Renovation: The Saga Continues

This (below) is what it looks like in my kitchen as of 9:00 pm Friday night. Notice the beautiful new window, and beneath it, the space where my kitchen sink once was.


And this (below) is where my kitchen sink is now. Resting haphazardly among old cabinets and dog poop, taking in the ammonia smell from the rabbit hutches.


After that was taken care of, Mr. Fix ripped up the old linoleum from under those cabinets, and stripped the last bit of flooring. This morning he is putting in a new subfloor before fixing the plumbing and installing base cabinets. The ripping up stuff with a crowbar looked like this:

Ah, yes. Just a flurry of activity. On a happy note, I'm learning to mess around with the camera I've had for three years now. Hence the photo above, capturing Mr. Fix's activity.

And on a bummer note, got a call from The Double Dee this morning. She is going to Cape Cod next weekend for the marathon , but has come down with a nasty case of physical-therapy-needing plantar fasciitis, and will not- "unless there is a case of Divine Intervention"- be running with the rest of the crew. If anyone else out there has had this condition, you know it sucks, big time. And if any one of you out there is a runner, especially a distance/marathon runner, you know what a drag it can be to train train train, and then get injured. But, in true Double Dee fashion, she was optimistic and upbeat. Don'tcha just love your optimistic friends? They can make you smile whether you'd like to or not.

Enough chit chat for now- Mr. Fix and I are going to fiiiiiinnnnnaaaaallllllllllyyyyy get appliances. Have a great weekend!

Let's Call It Fall

Crisp air, bright flowers with dying-back vegetation, and one week until my marathon can only mean its officially Fall, or if you prefer, Autumn.

Besides making art, gloating over my winning pick for Project Runway , and being busier than all get out at work, I'm considering adding to my proverbial full plate. I am about 80% sure I'll be going to the only craft show I've ever gone to (sponsored by my mother's school/church) to sit and socialize with Katie and Hanukkah, and hopefully make some cash. The show is the weekend before Thanksgiving, which gives me about one month to pull some tricks out of my hat. It may mean taking Fridays off of work for awhile (not a bad idea...). I'm going to play non-committal again and say "We'll see."

Other news? Mr. Fix has finally begun constructing our kitchen cabinets. Yay! I've been told that the base cabinets will be installed this weekend, which means no kitchen sink. That's right: no kitchen sink. I can deal- I'm not really what you'd call a "cook" and have certainly advocated for the exclusive use of Chinet at least once before now.

I've just re-read everything I've just written, and you can't even tell I'm going to kill the dog, can you? I sound normal and upbeat, right? Good. Because I came home from work around noon today to find the #**!@ dog asleep on my new couch. Death is his mistress now. (And lest you be disturbed by the notion of me actually murdering the animal, please note that my husband does not let me near any firearms- or even chainsaws and stuff- and that said animal will be relegated to basement living for the rest of his pathetic days.) Aaaannnnnddddd....onward.

Okay, I feel better now, and my clear mind will make it easier to complete my "fun" work here in my "studio" (just a small room at the back of the house). Start some laundry, turn on the iTunes, and make it work! Carry on! Have a great weekend.

A Couple of Pieces

So, every year our local arts center, the William Bonifas Fine Arts Center, hosts a juried exhibit of Upper Peninsula artists. I entered three pieces this year, and well, we'll see what happens. The first piece (above) is from late 2006/early 2007 and is felted wool. It's title is Glance (David).

Next up is a piece I titled Roots or Wings. Its a collection of smaller pieces that I intend for viewers to "read" from the top left to the bottom right, like a person would text. I know its hard to see all of the individual frames, so I've also included a detail shot. The medium used for this piece is a mix of some watercolor pencil, acrylics, embossed stamps, and machine stitching.


The last piece I entered for consideration is titled Happy Little. It is hand embroidery at its most detailed and labor intensive (for me, anyway).


