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Friday, September 28, 2007

 

Sentence of The Month: September

It's been a while since I posted one of those. Not that I don't hear pearls of wisdom all the time, but none of them made the cut, or I was too busy.

But today... Ah, today was different.

I attended a meeting in which representatives from several organizations. We each raised our own issues we wanted to share, and then came the turn of DiploK, the Vice President of an organization that has recently started to hire the services of a sign-language interpreter. They are the only art organization around here that offers this service, and it's a wonderful initiative, as it enables hearing-impaired people to enjoy the services that the organization offers.

Now, one of their members complained that it's too much money for the club to spend on such a thing. DiploK was asking our advice on addressing such issues. Some of us tried to suggest profound ways to handle this, while the rest were listening.

And then came the glorious moment that made waking up in time for that meeting worthwhile.

"So, do you have members who cannot hear?", asked one of the women in the room with a heavy NY accent.

"We have one deaf member", informed her DiploK.

"Just one? One member who cannot hear?!", crescendoed the woman.

"Yes. One so far. But we are hoping to have more, as - - - "

But DiploK's sentence was cut in its prime.

"So why don't you just use a microphone instead of all that mess???", asked the woman.

Silence fell on the room, except for one carefully-choked giggle (that would be yours truly). Everyone was suddenly showing an increasing amount of interest in the ceiling, the floor, the contents of their purse - whatever was closest. I was still working on choking that erupting giggle, making sure to not make eye-contact with anyone, to avoid the Giggle Loop. I did the only thing that would take my mind off and ensure a serious state of being: I sketched the cure-finder (she had a great face!)...

"Because", explained DiploK with all the patience in the world, "that one member is deaf. She is DEAF. She can not hear".

Y'know, in this stage, most people would simply revert to quiet embarrasment.

But not Mic-Woman.

Not her!!

"She cannot hear??", she proceeded with sheer astonishment. "Not even with a microphone???".



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Thursday, September 27, 2007

 

ArtPact #31


Finally, we have the house back to ourselves. Flooring is done for now, electricians are gone, no more people in the house all day long. And it's all looking great.

We are yet to unpack everything in order to have the house look normal again, but we are both too busy and tired to do that. Ah well, empty shelves never killed anyone.

I met with WackieM today, so she can me give her painting to deliver to our Annual Show, which we're hanging next Saturday (Ahhhhh!! got to frame mine!!!). She came to the cafe where our critique group meets, and after an inevitable series of "Wow!" at the sight of her painting (which is even more incredible in real life than its
online version), we sat at a table by the window.

We were hungrily devouring our soup & salads and chatting, when I suddenly stared outside the window.

"Ooooo Ooooooo!!! Hat!!! Woman!! THERE!!!", I fidgeted, reverting to fluent Neanderthalish.

WackieM did not show any signs of concern or surprise. That's a fairly acceptable behavior among figurative artists, who are always on the hunt for a good face. The object of my poetic reaction was a lady in her 80s, with a unique black hat, black suit, and all the chic in the world. There she sat, by herself, at the table outside, gazing at a glass of water. A painting waiting to happen. (if you were there, Rhonda, she would be a story waiting to be blogged. Well, she is, but painting comes first).

Usually, when I see such sights, something happens and I miss the opportunity. Not this time - I pulled out my loyal LumiB and snapped some shots. Not of the best quality, as it was through a window, and had to be done fast, with no zoom, so she won't notice and get either upset or too self-conscious. It's a good thing I acted quickly, as - soon enough - a young woman joined my muse and blocked the view.

After I came home, I thought of the many photos of people that got me all excited when I saw them, and are now just sitting around in my "People" folder, waiting to be painted some day.


Not this time!

Having been at our critique meeting, and reading the
new blog of WackieM, plus my recent Amazon purchase, "Experimental Drawing" which arrived today, made me realize I am finally back in da zone. And, to top it all and give me one last push in the right direction, LimaB has sent me an wonderful self-portrait she drew today, making me want to rush to my studio and rummage through the unpacked boxes for some paper and pencils.

Still, as my dominant state is procrastinating, I spoke on the phone, had dinner, learned how to upload movies from Amazon to TiVo... and then kicked myself.

"I am going to at least do one sketch tonight!", I announced to the skeptical The JohnnyB, who nodded carefully with the familiar so-whadaya-want-from-me look.

And I did.

I uploaded the photo onto the TV screen (Thank you, TiVo for all your wonders!!), and started, merely getting myself acquainted with the subject, not even pretending to make a value sketch yet.

The first sketch was made with the photo upright - pretty much copying what I saw. I didn't care much for the result. I then noticed that TiVo enables you to rotate the image (I love TiVo!!), so I turned it upside down, and did the second sketch.


* An education outreach as a bonus for those of you who stayed with me so far: Working upside down usually results in much better drawings. Looking at an image this way, where you cannot really recognize anything, your left brain (whose job is to title, catalogue and analyze everything) freaks out and abandons the arena with a cry of despair, leaving the stage for your right brain, which is the creative side, the one wearing a berret.

I do like some parts of the second sketch much much better. I know, Mike, I got too detailed too fast - but that is just the first attempt! I'll behave... promise!). As always, once I got going, I really wanted to continue - and yet, as I need to get up early tomorrow and look fresh and presentable (going to an Art Summit), I have to call it a day.

So, this is the second step in a long journey of the birth of a painting. The first one was to fall in love with the subject and get a reference photo.

To be continued.


