Welcome to 2010. (That's "twenty-ten" in my head, not "two-thousand and ten", which seems and sounds like an unnecessary mouthful.)
There was the Christmas Eve blizzard, causing great inconvenience to many, many people. Fortunately for us, we had no big plans, plenty of food in store, and were happy to hide away in the 'hood for a few days. Fortunately, too, the Red Cup is only a mile or so away; a not-too-stressful stroll brings us the daily dose of coffee and socializing. And the cemetery along the way is an added bonus.


New Year's Eve was as usual for us. Sara and I had our annual gig of face painting downtown for Opening Night. Tony dropped us off (along with the other painters, Tina and Chandler), and returned to collect us at 11 pm, which goes a long way toward easing the potential hassle of finding and paying for a place to park. It was strange to arrive at our designated area, only to see a posse of clowns had invaded and taken over. They begrudgingly made room for us, in the back, and then proceeded to somewhat monopolize the crowd all evening. Now, we were being paid to do a job and help entertain the crowds, so a little wasteful thumb twiddling didn't sit well. Eventually some people found their way to our tables, including this charming couple who requested the kissy fish. Aren't they cute as they lock lips at midnight, under the rising ball?


And now the rush of festivities and parties has ebbed, and the real world beckons. Super duper brutal arctic air is supposedly headed our way (I heard something about 2 degrees F - yipes!). If tomorrow's last bit of warmth (38 degrees) can thaw that frozen hay bale in the front yard, I'll be parceling it out over the more delicate plants like lavender and pineapple sage, in hopes of preventing their total demise. The front path rosemary has been dying off over the past months, and looks completely finished now. :( Still, it's dead dry branches will smell lovely in the chimenea. My other, biggest, oldest rosemary is somewhat sheltered against the west side of the house. Let's hope that exposure, along with the matting of sycamore leaves tangled in the lower branches will help protect it.

While it's bitterly cold outdoors, I'll be working my little fingers off with the newest collection of text pendants. This batch incorporates more of the Jugenstil-esque wire designs, making them a bit more ornamental and versatile. See a small sampling here, and the entire collection at Studio Six on Paseo next month, when I'll be the featured guest artist for First Friday's Gallery Walk.
cheers gang, happy new year, and keep warm!

Lovely Rainy Day

When I don't have to work (Tuesdays, mostly) I get to play with my wardrobe. Today, after having spent time recently catching up on the vintage forum at Fedora Lounge, I decided to wear my new silk dress. And some pearls, because why not? After coffee at the Red Cup, I hated to go home, but didn't like to go shopping & risk spending money, so the best option was a damp stroll through the cemetery, camera in hand.

I wonder if faeries are buried beneath cemetery mushrooms?


Then there's the kitten Sara picked up in the street last week. She calls it Esther (all sounds pronounced; if you sound like Sylvester when you say it, you're doing it right.) I'm all about another name, at least one for me to use, but nothing has come to me yet, which is odd. It seems perfectly fine to call her kitten, little thing, wee thing, etc. I liked the idea of a literary name. Hopefully I'll discover it soon.

Even if you don't believe it, I really do have all sorts of works in the works around here, just nothing quite completed yet. So I took the camera and a fresh eye, & captured a few old pieces of art gathering dust around the house. There are more than this, but picnik has been freezing my computer during editing; I think my images are too big.
And before you give me grief, yes, I KNOW wings and hats are way, way overdone. Or at least they were last year. They are definitely de trop, and one can only hope maybe, finally, out of vogue. But my winged circus babe collage on cardboard was created in 2002, so maybe I'm forgiven.