June 29, 2005
Self Portrait Tuesday
The June heat in Austin makes everyone cranky midday.
Posted by Steph at 12:49 AM | Comments (2)
June 26, 2005
Inspecting Suspects
Part of Texas' charm lies, to some degree, in its insanely diverse and bizarre bug population. I suppose this statement is purely subjective; I know an equal number of folks who think this fact is amusing and of people who think this fact is a nuisance. But it's not a question of "half-empty" or "half-full," but a matter of survival. Because when you pass things each day like, say,
You could run, for instance, but this might make you attractive to such an
Or you could stand there, frozen like a deer, and hope that you might blend into the asphalt and surrounding trees. But the problem with that is the wasp might decide to fly over and hang out on your shoulder with its paralyzed tarantuala buddy before it decides to lay its EGGS in the abdomen of the totally doomed arachnid.
Don't forget that you could also be hit by a truck rounding the corner while you stand there staring at the natural beauty.
Better yet, you could raise an eyebrow and whip out your Super Soaker (that you carry in the baby jogger when out for neighborhood walks, you know, for those roaming Cujos). But wouldn't THAT just stir things up?
YEE HAW!
Posted by Steph at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2005
Wanting
I've been browsing some wonderful little paintings by Amy Ruppel, another bird/egg aficionado. These are so buttery! I want to touch one--I believe they have a layer of wax embedded in them somehow? I'm hoping to hear back from Amy on her technique. FUN!
How cool!
Amy sent me this in her response (thanks, Amy!):
I use beeswax, indeed. I cover a piece of wood with wax I've colored with pigment, then collage on top paper birds and shapes I created digitally, then layer clear beeswax over that... then I sometimes (most of the time) draw back into the wax, and fill the lines with oil paint, then wipe the excess away. A quick pass with the propane torch, and it's set in for eternity. Have you taken an encuastic painting class? it's so much fun, and very rewarding. It's such a forgiving medium, full of happy accidents!
Posted by Steph at 06:52 AM | Comments (0)
June 24, 2005
Getting Started
It's like setting up a new fort. This platform is taking some getting used to but in time it's going to feel like a fun place to hang up ideas and document the time. Here is a photo of Ford and Chas atop the igloo-bed, atop the quilt my mother made during the 1972 summer olympics, while I was probably napping in a white wooden crib within a sunny yellow nursery, in a small fourplex on Vassar Lane, in the sweltering Houston heat.
Blogging time will likely be restricted to midnight hours, as every moment during the day is nowadays occupied with kidstuff. I can expect to grow red eyeballs and get more irritable with time, unless I start working in the quilting and crafting in the afternoons when Chas naps and Ford gets stir crazy--after all, the heat is stifling outside during the midday hours. In fact, I'm off to start his rock collection. I think he'll enjoy learning about what makes the Hill Country so hilly and rugged.
Posted by Steph at 09:18 PM | Comments (1)
blah
blah blah blallh
Posted by Steph at 06:13 AM | Comments (1)
thank you Dadadadaadadada
Thank you for setting me up with MT, even if I know it was only because you were embarrassed for me to be seen under Blogger.
Posted by Steph at 06:04 AM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2005
I have decided to get certified in order to teach art again at UT. I keep getting these urgent jabs into my conscience that Mrs. Ory is rolling in her grave, hoping I do so, that I may continue what I started ten years ago in Houston, during my first two summers off from college.
Posted by Steph at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2005
Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da! Da!
Here is One plus Two very good reasons to feel fortunate. Happy Father's Day.
Love, s
Posted by Steph at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2005
I decided to start anew -- to strip away what I had been taught, to accept as true my own thinking. This was one of the best times of my life. There was no one around to look at what I was doing, no one interested, no one to say anything about it one way or another. I was alone and singularly free, working into my own unknown -- no one to satisfy but myself. I began with charcoal and paper and decided not to use any color until it was impossible to do what I wanted to do in black and white. I believe it was June before I needed blue. -Georgia O'Keeffe
Posted by Steph at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)