By the way, I am still amused by the fact that WackiM invited me to lunch, claiming I am doing her a favor by volunteering to bring her painting to the Annual Show. Not only do we get to her her masterpiece hung on our living room wall for 10 days (The JohnnyB cannot take his eyes off the painting!), I was also blessed with this photography opportunity, which wouldn't have happened had we not met at the cafe. So, who exactly did whom a favor here, Eh???

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Awwwww....

Excuse me while I go laugh for an hour or two months.

"Soothing and calm"... me?!?


You Are Sunshine



Soothing and calm

You are often held up by others as the ideal

But too much of you, and they'll get burned

You are best known for: your warmth

Your dominant state: connecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

 

HAPPY SUKKOT!!


Sukkot Holiday starts tomorrow evening. The name is the plural of Sukkah, which is a booth or a hut traditionally built especially for the holiday. You dine in the Sukka for 7 days (reverting to the safety of your house if it starts raining...), rejoicing with the end of judgment after the Yom Kippur.

As opposed to many Jewish holidays, which get kinda heavy, as they usually involve some fasting and atonement and a lot of "Thou Shall NOT!", this one is actually fun, as it's nature-related (it's also called The Harvest Festival).

Found this little video that relates to the tradition of shaking the Lulav (palm branch).

HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

!!!חג סוכות שמח

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

 

Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word

"Have you noticed that nobody ever apologizes anymore?", asked me RabkieM a couple of weeks ago. She is going through some major remodeling in her house.

"Well, if they do, they admit they made a mistake", I told her then, with the blessed detachment reserved for the comfy seat at the ivory tower of those who are not getting ulcer caused by strangers running around in their house, stretching out work and getting an impressive amount of money for doing so.


Jimmy Scott


And now I understand what she was saying.

We first experienced it with the S&G screw-up. While the installers themselves were hardworking, caring and truly professional, the sales guys at S&G never bothered to apologize for their mistake and the total lack of caring. Their way of showing any kind of remorse was to assure us over the phone, "Ah, we'll give you a lot of free stuff for cleaning and protecting your floors". Yeah... They did give us one mop, which I now realize we should have rejected with disdain. (Yes, I shamefully admit, we took it. Big, HUGE mistake on our account).

Now, it's - the electrician. I am so pissed at him that he shall not even get a blog name!

After several times of calling him for an estimate, and having been blissfully ignored by him, he finally arrived at our house on Friday morning (well, closer to noon, and not before a cranky were-are-you call made to him by The JohnnyB). He was armed with what I still think is an outrageously high estimate, but I am told that "this is how it is here". Whatever.

He came with 2 helpers. Let's all go back to elementary school, and count together: one electrician plus two helpers - that makes three. Three people, several hours.

We clearly asked them to do certain things first.

The guy clearly said "Sure, sure, we'll do it first, Ha Ha Ha".

We clearly believed him.

They clearly didn't finish even one damn thing!

They ran under and around the house, making busy sounds. The electrician with one helper spent a couple of hours under the house (I wonder if they didn't go down under with a portable TV and just sat there, watching it), while the second helper leisurely drilled and cut holes into our walls in between conversations on his cellualr. They left for a lengthy lunch, and came back.

In the afternoon, I was starting to wonder, as nothing seemed to be in progress.

Around 4pm, we got a report that they need to resolve one problem in the bedroom (one open hole), and that the hole they cut for the cables was in the wrong place. About 1 foot wrong, so the wire cannot be fished through it.

"WTF?", I turned my wondering eyes to The JohnnyB.

"They are not walking away", he reassured me. "They still have 3-4 hours to finish up".

Ah, sweet optimism...

As soon as he finished his sentence, they started to take off their Ninja work suits and got back to looking presentable.

And as they were leaving, The JohnnyB and myself gazing at them with astonishment, the electrician kept walking around, saying "Looking good!". We walked through the house to see if anything was even remotely close to being finished in my studio (4 open holes), but the walls gazed back at us, full of holes for switches and jacks, all open to suggestions. "Looking good!", he shined again like an idiot, as I stared at my studio floor, that was half covered with all their equipment. I was almost in tears - both fury and frustration.

Now, The JohnnyB, who often gets very assertive and impatient at work, bashing into big idiot managers and giving everyone large pieces of his mind, becomes very nice when it comes to people who actully deserve to get a taste of assertiveness. Especially when it comes to people who take advantage of his niceness.

As for me...

One of the things that really get to me is to be stepped on or played with, while having my intelligence disregarded.

I was pissed. Nice, but pissed.

"So, the television is not going to be hooked today?", I asked.

"No", muttered the electrician, losing some of his enthusiasm. At least he was decent enough to say, "Oh, yes, you asked that we do it today".

"Yes, we did", I assured him.

"Oh yes", he showed an amazing ability to recover back to his cheery self, "so John can watch his football game" (The JohnnyB never watches football, but I wasn't going to point that out to the genius). Turning to The Johnny, he smiled, "Ah, yes, football, you can go to B.J.'s and watch it on full screen Ha Ha Ha".

"And",
I added through my teeth, "You are not going to close any of the holes in the studio wall today?".

"No", he admitted, scratching his head and looking at me as if I were the greatest nuisance on earth.

He was starting to get the notion that we might be, like, maybe, not so very happy with him, Ha Ha Ha.

"It's getting dark", he said, "our flashlights are only good for one hour, so we cannot work under the house now".

I gave up. After all, what could I do? Force them under the house and close the lid to the crawl space until they are done? (tempting, I admit, but not quite acceptable, I presume).

He followed the disappointed The JohnnyB and me to the living room (2 open holes and mess on the new floor).

