The Gospel according to Lace.

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Heaven and Hell

December 18, 2006

Its been difficult keeping things in order and getting everything done on time, but I've done it and continue to do it. Just yesterday, a Sunday, a client-on-hold finally emailed me to send some information on his site, which was partially paid for but never attended to because his office got so terribly busy. Everyone got busy including me. The De Medici Art Academy site and school are off and running. We have yet another meeting tonight with the instructors to give them their contracts and finalize participation. Should be simple. I'm not staying long. It is my time off, if there is such a thing.

Needless to say, I no longer put up with any excuses of not getting things done, not attending to obligations, not doing what one says one will do. Not anymore. When someone tells me "so sorry I'm late in getting this to you..." I will simply illustrate the reasons behind needing them to be responsible. I'm responsible, far more than ever, and there just isn't a good excuse, barring death and dying, that should keep anyone from doing what they say they're going to do.

Nope. Not any excuse at all. Either you're in or you're out.

Awaiting the Storm

December 7, 2006

Didn't I say I was not taking on any new work?  Would someone call me and remind me to shoot myself, please?

Excess Grub

October 29, 2006

You know you're eating too many chips when you're out of chip clips; you know you're eating too many left-overs when you're out of [Glad] [Ziplock] [Generic] food containers (I even run out of Ziplock bags); you know you're eating way too much cereal when there are no more spoons in the drawer.

Owner Recognition

October 26, 2006

This is an article about the owners of the Earth Gallery. It stuns me that, after such a short time of knowing these two fabulous artists, I feel like I've known them forever.....

Galas, Festivals and Art Shows

This is the season for all things outside, but down here in the balmy tropics, its raining. Again. The CAPS Gala is in a week and a half and I haven't a THING to wear. Last year I wore a gown (yes, it is formal) that I'd had for 5 years and had only worn once; I don't have just a whole lot of those! I have a gorgeous ivory/black gown that I wore to the law gala, but it is quite form-fitting and I'm a bit more voluptuous (read: chunky) than I'm accustomed to. Oh, I still weigh in less than 115, but at my age all the bulk tends to shift to all the wrong places. I'll try it on, then undoubtedly go a'shopping. Maybe my best purchase would be one of those body-cinching "girdles" that are so popular now. What the hell. After all these years of sucking in my gut, I've earned it. Click here to see the gown. It is reversible, with ivory on the other side. I hope it still fits.

The Renaissance Festival is going on, as well, and I have yet to find the time to attend. We need a dry weekend!!! I heard that it has come way up in the world and is now quite the fair to attend.

It is raining like crazy again and we've only begun to dry out from our last bout of flooding. I am on a pimple of sorts, on a bit of a hill that is considered a 500-year flood plain. Who knows, maybe it flooded 499 years ago and I'm due. So far the only water that gets into my house is in the very front of the garage. It seeps under the door. I'd installed (badly) a rubber stop, but it has a gap that just won't be filled. Smarmy little thing.

I painted last night on a piece that is 4' x 5'. I forget how much paint a canvas that size can take. I've also been working on three bronzed undie pieces and am about finished with two of them. I had sculpted a hanger onto the backs of the two thongs, then decided to cut them off. They just don't look great. I will end up hanging the thongs and perhaps the bra, as well. I have yet to hit on the perfect display for any of the pieces. A client who commissioned a few pieces has a company who installs all his art so I've asked to see the final result. He says the hanger is virtually invisible -- just what I'm after. I'll figure it out.

I'm working on a video that I taped of us kids at school doing the bronze thing. Its quite fun; I'll post it on google video once I get all the footage I need and get the audio in place. The audio is the most difficult part; so far I've simply put some music to it. It may remind you of an episode of Little Rascals....

Cat Herdin'

October 16, 2006

Dammit. I was sitting here on my lunch break, writing all about the flood, when the rains began again and knocked out ONLY my computer power. This is okay because I'm transfering all my old VHS tapes to DVD, a daunting task indeed, and I need that power going. Anyway, as I was saying....

[Save save save]

There's floodin' here in Texas. It something we've gotten used to down in these southern regions, but today 4 people have died. I know that two of them, women riding together in an SUV, had gotten caught in rising waters and when the waters began coming into the cabin, they crawled in the back and tried to kick out the back window. They drowned attempting to save themselves.

I was going to take my car in this morning after making the appointment for 7am then getting up at 0:darkhundred, but saw that the rains just kept coming and the bayous are all filled to their brinks. Its all my fault. I'd been wanting a few rainy days so that I could get some housekeeping done. Oops.

I rescued a kitten (again) about a week ago. I was driving home from school on Saturday and decided to take a different route to avoid the highway mess at a particular junction. While waiting at the light, I hemhawed (that means to vascillate) and almost took that messy highway anyway, but the light was long, there was a cop holding up the process, and I felt the highway mess was better left to the weekenders. I got in the proper lane then took a right onto an old highway road that hits my route about a half mile down.

Once I and about 3 other cars gained speed, we all noticed something in the road. The white company van in front of me just barely skirts this little thing, which was right in the tires' path, the little sports car behind the van swerving to avoid it as well. We all realized it was a small kitten. The sports car slowed down, but noticed that I was pulling over to the shoulder so it went on. I screeched to a halt then backed up at full throttle. The kitten, who had been cowered down and afraid to move, had made her way back to the concrete median and had gone to the other side. There were cars coming from the other direction, so she thought twice about jumping out and running. She tucked herself into the gutter on the other side not knowing what to do next.

I controlled traffic on my side, waving at the drivers to please slow down so that I could see about the kitten. On the other side the drivers saw that I was working, so they slowed down a bit. I approached the little girl and spoke soothingly, telling her she would be okay. She saw me and meowed a couple of times, never losing eye contact. She took a step toward me and I scooped her up and cuddled her. Turning around, I saw that all the cars had stopped. I guess they were animal lovers, too.

I put her into my vehicle, from the less noisy passenger's side, and she immediately crawled beneath the gas pedal. Well that wouldn't do, so I made a spot in the back for her. I fished her out from behind the pedals and placed her in the back. She crawled under the seat and made her own spot, purring the whole time. I knew right away she was a good cat. She was actually a tortoise shell, mostly black with a gold stripe from her forehead down past her nose. Beautiful amber eyes. I named her Katy.

