Everyone's gotten into the creative act in recent days; we volunteered to paint two of the canvas banners to be auctioned off at Classen's art festival - Tony and Sara tackled one, I had the other. It's been a good laugh to see how those two think when it comes to artistic expression. Final, finished product photos have yet to be taken, but as the banners are due to be turned in tomorrow, I reckon it'll happen soon.



Last Saturday, MJ stopped by during her whirlwind, going-out-of-town preparations, to bring me a gorgeous spring bouquet. No reason to let it waste away in her dark, lonely house, so I gladly accepted it. Even though I can't be around lilies without getting pollen on my nose..... Buster thinks they make a suitable background.

The past few days: heavenly hints of spring. The next few: supposedly a spring equinox blizzard. There's plenty of straw around the garden to cover up the tender sprouts, although any tree buds are on their own. Yesterday our northernly-exposed, slow-on-the-uptake daffodils finally bloomed. I'll stroll out again tomorrow evening to see if there's much difference in their situation.

Actually, more than for the plants, I'm concerned about our poor feral Stripey Nose II kitty, who comes around for food. A week or two ago I noticed mysterious blood drips on the path, as well as some splotches in an outdoor food bowl. It was a few more days before I saw the cat and the damage done to him, by a dog (or dogs, possibly, as a few days ago our own Inky Slinky Black Jack was blatantly attacked by two dogs, right outside my window! I rushed out and chased them away, but Jack disappeared under the neighbor's house for several hours, before finally limping inside to hide under the bed upstairs.)
So, Stripey is a real mess, can barely limp on two legs, but manages to bring himself up the path a couple times a day, asking for food. I give him a tin, with vitamin e and brewer's yeast mixed in. I'd dose him with amoxicillin if I could get my hands on some, but nothing's simple these days, it seems, with veterinary care. Any place I know to take him would require a round of 'routine' care (vaccinations, etc.) before even addressing his wounds. Today I discovered he's made a nest on an old couch in our garage. The door is stuck open since that time a few years ago when we disconnected the electricity that ran from the house, via two spliced, very un-code wires across the garden path. With the threat of cold cold winds and rain and blizzard snow, I've tried to make a bit of shelter around the couch, without changing it so much he'll not want to use it.
After his evening meal, he likes to relax (as much as a cat in pain can relax, I suppose) on a shabby mat by the back door, soaking up a bit of evening sun. I wish I could bring him inside for the storm, but suspect he'd freak out and do himself even more harm trying to escape. Poor brave fellow.

A hint of spring

It's been a long, gray, cold, wet, dreary winter. Typical for some places, but hardly acceptable conditions for the sunny plains. If the birds know what they're about (and I suspect they do, at least as much as the weathermen and most likely tons more), spring is about to properly descend upon us. There has been endless twittering and trilling and scolding and all manner of frisky avian activity in the trees. Beneath the sheltering straw, I've spotted seedlings of fennel and anise hyssop looking for the sun, and tulips are pushing through the soil.
Still, most days are more suited to, oh, a little reading perhaps? Good thing the annual library book sale just happened, and good thing I (as usual) gave in to that visceral reaction I have to books.
Take a look at my haul!








Of course, grrl does not live by books alone, so I have just treated myself to my very first steel-boned corset. If I don't break it (or myself) whilst learning how to properly wear and care for it, I look forward to a spring and fall of tailored fashions. Summer? Oh I don't think so. Far too hot for any extra layers at all.

I'm not fooled...

...by these past few mild, sunshiney days. All it takes is a glimpse of my photos from last year, late March I believe, of snow on the tulips, to realize winter can (and probably will) pack a late punch any time in the next many weeks. That knowledge makes these rare days even more special; I'll take them as they come and make the most of them.


In art, my two pieces for "Money Talks, Art Walks" IAO benefit found homes during the auction, which makes me happy. As submissions are suppose to be anonymous, I didn't like to share them before the event, but now it's over, here they are.



Next, a few very different commissions, and working on possible pieces for "Oklahoma Friendly" and "Biting the Apple". Nothing but ideas and loose sketches so far, but canvases have been ordered, and deadlines are only a few weeks away, so I really should get busy. Right now.

I'm a sucker for an orphan...

