Thursday, January 31, 2013

the hubby's huge desk

My husband has the most gigantic desk ever in his office.
While it looks rather demure in this sketch, it has to be over
six feet long. It's huge.
Anyway, thanks for sticking around through my long silence.
This month has held a miserable case of the flu and several
obsessive diversions which I will fill you in on soon.
What have you been about lately?

Friday, January 11, 2013

new years fortune

 While I don't adhere to the prophetic power of
fortune cookies, I do find them highly amusing.
This one that came to me last week, though,
has me wondering if I should take it personally.

This fortune, however, is one I can really grab hold of.
I will start a new exercise... tomorrow.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

pulling out the oil paints

So, I did the underdrawing for this painting about four
years ago. It was supposed to be a graduation gift.
It's from a photo that marks an important moment
in a life and a community and I think also somehow
captures the expression of a true identity -- some of you
were there and remember it, right? So I've always wanted
to finish this painting. However, I put my oils away a long time
ago and have just decided to bring them out again. I was afraid
they might be all dried up, but things appear to be
in working order. Now if I can just remember how to paint!
 

Friday, December 28, 2012

washing makeup brushes

So... did you know that makeup brushes are
supposed to be washed prior to their first use?
And then, I guess, on a fairly regular basis after that.
Well, I hardly ever wear makeup, but being
an artist I'm always glad for the right tool
to do any job. So here are some of my new
makeup brushes. They're super soft,
and I'm looking forward to giving them a whirl.

But first I decided to give them a wash.
Apparently, you just have to dampen the hairs,
swirl them around in a mild soap (I used baby soap)
in your palm, and then rinse thoroughly, all
while keeping them pointed down-ish so as not to
get water inside the metal ferrule. Shape them
and dry flat on a towel. Once dry, give 'em a fluff,
and they're good to go! I was quite surprised how
much they acted just like paint brushes, but I
guess that's really what they are. So if you
haven't washed your makeup brushes in a while,
give it a go! They'll be glad you did.
 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

healthy for christmas

 
This has been my big Christmas wish this year.
So far, so good.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012

back to the peafowl

As I mentioned earlier, the monastery I went
to earlier this month had a bevy of peafowl.
Or perhaps it was a muster, an ostentation
or a pride of peafowl. The babies are referred to
as peachicks. Isn't that cute? And the males
enjoy a harem of peahens, in case you were wondering.
A group of the males is sometimes referred to as
a pulchritude. Who came up with that word?!?
Anyway, Steve saw them lining up in the evening
in pecking order to fly high (like 100 feet up!)
into the pecan trees. They were sitting up there
when I woke up the next morning. I've never seen
peacocks in a tree before, and it was pretty fabulous.
 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

closet renovations


Well, for some reason, Eric and I decided
that we had to remodel our closet.
Two weeks before Christmas.
So this has been my scene lately. It's
astonishing how much stuff we had managed to
cram in there. In the past two days, we have
displaced all closet contents, sorted through
(and given or thrown away bucketloads of) them,
reorganized our clothes into drawers and baskets
so that we only have one small section on hangers,
painted the entire closet, built shelves, and
moved what's left back into the closet. Today we'll
put together a desk so all office-related tasks
can happen comfortably in the now super-cute closet.
I'm not sure why these sorts of events have
to happen at the most inopportune of times.
Perhaps it's because there never actually is a
right time for any sort of upheaval.
Plus, who doesn't love a good deadline?
And on we go with life.