I called my friend Jess, who volunteers with the CAPS organization to foster and adopt out "unwanted" animals, to ask him when I could take her in to have her processed for adoption. He said not to worry, he was on his way to come pick her up and he would take her in. Wow. I was so pleased. Jess has been a really good friend. He came and got her, saw that she was a very sweet little girl then made his way to CAPS where she was taken in and given the once-over by the doctors.

Jess called me Tuesday to tell me she had been adopted (on Sunday!)

Life is good.

Every 20 minutes or so there is a deluge of water outside. The bayous are swollen, the ground is soaked, and people have died today from the rains. I'm not sure when it will end, but it looks better throughout the week. We'll need the break.

The Fat Soprano

October 5, 2006

Well I feel like I've shut up long enough. Here I am, as are my consituents, remaining silent while DC is burning, the fat cats spewing all sorts of song about how they'd been victimized, so they can't help it when they do bad things.... and here we all are about to vote in a major election. We have a partisan "leader" or two now professing innocence-by-past simply by saying that, once it comes out that they've made some indiscretionary moves upon minors, suddenly they're not guilty because they had .... childhood problems. Or current substance abuse. Or just can't handle the heat.

Well boo hoo. I had a hole in my lung,so suddenly I gotta tell my docs "hey! its all because I spent a little time in smokey clubs twenty years ago" but its a damned HOLE IN MY LUNG. I got tons o' friends who were right there with me blowing smoke in my face and THEY don't have holes in their lungs. I could have blamed it on pollution, on geographical placement, on the stripping of the rainforests (which it most likely was) but I've got to work in the present and "fix" the hole before it kills me.

I've made bad choices in friends and men, as have all of us, so should I blame it on something my parents did or didn't do? how about blaming it on molestations as a child? cruel siblings?  How about, as an adult, I take responsibility and get therapy or go to counseling or journal out my life so I don't do any further damage?

Do I blame it on alcohol? Being boinked by a clergyman? Parental abuse? Its not like I've got my hand down the cyberpants of a page, thinking I'm going to get away with it. Its not like I'm channeling the voice of Jack Daniels telling me that a young kid is the way to go.

Blame, kids. We can't or don't want to take responsibility so we blame other people and things for our stuff rather than facing ourselves honestly and with great courage, then doing something about our shortcomings before they become the shortcomings of others.

Shatter me like a wine glass being sung to by a fat soprano.



More than a moment of silence.

October 3, 2006

We can all talk about the violence that is occuring on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis, but the frustration and anger, the confusion and the bewilderment, is nothing compared to what that perceived reality is. Perceived only because I would like to cling to the idea that everything is just an illusion. Our reality is only what we make it. But the heinous crimes that keep happening, and the rate at which they escalate in unbelievable acts, forces me to think that this reality is something that can never be denied.

God Bless the families and loved ones of those tiny little girls who experienced such terror before their lives were taken. God Bless their young, beautiful and extraordinarily important little souls.

If good comes out of adversity, its gonna be a hard press to find it in this.

But in this, lets all be a more like the Amish and simply forgive. Know that there was something here that we all needed to learn, even if it is only to love a little more.

Earth Gallery Show :: CD Release Party :: Birthday Bash

September 23, 2006

Yes, another art show at the Earth on September 29th, but this time it is Mandy's CD release party and birthday bash! They'd only told me about it last Monday so I cannot guarantee there will be anything new. I'd spent my time doing websites and getting caught up in school -- NOT painting and sculpting. Reality is the bane of most artists I know.

It should be a good evening but hell week til it arrives!



Gloss

September 13, 2006

The bourgeoning season finds me with more to do than I expected, with more websites, more art, more responsibilities than even I am accustomed to. Old things I've done before, new things I haven't. I can handle it. The one new thing, new responsibility I am tackling, is to fight my appraisal. Over the past three years it has been raised exponentially (as I'm sure everyone's has because of the bubble market.) I am gathering estimates, taking photos of all the cracks in my bricks and mortar, taking photos of the suspected crack houses right down the street, pooling everything together to let them know that a 37% hike in 3 years is insane considering I have not upgraded or updated the house since I bought it.

I've been creating torso molds of friends, gaining a lot of experience and practice with the Body Double (mold-making "rubber" they use in Hollywood to create their creatures and various body things) and honing my methods of building the mother-mold with the plaster cloth (gauze.) Last week I molded Kim's torso, this week Karla and I molded her friend who is about to give birth to her first baby, a little girl. Both sessions were so well done, but I have yet to see a casting from either one! This weekend I get molded. Karla and another friend are coming over to mold my torso. Yep, for the first time ever I will be the moldee. That sounds bad, but that's exactly what it is. Just be sure to emphasize the EE.

I am sculpting fish again, this time doing them just slightly different than before, giving them something other than fins. Its all experimental, I am making several so I can see what apparatus looks and works best with their bodies. But Aunt Lace, are you still doing Underware? I'm working on that. I have about run out of bras and thongs to bronze, but am putting out the word to all my girlfriends to THROW ME THEIR UNDERWARE! I'm like a female Elvis, without the music and the white jumpsuit (oh, and without all that money.) I guess Englebert Humperdink had women throwing their underware at him, too. I could be a female Humperdink. For you who've never heard of him, go Google.

Film Noir

August 30, 2006

Last night I did the most wonderful thing, something I usually try to do when I can -- I went to the Artery. Mark sent out an email to alert the troops that film editor Christopher Johnson was having a viewing of his pieces created for the Sierra Club. First of all, they were magnificent. Provocative, enraging, sensitive, they portrayed regular people -- just like us -- fighting for their lives, their land, the lives of their animals. Please take a look at the sites and the clips. It will be worth your time.

Episode 1: 9/11 Forgotten Heros http://www.sierraclub.org/tv/episode-911.asp

Episode 4: Range Wars Rage On http://www.sierraclub.org/tv/episode-range.asp

Back When Pluto Was a Planet

August 25, 2006

Ah how the days pass and the times change. I'm neck-high in tax 'cypherin', late for the first time in my tax-paying life because of filing as many extensions as legally possible, still celebrating a birthday that I plan on celebrating all year long, scratching out a space in time to create yet another work of art - an illustration for a book of song poetry. Now they're taking away Pluto and banning cigarette smoke in bars. I'm not a smoker, but can't imagine not allowing smokers to puff away as they chug down the booze.

We'll be telling our kids, "yeah, I remember the days when we could enjoy a good cigarette while slamming down tequila... back when Pluto was a planet."

