Love this image – the beautiful and talented Hart of “Confessions of a Watery Tart” posted this pic a few days ago – Mama Duck Fail…..so funny, and so revealing of, well, how parenting tends to go at times.
“Okay follow me everyone”
- oops, did not see that coming. : )
That’s all. Just wanted to share.
My friend recently ( specifically late Friday night ) asked if I could do a painting for her. She sent me a link as an example of the style she was going for – soft and girly – to be used in a grouping at her Bad Girls Venture graduation Wednesday night.
- her business HodgePodge Vintage Rentals is way cool – check it out -
When I got the message, I was up to my eyeballs in paint-cardboard-wood for the set of my school’s Les Miserable performance this week …
……soooo of course I said yes. ( just chalk it up to paint fumes, ha)
I couldn’t get started until Sunday night – had to create the boards, attach the frame and prime the wood ….but then whooosh - so fun!
Here they are …
“Jolie”
“Maggie May”
“Lorelei & Lucille”
“Allison”
These four heavily textured, acrylic abstracts will be making their debut performance at the Bad Girl Ventures of Cleveland graduation ceremony May 16, 2012 :)
(materials used; hard wood, acrylics, hard pastels, texture medium, shellac, love, joy….)
It has been a long time since I first mentioned reopening my Art Fire shop (like Etsy – only better)
Well, today I finally sat still long enough to put a few pieces up for sale – since I have been a bit of a recluse lately, not showing, not sharing – the artwork is piling up. yikes, and like usual, I jumped around – posted one piece or two pieces from several different collections ….will flesh those out soon. baby steps, baby. :)
The only reason I took the time to do this today is because I am insanely overwhelmed with work. Yep, that’s right – I am PROCRASTINATING – there are still 36 eight foot panels in various stages of incompleteness in my garage. They are part of the set for Les Miserable and need to be hung on Sunday – so that probably means they should be DRY too….sigh….needed a break….
I really get so much more done when I have SO much to do. I gardened, split my lilies and hostas, replanted and built a wall out of bricks…..cleaned and wrote a gadzillion articles – plus I am training for a new position ( I am now a part of Lowe’s Creative Team as a writer for the paint department, cool )
I even squeezed in exercise reading…. but I better get back to work – or procrastinate somewhere else for a while :)
Meet, “Mystery Man” – such a cool guy
My fabulous blog group sent out a challenge to write a parody. I’ll come up with something, sometime, maybe….but in the meantime
YOU MUST TRY THIS - http://www.obtampons.com/apology
Get a cup of coffee – or tea – or juice…whatever
Click the link
Type your first name
Turn up your speaker
You may want to have a tissue ready too
This is so cute, I don’t know what this says about me – but yes, I needed the tissue. I know I know I know, it is not “real” but I am emotional like that ~ and can suspend reality long enough to believe … oh, and maybe I should add girls only – but I won’t. :)
(photo of my little girl)
I spent the weekend in Berlin…. but did not see the Brandenburg Gate
I also did not see any gorgeous baroque palaces like the Schloss Clarlottenburg 
and believe it or not, I also did not see any of Berlin’s night life ….
No, this is the Berlin I saw ….
Berlin, Ohio was the destination of the monthly friends meet-up – A.K.A Amish Country
I’ll admit to not being completely psyched about this trip. Amish food is not a big draw for me…not a big basket fan, and have all the furniture my tiny house needs. Plus, it really irks me when people stop, stare and point at Amish people – they are not giraffes or some other exotic animal, get a grip.
The plan was lunch at an Amish restaurant, afternoon at an Amish Flea Market, check into the inn… and then other basically bland events, er – I mean relaxing
BUT despite my reservations, I had a good time….and I like my friends so can’t be snarly too long ha :)
I found a salad – built a nice fire - laughed until my face and stomach hurt – slept in the plushest bed on the planet – sketched out some new ideas, and explored the woods bright and early Sunday morning (alone I might add since NO ONE would join me) but it was good, I like quiet alone time too.
I took photos of my walk …and inserted a few happy face pics of myself to show everyone what they missed :)
look whatcha missed everyone
happy me -all alone on the trail
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- the fire that sylvie built -
what do you know - you CAN get a “margarita” in Amish Country :)
kinda
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in other news : sylviebranch.com is now http://www.sylvie-branch.com
sadly, someone – probably someone named sylvie branch – was lying in wait for my domain to expire
oops- I was only a day off, but that was plenty of time for me to “lose my name” forever …
so- if you follow me over there – and saw an error message – that is what happened.
