dryer on high heat low "blow" will do, and for about 45 seconds dry the image.

Oh, one other thing! I also left about an inch to half an inch around the image ! Now the image will dry quickly! You don't want an image that's cool to the touch. In most transfer lessons your taught to start removing the top layer quickly..... because dryness can be bad! But not here!

Once the image is dry to the touch take the excess paper that you didn't apply gel to and slowly start to peel it away............... most likely this should peel away very nicely! oh la la!
Then you will find that with the heavy gel medium and the heat you have a secure image transferred! From there you can use a medium grit sand paper and sand excess paper away, or you can use a moist towel and rub the excess paper off.

The man featured in the image is Georgia O'Keeffes husband. Quite solemn looking old buzzard isn't he? Georgia's to the right and she doesn't look much better. But judging from the way old age is effecting me, they probably both feel like hell , sigh.

In the case of the image of Mr. O'Keeffe because of the method I used I was able to sand "briskly" over the picture to produce a more weathered look. Ah yes, like I've always said, there's nothing like a good brisk rub down with 100 grit sandpaper! It can do wonders!

I'm saying this about this transfer method because if you focus in on the trees you will see that initially I had some bare spots left from the gel not being dry. And that's because the paper plus the gel turned to goo. But once I dried it with a heat tool it peeled away beautifully!

Am I preaching to the choir here?
You know, soon I'll post pictures on this to beat the dead horse more fully.
But in the meantime
Goodnight Wayne

Well It Comes Down to This.....

2010-08-16T21:10:00.003-05:00

Ah , who cares if we're all going to hell! It aint nothin' but a thang.....
and now my friends, see if you can spot me and Squee in this visual testimony to just how crazy we can be.................. cause when the crap goes down, I'll be playin' it real cool.
hint.... one of us is dressed in drag............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MiG2fe8lE

Here, enjoy this video

2010-08-16T17:18:00.000-05:00

No, it's not ours. We aren't this clever.

Yet.

DIG IT!

2010-08-16T15:09:00.005-05:00

I just stumbled upon this wonderful blog from another wonderful blog!
First I started with the lovely Cosmic Goddess. And of course I had to browse her faves and I hit the prize button for this site!

DING DING DING!
What a life! What a groovy life!
http://junkgypsyblog.com

and it came from this beautiful souls fave list
http://cosmicgoddessblog.blogspot.com

you know...... with this many women in the world.... all strong and creative and true, its hard to imagine how bad things continue to happen. I know that there are men who are genuinely good people , I work with some noble gentlemen.... indeed I do. I guess what I should really say is God bless the good in this world. You know the saying "knowledge is power" and then "ignorance is bliss".............. and my favorite "blessed are the meek". I apologize for preaching here but........ I believe that God made all people to be artists. Building a bridge may not be my art form but it will be another's. God wanted/wants his people to make this world beautiful and ..... groovy! And then there are the dark arts. Conflict and war.

I look at your blogs and I see for the most part "light". And here we are scattered about the country , or for that matter, the world! And we all have the need to create beauty and communicate to others what we have created, and to bond. If something happens in Texas, then I will pray for my Yoborobo and Megan, and all my Texas sisters. If something happens in Washington then I will reach out to my Jeannine......... and so blogs become artistic bonds that spread across the world. Emotional cyber fibers! Connections that happen with the stroke of the fingers at the sake of the keyboard........... and with that screen , and the keyboard, wonderful life changing events happen.
And I thank God for that
And I thank God for all of you
Doing what you do everyday. Coping, surviving, loving, creating. And then reaching out to one another saying "here I am!." Because we do wonder! If one should stray we fret!
Ain't that nice?!

peace and love
Saschi

goodnight Wayne!.........

The Day Is Done

2010-08-15T17:12:00.009-05:00

Good evening all! I didn't get to get out today.... sadly I was stranded in my own house, without my very wheels. No car problems, just the "borrower" problem. So my ventures to the gallery never happened, nor did I get the chance to visit with Wonders on Woodland and get the low down. So sorry. My painting didn't sell..... as the gallery owner Meg put it "yet". But I have found that if my paintings don't sell right then and there............ they wont. Thus is my karma in the land of the house poor.

But with a more positive perspective in mind its all okay because I'm gathering my nuts so to speak for bigger and better things! Like new galleries in new parts! And so I have one more painting to add to my collection. I have found a wonderful link to the Art & Invention Gallery that features all the artists and their tomato work for this show. My painting didn't photograph well this year and so the picture just doesn't do it justice because I consider it my 2nd best yet!
But its all good................
here is the link.................................... http://artandinvention.com the home page includes a little "winged lady" of mine..... I'd forgotten that I had painted her! The show this year was stunning! It gets better every year! One of my favorite local artist really outdid herself! Her name is Athena Workman and talking bout' multi talented...... jeez! Here's her blog site http://athenaworkman.blogspot.com

Athena does everything! And she does it well! So most definitely check her out!

The above photos are of my latest "class" project............ not a happy camper am I! You see, in my mind I will engage students in very simplistic lessons like taking the "pastees" as I call them; prints that are ready to glue down will be just that, glued down, and from there the layering will begin! In more advanced classes like my VOOdOo SPeLL BOx........ classes will be taught in more original form(s) that are from my hand. Understand? No "pastees"!

I do believe that Alice is a big thing here at the moment and so I ordered this print as well as another. Now this takes me to another subject, one that Squee and I devour quite often.... "copyright", "copying" "na na na na", "thats my work you cant copy it" ............

I would like to say a little something here; it was just the other day that Squee was searching the etsy site for images , large ones, for our class. Whilst doing so she stumbled upon the artwork of a most accomplished artist and lo' , a relative of hers, being sold in image form. Mind you now............ at the bottom of the page as is with most is the silly little thing about "you can use these images but you cant sell them ...... yada yada, " you know what I'm talking about. Many , many , many of these images are public domaine , and in this case this particular "artist" was selling art prints that were blatant theft and then..... and then.... giving the same ole' bullshit of you can use these but you cant sell these!!!

I have seen so "f"ing many classes where once finished the "teacher" will say "now that you can paint with my method.... DON'T!" "DON'T COPY ME, OR ELSE I'LL EAT YOU!" I have seen this time and time again..........

If someone out there chooses to copy my work..........so be it. If it shows up somewhere making a zillion dollars , I'll deal with it then. If Squee and I continue to do video classes and you like what I do and you god forbid "copy" it......... so be it. CAUSE THAT'S HOW IT "F"ING WORKS! YOU TAKE ON THE SAME TRAITS AS YOUR TEACHER!!!! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! If you take a class from me you will NOT paint like Dali. No where close! Or Picasso! Or Van Gogh! It aint gonna happen! If you take my classes or you are inspired by my work...... your work will reflect that. And if I instruct you to "put the eyes here and the mouth here" you will most likely continue to do so. And if I then have the balls to ridicule you for "copying" my work.... then screw me! Who do I think I am............ the "God" of mixed media. I watched as one of my dear art friends went through hell for "copying" the fingers of an art doll "god". Who was in turn blatantly copying the fingers of Tim Burtons characters!

So if you ever feel the need to , or aspire to copy me...... okay... just give credit where its due and thank you! Cause after all ..... imitation is the most sincere form of flattery!

And on the other hand..... if anyone ever feels the need to "punish" me for public domaine images that I my choose to use from their site............ then what you need to do is suck my balls.
Because I will fight you and I will most likely take you down. I/We don't fear this. Never have, never will.

Oh sigh........ cookies and icing and little kittens and rainbows.......
alright I'm back now...... anyway as I was saying, the above image is one that I most likely wont be printing off thousands of and using in class because it just took a whole lotta' work and in the end didn't work out.

