The proposal deadline has been set at June 1. Today, it shifted to the 15! I’m not certain if this is a good thing or not. ( I did work at the front desk today so I made a few inquires about submission levels.) Will I continue to procrastinate more or actually craft a stronger letter of interest? Well….. All I know is that I might actually enjoy getting ready for our Austin TX flight tomorrow rather than pulling out my hair struggling to get the to-do list completed.

If you’re interested in the video that peaked my interest, here’s the link: Ditch Fish by Oregon Field Guide

Oh, it’s soooo close to completion!  The book itself was completed last week, but I’m still editing photos and text for showing the demo. That portion has surprised me. There are a lot of steps involved and little tricks for keeping corners from being exposed and not lumpy, keeping track of paper/board grain and other things. Kind of the stuff I’ve learned but just take for granted. It’s in my brain, so isn’t it in everyone else? Ha!

So what am I talking about, you might be wondering? I received a nice message from a gal in the UK wondering about some of the books shown in a previous posting from several years ago. I passed along the cut dimensions and started thinking ” Why not create another tutorial?” Of course, I don’t want to just show some of the process, but actually teach it so someone else MIGHT be able to create one at home.  The finished book will go up for sale on my ETSY site later on.

On the home front, I think my dad needs another blood transfusion. He received a chemo treatment on Monday when his hemoglobin count was only 8.4. What was the doctor thinking? My dad doesn’t like going in for additional treatment, we’re heading into a LONG weekend (memorial weekend) and he’s already fatigued. Will we all have to wait until Tuesday to get him in? Will we drag his old, bony ass in to the Emergency room? He gets so stubborn. He’s been at the coast for the past couple of days and I think he’s coming home to the valley today.  Guess its always something!

Maybe this weekend we will finish the garden boxes (filling) and put up the deer/moby fence.  The little tomato plants are longing to get those roots in the ground!

I surprised myself by pulling out colored paper and soft pastels to create the image. Colors didn’t matter much so I used a bunch. This was the first time I’ve worked on colored paper. My friend Debby Sundbaum-Sommers had given me the sketch pad as a thank you gift for helping out at her open studio a few years back. She often uses colored paper with her drawings.

If you’re wondering what The She Project might be, please click on the name to find out more. A huge thanks to Lauren Ohlgren for doing yet another year! We are so lucky to have her in our community!!!

As a child, May Day was always special. My mother helped me cut flowers & assemble little cone baskets to deliver to the neighbors. After assembly,  I ran up to our neighbors homes, hung the baskets on the door, rang the bell and ran away! Today, the lilacs are blooming and I’ve assembled a cone for my neighbor Gail. Hopefully she’ll see it when returning from work. This is probably the first basket created in over 35 years!  I took the photo at my house because I thought it would look silly taking a photo at her front door. 

Lee, my father, is doing better. His blood count went up to a level he could take on more chemo this week. Hmmm, kind of a double edged sword. It will inevitably drop his blood production and make him feel tired and unspunky. Hopefully, on this round, it won’t make such a big drop in his energy levels as round #1. Time will tell.

With the last couple of weeks of home instability, I decided to drop out of the Plankton show. Probably just as well since Hester let me know she had an overabundance of participants. I’m still planning on submitting for the  Rural Arts Installation project and creating some fun work for the ArtShop during the Plankton show. A kinetic sculpture is in the works for the installation… I hope! More sea squirts and screen printed objects to come.

Dave did return from his 9 day adventure to India. I was super happy to have another dog walker back in the house! 5 miles a day is too much for me, but about right for Moby! Saudi Arabia is the next possible county to receive a visit from Dave, but I’m not letting him go for at least 6 months!

Right when Dave left, I started a gluten free diet after a mysterious intestinal incident. The doctor thought it might have been food poisoning, but I’m not so certain. My mother had a major history with food allergies, but wouldn’t admit it. Needless to say, I’ve inherited the dreaded lactose/casein intolerance and possibly the gluten issue too. My brother Mike has the same problem…. I hate it when I’m like him!