"Maybe you need an extension cord?", he said hopefully. "I can give you one for free. Fancy one, Ha Ha Ha".

"No", said The JohnnyB coldly. (Finally!)

"Fancy one! You sure you don't need?".

"No!".

And then I understood.

That's how tradesmen say "I'm sorry for messing up". They offer you free stuff, mostly of minimal nominal value, hoping it will atone for screw-ups and make people think they are generous. Everyone likes a freebie, right?

Nope.

And this is someone recommended by Angie's List to be highly professional and good!

The scary thing is that, when I complained to a couple of American friends here, and to The JohnnyB (lengthily), I got this: "Ah, but this is how it is. There are so few tradesmen in this area, that even if they do crap job, they will still get a lot of work. You should be thankful that they even come back!".

How encouraging to realize that the road to mediocrity is one big mutli-lane freeway, with no speed limit.

They are coming back tomorrow.

Ha Ha Ha.

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

 

News Flash


Tomorrow, an electrician is coming to our house to reconnect some wires, install several lights, ground a couple of jacks and re-wire our phone lines.

Yes, you heard right.


An electrician!

- - - - - - - is coming!!

- -- - - - - - - - - - - -- - To our!!!

- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
House!!!!!


I am choked, speechless and torn between tears of relief and disbelief.

And now I shall sit back and look at those pigs fly...

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

 

Fall?

Not to tread on the corns of those from Austin or other tropical areas...

But here, in sunny and warm California, we are starting to spot clouds in the sky.

- - - The last few evenings were somewhat-chilly.

- - - - - - And the leaves of our neighbor's tree are deep in premature blush.


I do believe that autumn is coming.


Oh, that's Keith Jarret, playing "Autumn leaves".

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

 

The Hanging At Town Square


This weekend is the Annual Show of an art organization I belong to, the one that exhibits all visual art media in its shows.


A group of five of us showed up at a cruely early hour on Friday morning. LimaB, FergieJ, NightieR, MembieK and yours truly. Interestingly enough, we are all very active members on my main art society (the one of which I'm president). We greeted each other with yawns, bracing ourselves towards the next several hours.

(It might worth mentioning that as soon as I arrived, I had to run back home... I promised LimaB that I will photograph the award winning artworks, and - as I was beyond tired the whole week, with our floors being installed, I forgot to bring LumiB with me).

For those of you who do not bear the scars caused by the corners of metal frames; whose hands never collected splinters from wooden frames and fingers did not get pinched by stretched wires; you without sore muscles and aching feet from carrying paintings around for hours; if you have never found yourselves sitting down on the floor and bursting into a hysterical laughter that verges on insane despair, sorrounded by dozens of unmatching paintings. For you, I should mention that hanging a show is a major undertaking.

It starts off as one big chaos, mission impossible. It then proceeds towards more chaos, characterized by countless iterations and trial-and-error. Everything needs to work together, color-wise and style-wise. Naturally, it has a lot to do with personal taste, and when 5 different artists are involved - you can imagine the clash of opinions.


All of the above is true for hanging any show. When it comes to an exhibition that involves different media, the challenge gets much, much bigger. We had over 100 artworks to hang: watercolors, photographs, oils, acrylics, collages, even one framed sculpture, with a wide spectrum of styles.

'Daunting' was an understatement for this task!

Gradually, you get exhausted from carrying framed paintings back and forth all over the place, hanging and removing and relocating and hanging again. You become snappy, and you lose any remnant of patience you ever had in you. From time to time, you stop and make a solemn oath that you will never, ever, volunteer to do that again.

And, since everyone gets into their most edgy state-of-being, it is crucial to have a good hanging team. This is not the place for touchy souls to get offended and retreat to pout.

We started in a slow pace, working non-stop for a couple of hours. After successfully reaching the fed-up stage, we made a short coffee break, and reluctantly crawled back to work, admiring the areas that started to work together, and approaching the problematic ones with refreshed energy.

At some point things started falling into place, some sections actually making sense. Eventually, even the most impossible areas got resolved. Pretty much like creating a painting - a very complicated one. Then came that glorious moment when we looked at the show as a whole - and the sense of achievement was so extreme, that we knew we'll be there to do it next time. It looked so damn good - and WE did it!

Once we were done, dead tired and sweaty, I still had to put on my other cap and run to do some errands for "my" art organization. Had to pay
HaffeyM for the workshop, and go to the hotel where he stayed to pay his bill. On the way back, I grabbed some finger-food from Trader Joe's for the reception. It was 4:30pm when I finally got home, and the reception was to start at 7pm. I managed to catnap for 15 minutes, took a long shower, put on some artsy outfit, and tried my best to look refreshed and rosy-cheeked for the event.


It was funny to see the hanging group again, all red-eyed like me. The JohnnyB even took a break from devouring the mini-samosas that were served at the reception, in order to announce to FergieJ that the fact w'all still speak to each other means we really are a good team!

Based on
past experience, I had pretty much zero expectations for those I invited to attend. The only one who shows up on such occasions is DaskieM, but as her parents are visiting, I figured she won't be able to make it.


"So, why do you keep sending invitations to the others?", you wonder.
Hmm, good question. Excellent, even. I dunno, but I still do it. Call it incurable optimism.

Looking at the silver lining, the beauty in having no expectations is that you can really enjoy the moment. I hung out with The JohnnyB, mingled with the crowd, and was thrilled to meet friends from my main art society. VallieM was there, exhibiting 3 of her breathtaking paintings, and had two friends visit her, HallieH and PrevieJ, whom I adopted as my guests as well. I believe in sharing.

