mixtape: songs in the dark

It's hot. Sweltering. Unwavering. The other night, I went for a walk to the park and the air was just flat, squashed down and heavy. It must have still been over a hundred and almost nobody else was out. People retreat to their houses. Stay in shadow. Move slowly. But it's summer! And you want to go out and jump and laugh and play. I love the line from Infinite Jest because it is so true, "people outdoors down here just scuttle in vectors from air conditioning to air conditioning. The sun is a hammer." So, I'm coping by listening to some awesome music...old histories. It's funny how songs sometimes make you think of a specific time. These all fit into past summers and I've brought them back now, mostly because I don't have much new music on my car ipod, but also because I was kind of nostalgic for them. And they are fun.

Sea Ghost  The Unicorns
I love everything about this song -- from the fun whistling in the beginning to the drums to the lyrics. So fun. Happy fun.

Goin' Against Your Mind  Built to Spill

Epic song. Long and melodious, you just get lost in it. I love how is builds up. Built to Spill is one of my favorite bands and I am happy to say that I love all their old stuff AND their new stuff which is usually not the case...everything Doug Martsch does is amazing. So it's only fair to include an old beloved song as well..

Big Dipper  Built to Spill

Anything by Neutral Milk Hotel. I'm really into the Avery album right now.

Especially this....love love love.

Oh, and the lovely cassette was repurposed from cassettes. Thanks!!
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wrapped up in: digital publishing

I have been so engrossed in digital publishing the past few days. Weeks, really. I have been playing around with all the great interactivity tools and slowly building up a simple example folio file. It's very fun. So I have been working late every night on this stuff -- tweaking buttons here and interactive overlays there. This goes against my promise to brush up on my web skills but it's always so hard to focus on just one thing! I can't believe I fit in time for two paintings last week. Utter craziness. Working at warp speed over here people. More pretty pictures to come soon. Promise!

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pigmented reality

The sweet smell of turpentine. The slinky splash of linseed oil. Upright bristles, flexed and ready to go. I love it. The past few days I've had the angsty inclination to finish up a portrait I am working on, but getting started is really hard. I suppose it' a lot like sitting down to write a term paper, or maybe write a book. Once you get into it, it goes very easily -- for the most part -- but building yourself up to the point of actually starting is the hard part. Waffling. That's what I have been doing. Browsing the internet for random inspiration. Wasting time. And of course, 9 o'clock at night and I'm finally ready to paint! I think, however, I will write this post and save the actual painting for tomorrow. It just makes more sense with the cleanup and toxic fumes and all that.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my work. I don't really have a definite style of my own. I pretty much just paint and what comes out is what comes out. I have tried several different styles by doing copies of paintings and whatnot (classic art class project as it is) but it is always such a struggle to keep from doing what is familiar. That, and, all the portraits end up looking a bit like me or my husband. Actually, it is guaranteed that if I am painting a man it will look like my husband. It's terrible. I blame the fact that I see him so very much. And myself, obviously. And also maybe the fact that I don't take the proper time to do a character study before starting. Anyway, this is a goal of mine, getting better at portraits. Capturing the essence of someone. That would be amazing. As a painter, I think I have yet to capture someone's essence. Wow, that sounds really cheesy but damn it it's true. The same can be said for poetry or photography. It's easy to get someone down on paper but to get their soul....ah, that is a real accomplishment.

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The first two are sort of unfinished. I want to add something more to the top one and the middle painting is part of a diptych that I never finished and now I don't even remember what the text was supposed to be on the scroll. The last painting, the typewriter painting, hangs over the toilet which always cracks me up. The bathroom in my house has this white wood paneling (yes, strange choice someone made decades ago) and so it feels a bit cabiny so I think the painting works perfectly there. And it's a bit creepy probably haha.

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And this is the best one I think I have done in the past few years. It's huge and it was my first wood panel painting which is now my new favorite surface to paint on. I would sell all the others but probably not this one. Usually I just do paintings for friends and then just give them away but I think that if I get more prolific I could probably sell some at a gallery or at the very least in a coffee shop. I just need to be more prolific. So, that said, it's painting time.


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so, about the ads

You might have noticed that I put up ads on this site. And then took them down. And then put them back on again. Well, there is a good reason for that and believe me it's not all the buckets o' money I am raking in, because there definitely aren't plural buckets or even singular buckets. Not even a bowl. Not anything really. I did add the ads though because it was bothering me so much how little space there is between blog posts! So the ad makes a good filler space to properly air out the posts. I need white space. So    much   white         space. Truly. It's terribly important.

Anyway, I am planning a redesign of the blog eventually but until I have some time, I think I am going to keep the ads. Sorry! I know you probably won't click on them and that's ok. It just makes me feel less crazy about my posts and keeps me from messing with the layout so much again. :) But, of course, if you see something you like, I won't stop you from clicking on it or anything.

Cheers and happy Monday!!

Oh, and for the record, I don't eat lard. I'm a vegetarian. But I thought this ad was so funny and "wholesome."






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One inspiring giveaway by Oh Happy Day

So I subscribe to the lovely blog, Oh Happy Day. It's written by a party planner slash letterpress printer (so cool) based out of San Francisco. She has moved her family to Paris for a year (what a dream!) and now she is giving away a trip for two to the city of lights for one lucky blog reader. Here is the link to the giveaway. I just think it's so inspirational and downright awesome that she is doing such a significant giveaway. And what a great way to reward one lucky reader. It's nice to see the good people are doing on the internet and the communities that form out of all this random, musing, curated, interesting, eclectic and inspiring writing!















And of course, her pictures of family outings and shopping in Paris are amazing. I just scroll through and daydream when I read her blog. Maybe someday I too will make my transatlantic move to live and work abroad. Anyway, good luck to all!

What can I say?

Whirlwind week. I am just getting back into the swing of things and it's already the weekend again! I had a great Memorial Day vacation. The best was an impromptu, and failed, kickball game I tried to organize. We ended up with too few to play kickball so we just played kick-the-ball and frisbee and flew kites in my now new favorite city park. When the sun was setting I remembered that I had brought sparklers so we all pulled them out and waved them in the wind. There is something absolutely joyful and fun about sparklers. After sunset we drank beers (shhh) by the banks of the "lake" (ok, after visiting New Hampshire and witnessing the endless monstrosities they call "ponds" there, I laugh whenever I see "lakes" here...we really do not have enough water in this state to qualify a real lake, or even a fifth of a NH pond) and talked and then ended the night at a bar with reverse happy hour specials. What a wonderful start to summer!