There promises to be a lot of bitching.

I, myself, am sucking on some rather magnificent coffee. It hasn't hit the market yet, but a friend brought some over for me to taste test this morning. It is infused with lovely things like green tea, ginko biloba, anti-oxidants, rosehips, ginseng, making for an even more healthful coffee experience. Spava, Coffee for Healthy Living. The marketing company handling the design may change the name, but here it is for now. You can tell people you heard it here first.

Mirror Mirror

August 16, 2006

For a couple of years after buying my house I never noticed it. I'd get dressed, put on my makeup and go about my day. Then I realized that, no matter how I felt, there was one particular mirror in my house that always returned a good image -- no matter how I felt and no matter how I should have looked. I began noticing it more when I began "feeling" older, working harder, suffering through more stressful situations.

This mirror, whose eye seems to be imperceptibly softer than others, is a simple little bathroom medicine cabinet mirror, probably not the original to the house (built in 1955) but old nonetheless. The lighting in the bathroom is not the best, unless its daytime with the sunlight coming through the window but even then the light is uneven and unpredictable. It never mattered. It never mattered how hungover I was, how tired or freshly out of bed I was, because this mirror has always reflected wonderful things about my face.

I will say that there have been a couple of times when I was so haggard that even this mirror couldn't help, but those were rare and all other comments of the looking glass were complimentary, even glowing.

No other mirror in the house has been able to do this. No other mirror anywhere (that I know of) can be this consistent. I've been redoing the other bathroom, the guest bath, painting, installing a new light fixture (yay me!), hanging art. I stepped back to admire my work and, lo, but there I had created a perfect sanctuary that allowed this second medicine cabinet mirror to reflect a rather fine image of a tired girl. I know these reflections can't be the ultimate truth as to my appearance because of my extreme exhaustion, but it is uncanny how they now both tell me something I can't feel myself.

I have guests coming in from out of town, an enormous function all day and night Saturday, more websites awaiting me, more art pressing into me, a commission piece almost finished, and 3 new projects at work. But these two mirrors tell me a different story. They seem to be detecting some tranquil, calm, young, energetic person in there.

I choose to believe the mirrors.


Lets Give the Brits an Applause!!

August 10, 2006

In traditional fashion, the British have stepped up to the plate and have thwarted a major terrorist attempt at downing airplanes flying out of Great Britain to the United States. I am extremely impressed and emotionally moved.

Thank you to the authorities who have worked to squash the terrorists' efforts. God bless you all.

Earth Gallery Exhibit, July 28, 2006

August 2, 2006

As Promised...

There will be yet another soirre at the Earth Gallery on Saturday, August 5. The owner called, saying that he's secured a keg of beer and that it should be a really fun evening. No doubt in my mind. He and his wife are terrific people, musician artists who have quite a flair for making things exciting.

Graphoanalysis

August 3, 2006

Many years ago I took several courses in graphoanalysis. I never became an expert, but those courses were enough to allow me to analyze my friends' and family's handwriting to determine what personality traits and characteristics were stronger than others. Today, while journaling in my notebook, I began wondering (again) why the hell I have such sharp-pointed letters and no matter how I try, I cannot make them rounded.

I went online in search of the answer. Lawd, if only I'd had the web that many years ago....

All those lessons, information, meticulous attention to detail with the handwritings, all came back to me. I found out about the points (and, no, they were NOT the result of a latent murderous personality) -

V-WEDGES FOR MIDDLE M, N-BOTTOM BASELINE INTERSECTIONS - ANALYTICAL THINKING sorts and separates information in assessing their value, evaluates information and supporting patterns.

NEEDLE-LIKE POINTED MIDDLE M, N-TOPS - COMPREHENSIVE THINKING keenly alert to and the rapid grasp of situations or information, understands information.

INVERTED V-WEDGES MIDDLE M, N-TOP - INVESTIGATIVE THINKING searches for originals sources, wants to learn and to explore.

No surprises there (!!) I decided to submit to an analysis of my handwriting on a website that returns a detailed explanation of the subject's characteristics, using a lengthy questionnaire and many different writing styles as examples. It took almost 20 minutes to complete and I was quite amazed at how detailed the results were.

I won't bore you with the long, drawn out conclusions of my personality, some of you already know my foibles, but I felt it crucial to list one or two major traits that it reported:

... and this indicates that the subject is highly intelligent (scoring 4 out of a possible 5 in the IQ categories). She has the intellectual capacity that would enable her to be successful in a career such as accountant, lawyer, doctor or university lecturer.

Well, duh. I'm thinkin' I'm gonna be me a university lecturer. Walk in there, step right up to the podium and start talkin. They'd sure appreciate havin' them a lecturer as smart as me. All I gotta do now is figgr out what to talk about....

Catching Up

July 20, 2006

Photos of the Mindpuddles show:

http://www.laceycrawford.com/flash/menu_show.html

I'm not real sure what that look was on my face, but probably something like "do you know which button to push on my camera?"

The Shows

July 10, 2006

There was not one, but two shows last week, both good, both important, both intense, but they were also equal in fun and merriment, frolick and romping. Allan Rodewald's Studio Art Show was the Friday before last week (June 24th) and was also fantastic. I'll post picts of all three shows when I am able.

Just about everyone I invited came if they could. In fact, my sister who lives 250 miles away flew in with her son and husband to surprise me and surprised I was! She had called me from her home as I was getting prepared for my evening; I didn't even suspect that she would be able to make it. She even said she really wished she could be there with me. She was. It was wonderful.

I was busy all night schmoozing and chatting up, meeting old friends and meeting new ones, seeing people I hadn't seen in forever. They had come to reconnect and to view my latest creations. What a splendid night I had... we all had. I ended up meeting some friends at Escalante to have a couple of margaritas. During my second, it became very clear that one would have been enough; I awoke the next day wondering what the hell they put in them. Lesson learned.

