cloudy with rumors of stories

Zen Poppet--photo from Adrienne Reynolds

Soosi follows Orion everywhere.
I'm having coffee at my desk. Earlier I made eight cheese sandwiches and a huge pot of Chinese noodles. Washed a mountain of black grapes. Poured cups of Sunny D. Lunch is served. This house is full of children today. Damn you, innocuous Netflix!
I wore my painting apron throughout, and a paint-stained and faded cotton t-shirt. The apron is to protect my jeans and because it's damned handy. In between kids and Soosi-who-is-Legion, I touch up and sign Poppets that will be sent away next week.
What I really want to do is sleep, but the list is long at the moment. Mostly it's the weather. Cozy as home, warm and humid, clouds and showers. Part of me will always live in South Carolina. Outside, the kids are splashing in the pool, made magical by rain. It's a happy sound and today I don't have to be in the water to enjoy it.

I'll leave for Baltimore on Tuesday. Press stuff and docent meetings on Wednesday, opening party on Friday. See AVAM. If you're there, please look for me. I'd love to see you.

coffee's gone. Your artist is full of art and stories. Poppets have been busy, for sure. I'm a little nervous. Wish me luck.

Once, as One

Painting helped. As I said, I'm learning to better follow my own advice. This time, that sometimes it's the right choice to let all else go and make the image in my head. I've waited a long time for Poppets to tell me their story. I'd be foolish not to listen. And too, it was good to get away.

Hope you like it. Prints will be available soon.

We waste it on the Wheel

It's still hot outside, but there are storms. Wind, lightening and constantly changing skies, day and night.

Last night found me pacing, pacing, pacing. This house is is oddly laid out. One can walk in circles, or, opening a couple of doors, travel something akin to a Mobius strip. I did just that.

I have much on my brain and too little time to sort it out. The too-little-time-to-sort-it-out part means it's difficult to write anything meaningful or remotely helpful at the moment.

At this moment, it looks like this is where I test take my own advice. Transitions are hard work, these are difficult times and your artist is a little crazy.

All work and no play is a poor plan for any human, even when things are difficult.



What, really, is more important than the care and feeding of our brains?


Mine needs to play, and sleep. Sheesh. Hope you're hanging in there too.

g'night

part the 2:

I didn't post that entry, obviously. It's now morning and everything is dappled in bits of sun through the clouds.
I woke up scared. She's still in me, that thin, pale little girl sitting up in her bed in the middle of the night, listening to the house. The house is alive. She hears its breath rasping through the clapboards. She don't know if she's alone in the house. She doesn't get up to check and she won't. She'll pretend her parents are here. It's better that way.

She's still in me, but I'm not her. That's what I tell myself, when I wake up scared.

Transitions are hard, and a lot of human beings are having to adapt in ways they didn't know they could, right now. It always has been that way and it very likely always will be.
I'm one of them.
Today I'm a little unsteady. So I give it some thought. There are options, including panic. OR I can put my energy into a bandaid. OR I can give it a day to right itself, take a breath and focus this morning's energy into painting, while the house is quiet, the light is good and the vision is fresh.

Here's the thing. I'm strongly compelled to go with the panic or the bandaid option Doesn't matter why. What matters is that I know that I'm compelled and that neither of those options has worked well in the past. Continuing to chose either would be like running on a wheel. No thank you. Carousels are hellish to me. I'm with Grandma. I like the roller coaster.

So I'm going to go with painting.

I'll let you know how that works out, or if it doesn't.

Autumn Poppets

Surprisingly enough, the clouds stayed with us all day and temps stayed just under 100 degrees.
It's a bit surreal. Could be the light, could be a bit of jet lag. I did love the cooler breezes and changing leaves of Wisconsin.

Today I mostly painted Poppets. The plan is to get up early, before Poppet Planet time, to work on a painting that's haunting me. It wants to be done. I have heard.
I want to paint, to write, to sleep. There is never enough time. But I'll try. It's a worthy juggling act. But since I've declared multitasking to be the death of creativity (for myself, at least) I must find another way. Will keep you posted.
g'night

Morning.Pre-sun.

