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Actually, I am loving this severe heatwave. If I am not in our cool basement or some other air conditioned spot, our neighbor’s pool is the place to be. Other than floating around there I have made a few quick trips to check out the yard, where things are going crazy from all the rain and sun. There is so much blooming and it looks as if we are in store for a great harvest in the next month or so. I did a few of these little flower children today and there were so many great leaves and flowers to choose from. If you think these are cool check out this book by the amazing and prolific Elsa Mora. Stay cool!
I laid in bed snuggled under the covers listening to the radio until I heard the good news that the groundhog did not see his shadow this morning! Perhaps I am hanging my hopes on a superstition but though you can take the girl out of Pennsylvania…well, you know the rest. The sun is shining and I live in hope that at least in PA there will be only 6 more weeks of winter. In the meantime, we are bundled up to ward off the extreme cold with polar fleece vests, over sweatshirts, wearing our fingerless gloves and warm boots! This is a pair I painted for a friend, (many years ago) I hope they are still keeping her toasty and warm. She is a transplant from southern California and the climate change was quite a shock for her. I had never seen a pair of UGG’s until she asked me to “do something” with these, but then, she was always quite the trend setter.
Stay warm, spring is just around the corner! And if you have anything you want me to alter for you, just let me know…
I am having an attack of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) due to the fact that I am not truly a hearty mid-westerner, though I have played one on TV for the past 24 years. This cold is really getting to me and I need to snap out of it! I was looking through photos from warmer days so I thought I would share this one from Labor day weekend 2010. We usually go up to a friend’s cabin and there is lots of time to take walks in the woods, sit down by the lake on the dock etc… and this year I did a series of these little nature portraits. There was an abundance of great textures and I came back from a stroll with my pockets FULL. The first time I made stuff like this was about 10 years ago when I was doing a “portrait a day” inspired by an artist and teacher named Mimi Holmes. We were selling work in a local shop and this (project a day or week) was an idea she used with her students. About a year later I decided to do a self portrait a day for a year and when I was on vacation in Jamaica, I made some portraits from things I found on the beach and photographed them. Ever since then I have been doing them with stuff I find in the yard or wherever. My friend Elsa Mora did a book of amazing flower people a couple years ago, check it out, all of her work is spectacular. It may be time for me to do another project a day to re-focus and get my mind off this weather induced slump because we still have a few more months of winter! Anyhow, stay warm and keep working, I will do the same.
So it seems this was the season for practical gifting, altering, “pimping”, re-cycling, you get the picture. Our friend Marty (a fabulous photographer and film maker) made a comment about taking his lunch to work one day and Ted (my resident genius), came up with the idea for me to pimp him a lunchbox. I have lots of old camera parts from some previous scavenging so Ted ran to the local thrift shop and found this metal one. After a little paint and some attaching, voila! The effort was well worth the laughs we all got when Marty unwrapped it!
I had so much fun pimping these slippers for a very special person on my gift list! Hope you are all enjoying finding just the right thing for everyone on yours too. Enjoy the season and for those of you (like me) in colder climes, stay warm. Later…
I am hunkered downstairs in my studio which thankfully has lot’s of windows getting organized to photograph and start listing my new owls (see previous posts) and such on etsy and another site called bonanza.com which was mentioned by another artist I know. Anyone out there know anything about it or used it? These photos of my studio were taken at night, but during the day I am often startled by the deer and bunnies going by out there. They are all fluffed out because it is so COLD!
Owl 2
Thanks everyone for all the wonderful feedback this week! Here is another Owl. I will list a few on my etsy site as soon as I can! There were 16 of them total, down to 14 already!
Owl 1
I have had my head down in my studio making things for Holiday shows. Just finished this little batch of Owlets made from old wool and vintage buttons. I made nice hammered steel wire hooks for them too. Each are perched upon a twig from my local park. Pretty groovy huh? When I finished this morning I realized that Turkey day is almost here…I’m on it! Have a Happy one!
Will put up more new stuff soon!
We are back from the Minnesota Iron Range and a wonderful weekend at the Valentini family cabin with a gang of our friends. We relaxed, biked, ate, visited and sauna’d and now I am revived for my upcoming trip. Got some running around to do and then I am off to the airport! My friend Marty, filmmaker and photographer extraordinaire, did quick shots of some of the nature and junk yard “portraits” I made up north. I’ll leave you with this one, more to follow… Arriverderci kids!
A few weekends ago I took part in a Valentini dinner which was auctioned off at a Smile Network fundraiser. The Valentini family all grew up around Valentini’s Supper Club in Chisholm, MN. Needless to say, many of them are exceptional cooks. This event is always a lot of fun and raises money for a great cause. I am always happy to be an honorary member of the family for this event! I made the gazpacho, but this great photo is from photographer Marty Berglin. The rest of the menu was really spectacular too. Basil, nasturtiums and chives all from my garden!
Annie Singer's Artist Blog 