by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Studio |
In my heart I was painting. In my dreams I was painting.
In reality I was sorting through the remaining stuff in Mama’s cottage, the old studio, getting ready to rent it out. Bags of garbage. Bags of recycle. Bags of stuff for the thrift store. Stuff to donate to the art center where I work. Stuff to lug up the hill to the new! improved! Studio Grande. Open the door, toss it in and hope to God some fairy comes during the night and finds some place to put it.
Or some robber. At this point I don’t care. As long as he leaves the good stuff.
Stuff stuff stuff stuff STUFF!!!
Do I really need a huge Rubbermaid tub full of styrofoam and cardboard stuff taking up valuable space? When is the next time I’m going to use them as sculpture bases. When?
About two weeks days after I give them away, that’s when.
But I’m going to get rid of them anyway. Because I. Don’t. Have. Room. For. STUFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!
While I was slaving away, hunkered over boxes and bags of stuff, Studio Quat mistook my leg for a sturdy tree. She climbed straight up, using her claws of course) and settled in on my back.
It was amusing for the first few seconds.
On one of my journeys back and forth up the hill I threw on the apron, grabbed a couple of paintings from years ago and slathered ’em up with cold wax and oil. So I guess I did do a little painting this weekend. Damn little. But enough to hold off the creative crankies.
Now here’s where I quit whining:
Last year when we were building the new studio I decided I needed to cut away the hillside further up and make a nice little area for Mama’s garden furniture. A nice little place to sit where I’ll hang prayer flags and wind chimes. Put up all those arty birdhouses I’ve been collecting. Create a cozy little special outdoor space.
I seriously envisioned doing it myself. But Mr. Spouse always needs a project…and who am I to deny him his fun?
This is where it’s at right now. Eventually there will be concrete. And rocks on the retaining wall.
I had to test it out. Had to sit there and listen to the breeze, way high up in the trees. Had to listen to the hawks calling to one another as they flew overhead. And then the crow cawing in one of the pines. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky. It was perfect.
I sat there with the sun on my face, looking up to a perfect blue sky way up above the trees. Thinking how grateful I am for this life.
And then I got busy again moving stuff.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Photography, Ponies, Ponies in the Morning |
You know those pony pictures I’ve been posting every day over on FaceBook? Well, you ever wonder why I’m always wearing the same thing, depending on the weather?
Like this…da blue hoodie. Actually I have a couple of these because I like love them so much. If they were a couple of guys I would marry them. Both. At the same time. They are that wonderful. Soft. Warm. Comforting. They make my heart go pitter-pat because they are so perfect.
Like mashed potatoes.
But let’s get back to the question… why don’t I change up my outfit for the photos? Why do I put myself out there for the world to see dressed in my KMart men’s department baggy old sweatshirt?
This is why. Because hay. is. messy. I can shake and jump and brush it but it never fully comes off.
Just works it’s way in deeper. Like what it did to this scarf. I fed the ponies a little later that day, on my way to work. Whenever I do that it means I bring it with me to work, picking it out of my hair and clothes all day. Leaving little trails of hay bits behind me wherever I go.
Like on my chair. I discovered this first thing one morning, left over from the day before.
Well, as Mama used to say about damn near everything, that’s the scoop. That’s the reason you see me wearing the same blue hoodie in most all the pony pictures.
by Susan Lobb Porter | All things Chocolate, Food, Recipes |
OMG!!! I died and went to heaven this week. Really. Here you thought I was taking time off to rebuild the blog–and, as you can see I did do that–but it was a stretch. A strain on my non-tech savy psyche.
And so I called out the old girl in distress helper…tada…comfort food!
Disclaimer # 1: There’s a recipe here somewhere.
Best cookie ev-ah!
In this case, home made chocolate chip cookies. This is the part where heaven comes in. OMG, if they served these instead of communion wafers I’d be in the front row EVERY Sunday. Yes. I. Would. Little nip o’wine, little bite of these babies and I’d be signing up for the altar guild in no time flat.
Because they are THAT good.
Disclaimer # 2: I did NOT eat them all. I took some to work. Held them in front of my co-workers and told them the price for a bite o’heaven was an Arty Life appearance. Really, would you rather see photos of ingredients or appreciation?
