Round-Up and More Whining

Remember Annette Funicello in her cowboy hat on Talent Round-Up Day? (which, if you aren't as old as I am, was on Fridays)

Giddyup Horsey here we go - 

Down to the talent rodeo

Round 'Em Up

Bring 'Em In

Everybody's Sure To Win

Tamsin Van Essen, amazing artistic interpretations interfacing medical oddities, disease and ceramics

Wonderful Toothpick Sculpture that I was admiring for it's construction, but then discovered it's titled
"Ganymede Callisto Pod" because the artist, Franceska McCullough, is interested in

 "the orbital pattern of the two largest moons of Jupiter. I chose Ganymede and Callisto because they are the two ice covered potentials to life, they are simply beautiful in the photo's I've seen and their orbital dance is exquisite.  If you are ever close enough to my sculpture that you can see inside to the core then you will see the orbital pattern very clearly."  

And you all know MY interest in Ganymede!  (See above menu for the Studio pictures!)  I received a note from Franceska early today and she said that Ganymede and Callisto are her favorite moons and Jupiter her favorite planet.  And now orbital patterns are MY favorite art!

These words from Robert Genn today:

So much of the art that many of us like to make is "skilled" (for lack of a better word) art. For most, it's difficult to do. Sure it can be done, but it's difficult to do well. Skilled art may take a few years of private effort, studentship, technique development and maybe even apprenticeship. Shock and awe art takes imagination and courage.

Krink is a graffiti artist, see above reference to imagination and courage, who has developed an ink that makes fabulous drips.  I am looking for it around Boston as a possibility for decorating the fiberglass dog I must deal with  this fall.  Cool stuff, very opaque and supposedly sticks to everything, like any graffiti artist would expect!

Nature," said James McNeill Whistler, "is usually wrong."             

Jean Renoir said that 'true art is in the doing of it'

Which brings me to my young friend Jackie who is in France now studying to be a pastry chef.  She has a blog about the experience and today's post is about her experience using iso--- oh I don't remember what it is but it's a sugar form that can be molded and what did she do today but PLANETS.

Cool, huh?  Of course the opening photo on today's entry is all the molded chocolate they made yesterday being melted down.  Simply heart-wrenching to see.  Pastry slaughter.

So last night my back went kaflouie (that's a medical term) so I loaded up on Advil and took a very old unused rice bag out of the microwave and  slapped it on.  Today I did the same and am sitting in a straight backed chair in major pain.  Carrying the coffee cup was too heavy.  Don't know how I'm gonna carry on here doing it *ALL* plus the driving that he deems necessary.  Today we have a wake and being on our feet at a funeral home, always sooooo comfortable... and then tonight I must drive into Boston and sit through a dinner.  Can I ask the restaurant to heat my rice bag???  Guess the next step is to get myself down on the floor and do some stretching exercises, but then how in hell do I get back up?  Oh no, it cannot be stress.  Not ME.  What do *I* have to be stressed about?

How about 2 months now out of the studio.  How about 5 weeks now waiting on Mr. Daisy hand and foot.  How about being frustrated keeping this smiley face plastered on.  How about the complete breakdown of my dietary restrictions last night waiting in line to pick up my uncovered $250 pills to keep me going one more month and finding a pizza shop across the street and falling for their siren call:  one large Italian sausage with roasted peppers and extra cheese!

The debil made me do it.  Or maybe it's this:

"An inconvenience," said Confucius, "is an unrecognized opportunity."

Of course it's bullshit. An inconvenience is having a pebble in one's shoe.  Hell is being a care-giver.

Worthy Goal

The other day I snuck out and bought some grommets for the alphabet book I seem to be perpetually working on-  they only had 24 and of course I need 26 so the hunt has to be put off until I can move aain.  I also bought some backing fabric and some fusible so I can proceed on that.  I've decided to applique my items onto different printed muslins covering from pale whites through deeper creams.  The appliques will be pretty rustic, by machine, because I detest too-precious kids toys.  I'm making 26 separate panels all with a big shower curtain grommet so they can be tied together to clean them off the floor.  I am still stymied by the 'I' because the ice cream fabric is too small and bitsy, I need to make myself an igloo I think but can't until I get back to my STUFF.  No igloos at the local quilt shop unfortunately.  I keep running into weird obstacles-  for instance I found some really cool Paperdoll fabric that fits if I re-piece it but then realized that my own daughter barely would know what a paperdoll is, let alone the grandkids!  So I nixed that fabric and am going with the string of Planets for the 'P'.  Admittedly I am a bit heavy on Planets and Galaxy and Jupiter and Moon and Space Shuttle and Astronaut, but what the hell, maybe someday they will get 'out there'.  I just go in my imagination and that is exciting enough.

Wonder if this applies to kid's alphabet books too?  Sigh.