My art was a hit, the bras being the best in my collection. Yay. The show was a success. I'm glad it came, and I am glad it went. High stress gone docile, I feel a bit out of sorts because I don't have any art to accomplish (yet.) It is time to usher back in the Muse. After my vacation.

~~~

I've found myself in limited capacity for doing anything personal and computer related -- it is as if I am allowing myself WORK AND ONLY WORK when I sit down at my desk. Seems I've hit a snag with my own site's development. I have a great new design that I would like to implement, but know that it will take awhile to figure out code, placement, language, but that it will be worth the effort. I go on (official) vacation this week but only for a week or so. I am due for the rest. I need sleep, recuperation, brain sieving. Need to squeeze out all the glomph that has accumulated over the past 6 months and catch my breath.

Upon my return to the living, I have an enormous project I will be starting with the Nations' law site: Navigation. Companies have paid tens of thousands of dollars to find out what the best forms and placement of site navigation are and I intend to use that collection of information to revamp our own breadcrumb trails.

Hence the vacation.

Release

June 28, 2006

There is a lot to be said for hard work, but I won't get into any of it here. There is far more satisfaction in speaking of the relief I felt when that hard work was over. It wasn't the lovely relief of a job well-done, but the simple release of toil, letting go of something sharp and hard, having the chance to rest at last after a very difficult and harrowing journey. The assemblages are up and running and on the Brand Spanking New Comprehensive Art Page.

Scroll down to the bottom to find the Assemblages. These will be in the Mindpuddles show on the 6th. What an evening it could be. Frankly, I would just like to get through it unscathed, but history has proven that artists don't remain unscathed at exhibits. I risk a lot putting my soul out there for everyone to see. All artists do. Few realize the mental torture some can go through waiting for the applause... or the rotten tomatoes. Even fewer know that we are human, too, and it is a blow to overhear someone say "what on earth were they thinking?"

I've never heard it of my own art, but when at an art festival did hear a woman say "that's shit" about someone else's work, and the artist was standing about 2 feet away. Lets hope my tender and delicate cochlea only hear angelic comments from the good people of the land.

Mistakes are my life.

June 7, 2006

I write because I haven't. I write because I don't know how else to live. I write because I don't know what else to do. Its been ages. I know some of those who used to check in to see what's up with me have fallen by the wayside, whatever the hell the wayside is. My life has been profoundly changed and stirred, churned and manipulated.

I got an email from Lucy tonight. Lucy is my mentoree, my child whom I'd been linked with in the I Have a Dream foundation exactly 4 years ago in May. Lucy just graduated high school. Lucy is going to college with a nice little scholarship from IHAD. Lucy is brilliant, and I just learned tonight that she is far, far brighter than even I knew.

After receiving her email about bizarre and violent dreams she'd been having, I talked to her about dream interpretation. I have had vivid, colorful, intense dreams ever since I was a tiny little girl. I even remember a very lucid dream from when I was about 3 or 4. I have strong waking memories from my earliest days, but dreams were also a part of my consciousness from a very young age.

It is good that she emailed me and good that I got to talk to her. I needed that and I hope I helped her through her spot. At the moment she called, I had just had yet another major upset, one of two major upsets in only one day (they usually come about once a week or so lately because of the workload) and I needed a diversion.

I had been putting together one of the last in my assemblage series for the show in July, to be delivered in just a couple of weeks. It was a perfect piece. I shall call it "Head." It states that man's brain is not empty. It has beautiful bronzed wings, tiny wings that I created for the piece. It was assembled on a wooden board and the board was to be attached to a small transom window, complete with the old wavy glass that had been there all these many years.

Because I have made so many strange mistakes with these difficult and complex pieces over the last few months, (and made a major mistake in my day job's work - found only today ) I wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. All the graphics were in place, measured and placed so carefully. All the elements had been attached to the board, the wings in place, the pocket watch and parts laid out so delicately. I went over the work with 3 coats of very thin wax, a sort of varnishing that will preserve it for all of eternity.

The transom frame was measured several times over the last month while I created the pieces for the work. I placed the transom over the board that contained the art many, many times, measuring again and again. I'd already screwed up the cowgirl piece, and am working on that to make it right again. I didn't want to screw up the Head piece.

As I drilled the holes for the screws, I kept raising the board up so that I could blow the tiny wood shavings away. I didn't want to have to take it apart like I'd done with the Cabaret piece. I actually had to remove the board from that one 3 different times. The last time I took that apart, I decided to gorilla glue the screws in so that they would never come out.

The old wavy glass on the Head piece was perfect, with the old wood transom framing the art. It all had this beautiful glow. In went the screws. I even picked up the piece several times to view the front again, to make sure there were no shavings, to see that the pristine white of the board remained perfect.

9 screws held in the board that held the art. 9 screws went into that heavy old transom with its wavy glass that showcased my idea so beautifully. It took me well over two hours just to clean, measure, protect and ensure that this would be a great success.

After screwing in the last screw, I suddenly heard a loud "POP".

I knew what had happened. I just didn't know why.

I clapped my hand over my mouth like those old 60s sitcoms when the kids did something wrong and dad hadn't gotten home yet. I stood there for the longest time not wanting to face the Head. I didn't turn the piece upright. I stood there looking at the blonde, striated birch wood of its back, knowing what was on the front, only not knowing how bad it really was.

I felt like a goddamn fool for the second time today. The first major mistake involved potential plaintiff cases with the law office (all fixed and repaired) and now this was the second major mistake and I couldn't believe it. I felt that I had failed the piece, had failed at my work, and that all these months of toiling away had been so pointless. I could do nothing but sit where I was, bring my knees to my face and cry. It was such a beautiful piece, several of my friends said it was their favorite. I laughed, too, because the intensity was just too much, just too obvious.

I just got a note from the gallery, who is exhibiting the new work, that they'll be changing the date yet again. I have sent out two emails with a date change so, at this point, I can't care anymore. For months I have put friends off, lost accounts, screwed up situations because I needed to create. I wanted to make great work for what I thought might be a great show. I guess I was the only one taking it seriously. I can't care anymore.

I turned the piece over and saw the spidering of the old wavy glass.

What now. Such a surreal moment. So stressed. Lucy's dreams. Broken glass. Tears on my keyboard. A cowgirl coming out sideways. No firm art date... again.