Lonely cats, battered crumbly books, dingy, floppy-headed stuffed animals, and now it looks like my adoption services have been expanded to include shabby, holey, frayed quilts. I noticed it last week at the 'everything's half price' thrift shop, where it caught my eye with its look of those already-tattered childhood quilts I remember from the 60s and 70s. Still, it wasn't what I was after, and what would I do with it? I think the price then would have been $15, which could have been spent more wisely elsewhere, and probably was. Today, though, it was still on my mind, so when I passed that way again I gave in to the urge to stop in, just to see. I reckoned it would be long gone. It wasn't. There it hung in its "seen much, much better days" faded glory, and with a reduced price that meant I ended up giving $8 to bring it home.
What to do with it, I haven't a plan, but at least I can revel in its lovely fabrics, and Miss Blue made it feel right at home. A few more pictures can be found on my flickr page.







In productive news, 8 new pendants were completed and delivered to Istvan Gallery, in time for tonight's opening reception. Here are a few.

This Friday, Feb. 5, will be the debut of my newest batch of necklaces! Come see them at Studio Six, NW 30th and Paseo, Oklahoma City. The Friday event will run from 6 pm till 9 or 10 (depending on how long the gallery strollers choose to stick around), and Saturday's open house is from noon till 5 pm. The jewelry will remain in Studio Six through the month of February, so if you can't make it this weekend (though you'll want to for the best selection, as well as live music and tasty refreshments), feel free to pop in later in the month.
My copper jewelry can also be found at Istvan Gallery (1218 N. Western Ave.) in Oklahoma City, where some fresh, free form copper swirl pieces will be offered in time for Valentine's shopping.




In other news, my baby turned 18 Sunday, and made a party of the whole weekend, naturally. You can see she has a charming plethora of pals.

A little springlike weather, a little ice storm that hasn't (so far) quite turned out to be the end of civilization predicted by the Prophets of Doom weathermen, and a little creativity. Here's a partial sampling of the new necklaces I'll be offering next Friday, Feb. 5, in Studio Six on Paseo (NW 30th and Paseo, Oklahoma City).
Between moments of jewelry-making, I had a burst of cleaning frenzy, spending the better part of an afternoon clearing off and sorting out my desk. While it at first appeared to be a perfectly inviting creative space, it turned out to be a purrfectly inviting feline space.....

Just making the most of it

No reason to go on about the tragedies in the world. Everyone else is, and talk doesn't change things. We do what we can, where we can, and in the meantime make the most of what we're given.
For instance, a show of clever, artistic furniture stuff including a wall of flowers, held in place by heavy duty magnets. Isn't Klint Schor inventive? Yes. Yes he is. And a glass marble mosaic countertop, along the lines of something that's been in my head for years.


Now, I'm not a grrl with an infinite sum of moneys at my disposal, but that doesn't mean I can't find a near-constant array of amusements at my fingertips. If it's not a festive art opening, perhaps it's Ingrid's early on a Saturday afternoon, for the live band playing a fun, fine array of tunes to dance to. Not saying I can dance, because I can't, much. But I sure like pretending I can. For the price of a cup of coffee and a few delicious cookies, you can have one smile-inducing great date. Oh, and a few bucks into the band's tip jar when it comes around.





Art, Ingrid's, art, music, beautiful mild sunny afternoons, and maybe a little indulgent mail order shopping as well. (I'm only human...) Thanks to a tip on the Fedora Lounge, I learned of these stellar Diesel shoes offered on Amazon, for a fraction of their $100 plus price tag. I couldn't resist, and placed my order. Though tracking info told me they'd been en route for a few days, they didn't arrive Saturday, so a disappointed me reckoned I'd have to wait till Tuesday. Not so. Despite it being a holiday - no mail, no school, no bank, etc. - FedEx troopered on and delivered my shoes! Hooray. They happily arrived to coincide with the complimentary tickets Tony and I had been offered for an Oklahoma City Jazz Band concert. What timing. I put those gorgeous, two-toned babies on and headed up to the top of the Chase Tower, aka The Petroleum Club, for a swanky, evening with friends, a stellar skyline view of the city in all its sprawling glory, and some amazing jumping jive. You can have all the dvds, cds, music files, youtube videos you want, but nothing compares to the complex beauty of real live, played by humans music.
Yes, I adore live performance.
It was an educational night as well. I learned that the director/conductor/band leader fellow, from my angle of viewing his profile, sometimes looks like a mature Frank Sinatra, and sometimes looks like Mr. Roper from "Three's Company".
I also learned that even though you rinse and rinse and rinse a plastic juice bottle before you add a little cheap red wine with which to top up your $5 glass from the bar, it can still impart a curious Mango Naked flavor to the beverage.

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!