What this elf has been up to...

Raw felt hands...
a sanded down and painted hunk of pine
more raw wool...

What does this all add up to? Why is a painter working with these materials? I keep asking myself these things. The answer will come on February 13th. The day my show Opens at the Eric Schindler Gallery. Till then, I am going to be knee deep in wool and wood and yes even some paint. There will be paintings on sculpture, sculpture that is drawing and even regular ol' painting on canvas and painting on wood panels.
For now, I have to get back to being an elf...

onward!

Greetings from Seattle

Here are some Winter wonderland photos from the lovely and talented Cami who lives in Seattle. She feeds these Hummingbirds year round. They are weathering the unusual snowy conditions with the rest of the good folks of Seattle. That is a fig tree, figs wearing little snow caps.

Happiness!

Warm greetings from New Mexico

I am still getting Christmas card addressed to the people who used to live here. But we did get one addressed to us...yippy!
As I was saying the other day I love getting e-mails and photos from my pals who live far from me now. These are some photos from my dear friend Sally who now lives in NM. When I was out there last Winter I was supposed to visit this farm, but the friend who owns it, went away the day before I arrived. They raise Alpacas and have Llamas and Great Pyrenees Dogs to protect the alpacas from predators. The little mini horse is named Elvis (we had a cat named Elvis who was about the same size). Next time I visit I am for sure going to visit this amazing place!

My favorite Raptor

We have been seeing this guy just about everyday. He hangs out in our yard and we see him on the next block in the mornings on our walk. Sometimes he sits high up in a tree or on top of a telephone pole. One day he was just 5 feet from Frankenstein and I, sitting on someones mailbox. I say hello and ask him to please not eat the Chug.
This morn he was sitting on the log thingy I made for Truman our lizard to sun on. Later I found a mass of downy feathers in that spot. Usually we get a warning from a group of big black crows who chase the raptors away and warn all the birds one is hunting. Once he has eaten one the the birds who come to feed, the other birds will come right up to him. They all go back to feeding as if he didn't just devour one of their own. It is just business or lunch in this case.
You can tell it was a cold day, by how fluffy he is. Gorgeous!

Frankenstein Friday

He is singing your favorite song! But all that singing makes a Chug thirsty. Have a lovely weekend y'all!

Ray's boys

My good friend Ray sent me this photo of his boys. Aren't they great?! He rescued both of them at different times, but they look like brothers. I hope to meet them in person some day.

As usual I am a busy little elf. It seems every year at this time I am compelled to make stuff. This year it is just more intense because there is a show at the end of this rainbow. But in years past I have always made things for the people most important to me. Last year I made the Beeman prints. This year I have been getting lots of great photos from friends, like Ray, via email. That help in keeping me connected.

But here is the rub. We have been getting Christmas cards in the mail just about everyday, except for one thing...they are all addressed to the people who used to live here! We got 3 other cards but they are all work related, (so I don't think they count). I am not begging for cards, and I am not sending any this year. I am just wondering if it means any less to folks to get end of the year greetings in their in-box rather than their mail box?

My answer is, I love my e-card and photos and nice little notes my peeps send me...I don't need the cards that I feel too guilty to throw out and end up saving. Yep, I have boxes of old cards. But, getting someone else's sparkly envelops, with fancy writing, letters that are not bills or silly offers, makes me feel so sad. Like Scrooge left behind at the big empty school while all his classmates are riding away in horse draw carriages to warm family holidays. The loneliest girl in the world...or maybe if Scrooge had email he wouldn't have been so grumpy...

In any case, thankfully, I have Ray's boys to cheer me up!

Work work work....is boreing the Chug

I have been super busy pulling things together for my show in Feb. I have a few plates spinning right now: Building, sanding and priming boards to mount the paintings on. Finishing bases for the Globes. Sanding then finishing a Pine log for the half Globe to rest on and a few other smaller projects that just need tweaking.
We finished up the last of our Holiday eating requirements. I swear each year I vow not to succumb to the pressure....but once again I have eaten ridiculous amounts of rich foods and deserts in a short span of time. Last night The Big Head and I took charge and put an end to the madness. We went grocery shopping and got all healthy foods. But as we reached the last few isle of the Super, we kind of lost it and some ice cream and cheese cake found their way into our cart.

We saw some live music this past weekend. Now that is the kind of nutrition I need more of! I loved it! Mutards and El Presidente=rock.