Lastly, I have found the most incredible artist! I am beholden to her gift! I am smitten with her style. For all of you art doll enthusiasts please check this site out! http://sandra-arteaga-dolls.blogspot.com

And now I will end this rant and go and spread peace and love to all whom encounter me!
And Wayne...... I hope you sleep a deep and restful sleep
and may the Good Lord watch over you my dear friend
Saschi

A QUICK NOTE!

2010-08-15T06:35:00.003-05:00

Good morning all! Before I've even put my coffee on I wanted to sit down and share this website with you. This site was passed on to me via the Russell Rescue late last night and I will most definitely be giving these products a try! Take a look and see and judge for yourself.
Be excellent to each other
SAschi!

http://www.fluffydog.net/main.sc

Hellfire and Tomatoes......

2010-08-14T14:56:00.013-05:00

Greetings non Nashvillians, and Wayne! By the way, poor poor Wayne...... I guess right about now its hotter than hell fire pretty much everywhere. And of course I'm praying extra hard for the critters out there and doing rain dances to Wayne Newton lounge hits, but I'm also thinkin' that right about now approximately 3 miles away there's most likely asphalt buckling under the scourching feet of hundreds possibly thousands of Tomato weary festival victims. And if I could hover like the good lawd allmighty I'd be looking down at them whispering "I told you so".....

Johnny on the spots are mingled together in little potty huddles beckoning the blistered brave , and the already full and lulled southern horse flies. Poor Wayne and Deb and their little Wonderland have probably experienced enough customer passage to last a good month. And the flusher on their loo is probably long gone impotent......... sigh............ I just don't understand people. The insane need to party in the most hellish circumstances. I just don't get it.

The festivities started last night and I heard via the grapevine that it got wild. But I guess when you mix triple digit heat with liquor, essential oils, flesh and tomatoes, things can get out of hand.
The sado masochistic rites of deadly nightshade passage will continue on into the night. Some will make it..... some will not. In the dead of the afternoon heat tomorrow I will venture out to the Art and Invention Gallery to snap photos of some of the best tomato art that the south has to offer. But not now...... oh no! For now I make art and nap and love on the furry babies. Ah... sweet lullabies under the hypnotic whirrrr of a room fan............ zzzzzzz.

I went to home depot today to get (git) the supplies needed to start my epoxy ventures. After having been disappointed by encaustic wax and its lack of strength, I have decided that epoxy resin is indeed the bling I've been looking for..... searching for! I was going to apply it to the above painting but I think I'll start with small paintings instead.

Whilst at Home Depot..... one of the home improvement places that I hate.... I stumbled upon a new find that almost made me wet myself! Now mind you I haven't watched television in about 2 years so I declare myself innocent, if not ignorant to the new found fancies at box stores. But just in case I'm not alone this is for my buds who are at home right now painting their little selves into mixed media frenzies. Behold.... Glidden 8 oz. any color you want , containers of paint for under THREE DOLLARS!!!!! UNDER THREE DOLLARS!!!! Mixed right there on the spot to the color of your choice! Water soluble! Groovy colors for under THREE DOLLARS!
The Home Depot dude told me that these paints have been out for about a year now. Where have I been? ....... People out there need to keep me updated for cryin' out loud!

Occam's Legislation: The Stupidest Solution is the Most Likely

2010-08-12T18:56:00.008-05:00

It would seem that the good city of Nashville is considering an ordinance that would limit the number of companion pets that citizens may own based on property size.

Property size.

Apparently, Nashville Metro Health Department and Nashville Metro Animal Control are operating under the curious idea that the size of one's property is the best and most appropriate indicator of how responsible a pet owner he or she is. Channel 4 News reports that:

"The proposal would limit the number of cats and dogs a person can have based on the size of a resident’s property.

* There could be no more than five cats or dogs on an acre of land, according to the proposal.
* There could be no more than 10 cats and dogs on 1.5 to 2.5 acres of land.
* No more than 20 dogs and cats would be allowed to live on five acres.
* Land more than 5 acres would be allowed to have up to 21 dogs and cats."

This proposed ordinance is absurd. Using property size to limit the number of pets that one is allowed to have is problematic at best and classist at worst. It assumes that responsible pet ownership is numerical rather than ethical and places an arbitrary limitation that does nothing whatsoever to curtail abuse while simultaneously hindering individual rescuers and responsible owners who happen to have more pets than property. By privileging those with larger properties, the ordinance also favors people with more money (who tend to have more land), thus further disenfranchising those who already have less.

Having more property and more money does not mean that those resources will be devoted to pet care, and having less does not mean that full care and attention will not be paid to each pet. Does one acre rather than half an acre really make that much of a difference? What about indoor pets? Why does the size of my plot of land matter when five of my seven pets never set foot outside and the other two spend most of their time indoors?

Based on this proposed ordinance, both Saschi and I would have too many pets and would be in violation. The people across the street from me who allow their un-neutered pit bulls to wander the neighborhood (which is next to a railroad track and a very busy road) would not. The people down the street who tie their aggressive dogs to trees and disused vehicles and never interact with them would not. James Holbert, the man charged with animal cruelty after beating kittens until they couldn't walk, would not. The guy in New York who tried to marinate his cat by covering it in oil and peppers in his trunk would not.

Granted, it is unlikely that anyone would even know that Saschi and I (and many owners of multiple pets, particularly indoor cats) even have "too many" pets. However, the ordinance opens the door for anyone who has a grudge or wants to harass someone they know has more than the allotted number of pets. Got a difficult neighbor? Someone who doesn't like you at work? Hell, my allergist demanded that I get rid of my cats... implement this and she could possibly have them taken away by Metro regardless of how well they are treated.

While clearly aimed at reducing animal hoarding, the ordinance makes no distinction between hoarding and rescuing--as I mentioned in my post about James Holbert, the majority of my pets are in fact rescues. Well-fed, well cared-for, comfortable and happy, my five cats and two dogs would nonetheless place me in the same category as puppy mill operators, backyard breeders, and hoarders.

I am all for shutting down said puppy mill operators, backyard breeders, and hoarders. These are people who hurt animals, whether it be out of greed, neglect, or mental illness. However, these people are not going to pay any mind to any ordinance or legislation to limit number of pets. They have no regard for the well-being of their pets, and declaring an arbitrary number of allowed pets will do nothing to change the behavior of those who are already breaking the law and abusing their animals.

To reduce hoarding, abuse, and neglect, Metro needs to target actual hoarders, abusers, and neglecters rather than indiscriminately swinging ham-fisted, ill-thought legislation at all pets owners, responsible and irresponsible alike. Legislation that might actually make a difference by reducing abuse and improving pets' quality of life include:

1. Introduce stiffer penalties for abuse and neglect.

2. Require that offenders complete pet ownership courses. Provide mental health assistance for those who need it.

3. Disallow abusers to own animals again without supervised probationary periods.

4. Require that companion animals be spayed/neutered and provide assistance in the form of low-cost, accessible spay/neuter programs.

5. Provide assistance for trap/neuter/release programs to humanely care for and gradually reduce feral animal populations.

6. Enforce leash laws.

7. Require that outdoor dogs be contained in fences and disallow animals to be tied or chained for more than a couple hours at a time.

Mistreatment of animals is a warning sign for mistreatment of humans. While our handling of mistreatment of humans is often woefully misguided as well, such a misguided effort as this ordinance does little to help anyone--abusers will continue to abuse regardless, and responsible owners and rescuers will be hindered and discouraged from helping more animals. Placing a numerical restriction on pet ownership is both counterproductive and discriminatory, and ultimately does nothing but piss off responsible owners and rescuers--those who should be the natural allies of legislators seeking to improve animal protection guidelines.

