In Memory of Sitting at the Kiddie Table!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!1 I had to post this pic of my siblings, cousins and I at our Grandparents house...way back when. In memory of sitting at the kiddie table! Thanks for all the good laughs and times!

This isn't your grandma's toaster cover...more newness comin' up

Remember those days when every appliance in the kitchen had a matching cover? Grandma did...maybe even yo mamma does. So, here I go down memory lane again and created a new toaster cover design. Here's my first one. More to come and will be on sale for the holiday shows mentioned in the last post. Perhaps the kitchen aid mixer cover will be next!

These are a few of my Favorite Things

I've been doing some cleaning and sprucing up of the place. Getting it summer proof with two new chairs and tins of herbs planted on the front porch. Looking for items that remind me of the good days of summer. Looking on the front page of etsy and I discovered this great refurbished Retro Toastmaster Yellow Electric fan that can be found in Fishbone Decor . I found some more favorites I wanted to share!!! Looking the aesthetic of the 60's so much!

What has happened to today's girl scout

I was looking over at the Good magazine blog and a Thursday series on girl scouts has begin. I'm too happy with the flakiness of this article that doesn't mention anything really about today's girl scout or about the design sense of today's teen girl between the ages of 13 and 15. I'll admit it. I was one of those girl scouts in my teen age years. Course that also where I learned cool girl habits like smoking cigarettes and that funny stuff too! Read the article here and see what you think. IN the mean time I went on to etsy to find some good girl scout paraphernalia to enjoy!

1986 reflection of paint

One major change that I need to make this year, is that I HAVE TO GET MY PAINTING STUDIO UP AND GOING BECAUSE I NEED TO PAINT!!!!!!! Sorry to yell....its been too long. Way too long and there is so much deep down in my soul that needs to get out...and sorry folks, sewing and making birdie birds is fine for my happy go lucky side, but I got shit to get out! So tonight I begin my journey back to where painting really started for me. 1986. My first year out of college. I lived home for a short spell ( I had lived all over in B-more during college, but the money ran out and I was jobless. I moved to Howard County to the parental unit where I then found myself working at Kemp Mill Records and driving every night to the corner of Eutaw and Mulberry or Franklin every night). I got a job in town and moved back to mob town.....27th and Howard with Strazz and Sheri. My first night I had to work and Strazz painted my room for me. I had picked out some horrible rose color and a light pink for the ceiling...and he did it while I was at work!! That was one of the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me...I miss you Strazz so much!!! Sorry I'm getting off subject. Just trying to set the mood. In my bright rose color room, I set up my painting studio as well as my bedroom. I created these ankh characters. They were made of cheesecloth, butchers paper and oil paint. They protected us on 27th street. They became my army and my muse. They became family. Strazz had them tattooed on his wrist. Gray March used them as their album cover and they marched me into my first show down at Jules Loft with my cousin Cathi. Here are some of my works from that year. I have thought about these figures numerous times and very much this past year. I guess we will see if they march back into my work when I start again this year.

Christmas has FInally arrived!!!!

My present to myself has finally arrived! The Crosley CR249 BK Keepsake USB Turntable in black ! It looks just like our older record players and sounds pretty good. I don't have a stereo anymore so I needed something that was portable and had its own speaker. I'm blasting it now from downstairs as I work in both sweatshop and office! (Big surprises coming once my huge project is complete!) SO out comes the albums and my Dad's old Dave Brubeck albums get played first of course and now its the Smiths! I forgot what I had. What a great present!!!!

the new hair

so I did it. took to pics from the movie the apartment and this is how I ended up....will take a bit to get use to it. My head is a great deal lighter...I have suxh think hair. It reminds me a bit of my early punk rock days at TSU...minus the asymmetrical back.

tune for the Day

As a kid I thought the bigger the woman and the better the momma...so of course I thought that Momma Cass had to be the best momma ever! Here's the tune for the day. I actually had a pretty good Monday, so this song felt right to post. Happy Memories!

one reason why I teach

today I woke up not feeling too well...the old ear ache and porcupine in the throat syndrome...and yet, I had to admit, I am so lucky to get to do what I do everyday. I love my job. I absolutely love teaching. And yes today was my day teaching three classes in a row starting with my Fundamentals of art class of 33 , which goes right into my studio class who are painting with oil paint and full of messy Marvin's and then we get a hint of a break with, if I'm lucky, a 20 minute lunch with my buddy Tricia and then another fundamentals of art class which is a talkative GT group of only 22.....but I am so lucky to make a mark in this world. I am childless but I have many children out there...and i love them all. They always come through when I need them and they always, and I mean always make me smile! I had this song in my head with the wonderful memory of the first time I saw this movie at my grand parents house on a Saturday afternoon in the mid 70's. My sister had to watch it for a class she had in either junior or senior high...I'll have to ask her...but it made a very strong impression on me. My favorite movie and song to date!

The Apartment

In this new single life that I am leading, I seem to have found some solace in watching films like The Apartment and episodes of Mad Men when I can't seem to sleep at night. I really love Shirley MacLaine's hair in this film. I pretty much slept in and out while watching this last night since I have seen the entire film some years ago. I salute the women's movement every time I watch some shows...so happy I became a woman after the 1960's. But I still relish in the aesthetics of that period. Maybe being a kid during that time was the way to be. Oh well....contemplating my new look to be Shirley's in this film..what do you think? I could be the type of feminine I want to be in my dresses with my ta too and this hair cut.

One more week for Mothers Day!

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YeeHaw...there's a new ranger in town!

CAMPING SQUIRREL JR RANGER SCOUT LETTERPRESS PRINT IN A LETTERPRESS VIGNETTE MAT ORANGE AND BROWN

i'm diggin this ranger series by yeehaw industries. These also fall into my fun sense of nostalgia aesthetic! Illustration by Bjorn Lie!!! These letterpress images are printed on on cream paper & matted inside my kraft letterpress mat. Image area is 4.25"x6"and the full matted print is ready to go into an 8"x10" frame. They also can be sold with one-of-kind handmade frames made from salvaged wood from New Orleans!

FISHING BEAR JR RANGER SCOUT LETTERPRESS PRINT IN A LETTERPRESS VIGNETTE MAT YELLOW AND BROWN

HIKING BUNNY JR RANGER SCOUT LETTERPRESS PRINT IN A LETTERPRESS VIGNETTE MAT ORANGE AND BROWN

RIVER RASCALS JR RANGER SCOUT LETTERPRESS PRINT IN A LETTERPRESS VIGNETTE MAT GREEN AND BROWN