It was 70 outside yesterday so Truman got to roam around the yard.

Frankenstein is board with me. All I do is work and get covered in sawdust...no fun...no Zaz!
Zaz is my new favorite thing and I am using the term as much as possible....so put some, zazzel in your day!...zaz it up!..don't be boring like me.

ok, I will play...

The lovely ms. Brown has tagged me with a task. I have to list 6 random things about myself. Since I like to out myself when I do silly things this is right up my alley. In the spirit of this, I am posting this horrid photo of me, with the Chug. Frankenstein will cover the cute in this post and the Frankenstein Friday element.

1. I held the record for longest field goal kicker in my grade school.

2. I was on the synchronized swim team in High school.

3. I was in girl scouts when I was a Junior in High school.

4. My favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid was a huge frog named Hoggie Frogie.

5. I too (like my friend Mrs. Brown) used to bring on psychosomatic symptoms every time we had to play baseball in school. I was in the nurses office on a weekly basis, during baseball season. I hated playing baseball!

6. I broke my collar bone playing football when I was in 7th grade. I jumped up to catch the ball and a much bigger boy landed on me.

So there you have it nerdy-nerd nerd...that is me!

back for more...

He was just out there again! I think he came to the same conclusion as I did..no life, no more fish. But, it was cool to see him again.
I had to take the photo through the window covered in rain drops, so it is a bit fuzzy.

Sawdust and Dobermans

Last week I spent most of my time in the studio sanding boards. Twice as I was exiting a huge Heron flew past me. I had disturbed it's goldfish hunting in our pond. It was thrilling seeing the big bird so up close and personal.

On our recent trip to my folks home, as we were making seafood linguine. As I was scrubbing the clam shells, I commented on how I could feel the life in the tightly closed shells. Dad didn't buy it. I think you can feel life, the weight and something 'lifey', there.

Well, now when I look at my pound, I can feel, it is empty. There is no life in it, no goldfish life. The Heron took the last of them, I just know it, I feel it. Just an empty shell, water and algae.

I was also laughing the other day at something my brother said while we were in MI. It was my favorite observation of our trip. He simply asked: Is Frankenstein a Doberman?
I love this because in Frankenstein's mind, Yes!..yes he is a big intimidating 1970's meanest dog on the block, Doberman!

I am still playing carpenter. I wear my Carhartt flannel lined paints and a flannel shirt. I get covered in sawdust and use power tools! When the work is over and I can barely move at the end of the day, I do like any carpenter would: I crack a beer and feel complete.

Onward!

Pull up your pants kid!

Pull up your pants kid!
Originally uploaded by tracey st.peter

I posted this little clip on my Flickr page yesterday. It got picked up by a stream called: more saggers found on the web. They have another set called: me sagging. I thought that was pretty funny.
Saggers.

pretty birds-thirsty birds

birds 093
Originally uploaded by tracey st.peter

Waxwings and Robins come by for a drink on a cold Winter day.

Squirrel Food

I heard a story on the radio the other day about how this year the acorn crop is way down. So the squirrels have a limited natural food supply this year. In response I am letting up on guarding the bird food from the little guys this Winter. I always feed them. But now my policy is, if you can get at it, it is yours. I find this guy each morning, in a similar position. I guess the peanut hearts are worth it.

ice skating people

ice skating people
Originally uploaded by tracey st.peter

After our visit to watch little Remik's Hockey practice Mr. Eleven decided he wanted to get back into skating. So we bought him some new skates and he went to the rink on Friday night. Well, it turns out Friday night at the rink is just like it was when we were young...teen date night!..Needless to say, he didn't last long.
We went again Sunday afternoon. He wont let me take photos of him till he feels more confident. But he did really well! Here is a sample of the goings on. It was really fun. I may even get on the ice next time!

Gift idea...

Number 4 on Frankenstein's wish list.

friday....

Frankenstein and I are busy! Super duper hard at work. So, in our place here is a cutie, to make this a very good, Frankenstein free, Frankenstein Friday.

I have been trying in vain to get a carpenter to make broads to mount my little paintings on. For months I have been trying. Yesterday I came to the undeniable conclusion that I would have to make like the Little Red Hen and: Do it myself! Being reunited with my old work and going to my folks home brought it all in to focus. We do it our self's, that is what we do.