My new bookshelf

2010-08-10T14:05:00.008-05:00

I posted not long ago about book organization and the weirdness some people will undergo to "organize" their bookshelves by color, lamenting at the same time that I didn't have enough bookshelf space for my collection. On Sunday, however, I tackled that problem. Armed with a couple of plans from the excellent Knock-Off Wood, I set out to create a new bookshelf, a strong bookshelf, one that will not let our tragedy continue. Well... one that will hold more books at least.

Here it is:

It is a BEHEMOTH of a bookshelf. I'd guess its probably at least 70 pounds of solid pine, and it is 92" tall (four inches shy of eight feet... which is the height of my ceiling) by 44 1/2" wide. After I built it, I proudly called my husband outside to look at it and his first statement was: "That's not going to fit in the house!" And yet it did. Barely.

Let me give you a sense of scale. Keep in mind that I"m 5'6".

Yes, I know the wallpaper is the most hideous thing you've ever seen. I hereby apologize for its continued existence in my home. It's on my to-do list. Right along with that beautiful purple-mauve carpet...

You can see to the right of my new shelf an older white bookshelf that my mom built for me when I was in middle school. I also have two tall narrow shelves like the white one that she also built. They have all held up remarkably well through multiple moves and continuous heavy use. I will probably beef them all up with some trim and finish them out (since that white is actually primer!) and continue using them. In addition to the white bookshelves we also have two of those 12" deep pressboard Wal-Mart shelves packed with books. We REALLY needed this shelf. We'll still probably need more.

I photographed the construction, but the flash drive mysteriously and tragically gave me the finger isn't working properly, and the husband is working on recovery but I don't know if I'll be able to get those pictures back. So, the step-by-step breakdown will be text only. Sorry. Trust me, I'd rather my 4gig flash drive hadn't lost its awesome too. All of these pictures are from my cellphone, hence their less-than-stellar quality. I was able to recover most of the flash drive, so I've updated this post with some more pictures.

Step 1: Have a solid idea what the hell you are doing before you start. I used this plan and this plan from Knock-Off Wood as references, but since I wanted something substantially larger than either of these, I kind of winged it based on those two plans and my own needs. I don't recommend this, since it probably took me a total of 7 or 8 trips to Lowes, Home Depot, AND Ace Hardware to get everything I ended up needing. Don't do what I did. Plan! Unless you're like me, in which case, feel free to skip to Step 2. (You masochist, you.)

Step 2: Acquire supplies. I collected probably about $120 worth of wood total over multiple trips to Lowes and Home Depot. I used 1x10s to make a somewhat but not too deep shelf. I used 6 1"x10"x8's, 2 1"x3"x8's, either 8 or 9 (I can't remember for sure) 1"x2"x8's and 1 1"x4"x6'. I think. It got a little confusing with the running out and the multiple trips.

I already had screws, nails, drill bits and a drill. I used mostly 3" exterior screws and a few large penny nails for the structure, and two different sized finishing nails for the trim. My paint was a $1 "Oops" quart from Home Depot in a lovely aqua/robin's egg blue color, the stain over it is Minwax Special Walnut, and the final polyurethane coat is Minwax Wipe-On Poly in satin. I also used nearly a full quart of Kilz primer and probably half a bottle or so of Elmer's Wood Glue. I glued every join for added strength.

I also already had a compound miter saw. Oh, sweet, sweet compound miter saw, how I love thee.

(All dogs were chased away before cutting.)

Ahem.

If you are unable to cut your own boards, it will be necessary to have everything planned out ahead so that you can get the good employees of Home Depot/Lowes/Ace Hardware to cut it for you. Sometimes they charge, sometimes they don't.

Step 3: Assemble. Again, planning is great, but I'm not much for it in my own projects. I laid the boards out, thought about the Knock-Off Wood plans, thought, looked around, hacked back the low-hanging redbud branches that I kept hitting my head on, and thought some more. My main measurements were (1) the height of the side boards, which I knew had to be shorter than 8' and (2) the width of the shelves, which was determined in part by how many shelves I could get out of one 8' board and partly by what proportion to the height I found pleasing. After that it was mostly matching and marking boards to cut based on previous cuts rather than actually measuring.

I used 3" screws to secure the shelves since I wanted them to be quite strong (as they will be quite full of heavy books). I started with the bottom shelf, positioning it so that the bottom trim piece would fit nicely (holding all pieces together to determine fit before attaching anything. If you are really interested in construction, I suggest you visit the plans I linked to above since they have good step-by-step assembly directions.

Step 4: Get a ~~pale computer geek~~ strong manly man to help you pick the damn thing up, because it's heavy as !@#$ at this point.

Note: Your strong manly man obviously need not be manly nor male, just strongish. I was able to move it myself, but the biggest problem was the sheer size and awkwardness. And the threat of serious injury if I dropped it on myself... not that that typically stops me. Psh. And I totally didn't move it myself later when the strong manly man was unavailable. Nope, not I.

Further Note: Watch out for pesky cats during all transport stages. Little Wendell really, really, really wanted to have the whole massive thing dropped on his head. I knew that would be a bad idea, but he remained unconvinced. He had to be banished to another room for a little while.

Step 5: Finish it. To be certain that what I was trying to do would both work and look reasonably okay, I tested it first on a piece of scrap wood. I used Kilz primer over the whole surface except the very top and very bottom. I figure you won't see either and I didn't feel like turning it multiple times for full coverage. I then painted it, rubbed stain over it with paper towels, then rubbed polyurethane over it with washcloths. I only used one coat each of primer, paint, stain, and poly because that's just how I roll. Most directions recommend multiple coats. Wev. I think my disinclination to follow silly things like directions has been firmly established at this point.

Here's a closeup of the finish:

Step 6: Gloat.

Er, put some books or something on it. Yeah.

So there you are. I mean to build Saschi a bookshelf as well soon, albeit a much, much smaller one. For right now, though, I'm off to fill some shelves.

The Day Is Done

2010-08-08T17:13:00.007-05:00

The day is done pretty much and I'm waiting on my brother Mike to get here. I havent seen him for a while now. I understand his hair is gone since chemo...... I understand his fears. I love my brother, he carries a part of my heart with him always. And so I will be strong when I see him.

Now the above box is one I just wrapped up for our class starting in a couple of weeks! We'll start with two boxes. Each will be a basic type for beginners like the above. I'll work with a pre printed piece and we'll add to it. It took me around 2 1/2 hours to complete the box so I figure if i allow for 3 hours or a little more then it will all be good! Yeah, I think so........
Heres the inside. Now after I photo'd the inside I went back and "aged" the white paper with the hand and it looks a lot better.
The sides......... basic layering.

The beginning piece. I feel such a sense of peace doing this kind of thing. And I hope that I can inspire someone to create beautiful, or not so beautiful things in the future. I can remember moments when I realized the magic of creating. When the hammer in my hand struck the metal earring post. Or when the crayons that I held blended with a supreme magic that spoke to my soul. So many times with painting as with jewelery I have gone through a range of emotions while working on a piece. And so often when I am finished I think to myself...... if only the person who inherits this piece of "me" knew what emotions went into it. It contains my souls imprint . As is the case with all pieces of art .
And so with that I will say goodnight to all of you and wait for my brother, my beautiful brother. And I thank God for the time that we have, may it last for an eternity!
God bless all of you my friends!
Goodnight Wayne
Saschi!

Not A Lot of Anything...........

