Etsy update

I just noticed that a huge number of my items had expired listings. That has been corrected, and I have added the two fully framed items to the shop as well.

If you looked already, you might find it worth your while to take another peek and see if something else strikes your fancy. :)

300th post! Hooray!

Dear friends,
I have not yet worked on the blogroll expansion. If you would like to be added to the list of blogs in my sidebar, please leave me a comment with a link here.

To celebrate my 300th post, I want to share with you the snow sculpture I made yesterday while I kept my snow-shoveling housemate company.





My husband appreciated the surprise when he got home that evening. Don't worry; it's in the backyard, and the neighbors are all young non-childed folks like us :)

Reduced price: Lortab print!

Now discounted to $15; was previously $18!

Generic Lortab, pretty pink happy pills! They're matted to 11x14, which is a standard frame size.

I will also be posting a couple of special items soon, hopefully tomorrow!

A favorite artist: Charley Harper

One of my all-time favorite artists passed away last year. Unfortunately, because he wasn't hugely famous, I didn't know, until I looked up his art today.

Charley Harper was a brilliant modern artist who was able to capture nature in a unique way, using drafting tools and minimalism. His works ranged from endearing baby animals (Armadittoes, Family Outing, and, one of my favorites, Convivial Pursuit, as well as Vowlentine and Foxsimilies), to predation (Arctic Circle, Tall Tail, Owl on the Prowl, among others), to even animal sex (Romance On The Richter Scale, The Wedding Feast). There are some that are just plain cute or funny, showing cool little things about the animal world, such as Unzipped, which depicts a moulting crayfish, or Dolfun, which shows an adorable pair of ocean friends.

The cool thing about Harper's work is that, while the lines are simple, there are so many little quirks to nearly every piece. Sometimes, I look at one, and it takes me a minute to realize what I'm seeing--and once I do, I am amazed! His titles are usually hilarious, and each piece has a little story to go with it, usually one paragraph, that is often cute or funny. If you're a nature lover, you will catch the little in-jokes, which gives you a good feeling. Even if you're not, though, his art is beautiful, entertaining, and so variable that there is something for everyone. He has a number of works with raccoons, and he is also especially fond of owls. Personally, I am thrilled with the number of woodpecker pieces he has done.

I own Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper, which is a wonderful book containing quite a few of his paintings and the accompanying paragraphs. I would LOVE to have Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life, but it is pretty expensive. The gallery that sells most of his stuff, Fabulous Frames & Art, has several limited editions of the book--some of which are $400.

He also did some posters for the National Park Service, which I'd love to have copies of eventually:
Barrier Islands is probably my favorite one.
The Alpine Northwest
The Canyon Country
The Desert
The Rocky Mountains large - small
The Sierra Range

Edited to add: He also did a poster for the Cloud Forest School of Costa Rica. Sweet!

I am deeply saddened at the loss of Mr. Harper. He was unique, funny, and a real boon to the appreciation of nature. Thank you, Mr. Harper, for your life's work.

Consider helping out

We are currently not doing very well financially. If you enjoy reading my blog, and you would like to help our family out a little, I have a couple of options available to help.

The first one is a Paypal donation button:

Everyone who donates will get a handwritten thank you note from me, as long as an address is provided.

The second way you can help us out is my Etsy shop, to the right, which has photography for sale. If there is a photo you have seen that is not in the shop, let me know, and I will get a print made and matted for you to purchase.

I gave up on doing "sponsored posts", partly because I didn't want to write such fake garbage, and partly because the Pay-per-post seemed to be looking for any excuse to not pay people. I would, however, be more than happy to tackle a requested topic in return for a reasonable donation.

Thank you, everyone.

A favorite artist! Also, 250th post! yay!

Even though I am primarily a scientist, I have a strong love for art and literature. My husband is a professional picture framer, and we have an almost obnoxious amount of art on the walls. Many pieces are local artists--although some are local to other places, but still more famous regionally than otherwise. One example is Liza Phoenix, a Seattle artist whose work I fell in love with when I visited Pike Place Market; I have links to two of my favorites by her in the sidebar. Another example is Hannah Ingmire, an artist local to Hannibal, MO, which is 20 minutes from my hometown. I love Hannah because she was my preschool teacher, and she was the one who taught me to look for all colors in everything. Even a red apple has a little blue in it, if you're looking at it right.