Both of the cats received the dreaded vet trip this morning. Nigel happens to be a cat at ease where ever he goes. Once you open the kennel, he saunters out and rubs his cheeks on anything not moving. He also flops down and just enjoys all the activity & attention. MeMe is the opposite. She wants to hide in your arms. If you leave her on the table, she freezes. An entirely different personality than at home. Unfortunately, she has a grade 4 heart murmur and a joint issue. Those darn valves! George had the same problem. Fortunately, she has been chosen to participate in a training session for vet techs! In a couple of weeks, she’ll spend a Sunday hanging out at the vet getting checked over… for FREE! Yippee!!! One less diagnostics test to pay for!

Moby the magnificent is certainly getting me out for serious daily walks. We’ve been managing 3+ miles daily. Jogging might become possible in the next few weeks if my feet & knees hold up. That’s still a dream of mine, to be able to get back into jogging a 5K. Seems like most races have moved to 1/2 marathon or marathon modes. One of my friend’s husband just won the Eugene Marathon last weekend. Way to go Mike!

My dad and I are still at work on genealogy stuff. He’s wanting all the family crest images to create a cool screen print or embroidered sweatshirt. I’m trying to gather as much info as possible prior to his kicking the bucket, which isn’t expected any time soon! He’s got years to go in my book! Plus we’re still in the design mode for creating a shaman rattle for his oncologist. Life with my dad is never dull… he’s always moving on to new projects even before the others are settled! That must be the secret to life, always having many irons in the fire to keep things moving. 

Thanks for checking in! Artwork images to come for the September show….

Voting is still open for the Corvallis Fall Festival Poster Image! Please click on the highlighted words to connect! Closing date is May 2 @ midnight!

We ended up in a room with no windows. Well, there were some windows 8ft up the wall and were blocked by an overhang so they really didn’t count much.  The nurse hooked him up with a little cleansing saline, dosed him with ibuprofen & benadryl to lower any rejection,  checked his vitals then loaded the system with the first pint. After the first 15 min, she checked the vitals again to make sure he wasn’t rejecting the blood, and kept the blood flowing until finished.

Next pint was started after a dose of lasix. My dad didn’t seem to comprehend what that was until the extra fluid started moving to his bladder. More vital checking after 15 min… lunch was soup. Several trips to the restroom toting his rolling blood machine.  Another couple of hours later and it was done. 5.5 hrs total. A long day!

He was tired, had to pee before heading home, but otherwise in pretty good spirits. He hated having wasted my day, but I look at it differently. I provided him with extra ears & eyes to help him understand what was going on. I spent a great time with my dad in an uncomfortable foreign situation. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

He’s hoping to head to Yachats tomorrow if he’s feeling well enough. Monday we find out the next chemo plan. Hopefully one that shifts the cancer to a manageable level. We keep moving along with life!

Today, we spent some time outside with the compost and looking for salamanders. I found two sallies yesterday while moving the blue tarp. No sallies today but discovered two snakes hiding… but only one would hang around for a photo.

  Yesterday Moby discovered one I ran over with the lawn mower. He thought it was the best thing to roll on. Why do dog have to do that??? Blecho!

Ah the cute one. Just wish he would entertain himself by chewing on a bone or something!

The little bird house  (not a good shot, but it’s there in the center of the photo) had some interested renters today, but I think they declined. A pair of chickadees spent time scoping out the house and surroundings. We’ve not had a single renter since it went on the market 5+years ago.  There have been two other houses in the yard and neither of them have had any interest. My dad created the bird houses and he feels like a failure since no one has taken up residence. Fortunately, the homes he’s built for humans have been well appreciated and lived in!

The oregano is growing well! The initial start came from a girlfriend who I worked with at Pirate’s Cove (a pet store long gone). She gave me the plant when moving to Montana over 18 years ago. It always makes me think of her.

A few tulips have come up this year with blooms. Last year we had a great crop so I wasn’t expecting much this year. I don’t spread bonemeal or extra supplements around. It would only encourage the dogs to dig up the flower beds.

Looking forward to starting a screen print tomorrow if the dog leaves me alone!

This more closely resembled what I was looking for. Next, I took 19g wire and created a matching outline of the paper cut-outs and bent the forms.

Sketches and wire.

After bending, I located some crumpled tracing paper. The paper was then torn, glued and wrapped around the wire form to create the exoskeleton.

