Needy Dogs and Late-Night Drawings

I didn’t write yesterday because I had to be at school really early. And the night before, I went to bed about 2 hours early because I was so exhausted, and I got nothing done, and I was sitting there staring at the computer and thinking, DAMN. I got nothing to write about. So I didn’t. It happens.

Yesterday was eyeball dissection day at school…only one injury (only had 3 in 14 years). But it was a long day that was followed by chiropractor and picking up the girlchild’s dog from the vet because this was up her nose…

And then she was all drugged out and wobbly. This is what Calli looks like high.

And I had to watch her constantly, because she likes to swim in the pool and I was fairly sure she’d drown if she went in. Besides, when I got home, there was a dead male possum in the pool already (I hate when that happens). Huge beast. So I dealt with the body and then she whined at me all night and spent a lot of time staring at me like this…

So I would pet her and hug her but mostly I got this reproachful look, like I had done something very very wrong. Let’s clarify. I did not take you to the vet. I’m the one who RESCUED you from the vet. Nope. Still mad at me.

She’s fine this morning.

I drew after that. Well, after dinner and grading, which took forever because of the needy dog, so really late.

I started by adding paper above the head so I could draw the sun out…

Which I did, but didn’t photograph. Of course.

I had penciled in an arm, hand, and a snake, but was debating what else should be in there. Apparently I figured that out…

See, sometimes I use pencil.

Then I filled a boob with a cat. Like you do. There’s a lung in there as well, although pretty damn simple, and a flower nipple. Of course.

I stared a lot at the space between the snake and the boob, and googled a lot of different things, but still didn’t make a decision.

Must let the brain ruminate some more…

So I adjusted the arm to the appropriate angle and did some snakey details. You can sort of see the sun in this one.

This thing is gonna be huge. But I’m trying to keep the tiny little pieces to a minimum. We’ll see how that goes. (Laughs maniacally to herself)

So those things, the sun, the arm, the snake, the cat boob, took about 2 hours. There’s a lot of staring time in there honestly. I tried to visualize what could fit there. I made a tentative list of things I think should be somewhere on her…a bat, an octopus, a giraffe. Something else. Bees. I’ve done a bee before. Anyway. This isn’t for a show. It isn’t for anything. I just wanted to do an Earth Mother that didn’t have the no-nudity constraints from last year. I like the idea of filling the body with living organisms. So I am.

In art news, Lisa Kijak (who makes very cool quilts of neon signs) was nice enough to send me photos of my piece in the Art Quilt Elements exhibit that is at the Wayne Art Center right now. In all the photos I saw posted, I only saw mine in one. I like to see what’s around it, so I really appreciate her doing that…

They look pretty happy there in the corner…

Hope they’re having a nice time.

I would like to thank the Goddess of Science Teachers and Divorced Moms for helping me to survive until Friday. Any assistance on today would be mightily appreciated, because I’m gonna make those kids read and figure stuff out and write again. Because I’m mean that way. I was supposed to write a study guide last night, but that didn’t even come close to happening. So there we are. I have homework for tonight. Or maybe I can do it during prep, if everyone leaves me alone. We’ll see.

More drawing tonight? I hope.

Get Up. Get Out. Get Doing.

There’s a few days it’s nice to avoid when you’re a teacher: St. Patrick’s Day if you forgot to wear green, April Fool’s just in general practice, and 4/20 if you teach middle or high school (I hold out hope that elementary school doesn’t have that issue). So I am rejoicing that April Fool’s is a holiday for me this year. So I don’t have to deal with all the lame April Fool’s jokes that 12-year-old brains come up with.

I’m not so happy that it’s the last day of break, but I will survive. It happens every year. It’s a long stretch until summer though. Fifty three school days. Fuck. I know it’s really not, but Spring Break was early this year, so it FEELS long. And I haven’t even started the feeling part yet. Part of it is the 3+ hours I spent yesterday grading ONE CLASS of a project. Sheesh. On the one hand, most of that period turned theirs in. On the other hand, I’m banging my head on my desk over some of the stuff I saw.

Two more periods to go. Gawd. I might die.

I got nothing useful done yesterday, except 4 hours with a newish baby and coworkers, which was definitely worth it. And dinner out. And grading. No fucking art. Man I feel it today. I need some outdoor time. I need art time. Like right now. And a plan for the next two and a half months. So I don’t go nutsy cuckoo. Make ALL THE ART.