Up earlier than early. Bit of time zone hangover. Outside with coffee by 6:40am to find the light diffused by a complete cloud cover. The hummingbirds are already at it, a dove sitting on the fence. I visit the praying mantis guardians on the tomato plants. I've learned to spot them. It's not easy. They are very clever , despite the whole head-eating issue. To each in turn I say what I tend to say to all such creatures, "Hello, beautiful." The air is only slightly warm. I sit, put my feet in the pool. No real clue to the hellish 120's to come in short hours. The rest of the humans are sleeping.
But Soosi is well into her morning routine. My bathroom floor is a sea of shredded toilet paper. Again. Thought taking it off the roll would fix that. But no. Inside, she's a blur of skittering, caroming, leaping, twisting, scratching,tearing through the house, bumping into walls, fighting for purchase on the wood floors in hot pursuit of a panicked twist tie. She and the ceiling fan are the only sounds I'm aware of. The hum of electronics is tucked away, only to make itself known in its absence, like the oboe in symphony. A blackout isn't inconceivable today.
Now it's time to wake the house, start the day and my own pursuit of the October I so long for. Not the one that marches inevitably toward me on the calendar, but the October that lives in my heart. In the blinding-white day ahead, it is elusive as the mantis and as silent. But still I hope to find her.

Wishing you a good day

blip

Wow. Back from MadCon. It's time travel, for sure. It went by in a blip, it seems. Great to see Harlan Ellison and other long-time friends and to make some new friends too.

That was that world. Very likely there are clips and posts up about Harlan's speeches, which were every bit Harlan and then some.

Just getting back into this world, with an interesting transition over the badlands.

It's 114 today. It will be 123 tomorrow. Who was I kidding? October?

I've quite a lot of work to do. I MUST defeat summer. I will.

more later.
hope your weekend was good too

Holes

One of the pieces for MadCon. I opted to put this one on big 'feet' instead of hanging. It's more like a cross between a wunderkammer and an ant farm.
Has a real dragonfly, beetles, black widows, rat skull and lizard skeleton, with other things mechanical and not, all painted, sculpted and oddly put together. Oh, and a bee.
"One Half-Remembered August" is the title. But, I remember more.

Orion dodges the camera.



I used to post lots of photos of Orion. He has grown from a kidling who used to mug for the camera to this elusive game caught on camera only by stealth. Waited until he was engrossed in "Holes."




Not so much posting. Too much of doing. The next few weeks will be very full. Mostly I want the hot air to go away. At least mornings and nights are better.
I hope I need a sweater in Madison.

But I did think of you. Hope however your Monday was, your Tuesday is better.

g'night

Lisa Snellings at American Visionary Art Museum

My kinetic carnival series, "Dark Caravan" is now in permanent installation at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. It opens in an exhibit titled, "What Makes Us Smile?," curated by 'The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, artist Gary Panter, and AVAM Founder Rebecca Hoffberger.

This week's fun.

Aubrey and I love The Birds. It's our favorite 'chick flick.' I'll be making a number of Bodega Bay School students and their feathered friends this season, along with the major characters. This one is Jenny.



Midnight and Magic was because I wanted to do something pretty. So I did.

The board and planchette aren't attached. I thought it would be more fun that way and I was right. It dawned on me, playing with the tiny board yesterday that I'd been thinking of this little one as a representation of a board.
Really though, in the realm of the unknown, why would size matter?

That said, my finger spelled 'h i d e.'

Oh dear.


This is an open edition version of "Rain" inspired by a commissioned one of a kind Poppet. Will put photos of that one up after it reaches its human.

I'm one week away from MadCon, three weeks away from the museum exhibit opening and all that goes with both events. Whew.

Hope your week is going well.

Mass and Carnival, Carnival and Mass and 9-11

I'm in the studio, working on the last 2 pieces for MadCon and listening to Leonard Bernstein's Mass, which still holds it's balance of heartbreak and humor. It's 9 - 11 and I'm going to remember this as I always have, appreciating that life is precious and that human beings have a long way to go. I'll spend it with gratitude. I'll renew my promise be the best artist I can be, to be the best human creature I can be.

'Mass' was highly inspirational as I created the 'Midway' sculpture in the image. For me, the music and the events of 911 are tightly wound around this work. And now the memories of months of working on it with Ben and the lessons learned in the years since.

I'll be happy, because enjoying today is the best way I can honor it.

Willard Wigan is an alien

This morning I reached for my robe and slippers almost automatically. The air was that cool. Soosi must sense something, because she's suddenly become Quantum Kitty, occupying multiple locations at once. She chases some invisible object, also of the quantum sort.

