Dreaming.....

I've been dreaming a lot lately. Maybe it's the cooler weather or the long week-end or my hopes for better things to come......

LittleDickensDesigns just dropped me an email to let me know that she included some of my art in her beautiful treasury :) Thank you LDD!

Something To Be Thankful For

Nina Simone -Aint Got No.....

Silver Belle

Thank You! Holly, Jolie and Vivian for your encouragement during the Maniacal Monday 5K word/art challenge and Totally (Licorice Whipped, Karate Kicking) Tuesday. It's Licorice Rope Round-Up Wednesday and I've finished work #4: Silver Belle.
Now I'm ready to take my scans to the print shop and have them made into cards for the local Holiday Artisans Bazaar and just in time too!

I don't think I could have done it without you, or at least it wouldn't have been as much fun!

Crazy Hazy Kisses

Last night Dexter Romweber played at a tiny club around the corner from here called the Tap House. Sorry I didn't get any pics but I do have great news : His new album is coming out in February and it features Chan (Catpower) and Exene Cervenka (X). OOOOoooooh!!!! I can't wait, I love all three. Chan will be doing a Ketty Lester 60's song, Love Letters that you may know from the David Lynch film Blue Velvet and Exene will sing Johnny Burnette's Lonesome Train. I know this will be my soundtrack for 2009....the BEST year ever.

I have a deep connection to all 3 musicians and I just may have to write separate posts on each. In the mid 80's, I remember my sister had the Athens, Georgia compilation which featured him and also his sister Sarah's band, Let's Active. It wasn't until 1994 when I frst saw Flat Duo Jets play in NYC and probably have seen Dexter perform 6 times since. Whenever I hear this guy play certain slow songs, I get the chills.

In the past few years he has formed a band with his sister, (fab drummer) Sarah and are called the Dexter Romweber Duo. They live in Chapel Hill, NC , a cool little college town which is not too far from here. All 4 kids in his family are musically gifted and they are shedrockers too!
Here's a clip of Dexter with Flat Duo Jets (guitar and drums only) doing Crazy Hazy Kisses:

Snowflake Beard

This is a Thank You to Erin at Design For Mankind for featuring my art on her November 21 post. Tonight I finally finished hand cutting my delicate snowflake bearded guy. I collaged him to a blue background and added some faux-bois flakes for company.
So Erin, this image is dedicated to you because you're the Coolest!
Click him on for a closer look.

Up Owl Night

Thanks to Holly, Jolie, Vivian and Jaime for cracking the whip yesterday, I was up owl night reworking the cover art for my next picture book.
I finally made it to bed by midnight, only to be awoken by little C at 5AM!
The writer/ artist challenge worked well for me, ladies, and I'm almost satisfied with my work...except now I need to get a heavier gage watercolor paper because the one I was working on was rippled by the morning.....
I think my sister was right when she said on the phone yesterday that it seems like "an artist can never really be satisfied".... So, I'll probably be joining you all on Monday for another challenge.

Fashion and Style

I want to thank Tricia Royal, the San Francisco based artist/designer of bits and bobbins for featuring my art in the November 19th posting of her super hip blog.
This is a photo I took of Ono Jet Boy in a vintage sundress, carrying a 60's bubble purse and pee-wee. The converse are his own....can you tell?
So Tricia, this one's for you!

Missing Socks

It's morning and I'm folding laundry and wondering where all the missing socks have gone. I have 3 single socks with no mate and then........ deja vous! I am reminded of the giant lint sock monster that I created for a show called Lost and Found at Washington Square East Gallery in NYC.

So, if you've ever wondered where all those missing socks go, they get sucked up into lint balls and eaten by the sock monster and you'll probably never get them back!

Fly Girl

I just found out I'm a Fly Girl!!! Three of my works were featured in the November 19th post of Flygirls.

