Doggie exercise

This is what Cupid and I have been doing twice a week for the past month or so. We head over to the University of Minnesota Rehabilitation Center for a little underwater treadmill conditioning. I've wanted to do this every winter for the past 3 or 4 years, and I'm thrilled to actually be doing it. Cupid is less than thrilled, however.

It's so difficult to exercise dogs here when there's deep snow or ice everywhere. Cupid actually suffered a soft tissue injury last winter, plowing through a snowbank while on a walk. Now, she does a total of 30 minutes in warm water (with hot tub-type jets in between 5- or 10-minute sets), then gets a rub-down and a blowdry.

The down side is that rehab is expensive! Next winter, if I'm fortunate enough to still have my old gal, we'll again be walking in warmer temps.

Sad

My Colts lost last night. I'm still hurting. It sounds trivial, but I'd so much been looking forward to buying a Super Bowl t-shirt immediately after the game to celebrate. I really feel for those Colts players...Garcon who was playing for his native Haiti, Peyton who is hearing how he lost the game for them, Coach Caldwell who looked like he'd been crying in a post-game interview. Maybe next year, guys.

Another sad thing happened to me earlier this month: my therapist left. He'd been a post-doc and now it was time for him to move on.

<--- Here's the matchbox shrine ornament I made for him at Christmastime.

One of his favorite artists is Frida Kahlo, and the little peppers are from a plant (or its progeny) that I brought from Arizona to Minnesota. The copper is heavily patinated using salt and vinegar. I really enjoyed working with metal and will be doing more of these shrines.

Super Bowl Sunday

It's the big day and I'm really excited! I wish the game would start. Two hours to go...

At least Alexander had a birthday party to attend earlier this afternoon, which killed some time. It was held at a bowling alley and Dana and I stuck around and bowled two games. I can't remember ever bowling with Dana, and it was fun (when I was winning, that is).

I should try to channel some of this anxious energy towards making art. And speaking of art, here's a goofy little whimsical (?) piece I finished recently. I took images of Peyton Manning, a gladiator helmet, and the Roman coliseum from Google and combined them with Lisa Bebi's paint-over technique and a Tim Holtz mask. It was a lot of fun to make.

The time has come...the Super Bowl is this Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts vs. the New Orleans Saints.

The last time I cared about a Super Bowl was when I lived in New York state and the Giants were playing, but I mostly cared because I threw a Super Bowl party. This was shortly before I left NY to make the long drive back to Arizona in a VW Rabbit via Fort Myers, Florida, with two full-grown German Shepherds. I was crazier back then (not that I wouldn't do the same today!). I still miss my NY friends.

I care about this Super Bowl because it has the team for which Alexander and I visited training camp. I loved the Colts last year too but this year was special because I'd watched the players up close and personal before the season even started. What a special trip that was. In continuing with my gratitude intention, I'm thankful for how this season played out (the Colts were almost undefeated!) and all the joy it brought me. Enjoy the game and those awesome commercials, of course~

Under the wire, as usual

Here's my journal spread for my first Crusade. Michelle Ward hosts this challenge every month and after procrastinating a long time, I got one done. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's part of my effort to make more art, more quickly, without ruminating over every piece like it's the dang Mona Lisa or something. That's part of my silly perfectionism issue.

I've loved Michelle's rubber stamps for years, and her website is a definite 'must visit'. Right now, she has some easy snowflake templates for everyone (which weren't posted when I cut mine....waaahh).

Guess what I got for Christmas

Dana read me gushing about a local artist in a previous blog post and bought me a giclee of my favorite piece of hers. A giclee is a very high quality, numbered art print. Except for being able to feel the texture of the fabric, you'd never know that it's not the original.

It's square in shape so I'll probably have to frame it myself--maybe from a kit I saw in the Dick Blick catalog.

Thanks, Dana.

a textured background

Here's a painted and textured background that I actually haven't been working on forever. It started with a gessoed piece of cardstock and I just started layering on acrylic paint, used teabags and a dryer sheet, torn paper with text on it, and coarse granular gel medium. It seems complex and I almost wonder if it could stand alone, but I will likely add more to it. Trees might look nice...

Peyton Manning paintover

It's been a long time since I posted some art. Peyton here is something I've been working on for a long time now--since before training camp, for sure, because I remember taking it with us just in case I had the opportunity to get an autograph. I used Lisa Bebi's paint over technique in which you take an image of a person (or animal, I suppose) and paint into and out of the image mostly avoiding the facial features. I'm quite happy with how the background came out on this one.

