STRAWBERRIES & PEONIES

Brian and I went strawberry picking yesterday at this farm in Gill. I loved it. Despite the heat and humidity we got a pretty abundant amount of berries to go home with. I'm thinking about making jam, I never have before. So I thought I'd give it a try. Plus the strawberries are at the peak of their ripeness so if I don't use them soon, they'll go bad. I really can't imagine that we can rely on a purely strawberry diet for the next couple days.

I also grabbed a lovely bunch of peonies.

GETTING OVER IT

So I finished 2 paintings. You have no idea what a big accomplishment this is for me. I haven't finished anything in such a long time that it became pretty pathetic. I just threw myself back into my work. I have a constant struggle of knowing when a piece is finished, and then the fear of overworking something starts to come. I know this is a common battle with most artists. So, I let go of my fears or whatever it was that was holding me back and pushed forward.

The pieces here are ones that I literally started years ago. They've gone through many changes and layers. But now I am signing off on them. They are complete. And I have to say that I AM proud of myself. It's scary too though. I haven't shown pieces to anyone in such a long time, so it's a bit intimidating posting them, but I think I just have to do it.

"My heart feeds you" (click to enlarge)


"love" (click to enlarge)

I've been so inspired by my friend, Lauren, and her recent pieces and musings. So I have to say that she gave me the drive to get back into my own work. I even have several more pieces that are started using a new process, which is working on paper with watercolors. I always found that oil paints were my medium but I love the transparency of working with the watercolors and it also gives me more of an awareness of my process rather than just trying to achieve the end result.

Let's hope this is just the beginning...

CATNIP HIGH

Last night I watched a neighborhood black cat crazily attacking the catnip plant that I just planted on our porch. We see her running around in the back pretty often but she usually runs when I try to get near here, we named her Jezebel. So there she was eating away as Juniper and Niko were intoxicated by her presence. She was so into it that she didn't run away when i went outside to take some pics. She turned into the most relaxed and sweet kitty.

I bought the plant from a farmers market outside of my work with the intent that maybe some cats would want to hang out and also to have more around for our cats. Apparently they seek it out in nature and it's supposed to aide in digestion among other things.

Jezebel eating:



Jezebel eating some more:



and more:



"I am high and would like to just chill and roll around on your porch for a bit please."



"Hey, where'd it go?"
(i moved it to the table after I worried that she may damage my basil plant.)



I also just learned that it "repels mosquitoes ten times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient in most insect repellents." That's also a huge bonus since we have tons of mosquitoes around our place.

Anyway it was a very cute evening on the porch.

COLLECTIONS

I'm very intrigued by the various things that people collect. I especially like seeing how people decide to display these things. I have the habit of gathering things that I like but then I don't always know what to do with them. So they are hidden away somewhere or are scattered around. I have random collections of vintage beer cans, vintage pyrex, old tins, matryoshka dolls (aka russian nesting dolls) and letterpress letters.

Flickr is my new favorite source for inspiration. I found some really inspirational ways that people showcase their collections. I love how these take the ordinary to a whole new level.








I'd love for this blog to become more conversational. If anyone is interested that is. Saying that, what do you collect? Maybe you'd want to share some photos??

ANOTHER CAT TALE

Last night I was sitting in the dining room with Brian and we heard Ravens yelling in our backyard. I went to the back door to see what they were fussing about and saw a small white and gray cat. It was young, probably about 6 months old—so still a kitten. I've never seen it before. Usually cats stay in a certain area.

I went outside to see if it would come to me. Again, I worried since it was collarless and especially since it was obviously young—I assumed it was lost. It started to run away but with more calling it started to move slower and became more interested in me. By this time it was in this hilly-wooded area next to our driveway. I slowly started climbing through the weeds, dirt, etc. with mosquitoes eating me until it finally came to me. She let me pet her and started meowing at me, she was so pretty (i'm assuming she's a girl, she had an obvious girl cat attitude and looked girlish). She was being pretty sweet but had a somewhat feisty attitude at the same time. So, at this point I didn't know what to do. I thought I should just let her be, that maybe she's out exploring and is new to the area but then I thought more and more about all of the lost cat ads I see and couldn't stop feeling sad for the family that may be looking for her.

I went with my gut and picked her up (I was kind of scared though since she was kind of feisty), but she let me hold her. I walked her towards the house and thought I'd bring her inside and look online to see if I found anything about a missing cat. I called out for Brian to open the door for me, but of course he hesitated and during this brief discussion the cat freaked out and scratched the *#@% out of me. And off she ran.

I probably should have given up at this point but I was so overly concerned for her. I know cats have natural instincts and can take care of themselves outside but all I could think about was what if Juniper or Niko got out, and how I would hope that someone would try to rescue them.

So I grabbed some cat treats and went back into the wooded area calling her. This time I put on long pants and shoes, trying to avoid the many mosquito bites I already endured. She came to me again, but wasn't interested in the treats. She kept bumping her head against my hand and then walked away looking at me and meowed, almost like she wanted me to follow her. I would pet her but she was pretty temperamental and only liked it for a second then she would try to nip at me and got a good swipe at my calf.

Finally after two of my neighbors wondering why I was scurrying through the woods making cat noises, I came to my senses, and said out loud to myself, "I am the crazy cat lady." I guess that's who I've become.

I went inside bleeding from cat scratches and covered in mosquito bites.

So hopefully the cat is safe and made it's way home. I'll keep my eyes open for some missing cat fliers/postings though. I do wish that owners of outdoor cats would put collars on them though.

STAMP LOVE

I'm a huge Eames fan. So you can imagine how excited I was to discover the new Eames stamps. I just pre-ordered my very own set. I have to say that I may even just keep them for myself. Maybe the next phase for me will becoming a stamp collector. I guess you never know.

COLLARLESS

Would you assume a cat was lost if you saw it wandering outside without a collar? Or a stray? Or just an outdoor cat? I always assume that most cats that are outdoors wear collars.

Last night when we were driving home from dinner, there was a black cat very slowly walking across the street, right by our house. It looked lost and acted confused. I automatically thought Niko got out somehow, it looked just like him. It wasn't, thank god. But I freaked out of course, ran out of the car, into the house and there he was relaxing on the red couch. Phew.

But I frantically searched on craigslist to see if there was a posting about a lost black cat since I've never seen it before, no luck. I wasn't satisfied so I went to search for it outside just to make sure it was safe. I guess I got overly worried since it crossed such a busy street so casually and then just paused on the side of the road. I'm always seeing postings for lost cats.

I probably overreacted. I didn't see the cat again, hopefully it just went back home.

EVERYTHING IN PLACE

I finally bought a sewing machine. It was a time-consuming effort, more so than it really needed to be. I just couldn't decide and kept going back and forth between buying a high-end one, an old vintage one, or a basic one. So finally, I clicked the button and bought the Hello Kitty one that was recommended to me by Tiffany. I love it so far! First, it is adorable and turquoise, not like that should matter, but it's a huge-plus. It's easy to use and pretty compact, probably because it's intended for kids or amateur sewers like me! While I sew, I'm reminded that I'm "sewing pretty with hello kitty." haha.



I haven't done much sewing with it yet, just tested it out. But I'm ready to get started. I stocked up on various thread colors last night plus other sewing essentials. I have some curtains I need to hem and then we'll see what's next. I was mainly interested in using it as a tool for other creative projects that I have in mind, almost as another medium. So we'll see where that leads.

In other news, I feel so optimistic hearing that "Obama Clinches Nomination" Yippee!!