Relaxed

July 3, 2006

I went by this weekend to gloss up a bronzed bra and see my works hanging in the gallery, ready for Thursday's show. I was worried about them before, I am not worried now. They look fantastic. Navid did them beautiful justice. I was told they were still awaiting yet another artist's work - a week late at that point - but I guess some artists just don't do well with deadlines. Hey, if I'd had an extra week??? I came out with so much in just a couple of last days that an entire 7 days would have brought forth at least another assemblage, certainly another painting.

I gotta admit: I'm curious to know which artist it is who is holding up the show's preparation...

This week I complete the code for another law site. I'm excited about getting this one done simply because the client is such a great guy to work with. My previous client... well, ongoing client... hasn't gotten back to me with their content so its hanging in limbo. If there is anything I abhore it is limbo. But they are busy and I am patient, so I continue to wait. I am not taking on any more work until late August, in favor of doing well on this last site and beginning another series of art works that will top the last. That, and the task of redesigning this very site you are eyeballing right now.

This is real progress.

I'll be working on July 4th, "Independence Day", because I would like to keep my own independence and will do so by working. Certainly makes sense to me.

in the mix

April 12, 2006

Quite a few of you have emailed asking what has happened to me. Thank you for those emails and yes I am still alive and kicking. So much happening its difficult to keep up with myself, but I do find that blogging helps release some of the muck. I've been so damned busy that I have lost my journal. It is around here somewhere. Speaking of here: I either need to finally get a maid or get my ass in gear some Saturday morning to mop down this house. I am a neat and a clean freak and seeing dust is driving me insane.

Short trip.

I am almost finished with one commission, ready to move on to the next one in line and very happy for it. Problem is: plaster and hydrocal are NOT sculpting medium - they are casting material. I've been asked to "sculpt out" a cast I've made and good God it has been difficult. I've had to allude as much to the client, but he seems sympathetic. Neither of us realized the scope of the work we wanted [me] to do.

But it is working. I'll post picts of the finished piece once I plug in the camera and download the photos.

There was a study done recently that found we are only two thirds as productive as we were 10 years ago. I don't believe that at all. I think we are 50% MORE productive, that the study was flawed in that they didn't measure the amount of work we did then compared to what we are faced with today. We now have twice the amount of work as before so we are all beating our wings as fast as we can to keep up with all that has been handed to us.
I know I am.

I am embarking on the pieces for the art show in July, planning them all so carefully for the amount of labor and embellishments that will go into the art. Flourishes untied. Mind explosions. Seductive imagery designed to invoke your own creativity. That is only part of the plan, the conceptual part. The other parts include function, material, order, emotion. Just thinking of it releases all this pent-up excitement, so I'll save that for the moment I float into the studio.

Life Again

March 31, 2006

In case you were interested in buying up a few adult palms, a friend of mine, Darren Oeschler, is moving to Costa Rica and is selling his land and his prized palm collection (or both.)
http://www.dopalms.iconx.com/

Daylight savings a month earlier?  I couldn't find much on this with google, at least not with my search strings, but here is the gist:

Daylight Savings

On August 8th, 2005 US President George W.Bush (go to Google, type in "miserable failure" then hit "I'm Feeling Lucky) signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

This included the extension of daylight savings time. By March of 2007 daylight savings time will be extended by two months in the United States (one month earlier – one month longer) from March 1st through to the end of November.

This fall Alberta Chambers conducted a survey, via fax and email, to see if Alberta should follow the lead of the US. A total of 448 responses were received and although results were mixed, almost 72% agreed that Alberta should extend daylight savings time to match that of the US. Further results of this survey indicated that Alberta Business felt in change would have little to no impact on their business practice. When asked if they felt this move would reduce energy consumption the opinion of business was divided.
[either Alberta has a very sparse population, or they're not much interested in anything daylight savings related. -lc]

After a short break from the blog and a whirlwind of job activity, I decided a short entry was in order. I had my first productive evening last night, and used it planning my painting series and... cooking. I did a run to Central Market, picking up several much-needed things, including the ever present oddity. I always try to get something I've never had before, whether it is a wine, a type of condiment or spread, or some other such delicacy. Yesterday's was Barnier black olives, cured with garlic in oil and herbs. Fabulous. I also purchased a hunk of Valhrona chocolate to send to my sister in Dallas who adores dark chocolate as I do.

I sauted some shitake mushrooms, then some quartered and gutted jalapenos, then prepared my world-famous (depending on how far-reaching Dr. Weil's site goes, anyway) Kale. I usually call it "Roasted Kale," but last night decided to try dehydrating it rather than roasting because my oven tends to heat up the entire block when I turn it on. I've had one of those layered food dehydrators for years and used to use it, but had to dig it out and clean it up for its next task.

I cleaned the Kale then tossed it in olive oil and lemon juice (I use unfiltered Italian or Spanish olive oil because they contain even more of the great things that olive oil is known for) then added a little salt, shook it all off, and placed the leaves on the trays and plugged it in.

This morning the kale was completely dessicated, almost crunchy, so I'll leave them there another several hours. When I roast the kale, it comes out very crisp and loaded with the tartness of the lemon juice. I had put this recipe on Dr Weil's site and got a ton of responses from it. Wow! Who knew peeps would actually enjoy roasted kale! Even Andrea at the office, one who (at the time) rarely ate anything truly healthful, said it was wonderful. I eat it in place of my beloved and much-missed popcorn, which turns to pure sugar in my system.

After all that I sat down on the sofa with a notepad and pen and planned / dreamed / envisioned my next several works. This is a more involved and time consuming process than I can relay here, but it is the general process by which I delve into my next big thing.

Meanwhile, I will continue to sculpt wings, undies, boobs and various other fine things.

Blue Paradise Found. Again.

March 16, 2006

I am exhausted. I've been obligated to do something with someone every night this week, and tonight is no exception. I am going with Amy to see Bob Schnieder for the "tent show" ... and I'm told it is going to rain. I also have class tonight. Lawd knows how on earth I'll manage to do both. I used to hold two full-time jobs.
I was younger then.

