Chicken gossip!

Enough about art, I know you just want to hear about the chickens.

Lots going on in the ol' hencoop lately! The flock is back up to 6 birds as of last wednesday. Here's a photo of the new residents, who are 4-month old adolescent chicks. Left to right, they are Edna (Barred Rock), Florence (Rhode Island Red), and the mysterious as-yet-unnamed Black Rock. I've been debating whether that one is a rooster because of the colorful feathers and larger size...but apparently Black Rocks are sex-linked and the males are a totally different color. So she must just be on her way to being a giant hen. They should start laying in January. It's fun having cute little younger birds, I've been picking them up a lot so they get used to being handled and will hopefully grow up to be friendly hens who hang out with me in the garden like the original flock. I have opened the coop door for them for the first time today, so we'll see if they go out.

As for the older birds, lots has been going on there too. The huge Australorpes (Ida Mae and Pauline) started venturing out and following Clara around, and they started laying again. Last week, however, before the new chicks arrived, one of the neighbor's dogs got loose and chased the girls around....one of the neighbor children handed poor traumatized Pauline to me after getting her away from the dog (she was fine, just scared), Clara came back by dark, and Ida Mae spent a night outside the coop.

Clara (the lone survivor of the original flock) is making up for her time as the low chick on the totem pole. She's definitely turning into the alpha hen. She's putting on some weight, pecking the new girls, and showing the Australorpes how things are done around here.

How to spend your weekend

Just lit the woodstove, and enjoying the thin November sunshine for a few moments before plunging back into work. As I might have mentioned in my last post (but I don't really remember), my business has become more busy-ness lately. 'Tis the season, etc etc.

Let me fill you in on two upcoming events:

First, the Holiday Spirit Store is opening on Friday night! That's tomorrow evening, from 5-7, during Gallery Night downtown. Everyone in the store is scrambling madly around getting their displays and products ready, and Alice and Werner have been complete creative angels is pulling together a cohesive story and look to the place. Alice has a cool photo on her blog. Please come out, it is not just a great place to support local artists and find unique gifts, but almost a theatre experience. You can find more information here, regarding hours and such.

Second, the capoeira group I am part of is hosting an event this weekend in Ithaca! Oh, I am so excited! Three days of capoeira, our group's mestre is coming to visit and play, and there are music and movement workshops all weekend. The exciting part for YOU is that we're having an open roda on Saturday evening, from 5-7 at the the Bethel Grove Community Center...which is free and open to the public. If you're curious what this whole Brazilian martial art / dance thing is that I'm always talking about, please stop in and watch up play, you'll be amazed. More info on our website. I screened some cool t-shirts for the event, which you can get there too.

So now that I've filled your day with lots of links and calendar events, I must be off to cut some more mats and pack up some more cards. I'm looking forward to winter when I can paint again!

Cat eye

Happy Halloween y'all! Here's Nebraska modeling a cool cat mask made by a guy at the Farmers' Market... Speaking of, tomorrow should be a fun day down there, with a parade of cute little costumed kids and vendors all dressed up. Stop down, and get some winter squash and NOTECARDS! And CALENDARS! They are done and I will have them with me at the market for the rest of the year. I'll try to get them up on Etsy next week too, will keep you posted.

My blog entries have fallen off a little, as this past week has been exceptionally busy. I've been printing t-shirts for an upcoming capoeira event (there was a saga involved in getting the screens made, but now is not the time for that), and starting to move into the store on the Commons (which means getting a whole second set of inventory together, and lots of schlepping-of-display-pieces).

And now it's Friday night, and I'm going to stop working for the evening as soon as I hit the "publish post" button. And hey, one of the chickens finally laid an egg today!

Holiday Spirit Store

Good morning everyone! As you might assume from my lack of posts lately, things are ramping up here. It's hard to think about Christmas in the middle of October, but that's what it's like when you're an artist and make cards. One quick announcement if that I'm gearing up to be part of a fantastic store on the Ithaca Commons for the months of November and December! There are about 20 of us, with art and clothing and body care and tasty treats. We'll be in the old Plantations space and the grand opening will be Gallery Night on November 6th.

Please check our website for more info! And come out and SHOP!

Sneak Preview - 2010 calendar!

I just got back from a really fun weekend in Vermont, at a big farm party that involved making lots of apple cider, and contra dancing, and tango in a barn. It was lovely up there, the fall colors were running wild and the sun was shining. Mighty cold for camping though, the only way to stay warm was to dance. Usually contra dancing makes me wickedly dizzy, but this time around it was alright.

So I'm working on my new calendar for 2010, and am pretty excited about how it's turning out. I'm using some of my botanical illustrations, and having fun with the design. It will fit in a cd case, which handily flips open to make a nifty little stand for the pages (same style as last year). Here's a little preview of one of the pages. I expect to have these done in a week or so and available at the farmers' market....eventually on the website too...or just email me if you want one!

Ida Mae

For those who follow this blog primarily for stories about my chickens, here's a photo of Ida Mae, the larger and more cocky (har har) of the two new black australorpes. You can't really see it here, but they're very pretty, with super soft feathers and a nice green sheen over the black. I had to get her picture inside the coop, because she and Pauline are not yet venturing through the door to the outside world. Maybe Clara is filling their pea-sized heads with scary stories about What Happened to the Other Chickens.

The re-purpose-driven notecard

Out comes the big bright SAD lamp! It's been a dreary week here in Ithaca, all that I dread about autumn has been out in full force. 42 and raining, no sun at all for 6 days in a row. I really don't want to complain, but weather like this makes me non-functional.