I am alive and well – just a little slow
http://www.sylvie-branch.com
Case in point – tonight my daughter is hosting a sleepover party – there will be no sleeping of course. She even handed me “official reservation tickets” (also known as index cards) She has staked claim to the TV, the stereo and the couch for the evening. okeedokee then, at least she left me the computer….how I will focus with a slew of screaming girlies, I do not know.
anyways – this is just a test. I don’t know if anyone will ever be able to read this, or if I just lost all my followers and subscribers … sigh…
Last year around this time, I blogged on the letter Z, I wrote happy little drivel about the zoo and then I turned around and started over – did the Z to A in May starting with Z is for Zelda Fitzgerald .
This year I am flopping over the finish line with a combo post and no shame.
X is for kisses, as in xoxoxox – as in thanks for visiting, I am looking forward to escaping from the pressure of this challenge to revisit some bloggers I met during this very long month. I am sure you are all writing wonderful, interesting, mind-stretching blogs…. I will be back to read and comment, soon.~xoxoxo~
Y is for yeah, this is kind of lame, sorry.
Z is for zwieback - this word came up the other day…someone didn’t believe it was a real word. I piped up with, “that’s a kind of crunchy bread/cracker thing, a lot of people use them as teething biscuits” as I heard myself talking I hoped upon hope I was not just making this up. so, I googled it and yep, there they were – just like I remember them …..
Last night I attended an event at a friend’s salon. ….wait, no need to be vague let me throw in a little plug for her….
(from the looks of the place she accomplished that mission and then some)
My lil sis, the one I blabbed on and on about in my V post, just offered me a chance to WORK ON A LLAMA FARM over the summer. – actually, the opportunity is to apprentice under a sculptor in southern Ohio, but in exchange for room and board we would WORK ON A LLAMA FARM. how in the world can I turn down the chance to put THAT on my resume?
Llamas are a happy bunch – I would very much like to meet these fellas and feed them lunch as I Embrace my Inner Llama and figure out how to look even half as presentable when a camera is thrown in my face.
On a whim, I brought a baby bunny home. I wish I could make all my decisions this way. Spontaneous, out of pure joy, just because…
I love the rush of just making a quick turn and doing it. Even though I have a cat, “Little Liza Jane the Merciless” who recently took down a mourning dove and has been on the hunt for a squirrel since I moved into my new house. Turns out she understands the bunny is part of the family and not a stranger she must devour.
The hutch I had been using to hold my garden tools, now holds an adorable grey bunny… that is when the rabbit is not at one of her many fashion shoots.
a gratuitous naked shot
It’s funny, I am not an “awww lookie lookie how cutie” type of person. But apparently I am a “must purchase tiny hats for my rabbit” type.
For the record she likes the pink one the most, can bunnies see colors? – maybe it just smelled the best.
My little sister Victoria helped at the art event this past weekend (yes I am still talking about that …. lots of easy blog fodder so I am going with it) It was held at her college, so I was thrilled when I found out she signed up to help- we waved to each other from across the room, had lunch together, and she took me on a short tour of her studio space – so cool.
There is a twenty-two year difference between the two of us so you would think that would make it difficult to relate….strangely though, our mannerisms, habits and interests are very much in line with each other. Sure I find it odd she has no memory of me being anything but an adult…and the music I grew up with was already playing on the oldies channel when she was in grade school….but get past that and we have a lot in common.
Speaking of school, we attended and graduated from the same elementary, junior high and high school…at the graduation my dad was surprised that I knew so many people. Funny thing dad, the people I knew were parents of graduates and teachers who I graduated with…even one of the speakers, the Hall of Fame inductee for the school was a “kid” younger than me.
Anyways, back to Victoria. I hesitate sharing the following, but will, because it is my blog and that is what I do. Itty bitty baby Victoria saved my life. I was unreasonably self-destructive when I was in my early twenties and knowing she might grow up without any knowledge or memory of my existence pushed me into straightening up. I wrote her a letter at that time in my life-when I find it again I will have to share it with her. She’s just the introspective type that would ‘get’ what 20-something me was trying to say. And now for some random facts about my lil sis.
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| she carved this beautiful tree lady out of wood |
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| painted this self portrait that won an award – gorgeous |
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| drew this fun sketch |
she is represented by the paper plate on a stick
Victoria is silly and not as angry as she looks in the sketch below -she’s the one on the bottom corner …
Vic is a smartie pants – she is VERY smart, VERY determined, and VERY accomplished ..for her age? No for any age.
Sylvie Says