Yesterday Aubrey and I passed a house with a sign that said "Free Stuff." She picked up a bronze art deco picture frame that featured a dryad. I picked up two pairs of swim flippers. I don't need any flippers (who needs more than one pair?) but why not? You never know what flippers could become. Or I could just wear them when I get the mail.

I think the word for the day might be 'patience.' Or maybe 'object.'

Free Objects. More to imagining than 'free stuff.'

And I think Willard Wigan is an alien. Maybe he has a shrink ray. I hope so. And I hope, for my sake, he takes this as a compliment. And I wish to see a microscopic Poppet. Of course I do.

Hope your day is good.

Labor Day

Saw Machete today. It was great, great fun. But then, I've always been a bit of a tom-boy. Still, Robert Rodriguez is a talented director and Danny Trejo the coolest of the cool.

Today is Labor Day. So we're resting. Tomorrow officially begins Halloween season in this house.

Happy Halloween Season. We eagerly await the first cool breeze.

Already the crows look more beautiful.

My Blue Garden

...inspired by a small breath of cooler air.

for shame, Washington Post....again

Your poll questions are laughably biased. What's wrong with 1) yes 2) no or 3) unsure?

Or possibly: 1)Yes, I believe the benefits outweigh the risks.
and: 2)No, I believe the risks outweigh the benefits.
and 3)unsure. More research is needed.

You're the Washington Post. If I thought one newspaper in this country didn't have an agenda---just one---I'd sleep a little better at night.

I'm ashamed to be an American.

Posted by: harlikn7 | September 3, 2010 7:09 PM | Report abuse

That's my comment. The article is bad enough, but the poll question (below) really ticks me off. I'm sick to death of meaningless, slanted, bullshit 'polls.' How stupid do 'they' think 'we' are?

If you had a medical condition that medical marijuana might make better and your state allowed it, would you seek a prescription?

	Sure; what's the big deal?
	No, I think the risks outweigh the benefits.
	I'm not sure.

For shame, Washington Post, for shame.

yes, we has fun today

FRESH POPPETS NOW

Simple Plans, The Last Exorcism, Taking a Breath

Orion gets out of school early on Wednesdays. He and his friends swam in the afternoon and the water was almost chilly--almost--but at least not the temperature of bathwater or worse. Soon, it will be the kind of water that wakes us, that challenges us and demands adrenaline. Not yet, but this morning the air was cooler, so we start to think about gearing up the greenhouse. We're more prepared to warm it than to keep it cool. Those last few weeks were... impossible. It's an equation-- to create more energy (food) than we use (electricity.) At a point, there was no getting around it.

It's not over yet. I'm not exactly getting a burst of energy. Mostly the news still scares me and I need a vacation. But being able to breath outside of air conditioning is a start.



Speaking of scaring, Aubrey and I went to see The Last Exorcism. The best thing I can say about it is that we saw a preview for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. And had candy.


I'll make every effort not to think overly this weekend. My brain needs rest from the thinking and the writing and the making. It's a good investment. One thing I've learned is that you have to rest. I'm full of visions, but creating art follows an equation too. It takes more than vision. It takes energy and direction too. You can't cheat and you can't force it. Not the 'good stuff.' You might push yourself to meet a deadline, but it will never be your best work. That has to come, and you have to prepare the way and let it.
Now I have Soosi to remind me. She who came home when we stopped frantically searching and let her. As I type this, she helps--fishes paper clips out of the holder and rolls around in them.
I hope you have a good weekend. I hope you renew your energy and spirit and have some fun. There is indeed a time for all things, and this weekend might be for re-creation.

g'night

Watching

When was the last time you thought about malaria? I can tell you for me, it's been about twenty years. That's when I left the laboratory and became a full-time artist. I still read scientific journals occasionally, just not Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.

But Malaria has gone on about its business whether I was aware or not. Sonia Shah's blog is here.

It's all too easy to get lost in the details and miss the context. Each of us is part of all of us.

g'night

Looking for Autumn

Had a slow Friday. Was exactly what was needed. Spend the day hand-sculpting while watching silliness on cable. Tried to get photos of Soosi, but she was in full wild-kitten mode, so I got a dozen gray blurs.




