Halloween Pumpkins

My husband decided he wanted to carve a Frankenstein pumpkin for Halloween this year, so of course I had to carve the Bride of Frankenstein! I found a couple of great old movie photos online and brought them into Photoshop to tweak and change into a template. The problem was that our pumpkins were wet from the rain the other day, so we couldn't use the template's after all, and ended up drawing them freehand. I think they turned out fabulous! Even though we think ours are pretty cool, they're nothing compared to some others! There are really some incredible portraits and carved pumpkins, to the point of sculptures, out there! I couldn't find out who created this Jack Nicholson portrait but, boy, is it scary! Probably the best pumpkin sculptor I've seen is Ray Villafane. I can just imagine the kids walking up to his house on Halloween!

I <3 Autumn

This is my favorite time of year! I love everything about it; the temperature, the changing colors, the crisp smell of the air, the thin layer of ice on the water in the mornings, the sound of crunching leaves under my feet, squash, apples and hot spiked cider... There is just one thing I don't like about autumn- the short days.

Wildlife Cam: Fox, Coyote, Bobcats, Oh My!

My husband has a motion censored wildlife cam that he puts out in the woods to monitor what kind and how many animals live and go through the woods abutting our property. Most of the photos are not a surprise- deer, raccoon, squirrel, fox, possum, you know, your typical woodland animals, but it was a surprise to see the two photos that are posted above. You can probably tell but the first picture is a coyote and the second picture is a bobcat. The bobcat was the biggest surprise of all. I had no idea that this was bobcat territory. I'm glad that my cat is an indoor cat, but I'm going to worry about my little Boston terrier if he runs off in the woods. Thinking back, we did find a small skeleton (probably a cat) on our property when we first moved here. It's kind of cool but also a bit unnerving to know as I'm walking the dogs on the rails to trails through the woods that there are coyote and bobcat lurking about.

Painting Storage Unit

One day after my studio renovations were finished I looked around and realized that my paintings were taking up too much wall space. If I stacked them (which I often did) it became difficult to get at one particular piece, so I decided to build a painting storage unit. It was obvious to me where I should install it in the studio so as not to take up too much precious space so I began designing it based on it's location. It needed to be 3' wide x 8' tall x 3.5' deep. I planned the shelf heights based on my work- I had to make sure I had slots for 6', 4', 3' and  2' paintings and then I divided up the left over space for the smaller work. Figuring out materials was a matter of math, which resulted in a 2nd trip to home depot anyway. Sometimes I underestimate the time & work involved in a project- I think eh, I'll just throw up some crown molding (my husbands rip on me), but it turns out to be much more difficult than I originally thought. I think it's because I see the finished work in my head so clearly it seems like I have it all figured out. Not quite. Where I thought I could build it in one day like my work tables, it actually took me three days. This storage unit literally kicked my butt! I smashed my foot (maybe broke a toe), got tons of splinters, and drilled my finger (lol), but it was worth it! Now, my work is stored all tidy and organized in one location which opened up a ton of wall space to work off of.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da....

I've got to stop starting blogs and not finishing them till days-weeks later. I usually start my blog entries with an image and a quick blurb so that I don't forget the idea I want to write about. The strategy works well if I were to actually finish them right away, but alas, sometimes life gets in the way and there they sit. I hope that  the delay in posting hasn't disappointed any readers. I'm not even sure if I have any readers... is there anybody out there?

Fav Flix Friday - Down By Law

Down by Law, directed by Jim Jarmusch 1986

The first time I saw Down by Law I was immediately spellbound by the opening scene- a montage of traveling shots of New Orleans with a husky Tom Waits sound over. The film is shot in black and white with a rich tonal range. Every still is a perfect photograph- exquisite cinematography! Not everyone likes a Jim Jarmusch film, but anyone who appreciates film as art will. What Hollywood or mainstream film considers extraneous and unimportant, Jarmusch considers significant and essential. He has a particular way of focusing on characters over plot and accentuating life's mundane moments that usually occur in between events. The main characters, Zack (Tom Waits), Jack (John Lurie- who also composed the great and moody score), and Bob (Roberto Benigni) are all marginal characters that live for the moment and literally go where the road takes them. The basic story is about a jail break yet all the details of the jail break are left out because the real story is about the characters, their relationship, and their journey.  This film is poetic, atmospheric, human, and funny. I highly recommend it!

Other Jarmusch films I loved: Coffee and Cigarettes (which has a super awesome cast!), Night on Earth (especially Roberto Benigni's bit!), and Dead Man (with the beautiful Johnny Depp)