So last night, I was sick*, and I missed out on Troy Night Out, which I'm sad about, because Bob Gullie was going to be there, and he is a really neat local artist. His stuff is really unique. Some of it is just lovely, while a lot of it is creepy and weird (that's my favorite stuff). He hand tints his photos, which is just cool. He did a "Stoop Project" a couple of years ago, and he had Brian make wood squares with nice edges, paint them black, and mount the pictures on them, and they turned out REALLY nicely--and I got a sneak peek at the photos in the project while Brian was putting it together. He makes me look like I take pictures with a 110 and a shaky pair of hands and my thumb in the way. The picture of him on his "about" page is all stern and frowny, which is hilarious, because he's the opposite of that.

Anyway, if you are local, I highly recommend following his work, and getting to a show if you can.

*Stomach bug. I don't even want to LOOK at food today. Food can just go to hell dammit.

Cool Switchplates!

I ordered some switchplates a little while back to go in my foyer and downstairs bathroom. I finally received them a couple days ago; they are apparently made-to-order, but they are absolutely worth the wait. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the plates I received are high-quality, with screws painted to match the portion of the plate they screw into. The plates themselves are made of metal, with a decoupage technique used to put the image on them. You are able to order them in just about any configuration of outlet, slider switch, GFI, and flip switch, and if the configuration you need isn't present, they'll happily do custom work if you call. If you want switchplates, I very very highly recommend their products.

I purchased these items:
Dragonfly switchplate, one single and one double, for the foyer.

Cat in the bathtub, single, for downstairs bathroom light switch.

Cats in the toilet, single, for downstairs bathroom fan switch.

There are a LOT of really cute designs available, and I was tempted to get more than I did, but I shouldn't have even purchased these (we are way broke). And no, the company isn't paying me to write this; I was just so very happy with the products I received that I wanted to share their site with other people!

Edited to add: Their products are handmade in the USA, and they are a small company. That alone makes me happy to purchase from them. :)

Etsy update

I have updated my shop with lots of goodies, including a lovely pair of peafowl prints!

While supplies last, every order until Dec. 24th will receive a free postcard print (5x7). You never know which one you might get, so it'll be a surprise :)

http://rioiriri.etsy.com

I also wanted to link to Mama V's Soap*. She had the booth next to mine at the craft festival this weekend, and I had to buy one of her oatmeal scrubbies. They are awesome! I had itchy feet that night from wearing nylons, and the scrubbie made them feel so much better. It also made my skin all smooth and silky.

* No, this is NOT the same Mama V of the eating disorder blog. I knew someone would be wondering.

Ebay stuff

I have two ebay sales up right now. Both are photographs I have taken, and they're matted and ready to frame, in sizes that are standard, so you can just buy a frame off the shelf.

I am having a hard time making ends meet right now (one job interviewer actually told me I was too fat for the SALES job he was offering), so if you could just take a look and decide whether or not they're something you'd enjoy, I'd appreciate it.

Both photos are of rare fish from Australia that do not get imported very often. They usually range between $700-1500 retail. I snapped these two at my next-to-last workplace; I was responsible for learning how to care for the fish and making sure they didn't die. They were $500 wholesale, and the price tag on them was $1500 because that's what the wholesaler recommended.

The first one is a barred boxfish; the photo is 8x10, but it's double-matted to fit into a 12x26 frame.

The second one is a western blue devil, in a 5x7 photo double-matted to 11x14.

Both of the above items sold today. Here are a few more:
Blueberries photo. - SOLD!

King cobra photo

Blue-breasted roller photo

Radish photo

Thank you for looking.

Interesting quote from David Byrne

I think it’s not surprising that the values and public behaviors of the upper classes became considered more moral, refined, stimulating and well, high class — being the upper class, or wealthy or powerful you would want to give that impression — except for fox hunting? Fox hunting too. We know that hunting fox, peacock and small game became something the nouveau riche adopted too. The morals of the upper classes are probably no better or worse than your average double wide inhabitant, but somehow most people believe that attending the opera and drinking fine wines makes you a better person. It does not. Living in a double wide does not make you a lesser person either, though financial pressures would be more acute.

Source

David Byrne is one of the few non-goth artists I like who is either:
1. alive or
2. still making music

He's BOTH, in fact, which makes him really, really cool. Don't die anytime soon, will you David? You're one of the few artists I listen to without getting depressed. Yeah, I know, the 90's grunge kick I was on was entirely my own fault, but how was I to know half the bands I liked would have their frontmen dying of heroin use and/or its consequences? Why couldn't they have just smoked pot?

Photography

I've added some items to my shop; specifically, I'm showing the very nice matting on the photos. The two fish are in standard sizes that can be popped into a ready-made frame. Check them out, and if you think you know someone who would like them, pass along the link? :)

Photography - Metals Series

I'm still busy putting my new home in order, but I thought I'd share this photo gallery. It's my "Metals Series". I have a thing for taking pictures of metal objects. I hope you enjoy it!
Metal Series Slideshow

Bad art

I took photos of a couple of my drawings recently. One of them is just your average mermaid, but the other is about body image:

Shiny! Pretty!

I was flipping through a catalog this weekend, and I came across some gorgeous clothing that actually came in my size. Of course, I won't be able to afford it for the next ten years, but here were some of my favorite pieces:
This in 2x

This in 2x

This in 2x

This in 2x

There were many other items of clothing that come in plus sizes--some of which were appealing to me, some of which weren't really my style, but it's nice to see a company actually selling pretty things in larger sizes.

Of course, if you want to buy them for me I'd be happy to give you my address, haha ;)

I'm also a freak for anything mermaid-related, so these caught my eye:
This sculpture

These mermaids

Weekend out of town

I've been gone for the weekend, visiting family in NH. It was a good time, but travel is really hard on me. We rented a van that had seats which could not recline even the slightest bit, so I spent the trip sitting bolt-upright. Thank goodness for dramamine!

On the trip, I busied myself with writing in a notebook and drawing bad art. No camera work, as I didn't see much that inspired me to take photos.

Part of our trip involved a picnic at the lake. My in-laws live in a gated community situated on a lake, where the houses are anywhere from half a million to several times that. While we sat under the huge tent, I had a strange feeling being among all of the people there, and it took me a little while to put my finger on it.

I had not seen such a gathering of all white people since I moved to Albany, NY from Quincy, IL. I've lived in NY for almost ten years now, and I've grown very accustomed to the diversity here; so accustomed, apparently, that I'm actually uncomfortable without it. My brother-in-law, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area, said that it weirds him out every time he visits as well.

Albany, NY has an enormously diverse population. Any race or nationality you can think of is represented here. The tech and engineering industries have brought in a ton of Asian and Middle Eastern people, for example. When I lived in Schenectady with my first husband, we were one of maybe two non-Indian/Pakistani families in our huge apartment complex. All of the men of those families worked for GE doing engineering and computer stuff, as did my husband. The block where we currently reside is mostly a mix of Black and white families, and we are moving to a neighborhood that is similar, with fewer whites than here.

One of my most recent jobs was in a neighborhood where our customers were incredibly diverse. There were many immigrants; countries represented included Russia, Germany, The Dominican Republic, Columbia, Japan, Australia, England, and Poland--and that's just the few that I can think of off the top of my head. I got to hear about all kinds of places, and I felt so lucky to learn from so many different people.

When I read about people who struggle to find salons that even know about, let alone specialize in, African hair, I want to invite them to Albany, where I can direct them to at least four places that I know pretty well. I had to do a photography gig for an area merchant association, and every business in that small area knew who I was. The sheer number of African hair places, including one that was specifically devoted to braiding only, was striking to me. It's a nice little community where you can get just about every service under the sun, including a fantastic manicure, amazing pizza delivery, delicious specialty chocolates, and the best homemade pumpkin ravioli in the entire world, and it's because so many different people have come together to create a neighborhood that is relatively safe, clean, and friendly.