For two weekends I have been digging around in my garden and I see tremendous results. My first task was to move my compost pile. This is quite similar to moving a mountain. Rather than turn the thing every week or so, I create it for two years then move it. Everything at the bottom is lush and loamy; everything at the top gets moved (and is now on the bottom of a new pile.) I saw all kinds of poly'legged pests including Chinese cockroaches, Mexican cockroaches, American cockroaches.... but  I gotta thank them for eating and pooping and making some generally usable compost for my garden. [The day after the last moving I had the exterminators come out to spray a wide girth around the house's exterior. They used synthetic chemicals. I couldn't be gladder.]


That's the compost pile on the left, next to my old red shed, with about half removed.

Halfway through moving the compost pile I'd barely made a dent, but the new pile was as big as the old piled started out to be. I fluffed it up nicely. I would pile a lot of the leaves and clippings into my wheelbarrow, water that down a little with my hose, water the old pile a little as well, roll the barrow over to the new spot and dump it, then water that in. Between each layer I would add sugar, molasses, old stuff from the kitchen (irish oats, lentils, etc.) then water it in again.


Not really finished, but about 2/3 the way there.

After awhile I had a fairly nice pile. This pile will sit there for a couple of years or more. I installed two trellises in front of the pile, first staining them a cedar color to match the fence that we put up 3 years ago. In front of the trellises I planted Carolina Jasmine. These should take to the area very well and cover the trellises in no time. I wanted to put in Lady Banksia rose, but couldn't find any this year. Either they aren't available or they've been bought up.

My second task (done while tackling the first task) was to create an "island" around the tree right in the center of my yard. This tree, a white oak, is about 50' tall and is the only tall tree in my yard (I have a 4' Bald Cypress given to me by my friend Patty, and a Varnish tree my grandmother gave me that is already over 12' tall, and many banana trees my naybers next door were trying to kill in their yard, so they gave them to me as I was building my fence 3 years ago.)

The oak really needed some dressing up. I used the compost to build up a raised bed, then put in Elephant Ear, bromeliad, Plumeria, canna, fern, and a small plant I've had a long time that hadn't done well in any other part of my garden - a night-blooming Jasmine. Its a big island. We'll see how all that works out.

In the space where the compost pile was (and some compost still is) I will build another island. I will put my fig tree here and figure out what else loves full hot sun.

Don't be surprised at my gardening skills and love for plants -- I've been an organic gardner since I owned my first house. For about a year after that first home purchase, I used malathion, diazanon, etc., because that's what my mother and grandparents told me to use for bugs. After that year was up, I hadn't gotten rid of anything in particular but noticed an influx in white flies. These critters are very hard to get rid of because they've become resistant to most pesticides (in certain areas) and attacked my garden because I DID get rid of all the beneficials.

I wanted to cry. I probably did. I began researching organics and found Safer Soap and diatomacious earth, products I still use to rid my garden of nasty things like scale, aphids, snails. With one application the white flies had all but disappeared, a second application meant they weren't coming back.

Within one year the Lady Bugs came back, within the next year the frogs (an extremely important barometer for ecology) came back. Then came the lizards. Then came the earthworms. Before too long, my garden looked even better, greener, and grew a little "fatter" and stronger than before. I don't use synthetic fertilizer because it is identical to body builders using steriods. It may cause tremendous growth spurts, green things up verily, even produce perfect fruit and flowers, but it shortens the life of plants and can even transform them into parent plants that produce weak or deformed offspring. It also leaves a soil residue that remains in the soil forever and can be toxic to plants over a period of time.

My favorite organic fertilizer is Cottonsead Meal. It has a great nutty smell and can acidify as well as nurture grasses, trees, flowering plants, fruiting plants, and can enrich the soil over a period of time so that the soil is naturally aerated from the support of microbial activity. This is what you want, kids. Its not the product that actually causes health in a plant, it is that it supports life in the soil and frees up nutrients and minerals crucial to plant development.

A mixture of molasses and apple cider vinegar do the same thing. They cause the soil to do its work so that the plant reacts naturally and not as if it is on steriods. You're left with very healthy plants, very healthy soil, and years of continued growth from the same plant (rather than relying on offspring, as is the case of grasses.) The very best fertilizer, taken from the Native Americans, is fish emulsion. The NAs used to bury a fish at the base of corn plants and would have great crops year after year, while the residue from the dead fish would strengthen and enrich the soil continuously.

I use it. It stinks, but its great. It hardens off plants before winter, and causes them to become more drought and heat tolerant during these scorching Southern summers. Still stinks.

Carded and Reassembled

February 25, 2006

Yesterday, as I was checking out at Central Market, the woman checker looks at my bottle of Loredan Gasparini Prosecco, then runs it past the laser light. She looks at me. She grabs my coho salmon and runs it through. She looks at me again. She asks "can I see your ID?" I said "excuse me?" but only because I wasn't sure why she was asking. This doesn't happen anymore. Its an anomaly. Sheer oddity. I said, with glee, "SURE!" and showed it to her. She takes a look at it, then glares at me. She was just about my age (or I hers?) and didn't seem very happy that I was looking not like the "middle aged" woman I am, but like someone trying to pull something over on her. In more ways than one.

[did she really think some 20-year-old would buy Prosecco and coho salmon, or did she even give a damn?]

How often should one rearrange their office, unplugging, dusting, blowing out the computer guts, reorganizing the set up? I feel like I just did this, but think it may actually have been about a year ago. My how time slips right through my life. I gotta do it again. I gotta hide/sell/refurbish my old computer and use all that wasted space. I gotta get organized once again. Actually, I didn't do the full circuit that first time around, when I painted my office this lovely butter yellow. I simply must go through and throw away files, burn false finances (checks, anything with my SS#, bank statements) and make a general and wide sweeping of this little 8' x 8' space. It is time.

Then I'll do my closet from hell, the second bedroom I turned into my major closet / sewing space about 6 months ago. Then I'll do it to the front bedroom. Then the studio/garage. Then my bedroom. Damn how things got a little behind...

I decided that, rather than trek up to the school once more this morning, then have to get out again in this very nasty weather this evening, I would stay in and get a few things done around here. I can only take a bite at a time in this enormous elephant. There is much to be done, much that was left for another day when things got so hectic. They are still hectic, but I have been able to streamline the work. 15+ new medical sites to put into place or redirect for the law firm. More coming in every day. Ouch.

The Ishmael Affair

February 23, 2006