I was taking a walk in the woods today though, dragged myself out of the cozy woodstove-warmed house, and I felt so much better. And my brain turned back on in the fresh air, and all kinds of ideas started flowing. One idea I acted on right away, and here are the results. I have a few small 2009 calendars left, and have started re-purposing the images...cutting up the pages and looking for ways to make things from the art. Today (and shown here) I made blank cards from sheets of luscious tree-free colorful Nepalese paper, and glued the artwork on the fronts...pack them up with some nice brown envelopes, and voila...cool new fancy-schmancy cards to take with me to the farmers' market tomorrow. I made some journals with these images last week too.

Exciting gossip in the neighborhood is that my housemates' birdfeeder was mangled by a bear! I wonder if bears eat chickens? The new hens now have access to the outdoors, but they are being timid and staying in their coop. Smart.

New tiny journals!

A quick announcement! Acorn Designs, a great local paper product company who are dedicated to using 100% eco-friendly recycled papers and inks (and I'm their graphic designer) has a very cute and fun new line of tiny journals. There are 20 designs, and two of them are mine...including the "star tree" which is shown here on the right. My sister-in-law, Patti Sobel, made the stones painting which is shown here next to the star tree, too!

You can check them out and order them here. Great little gifts!

Sabbath

Yesterday was one of those farmers' market days that tax the spirit and sap the mind. It was chilly, the wind was wicked (one of my framed pieces blew over and broke, and cards were flying loose and free), I injured myself both with the car door and also while putting up the giant flapping tarp in the wind, a downtown festival kept many of the customers away, and the rain was falling as I loaded up the car. I got home and wanted nothing more than to crawl into a warm comfy place with some tea and a book....and a peek at the weather forecast confirmed my gut feeling that I should take Sunday off.

So today I have been enjoying a real Sabbath rest....you know, that concept of creating your world for six days and then taking the seventh to rest from your labors. I don't get to do this often enough, there's always something that needs to be attended to when I'm working here in my studio. It's pretty blissful, and I expect to wake up tomorrow refreshed and ready to work again.

It's raining and misty and dark here today, the dark side of the otherwise lovely Ithaca autumn. I lit the woodstove for the first time this morning, to take the chill off. And there are two new glossy fat black chickens in the coop, Pauline and Ida Mae.

Attrition

Something sad and mysterious happened at home while I was obliviously gallivanting around the Yosemite wilderness. My flock of six chickens vanished. Well, five of them are gone without a trace, and only poor lonely Clara is left. She has been pecking around the yard in a desultory manner, is not laying, and seems quite sad to be roosting alone. She's been hanging out in the gardening basket by the door a lot.

Where did they go? I know there has been a family of young hawks in my woods, and I have seem them buzz around the coop. But I can't imagine that they could kill and consume five plump chickens in one afternoon without leaving any feathers or other signs of struggle. Did they get spooked and run away and then got lost? Did they miss me and set off in a quest to follow me? Were they nabbed by chicken rustlers? My friend Jean Elizabeth thinks they joined the circus.

So farewell to Martha, Ethel and Ruth, who have been with me since the beginning and laid such gigantic eggs. Also alas for Mildred and Agnes, the two lovely new wyandottes.

I hope to get two more hens tomorrow, black australorps...will keep you posted.

I didn't photoshop myself into this one

So take a close look at this photo, specifically at the ridge I'm on. Yes indeedily-do, I traversed that baby, scrambling over rocks and up ledges, trying to ignore the plunging drops on either side while enjoying the scenery at the same time. All the while, my friend Brian is ahead of me saying "I dunno, this looks do-able..." Holy crow, it was possibly the most challenging but also fun hiking adventure ever!

All that to say, I'm back from my second trip to Yosemite, and had a great time. The fire was over except for some tiny sparks in the woods while driving through, and everything came together beautifully for a grand adventure. Highlights included a tour of my old friend Dan's legendary "ahmond" farm, being lucky enough to have my pack carried up to Vogelsang by mule train, getting completely lost in the dark while following a short cut and finding our way back to where we should be going by literally following the north star and Jupiter, painting on the kitchen wall at Merced Lake camp, being woken by high winds and looming cows at the Mammoth Hot Springs, cruising through Santa Cruz (where I went to grad school 10 years ago) and hiking a total of about 35 high-altitude miles in Chacos.

Then a red-eye flight home and what felt like a 24 hour sleep, and a few days of getting back into regular life...

Big Meadow Fire

I am emerging from my cave, with apologies to all friends and family I was grumpy at this week. Another tall job with a short deadline, and that's all I need to say about that.

On more adventurous topics, now I can start to concentrate on the fact that I'm flying back to California on Sunday for another 10 day adventure in Yosemite! And this time it might start with more of an adventure that I was looking for, because there's a forest fire that's blocking the road that goes up to Tuolumne Meadows, where the trailhead I seek is located. To begin with, it's difficult to get to Tuolumne with public transportation (there's only one road, and the bus schedules don't mesh), and my angelic friends Dan and Mary Lee who live in Modesto were graciously planning on making a family adventure out of driving me up there...and all was going to be perfectly lovely and fun. But the Big Meadow Fire, a prescribed burn that got hugely out of control, is in the way and the road is closed from the west. One can drive in from the east, but it's a really really big circle. Something will work out though, and we can all keep our fingers crossed that the road might open again by Monday which would obviate all my current worries.

This all reminds me of one of my mannequin paintings. A few years ago my Dad scrounged some discarded store mannequins for me, and I used them for landscape canvas. Here's the forest fire.