Cupid is 13 years young!

Christmas Day was my German Shepherd Dog Cupid's birthday. She made it to 13, which is quite an achievement for a large breed, purebred dog from American show dog lines that are typically quite inbred. Her sire was Grand Victor Ch. Mar Haven's Color Guard, who also had sheepherding titles. Her Ch. dam was a Ken-Delaine Mastercharge daughter.

13 years and two months ago Dana and I packed up Cupid's dam, Viva, and headed off from Tucson AZ to the Sacramento CA area to breed Viva. We'd picked her sire, "Boss" after we'd seen him at dog shows. He was big, nearly solid black, young, and knock-your-socks-off gorgeous. He was an incredible mover and had a wonderful temperament. After 63 days of gestation, Viva started having her 9 puppies late Christmas eve and continued through most of Christmas Day. She got super-tired and we spent most of Christmas at the emergency animal hospital. No C-section - thank goodness - but lots of oxytocin and walking. Since we had nine little Christmas babies, Dana suggested we name them after Santa's reindeer. So, in addition to Cupid, there was a Blitzen, a big longcoated male who was nicknamed Bear. There was a Vixen, who lived up to her name and was a real handful. She ended up living with a state park employee who took her to work with him and provided her with a wonderful life. Yes, there was a Rudolph (no red nose) who was called Rudy. I had hopes that he would be a showdog but he ended up being a monorchid :( And I can't forget to mention Comet who, as an older pup, caught a bird in our backyard. I guess Comet lived up to his name too. He must have had a special talent...none of my other Shepherds have ever caught a bird.

Thank you for the memories, Cupid. And thank you for your undying love over the years. You add so much to my life.

Gangsta crafters

This is pretty dang funny video.
I think it can be enjoyed even if you're not a crafter/artist-type.
Warning: there's some mildly rough language.

An artfully wonderful time of year

Today marks the day that two excellent freebies become available to blogland.

The awesome Tim Holtz began the first of his annual 12 Tags of Christmas and admits he may have gotten "a bit carried away" on his snowy, blue, crackly Winter Wishes tag. Tim offers an easy-to-follow, detailed tutorial with close-up photos each day and giveaways too! If you haven't met Tim Holtz yet, his blog is a must visit. He is incredibly talented and very generous.

Lisa Vollrath's Christmas countdown printables kicked off today too, with the first of 25 collage image sheets. Lisa requires that you link to her website before downloading her fantastic vintage images, which is a tiny price to 'pay' for those of us addicted to graphics.

I hope you enjoy these two early Christmas gifts as much as I do~

An amazing artist

Yesterday I went to a fiber fair held at a place I've been meaning to go for a long time now: the Textile Center in Minneapolis. There were spinning and weaving demonstrations, sales of materials and finished products, and exhibits of wonderful art as well as clothing. I was absolutely enthralled by the work of Julie Crabtree-Pfannes, shown here---->

This 20"x20" piece is titled Autumn Glory and, like much of her work, is a handmade paper and hand-dyed fiber collage of distressed fabrics, paint, and free-motion sewing.

She is inspired by the Northwoods of Minnesota and her art was amazing and so textural. I only wish I could afford one of these works!

Vintage sewing goodies

A bit late, but here's a photo of someone's old sewing kit that I picked up at a yard sale this summer. I hope to reuse some of the contents in art pieces. I especially love the antique fabric tape measure, and can you dig that far-out 70's fruitcake tin???

Red piece

I've been working on this collage forever. It started out as corrugated cardboard that I sanded, painted, and sanded some more. Then I started applying different recycled materials--a painted dryer sheet, a few labels soaked off of various jars, some trim from a box of Valentine chocolates, and more vintagey-looking scraps. The lady came from a workshop I took from Mike Putman @ JackandCatCurio. I gave her some wings made from maple tree seedpods, aka "helicopters".

I can't think of a name for this piece; if you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment!

Oh, and to my wonderful, sweet, Star Wars-obsessed son:

Happy 7th Birthday, Alexander!

Early winter

The past couple of weeks, I've been living one of my worst nightmares: winter has come early here in Minnesota.

Early snow and way-below average temps.

Why do I hate it so much?

A lot has to do with fear. I remember sliding down a snowy hill, driving the minivan, out of control.

I remember getting the van stuck in ice in a parking lot and 4 men had to help me push it out.

I remember not being able to drive the van up our driveway because it was so slick with ice.

I remember slipping and sliding and falling on the ice many times.