The forms can still be bent and adjusted to achieve a final fit, but I’m not certain at this point how they will attach to one another. At least the thought process has started!

More playing to come tomorrow.

This is my first attempt with manipulating a single sheet of tracing paper into a sculptural form. I kind of remember doing this sort thing as a child but never more than a wadding and twisting forms to look like horses (I had a horse hang up as a young girl).  Two years ago I took a sculptural paper class from Oregon artist Helen Hiebert. That was an incredible eye-opening experience. A year ago I watched a video titled “Between The Folds” on my local PBS station (it’s also available on Netflix). One of the artists featured, Vincent Floderer, created huge paper mushrooms with such effortless flair. I was entranced! How did he do it? Theoretically, it looked quite easy. Now I realize there is quite a learning curve to work on.  Helen Hiebert had a link to his site in her April newsletter. This helped reconnect some dots  dormant in my brain. To view Le Crimp, please check the attached link here. The site is in French.  The mushroom video had horrible sound. Maybe it was my connection, but I wanted to warn you first.

There is a current call-to-artists for a rural storefront project through The Arts Center.  My brain is already shifting gears to try to come up with something to propose. Paper, wire, and maybe kinetic movement are trying to sort out some form to experiment with. Kinetics have been playing around in the studio for the past two years. Artist Jacob Hashimoto recently caught my attention with his incredible kinetic installation work. It’s worth checking out his videos. Repetition of form always makes my heart beat faster! Ahhhh *sigh*.

I’m not certain where these influences will lead, but I’m looking forward to experimenting with different paper sculpture forms. It’s time to PLAY!  More ideas to come… oh, and some sort of diatom/plankton sculpture will start showing its contorted face on the blog too. Yikes, photos are due on May 1st. Hmm, probably won’t make it for the image deadline, but the project will be completed for delivery in July.

So we will be keeping an eye on him. The rest of his chemo is canceled for now until Dr F’s appointment next Monday. Kim starts working tomorrow & I’ll be making daily phone calls to check on his status. Kim, Mike & I are coordinating who will take him in next week (possibly earlier if he needs a transfusion).

So that’s the scoop for now.

I think we’ve talked him out of driving to the coast this week until his blood settles back down

This weeks highlights:

Saturday Breakfast:

Egg quesadilla with chicken, avocado and tomatillo salsa! Thanks Dave for the yummy creation without cheese!

Saturday afternoon I worked for the Arts Center from noon to 5pm. The current show is absolutely luscious in terms of clay finishes! Two artists are being shown in the main gallery: Brad Mildrexler & Katie Swenson

This piece was on the exhibit postcard.

Just a fabulous show that also has the local ceramics guild involved. Worth a look!!! Show is up until April 21, 2012.

Saturday I also found out my brother &  his girlfriend split for a final time. More alcohol abuse on his part. Why is it that alcoholics can’t figure out that social drinking isn’t a possibility for them? He is still out of work and will soon be moving to the valley (which home is yet to be determined). We all love him and want him to get better. Will a job help boost his moral? Maybe. Will attending Serenity Lane (a private substance abuse clinic) help? Maybe, if someone wants to pay 14K.  He doesn’t have the money….

Sea Squirts are finally going thru their last firing! Oh, at last!!!! It really didn’t take that long to finish, but the dog and family stuff kept creeping into my schedule and sending things off kilter. Maybe next week I’ll finally start the plankton sculpture….

Corvallis Fall Festival poster contest is finally CLOSED!!! Actually I guess it’s at midnight since it doesn’t say on the form. I think there have actually been a few good ones turned in. Some scream Corvallis, some say fall, some say… well, I’m not sure what but not anything connected to our festival! Our jurors will really enjoy this selection!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my friend Carol watching a video of works by South African artist William Kentridge. What an inspiration! That man can draw PLUS have so much fun playing with reversing videos and turning positive to negative. Oh, what I would love to try….   Our mutual friend Elaine Green is greatly influenced by his work. She compiled a short video on her blog based on his work. Please click on her name to reach the video.

I won’t go into the puncture wound on my foot from the dog’s cow hoof chew…

I’m glad it’s done, sad about family stuff, glad about art stuff and looking forward to next week. Bring on April! It’s got to be better than March!