2010-08-08T05:55:00.004-05:00

Where have I been!? Well... just up to all sorts of drama! I'm either cracking myself up or breaking myself down. Black or white , high or low, no middle ground for the bi-polar population no sir! Dreading the lows...... living for the highs . So other than the usual fringe Jimi Hendrix sang about in Manic Depression, this week has been about basically not a thing but heat. I did encounter a nasty sty in my eye from sanding down my box of Mother Mary. How nasty was it? So nasty that I left work early on Tuesday with what appeared to be an almost purple eye and even on this Sunday I am applying eye drops. And the sty is still there! Nasty little bastard! I've been sanding wood and metal now for many a year and never have I encountered such a dilemma. Jeez! Lets see...... hmmmmm..... oh yes, Squee came to visit me yesterday and taught me things! Things that most people consider "duh" things. But for the old and "slipping" there are computer skills that we long for but sometimes are afraid to ask guidance for. But now I know (I think) how to create links!!! and ...... make color! VIOLA! UH OH! NOW HOW DO I CHANGE IT BACK?!!!!! JEEZ..... THAT WAS SCARY! ...... Well lookie what time it is! Yes the season of the tomato! The uniter, not the divider of fruits and veggies! I've always loved tomatoes. I can remember even as a child picking tomato's off the vine (with salt in hand) and eating them like apples. Did you know that another name for the tomato is the "love apple"? Yes.... and that's what my painting is based on this year.

I don't know if I've mentioned this or not but this festival started as just a little o' bitty art show idea of Meg Macfaydgens many a year ago. Meg has always featured theme oriented shows at her gallery here in Nashville Tn. and for what ever reason the tomato became the object of art 7 so odd years ago. From there...... oh my god!..... things just went haywire! And suddenly the "festival" was featured in Southern Living magazine and who knows where else. Now honestly, I've attended one show..... that's it. And I'm not alone here. Why? Because its so crowded and so damn hot that's why! Raving hot southern asphalt and sweaty crowds is not my idea of a pleasant Saturday. Nope. But this baby will pack in thousands. I don't get it....... but my art is there representing me every year and so far every year its sold.............. knock on wood.

One of the first years I entered the tomato cooking contest at the request of a friend. Well actually Meg..... the gallery owner and founder. There was a fear that no one would enter the contest and so I was a warm and willing body. Now... I love to cook! And I am a good cook, a very good cook! So I could see my dish easily taking a prize! This was during a time when I was eating meat and I decided to share my corn bread blt with the world!

I made my signature cheddar cheese cornbread via cast iron skillet, lots of cheddar cheese, nice hot crispy crust! I cooked thickly sliced bacon with of course sliced big boy tomato's and mayo seasoned with curry and dill! .................. yum yum!
I put it on a plate, covered it with foil and strutted my southern rump into the joint (which is now Wonders on Woodland! ) holding the contest. My confidence was at an all time high......... until......... what seemed by the thousands women sporting Martha Stewart haircuts and Betty Crocker aprons were pouring in with Tomato Frittatas , southern tomato burritos, tomato potatoes, tomato pastas, you name it! And talkin' bout' presentation...... that's the year that I learned that not only what sets the standard is "location, location" but also my friends... "presentation, presentation!" Duh.
I looked down at my foil covered plate , looked at the table of judges and quickly went into the "Carrie" movie mode........ here goes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbk2GIp9M9I .

I tossed the plate down and made a quick exit. I didn't win that year. Not even an honorable mention. Live and learn.

Squee and I will be started our first classes in 2 weeks! Pray for our immortal souls please! In these desperate times I feel that the life of the artists is one way to make a living, I don't know why, but I do. It is my goal to create a society of groovy art chicks that gather for good times and to learn a fine art/ craft skill that will bring pleasure to generations of family members. I think these are kinda sorta scary times. I'm all for the village mentality where the shoe maker trades for the hammer and nails, and the butcher for the baker. And honestly I just long for a more simplistic life.

Well I will end this now.... but before I do........... and Squee might edit this....... but for all of you who (especially you international visitors) aren't aware of southern drama I give you this harrowing news event with my newly found skills..........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520

afterwards, you might want to watch the hoopla of events that have transpired from the aforementioned!
Thanks Squee!

Good day Wayne!

Not another one...

2010-08-06T09:28:00.001-05:00

In lieu of a serious, thought-out post about something that annoys me (as is my customary offering), I give you this: Ziggy, also known as Wendell, playing with his BFF Pocky. At first we thought Pocky wanted to hurt Ziggy, but it turned out that she just wanted to start a career as a kitten toy. Who knew?

Ziggy loves my dogs. And he loves my cats. And he loves my husband and me. And he is now our FIFTH cat. Yeesh. There can be no more. No more I say!

Unless they are awesome enough... just kidding, husband. Don't divorce me!

East Nashville Stuff.....

2010-08-01T12:16:00.013-05:00

Well here it is Sunday! Weeks go so fast when you are busy.... and tired. I've been working six days a week now for about 3 or 4 years and I don't like it at all. I realize that lots of people work more, and some enjoy it! But not me! I prefer the 4 day work week. Maybe that will come to be in this lifetime for me! You never know! Moving on .... I haven't gotten a chance to see our new followers! Regardless welcome and I hope you enjoy this little part of the blogosphere that Squee and I share. And let me apologize in advance for my random potty mouth outbursts..... sorry.

Last night was beautiful here in the hood. A thunderstorm was blowing up and for a good hour or so we had nothing but wind and thunder and lightning. Wonderful! I had a somewhat rough day working and so I had the treat of settling down with the critters at my table and working on my box plus other art "stuff". As the wind started to pick up a little I thought.... "um... the wind is blowing, good time for an ambien!" Ah yes! When the Pointer Sisters were singing about "hey sista, soul sista", they were talkin' about ambein! If you are sleep deprived, uptight, raged, whateva'...... ambein..... that's what I'm talking about! Thank God for that little sweetie!

Well anyway, I got in my car and started out for a late little junket. I headed over to a part of the hood where the houses are built in a fashion we call "little Hollywood". Maybe because of the time of evening I couldn't quite get the surreal color vibe that vibrates from these houses, and I also found that it being mid summer some are completely sheltered by the vine, but none the less I got some pictures. The above is one. At my "art" table working on the inside of a box. Done mainly in image transfer , which I will teach in class. Doing this made me realize that image transfer in itself is practically a whole class!
Ah yes, this is a yard that's down the road from me. Its a shotgun shack and yes, YES, the famous outlaw Jesse James lived there! Its a tiny, teeny shotgun shack that sold , I believe, for about 250k! No shit! The property here in the hood is highway robbery! But on the other hand, the hood has magnificent houses that lay claim to the history of Nashville. We are right on the Cumberland River which flooded recently. The flood was devastating. It brought up a lot of unwanted pollution and unwanted memories. I personally believe that rivers contain the souls of so many lonely people. Broken hearts and evil biddings. And when the Cumberland River gave rise to its limit, it did more than flood damage and job loss; it brought up all the "settled" and "unsettled" souls. And disease.

Another little hobbit abode here in the hood! Ain't that just the cutest? I imagine little Keebler elves live there.
And another.
Part of my art table. Now this is just one table! And one part! Hey see that cool ice bin in the back? With the dome lid! I got that at Wonders on Woodland! Tres' cool!
Another "part" of the table. That chick in the background..... that's a young Saschi. And the gnome is one of many that my mom made back in the 70's. My mom was artistic. She taught herself most things like that. She was intense and interesting. I think you would have liked her. And I can tell you that she would've been so proud of me and where I am today. Even though I've not gotten that far, she would've supported me. She was a crazy force, but she was good too.

I went to the farmers market today to get tomatoes. Now this picture is from my last visit but I just had to get it in here! Right as I was walking in that lady, all done up in her "lady be cool" outfit, or maybe it was/is cultural prototific dress style, turned and whoa! doooowwwwnnnnn sssshhheeee wwweeennntttt! Whop! No comment. Just come on up like it never happened lady...... thats it..... lady be cool.....
And yet another house. This is my favorite only its hidden. Waaaa! Just look at it! What do you think they're in there doing? What do they eat for dinner? Probably real cool stuff.... you think? Do they have Christmas trees or big cactus trees? Do they rescue little animals? Do they know how blessed they are? Do you know how blessed you are?
Do you rescue little animals?
Please do.
Love
Saschi.

