Cats and Birds

Well... how do I put this? There's no real way to save face here. Apparently, Montgomery is a Master Thespian. I was dead wrong. My only defense is that I am a loving and slightly crazy-paranoid mother? I phoned the vet on Friday and was able to speak directly with him. Montgomery never had an IV for his surgery. The anesthetic was through injection which his doctor performed himself. There was no way for a shunt to have been left in his arm. "Armed" with this new information (hey... it's hard to be funny at 5:30 am!) I resumed my poking and prodding. This time no reaction whatsoever. And both Steve and I could feel the same thing in both arms this time. So it must just be... I don't know? Something that's supposed to be there, I guess. Like I said... Master Thespian. My apologies to the vet and his staff.

I did manage to finish this piece on Friday. It's entitled "A Measure of Peace" and it's 12"x16". I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I think it marks the "turning of the corner" that I've been lamenting about in my recent posts. It certainly is different than my previous work, although I think it still looks like "mine" somehow. It will be the first piece in a new body of work, the details of which are still floating around in my head. Basically, I just want to paint more realism and less "images as symbols" if that makes any sense. Perhaps you'll all have to just sit tight and enjoy the ride while I figure everything out. The inside of my head can be a frightening place sometimes.... lots of stuff just flying by with no real rhyme or reason. Be warned.

Anyway, because I'm proud of the fact that I actually painted something which I think most of you will be able to identify as a bird, here's a detail. (The large green thing, by the way, is a tree.) Baby steps. I didn't use a drawing or photograph for reference either. I just went for it. You're probably not that impressed, but I assure you... for me, this is a BIG deal.

I hope to have copies of this piece printed for use in our Christmas cards. I'd like to affix this image to the front of an ivory card. The recipients would be able to remove the artwork if they so desire and discard the rest. That's the plan... I'll keep you updated.

This weekend I also visited two different art fairs in an effort to estimate their worthiness. (I'm not really that high-and-mighty... just in a weird mood this Monday morning.) The first was really, really lame... only MAYBE 10 booths total! I'm glad I went to see that as it was touted as being something completely different. The second was an utter delight. It was set in the park in Studio City and the booths were all interspersed among the trees. It was like an idyllic walk in the forest in the middle of the city. There were approximately 140 booths and it was all high-quality art. And there was a good range from the serious to the funky. This show will definitely go on my list of shows for which I plan to apply in 2007.