I am making the boards into sculptural objects....like the globes. Paintings on sculpture. Paintings that are objects. Drawings that are sculpture (Wire drawings). Somehow it is all coming together....but I have miles to go before I rest.

Onward...and a happy weekend!

a place for everything...

Truman has more things to look at today. I am folding the old art into our new life. A lot of it landed in Truman's room.
The top painting is one my mom painted sometime in the 1960's, the bottom painting is one I painted of my friend Eric in the 1990's. I like the yellows together.

When I was a kid I had the Three phases of motherhood painting in my room. TBIH noted it was a rather dark painting for a kids room. But I loved it and chose to have it in my room! As I remember it mom said: The center woman has just had her baby and is happy...the woman on the right is contemplative and by time we get to the left side she has gone bonkers! I think maybe growing up with this painting in my room, influenced my aversion to motherhood!
Truman with group of self portraits...
The collage is one my x-sister in law made. She made awesome work, I am happy I am lucky enough to have one. MY dad made the small two-toned pot. I love it! The cobalt glass is an old treasure I found and am very happy to be reunited with.

...more old work

Laundromat
Cat in the Bath
Egg Farm
Circus
All 4 of these paintings are approximately 4'x5' and were painted in the late 1980's


These are the 4 larger scale paintings I brought home from MI. I painted all of them sometime in the end of the 1980's. They are representative of the work I did in art school before I went to Europe. Before I experienced what art really is and what it means to me. It seems like a funny thing to say. Since I grew up in a home with an artist and had made visits to the Detroit Institute of Art from an early age, as well as going to art school literally on the same block as the Museum. Eating lunch in its courtyard just about everyday. But it took a semester of intense study and travel through Europe for it to really sink in. For me to see.

There is a strong religious theme combined with the mundane labors of ordinary life. I like the washing machine lid as halo! Yes, I did work at an egg farm....

That painting brings back memories of eggs relentlessly rolling towards me, as I managed to place each little egg in it's rightful home...small, large, extra large or jumbo carton. The chickens were not actually running under foot, they were on the other side of a swinging door. Boy could those Chickens make a ruckus! Also they were stinky...super stinky! Resulting in the Bath painting...

After a long hard morning at the egg farm, I was one smelly lady! The first thing I did when I got home was take all my clothes off quickly shut them into a bag in the closet. Then take a long bath. My cat Balou love to walk on the edge of the tub. He fell in a few times.

I never did work in a circus, yet it was also a big theme in my work for a long time. The personage figures are fore bearers of the Beeman drawings I do now. It all comes around in the end.

even moe loot....

These are all by my mom, Sophia Myers. When I was a kid she painted, but in recent year she has shifted to clay.
I love these tiles, pigs and roosters. We hope to incorporate them into a back splash in our kitchen some day. She has a lot of them. I am encouraging her to open an Etsy shop. When she does, I can post a link.
I love this guy. It just dawned on me he looks an awful lot like that groundhog that lifted his eye brow, in the that clip everyone was posting a while back! She has all sorts of animal sculptures. My fav was a Bull dog, he is super heavy and feels like my old friend Humbert (a dog I walked for about 8 years in NY, as a dog walker). But alas, she wouldn't give him up...so I nabbed the groudhog. She excells at horse sculpters. I regret I did not take more photos of her work.

more loot...

These are some of the smaller work from Grad School. They are all of me and mostly I am in my under pants. In the larger ones I am usually at one of my day jobs (I worked about 3 or 4 jobs at a time to get through school). Like working at the launderette, in my under pants, or working at the Egg Farm (I will shoot photos of the larger ones when I can).

The one with the red frame is an old fav and I will keep this one. I really hope I can sell the rest. I had a thing for soft frames back then. From the gathered satin ones to this red velvet one. I even used Toilet seat covers, the old furry kind (do they still make those?) for frames.
I painted myself as the clown a lot back then (as I have been doing lately with the Pierrot figure from Watteau, on the globes and small sq. paintings). The other 2 figures are my painting advisers, Jan and Micheal. I have spoken of them before. They were extremely influential on my growth not only as artists, but, as an artists living in the world. I think in the painting they are balancing on balls, but I as the clown am floating off mine.
This is a sweet little painting. One of the few I am not in. It is fun, thick and rich...just a day at the beach.

