catching up -- yet again!

This one reminded me in no uncertain terms of the limits of finger painting, hence my several liberties.  I could achieve nothing of the angles, geometry, range, and dark subtleties of Georges Braque's 1909 original, Little Harbor in Normandy.  Braque ties with Picasso as favorites.  His work, though, especially his later pieces were what I'd call less aggressive than Picasso's.

Thank you, Jean-Paul Sartre.  Mike

Not sure what Jackson Pollock would think.  Insufficient dripping, perhaps?  Wrong kind of paint?  Inadequately angry?  Not sure what I think either.  Mike

"Tulip and Company".  For some reason on this Easter morning, I appear to be under the influence - of e. e. cummings and Pablo Picasso.  It could, I suppose, be worse.  The windswept portion of this was accidental, but I liked the effect and decided to keep it and work with it.  Oh, Serendipity, thy name is Art.   Mike

"In the Beginning."  My first use of the Art Studio app.  A myriad of new possibilities.  I've got a lot to learn, but couldn't wait.  It's going to be smarter than I am for quite awhile.  Maybe I'll call George W. Bush and see if he can help me.  Mike

 These guys, who I've not been able to identify, surprised me by swimming into view.  Deep water! Deep thinkers?

 

A good drink on a hot day.  A shrub is a good drink for a hot day.  It's a good drink for any day in my book.  Glenn doesn't care for the mild vinegar bite, but I love it.  He prefers raspberry syrup with fizzy water.  And of course, we like ours with ice.  Melissa

Dinner.

Fears.  Fears about moving to Virginia.

I have a cold.  I hope your Easter is nicer than mine.  Glenn is going next door for a Greek Orthodox celebration -- their Easter and ours coincide this year.  I'm staying home and keeping my snottiness to myself.  I know a plate of food will be handed over the wall at some point, but for now, I'm going to make some chicken matzo ball soup.  Meliss

The hand looks like it is clenched in front of the carrot tops not around them!  I need drawing lessons.

wednesday, april 16

In Good P (as in Myers-Briggs Perceiving) I have no destination in mind with most of these.  But the trip is a nifty one.  Mike

The "?WHY" pic really began as a reflection on a conversation I had this weekend when my Faulkner friend, Dan, asked why people do certain things.  I explained that I throught the question was a misplaced one which inevitably leads away from objectivity into subjectivity, a deadly detour for someone wishing to factually track human behavior.  The misplaced question mark was intended to indicate that.  As I say, it was all born of rumination -- which, as I recall, also means to chew again, as a cow does it's cud.  An apt description, it seems to me, of what I was doing.  Mike.

On Saturday mornings I walk with two friends around a lake across the freeway from my house.  The lake is called Lindo Lake and while it is no longer naturally fed (streams have been re-routed), it is a natural lake and in the years when we get enough rain, it is just beautiful. Pelicans visit the lake this time of year.  Last week there were more than 30 of them.  They look like a ballet chorus swimming together to herd fish to the shallow water where they gobble them down in those big rubbery bill pouches of theirs.  We love seeing them--especially the beautiful white ones.   Melissa

A new uniform.  I wore a uniform to school for 11 years and to work for several more.  I liked it and to this day tend to wear the same things over and over.  I think I've found my new uniform.  Man oh man, are they comfortable! Melissa

I love my dentist.  Today he filled a small cavity and prepared a tooth with an old, huge, cracked filling for a crown.  I'm glad that 2.5 hour appointment is behind me! Melissa

monday, april 14

Seeing life in the Abstract today.  Mike

I'm not responsible for this one.  Occasionally, often, Picasso sneaks up on me and takes possession of my finger.  Mike

Here's to a delicious day on all coasts and in between!  Mike

That's what I get for goofing around at work -- I didn't realize how cut off his nose was until I saved the drawing.  Melissa

I'm letting my garden go for the summer because I will be with Erika, Christian and the baby for most of it and Glenn isn't interested in playing farmer in my absence.  Animal husbandry -- in the form of taking care of "MY" three pets -- is all he'll sign on for.  So, carrots will be my last harvest for a while.  They aren't quite ready yet, but I'm looking forward to the day they are!  Melissa

