Latest from the Studio

Waterfall

We made it out to Ridley Creek State Park this morning before the heat wave began in earnest. Now we are off to check out the pool!

Sensless Giggling

Olivia has been making some beautiful bird drawings so I thought I'd share them with you. I went to (I was interrupted by screaming. Olivia just showed the neighbor girl where the snakes hang out! See images below.) Anyway I went to the XPN Free at Noon concert today and saw Langhorne Slim. It was a great concert. I love to watch musicians at work. For some reason it really inspires my painting. This concert was extra fun because a group of students was visiting- I'm guessing middle school aged. One of the first songs used the word "pissed" emphatically which set the whole group to giggling. It didn't really fit with the song but something about their response struck me. Maybe a reality check because sometimes I forget that there are places no one swears, nostalgia, or a reminder that the audience (for painting too) brings their own set of personal and social taboos with them to your work? ie. you can make a very touching and compelling work and get senseless giggling in return.

Baby Snakes

Observation

Turns out we have some pets we didn't know about. I love snakes, primarily because I hate mice. Mice make an incredible amount of noise, especially when running back and forth over your head at night. They get into everything. Leave their brown little calling cards behind and are cute and furry. Why is cute and furry listed as an offense? Because they must die. It's their venom. You might kill the rapidly producing, disease ridden monsters but you will feel guilty for doing it. Snakes on the other hand, don't feel guilty about anything.


While these guys were hanging out (unobserved by us) near our front door Olivia and I were observing the woodpecker in our backyard. We've been chasing him all over the woods since we first saw him. We are hoping that he's building a nest in that tree. He comes back to it often. This was the first time we managed to take a picture of him. We missed the fox that came out of the woods right next to us. The neighbors saw him. I told Olivia we need to be more observant. She said we are becoming more observant. We were completely observing the woodpecker.