The Saga of the Ears

When we first got Zeke, both of his ears were still flopped down. We were told that his ears should stand up eventually, and that is the standard for the silky terrier breed. After a couple of weeks, both ears were indeed standing up. In the last few days, one of his ears has decided to flop back down. Not that any of this matters to us, but it is interesting to see the changes in his look due to the position of his ears.

P.S. He is just as ornery regardless of whether his ears are up or down!

This Week

This week I am working on dye pots of goldenrod. The photo below is a gorgeous pale yellow color on silk yarn and wool roving from the first goldenrod pot. Normally I leave the fibers in the dye pot longer and get a deeper yellow, but this time I pulled it out at this paler shade of color.


I also bought a new piece of artwork this week from fellow artist, Tina Marie Rey. Tina announced that she had some new paintings for sale, and I immediately fell in love with this one:

Vortex #1
8"h x 10"w

And I must confess that the rest of the week has been spent working in the gardens and playing with our new puppy, Zeke. Life is good!

It's The Little Things

Sometimes a little thing makes my day. Today, for example. Late this morning my 24 year old son called and invited me to have brunch with him and a friend. I turned him down because I was hard at work in the studio --- I was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, no makeup, etc. --- you get the picture. So I hung up the phone and sewed for a few more minutes, all the while re-thinking my decision. I feel very blessed that my son considers me a good friend, and that his friends are comfortable enough with me to invite me out with them. So I called my son back and accepted his offer to join the two of them for brunch. We had a delicious meal, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with both of them. Then the check came, and my son's friend announced that he was paying for all three of us. This is not a rich kid, and I really felt special because of his gesture. How lucky am I to first have received the invitation, and second to have been treated by my son's friend. It made my day!

On another note.....here's a new photo of Zeke. His ears are now standing up, so he is starting to look more like a silky terrier.

Four New Collages

Passion Pour Le Pourpre #1
7"h x 5"w
mounted on Bristol board 10"h x 8"w
$40

Passion Pour Le Pourpre #2
7"h x 5"w
mounted on Bristol board 10"h x 8"w
$40

Passion Pour Le Pourpre #3
7"h x 5"w
mounted on Bristol board 10"h x 8"w
$40

Passion Pour Le Pourpre #4
7"h x 5"w
mounted on Bristol board 10"h x 8"w
$40

These are the first four collages in a new series inspired by my youngest sister's love of all things purple. Since she was a youngster, purple has been her favorite color. She even had a lavender bedroom as a teenager. It is amazing to me that after all these years, even now as an adult, she is still just as passionate about purple. These collages are about my love for her and her love of purple.

From This...

to this...

to this!

My father-in-law always has a huge melon patch in the garden with musk melons, cantelopes, and watermelons. I'm proud to say that the "watermelon thumping" skills that I acquired as a kid are still intact. Every summer we pick and eat more than our fair share of watermelons --- always saving the rinds for phase two. You see, watermelon does double duty at our house. As much as we enjoy the sweet, juicy watermelons, we are equally fond of watermelon pickles made from the leftover rinds. The photo above is the first batch of the summer.

A Cause For Celebration!

It's official --- Zeke has slept through the night for two nights in a row now. WTG Zeke! For those of you that think this is no big deal, I have been existing on about 2-3 hours of sleep per night for over a week. So, yes, it is a HUGE cause for celebration!

On another note, I bought the basket in the photo below to corral his toys, and as you can see, Zeke had another idea about how it should be used.

Spoiled?!?!

When we got Zeke last week, we quickly discovered that he doesn't like going out early in the morning. The grass is wet with dew, and it is cold --- our temps have been around 40 degrees overnight. So when I set him down in the grass, he makes a beeline for the sidewalk and sits there shivering. When Mom heard that, she immediately decided that he needed a sweater to keep him warm on his morning outings. Above is Zeke modelling his new puppy sweater. (And you thought Jim and I were the only ones spoiling him!?!?!)

P.S. Yes, that is a leaf in his mouth. So far it is the only thing in the yard smaller than him, so he chases them, pounces on them, and parades around with them in his mouth like he has really caught a prize!

New Work

This is a new collage called "La Galerie", 6"h x 4"w, double matted and framed. The top photo shows the framed piece, and the bottom photo is a closer shot of only the collage. I hope to do a few more pieces in this series.

P.S. Thanks for the inquiries --- this piece is already sold.

It's A Boy!

"Zeke"

Silky Terrier

Age: 2 months

Weight: 2 pounds

Wednesday evening we met a breeder that had several small breed puppies for sale, and of course, one of those puppies had to come home with us. We've been looking for a puppy for some time, but most of the prices were out of the range of what we were willing to give for a puppy. I mean, $1000 or more seems insane to me --- especially considering we were not looking for a champion dog to show, just a cute puppy to spoil. So we are thrilled to have Zeke, and he seems to be adjusting to his new life fairly quickly.

New/Reworked Collages

Collage #10
5"x7"

Collage #11
5"x7"

I have spent the last few days matting and framing work in preparation for exhibition in a local gallery. I don't know if it was the itch to get back to "real work" in the studio or what, but these two collages were the last ones to be matted, and for whatever reason, I decided to rework them before I framed them.