Walking Again

I did my first nice long walk of the season, since the weather is nice and the days are longer.

I think it's kind of messed up that walking almost 7 miles didn't burn more calories.

Back in another lifetime before I had a kid, I went to the gym and I liked it.

Now, I'm not so sure the gym would be for me.  I like being outside.

I like the bridges and the water.

I love living somewhere where I can basically walk anywhere.

My walk is not really pretty for the most part, and there are some dodgy areas, but it is long and straightforward,  I can have my music up and go on autopilot, with the exception of watching out for traffic.

I can pretty much walk indefinitely.

It's also time to scope out some new painting spots.

Under the subway tracks

Mad: Negative Space

Here is my offering for our theme of Negative Space.

8x10 Oil on panel

Macro Paint

Unbelievably, I finished my weekly Mad painting early!

Quinacridone magenta plus black plus white makes a lovely purple.

Palette photos. Oil. Click to enlarge, if you want.





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In other news, I really think life is a big cosmic joke and I feel extremely fucked with, and I don't appreciate it.

Not one bit.

Lazy

I am so, so lazy.
You know that mind-cloud where you could sit and stare at a blank wall and be happy?
That's the kind of lazy I have been all day.

Somehow through my lazy haze I got four (4) loads of laundry done, one (1) dishwasher load done, and nothing is put away.
I do not care.

Even more amazingly I went to see Jackie, who was feeling just as lazy as I was.  Jackie was in the hospital for one night and thankfully got out.  We were too lazy to cook anything, let alone clean up, so we went to the neighborhood vegetarian Chinese place.

We were extremely lazy over soup and ice cream.

Now I am home and Daya is in bed and I am too lazy to write about anything other than being lazy.

No picture because I am too lazy to do it.

Brush Farm Cats

Kitties getting sun in the brush farm. 

Told Off

When I went to Trader Joe's* a week or so ago, I got this stuff, which is basically heaven in a jar:

Over the weekend when I was out and Daya was home, I received this text:

Well she sure told me!

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Daya update:
Her back is better but she has a terrible stuffy-cold and I made her stay home from school. She was extremely upset that she had to miss dance, but she feels so terrible she even has to admit all she wants to do is sleep.

* If you do not have a Trader Joe's in your area you should definitely move.

Flippy

Daya has, after much obsessive hard work, gotten her aerial flip.

She is very proud of her accomplishment, and has celebrated by flipping around the apartment, over-doing it, and hurting her back. It's not serious but she is in pain.

Direct orders from her teacher include heat and no aerials outside of the studio, where the floors are.... elevated? cushioned underneath? I'm not sure. They have something underneath the wood to absorb shock.

We have wood floors but I guess they don't absorb shock too well.

Daya's friend took this video in class.

A Fascinating Heart Chakra

This past Saturday when I went to the cat rescue fundraiser, I met someone really cool.  He was there with his wife. They both love animals.  Wonderful energy, both of them. Anyhow, I was talking to this man (who is also a Scorpio!) and he just completely opened up his energy. I saw his heart chakra- very unique. He is an old soul, I'm sure he knows this already...... we oldies tend to recognize each other pretty quickly. Especially because we are so few and far between.

I told him what I saw, and it was such a great image I had to make a little painting of it. I have never done this before, making a painting of someone else's energy.

This is what it looks like;
8x10 oil on panel 2ish hours

As you can see it is very dark multi-colored, rimmed in a gold halo.
This is quite exceptional.  

"Dark?" you might be thinking- yes, very dark and I think that is better because in this case it shows depth. The depth of very deep water. This is not a shallow person. That gold is just wonderful. Very divine and pure. The chakra was also quite large and perfectly spherical.

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ASSORTED SIDE NOTES

1. Gamblin, M Graham, Vasari, Williamsburg, Old Holland.  Galkyd Gel. Rosemary Ivories.

2. This painting was finished even before I prepped the easel. It was very pushy and dictating.
Actually, as I was working on it, I had the distinct sense that instead of me working on it until I was happy with it, I was working on it until it was happy with me! 
WTF, painting! Talk about an attitude.

3. I knew this would be obnoxiously difficult to photograph and I was right.

4. Some dim part of me realizes this is probably really weird but a) I don't care b) there is no way that painting would have left me alone until it was an actual painting, and c) I don't care. Did I mention I don't care?

There is an element of insane bravery required if we are to carry out the things we are supposed to do.
So it is a good thing that I don't care about any sort of "strange" factor.

Mad: Lines

Carey asked me what our theme was and I had no clue.
So I looked around.
At the time, I was in the post office and there was a line.

"Lines!" I said.

Here is the little painting I started on Sunday...
5x7 acrylic on canvas panel...

I have no idea what it has to do with lines.
Let's make something up, right now.

BROKEN LINES!
I used broken lines to make the tree trunks.

Journeys

I actually started a painting today.  (Well, when this posts, yesterday)
A little one, acrylic, and I wanted to finish it but it needs more time.  Sometimes paintings need a little more time, even the little ones.

All paintings are little journeys.  They have a starting point- an inspiration, a reason to make the painting in the first place.  Starting points are as varied as paintings themselves. Some are easy and straightforward, others- well, notsomuch.

They all have a beginning, a middle, and sometimes an end.
Some are long journeys and some are very short.
Some of them are crappy from the get-go and then they surprise you with the end result.
Others start out quite well and then fall on their faces.
Some paintings are hateful and some are loving.
Some talk more than others. (Yes, paintings absolutely do talk. Some are loud and obnoxious.  Once, I was working on a portrait and it was sitting half-finished on the easel...it actually gave me a nightmare.)
Some need more guidance from the painter, and some tell the painter what to do. Usually it is both.
All paintings love art supplies, new and old.
Sometimes paintings are friends with each other and must be hung together.
Paintings have a language in which they communicate to the artist- the process of painting is very much about both listening and speaking.  A lot of people learn how to speak but not many learn how to listen.

