Watership Down

I’ve owned three paperback copies of Watership Down in my life, and each and every one deteriorated during the reading… I think it must have been a bad publishing run or something. So my most recent copy I’m using as canvases…

My husband protests, but the book was literally broken in half, pages lost… completely unreadable!! (And I will obtain another copy at some point, as I like to read it every five years or so.)

It’s quiet here… lots of cozy fires and reading and sleeping going on. What about you?

There is “just walking”

From “The Noble Truths of Suffering”, a short story by Aleksander Hemon.

Dick Macalister, a Pulitzer prize winning writer, it talking to a younger writer in a bar (the young writer is the voice):

When he was young, like me, he said, he had thought that all the great writers knew something he didn’t. He’d thought that if he read their books he would learn something, get better. He’d thought that he would acquire what those writers had: the wisdom, the truth, the wholeness, the real shit. He had been burning to write, hungry for that knowledge. But now he knew that that hunger was vainglorious; now he knew that writers knew nothing, really—most of them were just faking it. He knew nothing. There was nothing to know, nothing on the other side. There was no walker, no path, just walking. This was it, whoever you were, wherever you were, whatever it was, and you had to make peace with that fact.

I love that (“There was no walker, no path, just walking.”) and find it is true for me and my own art journey (sort of, anyway — I have obviously been inspired and have learnt a lot from other artists, old and new).

What do YOU think?

Doors

This afternoon I clicked into a content and wonderful place emotionally that has eluded me for awhile. Before Weems I was frantic getting ready for the show and also finishing two large commissions for a Crisis Care Center in Oklahoma City (I’ll show those to you soon). Once I got home, I had several things on my plate that were stressing me out…

But they are gone now, and now I get to paint! I have three commissions lined up to complete by Christmas (one small, two large). The above platypus sketch is for the small piece.

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs. I found out that I didn’t get into The Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts show in 2009. This is a competitive show and I understand how the whole jurying thing works; still, it doesn’t feel great to get rejected. Plus, it was a terrific show for me financially and for the past three years my winters have been spent creating a body of work for this one show… now what am I going to do?!!

But yesterday I also had an hour-long conversation with a licensing agent, and I’m feeling so good today about how we are communicating and his understanding of my Girls and what I’m hoping to do with them.

A door shuts, a door opens.

A Day of Sharing Words

Here’s the poem I’d like to share today. (Ruth is an old friend from my Chicago days!) See more poems today at LK’s blog!

From Yellow Doors, Poems by Ruth Goring, published by WordFarm

___________________________________________

NOT VERY PAVLOVIAN

Love whistles

but like a dog I

sniff at stumps, chase

grasshoppers & moths

zigzag on other’s trails

turn over stones & bark

+

Cool trill comes again,

calls “Come!”

piercing

dusty wits like

shafts of light; at last

memory-fog clears—

only love whistles

like that

+

& wagging my silly tail I

run

Natalie’s Treat & Giveaway

Every morning Natalie waits patiently for me to finish what I’m doing and give her what she wants.

If I wait too long, she gives me “the look.”

“Ahhh!!! Fresh water!”

**************************************

And, I would like to give away these flower-beaded coasters I got in India:

The first person to comment, wins! (PS… these would make great Christmas ornaments… just add a hanger!)

Oh boy!

I got this from D’Blogola…You’re supposed to bold the things you’ve done…

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (Note: I feel I must explain! I was “mentally” ill that day!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Dogs and Coloring Book Update

Here’s another page from my “sketchbook/to-do list” book. I’m having fun just drawing and writing. Wet is out.

The printer’s proof of my coloring book came a few weeks ago… today’s the day to make final corrections, such as flipping the two pages below:

And adding words and other coloring elements on other pages:

Cheap plug: Today’s the last day to nab one of these on the Preorder Special… which includes TWO transfers and free US shipping… go here for details!

Have a great weekend everyone!

November Silence

Each November I fall silent blog-wise. I don’t know why.

So I’ll just post some images from my BRAND-NEW sketchbook!! It’s 11″x13 — it’s HUGE! (I’m hoping the large size breaks me out of my “book phobia.”)

And I continue to try and teach myself acrylics. These are a few of the best samples from the past week.

Animals, always.

I’m supposed to be posting images for Creative Every Day… a challenge I signed up for… now I know that November’s not a good month for that. But I’ll try and do better the rest of the month!

Hey! Steve has work!!!!!! (See second paragraph of a recent post.) Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts… I know you sent them!!

I’m a Bad Blogger

I’m in Albuquerque, NM at Weems Artfest this weekend. I’m having a great show! If you’re in the area, please stop by and say hello (Booth #129).

Normal blogging to resume next week. I hope you are all well…

I Voted Today…

… and tomorrow we’re driving to Pueblo, Colorado for this. Wow. We’re packing pb&j’s, apples, water and chocolate chips… More soon!