Besides, I didn’t want to clean my kitchen for a photo shoot.
Here’s Dieter. She’s strangely...pink in this picture. And Greg lurking in the background like a Calvin Klein commercial.
See what I mean? Romancing the cookie.
And then there was Leland. No one can romance a cookie like he does.
A serious case of tasty bliss. The real deal, or so he said. He SWORE he was not faking. He also promised photos in a pink dress if I would bring in more cookies.
Which is a good time to introduce the newest Arty Life category and regular feature, What Leland Wore Today. Stay tuned for future installments.
Disclaimer # 3: The recipe is down below. Is that a cool recipe card or what? I filled it out as best as I could but when it comes to cooking, I cook like I paint. Which means, umm… by the seat of my pants when it comes to ingredients and measurements. A lot of eyeballing and palm of the hand stuff. To my recollection this is kind of sort of the way these came together.
So print out the card and give them a try if you’re so inclined. And I’m thinking you can review the recipe too, judging from the Write a Review link.
[yumprint-recipe id=’1′]
As always, please share this with your friends if you like what you see. Got those handy dandy social share buttons down below.
And you KNOW how much I live for your comments, they’re even better than cookie batter. Well, almost….
Oh look! An emoticon, imagine that!!!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Photography, Ponies, Ponies in the Morning |
We’ve been together a long time, two horses, a donkey and moi.
We’re all getting old. One of the horses is at the DMD stage, damn near dead. Except even at the overripe age of 33 she’s as healthy as, well, a horse.
The other one isn’t far behind. At 26 he’s pushing the age thing. And the last few years he’s had skin problems that make his life miserable every summer.
The donkey came to me as a rescue 13 years ago. I knew she had issues but I signed on for the duration. At 17 she’s the baby of the bunch. Just recently her gray coat has begun showing signs of the other kind of gray.
Just like me.
Last month I began taking their photographs every day. It was an exercise for Catherine Just’s Soul*full eCourse. I signed up for the class because I love love love love LOVE Catherine’s photography. And philosophy. And great big BEAUTIFUL heart.
This is not your average photography class. The word aperture has not been mentioned once. Then again, with a tagline of deepen your mind*body*spirit connection what was I expecting?
I wasn’t expecting to resume my long dormant daily meditation practice. Or take up Qi Gong again. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with my gray hair or to feel comfortable enough in my own skin to take self-portraits.
Often. Like every time I whip out the camera. Just because I can.
Even though I always did my best to avoid being photographed. Even though I cringed at the toll age has taken on my face.
The first week of class we were given an assignment to photograph something in our daily life. And to keep photographing it every day. I decided to photograph the horses every morning when I fed them. Simple enough. Throw the iPhone in my pocket, snap a few pictures, post ’em online.
But it turned into something much more than that. First I began arting them up in one app or another, turning snapshots into something more interesting. And I began including myself in many of the photos. My first thing in the morning self. Pre-shower. Pre-coffee. Sleepy eyes, puffy face, uncombed hair and all SELF.
And as I documented this ritual, as I studied the images, I realized I was falling in love all over again. In love with old horses who will break my heart soon enough.
And in love with myself. Because I’m no longer afraid to love old horses. Or anyone else.
You can see more of these photos on my FaceBook page. And if you like what you see, please share with your friends. And say hello in the comments below. I love to hear what you have to say. As always, heart emoticons here. xoxoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Mr. Spouse, Studio |
Life is good. Life is SO good I can’t stand it!!! Yesterday I discovered Judy Wise is teaching cold wax online!!
Handsprings! Backflips! Dance break. Shake it out, just SHAKE IT OUT!
Ahhhh…much better now. I really need to cut back on the sugar.
Why all the enthusiasm? Well, let me explain. I love oil and cold wax. Love it love it LOVE IT! I did some pieces with it last year.
This one is Dunes. If I remember right it’s 2×3 feet. I sold it last October during the studio tour. You can see more of my cold wax pieces here.
Everything I did with cold wax came from being self taught, from piecing bits and more bits of internet information together. Flying by the seat of my pants. But I’ve taken a couple of classes from Judy in the past, Plaster Workshop and Hot Wax. I adore her. So when I heard she was offering this class, my all time wish list of if I could take ANY painting class this would be IT class, I signed up, just like that. And then, because the class is beginning RIGHT NOW, I ran to the lumberyard and had them cut a sheet of quarter inch birch plywood into eight 2×2 feet panels. And I bought some sticks of pine to support them.