I remember earlier this year Cupid straining /spraining something in one of her rear legs while tromping thru a bank of snow. There was no one to call for a ride; somehow she managed to limp all the way home. Followed by an expensive trip to the emergency vet.

I remember - on less painful walks with Cupid - my face feeling frozen, icy tears being whipped from my eyes, my fingers numb with cold despite wearing gloves.

To cope, I've learned that it's vital that I get out of the house at least daily during winter. Having such unpleasant memories makes that difficult, but it's high on my list of survival tools. Another tool that I started using last year is to list things for which I'm grateful, also daily. At least two a day. In my fowlest moods, that tough to do; other days they come easily.

Today I'm feeling especially grateful for my group. They're a wonderful bunch, some of whom have become friends in addition to being support people. I have a feeling I'll be relying on them heavily this winter.

Another thing I am grateful for is the beauty of nature. I took this photo of a baby maple tree last fall. It was growing up thru the center of a shrub (dogwood?) and couldn't have been more than 15" tall. Just adorable.

Ahh, I got to swim today. First time in several months. During the summer, with all the kids out of school, I give up on swimming laps. Then there was the annual pool maintenance, which closed it for another month.

I love to swim. I feel very comfortable in the water. Swimming is almost meditative for me. To swim in the tropical atmosphere of our gym's pool, with all the sunlight coming in those walls of windows, is wonderfully calming. I have to admit that it's somewhat surreal to be looking out those windows when it's the middle of winter and the snow is flying outside.

Tonight, though, my long-dormant swimming muscles are starting to complain. Will the remedy be ibuprofen or smelly Icy Hot?

Autumn musings

Yep, winter is coming. I wish I could enjoy autumn without dreading the season that follows. Cupid and I took a short walk today in the woods where we used to take long walks. Her neurological disease doesn't allow her to take the extended walks of the past. I could tell that she remembered the place. She took a nice poo, ate a little grass, and enjoyed the smells. I thought of my dad, who passed away in 1993; he understood how a dog appreciates the opportunity to defecate away from home.
The leaves are starting to change color and drop, after some extended summer weather. It's been about 10 degrees above normal for the past couple-three weeks (another Jim McWilliam-ism). Poor school kids...class rooms don't have air conditioning around here. The colors of the leaves is one of the things that helps me keep my sanity around this time of year. Even a transplanted Arizonan like myself can appreciate the beauty. Getting out into nature is so necessary for me - at any time of year - and I have Cupid to thank for promoting that. I doubt if many people can understand why I feel about this dog the way that I do. I'm sure most of my friends and family think I'm off in the head the way I have included this animal in my life. She's gone on trips with me- by car and by plane- and she goes on nearly every errand with me unless it's too warm. She has her own couch which is placed in front of the living room picture window so she can watch the action in her front yard and on Griggs St. Cupid has been my silent friend for almost 13 years now. She is a comfort to me when I am sad, a calming presence when life gets difficult. She has been my protector and my creative inspiration. I am amazed by her common sense and the grace with which she has handled her advancing years. Her beauty feeds my soul and her quirky sense of humor has added much joy to my life.

Patrick Swayze 1952-2009

Patrick Swayze died yesterday. He was only 10 years older than me. I wasn't a huge fan of his, but I am of Saturday Night Live, and remember when Patrick hosted SNL back in 1990. He did a hilarious dance skit with Chris Farley (1964 -1997). The video is 6 minutes long, but well worth the time.

Chris Farley - Chippendales
I love that Patrick didn't take himself too seriously.

Rest in peace, Patrick. Thanks for the laughs.

Help! Mom's a cougar!

I've been avoiding writing about Alexander's and my trip to Terra Haute, Indiana to attend the Colts (NFL) training camp. I know for sure that I'm going to sound like a cougar....ggrrowwl... or a teenage girl...oooh, he's so dreamy...

Yep, my favorite player was there. Peyton Manning, up close and personal. Stretching and running and throwing. What a thrill it was to be able to watch this future Hall of Fame quarterback practice for his 11th year with Indianapolis Colts.

It was hot and humid and difficult to keep Alexander amused but Colts City helped. A climbing wall, jumping castle, and free snow cones helped break up the monotony for him. Alexander and I "kamped" at a nearby KOA for the three days, which went much smoother than I anticipated for his first tent-camping experience. It was a fun mom and son trip. Thanks, Dana, for help making it happen.

slide ornaments

Here are my first two attempts at making microscope slide ornaments and soldering. Now I truly understand why soldering requires a lot of practice. My efforts are pretty rough but I'm glad I gave it a shot, and I'm sure I will make more of these.