by Susan Lobb Porter | Family, Life |
She’s a newly turned 4 year old. The Energizer Bunny in a princess dress.
There are no off buttons. None. Nada.
I’ve been visiting for her birthday, cementing my place in her consciousness by being the one who wears princess dresses. Just. Like. Her.
I’ve done my best to keep up.
We’ve jumped in the Bouncy House.
Played games.
Hidden from the world in the castle -that-is-a-tent.
And then, because it’s something grandmas do, I passed along my wisdom and taught her how to take photos with my iphone. Which she did. Often.
So she could take pictures of me.
I’ll be getting on a plane soon and going back home. Home to a husband, a couple of dogs, the horses and the cat. Going home to my job. To my studio. To-do lists. Marketing plans. To my life a couple thousand miles away from hers.
I’m going to miss her, oh how I’ll miss her. But I’ll be back. Got some more dancin’ to do.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Inspiration, Photography |
Look what I found between the house and the barn today.
All sorts of stuff, stuff BEAUTIFUL STUFF!!!
None of this suddenly appeared. It’s been there all along. But today I had my eyes open. Today I was LOOKING. NOTICING. APPRECIATING.
And now I’m positively jumping up and down because I’m all fired up EXCITED about the POTENTIAL here.
Potential paintings! Which will look nothing like the photos, by the way.
And now I’m off to the studio. Check back tomorrow or later in the week. At the very least there’ll be some works-in-progress to show you.
And now I have a contest, my best best BEST beloveds! Indeed I do. It’s called What the Hell is That Stuff? The first person who correctly guesses what ALL six of these photos are (besides inspiring) wins a pony! And the person who makes up the most interesting answers wins a dinosaur. I’m SERIOUS about this so leave your answers in the comments below.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Portraits |
This is a true story. As right and true as all those years of remembering can make it.
The only thing I recall about that day, that year, that godawful time in my life, was the portrait of the old man. He was a refugee from a war or famine, maybe a flood… I don’t recall. I guess you could say it was a godawful time in his life too. Anyway, I found his photo in the newspaper and knew I NEEDED to sketch it, because that was what I did back then. I sketched. I drew. I made art whenever I could. Which wasn’t too often.
Because I was in school, taking classes that sucked me dry like bones left out too long in the sun. Sensible classes. Mandatory classes. And when I wasn’t in school I was studying or waiting tables at a diner in the mall. Working late into the night, telling men twice my age I wasn’t interested. Then going home and doing the same thing the next day. School. Work. Assignments. And when I was lucky, when I could fit it in, the occasional soul liberating drawing.
But not often enough.
Pause here for the violins.
The portrait of the old man was pinned to the wall by the front door of the crappy duplex in the crappier neighborhood. A pencil sketch really, on cheap paper. I was on my way out to work, maybe school, but I stopped and studied it. And then I surprised myself and said with my real voice, not the voice inside my head that was always telling me bad things, “This is good. This really is good.”
And the boy slouched on the sofa, the handsome boy who spent his hours, his days smoking dope and not doing much else said, “Yes it is.”
The light went on inside my head, sparks, and I said, “I could be an art major.”
The boy who’d been sucking the life out of me for way too long sucked the weed deep into his lungs, holding it there and saying in a strangled voice as he tried not to exhale, “Yes you can.”
And I KNEW I was right. And he was right. And that was HUGE because we never agreed about anything.
So I became an art major. The joy came back into my life.
And the boy went out of it. Eventually.
As near as I remember that’s the way it went. Except I left out the drama. Because I was twenty years old, there was plenty of drama.
Until I learned to exhale.
Now because this is an art blog and I’m an artist I suppose you want to see a picture. Even one that has nothing to do with the story. So here’s a sketch I happen to have on my camera roll.
from the sketchbook
SLPorter
We’ll call it Portrait of Me If I Looked Like That. But it’s really Random Sketch While Watching TV.
Here’s what I really look like these days.
Self Portrait
Susan Lobb Porter
As always, would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Country Living |
Paying attention to the signs. Like these:
Trails
Susan Lobb Porter
Encaustic on Cradled Board
Tracks
Susan Lobb Porter
Encaustic on Cradled Board
Trace
Susan Lobb Porter
Encaustic on Cradled Board
I made these encaustic pieces two summers ago. Thought of them this evening when I went out to check the area behind the back gate. We’ve been having a lot of work done lately. Landscaping. Irrigation. The guys have been driving a tractor and truck back and forth, leaving the gate open more often than not. I really don’t want the deer to think of it as an invitation to dine on the new roses.
The area right outside the gate is soft dirt, your basic wilderness bulletin board. I decided to see who’s come a callin’.
Doe, a deer.
Mr. Jack Rabbit.
Rocky Racoon.
Ssssssssnake.
And moi, with a tire tread background.
Funny thing about photographing tracks in the late sun…they give the illusion of being raised up instead of recessed. Go figure.
There’s lots of other critters around here. I think when the workmen are finished I’ll sweep the area clean from time to time and see who comes a calling. In fact, I feel another photo project happening. Stay tuned.
As always my sweetums, I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below. And if you’ve stumbled upon some interesting tracks be sure to share that.
xo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Fitness, Life, Photography |
This is me.
This is me doing yoga after years of not doing yoga. And no, my feet are NOT dirty, that’s digital manipulation to disguise the fact that they’re just plain not pretty. And okay, maybe they’re just a little bit dusty from wearing flip flops to the barn but the sepia tint was supposed to take care of that.
But back to yoga. All I can say is Holy crap! Was I ever STIFF. Felt like Barbi, she of unbendable knees. And arms. And general plastic parts. Felt like every year of my age which is none of your business by the way, even tho you are my best best BEST beloved readers 4 EV-AH. So no, I will NOT tell you. Although I will admit to being 31, once. Trust me when I say I was uber hot back then. Spontaneous combustion hot.
It’s been one week since I began contorting myself in unnatural positions. Unnatural positions that were once second nature to me. At first my body laughed, laughed, which happened just before the wailing.
But the second day wasn’t nearly as bad.
And the third day was better still. Noticeably so. I was no longer counting the seconds or watching the clock. I was flowing with my breath. Flowing merrily along as I went just a bit farther. And deeper. Sure, my hamstrings twanged like an out of tune guitar. But not that out of tune.
It’s been a week now. Five days (two off for rest) of serious Hatha yoga practice. A good hour each time.
The result? My shoulders are no longer up around my ears. My butt feels tight, my joints feel loose and I’m walking free and easy with a sassy swing to my hips. I’d say that’s reason enough to continue but at this point I don’t need a reason.
Because it feels so darn good!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Everyday Ordinary, Photography, Porterosa |
Oh my sweetums, one day, right here at the Porterosa, I went in search of hearts. Because sometimes a girl needs signs of love from the universe, just sayin’.
And I found them EVERYWHERE. A veritable plethora of love signs.
On the ground.
Fallen from trees.
Cast by shadow.
Created by fleeting light.
And spun by Charlotte (with a little help, perhaps, from a pony nose. Or not.)
Lessons learned:
- Open your eyes.
- Open your mind.
- Whatever you’re looking for is right there in front of you.
Technical info: All photos taken using an iPone 4S. Point. Shoot. Dat’s all.
As always, my best best BEST beloveds, if you like what you see here please tell me about it in the comments below. And share it with your friends. I’ll be your best friend if you do. Really. I’ll sit with you at lunch. Play with you during recess. And if you pin it, I might even do your homework.
Pinky swear.
XO