Attending The Artery last Sunday and joining with the Houston Ishmael group, I was also introduced to the Childfree movement. It has been in existence since the 70s, but took on steam in the 90s with the help of a few key people. I've always been childless though I love children, always saw my energies better spent on those who are living rather than create those who would need by nature. There are a lot of "parents" out there who don't care for their children. The prison systems (and various other places in the nation) are loaded with the negative results of these parents.

Ishmael is a book written by Daniel Quinn that illustrates the urgency to save the planet from mass extinction due to human presence. I had a ... a disussion with the friend of a friend at lunch a few days ago that proved to me that so many people just don't get it. I said it would be a horrible thing to see the last gorilla, or tiger, or jaguar die. He said there are plenty of zoos with these animals in them. I asked if these animals really belonged in zoos. He said something discompassionate such as "of course."

That is a very sad thing.

I know exactly what makes a person think such things, but know that it will take a silent shift in conscience to change our current situation. No guns, no bombs going off, certainly no terror. Terror and the implements of war achieves little in the way of pure freedom. Sure, we've been using them for centuries. Who is truly free? America and Great Britain may "own" and occupy a big hunk of the planet, but are its people living an entirely free existence, or are they chained to something deeper that causes them to perform for the benefit of their governments?

Okay, off the soapbox. I saw where that was going and I don't have hours to go on about it. I would much rather save that for a discussion and not a soliloquy.

I met with Martin de Vore yesterday afternoon and had such a lovely time discussing things he knew more about than me. Very intelligent and man-about-town kinda guy. Fascinating chat on webbing, arting, cohorting. I look forward to coffee and talk when the time allows. Speaking of, I'm meeting Amy of Sippora fame for chai tea this morning.  I haven't seen her in a short while so we should have much to discuss. Girl talk!

Casting Forward

February 19, 2006

My cats' former foster parents periodically send me their online photo album, so I thought I would share it with you. My two babies are Moxie Picasso and Cat Ballou Decarte (Moxie and Bleu, respectively):
The Album

February 18, 2006

I practiced moulding the body twice on my friend, Robin, the first session a wash because the alginate I used wasn't pure, the second a great success for using Body Double - a more permanent rubbery material that allows for several castings with just about any medium. I have hydrocal, a stronger version of plaster, that I will cast her piece in. I trek out today to do the actual commission mould/cast and feel somewhat of an expert after doing 3 body parts in 3 weeks.

With the hydrocal I can give it an array of finishes, including painting it with metal emulsion then patinating that surface to bring out the details. I can also leave it white, which I just might do. She wants to do me so that I can experience what the model goes through on one of these sessions. Good idea. I had her lean very slightly against a board so that there would be no sliding, but I don't think we needed that because the Body Double sticks fairly well in spite of using a great deal of release "cream" (a very sticky vaseline-like substance.)

So today is the final analysis and I expect it will go well. Mouldingly. Castingly. This session will end up a bronzed piece. This will go to the "owner" of the body, while Robin's and my castings will stay in my collection. I have a hell of an idea for my own piece. As you can imagine, it won't be ordinary and it won't be rated G.

Thank you to Martin de Vore for mentioning The Artery, Mark, and myself in your Tribal Report column on Art Valet Houston. You spin a great tale of your travels about town and give so many people their 15 minutes of fame. Thank you for such great readings. It reminds me of my quest to attend more art shows and snap back into the social scene. We all know I've been away awhile, a little bit older, somewhat sadder and a whole lot wiser.
(as Robert Preston said in The Music Man, the sadder but wiser girl for me!, so it can't be all bad.)

The Artery this Sunday holds quite an evening for the fans of Daniel Quinn, author of Ishmael, Tales of Adam, Story of B. He will be there for the local study group who focuses on his works, but also for those who have and haven't read his books. I read an excerpt from his Tales of Adam, and I now wouldn't miss the event for all the mornings on earth.

Casting the Body

February 11, 2006

By the way, oops on the year thing. What's worse than writing '05 a month into '06 on your checks? Copy/pasting '05 into your '06 babblings over and over on your log page.

Just finished a test casting on a friend to prepare for a commission casting next week. I'm forging ahead a woman informed. To cast first in a rubbery mold, pour wax into that, then bronze the wax -- a feat to behold. And so it will be.

More news as it happens.

Toga!

January 24, 2006

It is almost this month's end and I am almost on vacation. This means, of course, that all the day job's projects will pile up and I will have to beat my wings very fast to get things done before I take off. I can handle it...

The art show at Sippora last Saturday night was a blast. Amy was festooned in a gorgeous Egyptian queen's attire, a black Cleopatra'esque outfit that suit her so well. Maia had dressed almost the same, building her gorgeous little outfit of clingy gray material, but it went so well with her blonde hair and skin tones. She had donned her two kids in fabulous little toga style drapings of the Roman senate - Austin was a Roman senator, Ashley in a scribe's attire.

My own Egyptian costume worked very well. I had purchased a set of cheap sheets but found the material to be quite gauze-like, so I spent part of Friday ripping up the sheets (therapeutic as hell) and tying the strips to various parts of my body to mimic a rather unravelled mummy. It was original, a couple of women saying that I looked like something wild and urban, right off a fashion runway. It was unusually creative, if I say so myself. Here are the pictures...

I actually sold three small paintings. I felt the show was a great success because of that, but we all had so much fun that the sale was just icing on the party cake. Thank you to my buyer who made my evening complete.

Thank you to all who came and enjoyed our toga / Egyptian party at the Ancient Languages art opening.

We All Shine On

January 21, 2006

I'm beginning to find the space to breathe again. I delivered the last of the paintings for the Ancient Languages show a week and two days ago, I delivered the last in the series of three sets of undies a week and two days ago, I completed and published the first of two medical sites this past week, and I publish our second medical site Monday or Tuesday of next week.

In my life I have developed some rather profound traits within my character, but these past few weeks have pushed me to prove something new to myself. I can do it, and I just might be able to do it all. No superwoman here, just a woman. That has always been enough.

I have a very special weekend planned: the Ancient Languages art opening is tonight so I have a few minor touches to put on my Egyptian costume and a few errands to run today. Tomorrow belongs to me... until around 3 or 4pm when my ex-fiance drives into town and comes over to try and convince me of why he and I should get back together.

Follow-up: it never happened. I haven't heard from him since. Glad I didn't take that bait.

In Search of Beauty

January 9, 2006

I'm patinating tonight. 'Just shut down from the site's demands and am finally patina'ing the last in the undies series. They will be red (we hope.) I finally landed on a recipe that MIGHT WORK. Wow. It just might work. So here it goes...

