cobaltika

this is only one of the wonderful things i saw/did while away. the giant Veladora! a huge mosaic created by artist Jesse Treviño in San Antonio. *finally* i got to visit San Antonio again, even for a very short time and on a rainy day. my sister Pam and i had dinner at an old favorite restaurant, El Mirador, and drove around looking at all kinds of downtown/southtown/westside things. it was GRAND. i knew i would still love SA and i DO.

this time, the list of activities would be huge, although i did plenty of sitting around with my mama, too. it was all a whirlwind, i was away for a longer time and i am still sort of reeling. i felt rather depressed driving home yesterday. i really didn’t want to leave.

i guess there are a few pictures. they will come later, i suppose, after i mess with them. what did we do? ate lots of mexican food, and other good food, bluegrass concert in Fredericksburg, swimming with Kathy, sleepover with all sisters and Margaret and even my oldest friend Jeanne! lunch and the awesome Bellini Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City, swimming with Kathy, a 2.5-day visit with my mother, wherein i was able to help her clear out and dust some stuff, the trip to SA, back to F-burg and Kathy’s final kindergarten recitation, lunch out, back to Austin and Whole Foods, making a great dinner of homemade pizza and salad for Margaret and her, um, companion, who was very sweet and i don’t think i embarrassed her *too* much, hike at the green belt, Blanton Museum of Art, Savers (our favorite thrift shop!!), a bag of Torchy’s Tacos at Mayfield park, accompanied by peacocks, grackles and Texas doves (sweet!), Berry Austin for froyo. and all etc. it was all so good. so many activities, such fun. such love.

now i am back. my cat still lives, although he is frail. the A/C seems sort of broken, but it is not *too* hot. i will take back the car and hike home for 3 miles. i am on a mission to lose LOTS of weight. i’ve had it with fatness. i think i will soon cut my hair a little, too. we’ll see…

i’m homesick.

i don’t know why i made this gray and dreary image of a backyard in Fredericksburg, Texas representative of my upcoming (tomorrow!) trip. i know it won’t look like that *there*. just because it looks like that *here* - and has for WEEKS, it seems. gray gray gray. rain rain rain. Texas will be warm and sunny. i will probably sweat and ask for the air-conditioner. i won’t like putting on my swimsuit to get into the big horse trough of a pool with little Kathy, but it will feel good once i am in it. i’ll get to hang out with Margaret. and my sisters. and my mama. it will all be great. if only Betsy could be there, too. but she is in the middle of all kinds of LA things right now and cannot leave. i miss her. i will miss King Tubby and i hope he doesn’t die while i am gone. he does not seem like he will. but my fingers will be crossed. although he is still lame and his left leg and hip are swollen, he doesn’t seem “sick” - just lazier. he doesn’t seem to be in pain and i am glad. he is 11. i know he won’t stick around forever, but … NOT YET, King T! ok?

i have been in a doldrum and it will be very good to go away.
i’m all packed. i hope i can sleep.
bye.

RED!!
and yet more at etsy

i’ve put some of the small red pieces on etsy, and am happily working on the bigger ones. the borders are more elaborate on the big ones, but i am still baffled by what will occur in the centers. something that must explode out perhaps? the smaller ones are more decorative, but i am allowing myself to be more conceptual, maybe even wicked, with the larger ones, despite the surrounding gaiety of the cheerful color. hmmmmm… well, maybe i will actually finish them! so many pieces in the past year have just become substrate for another attempt. at least i am not wasting precious canvases…

i wish i knew a way to make my small pieces more visible - online, i guess, since that is my only source for showing now - etsy is not enough, especially as it is so big and i am just a little fish. i only “advertise” on my journal and a little on facebook and i’m not that popular, so not many people actually go see. it is a little sad. i could be deflated and give up, but i guess i won’t yet. i would really rather have a public place. a live one. where all the bits could hang on rusty nails on shabby walls. and people could come in the door. maybe someday…

otherwise, here i am. same as it ever was. so ready for some change. i’ve become a recluse, me and my computer in my garret. occasional forays out to the poet’s world. not so good. i am actually thinking of canceling my internet service again. i waste so much time stuffing my head with useless information. i think i really *am* an addict. just like popcorn. i just can’t have it in the house… also thinking of canceling netflix. maybe even my website hosting. part of this is an attempt to increase frugality. i’m starting to be nervous about next year. really nervous. i try to be enthusiastic and excited, like i used to be about ending and moving on, but i was so much younger then…

well, another rainy day. fine for staying in at the artTable (will i ever go wander with my camera again?). i can stay in and reclusive all day until this evening when i have to comb my hair, dress right and go to our students’ hooding ceremony. there will be cookies and bagpipers. so … onward. as always.

some recent flowers.
May is all about flowers.

and rain.

what i did to the stone cemeteryLadies

now on ETSY

i liked the images very much, but of course i wanted to decorate and play with them. i tried some of the new borders i have been working on. i have been having fun with those borders. mostly i have been using lots of reds, pinks and lime greens, with splashes of yellow. but not for the stoneLadies, of course, that would be far too jarring. i’m not sure why i am feeling so colorful. it must be a phase. my biggest problem is what to put within the borders. right now i have many canvases and paper pieces with cheerful borders and empty insides. the same thing used to happen when i worked with textiles. nothing inside. god i hope they are not reflections of ME. sometimes i wonder…

anyway. lots of new stuff and still lots of springCleaning stuff on my etsy, if you like.

this ends our public service announcement.

now i will go to the city.

stoneLadies in the prairie : pawhuska OK : april 2010
click for WAY MORE (if you like)

finally i am having some fun with the images. i have waited two and a half years to go to this cemetery. when we first came to this Pawhuska, that long ago, it was in the midst of an ice/snow storm and we were unable to drive up the hill to the cemetery. this trip, we made it to the cemetery. i was only slightly disappointed. i had the illusion that there would be WAY MORE stone ladies - in proportion to the large number i saw at the much smaller cemetery down the road in Hominy, which we were able to visit through the ice that year. there weren’t that many stone ladies, but they were lovely ones and i was able to pluck them out quickly in the cool morning before we left Pawhuska. the light was a bit more garish than i prefer, but hey, i can make my own light. the poet sat and watched the birds while i shot ladies. we saw a bluebird. it was nice.