Eureka!

I just got the theme for my next Shutterfly book for Dad. I gave him one at Christmas that had "Book I" in the title so therefore, I have to at least have a "Book II!"

For this one, I'm gonna just dig in and work with photo material from my studio down the Jersey Shore. Above is a photo taken through a project; some of the rice paper paintings (2 are in the previous post) are visible. My workspace took half of the deconstructed 2nd floor (an effort to make the house a duplex was dropped mid-project...much like everything else in our lives...sigh).

Some of the space was for painting and I had kids over occasionally to create masterpieces. Some of the space was a recreation of my performance flooring I had in Philly and the rest was sort of a guest room. There wasn't a bathroom upstairs and no internal staircase....a real pain if you need to pee.

I never actually "played" with Photoshop down the Shore. I would save it for art-time in Philly. The Shore was for painting and construction of nifty gifts. (My daughter and I would raid the dollar store for frames/boxes/flowers, add seashells...we rocked the glue gun for a few Christmas'!) And it was for locking the studio door and working on performance pieces/improv for the opening of the Season in September. Philadelphia's Fringe Festival was the kick off and I was lucky enough to be a part of the first three seasons; two of which had me performing in a 24hr solo installation pieces. (I literally lived in my work and performed when the mood struck.) What a Golden Time.

It all ended 9/11. The years after weren't the same and my work turned inward. I rarely shared the studio and it fell into being a junk space. I had lost the job that allowed me to stay in Jersey all summer. I spent more and more time away from my husband (who refused to work) and kids because they could stay (literally) from the last day of school to the day before the next school year. My Ex only came to the city for a day at a time here and there during the summer and complained that I wasn't able to go because I was working. And thus began the slide away from each other....

So there. I have a creative directive: revisit the photos (95% of which are florals) and "smell" the time. Make it Matter. (ooo...kind of a pun when it's a proper noun...groovy)

"The Wavy Gravy Groovy Birthday Tie-Dye Extravaganza!"

Any Facebook Friend of my Boo's knows that he had a great birthday yesterday. I had given him a tie-dye kit for Christmas and we bought cotton hankies for our first project. I have to smile just thinking about it all...another forever "snapshot" that I will cherish. A vignette that reflects and evokes all that we are together: child-like, spontaneous, curious, inventive...I'm sure I'm being redundant. 'Not sure if any of our neighbors observed our party in the backyard. All that was missing was funny hats. We baby-talk (he swears it's Elmer Fudd but...no, it's not!) and we had all kinds of fun chatter about what we were doing while we were doing it. The excitement of seeing our masterpieces on the clothesline had to be contagious. I have found my Last Love and Forever Friend. I trust him with my Life.

I know I sometimes come across as being morbid or, at the very least, too aware of my mortality. I attribute a lot of that to the factual timeline of my Life (I have, after all, cared for 5 (?) terminally ill people so far) and to my Mid-Life Crisis in 2008/2009. I did come home to Texas to die. It might be tomorrow or it could be 50 years from now...doesn't matter. I'm in the longitude and latitude best suited for my Eternal Soul. It's a total Bonus from God that I found Mark Brown and he is here! Haha...just occurred to me right this very moment: my Boo is throwing me the best bon voyage party of all time. Sweet.

Cyber-Self: ummm...nice entry but the day's gettin' away from you...shower, make calls, EAT something. XOXOXO

Punkin-Chunkin: Ever see those mini-Punkins they sell for autumn decor? Today's chunkin is for decorative purposes only. 'Still not jazzed that I'm still feeling editorial. So it goes.