Sometimes, a painting will tell you what it has to say without even needing to be finished.

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I haven't really had the stamina to go on a long journey-painting for a long time.
That's why I have been working so small lately.

Kitty Raffle!

Last week Jackie told me about a fundraiser event for a local cat rescue in her neighborhood. Branwen wanted to join, so we all went.  It was a very nice time, except for the live music which was dreadful.

There was a raffle and I won this ridiculous basket of plant-garden stuff.

I let Daya unwrap it.
Pebbles photobomed my picture.

My Psychedelic Glowing Shower

It matches the toilet, except it is blinky and very multicolored.
And it even looks like a UFO.
The water pressure is fantastic.

Daya, of course, loves it.

I really, really want to paint my bathroom black this summer.

Redo: Dentist

We actually made it to Daya's 15 minute sealant dentist appointment today.
Everything went so much better.

I walked to school instead of dealing with the bus.
Daya ate a rice ball while waiting for a bus she actually got on this time.

Jacket: same one, but it was a lot warmer.
And no rain.

While I was waiting for Daya, I dug through the lost and found because I was bored, and just to see if anything looked familiar.

And, wow, I found a glove that I had no idea was missing, that she had been looking for.

Genetic Leopard Print

Well, it's official.
My lifelong love of leopard print is genetic.

Carol is Italian and she wrote a post about some differences between Northern and Southern Italians.

"Stefano Dolce and Domenico Gabbana are from Italy’s southernmost region, Sicily, and their creations strongly exude Sicilian passion and tradition. Their most iconic piece is the bustier dress, and Sicilian black lace is their most used fabric. While Armani invented greige, Dolce & Gabbana made leopard print their signature."

Well how about that.
My Italian ancestors were from Southern Italy.

So me and leopard print? An obvious, natural match. 

Genetic.

How wonderful.

Tortie cats also love leopard print.

My Psychedelic Glowing Toilet

Drusilla (who else) showed me THIS THING and I immediately acquired one.

Now my toilet glows purple (or whatever color Daya changes it to) on motion cue in the dark.
It is the coolest thing EVER.

Mad Erased

Carey said our theme was Erased.

I thought about it and one day this image popped into my head.
Make up your own story about it.

I must have forgotten that I don't like using Inktense against a black background. They don't show up very well. So I switched to pastels.

5x7 black colorfix-primed Stonehenge
Inktense pencils and blocks and pastel (unisons)

A Really Cool Tree

The other night when I was collecting Daya from dance, I saw this tree lit up against the night sky.

Doesn't it look *cool*?
I like how the branches are all bare and pointing up.

Matcha Puddding

In keeping with my adoration of all things with matcha, I have made matcha pudding.

It is so stupid-easy I do not know why I didn't think of this years ago.
I have made matcha waffles, pancakes, tea (obviously), smoothies......I don't know what took me so long with matcha pudding.

Anyhow, mix however much matcha you want (I used probably more than most people would) with vanilla pudding mix. (I used instant)
Then prepare as normal.

Beautiful Matcha Pudding

This week I need to make a matcha angel food cake.

Friday Facial

Daya and I did a Friday Facial last night.
Masks are really fun.

1. Boscia Charcoal Deep-Pore Cleansing Stick Treatment

This stuff is very cool. Although I do use Rodan + Fields for my skincare regimen, sometimes I add to it. Anyhow, this cleanser comes in a stick, it's black!, and it deep cleans.  A little goes a long way and I really, really like it. I got it several months ago and have been very pleased. Boscia products in general are excellent and I would always recommend them.

2. Origins Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay

I just got this and I really like it.

3. Origins Drink Up™ Intensive Overnight Mask

This stuff smells AMAZING and it is very moisturizing. LOVE.

I followed up separately with my R+F eye cream and my Fresh Seaberry Oil, neither of which Daya is allowed to use, ever.  (I started using the seaberry oil in December and it is absolutely amazing.  LOVE.)

Little Bird

Here is the video I took of Daya's dance number last Sunday. :)

Ummmmm....

wednesday, 10:03pm

i need a blog post and i do not have a blog post.

today has been a long day and i am really tired.
but i have no blog post so i cannot go to sleep yet.....

this is what i do when i don't have a blog post:
1) show art supplies (i have nothing new to show)
2) show cats (no new cat pictures)
3) think about anything interesting that might have happened today (nothing)
4) look through my recent pictures and see if there is anything interesting

oh, look- i found some central park pictures taken the day daya and i went to see the titanosaurus.

and furball because she is SO CUTE!

now it is 10:13 and i am going to sleep.

On Stage

Last Thursday, Daya was in the Math Bee final rounds!  She has been trying to get to this point since third grade. I am glad I was able to attend.  Daya didn't win (the 4th grader who won last year retained his title) but just being up there on stage competing with the other finalists was a huge accomplishment.

They had 15 seconds to do double-digit by double-digit multiplication.

We practiced a lot at home, with 12 seconds on the timer.  She usually got her problems in under 9 seconds.

Daya also came in second place in the whole school for having the most points on the Mathletics website.

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Three days later, this past Sunday, Daya was on stage again (different stage) for a dance team fundraiser show to support Autism Speaks.

She was great.  The whole team was great.

Mad Rain

It was my turn to pick a theme. It was raining when Carey asked me for the new theme, so the theme is rain.

My particular rain is acid rain.

This is a quick sketch-painting done while I was blasting my neighbors with Rammstein!
It was the perfect background music for my acid rain.

Acid Rain
5x7
Unisons on Stonehenge