There I was, listening to the speeches by the mayor of the town (oh yes!) and the head of the local Rotary (whom I have almost kicked out of the exhibit hall that very morning, reprimanding him that we are hanging the show and no spectators are allowed... LimaB rushed to his rescue, and I used all my charm to apologize profusely... well, how was I to know?).

I glanced back for a second, and - - - among the many faces, I see the grin of TexieD! He came with his better 95%, and also dragged MistyP and MistyA with him, as well as their lovely daughter, MistyN.

It felt superbly great that they came; hard to explain or describe. They all live about 40 minutes drive, which made their appearance even more special. Apparently, The JohnnyB had a hunch they will show up, as TexieD mentioned the reception to him at work, but he decided to keep it to himself, so in case they do come, it'll be a surprise.
And a wonderful surprise it was!!

The talking ended, and then - finally - came the awards ceremony.

I am excited to share with y'all that I got my very first ribbon!!

A nice, yellow ribbon, given to me (yes, with a cheque) as the 3rd place award in the Photography category, for this photo. I took it in Sydney, Australia. Of all the incredible places we've been to during the two months we spent in that fascinating continent three years ago, this alley (whose name is "Nurses Walk") is one of the more memorable locations for me. It was right opposite our hotel in Sydney, and to me, it was the gateway to Australia, as going down these stairs was our way to get to the main street that led to the Opera House and all the other wonders. The judge's commented that 'the descending stairs into the vacant darkness make me think of empty memories' (whaddayamean empty?!??), and that 'it's a poetic photograph'.

Y'know, The JohnnyB kept complaining about me taking so many photographs during that trip (OK, 11,000 might be a bit much, but hey - we saw so many things!!!). And yet - voila! at least one of these photos is now justified, eh?.

In addition, I received the Creative Catalyst Productions award (a company that makes the best art videos and DVDs) for my Global Warming watercolor. This is the second time I am getting an award on a painting done as part of a "Beyond The Obvious" 20-paintings series. Hmm... can it be that MikeyB was right, after all?

Funny thing, awards. I admit I had hopes for the photograph, but I thought that if any of my works would win anything, it would be my self-portrait collage. I guess we always feel this way whenever we do something new and want it to be recognized.
Still, having two artworks out of the three I have entered getting awards - you can imagine I did not need wine to be intoxicated that evening.

After some blinding moments in front of the flashing cameras (Ah, sweet fame...) and some chats with visitors and the other artists, I was dragged out by the very hungry The JohnnyB and TexieD, who have had it. There is only so much art one can handle, I suppose.


"We want to have dinner with an award winning artist", they tried to excuse their chanting bellies.

We went to a fabulous dinner at Gochi, a Japanese Fusion Tapas place, which offered exquisite service and some creative fun dishes. If they only used salt, it would have been even better.

Still, it was a perfect evening, spend with true friends.

Around 11pm, as we were hugging our goodbyes, MistyP did not seem to overcome his devastation that I insisted on paying for dinner.

"But I wanted to do it", he protested. "How can I pay you back now?".

"Ah, buy one of my paintings", I joyfully suggested.

He didn't even blink. "I'll buy your dinner next time!".


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Thursday, September 13, 2007

 

ArtPact #30


And in between vinyl and laminate, I got a break to go among people for one day.

A workshop is taking place this week, y'see. One that I really wanted to take, by an instructor from Michigan, whose work I really like and whose book is a wonderful inspiration and a great reference to keep your in line with the elements of design. And after the demo given by the instructor on Saturday, I REALLY wanted to take it even more, as he turned out to be a fun and funny guy, with a great sense of humor - plus an incredible teacher. So, The JohnnyB worked from home and set me free, so I can bask in the light of
HaffeyM.

It was fun to not be confined to the den with the music of hammers and compressors and the enchanting view of floorers butts wherever I look. Now, it's not that I am dainty or somethin', and I know these guys do work their butts off (ah, glorious pun); and yet, as amusing as it may be, you kinda get tired of such views, and you crave for some new scenery.

So, I got to take one day of that workshop - missed the first two
, (which yielded some incredible results!), and the last two days that I will miss (which will probably yield even better ones).

At least I attended on the day they spoke of color, discuss different color schemes and be showered with some snippets of wisdom. After taking
MikeyB's workshop twice, nothing was really new to me.

And yet, in every good workshop you get a revelation of something that's always been there, a new light is shed, from a new angle, a sentence the instructor says - and all of a sudden, another piece falls into place with a nice 'click' sound. So that alone was worth it.

And - not only was it a blessed break from the floorers-sitting, but I also get to post an ArtPact even on such a week!

These little studies are of FergieJ. I already did a couple of versions of her portrait, resulting in a big
collage. Out of the 8 color combinations that HaffeyM wanted us to do, I did 4 quick ones in less than an hour. Not too bad, and it gave me some ideas about new directions. That's one of the great things about HaffeyM - he encourages to explore different styles and directions, rather than lock ourselves in one comfort zone and keep doing the same things, like so many artists do. This approach works for me much better!


The floor?

Ah, well, it's kinda finished. Today LamiS and LamiD are putting the baseboards and moldings and thingy around the hearth of the fireplace. If all goes well, they should be done this afternoon.


No mishaps, no big stories.

LamiS is a great floorer, I have to say. I guess everyone can lay laminate, but he does a lot of little things that show he genuinely cares about the end result. For example, he was shattered when he revealed that the white caulk he used on the baseboards in my studio does not go with the creamy color of the walls, wanting to run out and buy a different color of caulk. I had to reassure him twice that it's OK, and I will paint over it to match them all (as, there is no caulk in that color!). That, plus a couple of other resourceful things he did, is going to earn him a nice tip.

