Happy Pet Appreciation week to our pets! Here I’m sharing photos of my Rosebud and his sister Willow. Rosebud went from a tiny floofy kitten, to a giant floofer. Like, really, he’s massive. But he was SO tiny! Look at him, life imitating art, playing in a Barbie VW.
Willow went from a tiny floofy kitten, to a petit kitty who loves to hang out while I’m painting! She’s also an art critic, along with her Mother Stephen. =P
I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and let your pets know you extra appreciate them!
I’ve taken quite a few pictures of my son’s Star Wars figures over the years, and maybe painted a Darth kitty or two. But my favorite photo set is of Minnie burning on the pyre after the news of Disney buying Lucas Film.
The other day I ran into a magazine that has one of my images in it, safely packed away in my Tibetan trunk. But it dawned on me, that I really don’t have many of the items that feature my art/photography. I sold a lot through Getty Images, but rarely could I track down where the images went. I know there was a photo of my daughter being used in a Germany furniture store, but I never could find out what store.Â
So I set out to find the two books that had my images on the covers. The top one, “The Magic of Things Lost and Found,” came all the way from Italy (in like 3 days post…how??) I think the Italian book is the only one that has the cover photo, because the others I’ve seen a simple and titled just, “Lost and Found.” Anna thinks it’s pretty neat to be on the cover of a book!
The second book cover that I know about is the ball jar sitting in the grass, with a sparkler going off inside. (I was trying to replicate fireflies in a jar…sans fireflies.)
The last one, above, is recent. One of my Frida y Gatos paintings in the Skull Sourcebook. I got this book as a sample and it’s pretty freaking thorough. Definitely a lot of skulls in all sorts of styles-I mean, I can’t imagine any other book where my art would be within it’s pages alongside Slayer album covers!
I have a thing for antique vanities. We used to have quite a few, but we downsized but selling/giving away truckloads of furniture to Fairly Honest Bill in Portland before we moved to PA. We kept a couple, but they’re living on the third floor. So the other day when I saw the neighbors on the corner having a yard sale, the first thing I saw was the antique vanity. It had a glorious large round mirror off to the side. “We don’t need it.” I said to my daughter who was in the car with me. We didn’t…not really.
But I wanted it. I wanted it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I drew out a quick sketch for my next painting, which just happened to have that vanity in it.
So when my Mother went out to pick up lunch, and came back immediately to tell me about a piece of furniture we needed, I knew she was talking about that vanity. I said, “It’s the vanity, isn’t it?” She said, “IT’S ON THE CORNER, FOR FREE!” I jumped in the car and we drove up the hill to the corner and jumped out. They couldn’t sell it at the yard sale, so not wanting to bring it back into their house, they put it out for free! It’s beautiful. It’s not in perfect shape, the veneer has seen a much better day in some spots, but I honestly don’t care. The drawers are solid and the mirror is amazing. =)
