Filed under: Drawing, Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: andrew kaufman, drawing, roger williams zoo
Who am I kidding? I quit my job to be a better mom. I earn $0…except for the occasional sale of one of my prints, or some graphic design work for friends. Hey, but I’m not sitting around, eating bon bons! Well, actually…if you look around my house, I might as well be. Yesterday, I tried scrubbing our brick fireplace clean (just the outside, thank you). It was a sooty mess…and now it’s only sort of a sooty mess. What do you think…should we paint it???
Scary, right? Yes, I did scrub the hearth as well. Hmm. Doesn’t look like it, does it? It’s such the norm nowadays to paint brick fireplaces. At minimum, I need to get a fireplace screen. Do you think it’s saying, “PAINT ME!”?
This is how I imagine it. Now, it’s adorable, right? Maybe I should just paint eyeballs on it.
Speaking of critters…I went to the Roger Williams zoo with my son this week. He liked it…but what a haul getting down there! Sheesh. I can’t imagine slogging down there at rush hour. Anyhoo…we saw lots of cute animals…
Very sweet. I had to crop out the ugly tarp covered wall in the background. I hope that they have prozac for zebras. Next:
Why is there a big piece missing in his poor ear? No clue. Maybe he had a toddler elephant pull on his dangly earring? I was always paranoid about that. Next:
Isn’t that an idyllic picture, except for the bent chainlink fence in the foreground? It was hard to get a good photo. I guess because I wasn’t on safari, right? Next:
LOOK AT THOSE SKINNY LEGS! I’m so jealous. Seriously, though…they kind of creep me out. They’re like big bendy straws, or something. The flamingos definitely needed some prozac. Next:
Isn’t he cute? He was munching away on the straw above…we could get so close to him! Perhaps that isn’t hay, but hemp…he seemed happier than the other animals. Is it evident that I am not a fan of zoos? I wish all of those animals could be back “home.” Perhaps these are all rescued animals that can’t be returned to the wild? I’m not sure…but I don’t like zoos. Poor things.
While I’m on about zoological things…look at what my son made this week:
Can you guess what that is? IT’S A JELLYFISH, OF COURSE! This is also a priceless creation that I somehow need to keep and cherish until he is married. I will bring it to the wedding reception and talk about this as evidence of his early genius. Well…if they let me out of the asylum, I’ll make that speech. Actually, if I make that speech, they might put me in an asylum. Hmm.
Great news! I had more of my drawings photographed. You can check out the whole series here on my website. You already saw these…but these photos are MUCH better:
and:
and:
Woo hoo! I only have one more to finish so that I’ll have 13 drawings for the show at Wheelock College this Fall. But enough about me…take a look at the work by THIS artist:
I LOVE THIS. It’s sooo amazing. I love the blend of abstraction and realism. I love the rough edge of the paint on the canvas. I love the space that it creates. You MUST take a look at his work. Here is his website again, in case you missed it first few times I linked it. This painting is from his “Constructed” series, but his other work looks great too. So talented! I may have to have a bake sale in order to raise money for one of his works. How many bags of $0.50 cookies do you think that I’d need to sell???? A lot. I know. I’d probably just eat them all anyway.
OK…keep me posted about other great new artists for me to check out. In the meantime…I’m going to go gaze at my son’s styrofoam jellyfish masterpiece whilst I eat bon bons…
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slightly wonky 
You HAVE to paint eyes on your fireplace. That’s priceless. Besides, painting fireplaces might be all the rage but so were wedge, see-thru Sandles with live goldfish in them once; that doesn’t make it right. Providence has a lot to offer, roger Williams zoo, the children’s museum, Brown University, Water/Fire, they have to compete with their cooler cousin to the north.
Comment by Growing Muses August 17, 2012 @ 3:52 pmSpeaking o Prozac, I think your pears might need some, poor dears. I wonder how Freud would interpret your work, it’s so opposite Georgia O’Keefe. But I love it!
Poor pears…I know. Maybe I need to paint eyeballs on them too.
Comment by slightlywonky August 18, 2012 @ 8:30 amAgain,I hope you will see your way clear to taking Susan Palladino’s course at CCAE. iris chandler
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Comment by Iris Chandler August 17, 2012 @ 4:53 pmThanks so much, Iris! I’m not sure that I can make it because of my husband’s obsessive bike riding schedule…give me an update on how the class is! I’d love to hear about it. Best, e.
Comment by slightlywonky August 18, 2012 @ 8:31 amWhat’s wrong with natural red brick? I’ve seen so many homes where when people try to clean it up to sell they paint the brick and the rustic pine beams, as if they’re eyesores. Sometimes every piece of trim is painted white, as if dark wood is something to hide. I don’t like painting over things like that. You hide something unique and natural and just make it… white. Blech.
I think your fireplace is pretty. I’m having my huge brick fireplace replaced with a smaller one (because it takes up the whole freaking wall!) and I’m looking for ideas to hand to the contractor so he knows what I want the new one to look like. Your brickwork is now in my collection of example pictures. One of my favorites. (Without the eyes.) Mine will have a gas insert, unlike yours, but I like how the brick and mantle are done.
The eyes are funny, but maybe put them on with something less permanent than paint, so you can remove them later if you want. Actually, how about get some clay and make ceramic eyes and hang them on it so it looks like they’re part of the brickwork.
Comment by Karen B. Jones December 29, 2012 @ 5:14 pmYes, I agree that wood trim should not always be painted. One of the things that I liked about our house was that there was a lot of stained wood which had NOT been painted.
Good luck with your fireplace renovation!!! That sounds like a big endeavor, but well worth it. I’d love to have a gas insert, as we never use ours. The wood/chimney cleaning, etc. is kind of a hassle.
Yes, the eyes were just a joke. I drew those in in Photoshop. My family would have vetoed my idea of actually putting eyes on the fireplace…
Best,
Elizabeth
Comment by slightlywonky December 29, 2012 @ 7:28 pmWell, you can never tell what random people on the internet will do. 😉
Comment by Karen B. Jones December 29, 2012 @ 10:49 pmSO TRUE! 🙂
Comment by slightlywonky December 30, 2012 @ 9:02 pm