by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Porterosa |
This fella showed up on my doorstep the other day. Well, practically. He was in the driveway, posing. The photos were taken through the dining room window. And the screen. So if they’re a little fuzzy, well, that’s just the way it is.
Never was much for washing windows.
Look at him. Bold as you please. Absolutely no fear. Captain of the football team. Mr. I’m-So-Cool. This morning he sauntered alongside the truck as I was adjusting my seat belt. Sauntered like he hadn’t a care in the world. Practically brushing up against the side of the truck. I’m surprised his antlers didn’t knock the mirror askew. Seriously, I could’ve reached out and touched him…if I was stupid.
Because this is the time of the year bucks go bad. I’ve seen them going at it like something from Animal Planet. I’ve had to seek refuge among the horses as lusty deer boys duked it out between the barn and the house. Crazy bonkers absolutely insane. Snorting. Huffing. Banging heads. Going after each other like a couple Marines in a barfight insane.
So I keep my distance. Admire them from afar. Don’t want to be labeled with the code my vet uses when dogs and deer mingle. She calls it GBB, Gored by Bambi.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life |
The inventory of finished work in an art studio can be overwhelming, especially if you’re a prolific artist. If it’s less than my best work I’ll often recycle it, paint or collage over old canvases. Give them new life. Or I’ll throw on some gesso and donate the used canvases to an art program like the one where I teach. Trust me, we appreciate donations of canvases, used or not. As long as they’re in decent condition they’re fine for student work. And you don’t even need to gesso it, we’ll do that for you.
If it’s something I don’t want my name on and the materials can’t be recycled, then I’ll simply chuck it.
But there are times you don’t want to do that. Maybe you have a series of images that, for one reason or another, just haven’t sold. Or a stack of prints that have been sitting there. There’s nothing wrong with them but they’re taking up valuable real estate, space you could use for something else. Something new.
Because it’s time to move on.
You could hold a studio clearance sale but there’s a valid argument against that. A drastic reduction of prices reduces the perceived value of your work within the community. If someone bought a painting for full price, whatever your price may be, and saw you selling similar work for less, maybe considerably less, later on, do you think they’ll be so quick to pay your full price again?
I don’t think so.
Unless… you turn it into a good thing. Puts a different spin on it entirely. My friend LeeAnn Brook did that last weekend. She opened her studio for a special sale, “From the Heart” Small Works Charity Studio Sale. She reduced prices on selected work by 30-50%. And then she donated 100% of the sale of those works to Women of Worth, a local charity that helps women escape domestic violence. I’ll say it again, 100%.
It was a win-win situation. In a few hours she raised over $1,200 dollars. Money that will stay in the community helping women and children who desperately need it. People who purchased art got a great deal and a sense that they were contributing to a good cause, especially as checks were written directly to Women of Worth.
LeeAnn reduced her inventory without damaging the value of her work. Even better, she got the satisfaction of knowing what she did would have a positive impact on the lives of others.
She did good, yes indeed she did.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Beloved Beasties, Life, Porterosa |
I collect bird nests. Ones that have fallen to the ground and are of no use to their former tenants. I usually find them in the fall, after a storm with a lot of wind. Just lying there in the dirt or a pile of leaves, waiting for me to take it home.
Some have remnants of eggs. Pieces of shell.
One had the eggs themselves. This one was found in the spring. Poorly constructed. Barely held together. I watched it for a couple of days but no one came to claim it. I hope Mr. & Mrs. Bird built a new one and tried again.
Most of the nests around here are heavy on the horse hair.
A good swish of the tail too close to a tree…or even a good rub results in building material.
Long strands from manes and tails are woven with twigs and whatever else is handy.
Sometimes they’re made with the soft fuzzy stuff from spring shedding. Little bit of blue baling twine shredded and incorporated into the decor. Not very elegant but I’m sure it’s warm.
And then there’s my own creation. Copper wire. Polyclay eggs. Needs a TV and a fridge before I’ll be moving in.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Family, Kids |
There are two young women I love with all of my heart. My daughters. One I gave birth to, the other one married my son.
Today I’m going to talk about my daughter-in-law, the BEST DIL in the world, ever. It’s her birthday today. She’s 27.
I don’t know about you but when I was 27 I was on the tail end of my screwup phase. Finally getting it together. Sorta. I had an art degree and a couple years of waitressing and retail sales under my belt. There were a couple of broken hearts along the way as well. I was sharing a rental in a marginal part of town with two elkhounds and a roommate. The leap into the world of commercial art–illustration and graphics, would take place towards the end of that year. Even then it was a long, slow process.
Fast forward to BEST DIL in the world, ever. Her name is Nicole, by the way. Niki. And I’ve known her since she was 16, when she first started hanging around our house with all the other kids. I liked her for her own merits even before she and FirstBorn began dating. And once they did begin dating I fell in love with her too. Because she brought out the best in my son. What mother wouldn’t love that?
So it didn’t really surprise me when they eloped. But holy crap, they were 18 years old. Babies. DIL was still in high school. And FirstBorn was a brand new Marine heading off to what would soon become war.
But, as I said…it didn’t surprise me. Because even back then they were right for each other.
Fast forward again. They’ll be married nine years next month. NINE YEARS. Been a lot of growing up for the both of them. Three combat deployments to Iraq–not easy on any marriage. But while FirstBorn was being a Marine, Niki was working any number of part time jobs and putting herself through school. Not just taking classes, excelling. She made Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in molecular biology.
Not bad for a kid who got married in high school…
Today? Good jobs, both of ’em. A couple of cats. A dog. A mortgage. And best of all…most most MOST important of all… a baby. A beautiful little girl born to rock solid parents.
As the saying goes, ‘I didn’t lose a son, I gained a daughter’. Indeed I did. And I love her like my own. Happy Birthday Niki!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Everyday Ordinary, Food, Photography |
I likes me my veggies. Like ’em a lot. So I spend a lot of time in the produce aisle checkin’ things out. The other day I wrote about the newest item in my holy crap! that’s amazing!!! dept. Broccoli Romanesco. Check Produce Art, Part 1 if you missed it. Because it’s cool. Really. Especially if you’re into patterns.
Today it’s all about color. About things so pretty you just want to eat them. It’s about finding beauty wherever you are–in this case, the produce dept. of the local co-op.
Winter squash. What’s your favorite way of cooking it? My friend Dieter makes a lot of butternut squash soup. I grew up with acorn squash baked with butter and brown sugar. Now that I’m all grown up I like it best with butter, a little salt and pepper. The Delicata Squash, the narrow one with yellow stripes, is easy to saute like zucchini. But it doesn’t taste like zucchini, it’s still the winter squash sweet.
Right next to the squash were the persimmons.
Fat luscious orange orbs. Then came the pears.
Gorgeous red pears that probably go by another name. Look at that pallet. I did some paintings recently using those colors. Love love love the orange and dark red combination. Not to mention the lime green zing. Oolala–another painting positively screaming to be made.
There were lots of pears. my favorite fruit for a still life. Or basic drawing lessons with charcoal. Form and volume. Light and shadow. Remind me of luscious fat bottomed women, the best kind to draw.