Sure, it's pretty, but...

2010-07-30T12:06:00.003-05:00

Some of you are aware of this trend. For those who aren't, you know what they say about pictures and thousands of words, so here you go:

Image source: chotda, Creative Commons licence

This is certainly striking! As someone who loves color and is sick to death of seeing everyone painting and decorating everything white, white, white, this looks really cool.

But...

In addition to loving color, I also love books.

I also believe the old trope that "form follows function".

Now, I can't really point the finger too hard here since my books are currently in no order whatsoever. I probably have about a thousand or more books heaped and stuffed on shelves that are filled well beyond their intended capacity; these books have never been organized since we moved into our house about two years ago. It's on my to-do list, somewhere after reflooring and painting and rearranging my bathroom fixtures and doing something about my weird laundry room and maybe tackling an attic conversion and, oh yeah, building enough shelves to actually hold them all.

But when I do finally have a place for them all, they will not be arranged by color, but rather by subject and author's last name the way I did it years ago (when I had enough shelving) and the way it is done by bookstores and libraries. I don't care how attractive it is, the color coding of books seems to miss the entire point of organizing them in the first place. Organizing is a lot of effort, and the purpose of organizing is to place things in a logical order that allows you to find them easily when you want them. To arrange books by color places aesthetics over function in a way that reduces the meaningfulness of the very concept of books.

But, whatever. If someone wants to arrange their books by color, more power to 'em I suppose. If I can find my books in their random piles, it is surely possible to find color-arranged books.

Although... there are people who apparently buy books specifically for their spine color. And a company that sells books by the linear foot by spine color! That's messed up. Why would anyone buy a book they had no intention of reading? It's one thing to subvert the intended function of an item to make it useful as something else. DIYers and artists do it all the time; it can be called recycling, repurposing, or upcycling depending on the use and the audience. However, that is typically done AFTER the usefulness of the item has ceased or significantly degraded. Particularly given that books are meant to be repositories of knowledge and information, sticking a book on your shelf knowing full well you will never, ever read it is pretentious as hell. It smacks of trying to make yourself appear more educated and intelligent than you really are.

Of course, that's still better than buying books that have been cut in half to fill your shallow shelves. Or maybe to fill your shallow life. Now there's not even the option of reading the books. When your friends come over and say "Hey, can I borrow this copy of Deep Thinking for Dummies?" and try to pull it off the shelf, they'll be in for a surprise. Cutting books in half and displaying them as if they were complete and readable is like cutting a cooking pot in half and sticking it in your kitchen cabinet. Sure, it might fool the eye for a second, but a closer look reveals the uselessness of a once-useful item that has been reduced to 'filler'.

Books can certainly be decorative, as the color coding well demonstrates, but to treat them solely as decorative objects is a disservice to both literature and to your own self-honesty. If you don't like books and your bare shelves bother you, fill them with photographs or small pieces of art or Star Wars figurines or rubber duckies--something that appeals to you.

A shelf full of unread, unloved, and untouched books might as well be empty, and your book collection is a statement about you. If your books mean so little to you that you choose them solely for aesthetics, what does that say about you?

Working More on The Box

2010-07-29T19:17:00.006-05:00

I worked a little more on the Mary box. Very enjoyable! This a a picture I'd like to use in class . With a pre printed picture I could focus more on layers and embellishments. The VOOdoO LoVE BoX will serve to teach one method and the pre printed picture will teach another. Has anyone out there taught classes before? This will be my first. I've seen classes here in Nashville run from very, very, painfully simple to intermediate in complexity. However my experience in class time is extremely limited. Once I'm finished adding darkness and points of light with flower colors and butterfly colors and so forth it will need to dry. I started with a layer of gesso. Then stamped. Then a layer of Payne's grey . Once dry I then worked with black in water soluble oil, also shiva paint sticks and perhaps my all time favorite (for now) the Caran d' ACHe water soluble neo colors. Most likely I will use image transfer method on the inside and when finished with the box as a whole I will add tasteful sparkly embellishments to Marys face. Wont that be grand!

well it almost that time.......... oh well.........
time for .............. a shower......
and then dead..... uh I mean bed!
Until tomorrow
Goodnight Wayne

All It Wants.........Is A "FrIEnD" ....?

2010-07-29T13:32:00.003-05:00

Hello all and welcome to Thursday! I personally have always enjoyed Thursdays far more than Fridays! Why you ask? Because they're further away from Monday! I also find Christmas Eve far more magical than Christmas day..... its always the " eve" that gets me!

Which could possibly give me lead into this next episode of ..... "Life With Saschi" ; at times not to be confused with Stephen Kings "It" or "1408" or "The Shining". Or for the hardcore King fans out there who remember the lines of their favorite movies; I often find myself quoting Carries mother right before the prom scene when I'm approaching a new situation or presenting a new artistic endeavor................. "they're all going to laugh at you, THey'Re AlL GoiNg TO LAUgh At YoU!".............. and so without further ado...do.do....

My daughter / Caly/ succubus and I have lived in this present house now for a little over 5 years. Yes we are on the fringes of the city.... yes..... right pretty much in the dead smack of "being there" ..... yes , yes.... but common folk we be. Common renters. Simple village folk. Not so much suspect to the paranormal events that surround us in the beautifully restored Victorian ladies , but more suspect to the perils of life below the city so to speak. And whilst the rats that scourage the five star restaurant trash bins, or better yet the five star restaurant kitchens, find refuge in the city streets , they also manage to party here in the outskirts of the hood until the wee hours of the morn'.

But what we're talking about here my friends might not be your common rat....... I really need for Rod Sterling to take over at this point ... damn!

It all started about a year ago. Not ones for "tubbing" , my daughter and I both find happiness in a happy bubbly shower. Oh la la la! Shower caps on belting out Liza Minelli or Milli Vanilli, who cares ! "Singing in the rain..... what a wondrous feelin"....... you get the vibe right?

The hot water and the too pricey herbal soaps have done what they promised to do.... relax.
And we go from Donna Summers "Hot Stuff" to a little "r & b" like my man Marvin Gaye.... or Barry White... oh yeeeeaaaahhh....

The ambien starts to kick in (in my case) and from the depths of hell, or actually under the house , specifically from the bathtub drain comes a low droning scratch...scratch...scratch...

In my case , in the beginning I chalked it off to the ambien or psychedelics or both. The trippy life takes it toll.... everybody pays baby! But then after numerous occasions and the daughter getting involved you know that "IT" is real and alive and........ and what? OMG!

Back to the story. Scratch, scratch, silence. Louder , scratch, scratch! Silence....
Sometimes 3 times a week. Sometimes less.
Then I notice whilst doing the potty cleaning that one of the tiles along the bathroom floor next to the tub is coming loose from THE OTHER SIDE!!!!! DIE MONSTER DIE!!!!
I shit you not.

Still we don't let something with this creep factor keep us from the glories of bathing! Oh no!
Of course not! Its down there and we're up here right?

Last night my daughter finished her "cleansing of the goddess" daily cycle in a hurry. She came to me and said....... "this is getting to be too much , too creepy."
The thing under the house has apparently grown to proportions large enough to devour a mailbox, a rat, a bad painting, or worse.... one of us.......

As she stood drenched in towel only mind you, the sound of the scratching was so intense that we could hear it 2 rooms away. SCRATCH! SCRATCH! LET ME IN! LET ME IN! and it gets better............. it breathes........... or maybe I should say, it gasps. Yes my friends that's what I just said..... read my lips! It breathes, loudly! BECAUSE ITS DETERMINED BY GOD THAT IT WILL GET IN AND WHEN IT DOES........................ psycho shower sounds come in here.

