A Very Merry Cart Before The Horse Christmas

I'm told I'm a creative gal.

Lately, though, my creativity's ego has been taking a few hits.

It's become increasingly difficult for me to think of things to give people for Christmas that don't involve canvas.

Thankfully, the artsy creative geniuses over at Cart Before The Horse have so much creativity that it flooded over and helped make Christmas happen around here.

For my parents I made puppy ornaments by altering their Cat Cone pattern.

Introducing DOG CONE!

There's Killer; the chihuahua

and George, the sweet old basset hound

another knock to my creativity's ego is the fact that a pattern is emerging... a pattern of puppy themed

presents. Last year they got original paintings: What next? dog sculptures?

******* Post Edit: These sewn/stuffed/ painted scultpural ornament things are NOT very easy to make. Big props to CBTH for being able to crank out so many of these every week. These two took me for-friggin-ever to finish!

Be a deer

I hope you are all having a loverly holiday season!

This year I made a little pact with myself. I sat myself down and said, "self, you are not allowed to go to the mall this year. You don't want to go to the mall for many reasons, but dear forgetful self, let me remind you of a couple of them.

1) You hate crowds

2) You hate impersonal mass produced cheapery

So far, so good! I'm almost completely done acquiring Christmas gifts for my loved ones and I've yet to step foot in a single noisy crowded shopping center.

I did, however take a trip out to the One Of a Kind Show. Twas simply amazing. All that beautiful handmade stuff; Reminds me of why I love Etsy so much.

So... be a deer and buy handmade!

Another Magical NYC November

5 Unforgettable NYC November Moments: 1) Wrapping things up at Climate Gallery.

Me and a slew (sp?) of my paintings in their salon style show "Paint!"

2) Watching the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the incomparable Rockettes.

3) Enjoying more singing and dancing at Ellen's Stardust Diner with the even more incomparable Mr Ackerman.

4) Joining the thousands of folks swarming our fair city for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 5) Drinking what might possibly be the world's best hot apple cider while enjoying a traditional thanksgiving meal of wonton soup

How about you? How are your holidays going?

May the farce be with you

LONG AGO

(about a week)

IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY

(Manhattan)

There was a young Jedi

who fell in love with an empress. Fearing the Jedi Council would not approve the starcrossed duo left Naboo to live underground on Mars

(Mars 2112 off Times Square to be exact)

Life was good on Mars- everyone danced in the underground tunnels to the space music.

But then he embraced the dark side ... and killed her.

Oh well.

****Post Edit**** Aren't these just the best costumes ever? Yes. Yes they are. And do you know what makes them even more impressive? The fact that I made them meself. How do I always manage to forget that I can sew really well. Like, disturbingly well considering the fact that I never have any idea what I'm doing.

What's blue and white and going to the World Series?

How about that game last night? Woohoo! It's great to have a home team going to the World Series. I don't have any Yankees shirts, so I just wore the only blue tee I have- an old Johnson High shirt that says "we ROCK the south". I works though, cause it could just mean south Bronx.

sanctuaries of all sorts

I love going to church.

I love singing the old old hymns

and imagining my grandparents, great grand parents, great great grandparents singing along

(Cause those songs were theirs before they ever reached my ears)

I love praying in a room full of believers.

I love getting something new from a sermon and putting the notes above my desk for further contemplation.

"Where two or more are gathered in my name there am I with them." Matthew 18:20 Unfortunately, not every Sunday morning finds me in church.

Luckily, there are sanctuaries of all sorts to be found in God's creation.

Plenty To Paint

I think the best part about giving yourself a little change in scenery is the window of new perspective it can open in your mind.

A little time out of town can open that window enough to let in the fresh breeze of inspiration.

Even though I'm a Summer lover, I have to admit to that this autumn has been particularly pretty.

I know the golden leaves are really just the Summer's swan song heralding the short cold days to come, but right now, just for today,

I embrace it

accept it

celebrate it

and

paint it! (This painting now for sale in my super mega cheap collection of stuff-you-can-get-for 19.99 here.)

