A day at the museum

Before our mini beach vacation we took a day trip to Philadelphia. I spent the entire day looking at art, while The Big Head, went to a biz meeting just outside of town. After my long day of walking and looking I sat on the steps to rest. It was very entertaining. There is a constant stream of people who park out front just to run the "Rocky" steps. They run, they strike their best muscle arms over head pose at the top of the stairs, get 'the' photo, then jump back in their cars and speed away.
It was nice to breath northern air again. To be in a big city. I chatted up all the guards just to hear them speak in a northern accent. But truth be told, when we did get back home we were both very happy to be back in VA and it really feels like home.
I will write more about the art I saw and these colored sculptures very soon....good stuff, connections and other museum related observations....onward..

A visitor to our yard

This turtle has been in the yard for about a week now. He mostly stays by the pond but sometimes cruses around the yard.
He doesn't much like Frankenstein's way of greeting...sniff-sniff! Later the Chug burred him, by pushing pine needles and twigs over our friend the turtle.

frankenstein's first look at the ocean

frankenstein's first look at the ocean
Originally uploaded by tracey st.peter

We are home! Here is a clip of Frankenstein first look at the ocean. We climbed into a life guard chair and watched the sun set. Frankenstein loved the beach! We ran and ran in the sand, he chased sand pipers down the beach, who squeaked just like his toys at home. As you can see my eyes are tired from our long drive and getting up early that day. But after a few days away, I feel recharged and ready for the Fall.
I will post more mini vacation photos later today. It is good to be back!
onward!

Update:

Just a quick post before we hit the road again. Yesterday was a marathon. We got up early and drove up to Philadelphia. TBIH dropped me at the foot of the "Rocky" steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Then went to a work related event just outside of town. I had a full day of art! I got to see the Alexander Calder Jewelry show. I will go into more detail later. But it was cool!

On the way home we met up with our good friend Kevin who I adore. We had a nice dinner and it was a nice break from our long drive. Along the way we listened to convention coverage on the radio. during our dinner conversation Kevin said he never read the comments on blogs, because they are too mean spirited. I agree. But I do read them. I had to question why I do. This morning it came to me. In NY when I walked down a street information was in the air. I was thinking of when we had the big black out a few years back. I was in a bargain store just about to buy some cute shoes, when the lights went out. I didn't know at the time that the entire city was having a black out...I found my way out of the darkness to the street, having to leave the shoes behind. I started to walk towards the subway. With every step I heard a few more words of info. Soon I learned, that all of NY and beyond had no power, that the subways were not running and I would have to walk all the way home across the bridge to Brooklyn. I never stopped walking and never talked to anyone. But I was fully informed.

The black out is just an example. My point is, just by walking down the street you get info and you hear what people actually think. That is why I get drawn into the comments on these blogs. (Birds and bees just don't give you that, not even Frankenstein does that) I am mainly talking about the political ones, I for instance wouldn't read comments on Perez Hilton.

We also had a fun get together on Monday...cute kids with cute Frankenstein!...it was really nice and I got to meet some new people, who were really cool. One little kid finger got shut in the door, poor little guy! But he is a tough little guy. I was the kid that got hurt at family events when I was a kid, so I related.

I better get packing, we have a beach to go sit on! I should be back and marching forward very soon! I am fueling up on ideas, images and taking time to contemplate. I am taking photos too, that I will share
...onward!

when the rain came...

It was getting pretty bleak around here. The river levels were super low, we were on water restrictions, then the rain came. Boy-oh-boy was it great! it rained for about 3 days straight. We had a bit of flooding on our back porch, but it went out as fast as it came in. The pond was actually over flowing. I went out and checked on the fish, I called down to them: stay low fishes!...Yes, I do talk to all the animals!
I found a turtle in the yard once the rain stopped, He was really cute. I haven't seen him for a few days. I guess he went back to the river. I lost the photo I took of him.
Today the sky is clear and the ground is still wet. The birds, bees flowers and trees are looking good again. But damn, I am going to have to cut the grass!..it grew a few inches in the time it took me to post this!

Update:

The Big Irish head is back! A lot has happened since my last post. For one thing we are now living in a Post-Civil Rights era. The drought we were struggling through here in VA,was broken by a wonderful 3 days of rain. My computer was down this past week (I lost a bunch of photos some cute Frankenstein photos and videos too). Needless to say, I have been plugged into TV politics...like a junkie for a week. I need to detox before I can get back to my work. It is going to be a thick, thorny path for us all to slog through till November. But the Head is back home! No more trips to the airport and hours of our lives spent waiting for delayed flights and lost luggage. It is time for us to get our home in order and refresh for Fall.

We have two mini trips planed for next week. One to PA where the Head has some business and I have The Philadelphia Museum of Art to visit. Then later in the week Frankenstein, TBIH and I will be enjoying a few days at the beach!

Mr.Eleven has been working in NY all Summer with a woman from NM. She got him the most awesome Mexican Wrestling Mask ever! She also gifted us some amazing chile peppers. Last night we boiled them and milled them and made a rockin chile sauce! We have a counter full of tomatoes from our garden waiting to be cooked. There will be a lot of cooking going down around here for the next few days!
I have a great start on the globe...it is very connected to what I witnessed last week. Living History as we all did. So much of what I learned and herd were the same things I am working on in my own work: Empathy; A world view; looking at things form a micro as well as a macro perspective and the power of telling the truth, to name the biggest ones. The philosophy is what I connect to. The ideas that I have been working through all my life. Striving for excellence and believing with every fiber of my being that hard work pays off. That, truth is power.

So for the next week I am going to be detoxing, looking at art, walking in the sand and getting reacquainted with The Big Irish head!..wink wink nudge nudge!

When next Monday rolls around I will be off and running!
I'll try and do some posts along the way.
till then...ONWARD!

globe update....

I began work on Globe 5 this week. I have been trying to squeeze as much studio time out of each day as I can, so I haven't been doing blog postings. I finally got my nerve up to paint in egg tempera. It is a very different medium than painting in oil. It is a much slower process, colors must be layered not blended. But I really like the idea of egg and pigment for the globes. It is much more 'green' for one thing. I do have this egg theme going, too. In fact in the last image, the rat is laying on an egg. I have eggs in most if not all the globes, although they are not prominent images in most. I love the softness of the egg surface. It feels velvety, smooth almost waxy. The colors are very translucent and really sing. I have a ways to go on this one, but I feel I have a good start.

I have to go pick the big head up from the airport later today...lets hope it is on time! I included an airplane in this globe..hmm, wonder where that came from?! as always...marching...Onward!