Fraternity Fraud Comrade

Caine's Arcade, small master of cardboard imagination! Warning: You'll get all teary towards the end.

More cardboard I've collected here and there showing just how amazing the work of people who wield box cutters and good glue can be.  All the links are to the web pages of the different artists:

Robot HOW-TO

The Iconic Frank Gehry Wiggle chair

Mike Leavitt

 Ana Serrano

 Sylvie Reno, above and below:

' Cardburg', by the Cardboard Institute of Technology

 Mark Langan, a colorist

 Chris Gilmore, incredible detail in these realistic motorcycles

 Dag Weiser

Ann Weber, very sophisticated shapes and lucious surface

Junior Fritz Jacquet, and, yup, these were formerly toilet paper rolls!

Josef Sumichrast, a 'Wall Rabbit', something he sees out of the corner of his eye.

Don't we all?

If you're interested in more about cardboard artistry, I found a great website that talks about some of the artists in depth and gives more information about where you can see some of these things 'in the flesh'.

The Art of Cardboard.  Another site is Cardboarders which features workshops for building items to be used for community events.  And finally, this, taken directly from the Huffington Post:

Most often artwork made with a cardboard box is referred to as a diorama and is made by a third grader, but sometimes the humble material can yield incredible results. A street artist named EVOL creates miniature urban worlds on cardboard boxes, electrical boxes, planters and other tiny geometric surfaces.On found canvases as small as 60 cm, the Berlin-based artist uses stencils and spray paint to make unbelievably lifelike cities on any surface, whether a cardboard box or a hole in an abandoned warehouse. Not since Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' have we felt so intimate with a group of strange neighbors.

Leo Horrors, and The Nerve!

Although there's not much holding you back today, this lack of resistance can work in one of two ways. On the upside, your cheerful attitude positively impacts those around you and they feel the warm and loving side of the Lion's power. However, on the downside, you might be overbearing without even realizing it, prompting others to see you as selfish. Roaring loudly won't prevent anyone from seeing your faults. A gentle approach allows others to engage your radiant nature with ease. 

Of course they are all wrong.  Harumph.  I'm putting my radiant nature under a bushel basket today, that'll show them.

Cheese Ladyfern Ladylike

Got some great feedback yesterday from one of my many as-yet-unmet friends (thanks Rosemary!) who visited the Yeiser Gallery while schmoozing her way through Paducah.  So nice of her to take the time to tell me she saw my piece there and give me a bit of positive feedback.  Actually she also told me that all the pieces are now on the Yeiser website here, so go have a look-see because there is some really interesting work.

If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind. Kurt Vonnegut 

 I still haven't gotten my award, in my head I have Ed McMahon's replacement showing up in a big van with music blaring and acres of balloons, all the neighbors coming out onto their lawns, and me acting so surprised accepting the 6' long check.  Yeah, that'll happen...all the neighbors have gone back up north and they don't have lawns anyway!  In 'researching' the winners, I was shocked at how many were in bathrobes and curlers.  Good thing I have drip dry hair, eh?

It's pouring rain this morning which interrupts my plans to hit the Farmer's Market to find the Cheese Guy.  We are all out of the last haul, nothing left but the rinds of some spectacle cheeses.  TY picked them out and had NO IDEA what he was spending so I just kind of glowed in the background- think his three little packages came to over $60 but we sure got our money's worth of pleasure out of them-  and had 8 people over to sample, though I sort of stood over them threatening with a cheese knife if they wanted too much.  The Hostess with the Mostest, that's me.  Because I've been thwarted I guess I'll take a shower and go to the studio instead, it's much less, ummm,  cheesy there. But a little cheesy goodness collected over time to show you but forgotten in the deepest darkest files on the HD.

Pizza, America's Favorite Breakfast:

Pizza cupcakes

Yield: 12

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mini pepperonis
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Additional 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of mini pepperonis for topping

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12 cupcake pan with liners.

2. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add in vegetable oil, egg and milk into flour mixture and stir until batter is smooth. It will be sticky. Fold in cheese and pepperoni. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full.

3. Bake for about 18 minutes until muffins turn out golden and knife inserted comes out clean. Right before eating, top muffins with more cheese and about five slices of mini pepperoni and bake for 4-5 minutes at 350F until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Of course I can leave out the sugar, wonder what will happen when I leave out the flour...cheese goo.