Had some fun with this photo. It felt good to work on something just for entertainment. This is important for us, to play at our crafts. Most of us rarely do. We're driven by deadlines and worry. These last two years have left little time for play. When I do have a little time, I tend to spend it with Orion. I'm not doing myself any favors if I don't play. It's important to the care and feeding of our brains to play in all its rooms, including the ones specifically for 'the zone' of video games and other activities (like playing with photoshop) that exercise that area.

And I made the first of the Autumn Poppets. Different room, but important also to get lost in the details once in a while. To let go of other things and concentrate on one small thing.


Glow in the dark is always fun. I will always be a child when it comes to glow in the dark.
Today Spencer and I are going for a drive. Just a little change in scenery and higher elevations can be rejuvenating.

This is the way we near-crazy desert people survive the last weeks of brutal summer. I watch the news enough to know we have a lot of company this year. If you're feeling it, do what you need to now to refresh yourself. Before it gets you.

Have a great Saturday.

Sometimes it doesn't.

Today was hot, humid and oppressive. We watched clouds roll past, followed by more clouds moving like herds rumbling above us. There was a rainbow high in the sky. There was lightning. Later, there was a radiant Venus. And finally, even more lightning. But the ground stayed hot and there was no rain.

Soosi's sketchbook debut

.....sheesh!

What the hell is up, Doc?

,l',lkuuuuuuuujo\ippppppppppppppppp (thanks, Soosi)


So I had this dream. Excruciatingly detailed--I can recall the pattern of the rug--as most of my dreams are, but that's not the point so I won't go into it. Well, except that there was a Maloof chair---very organic and beautiful. Anway, I'm working in this place strange to me but home to my dream self, and there's a knock on the door. I open it and in saunters Bugs Bunny, bearing flowers. Naturally I'm surprised to see Mr. Bunny but before I can say anything he embraces me and pulls me into a kiss. I'm not talking a cartoon kiss either. I'm talking a deep human kiss that goes on forever and has all the sensations that go with.
Right. I know. The rabbit teeth. But dreams eclipse those sorts of impossibilities and human beings happily overlook them, e.g., Everything On Cable. His teeth are pretty big too. Besides, if I've accepted that Bugs just walked through my door, may as well go all out, down to the wabbity smell of his fur.

He leaves as suddenly as he appeared and I'm left stunned and breathless, in a turmoil of conflicted emotion.
I love Bugs? I...love...Bugs.

My alarm went off then and I woke a bit confused, amused and even embarrassed to find Soosi inches from my face, looking as though she saw the whole thing.
Easily enough explained---Orion found an old "Best of Mel Blanc"collection and watches bits of it at breakfast and snacks---but still fairly twisted, even for me.
I decided right then to keep it to myself.

That was Sunday.

****
I've been working on new art for MadCon. Yesterday morning Aubrey pointed out that I was talking to myself (more than normally) as I worked. I'm building a piece that's a sort of wunderkammer and apparently I'd been talking rather animatedly to its inhabitants.
Really? Hmm. sorry about that.
"No," she said, "It's cool to see you really into working." She looked around the room. "I like your new stuff."

"Yeah," I said. I was putting the finishing touches on a little fellow with six cuff links and feeling pretty satisfied with myself. "I love bugs."

Go figure.










The bugs were given to me. Thanks guys! I killed the black widow.

staying up late with H. G. Wells

Thought you might like this photo. Poppet and words later. Sunday for more sleep, reading, lovely talk with the Mr. Gaiman.
Tomorrow to wake and go back to making things.

passive renewal

ok. so not a vacation. not the change of scenery.

still, a quiet weekend of rest and recharge. Can't pull stuff out if you don't put stuff in.

reading. movies. sleep. food. already improving.

adapt or die, silly human.


Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.
is fun. poppets liked it.

stories, made up and not

Finally found time to go to the library. Found a "Complete" volume of H. G. Wells short stories. There are still a few I haven't read. Only a few. And a copy of Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson, also the flavor I was looking for, it turns out.
Among the books for Orion we chose Three Tales of My Father's Dragon. This is a classic I missed somehow. Can't read everything, despite my efforts. It was brought to my attention by Eva Volin, who is, among many other things, supervising children’s librarian for the Alameda Free Library in Alameda, California. She commissioned a reading poppet a few months ago:




Eva, if you're reading this, thank you. We've had a wonderful time reading these stories together. It's obvious why they've endured for over sixty years.
Orion doesn't want them to end. We've promised to read them again in the future.