I guess the moral of the story is this; Change, whether in locale or season always gifts you with fresh ideas, and (at least for me) plenty to paint.

Happy in the Hamptons

Who doesn't love the Hamptons?

A sunny day is reason enough for us to jump in the car and make the drive out to Montauk Point!

While Peter took pictures of the scenery I took pictures of him!

Everything is there- beaches, nature, history, art, and food the likes of which is worth the drive in and of itself!

Seriously, if you are ever in the Hamptons you HAVE to go to The Golden Pear for lunch. We had their Morrocan Lamb Stew and the Hunter's Meatloaf- both incredibly delish! (I'm kicking myself for not getting their cookbook... guess I'll just put it on the Christmas wish list.)

Honestly though, the posh shops and art galleries aren't the best part- the shore is! Even though it was too cold to swim, it was still so much fun to explore the rocks at Montauk Point watching the seagulls catch crabs and just take in a little ocean air. I just love being near the ocean.

This is me...

...and this is me if I had a moustache!

In New York. (For a yr now) (Edited)

From "Empire State of Mind"

Now you're in New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made.

These streets make you feel brand new.

Bright lights will inspire you!

I've loved this song since the first time I heard it.

I just wished someone would take out all the profanities... and make it acoustic... and replace Jay-z with a skinny white guy.

Look! The magical youtube fairies granted my wish!

(btw, adorable skinny guy, kudos for not making your bed before you made a video. *hearts*!)I heart my camera so much. I swear it has a setting for everything.

(Post-edit: OK, so it turns out the adorable profanity removing singer is Josh of Look at the Fields, a supertalented Florida based indie group. Clickie here for some good listening... especially "In God's Hands")

Bake and serve!

Hey honey, what do you feel like for dinner?

Chinese food?

Done, and done.

We are more connected than we look.

“Life just seems so full of connections. Most of the time we don't even pay attention to the depth of life. We only see flat surfaces.”

This painting explores the relationship between two individuals who are connected in ways that the outside observer wouldn't realize.

Heavy (er)

My newest series of paintings is my attempt to be a little deeper.

I don't know why, but somehow I got all hung up on painting birds.

I didn't plan on it, but time and time again I sat down to paint and each time a feathery little critter would wind up peering out at me.

So... instead of flowers or scenes or birds I'm trying to explore the concept of being connected.

It's been a recurring theme in my writing for years, most notably this poem;

(Long time readers will recognize this as the poem I wrote after the death of a friend in 2007.)

I fell asleep in the bath

and dreamt the whole world was an ocean

and everyone was connected

moving together in fluid motion.

Everyone who'd ever lived and everyone who

ever would mingled together unaware

that their past and future

were presently there.

Suddenly I found myself

tangled up in reef

and as I lost my last breath

friends waved goodbye with grief.

I closed my eyes as my heart stopped

then opened them to find

that I was quite healthy,

but completely blind

to everything that in my dream

I'd learned I could see;

Nothing but cold bath water as company.

So I observed my hands

my wrinkled fingers and toes/ and contemplated life and time

and how mysteriously she flows.

lolz (IMMD edit)

I was working at a special needs day camp and a kid was picking his nose. I told him to stop picking his nose and he said,

“I’m not picking my nose, I’m cleaning my finger.”

IMMD.

La Sha LaSha Lasha lasha la sha Ackerman

I remember when we first got the Internet at my house.

After waiting twenty minutes for the loud modem to crank up the AOL Internet Explorer homepage, my Brad gave me and my sister a lesson in computer safety.

Never go into a chat room.

Never download anything.

Don't click anything unless you absolutely must.

Never tell anyone where you live. Not even the state.

Never upload anything, ESPECIALLY pictures.

and never never NEVER use your real name.

(This is the short list, folks. Don't get me started on outdoor safety, travel safety, or fireproof SAFE safety. I shutter to think of all the danger that fireproof safe could have rained down without the solid set of rules involved.)