As I mentioned before in a previous post, I'm working on two new pieces. I'm also trying out a new handbag pattern, with the potential for a craft show with my pseudo sister, Hanukkah (she makes fabulous jewelry , and in her spare time, teaches junior high art in the Chicago area), and my actual sister, Katie (yes, she of the "dragging my feet to the finish line" school of marathon training). It's tempting to commit, even though I'm busy as all get out. For one, they are two fantastic ladies, and we have a blast doing this show; two, I'd get in a visit to the fam before the holidays; and three, I'd get to meet Baby Grace. I'm 80% there...

In a bit of spousal bragging, I'm also posting pics of the three paintings Mr. Fix submitted to the same juried exhibit. For your viewing pleasure, please to enjoy (top to bottom): Media Generated Viruscape, Avocado CP3PO, and SOTA.001. All three are acrylic on panel, and are pretty big compared to my baby fiber pieces.




And lastly, I'm not forgetting, but I am still thinking about Project Runway and how the final three panned out. I guess I knew the judges/producers kept Bipolar Stupid Kenley around for a reason, but boy oh boy did I wanna see Jerrel's designs walk the runway! Did you see those gowns? So much bling! So much shiny shiny to attract a magpie Sagittarius like myself!

Well anyways, my money is still on Leanne. That wedding gown was just gorgeous. Makes me almost want to get married again. Almost. Check it out below.


The photo doesn't even begin to do it justice- it was striking. The other designer to make it to Bryant Park was Korto. And as I have been in the past, I was a bit underwhelmed. Didn't like the wedding dress, but loved the bodice of the bridesmaid's dress. Lastly, Leanne has an Etsy account/store! The Devil forwarded me the address, and I'm more than happy to share it with y'all. Go here .

Now, I'm off to find some nourishment for myself and Daughter #2. Have a great weekend.

Yay!

The image kinda says it all: Girls Rock!

I am, of course, referring to the newest girl member of my family: Grace Elizabeth, born October 4th and weighing in at a not-too-traumatizing 8 lb. 7 oz. (considering her older brothers came in at 10+ lbs. each) and a respectable 18 1/2" long. Mother is my sister, Sissy and she and hubby Jack have two sons, Jake and Connor. Finally, some estrogen! Congrats! Now I need to start on that cashmere sweater for Grace!...

What else is up? Well, I'm all done with shiva for Paul Newman. He was so fantastic. I am now recovering from a 16 mile run I skipped last week because I was still sick. I'm better now, and I was talking to my friend, Fast Jessica, and thought out loud that training and running for a marathon is a lot like child birth; months of work and preparation, and right at the tail end of things, you ask yourself "Why am I doing this?" and hobble your way through 16-18-20+ mile runs. The reward is, of course, in the final product (baby or finisher's medal...which do you prefer?). And, inevitably you have that bout of selective amnesia and forget all about the pain you went through just moments ago and begin planning your next race. Or child. Whatever.

Project Runway had such a shitastic ending this week. I could just feel the judges wanting so very badly to punch Kenley in the mouth. And honestly, if I had that reach-through television I've been dreaming about, I'd have offered up my ubiquitous Bucket of Bricks to the judges so they could throw them at Kenley, too. Now we just have to wait and see the finale...are we taking bets on winners? I'm gonna go with...Leanne. Just a hunch, and plus, I like her stuff. Honestly, I'll be happy with anyone except Bipolar Kenley (The Doctah pointed out some very interesting similarities between Kenley and people who suffer from bipolar disorder).

Okay peeps, I'm outta here. Have a great week!

Its Time to Sit Shiva

I haven't been this sad about a celebrity passing on since Harry Caray died. I've known this was coming for a long time, but I was disheartened this morning. There I was, reading my new issue of In Style when I heard the announcement on NPR that my longtime boyfriend (of sorts) had died. Behold (above) the beauty of Paul Newman in his prime state, and go buy some salad dressing.