And speaking of cheese goo, Here are all the flavors of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory.  Yup, someone ordered them all and tasted them all, and for your discriminating pleasure, posted the winners of their taste tests here.  You can have my portion.

You're welcome.

And finally, a cautionary tale of a lady who has eaten too much cheese and needs a belly massage:

(Not even a reasonable facsimile of me!)

And speaking of cautionary tales, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUT OUT THERE ON THE INTER-WEBS, 
because I am lurking about ready to take advantage! (without apologies)

Laid Albatross Seafood

Words of the Day:

How true!

Forgot to show you my 'memento' from Key West!  His name is Jeffrey, after the shopkeeper who sold him to me for a nice discount, and he necessitated a complete re-packing of the car for the ride home since he needed a seat to himself:

Strangely the dogs just ignore him.  I usually keep some stuffed animals in his mouth but thought better of it for his portrait photograph.  TY and I disagree on whether he is a crocodile or an alligator but since he's from Java my money is on croc.  Doesn't matter, we have both here in the Everglades, only place on earth they exist together.  Do you care?  Me either, as long as the live-in is wooden!

And the Horror today:

You are sowing your oats now that the Moon is back in your sign for a visit. In fact, you're probably feeling everything -- the good and the bad -- at a louder volume than usual. Although it may be challenging to keep your emotions quiet, a fortunate outcome is indicated if you honestly share your heart's desires today. Just make sure that communication is a two-way street. Take the time to acknowledge the special gifts that others bring to the table.

Hmmm, sowing my oats or SEWING my oats, that is the question.  Maybe they made a typo.

Spent the day in the studio yesterday picking up stuff and removing dirt and crapola from the tables getting ready for something big (from my keyboard to gods eyes...)  While I was wasting time, err, I mean working, my daughter called and is painting a big-girl room to move Hazel into. Being four, of course her request is for pink and it hit a raw nerve in my way-back subconscious that I have a bunch of old quilts that have pink in them in various degrees.  So, while I was talking with the phone held in place by a shoulder I pulled 4 quilts, photographed sections of them, and sent them on to her for approval.

 This is an old top from eBay that I bought as a cutter, but it's in good shape so I never did slice into it.  it needs to be layered and quilted at some point, OR it needs to be used in my third piece in the portrait patterns series.  Whichever comes first.

All of the above quilts were all built from collected vintage blocks I found at flea markets or were given to me.  I have always loved re-building a quilt from unloved elements and adding new parts to confound the historians in 100 years.

This one was made my Hazel's Great Great Grandmother, or more probably someone she knew since her expertise was never in stitchery. It's been used and loved for years and isn't in very good shape any longer.  This one is Hazel's whether she wants it or not~  we don't have much 'family stuff' to hand down, certainly not anything of substance, so it takes on it's own worth.
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We went to a party years ago in a private room at Locke Ober's, a venerable Boston restaurant, very chi-chi, very elegant.  A (very) handsome young man was seated next to me and we didn't start talking until halfway through the dinner when he turned to me and started a conversation-  I was immediately struck by what a great looking, well groomed guy was doing with hideous teeth and why he had never had them fixed.  I was really turned off, they were brown and rotted and crooked, and it changed my perception of him totally.  I found myself avoiding him because I didn't hear what he was talking about-  only saw the teeth!  He was wearing a name tag he had stolen from a reunion party in another private room, "CLASS OF 1968" which I thought was really funny-  he had apparently gone in, taken the name tag, grabbed a drink and schmoozed with the 'classmates' who were quite surprised to see how he had gotten much younger over the years but carried on conversations like they recognized him. A joker.

And then he removed his teeth!  Hi real teeth were quite normal, he had an icky-teef flipper on that were completely realistic, and at that moment both TY and I wanted our own sets.  They had an Eleanor Roosevelt set for me and an Appalachian set for him but we never had the $ back then for such frivolity.  Well this morning TY brought up Dr. Bukk's teef, wondering if they were still around and they ARE!  If you want to get into your back-woods look, go visit now!  It's good for a laugh.  Here are Eleanor's Teef:

But you can't get these before I do-  I may have to attend a SAQA conference or get into another show for their opening to wear them for the group picture!

