Portrait Of The Artist As A Sick Man

Babba's been stricken with a cold. That doesn't stop him from sipping tea and doodling in his sketchbook. He has a million pictures in his head at any given moment.

Mama and Dew Drop

Makeovers for Dew Drop's Motley Crew.

This groovy girl has been accused of having problems with her 'taste level'. I bought her second hand, and she came only wearing leopard skin tights and platform shoes. I decided the classic, little black dress would bring a mod approach to her existing leggings. (and FYI- 'built in' in doll fashion lingo= you can't take them off because her tights are actually her legs). Think Breakfast at Tiffany's. I sent her to hair and makeup to simplify her pigtails into a tightly pulled back pony tail.
This little man has been a mainstay of Dew Drop's since day one. Underneath this lion suit, you will find that his body is covered in polyester that has pilled a great deal and looks pretty sad. He needed new clothes, that was no question, so I chose to do a lion suit costume complete with tail.

This girl's name is Rosie. She's a fun loving gal who really needed a makeover. She needed to update her look badly. This outfit was my first. Originally, I thought I would make all of the dolls into little super heros (like Rosie)....
...but as I was assessing Barnabee James's fashion crisis, I realized that a super hero suit just doesn't fit him. He already has a pair of built in plaid pants and argyle shirt (Babba had previously attempted a fashion overhaul for Barnabee a few months ago- that's how come he has a painted on argyle shirt.). Barnabee seems like someone who would walk the rainy streets in London- with his collar turned up against the chill. So that's what I did. In my humble opinion, this make over was the most successful because I feel that I captured who Barnabee really is- and isn't that the whole point of fashion?

Grateful Dew Drop

Dew Drop is a lover and a dreamer. She's also the most grateful girl you will ever meet. In the world that Dew Drop inhabits, everything is a gift. Her latest obsession is trying to figure out the origin of everything- from toys, to clothes, to furniture, to houses, to our bodies.

"Who gave this to you?" she asks.

"What? This? This is a window."

"Who gave this window to you?"( She's persistent like that.)

"Mamma and Babba bought this window at Lowe's, then Babba built it into our house."

If you've given Dew Drop a present anytime, ever, in her entire life she remembers what the gift was and that you gave it to her.

My favorite conversation along these lines goes something like this:

"Who gave this to you, Mama?"

"What? This? This is my nose." I say.

"Who gave you this nose?" she demands.

"This is my body, and this is my face." I know this is a lousy explanation, but this conversation is getting very esoteric. I'm not sure how to have a conversation about the origin of our bodies- either on the physical plane or the spiritual plane with a two year old. I'm not sure how much she understands- I'm not sure what kind of answer she is looking for. It seems like she's wondering how this world came into being- and who gave it to us. I don't know that answer. I like the question, though.

Happy Solstice!

The Sun

By Mary Oliver

Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone-
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance-
and have you ever felt for anything

such wild love-
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed-
or have you too
turned from this world-

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

I Heart Felt.

In an attempt to stave off the winter blues, I decided to make an advent calendar. Ya'll know I'm not much of a Holiday Ho, right? It's not that I hate Christmas, but it just doesn't do anything for me. I do like the sun though- and the solstice excites some inner pagan within me so I decided to make an advent calendar for the sun.

We'll start opening the pockets today and keep on going right through the solstice. Next year, we'll start 14 days beforehand.

If you're wondering what's inside the pockets, they each have 3 Hershey's Kisses. In the future, they may contain little Haikus, ideas for fun projects, drawings, and other junk that I haven't collected yet.

My fingers are aching from sewing through so much felt, but I'm going to keep on with it and make some felt doll clothes for Dew Drop. Being an artist is fun- and sometimes it's nice to remember that it's not all about doing Fine Art or Finding Your Voice- it's about sitting in a sunny window with a cup of tea, listening to some kinda twangy music, and making things.

L is for ....

Inane cabin-fever crafting

Presenting: flip flop socks. The world needs these. Babba needed them, but he didn't know he needed them until I took liberties to his socks with scissors. He claims they're very comfortable. In all honestly, I think these are a great invention and could land me on Project Runway if I'm not careful. Babba counters that they're nothing new- they've already been invented. Bah, I say!

Behold the spandex and sequins Elvis suit I made for Daisy Crockett. I know you want one.

Dew Drop's getting crafty, too. I'd never noticed the obvious similarities between glu-stick and chapstick until yesterday when she demonstrated.

Dew Drop's easel has been pretty hoppin' lately also. Disclaimer on the bum bum drawing- she made me draw it. We talk a lot about body parts and poop around here lately. She also requests pictures of people crying. She likes it when I draw the tears.

Even when it's wicked evil cold we still have fun around here, and we get really happy when we count down the days until our departure to Thailand (less than a month now).

My Love Hate Relationship With My Own Life

Wash Girl Hand. Mixed Media On Canvas. By Mindy


This time every year, like clockwork, I begin to get pangs of hating my life. This is not to say that I walk around like a total grump, or that I fail to see anything to be thankful for. It is to say, however, that even though I love my life 99% of the time, I still struggle with a certain loathing at times.

Let's first explore the love part of my life:

-I live on a glorious river that I fall in love with anew each day.
-I live in a house that Babba and I built together.
-Our house is a work of art.
-The house gives us a level of independence and simplicity that words can't describe.
-One word: travel (this goes into the part about the house giving us independence)
-I live next door to Baldwin's mom who is also The Best Nannee In The World and a great friend.
-We have great views, and I'm pretty sure the crows who fly over know my name.

Brace yourself while I explore the hate part of this equation:

-The local culture in our area sucks. (sorry to any local friends- I don't mean you specifically).
-We built our house when we were 18 and 19 years old. We can never move from here. We can never, ever sell our house because it's on a family farm. We are rooted here no matter what. Imagine making a decision about where to live for the rest of your life when you were still a teenager (or spare yourself torment and don't imagine that. just trust me on it)
-It's really hard to be inspired to be an artist or pursue art here. There's really no art market.
......drum roll, please, for the most important reason why I sometimes hate my life here.......

Wintertime. I am pretty sure I was meant to live in a warmer climate.

Kissing Trees. And Mountains That Do Things.

"What's that mountain doing over there?" Dew Drop, our Zen guru, asked us yesterday.

We told her the mountain is doing what mountains do best- stand big and tall, and change

without ever changing.

Adoption Freaky Scale

My Adoption Freaky Scale rating is still in the mellow range, and seems to be holding quite steady. I have, as of late, detected certain precursors of nesting going on around here though. Among those precursors of nesting include a trip to Ikea to look at and measure bunk beds, and compiling a baby name list.

We just finished up 3 whole months of waiting. We're loving our new agency so far. They're the complete opposite of our previous agency in terms of communication. And Dew Drop's been talking a lot about Baby Sister. "Will Baby Sister like lemon water?" or "Baby Sister sleeps right here in my room?"