Forks

What would you do if you were walking around and saw a battlefield of forks in the middle of a college campus? I lay down on my stomach and took a picture.

Anticipation

I don't know how many of you grew up going to some kind of community pool or country club, but hopefully you can relate. We used to line up behind the diving board and the person on the board was never allowed to jump until the person that had jumped last had made it to the edge (so as not to jump on top of the person that had just come up for air in the deep end). So I spent a lot of time at the pool waiting in line. Some kids are completely comfortable with this, but I always remember being very aware of how I was standing. Being up there, right beside the diving board, made you feel like there were always someone's eyes on you, and I never knew what to do with my arms. Obviously I didn't have pockets, so that wasn't an option so I usually tried to settle with crossing my arms or putting me hands on my hips. (just like the girls in this painting). I'm guessing that most guys don't have any empathy for this, but I think girls are probably a bit more vulnerable in the diving board line, especially early teenagers. I mean, when else are you essentially wearing glorified underwear in the middle of a crowded place. Yet the diving board was definitely worth all of the anxiety- We used to play "olympics" (and Emily Brewer was always the judge) to see who could make the smallest splash, best dive, most creative jump, etc.... Anyway- enough about my diving board escapades- feel free to share yours.

Flowers

I agree with Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when she says that daisies are the friendliest flower... but these seem pretty friendly too. Oh- I just thought of that scene in Alice in Wonderland where the flowers sing... I love that movie.

Ballet Recital

Curtain call
fourteen feet scurry on stage
the curtains part
foggy light floods in
the music starts
grinning shyly, glancing at each other
arms up, hug the tree
tap, tap, tap, turn
tap, tap, tap, turn
wave to sister
tap, tap, tap, turn
six wobbly curtsies

Stucco

Everything in Florida is apparently covered with Stucco. I have no idea why this is... and admit that I have not researched it.

Taking Steps

A Little Reminder

Someone's Watching: a painting and a sonnet

I first apply a yellow colored cream.
I rub it in, a drink that quenches skin.
Foundation hides and smooths out all the seams
concealing every blemish on my chin.
A "Stay Matte" powder takes away the shine.
Two shades of shadow meet before the brow.
Around my eyes, with brown, I draw a line.
I use mascara on my lashes now
which always with mouth open I apply.
Then sweep the blush across my naked cheeks
and line my lips, no lipstick must get by...
to blot with tissue is the old technique.
How false to wear a painting on your face;
I feel I must to keep up with the pace.

















Not to ruin the post with this little addition, but do any of you realize what a pain in the butt it is to write a sonnet?!?!?! I mean! It is freaking HARD!!! It follows a certain rhyming scheme, but the iambic pentameter is the hard part. There are 10 syllables in every line and the stress syllable falls on all the even syllables, which means that the words that have more than one syllable are pretty tricky- they have to fall in the right part of the line so that the stress syllable is in the right place. For example: In line 3, I use the word "foundation" and the stress syllable in foundation falls on the second syllable: foun DA tion- so that second syllable had to be an even numbered syllable on the line- Since foundation was the first word, it worked out well- You can check the whole sonnet- I think I worked it all out and everything is correct, but I have to tell you... it is so much harder than I thought; I actually thought the sonnet was much more difficult than the painting- KUDOS TO SHAKESPEARE!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day last weekend!!!!!

I just thought you should know ...

Chimeras

In figure drawing class, we were given an assignment to draw one or more human figures with some sort of animal trait or characteristic- so I went with the idea of attractive women being called "foxes" and drew women with fox heads... and then wrote Aesop's Fable- "The Fox and the Crow" underneath it.

Kid Art

These shaded spheres were done by a THIRD-GRADER!!!! Well, I thought that it was pretty good for an 8-year old.

"Close Encounter For the First Time"

Left alone with her parents;
She applies fresh lipstick
in the ladies room.
Daddy makes inquiries of his career ambitions
fidgeting with the pen in his breast pocket.
Her mother pretends to read the wine list
glancing around the restaurant
every few seconds.
After several minutes of silence
She strolls back to her seat
sits down and asks
"What'd I miss?"

Comfort

I love socks... (which is probably a good thing since I have hyperhidrosis)... I especially love sitting around the house in socks watching old movies- oh and it's even better when it's cold outside and there's a fire... ooh that made me think of the Grinch- I love watching the Grinch... and drinking Swiss Miss with about 37 marshmallows...

The Chair Show

Pop Quiz Jeff: How many parts of the chair can you label?

Sarah is standing by with the answer key.

So. . . it's like a yellow lime.

Lemon chicken's on the menu
He's trying to help.
Pushing the cart,
he tries not to ram her heels.
She asks him to select some milk.
He grabs the one in front.
She sneaks a peek at the date.
He tosses some bread in the cart.
She moves it gingerly
to the vacant childseat.
She reminds him to inspect the fruit
for imperfections.
He examines a lemon.

KID ART

First Graders drew and shaded flowers with pencils in an effort to understand light and dark values.

Commissions

For anyone that is even slightly interested, I plan on taking commissions again soon... starting this summer. I am going to set up a website in the beginning of June and there will be more information about my prices on that. I'll give you a heads-up on my blog when I finally get it up and running. Here are a couple of portraits that I finished for a family in Goldsboro last Christmas.

Space Memorial

This is a memorial at the Kennedy Space Center with the names of all the astronauts who have died while on a mission to space.

Laundry

11:37 pm

The thick, muggy air draws a sheen from my face
as I retrieve four quarters from my pocket.
No A.C.
The coins rest snug in their slots,
awaiting the jaws of the
appliance.
Pressing firmly to deliver them,
my thumbnail appears white.
I close the cover and listen to the water
drooling in.
Lifting the lid and sprinkling in one scoop
smelling like a lemon pixie stick
(carefully avoiding suspicious hairs
collecting around the mouth)
I reach my arm in to stir the
froth.
(no lumpy detergent in this washer)
I feed in my laundry, and it
gulps
with a bang of the lid.


12:11 pm

Time to peel the clothes from the
lining
of the washer.
They must be separated into
two dryers.
*THREE PIECE LIMIT FOR CLOTH COMPLETELY DRY*
Launching
another dollar into each contraption,
I press HIGH HEAT.
The machines rumble and shake.
I begin my countdown.


12:56am

Everything is still.
The garments remain only slightly
damp.

No rematch needed

I am the air hockey queen of the universe!!!!

Daddy

Dad waits for Mom outside a needlepointing store.

Make a Face!

Stop whatever it is you're doing and make a face!