No kiddin' , we're livin' it.
Now bring in the sunshine! ...........
Well other than that I'm uber excited about teaching painting! Squee and I are so blessed! I thank God everyday for blessings. Listen people.... God is good! I get so mad at him. He hurts me all the time...... but all in all he keeps his connection with those who follow him. When you are praying for or visualizing for abundance in your life, first take time to pray/visualize for peace and love in the lives of the meek and abandoned animals and humans. Take that energy and channel it in that direction first! Send your power there and everything else should work out okay. And if it doesn't, then such is the tapestry of life.
Good day for now Wayne

The Day Is Done

2010-07-25T20:38:00.009-05:00

Hello all and hello full moon! We can draw upon the light of the moon for stillness and energy. You know the full moon has long been a contributing factor of all sorts of "crazy" states. More medicine prescribed, more babies born, more crime. It is so sad how we have gotten away from the power of nature and the forces of the stars. It wasn't so long ago that I would spend a good deal of my time at Radnor Lake. Pretty much every other day I'd hike there for about 4 miles and just breathe it in. My daughter and I had a "wishing spot" there at the lake and we always, ALWAYS , stopped to wish there. We would thank God for all he had given us and then we would ask how we might serve those around us. Its seems for the most part that I have become one to look after animals. While I am typing this Lupe' is beside herself next to me yipping as loudly as she can . She wants me to stop typing, NOW!

But you know ..... all you cosmic mama's out there!.... its time to lay on the prayer! And of course we should always be in a state of prayer for the balance of mankind and for the easy heavenly transition of all of the innocence that mankind is ruthlessly destroying . What a planet of mindless swine we have become.......for the most part. What has happened? Why doesn't God come? Did he already come a long time ago and we are what is left? Everyday my heart hurts for God to come and end the pain for the meek and the innocent. I don't watch tv anymore, I try not to read the paper. I have found that as I grow older I cannot bear to see it.

oh well...........

So the above box is a little project I've started and I think its going to be real nice! I got the print from an etsy artist and its so beautiful! I cannot think of her name right now (of course) but if needed I can find the rest of the papers I bought from her and anyone know. But I started with a clean gesso'd box and then MOD PODGE'D the image down and then once dry I applied by scraping a layer of Payne's gray. I think in this box I'll start with darkness and pull out light. She'll be pretty!
I did make a few more changes to the picture. I put cut out letters coming from the "devils" mouth to the right, and I added more dark contrast. I have to turn this in tomorrow! It shouldve been today.
And now for some wonderful news! This wonderful little abode is Fairy Tales ! Its here in East Nashville with me and all the other hippies and gangsta's and go betweens. Its right next to the "Pied Piper"! Now hows that for a magical combo!

For some time now ( and I do mean some long time now!) I have prayed and prayed and asked God to lead me into a situation where I can settle and teach and prosper. I have my "ideal" in my minds eye and I realize that God might have another........... like timing for instance. But now is the time for me to teach! And I have been looking for a place with soul and innocence, and the proper tools to take root. And I believe I found it! And I seriously THANK GOD FOR THIS PLACE!!! What a wonderful opportunity this is! I will post more on this later.
Fairy Tales has lions and tigers for protection! And all sort of wild and woolly beasts!
Thats Tammy the owner! She is truly a gentle soul. Like an earth mother. Being around her made me feel very protective of her. She is just good people!
Well its late and I still have so much to do. Times are about to get pretty busy for me! But that is good. And I just want to take this opportunity to tell all my people who read this blog, and KNOW me as a result of doing so.......... that I love you. That is not easy for me to say, so I say "I heart you". When you have a scattered family you find yourself looking for more clan members..... and in my crazy case I took on JACK RUSSELL TERRIERS!!! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! But anyway...... at the end of the day I think.. like that song from An American Tale "Somewhere Out There" ........... that somewhere out there is my Yoborobo, and Jeannine, and Wayne, and Lori, and Deb, and my dear Sharon! please Sharon do write!, and Diane, and all who follow this silly blog because it gives you something that you need.
And I thank you...
Goodnight Wayne.

Finished!

2010-07-24T19:31:00.008-05:00

Well, it's done. Thank the good Lord! I hate to spend a long time on anything! I get tired of things too fast! Now all that's left is epoxy! When I first tried out the encaustic wax on the Star Flower painting I thought I was in love! But as with every other thing or person in my life... it was only a very brief infatuation. But I think I'll feel differently about epoxy, its got that pool hall glitz that I love! So tonight I'll be mixing the resin..... dread.
goodnight wayne!

Two Peas!

2010-07-23T16:37:00.012-05:00

Well another new arrival to the household! One more little mouth to feed! But with the looks of these little hotties I'm sure I can get work for them at the local coffee shop or at the nearest Sonic! Our new girl is Silvia. Just Silvia for now. She might only have one name , kind of a power thing like Madonna. S I L V I A ...... remember Gloria? G L O R I A, a song from the 70's I think.

They, Silvia and Mary Margaret Sister Sledge, were so happy to see each other! They must have been pals for quite some time. They hugged and kissed and then whispered amongst themselves...... I overheard Mary Margaret use a few naughty curse word adjectives when describing Lupe'. Since her arrival Mary Margaret has had to bitch slap Lupe' a couple of times just to stand her ground and get respect. Its like a mini prison system here. Kind of a hillbilly version of Faster Pussycat Kill Kill..... but anyway they were excited about me sending out my love offering to the wonderful YOBOROBO! How I love my YOBOROBO! I've been meaning to ask her where she got that name from. I got Saschi because I was paranoid of stalkers, or one in particular that really messed with my head for some time. Anyway......

They wanted to help so I let Mary Margaret write out the address and Silvia do the taping. Then they wanted to haul the package to the car! We have a ramp here from the previous owner so I thought.... "what harm could it do?" Its 100 degrees down here in hillbilly hell! A couple of little Yankee girls don't really stand a chance......... not with the humidity! I should have known better! Damn my ass! I took a Face book photo and then put them to work! I went inside to get the cats some fresh water and when I came out!........ omg!
Passed out! Beyond fittin' to faint..... done gone! Low, very low pulse! Clammy! Delirious talk of motorcycle gangs and pole dancing. I rushed them in as fast as I could and Caly gave Silvia water whilst I gave Mary Margaret the "kiss of life"! Too much drama for the mama! I was skeered, I'll not lie about that!
At this point Silvia requested vodka..... with a twist...............
Finally I headed on down to the post office. I meant to get a picture of the post office but I was side tracked by the quaintness of my home away from home........ WONDERS ON WOODLAND!!! This little house has seen many changes! Before it was Wonders it was a retreat for dogs, like a daycare, and also a rescue for pit bulls. It was called 4 paws at 5 points. I don't know what it was before that but I do know that for many a year an elderly lady lived there that taught piano . I love this little home and its inhabitants. It is in this place that I feel a sense of family. I have never felt that I belonged anywhere until I came upon Wonders...... this makes me teary...... so there.

Well Dudley/Huhbin' went to the vet yesterday and since his diet began hes gained 2 more pounds. So now we have to get stricter! I have to watch his diet closely or he'll have back problems soon! I love my Huhbin' and I want him to last forever!

I'm almost finished with the Tomato Fest painting and then I'll use epoxy for the first time! I still have encaustic wax left which I'll use on other things, but for the most part...... encaustic wax sucks. Encaustic wax is way too susceptible to damage! Little nicks and dings. I don't buy the hype. After I use what I have purchased I'll never use it again.
Well that's all for now
Goodnight Wayne!

The Painting!! and...

2010-07-18T19:31:00.007-05:00

a link!
Hit the link to take your guess , or for those of you who do not know of that fateful summer.....listen on young un's !