I am back with the loot

Red Rabbit
Awakening
Nipple in a Can
Here is a sampling of some of the art work I brought back from Michigan. My folks have been storing work for me since I split for NY in 1991. I have not seen this work since that time. This group was done just after I graduated from Graduate School. I was rebelling and exploring Gender identity. They break down into girly pink satin work and masculine icky tar and contact cement work. I was burnt out on painting at that time. Trying to be nasty and punk, to be anything but an intellectual art school product.

One of my dearest friends at the time had just come out as a Cross dresser. The idea of what was female and what was male were topical. Painters were generally guys in art school. It was considered a macho media. We painted big and ruff. Expressionism was in the air. Large scale, bold, loud work was all the rage.

At the same time I was doing these little constructed pieces I was also doing large scale tar ones. I remember one was a pair of one piece long-johns (you know the red kind with the trap door in the back). Using resin I mounted the union suit to a board and drilled screws in it, like hairs sticking out or the fabric. It was huge and heavy and kind of cool. But mostly I did these smaller works.

Quiet, objects, intensely female or intensely male. Art porn, with out the porn. Nipple in a can: You pop open the can expose the nipple, get off and have a smoke...

So here is the thing, I have this group of work. The ones just before it were based on counting to 100 (sounds familiar). They were basically color studies large scale, in oil, some on metal some on canvas. Counting to 100 over and over. Before those I did self portraits in a quirky style, expressionistic with lots of humor and color (I will post them next). Seeing them now, the ones that remain. I can finally see the connections. Like a bunch of holes have been filled in. Themes and compositions that remain a constant, when everything else around me has seemed to change. After all the miles and all the crazy shit I have lived through, there is a constant.

This may have been the long way to get here. To my Thanksgiving post. We traveled many miles. Slept on floors. Frankenstein met his dog cousins and peed in new places. We ate and laughed and drove and ate more. Now that we are home. We have completed a circle and we may not say it out loud. But in the end, some holes have been filled, connections reestablished. We are reminded for better or worst who we are.

Around circles of life...

Onward!

frankenstein and teddy

frankenstein and teddy
Originally uploaded by tracey st.peter

We are on the first leg of our big family Thanksgiving trip. We arrived at Mr. Eleven's sister home in Ohio late last night. Frankenstein got to meet his cousin, Teddy. As you can see they are best buddies now. We bundled them up this morn and took a nice walk around the hood. Frankenstein has never seen a world covered in snow and ice. Teddy showed him the in's and outs of walking and peeing in the ice and snow.

dress-tea cozy-sweater...

I just had to re-post this photo! This is the original sweater-dress I made for the Chug. I later unraveled it and made the one below. I don't know that is is any better, but at least it is not a dress! I am going to make another attempt at it, soon. Frankenstein can hardly wait!
It's back! The sweater that looks like a tea cozy. It was so cold yesterday Frankenstein wore his sweater under his new coat.

Yesterday I managed to plant a few flower bulbs, before it was too cold and we had to retreat to the house. Frankenstein was traumatized by the cold. I looked up from my planting and he was standing there shivering looking sadder than a Chug should ever be. I had to hold him and make a warm nest of blankets by the fire place in the house for him to warm up by. He has no use for the cold!

We are getting ready to get out of here. Holiday visits ahead of us. Our Friends who are going to stay with Truman are in for an interesting week. Truman is in heat.

I think I finished the globe, globe 5! It is too wet to take a proper photo of. It was a long labor that started on Nov. 5th...earlier this week it was at the point where I was screaming for drugs...give me the damn epidural!!! It was a hard, long, painful birth! Yesterday I painted all day...at one point I was listening to Maya Angelou speaking on an NPR show. I was in a good painting place, no ego, no thoughts interfering with process. The only problem was I keep crying, caught up in her words and energy...it was making my hands wobbly. I managed to compose myself...and push push, breath, push it out!!

onward!

Paella!

The Head and I made Paella this weekend. It was our first try and it came out extra yummy! We cooked it out on the grill in the yard, after dark and in the rain. It was easy once you have the pan and sea food lined up. We visited our local fish monger and got really good fresh sea food for our dish.

It was a big food weekend. We also made a visit to our local Super Market. They were having a Holiday extravaganza! Picture one of those giant Mega Super Markets now add a Chocolate fountain and a Nog fountain, to the Fruit and Veggie section. Carolers singing Christmas songs By the Meats and food samples around every corner. We are not talking toothpic sized sampes. These folks were making plates of ham, sweetpotato pie, stuffing and some sort of green! It was like a Christmas party-domestic chore mash up! I found it pretty unsetteling. But just weird enough to be fun.

