The good news is....

She didn't lay on the paintings....  Baby Kitty usually likes to sleep right on my paintings. No respect...  but that's why I love my cat.  Happy Friday.  Hoping for a restful one here in St. Louis myself.

Meow


You can almost here her purr can't you?  I know I maybe a little bit crazy cat lady-ish.  But she's my buddy and has been for ten years.  I'm her best and ONLY friend, so I take that very seriously.  Besides, she loves to pose and sits still for a pretty long time when she knows she's being painted.  In fact, when she was just a young thing, she would sit in the middle of my still life's that I would set up on my dining room table.

Crazy attention seeking thing... I created a diva by painting her too much I think.   But I have to say, she's in my top 5 things I like to paint.  So, I will probably continue to paint Her "Fluffiness."

Just watching, waiting but hoping????

I've run out of words today. Both in my ability to hear them and say them. Sometimes pictures will just have to do when words just can't seem to take care of pain or express joy or even ask the questions.
Several years ago I bought a fish for BabyKitty to entertain her. But mostly she was just enchanted by this little fish. She liked to watch it not sure what to think of it all. I gave this painting to a friend in Los Angeles last year for her birthday. For some reason, this was her favorite and I wanted her to have it. This woman has an amazing sense of style, a great sense of humor and has really gone through some hard life situations. I was just flattered that she liked it. Currently she's going through some health issues - which are really "life" issues. What next? What should she do? How? When? But forget about the "why" question because that will never be answered with any satisfaction. This picture kind of reaches in and like my cat and the fish, all we can do is watch to see what happens next. What else is there left to do?

Books or Fresh Flowers?

Like most people during these rough economic times, funds are tight and I'm having to decide between two of my favorite things to buy - fresh flowers OR books. Lately books have been winning. Over the last few months I've been buying books that just plain make me happy. And, all of them have pictures. In fact as I was sitting down with my newest book from ABE and AMAZON. I realized that when I get a new book this is how I enjoy the moment. It's a wonderful ceremony that usually happens around 4 pm in the afternoon.
  • Prepare hot sweet drink - chai tea, coffee or hot chocolate
  • Music - lately it's been the soundtrack from Pride and Prejudice which is gorgeous!
  • Get comfortable on my lovely couch
  • Open the book and look at the pictures first. In fact, I do that with everything I "read". I think pictures say great deal about a book and I tend to remember a book more from its pictures than its words.
  • Then if time allows, I go back through and read what I find most interesting first. There is no pressure to go through these books in one sitting. I usually don't. They sit on my coffee table waiting for me on another afternoon. That's the beauty of good "picture" books. For me, these books are great inspiration even if they aren't about watercolor or art in general.
Here are few of my top favs for the summer:
Simply Sewing with a French Twist by Celine Dupuy I bought this book solely based on the beautiful color and the title contained "French" so how could I pass it up. I was not disappointed. By the way when I sit on my couch and go through this sewing book I have a French playlist on my iTunes which accompanies this book perfectly - think Edith Piaf's Sous le ciel de Paris . I'm taken away to another part of the world where simplicity and elegance are so different. The pictures are perfect and oh so French. I even love looking at the instructions which are drawn out. Eventually I'll make something from this book, but if I never do it won't really matter.

The next book I bought because of her decor, funkiness and great fabrics Amy Butler's MidWest Modern has 224 pages of amazing pictures. I was unsure about buying this book at first, simply because her style is not similar to mine. But again, no regrets. As with every Amy Butler book, I've found that her attention to detail, her style and passion ooze from every page and I'm inspired to trust my own instincts be it in painting, decorating or just plain being. For some reason, I like listening to the Gipsy Kings when going through this book.

Just a few weeks ago I was going through my old Victoria magazines - (ones I had saved from the early 90s). I ran across a feature about a Midwest watercolor artist Alice Schille. She never married, but dedicated her life to being an artist, teaching and traveling. This is a rarity for a woman in the early 1900's. So I went to my favorite online bookseller Abe Books and searched for an old art book of hers. A note here about Abe Books - I find this an excellent website for used books and older books. Often I pay more for shipping than I do for the actual book. This is great for someone who is watching their cash flow. The only thing is that the books sometimes take a little longer to get to you. If you aren't in a hurry, this is a great place to shop. I find lots of the older art books on line and haven't been disappointed