The Day Is Done...But This Painting Ain't

2010-07-18T18:21:00.005-05:00

Yes the day might be a done deal for me but the painting just goes on and on. But first hey...!! Who's that dude there in the picture? Why that's Robbie Benson! Remember him? He made quite a few movies and was a teenage heart throb for awhile and then he disappeared. He had that kind of creepy whispery soft voice....... I thought of him because I got to hang out with the FABULOUS Jerry Uselton today ! I don't know if Jerry was a teenage heart throb but his paintings will make you all weak in the knees. Jerry came to the house and looked at my tomato pic and gave it his approval, a "mercy" approval me thinks. Then I gave him a lift to his cozy abode just down the street.

I realize this story writing will be off kilter but handling this post right now is weirder than taking on a Ouija' board. So watch out, I could start into some "automatic" writing any minute!

So as Jerry and I were riding around I was thinking..... hmmm me and Jerry in a car together. Two weird bi-polar types........ both victims of our own minds cruising East Nashville. Now we all know that there are all types out riding the city and county roads in all kinds of vehicles right now. Lovers, sociopaths, cold blooded killers, insane clowns............. insane clowns? And then I started thinking about Thelma and Louise, both basically good women done wrong. yeah, pretty much. Both victims of society and I guess to a degree , their own minds. Blame it on the heat.

Of course we all know they end the show with that fateful plunge, cat glasses, silk scarves, hands held tight, dimples, killer car, and then wooosh! bombs away! YEEEEEHAAAA! What a way to end it all! Huh! Was that not the shit?! But it was only the shit because it was filmed! All the way through and we all watched it together. Now if Jerry and I did something like that we'd never find our names on hipster bumper stickers. There would be no "CONNIE AND JERRY LIVE!" documentaries anywhere. We'd have our five minutes on channel 5 news and some good bit of local talk and that would be about it. Then I thought about how IF I did take that leap with Jerry into the great wide open would I would to do it with a scarf on? And Jerry, no Jerry certainly wouldn't be right for a scarf. So I thought about wigs. Which takes me back to clowns. Remember those clown wigs that Bozo wore? No maybe it wasn't Bozo..... they were all colors, rainbow like! yeah those! Remember? Well I suppose I would want to be fashioning one of those along with Jerry wearing one as well. Yes. And I guess since we don't have a flash car we'd just jump. Perhaps off the Cumberland Bridge in Old Hickory. Holding hands off course, cat glasses on with our wigs. Yes I'm okay with that visual yes. roger!

Which led me to Robbie Benson. Robbie Benson and the Tallahatchie Bridge. My poor poor
brain. But seriously....... what were they throwing off that bridge? A baby? An alien? Billy Joe's women's underwear? What? What? I gotta' know! I think for the most part people will say it was a baby. Poor thang. Anyway.......... so then I thought..... hmmm....what ever happened to Robbie Benson? So I googled his image and I think I found the latest one..... still a cute little fella'. Hope he doesn't have that whisper voice still. "Hi I'm Robbie Benson..... gooo, gooo"

Enough of that, then I went to the grocery store, what can I say? I didn't see the water on the floor ..........splat! Only I did the splits, in as much as a fat girl can. The shopping cart scrapped my left shin. And I got quite a bit of a "oh pity the lady" round up. The manager took pictures, which wasn't so good because its been like a couple of weeks since my last shave and my legs looked like they were entwined in barb wire.

And now here I am at home after dinner , ambien dazed, talking to you. well. well. And where pray tell is the painting? We'll know as soon as I end this post.
so for now
Goodnight Wayne
kissy kissy!

Art and STuFF.....

2010-07-18T07:16:00.013-05:00

Good morning everyone on this last day of the weekend for most of us. The only day of the weekend for those of us who are cursed. And just another day of one long eternal weekend for those of us who are not overwhelmed by the choke hold of the daily bump and grriiind. grrr..... My newest tomato topic painting is "so that you my know". Why does everything have to be religious with me? I don't know. But everything is pretty much religious or spiritual with me. And at the end of the day or in the middle of the day or whenever my psyche decides its time for me to come clean, then all my profane rantings come to surface and I bang my spiritual head against the wailing wall once more..................... sigh. Note the tomato / "love apple" carefully balanced on the end of the rabbits (devil) manly member? He is leading the innocent little hare into the realm of a darker reality. Because who knows...... possibly in the beginning when all the apple stuff was going down in the garden it was going on everywhere. Like possibly every species was presenting that window of devilish opportunity to every other of its kind. Just a thought............ But anyway there are some oils to dry on this painting and then I'll continue further. The beginning........ remember those days?........ sigh....
And now for my part of the week that brought me great joy! I love YOBOROBO's site! There is something about this lady that I really do "heart"!. As I do Jeannine from By Way of Salem and Diane from My Art Journal. What I love about these bloggers, as others, is that we are a collective of women who share . Oh, and Megan Hoover! I could go on and on. Its like a giant cyber quilting bee (as called in the old days) now called a quilting guild. I am a quilter (or was) and I remember sitting around the quilt with the women who had taught me making tiny little bitty stitches with my little bitty fat fingers listening to their tales , happy and sad. I loved this. Did / do you know that when a quilt has a red center then times at home are good, and if its black then there are sad times. How sad it is that times change and people leave.

But back to what I was saying....... I visit these women's blogs every day. When I get home from work in the morning I feed the critters, clean up any mess, shower, change clothes, start breakfast/dinner/lunch and sit down at the computer and visit my friends! I entered Yoborobo's drawing a while back and I won!!! ding ding ding! It slipped my mind that I had entered and then all of a sudden I WON! When I found out I was drinking my coffee and it made me tearful and excited at the same time. So I shed a tear and I peed in my pants a little. You know....... like whizzzz........
anyway.................. above is my wonderful beautiful picture from my beloved Pam of Yoborobo!
But then.................... I had a special visitor come to live with me and the critters from way up north, down, down, down she came. Complete with Yankee drawl! Let me introduce you to........
Margaret! Mary Margaret Sista Sledge! OH NO! LOOK OUT MARY MARGARET SISTA' SLEDGE! Huhbin' wants to sniff and love her and Lupe' doesn't like the thought of another woman in the house! I had to butt in on that initial meeting! Looks like I'm going to have to get Mary Margaret a taser.
Mary Margaret Sista' Sledge met Lilly. Mary knew to hold still whilst Lilly gave her the once over. Lilly really loved Marys sparkles. And she could smell the "makers" hands. nice!. Mary Margaret Sista' Sledge got to check out a box (the VOODoo LovE box) I'm making for her creator PAM AT YOBOROBO!!! I'll be shipping it out this week. Margaret gave a few final suggestions and then asked me for some strawberry pop tart and some batty damns.........
Batty damns? "Yes" said Margaret in a whisper "batty damns" I looked at my daughter and mouthed the request...... "batty damns, Margaret? you want batty damns? I'm sorry but we don't have "batty damns" down here in hicksville sugar!" Margaret was real upset by then and with a loud shrill voice she squealed......... TEDDY GRAHAMS! TEDDY GRAHAMS ! oh..... well excuse me. And she loves baby sweet peas. She is a handful.
But I love her! She is already trying to infiltrate my brain with subliminal messages like "you will buy more batty damns!" and " you will spank that little prissy dog!" things like that.
Perhaps I will take her to the Wonders today. She needs to circulate!
for now
happy times!

I painted a box

2010-07-13T16:28:00.000-05:00

Not quite as spirited as Saschi's, but there you go. It needs another coat of gloss (I used DecoArt Triple Thick) but other than that I think I'm done with it.

ToMaTO Painting In Progress

2010-07-12T09:53:00.002-05:00

Morning all! And goodnight as this is my bedtime. We had a great storm here last night. Thunder! Lightning! Just no howling winds and creaky boards, which would have made it just the best evening! I could live with rain every single day of my life. That's why I need to trade places with the lovely blogger Jeannine from By Way of Salem..... or Jesse Reno.

