more, small things that make me happy...

My new clutch purse! I just got it yesterday and I love it.

I found it at my friend Noelle's etsy shop. I went there because Mrs. Brown posted about it. She is a cool, smart, funny person with great taste, so I went browsing. I bought a wonderful necklace from Noelle last year, it makes me feel pretty. If you know me, that is a huge accomplishment!
The purse is handmade, of a soft leather, the dark color is a gray-green similar to the grays I have been using in my paintings. The inside is the same light gray found on my pallet. The craftsmanship is outstanding, delicate detail, like I try to pull off. The connection that I love the most, that I didn't see in the photos, is, the depth, softness and poetry of the little object.

It is just a little thing and I love it!..it is as if it were always here...welcome home little purse.

Frankenstein Friday

I took the most adorable video of TBIH and Frankenstein snuggling this morning...unfortunately, The Head wont let me post it. Sure, he is in his underpants, but if you know Mr. Eleven you have most likely already seen him in his underwear. He promised me we could re-shoot it, once he has groomed and dressed for the occasion. Till then here is a still from this mornings cuddle.

I also posted a few sort videos, earlier this week, that only a mother could love, of Frankenstein...you can see them here.

coming round

Yes, I am still sanding. It is an interesting process. Taking a geometric shape and making it round. I was thinking of a quote I once herd by Michelangelo. In it he talks about uncovering the sculptural form that already exists in the marble. He simply removed what was not needed. Sanding the globes is like that in a way, obviously not as complex and what I am uncovering is a known. My job is simply to find the sphere. Believe me it makes it self known and when it does it is thrilling. A magical moment when the lumpy geometric form becomes a near perfect object. I am falling in love with the surface, its shell like quality, strong yet fragile, solid yet thin and hollow. All this, and I haven't even started painting them yet!
I am hopping to get all 3, round, by the end of the day...better get sanding!...Onward!

What is in the back yard....

This is pretty horrible and graphic...I was taking a break from sanding and looked out the kitchen window. I saw this! A hawk. not sure what kind yet, I'll look it up later. He was strangling this poor dove. The dove is looking up at him. When the dove stopped looking, the hawk flew away with him.
This morning the plants in the pond were all knocked over...I wonder if this guy tried to nab one of my fish? I did a head count and all the fish are safe. It seems whenever we are under drought conditions the hawks come and hunt in my yard. We are on voluntary water restrictions now. I hope we get some rain! Or, I will have to post more photos like this. The Hawk is so cool a pretty, but I feel bad for the dove and it's partner, who is now single.
Here is a photo of our frog, he lives by the pond. I see him every day. Just a bit of relief from the brutality of the photos above.

Still sanding...

I got a bit further along than this photo shows. I have painted some primer on the globes and now have to sand back into them. It will be a back and forth process all day. I am wearing my respirator, but I can still taste the ink from the paper in my mouth when I stop. The good news is they are coming around..looking round and smooth. The sander is saving me a lot of time and it is empowering. OK, got to get back to work...Onward!

globes 5 and 6

A few months back my friend Jarvis lent me his palm sander, for a log sanding project I have going. I haven't used the sander till today. He also donated 3 globes he had stashed at his folks house. The globes will be 4, 5 and 6 of my globe series. Today I got the bright idea of using the sander on the globes. On the first globes, I sanded by hand. Well, the sander works like a dream! Continents be gone!..no more mountains, just smooth round spheres!

Once the topography is sanded down the two hemisphere's need to be re-glued together. Most globes are held together with a tung and grove joint and a thin strip of plastic tape, or the equator. Once the tape is removed the globe needs to be glued to hold its shape ( that is what is going on in the photo).
The other globes took about a month to get prepped. So far with the help of the sander, I think I can get these guys ready in a few days! I love power tools!
...Onward!