Compulsory Compunction Computation

                        I always thought if you worked hard enough and tried hard enough,                                          things would work out. I was wrong. --Katharine Graham

Nicely followed by this:

I think Jesus visited me, but things got too hot even for him.

(BTW, if Jesus, or anybody else, gets gooey on your iron, get yourself a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser-  I didn't believe it when somebody told me but IT WORKS.  Mr. Clean will vanquish Jesus, fusibles,  and anything else burned on your iron.  Promise.)

 Horrors:

You're much more resilient than you realize today. Although you could be feeling residual anger from a recent disappointment, you can bounce back quicker than you expect if you don't spread yourself too thin. Cut back your activities so you have extra time to rest now. After all, once you're done with your first round of chores, you are free to do more later on. Meeting obligations in small increments allows you to regenerate your energy rather than depleting it.

How do it know?  I'm racing around picking the place up SO I can regenerate my energy later on at an art exhibit!  Now, off to empty the dishwasher.

Franchise Compressor Francium (with frogs)

How true!  Trouble is that I look at other people's successes and see the left side, even though I know for a fact that the right side is the way it happens!  Hard to not think that the other guy somehow had a secret route, isn't it?

Speaking of successes, I got an email yesterday from the Yeiser Gallery wanting to know where to send my check!  A little monetary approval is always welcome, though completely unexpected.  Guess I don't get the 4' long purple ribbon I had anticipated after all.  So I'm trying to decide if I should book my plane for Turkey or if I should go buy the Mini Cooper I need...  (Kidding-  if I can get a partial tank of gas with my new check I'll be super happy!)


Here's a short video of me this week,

Sittin' in the mornin' sun

I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes

Watching the ships roll in  And then 

I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

Just sitting' on the dock of the bay:

Watching ti-iii-ide roll away...

Oooh, I'm just sitting' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time.  

With thanks to Otis Redding

So, I began to wonder if frogs sit on benches all the time and I just hadn't noticed.  And here I go!

 Of course we can't go anywhere without Kermit, here having a conversation with Jim Henson.

 This one is frog AS bench, instead of on a bench.

 Back to frogs ON the bench, pretty hideous frog if you ask me.  Oh.  You didn't?

 And now Frogs UNDER a bench, and yes they are frogs, but they are sort of simplified.

 Kermit, abandoned.

 And yes, there are BLUE frogs,

 And orange spotted frogs, 

 And blue AND orange frogs!

 Love this little black and white frog guy pretending to be a Vermont cow,

 And this one that looks like a bad Fimo project from Craftastrophy.

 Red frogs,

 Designer frogs,

And mutant frogs! 

 (Most of the colorful guys are Poison Dart frogs from Central and South America.  They love it there in the jungles, and have no benches to lounge on.)

And a little bit more:

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time

Look like nothing's gonna change

Everything still remains the same

I can't do what ten people tell me to do

So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here resting my bones

And this loneliness won't leave me alone

It's two thousand miles I roamed

Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Oooo-wee, sittin' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time

Scutum Alan Scythe

(found on FB the other day)  

You are ready to laugh off a difficult situation today because you believe that your positive attitude will advance your cause more than taking things too seriously. However, your best strategy might be to adopt a more balanced approach. Although there's no point in worrying about something that's already happened, taking responsibility is more productive now than pretending that everything will turn out fine no matter what you do.

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything     Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse Five'

Find-fo-the-Day:  Gorgeous collage work by Gail Rieke.  Really, go take a look, you will be as enthralled as I am!

Can't get moving after my big week in Key West, must be a general let-down of being so busy and having so much to do to here-and-now with nothing much on the plate!  I did spend some clean-up time in the studio yesterday but didn't make much headway and certainly didn't get at any of the things I wanted to.  Today is cluttered up with a walk early with the Walking Nazi, a meeting this morning with lunch, then on to a doctor appointment where I will get yelled at for my week of debauchery, I'm sure.  The meter has been all over the place because Ive done bad bad things like have a hunk of cantaloupe with cottage cheese for breakfast.  Sigh.  Some days I get so tired of this and really really want to have a pile of waffles.  HA!  I didn't' even have a sliver of wedding cake-  this is life?  Well, it ain't fun.

Off to the meeting...and a friggin' salad again.