Speaking of Jesse Reno, I think this mans artwork is so radically "there". Where is "there"? I'm not sure....... and I'm not sure if I would want to be "there" or not, but damn that guy can paint! I have observed his work, I've tried to breathe it in, I've watched what video interviews he has and I've observed his gestures. Yes I'm a psy. major. So is Squee, only shes a little more serious about it than I am.

Jess Renos work is ....... what I would describe as .... oh, schizophrenic in nature. Very spazz-matic. I would be willing to say that his attention to detail leads him to recurring stomach problems. And he seems like his first love would've been comic books of all kinds. He also seems to be a cat person. But anyway.... that's how much I love this dudes work.
I check him out!

In this particular painting I drew on inspiration from Mr. Reno. Its nowhere near complete, but its a start. If I had the opportunity to take a class from him I'd pee on myself. Which isn't that hard to do or that out of the ordinary once your post menopausal , such as myself. All it takes is the turning of the kitchen faucet in the morning for the "making of the coffee" and I'm like a woman in labor that just broke her water. So very sexy, yes indeed.

But seriously, this guy is just cool. I've never had a problem with "copying" another artists work during the education phase because I know that in the end my fingerprint will translate over. And if this could happen with what little I have managed to get from Mr. Renos paintings then I will be most satisfied!

If you get the chance click there to the side on his name. Very cool beatnik soul! One of the group of Portland artists that just make me drool. Seriously good art!
well its zzzzz time for me for a couple of hours.
and Wayne..........get in that kitchen and make Deb a pie!

The Day Is Done...... Says Miss Lilly!

2010-07-11T16:00:00.006-05:00

Oh sleepy time Lilly! Deep within this heart of mine you are my fairy cat! How I love Miss Lilly!
She's been sleeping most of the day and when shes not sleeping she drifts from room to room keeping the house clear of things that go bump.
Working on the inside of the VOOdoo LOvE SpELL box! hmmmm...... lets see.... I declare this spell upon thee box!..... "We'll dance this jig, until the jig is done..... and you are mine....and we are one" I'll get those words in there , but first the shiva oil sticks have to dry.Jeez look at the bottom! Holy psycho shit! The shiva sticks must dry here too! Hurry! Hurry! You have somewhere to be! Then I'll touch up with some paint and rocket blast this baby right on outta' here!
You would never guess that such a cool daddy-o face harbors such a mojo now would you?

I've got to go back to my other painting now. I'll keep you posted. Until then...
Goodnight Wayne

Good Morning Friends!

2010-07-11T07:29:00.006-05:00

Good morning all! Hope everyone is well! Well my Voodoo Love Spell Box is complete. Now I just have to decide on a quick inside job and then consolidate the main elements it took to create it and viola! I have my first class project box! So I'll be creating another one very shortly.

Note the mirrors! Actually I want to start using mirrors in most everything I do. So I'm thinking of embedding them in a quick dry clay like paper clay so as not to look so "crafty". I have always loved the look of mirror bits! Shiny, sparkly things like Emerald City have always given me a rush!
Now taking some time for a "pimpfommercial" ; this is a product I've been using for my paintings. Its buy Sun and Moon and they sell it as a glaze for jewelry things like glass tiles and scrabble bits. Really good people. Good vibe. It only takes about 2 coats to get that bling bling zing ! Very nice. I'll be using this also for some tile type jewelry soon as I plan to teach that in moderation. The next phase of my TOmaTo project. Thousands of layers of stuff. Pattern paper, cheese cloth, gift wrap paper and so forth. I'll probably be giving this some heat gun time in just a minute. I also want to take a moment to say with all the layering in mind I plan to use Meagan Hoovers trick of the trade asap using drywall tape. Check out Wanna Paint! Her layering technique is super cool and her color palate is so easy on the eyes. In the same genre would be Itsy Bitsy Spill............... only with a little more other worldly feel.

While I'm pimping.... oh yeah, there's a great etsy shop I found last night called Primitive White House
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrimitiveWhiteHouse
for all of you that love vintage findings this is the coolest place. I must say that as I looked through all the items I found myself thinking "NO NO! DONT SALE THAT!" Do take time to check it out! When I discovered it I thought of artists like Paul Murray and Paula Nerhaus. Jeez I hope I'm spelling these correctly, if not..........sorry.

Looking at Paula's work makes me kinda yearn for my metalsmithing days. So I ordered so doll face molds from a site I cant recall and when I get them I'll do some steam punk type wall hangings. Most likely I'll see them at the Art & Invention Gallery here in Nashville.

I think thats it for now................... hmmmm........ but I feel like I've left something out........
oh well.

IT PUts ThE LOTion on ThE sKIN.... arf arf

2010-07-10T19:06:00.007-05:00

Yes that's right..... my Precious. In this case the lotion for me is gesso! Squee and I will be teaching art box voodoo love boxes and flower power boxes here in Nastyville Tn. I'm going at different angles as to the right mixture of medium for the most effect in 3 to 4 hours time. It'll be a wham bam kinda thing. The goal being.........all day art fests! So here's the halfway phase of Voodoo Love Box #1.Side angle, keeping it weird my brotha', keepin' it weird!
I couldn't have possibly made the lotion comment without THE REAL PRECIOUS! ARRFF ARRFF! Lupe'/ Precious Blessing Hallelujah ! My baby girl! Precious makes me squishy and that's rare!
And last but not least "the lotion". I'm hoping I can pull of a painting for the Tomato Festival in one day.......... jeez that would be nice. After doing that abstract thingy last week and then from checking out my every lovin' fave JESSE RENO today I'm stoked about color! Color is good! A limited palate is good but I want it all baby! I want to pull back the curtain and reveal the man that controls the OZ machine! Masses of color that translate as statements really speak to me. My daughter didn't care for my last painting of the flowers, but I just felt so complete with it. I've not felt this so much with my other paintings. So here we go with another painting for the GReAt ToMATo FeST!

Lets see.... other things on my ever uncontrollable mind...... I hate kitty litter. I'm glad they're not doing pee pee on the floor, as I've been there done that, but kitty litter plus turd eating dogs is just too much! Whilst cleaning (constantly) the litter boxes and sweeping the floors I thought about the videos where you can train your cats to take whizzes and poo in the toliet. Whilst this would be such a novel occurance......... for me its too much like something out of a H.P. Lovecraft novel. It smacks of a healthy dose of the famous LSD Purple Haze, make it a 4 way! It would just not be the kind of thing I would want to stumble into or unto late at night whilst making my way to the potty in an Ambien shuffle. I've never screamed as I don't think I can reach that high an octave but seeing something like a cat pissing or pooing in the toilet in the middle of the night..... I just cant wrap my warped brain around that one.

Oh yeah my "tail" paintings ........the ones done with Dudleys/ Huhbin's tail. I'll get there.

Oh and NO AMBIEN this weekend! "f"! My doctors office called me yesterday and said, "Ms. Thang, just wanted to call and let you know we've called in your fix! You'll sleep good tonight!"
Zip A dee Do Da! My oh my what a wonderful day!

And I get there and NO DRUGS! No sleep for me. All wakey no sleepy. I have survived on 3 hours of sleep a night now for 20 years. 3 hours at night and 2 during the day. Hell on earth. When they told that "quite possibly Ms. Thang they called it in to the wrong place", I wanted to break down right there on the spot or....... tear the whole counter up. Proud to say I did neither! But I cant tell you........the longer I go without sleep the faster my brain will move. Faster, faster! Until its like an electrical circuit alive with too much juice, that lunatic fringe kinda pre apocalyptic mad hatter happening. Understand?
Well that's all for the night..... I hope.
Until tomorrow
Goodnight my friend.