***
I just returned from one of those late, quick trips to our neighborhood Vons. The night clerks are always more interesting. I show up occasionally at odd hours, in studio grunge or in winter, pajamas under a trench coat. If I'm there for one thing, I usually try to throw in another item for contrast---for instance, 16 bags of rubber bands and and a tub of butter. Artists not only get away with this sort of oddness--it seems generally expected.

I think the long, difficult summer has finally caught up with me physically. I've tried to keep things balanced, but after a while, one has to have a true break, complete with a change of scenery. I don't know when that will happen. Not in the foreseeable future. Like sleep, I don't think there's a substitute.
I feel pretty much like crap. I'm avoiding looking in the mirror. Too unfamiliar, too scary. Right. It is what it is. It's a tough profession I've chosen. I'm in good company. Times are hard, could be worse and all that. I know. I get that. I even appreciate it. But sometimes it's still just fucking miserable and nothing to fix it. Dr. Seuss knew this and he was wise beyond human. I think he was secretly a poppet.


When I came out of the store I saw the crescent moon. It stopped me short. Just about to set behind the mountains, it was huge in a dark teal sky. It was a delicate illuminated sliver of glass, of ice, of magic, balanced on point. It was my moon, performing a secret dance just for the rare spark of a little girl who still wonders large. I stood dumb in my flip flops, clerks and cleverness forgotten, clutching my trash bags, doughnuts and vodka and crying like a baby.

By the time I got home it was gone. There was just the mountains, the garage light and things to do. I'll sleep soon. Dream. Tomorrow is its own story. All I need do is show up.


Silly human.

Lavender and Sanity

I've mentioned before that I'm making changes to decrease the environmental footprint of the studio. One of the new mold rubbers I've tried recently becomes a beautiful shade of lavender once mixed. That's not the weird part. The weird part is that it smells like lavender. Or lavender candy. Or any candy the color of lavender. I thought it might be a figment of my imagination. But no, I've asked others and they agree. Now, normally mold rubber isn't horribly toxic, but it's not something you want to breathe. Weirdness.
I imagine the evil villain with the biological weapon. The airborne something contained in colorful bubbles that on bursting, release the scent of freshly baked cookies. Or lavender candy.
Evil, evil, evil! The brain is a terrible thing.

On a more positive and practical note, I mixed a bit more rubber than I needed, so I poured the extra into a plastic picnic plate. Nothing, and I mean nothing, sticks to mold rubber, so it makes a pretty handy palette for acrylic paints. You just rinse it when you're done working, or peel the paint off after it dries. It also makes a good work surface for tiny objects like watch parts, or a really good no-slip pad for a vase or even a piece of furniture.

***

It's been a difficult summer for me. Without a doubt it's been a difficult summer for lots of you too. It's always a bit of a conflict, writing about the process. On the one hand, I like the idea of sharing these growing pains as they happen. On the other, I know from experience that a little time will give me perspective, and then what I write would be more useful (and probably more coherent.)
I've given serious thought to letting Poppet do the talking. But then, Poppets don't have mouths.

Exactly.

This begins to make sense in a way that makes me a little dizzy. Like when you look at the stars and truly contemplate the distance. When you look at the moon and are so grateful it's there.



****


There are some great new images up for Poppets on Tour: The Project. Already I'm finding photos there that inspire words for the book. Thanks to everyone contributing.

***

Ok. There's too much noise in this house. I can't concentrate as well as I'd like, so I'll leave you with this blank to fill in:

"I'm most sane when I'm_________________."

You don't have to share it here, but it will be more fun if you do.

I'm going to look for a quiet spot.
g'night

August

Soosi is settling in. I promise not to ply you with cat photos. Mostly this one is to celebrate the end of kitty drama and getting back to making art.

The Halloween Shop is now open.

There's a new section for special sales and retiring poppets.


Having fun with costume designs.


The poppet-who-lives-on-my-desk says the goldfish is depressed. Poppets' jokes tend to be mostly of that sort.
Sea Breeze happened because I wanted one. It felt good too.


We're adjusting to having a kitten in the house. I don't buy cat toys. There's just no topping a ball of yarn on a hardwood floor.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. g'night