And, most important: it's looking good. VERY good, in fact.

And I am beyond sore now, as last night The JohnnyB and I put the cabinets back into my studio (LamiS finished it before the other rooms, upon my request, so I get my life back...). The JohnnyB attached them to the wall so they do not fall down during an earthquake. In fact, he did such an incredible job, that it's very likely they'll take the wall down with them...

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

 

Re-Floored: Day II

...and on the second day, LamiS brought LamiD with him. (I am starting to wonder if S&G read some of the comments left on the previous post, that showed heartfelt concern about the scanty number of people sent for the job). As opposed to yesterday, they agreed to a cup of coffee and started working on the jigsaw puzzle that will become our laminate floor. Quite a boring puzzle, I dare say. All pieces looking the same, no frame, no center of interest. But - to each his own.

VinyB joined them a bit later, looking refreshed - fortified even.

He worked

- - - and worked

- - - - - - and worked

- and several hours later, after the vanity and toilet were back in place, he had a stern talk with me about the welfare of vinyl and the existential importance of putting felt protectors underneath the heavy furniture that reside in my studio, on top of the vinyl he worked so hard to install. We then discussed whether I could use an office chair in my studio, and after a bargaining session (that made the peace talks in Camp David look like a casual chat), we reached a compromise: it's OK, as long as I use a rug underneath. He's a tough negotiator, VinyB. He is also a great pro and a real nice guy. He left, taking with him his toolbox as well as the most expressive plumber butt I've ever witnessed. (should have taken a picture, I know...).

Meanwhile, in the living room, LamiS and LamiD continued to solve the puzzle, slowly but steadily, took a break to adorn my studio with baseboards, so we can put things back in (yes, with felt protectors, OK!) and came close to finishing the living room. (Yes, CherkyB, they left it unfinished. Yes, we know the store you used would have finished it completely and would have thrown in a foot-massage. Not everyone gets the Wow treatment, y'see).

(Click to enlarge)

The house is already looking like someone else's. I love what it is becoming, and I honestly dunno if I'll manage to spare the life of the first person who sets a shoed foot on top of the laminate.

From now on, everyone hover, please...

For those of you who have been following the baseboard saga with bated breath: rest assured. On the first day of work, after learning of our deprivation, BossyC went to the baseboard orchard and picked a fresh, vine riped one. It is now painted in smoldering red (masterpiece of The JohnnyB), to match the living room wall. Don't you just love happy endings?

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Monday, September 10, 2007

 

A Thousand Words - And Then Some #12

I know, this picture does bring up memories...

But no, The JohnnyB has not set the house on fire yet again. No. Y'all really do jump to conclusions very quickly, don't ya?

After the baseboards fascinating
saga was over, the floorers arrived this morning, around 9:30 am. That is the first thing I liked about them: they do not show up at ungodly hours like 7am or such.

Three they were: BossyC, VinyB and LamiS.

Without too much ado, VinyB and LamiS launched at our floors. LamiS (who's in charge of the laminate) went for the living room, while VinyB (yup; Da Man Of Da Vinyl) busied himself peeling the carpet off my studio floor and proceeded to tear out the tiles in the bathroom, not before taking out the toilet. So now we have a hole in the floor to aim at. An indoor outhouse. Or, I guess we could take our business to the master bathroom.

Surprises of the day:


First, underneath the ugly carpet, old tiles and older linoleum, there resides a beautiful hardwood floor!! Or, at least it used to be. A gorgeous light color, with a nice honey tone. It looks OK in my studio (just with a lot of smears of paint, wall texture and a touch of water stains). However, in the living room, alas, it's also garnished with a hideous blackish carpet padding that was mercilessly glued right on top on it. Add to that a terrible-looking patch in the middle of the room, dead center... Ah, if these floors could talk... (even if they did, I suspect I wouldn't have been able to put it in this PG-13 blog!). What a desecration! And so, that is what this apocalyptic photo depicts: our living room floor, sans carpet and before LamiS has scraped it. Lovely, Eh?

Second: the guest bathroom vanity had to be taken out, as the tiles were oh-so-cleverly tucked underneath it... I do not recall a sadder expression than the one VinyB had on his face when he discovered this fact and came to share it with us. On the other hand, he did not have to scrape off the ewwwww old Jiffa(*) off the living room floor. Now we hope that the vanity will go back in OK, as we don't have the time to get a nice enough one this week (and yes, we looked around this evening, following this new development!).

After hours of noise and dust and tile ricochets flying in the air, huge chunks of old ugly carpet (did I mention I hate carpets?) taken outside, followed by many trash bags, the living room was neatly scraped, and my studio floor covered with large sheets of plywood.

VinyB and LamiS left around 4pm, exhausted and black in the face, looking as if they just finished fighting a terrible fire. Especially VinyB. Man, I felt sorry for these guys!

That is the end of day 1, the worst and messiest part of this adventure, as I understand.

And we survived it.

So far, I am impressed with the professionality and diligence of the floorers themselves, and the fact they left the house in such an incredibly clean condition after they disappeared to the horizon in a cloud of dust.

Oh, but wait. Just in case you are getting all warm and fuzzy about S&G: the floorers did not bring the extra baseboard to replace the chipped one.


Why?

Apparently, S&G guys 1, 2 and 3 didn't even bother to communicate it to them. Too busy having lunch, I presume.