*sniff sniff*

The Home Stretch

WOW! So not only are we down to the last five designers on Project Runway , but we are counting down the games until my beloved Cubbies win their division title and make it one step closer to a (hold your breath and cross your fingers) World Series! Cue that cheesy song...

And now let's strut back to the runway. Interesting challenge, I think. Some people might think it was boring, and may have asked, "What's so hard about designing an outfit for these college grads?" Well, from the judges' comments Wednesday night, there were some designers who just did not get it! Let's dish:

The Losers: We'll start with Leanne and her dreary teacher's dress. I agree with the judges that it looked better with OUT the jacket. I don't understand why on Earth Leanne decided to go with- and the girl agreed with- a dress. Everyone knows that elementary teachers need to be five thousand places at once (metaphorically speaking), and that sheath just doesn't cut it. A smart, chic outfit with knit on top and trousers on the bottom would have been much better, even if is a cliche to dress teachers in dowdy double knit. Let's move on to...Suede. Ms. Fix thinks that Suede has questionable taste. Ms. Fix says that Suede would have to totally answer to Ms. Fix if he designed that 1989 jacket and Forever 21 dress for her daughter! Ms. Fix doesn't like Suede too much this week. And now the big loser, Joe. Nina Garcia was so right: he hit every cliche. But boy, did I wish I had that reach-through television again when stupid Kenley started laughing. She is just so annoyingly wrong wrong wrong.

The Winners: While we're on the subject of Kenley...I hated it. Obviously a cop-out for her, as she just made something for herself and decided for her client it was perfect. It was well made, though, and a great style for the grad's line of work. Next up is Korto: I loved the jacket. I liked the dress. I hated how short the dress was. The girl didn't have the legs to pull off something that short, and those closed round-toe pumps made her legs look even schlumpier. Our big winner- second week in a row!- is our Sagittarius friend, Jerrel. It was absolutely spot on. I'm so glad he didn't mess with the girl's hair (other than to get rid of that skunk stripe), since it totally played into her personality. The outfit was divine- great classic pencil skirt, shiny and feminine blouse (with a bit of sex kitten peek-a-boo fabric on top), and then that knit cardigan that screamed "I watched Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and loved it!"
Behold the winning design (below).



My predictions for the Final Three designers (who, at this point in the real world, have already shown at New York's Fashion Week) are Jerrel, Korto, and Leanne. Are we wagering bets???

Other news? Well, today was National Native American Day, so I didn't have to work...but I did anyway. I'm pretty bad at the whole "time off" thing. What else? Dunno. I'm supposed to go clean up a local ski hill that has for the past dozen years or so been used as a garbage dump (illegally, of course). My mother-in-law spearheaded the clean-up campaign, so I kinda feel obligated, but we'll see. I may have other things to do besides help the environment.

Scheduled to do a 16 mile run on Sunday, and let me tell you, it'll be S-L-O-W. I'm battling this hellacious head cold right now and can't seem to go three minutes without needing to grab a Vicks-infused Kleenex. The Devil is still out of town, so my runs have been solo. Only six more weeks until the "Sweetest Sponsored Race This Fall!" I may find time to post again this weekend, should anything amazing happen. Have a great weekend!

New Art

So I had a brainstorm idea last week about two new pieces I'd like to start on, but first a word about my "artistic process."

Many times I'll have certain imagery in mind, or a series of images that I link together to make sense to me, or sometimes I'll think of words- something akin to what Jenny Holzer did with her "truisms" - and then the image will come to me. Its this last type of process that I've used to come up with two new pieces of work. I'll only tell you the titles, and you'll have to guess at what the imagery will be. Correct guesses get a _______!

#1: "Its easier to kick the dog than it is your husband."
#2: "I Don't Belong Here."

Maybe you think that I'm putting the cart before the horse, what with giving out titles before having the completed images? Well, listen up non-artist-blog-reader-types! The images are alive in my head!!!!!

Crazy? Maybe. Have a nice rest of the week. Also, if you don't know who that is in the photo above, you're really not an artist! Hmmmph!