But first I’m cleaning out photos. In my pajamas. Because it’s all I can handle at the moment. I went on a hike with the dog on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day, not too warm, but blue skies and fluffy clouds.

Not a soul on the trail but us…

Flowers are still blooming.

I spent a lot of time grading on the couch in the last few days. Kitten kept me company.

She’s really quite adorable when she’s asleep. She can be a bit of a psycho when she’s awake.

So probably 3 weeks ago, maybe 4, I went to an all-women show at La Bodega Gallery and never had time to post pictures. I have to say that the quality was better in this show, but still a lot of same? I had a few that caught my eye.

As you can see, the majority of them were the same size, hung super tightly together. So it was a little hard to give each piece the time and space it needed.

Lots of them were portrait-type images…

Some weirder than others.

All different styles…

And then the relief of a non-portrait…

I need this explained.

One-eyed cats…like tadpoles.

And just a line.

I like the complexity of this one…plus sperm.

And some collage…

This was just cool.

But so touchable…

I’m not the only one who always sees the bones through the skin…

And this was great…I think I read all those books as a kid.

I like the owl. I’m not sure about the big-eyed, half-naked waif.

The hair lines…

One of my favorite artists…keeping it simple.

I’ve had headaches like that…

Just plain fun…

This…this is a book.

I don’t like the idea of destroying books, but making art out of them seems OK.

I just liked this…

And this…minus the shell pieces…

This woman was doing an all-over body painting. She’d done the female before we got there and was working on the male…

I was a little curious if he also had a g-string hidden under there, because otherwise it might get weird. Not bad, just weird (lots of little kids…whatever). I did not stick around to see what would happen next…too many people. Can’t think straight at some of these openings.

I have another batch of photos somewhere…I’m trying to clear stuff out…grading, my brain, the house…before break is over. I know how much the next two months are gonna kick my butt. I need some things to be clean or done before I sink back into the job quicksand. Yeah. I need a raft or something…something semi-solid I can stand on above the sucking so I can walk on.

Oh yeah. I forgot. Art Quilt Elements officially opens in Pennsylvania tomorrow. I’ve been seeing all these posts from the SAQA conference going on in Philadelphia and it makes me feel even more distant from what I want to be doing right now…it’s been such an antisocial, hermit-like break, which I realize is my fault as well, although everyone I know works pretty much, but that’s just kinda how I roll. Going to conferences and quilt shows out of state are just not part of my life. I’m in financial survival mode. And at some point, everything becomes overwhelming. BUT…you can see all the pieces in AQE in this slideshow: AQE Slideshow

My piece…it’s in there with all the abstracts. Some aren’t abstract, but it’s heavily weighted, isn’t it? I guess my quilt gets to hear all the interesting conversations while I’m here. That’s not so bad. And I get to keep making more…funny how that one is such a positive note on gender equality, what we WANT and they’re smiling and holding hands and it all seems so doable. Ahh. Well. It’s what I want, eh?

OK. Get up. Get out. Get doing.

Upcoming Shows

Yeah. I blew off writing yesterday. Head in a place. May write later. Well, technically writing now, but just about upcoming shows.

Primal Scream will be in a local show, The Power of Feminine Energy, at the Centro Cultural de la Raza (in Balboa Park, one of the round buildings on Park), San Diego, CA, March 19-April 3, 2016.

The opening is March 19 from 6-10 PM and will have 50 women artists and over 100 pieces of work.

Then if you happen to be in Pennsylvania (there are some good fiber reasons to be there), I have a piece in Art Quilt Elements, Work in Progress.

In Deep will be at Artist as Quiltmaker XVII, FAVA’s 17^th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Quilts, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts in Oberlin, Ohio, from May 15-July 31.

Then I just found out Friday that Mammogram will be at the Oceanside Museum of Art in our next California Fibers’ exhibit, Eclectic Threads.

The opening is June 25 from 5-8 PM. There will be at least one other exhibit there at the time, Love Letters in Metal: Jewelry by Svetozar and Ruth Radakovich. Lots of work out there. I keep reminding myself of that when my brain goes for a swim in depresso-soup.