(*) Jiffa is a Hebrew slang word (from Arabic), that comes very handy when you need to describe something that is dirty, slimy, loathsome - you get the picture.



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Saturday, September 08, 2007

 

...Let The Saga Begin...


Monday morning, the floor installers arrive.

And we've been working like crazy towards this: packing and packing and packing and detaching wires and packing and taking nails off the walls (so no eyes are poked) and filling boxes and moving furniture and packing...

Now, all this, hmm, packing, is stressful enough, and The JohnnyB and I am not at the peak of our friendliness these days. So, the last thing we need is for S&G to screw up, Eh? Which they cannot, right? After all, how can they screw up before they even started?

Ah - never underestimate the potential of anybody!

We are using the baseboards made of MDF (M-something D-something Fiberboard), which can be painted to match the color of the walls. After seeing the insane price of laminate baseboards, and getting scared by the crappy look of plastic baseboards, learning about the existence of these babies made me very very happy.

Now, even I, a highly impractical person, figured out it makes sense to paint them before they are installed, right? Coz then we can just touch up the paint to remove nailing marks and black fingerprints, right? For that, we need the baseboards to be dropped at our house, right? Simple, even?

Nope.

8 days ago, the baseboards finally arrived, accompanied by the chief installer. Nice enough man, who kept telling me how much work we will have to do packing with all the stuff we have (OK, my studio is indeed packed with - wait, no, it's not crap! I prefer to call it tools of the trade, even if I collect old bags of rice for creating texture!). He scanned the house, made sure he understands what needs to be done, gave me one last pitiful look, and drove away, leaving me in a cheery mood.

On Labor Day, we decided to put some labor into it (Ha - sooooooooo funny!).

The JohnnyB opened the first pack of baseboards, and sighed deeply, reverting to some juicy Arabic cussing (yeah, I teach him a lot!).

"They gave us the wrong ones".

"What d'ya mean?"

"These are not the ones we ordered", he repeated impatiently (da man hates it when I ask a question that is remotely similar to the one asked within a month before).

"Ah, maybe we can still use them? they can't be that diffe - - - ", and then I choked.

Sweet mother of the baseboards - the ones we ordered were very simple, with a clean profile, on the verge of elegant (well, one can only expect so much from baseboards...). The ones I was gazing at with sheer horror were, well, anything but. They had thingies! Y'know, thingies! Adorned by three or four ornate round thingies, the baseboards gazed at me with garish pride.

The JohnnyB packed them back nicely into their package, making sure to have them neatly put back. 'cause he is a nice guy.

On Tuesday, I called the store.
"Oh yes, I see they dropped the wrong ones", said S&G guy #1. "OK, Ma'am, we'll call you back".

I searched desperately for a filament of apology, a slight notion of regret in his indifferent voice - nothing!

On Thursday, I called the store.
"Ah, but you did not speak to me", replied S&G guy #2 to my complaint. "I will have S&G guy #1 call you in 15 minutes".

3 hours later, I called the store - and got acquainted with S&G guy #3. (Joy, so many new friends!)
"Ah, S&G guy #1 is having lunch now. We do not deliver baseboards. Do you want to pick them up?".

"Well, you apparently do deliver", I educated him, "as you delivered the wrong ones. We need them replaced".

"Can you hold one moment please?", he asked a rhetorical question, and left me with a lot of recorded words of self-appraisal. After I learned everything I could about how amazing S&G is (hey, they say so themsellves!), he got back to me. "OK, Ah, S&G guy #1 said they will bring the baseboards on Monday when they arrive".

"And when are we supposed to paint them?", I crescendoed.

"Ah, well, Ma'am, you see, they are putting the baseboards at the end anyway", he enlightened me, "so you'll have time to do it while they are doing the other stuff".

"No, we will not have the time nor the space to paint them next week", I said through clenched teeth, "I called you about it 2 days ago and today, and yet you never got back to me!".

"OK, S&G guy #1 will call you - he is now with a customer".

"Will he?", I sarcasmed.

"Yes", was the offended reply.

S&G guy #2 (not S&G guy #1) called back in 5 minutes. "The baseboards will be dropped tomorrow between 12:30 and 1pm".

The day after (AKA tomorrow), at 2:30pm, I called the store. Dunno which S&G replied, and I couldn't care less at that point.
"Oh, he is on his way, he'll be there before 3pm!".

At 3:45, a truck backed into the driveway, and a new guy started unloading 2 packages of nicely packed baseboards. Then, he took 2 additional ones that were shoved on top of a bunch of carpet samples, and apparently had a rough ride.

"This one is chipped", I showed him.

"Ah, you can sand and caulk and prime and paint them", he said with joy. "Nobody'll see it. By the way, why did you need them today?".

"So that we can paint them!?", I informed him with an emphasized Duh! intonation.

"You want to paint them before they put them in???", he asked, apparently shocked by the mere idea, looking at me as if I were the most insane person on this galaxy.

"No, we want to paint them after they are installed, so I can lie flat on the brand new floor and get a chance to spill paint on the new laminate and the new vinyl", I replied (but alas - only in my mind).

At 5:30, The JohnnyB came home, to a very angry lovely wife. (yes, I can be both at the same time).
"OK, now it's your turn to talk to them!", I exclaimed.

This time, a woman answered. The JohnnyB informed her that we got a chipped baseboard, and that yes, we can try to sand-caulk-prime-paint it, but hey, we are paying them, so why should we do all that?

"S&G guy #1 is not here", she said.

"OK", said The JohnnyB, somewhat defeated, "have him call me tomorrow".