The local Wine shop was also having a wine tasting food tasting with unussually good foods and large portions. I have never seen so many people in the place! Free+food+wine=a full parking lot!

In short, our weekend was all about food. Tracey is getting larger!..but happy.
onward.....

Update:

Slowly coming along...
Yesterday after a long day of working on Globe 5. Mr. Eleven emerged from his cave. He took one look at the globe and said, "I liked the color better yesterday, why would you change it"? Why indeed! Then he went back into his hibernation.

The truth is I liked it better yesterday too. But that isn't how it works. In order for a painting to have any life, there has to be a dialog. It indicates what it needs and I have to respond. It is not one sided. In fact it is many sided and complex...like a sphere. That is why it is so important to remain open and alert during the process, I have to react to these indications, from the globe, my surroundings, technical knowledge and life experience. My job is to be well informed of possible actions and solutions as well as being willing to take risks. Above all possessing the skill to carry it out.

I know these things. Yet it is a delicate balance and sometimes all it takes is an innocent comment, to send me and the globe crashing into desperation!

But not today.

There is too much to get depressed about to even flirt with that monster! I would rather look at puppies! Be inspired by the willingness of so many to seek a new direction in the face of truly scary things. To be inspired by that, faith. To see the small victories that occur around me. Like a little boy learning how to go number one standing up, for the first time!...(hooray for Angus!)

What I do isn't as grand as peeing standing up, for the first time. But I think it is important. But more important is synthesizing these elements and brave moments. Even if sometimes the color was better yesterday.

and onward we go....

Look Puppies!

I just found this...a live feed of puppies! Check it out...I am going to keep it on my computer screen while I paint. I love puppies!

Update:

I am keeping my head down and working. It doesn't look like much, but it feels right.

ONWARD!

globe5

I got some color moving through the globe yesterday. Building it up slowly. It is coming along...

Onward!

It's cold!

Frankenstein got a new coat!
It has a backpack, is reversible, has a hood and little pants that zip on the end for extra cool weather (not shown).




Frankenstein still thinks 32 degrees is too cold for a Chug.
TBIH thinks this backpack is perfect for hauling one beer for daddy.
I think I want a matching snowsuit!

another day another globe...

I got a very good start on the new globe. This is Globe 5. Somehow I was calling the last one Globe 5 but it is really Globe 4. None of this matters to anyone but me. But somehow I keep getting the numbers mixed up. In any case it is coming along quite well.

I love the surface and how the oil paint is going down on it. It feels good. This globe came from Jarvis. It was gathering dust in his moms back room. It is larger than the others and some how seems rounder. I hope I can find some more globes this size. I think I am going to have to start looking at resale shops for globes. The others, I found at Target. But they aren't carrying cardboard globes anymore. The last time I was there they only had metal cartoon looking ones. They make the continents look cute, more chubby and rounded and in raise relief. None of these things suits my purposes.

This one comes at an interesting time in world events. I was worried how to deal with all the change that is in the air. I have been painting about 'Change' since I left NY. It has gone from personal change to a time of change over the last year. Now it is really happening! Wow! Like anything else it is better to just live it and not talk about it. To my surprise once I loaded my brush with paint, images filled the four corners of my little globe quickly. It just happened...like change...
so here we go...
ONWARD!

Wow!

Obama Superman, close-up
Originally uploaded by HitOrMissJudy

I am still in shock. No words...lots of tears and a beaming inner peace.

Vote!

We did it!...Wow what a good feeling. We set the clock for a 5am wake up. Then, hit snooze a few times and drank coffee before heading to the polls. We saw cars driving backwards down streets and the recycle truck blocked the narrow traffic lane to the school. It is raining but just a drizzle, classic voting day weather. The line looks long but moves fast. After a half hour, they called all people with last names S-Z to jump to the head of the line! So I said so long, to TBIH and jumped to the front. All of us end of the alphabet folk rejoiced in finnaly getting to go first after years of being last letters. Voteing was easy and fast and exelerating!
I found The Head in line, then went to get the car to pick him up after he voted. He actually got to jump the line too when they called all M's up to the front. All in all it took about one hour, not too bad. I feel at peace.
Go vote it is good for you!