Month: November 2009

Buckle Down

Ayin Es2 Comments

Just buckling down, finishing up work, shipping them out and working on a few pieces at once. I finished up those few I had posted about earlier and they are on my site here – some of them on their way to Houston for my show that opens on the 5th, while some are on their way to Miami for the Red Dot Fair, and even more are packed up now, waiting to be shipped out to Latrobe, PA for a show at Saint Vincent College. Lots going on, so that’s good. I started a new one called, “I Waited for You,” but this is a really bad cell phone camera shot of it:

It’s a 36-inch square, oil, paper and linen on canvas and it still needs lots more paint and embroidery, but the basic composition is there. I’m also working on a tiny piece of my dad on a cell phone, a medium/small panel with some Hebrew on it, and considering doing some garment sculptures, but am going to need a sewing machine for it. It’s going to be very different for me and quite unsaleable, so it’s a bit of an unnerving idea. There’s also this animation idea I’d like to try. It’s super simple, but I think I need to to it. …Could be the drugs talking though. I don’t know.

Something big that I started completely sober is my book. Not an Artists’ book. A creative, autobiographical piece of genuine non-fictional, soon-to-be- novel-sized book.

I also put Horsebucket on super sale for 80 bucks until January 1st, so swoop in on the rest of them while they last.

I saw The Family Stone today, not a bad movie. I was intrigued with the family dynamics. I also saw Hard Core Logo the other night and it was also not too bad. Interesting, but expected more. Still, had I not expected anything, I would have wound up liking it more.

OH! Speaking of REAL writing. Real good writing that is, You MUST see my boyfriend’s new book page and READ THE DESCRIPTIONS of the books. They are absolutely hysterical! And I must say he is not really exaggerating much at all because you can see from his descriptions that he’s a damn talented writer and funny person. Buying one of his books ain’t no shabby, bad idear either. You’ll find out in a short amount of time why I fell in love with him.

Another Long One

Ayin Es4 Comments

OMG. I’m having a hell of a time right now. Today is the first official day I will not be smoking anymore. I picked up the bad habit again about a year ago when my dad was dying. I have been able to quit for months at a time since then, but then another highly stressful situation would rear its ugly head, and I’d be right back, suckin’ em down again. I’ve given myself a break here and there with the illness and death of my folks, fights with my brother, depression over all of it, but then I was able to quit in August. I quit for a whole month! Why did I go back after I was over the worst part of withdraw and well on my way to a healthier future? I do not know! That’s when I noticed all the excuses coming in that were not nearly as justifiable as high stress situations. “I’m not quite ready to quit yet.” Or “I love smoking!” “It gets me to spend more time outdoors.” “It fits my personality better than not smoking.” “It helps me relax.” “It’s better than being addicted to heroin!”

The excuse list has just been really lame, so I set a quit date for November 20th. I know today is only the 19th, but I ran out of cigarettes yesterday at 3PM. Now I could buy a last pack today, and maybe even smoke them all so I feel like such shit, tomorrow will be easy. Believe me, I’m thinking about it, but I should probably just get a head start on this shit now.

Okay, enough about the Cancer sticks. What has been going on? If I wrote in this blog more often, you’d be able to keep up without having to read all this bullshit. But the truth is that I’ve been busy. I finished up those paintings I last posted. And I prepared my shipment for my Houston show at Koelsch Gallery. It went out yesterday. (The show opens on December 5th.)  It’s called “Float Without Moving.”

And I’ve been getting my studio (Moppet) all cleaned and prepared for the big Open Studios I’m having this Sunday!  Are you coming? Because I think I am so confused and out of mind mind from nicotine withdraw that I’ve cut my prices for that day to redonkulous amounts. Good thing this sale will only be one day because it felt like I was being stabbed when I priced some of this stuff. But, I’ll heal. I am determined to do anything to get you to own some art work. (Do I sound like a car salesman yet?)

It’s all day Sunday, November 22, 2009 from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM!

I realize that a lot of other people on the Discover Tour are going to have very inexpensive art items that are very friendly and helpful for the holidays. Even with my prices cut, I am probably still not going to be in their range, but there are a ton of drawings of mine you can buy for 50 bucks, and plenty more under $300. Even a few paintings are as low as $650.  I may even bring in a few more significant ones and mark them under 1000. Maybe I’ll be nuts enough to trade for a drag off your cigarette! Nah, hopefully by Sunday, I won’t be as crabby as I am going to be today through Saturday.

In some unrelated news, I wanted to help promote my other half’s new special edition book, published by Chance Press in Oakland, Ca. It is a little hand-sewn chapbook about his first guitar entitled, “No. 2236 Flying Wedge.” If you are not familiar with MJP’s (AKA Michael Phillips) writing, this would be a good chance to get introduced to his style. Very few writers know how to write with a distinct personality intact and make it breezy to read – like it is reading itself. It takes a very special talent to do that. Bukowski had it, John Fante had it, and without being bias, Phillips has it in spades. He’s been hard at work on his novel for the last year and I am just sitting on my hands with excitement, waiting until I get to read the first draft – which is just around the corner. In the meantime, he bangs out little stories like “No 2236 Flying Wedge,” paints little sketches on the special parts of the edition in a day, and it’s whipped together faster than you can say to yourself, “I wonder if I should put out a little book.”