We spent the evening painting baseboards, avoiding the chipped one. A series of 12 baseboards. Two coats. Fascinating project, obviously...

Today, in between frantic packing, I reminded The JohnnyB to call S&G guy #1 (who, surprisingly, did not call back!). He called, but S&G guy #1 was just out to lunch (hmm... that guy eats a lot, and very often), and will call him back.

2 hours later, The JohnnyB called S&G, informed them that they need to make sure the installers bring a brand new unchipped baseboard with them on Monday, and feedbacked them "you know, you are not very good on returning calls".

He was quiet for a while, listening to a bunch of excuses coming from the other side of the line, and proceeded to let them know it's important to, like, call back, when they promise to do so.

And you know what's amuses me the most?

While they put you on hold, they have this recorded phone message that informs you with a deep radiophonic voice, "S&G has been exceeding or meeting customers expectations for over 40 years" .

Hmm... no wonder they say "Has been", and not "is".

I am now working hard on myself to detaching all that from the installers. I truly hope the installation itself will not yield a whole new bunch of venting blogposts.

Just for the record, I did my share of the painting as well, fair and square. However, The JohnnyB does not believe in mixing business and photography, hence he's the only one who got digitally documented.

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Monday, September 03, 2007

 

ArtPact #29

. . . and then, sometimes, when you are frustrated with failure, you go into a screw-the-show-the-hell-with-the-result-let's-just-have-some-fun mood.

(Funny. While I see my previous self-portrait as a failure, y'all seem to actually like it. Whose side are you on, anyway?! Makes sense, actually. I had in my mind's eye what I was aiming for, but you see the result without any previous notion of what it should look like, so you are much more objective. I myself am starting to resent it less, and see ways to maybe save it. Thanks for your encouragement!!!).

When I was working on my self-portrait bozzettos, I stumbled upon the combination of walnut ink and purple ink, and fell in love with the result. If you recall, I thoroughly enjoyed creating textural effects on a wet sheet of watercolor paper, which I have put aside, as I was too scared to ruin it, as I am known to do.

But last night, after the first painting, I was angry. "I can always make another one, Eh?", I announced to the atmosphere and to The JohnnyB, who just sat there quietly, aware if the fact that even a "Yes, dear" would be a risky answer as his lovely wife is undergoing artistic despair.

I took the nicest background out of the three, and contemplated where to locate my face. The first option would have adorned me with a mighty mustache, and although I was in the careless mood, I still have my vanity. I turned the paper upside down and decided to go with the less hairy choice.

Took the bamboo stick in my hand (the
fancy one, that has a bamboo pen on one end, and a brush on the other), and went to town.


It was


- - - - - So.

- - - - - - - - Much.

- - - - - - - - - - -- - - Fun.

I stuck to pure drawing, going along with the ink, the paper and the bamboo stick. Bamboo sticks work much better on slick paper, so - working on watercolor paper - I could not really achieve the sweeping lines that I like. So be it. I didn't fight back, and proceeded to create edgy lines, which dictate the mood of the painting. Hey, I was edgy! Worked just fine for me.

Thing is, when I am having a lot of fun with a painting, the doubt kicks in, and I think it's not good enogh. I mean, an artist should struggle and sweat and suffer and go through a lot of agony, cigarettes and berets when creating. Having fun does not seem to fit into this formula... Ah, damn that Jewish guilt...

Y'know, I really, Really, REALLY like this one! to the point that I am considering to enter it to our annual show. I am not sure whether this is my best work, but this is my most recent piece, it is a direction I want to explore, and it is anything but your typical watercolor. (it will definitely not get the "Popular Choice Award", Eh?).

For the record: The JohnnyB does not quite share my pride on this one.

"I'd give it like a 6 now", he hurried to inform me. Yup, da man is painfully honest, at all times.

"What is it that you don't like?", I opened my mind to constructive criticism.

"I dunno", was the profoundly artistic reply.

"Well, is it the color combination?", I went for an how-to-critique-a-painting education spree.

"Yes", he blissed. "And also, I don't like the splotchy thingies". (hmm, 'splotchy-thingies' is not quite a design element, mind you).

"You mean the background, or the spritzes?", I aimed for specifics.

"Yes", he exclaimed.

Then, after a short thought, he added, "I do like your drawing. If it was on a different background, I may give it 7 or 8".

Ah well. At least when he says something good, I know he means it.


Come to think of it... mastering the art of creating a failed painting, getting highly agitated and going for a just-for-fun painting, that ends up successful - this scenario feels very, very familiar.

Is this becoming a pattern?

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Sunday, September 02, 2007

 

ArtPact #28


$#%*#@^#!

- - - $#*&%##!!

- - - - - - @#&)%^#)$!!!!!

Can you tell I'm a bit upset? Just a touch?

After a long break in which I have not entered my studio (except for packing it yesterday) I just couldn't let it go on. I can only blame myself for letting everything else stand between me and what I love to do, and I am fed up of so whiningly blaming it on everything and everyone. Gheeze, grow up, woman!

While The JohnnyB had his nap today, as I was slouching in front of yet another redundant TV show, I pulled myself together, and stormed into the almost-empty studio. I imported paints and brushes from the den (to which we relocated my supplies cabinet), made another trip to get a palette - and went for it.

I decided to do something I've been postponing for a while. Y'see, I have a problem. Whenever I take a brush in my hand, I always blend the colors together beyond distinction and soften the edges like some edge-softening maniac, ending up with grayed colors and my infamous wishy-washy style, which I am quite tired of. When I did my self-portrait collage (and the others that followed), I was thrilled by the sharp edges and the interest they added. I loved the result, loved the new style - and yet, can't do it with a brush.