I don't think my 1992 self would believe that not only do I use my real name (and maybe a couple of variations) but I've got hundreds of pics stored online, and even some video... including this one I didn't even realize existed.It's pretty weird to google yourself and see a video of yourself you've never seen before. This is from the night that I taught my fabric flower technique at Etsy Labs.

The full tutorial is at this post.

Yep, I'm pretty fast and free with the info these days, even my crafting secrets. I could hoard my experiment-burn-melt-ruin-practice-perfect learned techniques (that's what we call learning the hard way) but I don't think there's anything to be gained to keeping it to myself.

Feel free to try it out. Make 'em, keep 'em, give 'em away, heck... sell 'em.

Maybe you could tell folks where you learned how to do that or just subscribe here or something.

Maybe you could even give me a little link on your blog.

Da roof! Da roof! Da roof AINT on fire!

Last night my building was engulfed in a plume of smoke.

Flames soared into the pitch black sky.

Flames from next door.

The Opal was fine.

Completely untouched.

Of course, the people living upstairs who's open windows and a/c suddenly started sucking in copious amounts of gritty black smoke didn't know that.

I'd checked things out next door, and had determined that the 3 dozen or so firemen on the scene had things under control, so I decided to go home and loiter in the lobby.

Within minutes the lobby was filled with frantic women towing toddlers... sleepy little boys rubbing their eyes wearing crooked yamicas... little girls in pink night gowns clutching overloved stuffed bears... alert young men gripping their laptops...

Fearing the worst, people had come out carrying what they loved most.

I was the only one present empty handed...

everything I love most was playing out in the dog run.

Apologies!

Soooorry if this site looks a little wacky for the next 24 hrs. I'm redoing the layout, and many of the changes will take hours to finish. Tune in next week to see the finished product ;)

A little something to crow about.

I know you'll be shocked by this, but I have to admit...

some paintings never sell.

I don't mind this fact since painting is really just a beloved hobby, a wonderful way to spend the my spare time, an outlet for my apparently infinite amount of creative energy.

But I have to admit that I don't have the skills or time to find art buyer homes for every painting. Often, I plan on giving away paintings before they are finished. I haven't given my Grandma anything in a while, so I decided I'd make a painting based on things she might like. Unfortunately, that pretty much limits me to Elvis and cute livestock.

Originally I was going to paint her a little black billy goat, but then I thought it might be too sad since her last little billy goat (aka lawn mower) committed suicide by hanging itself from a tree.

I didn't even know they could do that, but apparently, they can.

and do.

(Moral of the story; don't tie your goat to a tree- it will jump over a low branch and hang itself.)

In the end I decided I'd paint her a cheerful rooster waking up the countryside.

With a blue border, because the lady loooooves blue. (re; blue sofa, blue curtains, blue flower arrangements, and so on, and so forth).

I'm putting it in the shop until I get to see her again (which will be months). If someone buys it, I'll just get her an Elvis collectible with the proceeds.

Nevermore.

From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore; Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door - Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door - Perched, and sat, and nothing more. Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore. "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!" Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore." (acrylic on wood, $19.99) I memorized almost the entire poem for Ms Noble's 10th grade lit class almost 10 years ago. Today I mutter it when trying to keep my mind off more troubling things... like when someone is walking too close behind me as I walk from the bus stop to my house in the dark. I guess there is something about a girl reciting dark victorian era poetry that says "back off."

Sugarbird

This is the bird from this post.

I tried to paint it so many times. I don't know how I could be so torn up over losing something I'd known so briefly. but I was/am. Another little piece of my soul, only $19.99

Be like the blue bird...

Be like the bluebird who never is blue,

For he knows from his upbringing what singing can do.

- From Cole Porter's "Be Like the Bluebird", 1934

I've had this very very old cutting board just hanging around my art space for the longest time, then out of nowhere I suddenly knew that it wanted to be painted red like a barn.

The bluebird just flew in of his own accord. For sale here.

And now for something completely different!

Here's a man playing a cello in exchange for a burrito. Viva New York City!

Lady, you are never dull.