I purchased a big stock pot today that may be able to fit each piece, one at a time, in its belly. Its enameled. I only paid $10 for it. I read the recipes over and over and decided on the red satin / red orange satin mix. Got it out of The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals by Richard Hughs and Michael Rowe, a British book. I got to convert all kinds of measurements. I began experimenting yesterday, SERIOUSLY experimenting, deciding that "boiling emmersion" was the only real route, the only true way to achieve what I wanted. Damn I'm demanding. I read up on message boards and it seems no one knows a true and good way to achieve red on metal with patination.

I decided to try a "spare" piece or two first to be sure it will work, landing my eyes on my sculpted and bronzed wings, as I locked up the big cats in the front room and the little cats in the back room. No room for mistakes or chemicaled cats 'round here. I donned my rubber gloves, my mask, opened quite a few windows, poured myself a glass of red, then mixed up the chemicals. My kitchen looks like a scientist's laboratory. Several grams of cupric sulphate (to do the pieces I'll have to dump the whole container into the pot) and a couple of ounces of ammonia. I'm not sure whether I'm getting high on the wine... or the fumes.

I just lifted out the wing and a small "splatter" of bronze that I had to experiment with, and the color seems okay. There are spots of this gorgeous irridescent, lustre orange/red. This is what I want on the whole piece. I'll leave it in a little while longer. They say after a few minutes the lustre begins, then it deepens. Maybe I used too much ammonia. Maybe my conversions were off. Maybe I'm just impatient.

Maybe I'm high on both the fumes and the wine... I best put my gas mask back on.

....

I just mixed up the remainder of the cupric sulphate and a few ounces of ammonia. I'm flying now! Really. I'm flying. Around the house. This stuff oughta take paint off the walls. I have about 3 and a half gallons of this really intensely aqua colored bath in the stock pot. I have immersed the spare parts again, to see if they turn red. I will scrub down the undies, then do them one at a time.

In go the panties.

So far, nothing.  Impatience. So the recipe goes: to every liter used, add 80 grams cupric sulphate and .8 oz (or less) ammonia. This will give a red patina. For the orange red, use 125 grams cupric sulphate with 1.6 oz ammonia for every liter. I used 15 liters. I used a buttload of chemicals. This can't be healthy. All the while watching James Bond explode on AMC.

In preparation, either sandblast or scrub the pieces with a cleanser like bon ami and a wire brush. I did both. I noticed that the pieces that were scrubbed right before immersion gained the most patina. After patina, wash them in hot water. This may "set" the patina. Then wax or use some other sort of sealant. Tre wax is supposed to be best. I only had shoe polish (neutral) but it works fabulously on small sculptures.

Okay, on goes the mask... uh, down goes the wine, on goes the mask, and it smells like lemon in here. This isn't good. The ammonia I am using is lemon scented (yes, kids, same stuff what's got at Kroger.) I pulled out the test piece and it is truly magnificent. Wow. THAT worked. So I pull up the thong....

Too soon. Its orangey... orangie?, so it simply isn't ready.  I'm going to take the test piece in and wax it a bit, see if it pulls out the lustre (that's how the Brits spelled it, and so can I.) Must boil heavily, or it won't "take".

Thong out, bra in. The thong is lovely. About 30 minutes, just like the book said. A deep red, I know that when I wax it the metal will shine like garnet. I waxed the sample piece, the splatter, and the red was red as blood. Really dusty at first, any sort of finish will bring out the lustre. Lustre.

In potting the bra, I musta spilled some cupric drippings on my toe. I felt this sting then realized it wasn't just because it was hot. Children: wear your gear.

So the good news is: the bra is turning red. The bad news?  It doesn't exactly FIT in the pot. I'm having to turn it over to get it all and the parts that hit the edge of the water are brilliantly reddish orange, but the parts in the water don't match. I will have lines on the cups. It'll be a whole new look.

Dammit! There is this line of stunning red/orange right down one of the cups and I cannot duplicate the look on the rest of it. Impossible. But this means I have found the recipe. More cupric sulphate, a little less ammonia. That line is simply perfect. The rest? A very good deep red, once I get the wax on, wax off thing going. You saw that coming.

Okay. Enough's enough. I'm taking it out and going to plan B. I'm not sure what that is, yet, but plan B is necessary to achieve perfection. Sounds like life to me.


Life at High Speed

January 6, 2006

Those who know me best will understand my recent bout of blogger's block, due in part to a packed schedule and energy channeling toward preparing for an art show (Sippora: January 21st) as well as being slammed with oodles of work at the firm as I'm the entire tech department whose responsibility is to create all the law graphics, create designs and code for 2 new medical web sites, redo all the colors for the original site, while still perfecting our brand spanking new design for the main page of that original site. As I do this during the day, I must be incubating the ideas for the art show, but I also have the last in a series of 3 sets of bronzes to complete. I will work on these tomorrow afternoon, after my follow-up doctor's appointment that will check on my sinuses once again.

And you thought you were tired.

I made so many of the Christmas gifts this holiday that I gave, then decided it would be a fine idea to create the little boxes and packages - origami style - that those gifts would be presented in. The little packages have been (and still will be) more of a hit than the actual gift! Its all worth it. It means more to me to create (mainly jewelry) just as it may mean more to my recipient to receive something that wasn't manufactured by a machine, something of my choosing, something that came from my own hand and not my wallet (except the beefed up credit card used to purchase the materials.)

Last night was marvelous. I decided I needed a well-deserved break, so I had a friend pick up a couple of very inexpensive tickets to Sloan Wainwright, a singer song-writer my cousin Jodi had turned me onto many years ago. Jodi had emailed me the alert that Sloan would be here at the Mucky Duck and I toyed with the big idea to go and see her. Jodi couldn't be there (she lives 250 miles away) so I wanted to honor her gift of Sloan by finally seeing Sloan in person. What a fabulous idea that became. Sloan is of the whole Wainwright clan, Louden is her big brother while Rufus and Martha are her nephew and niece. Talent abounds in that family.

The Mucky Duck has some great food, so we got there early and dined on Guinness Stew and Chicken Pot Pie, creamy cocoa and hot apple cider. We ended up purchasing several CDs (because the old cassettes I have just won't cut it anymore) and even got one for Jodi. Sloan signed them all.

I wasn't surprised when she told the audience that she teaches voice and song-writing to students - she is magnificent in both ways. From her carefully maneuvered angelic highs to her deep and ancient throaty bass, her range is as wide as her songs are intensely personal. I think we were all surprised, as beautifully as she sang last night, when she told us that she'd just gotten over the "schmootz" last week. There were several folks there who were suffering from it (we call it the "crud" down south) but her voice didn't betray her recent illness. In the old style of coffee houses and hippie joints, Sloan entertained us with such a warm and intimate presence and we all felt like we'd known her forever.

Thank you Sloan (and Steve, her guitar man) for a spectacular evening.