More ways to keep your pants up

Been on a roll painting belts.  Market starts up again in a few weeks, and I want to have a nice collection of new things for my loyal customers.  I also have discovered the joys of having a steady stream of British murder mysteries on hand (thanks, Netflix!), which gives me the ability to sit still long enough to work on these things.  Both belts, and many others, are available on my Etsy site.

Speaking of Wingtips, I'm excited to announce that I have a show lined up of my hand-painted shoes!!!  At the Finger Lakes Wine Center, in the month of May.  That's right in downtown Ithaca...going to be a fun time, and I'm excited to show the shoes in a more formal, gallery-like context.

And speaking of shoes (one thing leads to another in my thought process), I was not chosen for the Fluevog contest.  But then again, a whole pile of Really Cool ads came in at the last moment.  I will use this as impetus to do something better next time.  It's good practice.

Space-based eye candy

This is the coolest ever.  Cooler even than the giant railroad trestle (although I am aware that I'm one of only a few people who think that's cool).  Check out the thunderstorms, and the northern lights, and the crazy glimpse of Italy....so beautiful.

My local history obsession

Once in a while, something can really capture my imagination and not let it go.  Ever since I saw these photos years ago, I've been somewhat obsessed with the idea of a gigantic railroad trestle that once went across the Brooktondale valley.  This is my quiet little hometown in upstate NY, in a valley formed by a largish creek.  I've driven down the main road through town easily 1000 times in my life, and there's a small historical marker next to some trees under a very empty sky that stands where a large railroad trestle once must have dominated the landscape.  I can barely imagine this gigantic thing spanning my little town's valley.

The wooden trestle was built in 1875, and lasted until 1894, when it was replaced with a simpler, sturdier steel structure.  It was part of the Lehigh Valley train system, connecting Elmira and Ithaca and then on to points north and east.  Tiny towns, little stops along the way.  Trains ran through this route until 1935, hauling passengers and mail and milk and coal.

Today there are still beautiful little train stations scattered around, which have been turned into gift shops and B&Bs and history centers.  The train tracks are gone, but the right-of-ways are still there.  Two of my favorite running trails are built on the former tracks.

(I hope these photos are in the public domain, I apologize if they aren't.)

Still life, with tulip and cat

A friend who works in a greenhouse gave me a couple of gorgeous tulips yesterday, with the condition that I either photograph or paint them because they were perfect in their last throes of exuberant color.  I love tulips, they speak of spring and simple elegant flaming beauty.  Nebraska is pretty cute, too.

Put a bird on it!

I know I'm coming to "Portlandia" a little later than the rest of the hip world.  But then I came to Netflix a LOT later than everyone else...and the combination of this factors brings me to share these clips with you. 

Portlandia is a show about Portland, OR, organic hipster central.  I live in Ithaca, which is a smaller, east-coast version of this phenomenon, home of the bumper sticker that says "Ithaca, NY: 10 square miles surrounded by reality."  So let's dive in.

First, the free-range chicken sketch.  I find this particularly apt, as I am a member of the farmers' market AND a server at a pub that serves really tasty, very local food.



And one more.  I'm completely guilty of this!  And, it WORKS, people love birds on things.