Then I came home, batted my eyes just right and asked Mr. Spouse to lug out the chop saw. I certainly know how to use the chop saw but Mr. Spouse, in a fit of manliness, decided he would chop the pine.
So I let him.
And then I put on my Arty Life construction hat and began building cradled panels.
First I laid everything out one panel at a time. Then I squirted wood glue on the sticks, one at a time. Set the panel on top, lined everything up and shot ’em with the nail gun.
That’s when I realized men take everything about their tools seriously. Check out the name on that sucker. RIGID. I dunno, it just seems so in your face, so yo, babe check me out.
And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
Change of subject.
Arty Life is getting a makeover soon. How much of one I’m not sure, I’ve just got these Bigger! Better! ideas roiling around in my head. Now all I have to do is figure out how to implement them. Photography! App reviews! Stuff!!! I think I’ll be rolling them out in early February. Stay tuned.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve begun photographing my horses every morning. A daily photo journal of the ponies and moi. You can check it out here.
Until next week, my sweetums. And, as always, LOVE to hear your comments. Because you are my best beloveds EV-AH!!!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Inspiration, Life, Process |
Seems like EVERYWHERE I go in blogland people are talking about ‘the word’. Their word for the upcoming year. Something to focus on, to work towards incorporating into their life on a more profound basis. A word that has special meaning to them.
Well, I want on this train. I want my word. I want to doodle it on sticky notes and post them around my space. I want a journal devoted to MY WORD. One I go into with markers and fancy pens and arty making stuff.
But mostly I want to get a necklace with my word, like the ones Liz Lamoreux makes in her Etsy shop. I want one I want one I WANT ONE!!!
But first I have to have a word.
Oh.
There are approximately fifty-five gazillion words in the English language. How. Do. I. Pick. Just. ONE??? Especially one I will develop a close–no, no, not close, an intimate relationship with.
One I will write about. Dream about. Wear around my neck every day like I’m married to it.
Well, I’ve given it a lot of thought and have whittled the selection down to, umm…maybe a dozen or so worthy contenders. I’ll mull them over for awhile until one just pops out and says ME! Me me, pick ME! And when it does, I’ll let you know.
Or not. Maybe my word will be something I need to hold close as I nurture our relationship. I won’t know until I know.
Meanwhile, in reflecting on this past year, I realize my life word would have to be YES!!! Yes, followed by three exclamation points because one just isn’t enough. This was the year I said YES!!! to lots of things. In fact, I created a blog devoted to it.
And then neglected the blog for the entire month of December. I don’t know why. Taking a little break from enthusiasm, perhaps. Misplaced my YES!!! pompoms.
Whatever. I will get back to it. Soon.
But if I had to pick one word, ONE word, when it comes to art…well, that would be easy. LAYERS. I loves me my layers. Always have. But in 2012 I learned to embrace them. To flaunt them in all their juiciness. Because they take away the fear of a blank canvas. What’s to fear when you get to scribble? To make marks that aren’t going anywhere except under more paint.
And so we’ll begin the new year with a look at some layers and how they morphed into my very latest work-in-progress.
This is probably five or six layers in. Working on several canvases at a time, rocking out in Studio Grande.
This is where I left it tonight. Not quite finished but getting there. A few more details and it’s done. I’ve been dreaming about bears a lot lately. Checking over my shoulder as I’m out and about on the property, especially at night. They’re definitely on my mind. Scaring the crap out of me, actually. So I’m thinking the title of this one will be ‘She Dreams of Bears’. But maybe not. We’ll see.
Be sure to check my FaceBook page in a day or two for a photo of the finished painting.
In case you’re wondering about all the attribution on the photo, it’s because I’d like people to share and re-pin my work. And I also want people to know where it came from.
Uh-Oh, getting noisy outside. Sounds like midnight on New Year’s Eve, which it is. We sure know how to party here at the Porterosa. Mr. Spouse has been in bed since 10 and I’m sitting here writing my blog.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Wishing you all the BEST in 2013.