Perhaps it's a matter of patience (or lack of). While in collage you can work continuously, getting sharp edges and glowing color with watercolors requires waiting for the previous layer to dry. Aha! herein lays the catch: Waiting. Holding back. Postponing satisfactions. No such concepts in the dictionary of us Aries people. Such deeds are excruciating, and require extreme effort.

RabkieM, listening with growing pity to my outcry, had a brilliant suggestion: reproduce my collage in watercolors. I was intimidated, as it's basically copying, which requires discipline. And yet - I decided to give it a go. Perhaps it would teach me to leave the paint alone, and enable me to do what I have never managed to achieve before. Perhaps hard edges will become my new best friends? Perhpas pigs will fly?

I started on the right track, obediently following the collage - - - for 5 whole minutes!! Then I was carried away, and began to get creative. As it often happens, I got lost in the process.

"Stop!", I told myself.

- - "Take a break and look at it from far away", I reminded me.

- - - - "At least take photos of the stages!", I begged.

Nothin'. Nobody to talk to.

I was apainting.

And as I was trying to pull the painting together, I became even more smart-alecky, introducing a couple of more things.

Just to remind you, the original intention was to copy the collage.

OK, before starting, I decided to incorporate some text by transferring it onto the paper (which resulted in a pathetic failure, as it dissolved into nothing!). Once the face was done (very successfully, if I may say so!!), I attempted to repeat a very successful light pattern I had in one of my self-portrait bozzettos. AND, just for fun, I decided to follow an advice I suddenly remembered: conceal one of the eyes, so they don't compete for attention.

Oh, and above all: I was trying to paint a masterpiece for the upcoming annual show. Yeah, that helped...

OK then, enough stalling. Here is the result:

For those of you who find themselves gazing at the painting and wondering... no, The JohnnyB did not do that to my face.

Ah well, we learn much more from failures, Eh? Tomorrow is another day. I will start a new painting. I will hopefully keep the many lessons I've learned from this one in mind. Hey, at least I painted today!


And yet: @#&)%^#*$*^#)@^#!!!!




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Saturday, September 01, 2007

 

'Coz I'm Busy!

That's why this blog ceased to be lively and oftenish.

One major reason, probably the main one, is my time being hungrily consumed by being the president of our art association. But - I am finally starting to learn to say "No", or "Not now", or "What a good idea, you are very welcome to do it yourself", teaching myself to delegate, and putting priorities on when to do what. I am getting better at making sure to not fully give up on my life. I mean, hell, it's a volunteer job, I am not getting paid, and I seem to be the only one who can do this job (in the sense that there is nobody else is stupid enough to say "Sure, I'll do it!"). So, even if everyone wants to see everything happen right now, well - tough. Things that were neglected for 3 years can wait a few more months. Nobody's going to die, the world will not come to an end. And I do not fancy a panic attack (and I was pretty close to one of those last week). So there.

Still, there are events to plan (our association has the charming trait of having everything happen at during the last quarter of the year, and then have an arid period...). The issue-packed annual all-member meeting is coming up, the holiday party needs to be planned, and - above all, our annual show is coming up in October! And I don't think I'll manage to paint something for that show. That just sucks! not just a matter of time, but of all my creative juices being drained by the stress. I guess I'll have to revert to a painting I did last year, which does not make me happy at all, but may at least keep me sane. Come to think of it, I haven't really painted even one good watercolor this year (except for those small self-portrait studies, which are really small...). I did much better at collages, but since ours is a watercolor organization, I cannot show it.

There's another annual show at a different art society, that is about art in general, and I have 3 pieces there: my
self-portrait collage, the "Global Warming" watercolor, and a real cool photograph. Feels so good to not be restricted to one medium!!

So, I need to get framing (always a
stressful situation!).

And, there is also life outside of the art world. We are starting the re-flooring saga!!! And no, not by Expo. Hell no! That experience was enough to embrace S&G
with both arms.

So, instead of the impressively ugly and dirty carpet that The JohnnyB has been living with for the past 10 years (only 5.5 years for me, luckily), our living room will be getting a beautiful laminate floor. And, those not-as-bad-yet-still-annoying old fashion tiles will be replaced by laminate in the corridor, and with a truly gorgeous vinyl in the hall bathroom. That vinyl will also adorn my studio, and it looks so much like tiles, we had to check it several times at the store. I love it, it looks a lot like Jerusalem stone, which is what I grew up with (the real thing, that is), and I really, truly can't wait to have it done.

One catch, though: all this makeover means packing half the house and storing it in the other half for about a week...

That means packing my studio!!!

I spent weeks being horrified (to say the least) by the mere thought. But today, in joint forces, The JohnnyB and I packed the big cabinet that holds all my art supplies (and makes any artist who sees it weep with envy - it's the ultimate wet dream for storing art supplies!). Later, while The JohnnyB was enjoying his sacred beauty nap, I continued on my own and packed the books galore that fill the generous shelving unit. So, I am 80% done with the studio, more than a week beforehand, and it wasn't nearly as painful as I imagined!

AND, yesterday, the friendly installng boss from S&G (Chuck? Chad??) dropped baseboards in our garage, for us to paint so they match the color of the wall. How exciting - painting baseboards, Wooohoooo!

And so, between all these, plus the damned heat in the past 2 weeks, I am dead tired, quite stressed up, and not feeling very creative rather than reporting on everything that needs to be done. Which yielded this fascinating, thrilling and spellbinding post.

And how are you?

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