New Favorite Old Song

Every once in a while we hear this song on the oldies station. In our house, the oldies station is always on. Somehow it seems to keep everything flowing and everyone in harmony. D memorizes all his favorites and this is one of them. Today he was humming it and it seeped into my mind to play over and over again on the same track. And then I realized it's my favorite too.
The Troggs: With a Girl like You 1971

Wind Swirl Girl

I just decided (after seeing this post)to switch her hair back to pink. What do you think?

I've been working on this one for several days and finally was able to complete it this morning. I got the idea for Wind Swirl Girl from a previous post sketch. My little doodle-a-day sketches seem to be paying off.

Shedrock!

One of my new favorite blogs doobleh-vay led me to Springtree Road 's November black and white photo share. I love to take black and white photos and look at them too!!! Here in Virginia, there is not too much to do. I think that's why Steve and I decided to make the move out of NYC. Now we have a home and family with 2 little ones.

Steve and I are both musicians. I played bass for the Secrets and he's been in several bands: the Devil Dogs, the Vikings, Pearl Schwartz, Pure Filth and now the Villains amongst several others... So it only makes sense that most of our friends are musicians. The thing to do around here is to get together on week-ends in someone's backyard shed and ROCK!

My little D was in my belly while I played bass with the Secrets so it's only natural that he should come out ready to Rock. He needs no practice.

The top photo is D rocking drums with Hillbilly Werewolf and the bottom is singing with Daddy in the Villains.

Crochet Tree Cozy

I love Carol Hummel's colorful crochet tree cozy. What a great idea. I wonder if it will help keep this tree warm for the winter.

Mushroom Madness

After a few days of rain and the tornado watch last night, we finally got a break this morning. I stepped out into the backyard to see the lawn covered with mushrooms and leaves. C had fun kicking them and pulling the ornamental berries off the bush to squish and throw.

Handmade Hedgehogs

Awww! So sweet:) I just found my little hedgehog silhouette on Handmade2.0. What a great collection!

Bark At the Moon

Did anyone look up at the sky last night? It was a beautiful, full Autumn moon. After the rain, the sky cleared up and I went outside to take this picture. Then back inside to do some more art with my new favorite companion, coffee avec eggnog.

Bark at the Moon is now in the shop! Click it on for a closer look.

I found this clip of Nick Drake's Pink Moon. I love the photo imagery in this one, especially the old barn at the end:

Les Deux Coiffures

Here's two more fabulous coiffures for your eye-candy viewing pleasure. Marlene Dietrich is on the left (1942 from Kismet, photo by Lazlo Willinger) and the one on the right is "La Coiffure L'Independence Ou Le Triomphe De La Liberte" a French lithograph from June 17, 1778.

Speaking of hair......I just googled jikits and found this SUPER COOL post at the Naughty Secretary Club that features one of my bee-hives from April.

Partridges In A Pear Bee -Hive

T'is the season for partridges in pear trees......but what about a pear coiffure with partridges and leaves? A stunning new do for the season!

Dreaming of Japan

I've been daydreaming about Japan and combing through old youtube videos to revisit friends. A few years ago, I flew to Tokyo to tag along on a Pearl Schwartz tour: Steve's band formed of Yoshiko from the 5678's, Ono Ching of the Jet Boys and Toru of Guitar Wolf. They recorded a 45 of which I designed the band cover with the logo text in Japanese and Hebrew style font for the members both Japanese (Pearl) and Jewish (Schwartz). Here it is:

and you can hear Yoshiko singing Sweet Seventeen on the Black Lung Records playlist here.

It Rocks!!!!!!

Ono of the Jet boys came to visit us in Virginia and recorded a Jet Boys single at Steve's studio. I had taken a photo of him which was chosen by Charles Peterson to win an Honorable Mention Award in photography at the Chrysler Museum of Art. This photo became my second record jacket. It actually wraps around to the other side to show his legs.....

I love photography and my favorite photographer is my dear friend Bob Gruen, whose work is so true and inspiring but we'll save that for another post...... or maybe an interview.

Yoshiko just had a baby girl born a little bit after my baby girl. I wonder if she has a mini- beehive hairdo?