My doodles.  Melissa

Do you remember doing this type of art project in grade school?  I think it was a way for even the least artistic child to produce a refrigerator-worthy piece.   Melissa

wednesday, april 9

And, not a pigeon in sight.  You can't see it clearly, but the fellow driving the SUV has six fingers on his left hand. -- Mike

A Most Complicated Relationship.  (Begun on 4/5, finished 4/9.) -- Mike

Tomorrow, after work.  --  Melissa

I can't tell you if the chicken or the egg came first, but I can tell you that chickens came first to Erika's and Christian's farm, followed by geese and just today, three turkeys named Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  You can guess the turkeys' fates... -- Melissa

we are prolific

mike and i are more prolific than i anticipated.  here we are at the very beginning of this blog adventure and i'm already behind!

Time-Keeper or Time-Taker? I don't know which it is, but it returned to duty on our mantel in December after considerable rest and then tender, loving attention by a clock repair specialist here in Portland.  Made of rosewood in the 1860s or 70s, built in Connecticut by the E. N. Welch company, it's called a Welch "Patti".  Now, after a gentle but discernible murmur at five til the hour, it chimes it's message on the hour.   Always my favorite as a kid and his, this was one of several in my Grandfather Miller's antique clock collection and has been in our family since about 1950.  Though this clock keeps the right time and has both of it's hands, when I hear it's bell chiming I'm always reminded of the Easter morning (April 8) kitchen scene with Dilsey in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury: "On the wall above a cupboard, invisible save at night, by lamp light and even then evincing an enigmatic profundity because it had but one hand, a cabinet clock ticked. Then with a preliminary sound as if it had cleared its throat, struck five times.  'Eight oclock,' Dilsey said."  As for the copper plate hanging on the wall?  Not so copper, eh?  Alas.  More brass than anything. -- Mike

Inspired by (more akin to purloined from) a 4/6/14 New York Times illustration on a piece about China.  -- Mike

 

I love popcorn.  My love for it borders on an addiction, Glenn would tell you. But, I don't particularly care for movie theater popcorn.  The drawing of my hand isn't very good and it isn't accurate at all -- I left off all the age spots! 

The thermometer in my car registered 93 when i pulled into our driveway at 2:00 today.  Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be even hotter! -- Melissa

Sunday, April 6

I liked the red color but had no idea what I was going to do with it.  The green runner was a last minute afterthought. -- Mike

An experiment.  This was an experiment that more or less worked.  I'd saved an early stage of the saxophone in my photos -- just the sax -- and decided to pull it up and elaborate.  I only wish now I'd done all the notes blue.  Well, there's always next time.  (Don't look too closely; I think this fellow has six fingers on his left hand.  More and more I'm envious of George Bush's ability to do portraiture.  That's tough stuff!  Hmmmm.  I just might make that a signature feature in the future: all humans I draw could have 6 fingers on their left hand.  The fun grows.) -- Mike

When I was a young girl, we had a very special rabbit -- a Dutch rabbit that I named Aristotle. He was special like your rabbit (I've forgotten is name but it is on the tip of my tongue...) My father cried when he died.  Melissa

The Alphabet on Freemans Ford Road.  Erika's goslings have arrived.  I say "Erika's" because she is responsible for livestock and Christian for the vegetable garden and the hope he hopes to sell to home brewers.  Erika is in love with the goslings who will probably remain nameless until they make their gender known.  She is contemplating good diapers so the goslings can spend more time in the house.  I think that child of mine is in heaven on Freemans Ford Road.  Mike, your work is much more sophisticated than mine.  Jazz to my Country! --  Melissa

here we go!

now that we've caught up on posting all our recent work, i'll be posting daily -- or however often mike and i are inspired to create!

(i'll also figure out the date -- i've had it wrong on my paintings the last two days! i wouldn't want curator wendy to get upset with me!)

when i tooted--long ago--this is what i tooted. -- mike

i harvested my onions. all 30 of them--definitely not enough to keep us in onions for a whole year like some people grow but fun for this hobby "farmer."  three of the onions bolted (start flowering) before i pulled them.  the blossoms are so pretty, i put them in a vase.  -- melissa

more catching up

mike is a much more prolific (and more talented) artist than I am.  you'll find my "catching up" contributions at the end of this long and wonderful display of his:

Melissa's catch-up contributions: