by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Mr. Spouse, Porterosa |
Mr. Spouse builds things. If his attention wanders when I’m talking to him I know he’s calculating the price of lumber or how many sacks of cement he needs the next day. And no, this is not what he does for a living. This is what he does to relax.
Which is fine by me. Especially since his latest project is my new studio. Here are the photos from this weekend–because this is a weekend only project. As long as the La Nina keeps messing with our winter the building will continue. I expect the snow and rain will come eventually, it snowed well into May last year and even a few flurries in June–but if it can hold off just a couple more weeks until he can get it dried in…ah, bliss.
This is taken from where the door will be. The wall on the left faces north and will have no windows. There will be skylights. The wall straight ahead will have two large windows with a counter running the length of the wall. It faces east. The wall to the right will also have a counter. The windows will take up the entire wall. It faces south.
This is the view from the windows on the east wall. The two brown buildings are the hay shed and the barn, more of Mr. Spouse’s handiwork. As is the green building which is his workshop. Or as Missy B says, “Grandpa’s house”.
I’ll be able to look out at the horses while I work. I don’t know where they were when I took the photo, somewhere out there but not in sight of the camera.
This is the view to the south. Umm…I see a garden here someday. Maybe a patch of lavender, a level little patio with a small table and chairs. I will put that idea out into the universe and see what happens. The universe in this case being Mr. Spouse because his other vice is building stone walls. We have a lot of stone walls around here. Matter of fact, the studio will have a stone facade.
This is what you’ll see when you step out the door and look straight up. This is facing west.
So that’s how studio-to-be progressed this week. I worked in Studio Grande today but nothing is ready to show. Maybe tomorrow.
Now I’m going to settle into the comfy chair and read the first draft of my friend Mitzi’s novel. A nice way to spend a Sunday evening.
There will be dogs involved.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
With all the holiday bru-ha-ha around here, art (or the making of it) just didn’t happen. After the kids left I went down to the studio, scratched my head and wondered what I was supposed to do. Because I really didn’t know. Oh, I have plenty of files full of inspiration but starting up cold after vacay time just seemed like too much work.
So I decided to play instead. I discovered a free workshop on line, Doodles Unleashed by Traci Bautista. You can check it out here. It’s probably even better if you’re not an artist because then you might enjoy the exercise in its purest form…simply making marks on paper. But being someone who makes marks on things for a living, I found myself second guessing what I was doing. No paisley patterns for me…I wanted results.
Once I discovered how difficult it was to let go of my expectations, doodling ceased being fun and became a challenge. At least two paintings suffered a grueling end when I grew impatient. Warning: Cranky artist + paintbrush= BAD IDEA.
But I kept at it. Because really, I was not going to be taken down by a doodle. How bad would that be? So I didn’t give up…and I didn’t give up my standards either. Eventually I arrived at a compromise that technically isn’t a doodle in it’s purest form (who wants a doodle virgin anyway?) but it’s different enough from what I normally do to make me feel like I learned something.
I started by marking the paper with various stencils. Two papers actually. This is about the one on the left. The one on the right, RIP.
The shapes reminded me of building. Of houses. The squiggle could be a river.
I did some quick and dirty scribbling with acrylics. Houses. A river. And holy crap, throw some pine trees in there and it’s my town!!!
Because there are houses in my town. And a river nearby. A creek runs through downtown. And we’re surrounded by the Tahoe National Forest. But…but…this is supposed to be a doodle!
To shut up my inner doodle critic I did some loosey-goosey stuff. Paint. Oil pastel. Markers. White-out pen. It’s all about compromise.
And I’m liking it just fine.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life |
There was a strange man in my shower last night. I noticed him because of the hat, one of those newspaper boy’s caps from the 1930s. There was also a sweater vest involved.
Sweater vest? OMG…Rick Santorum? What was HE doing in my shower???
Before I could figure it out, Rick morphed into a monkey. A chimpanzee to be exact. Stuff happens when you squint… in life… and in the shower.
I’d seen the monkey before but it was the first time for the guy in the vest. A political figure at that. Go figure.
Usually I shower with Homer Simpson. He’s there a lot. Lurking in the glass block, depending on the time of day, the shadows. And there was a period of time when Jerry Garcia was a regular. It was the hair. And the beard. He was on the floor right by the door. My husband swore it was Jesus. We argued about this for days. Jesus! Jerry! When he began began talking up e-bay I figured I had no choice. Clean the shower or lose a couple of tiles.
So I emptied a bottle of Mildew! Soap! Scum! remover and washed our lord and savior down the drain. Pffffft…Just. Like. That. No thunderbolts. No smites. No heavenly retribution. Guess it wasn’t Jesus after all.
And now the politicians are showing up. Okay, so only one. But they’ll multiply, seemingly overnight.
And that’s reason enough to scrub down the shower.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Beloved Beasties, Dogs, Life |
Two dogs by my side
dozing on this winter night
no long post tonight.
***
Hairy beasts snuggle
up against the macBook pro
no writing in sight.
***
Fluffy little poofs
of fur hide dogs with big hearts
can’t tell head from butt.
***
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Stopped at a store on the way home from work tonight. Found a book on a sale table. A book of quotes. Pithy, profound things other people said once upon a time, the repeating of which make you sound pithy and profound.
Just what I needed! Because original thoughts are so over rated. I’ll never have to have another one again. Imagine that!
Well, needless to say, I scooped that puppy up before it could grow bookish legs and run away. We were meant to be together.
We spent the better part of the evening getting acquainted. I read words of encouragement. Of inspiration. Birthday greetings. Holiday offerings. Whatever you need for any occasion.
And it sparked my creativity. Yesterday I showed a journal page. The one with the typo. And the scary eyed muse.
An then I showed the unfinished fold over.
Said I’d show it again when finished. Didn’t have a clue when that would be because I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. Until tonight when I found this pithy profundity by e.e.cummings: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
Well that was it! Just use the quote and a photo of moi. A baby photo. I could do an image transfer. Then again it was late, I’d been working all day and my back was behaving badly. I decided to do a collage instead.
First thing I did was decide on the photo. Like this deer in the headlights stare. Someone was probably dangling something bright and shiny off camera.
I scanned the original black and white and altered the color to what I thought would work better with the paper. Then I cut. Glued. Painted. Should not have painted the quote, should’ve used a pen or marker. Oh well, it’s a journal. And it’s mine. Who cares, really…
Here’s what it looks like now.
Oh, and I fixed the typo on the inside page.