Here's a clip of the 5678's doing I'm Blue. Yoshiko's older sister Sachiko plays drums. I got to wander around Tokyo exploring thrift shops with her while Pearl Schwartz was recording. Someday I will go back to Japan.......... but until then I will just have to daydream...............

Beetle Boy

This week-end I rediscovered one of my favorite rings that I've had since high school. It's this beetle ring that I bought from Aardvarks Vintage clothing shop in Canoga. I remember I bought 2 of these, the other was a bumblebee enclosed in a clear orange bubble. Unfortunately that one cracked....

This little beetle was my inspiration for this week-end's illustration (above): Beetle Boy. It's in the shop!

Flower Children

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Peace. Seeds of peace are all over the world and I'm hoping that planting these flower children might share a smile and help to spread a little peace today.

Front Page News

Yayyy!!! I made the front page of Etsy on 11/5 with these other fine artists. A great grouping, I must say :) Here is the actual page saved on Flickr.

Curator: Picked by miaotsetse Featured: yaelfran, jikits, shelbyhealey, prettylittlethieves, glamgill45, michelemaule, ArtByIris, selflesh, scottitaylor, jansart, Angelapetsis, Felicitate88

Celebrities, Masks and Birds Eating Berries

It all started with a photo of Teri Hatcher from behind. Poor thing was trying to diguise her identity with her baseball cap but even a celebrity's behind can't go unnoticed! It's funny because this article was on the front page of AOL news the day of elections.

Well, it got me thinking about celebrities and celebrity couples trying to hide from the papparazzi and all the influences of masks and more masks I've been seeing left over from Halloween. Plus the Donovan song I've been hearing over and over about "green leaves and of berries" and "motherbird eating cherries"... all helped to inspire Celebirdie Couple, now in the shop!

Click it on for a closer look.

Stress Free Under the Sea

Yesterday's elections made me feel on edge and stressed and then I found this image by Betsy Walton. Her art is so soothing, ethereal and healing, especially this image which takes me to a place far away.......under the sea. "Far from the frenzy of the frantic world above."
This lovely print is now on my wish list :)

A stange rainy day with a lot of connections led me to my favorite thrift store on Tidewater where I scored 2 Donovan records.

The 12" is "For Little Ones," the second album from a set of 2 titled "A Gift From a Flower To A Garden" from 1967 and the 45 is the fab Hurdy Gurdy Man from 1968. Donovan did all his own artwork on his records which I love. It's quite ironic that both records are sea themed with songs like The Tinker and The Crab and Starfish on the Toast.

I'm one of those people who still has a record player and especially love to play one side over and over while I do my art. I remember I used to do this in my High school years too.

This is my peculiar little prawn that helped me swim through the day as side 2 of the Donovan record played over and over and over.........

and I'm relieved it's over and Obama won!!! Yayyy!!!!!!

Here's a rare clip of Donovan from 1965 singing Catch the Wind:

New and Improved! Pinecone Beehive Hairdo

It seems that my doodle-a-day is working. The pinecone doodle that I posted Oct. 23 allowed me to look at it up on the screen, think about it and realize that I needed to practice pinecone drawing as my doodle looked a bit like a pile of potatos!! But thanks to the encouragement from mylittlebighead, I came up with this. I really like the colors and wish I owned a dress that had these same colors in the fabric. Click it on to take a closer look. It's now in the shop!

Blooming

It's November and my roses are blooming. I picked a Don Juan climing rose and put it in a sweet little English teacup that I inherited from Steve's Great Aunt.

The yellow rose bush that was a Kmart special is also in full bloom. I made this vase out of a coke bottle that I fired and twisted in a glass making studio.

C and D decided to join in and picked these purple blooms from our butterfly bush. This vase is an ebay score. It's crooked and I love it.

Then we made some amazing banana muffins. My mom made the cute orange and hot pink potholder. Thanks Mom! November is starting out to be a great month.