I felt very much NOT at home in the sea of Caucasian faces on the shores of that lake. I don't know if it was the lack of diversity, or the careful masks that everyone wore, but I never thought I'd be so glad to get home to the unruly neighbor kids that run absolutely wild in the streets here (all races, all heavily unsupervised; they're not really naughty, just loud and not very cautious around cars*!). Seeing homes that looked "lived-in" instead of the cookie-cutter McMansions, being in a neighborhood with history, all of this is comforting to me.

Is it any wonder that I was not inspired to pick up my camera? Every ounce of "wild" had been squeezed out by perfectly manicured lawns. There was no architecture to capture my interest, no urban graffiti that made me think, and no broken-down items at the curb to tell stories. Just perfect lawns, perfect houses, and perfect people with perfect children, 2.5 in number, and primarily blonde, blue-eyed, and indoctrinated with the absolute knowledge that they are the Be-All and End-All, and that all attention should be entirely focused upon them, no matter what. I suppose the up-side to this is that I was pretty much forced to rely on introspection and imagination to write and draw. In the presence of a sterile environment, we have only ourselves for inspiration.

*One day, I came within inches of running over the little neighbor girl who is ~6 years old. We have diagonal parking spaces on our block, and she was sitting and playing in one of them, next to a car, but in the space next to it, by the tire. I could not see her at all when I turned into the space, and I glimpsed her at the last possible moment and braked hard. She did not even look up. Her mother was nowhere in sight, as usual, and I was extremely freaked out. She's a nice little girl, and she loves to see and touch my snakes when I bring them out, but I wish someone would talk to her about playing in the street, which she does quite frequently.

Art Fair in Albany, NY

I am going to be selling photography at a booth at this art fair on Wednesday, August 8! If you are in the area, stop by on your lunch break. It's a good location if you're a state worker :)
http://www.albanyevents.org/more_events/index.cfm?ID=33

Summer in the City Art Fair 2007

Wednesdays: August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

Academy Park (across from City Hall)

11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Art exhibits by local artists Musical entertainment Artwork available for purchase

August 1 - Musicians of Ma'alwyck

August 8 - Larry Stevens

August 15 - Sara & Weston Raab

August 22 - Spiral Tango

August 29 - Gravikord Duo

Today at the Farmers Market!

Click thumbs for full size pics :)

Help a poor girl out

Some folks know that I recently was laid off. I was injured at my job through no fault of my own, and when I reported it as required, they very quickly laid me off with a lame excuse.

Right now, I'm hurting a lot in the financial arena, and I'm actually considering trying to go on disability because my chronic pain seems to be getting worse, despite trying all of the standard treatments. Most medications don't work on me the way they do on normal people. For example, Benadryl does a fantastic job of calming my allergies, but it does not cause me a bit of drowsiness.

So, I'm trying to be creative about finding ways to keep my head above water. I do a little petsitting when it's available, I clean aquariums occasionally, and I am looking into modeling for non-photographic art.

With this in mind, I also just lowered some of the prices on my photography in my Etsy shop, and I will be adding more pictures if I sell some. If you like animal pictures, just take a peek at the shop and see if there's anything that catches your eye. I also have a couple of drawings in there, but they aren't too good! They're originals, though :)

Art Appreciation

I picked up a print at the Pike Place Market when we visited Seattle a while back. My husband Brian framed it and gave it to me for my birthday this year. He is REALLY good at framing pictures, so I was thrilled. This is the artist's site:
http://www.lizaphoenix.com/

This is the print we picked up in Seattle:
Voice Of the Voiceless

We received another Liza print as a wedding gift, titled Dragonfly Mermaid Fairy

I love mermaids, and we have a lot of mermaid art here. Liza Phoenix has a lot of mermaid, fairy, and fish art, among other stuff. I highly recommend checking it out.

This is another artist's work that is also on our wall. I think that the piece really reflects who I am!