Lost without a bed

I am getting a new bed, which means the futon with the divot is becoming a couch in the living room. The old couch, which managed to barely survive one child and two cats, is being put out in the trash. It is beyond all hope of redemption. In the meantime, Al spent most of the day very distraught because his cat bed is now in the wrong place. There is nothing to replace it. He spent a good portion of the day wandering in and out of the house, meowing, and generally being a pest. He finally settled down - on my clean clothes.

Loot

One of my favorite places to scrounge for old books and prints is the Phoenix Bookstore in Lambertville, NJ. I am fortunate that it is own by friends of the family. I can count on finding used and antique books for my artwork. They are consistently high quality finds. Some used books stores just purchase books without discriminating about them. Because of the limited space, the owners can afford to be picky and come up with real finds. I was lucky enough to find this wonderful book on Phrenology - the study of lumps and bumps on the head, facial characteristics, and head shapes to determine quality of character. It was the precursor to modern day sociology, criminology and psychology.

New shelves

I actually completed a project today - installing some shelves into the closet that holds a lot of my art supplies. I did it all by myself. I managed to actually install level shelves. It took a lot longer than someone with more experience would probably take, but it's done! And they're level! Now I can actually reclaim some of the living room. I have some more that need installing and if I am feeling ambitious tomorrow, I will probably start them. Which means I'll have to purchase a stud finder. It's one thing to install walls blindly in a closet, but quite another to go drilling into walls that might hold electrical equipment.

The $800 Cat Bed

There's a reason there's a big divot in the middle of my futon. His name is Ali Baba. Al for short. I purchased this high-end futon bed 5 years ago 6 months after I moved in. Prior to that, I was sleeping on an air mattress because I decided my previous futon bed was too uncomfortable. An air mattress can be more uncomfortable. I had purchase this wonderful, hand made futon bed at a local shop. The mattress is about 12 inches thick. I expected it to flatten down over time and need periodic flipping, as futons need. But I didn't anticipate how heavy the futon was. I also didn't anticipate what the weight of 20lbs in the same spot would do after a few years. There's a nice size divot in the bed, now, perfect for Al. He's managed with time and patience to create for himself a wonderful cat bed. In the process, I lost a comfortable place to sleep. Luckily, I have recently purchased a new bed which should be delivered soon. And then the cat can have his $800 cat bed all to himself downstairs in the living room. Of course, I purchased a mattress and box spring set with a 10 year warrantee. It better be cat proof.

Art Creations Friday - Challenge 27

Art Creations Friday's Challenge 27 had a photo of little girl. It reminded me of photos of immigrants. I happened to purchase off of eBay recently some old letters written in Russian. They look like letters to a family member or girlfriend who had immigrated to New York. The letters remind me of stories told by my family about ancestors who immigrated from Russia. Life for people back then was very harsh. Family members would immigrate to the United States, and through community contacts, sponsor other family members to come to the U.S. Sometimes whole villages would be emptied, one person at a time. But there were still members who were either unable to afford the fee or who were unable to immigrate because of war. People eagerly awaited the postal carrier to receive word from their loved ones back home, in the Old Country. The letters I purchased reminded me of this. I scanned them and worked them into this piece of digital art.

My Peony Finally Bloomed

In April 2002, Clara and I moved into our current space. In back, there was a patio with a small garden plot, that is mostly in the shade. There were three scattered hyacinths blooming and a scraggly plant coming up through the mud. I thought it was some sort of tree that was starting to grow. But it was a peony bush that someone had planted. It was only knee-high and never blossomed. The next year it came back but didn't blossom because there was too much shade. Each year, it would return, trying to grow faster than the trees that were cutting off the sunlight. Two years ago, the property owners paid a landscaper to come and remove dead branches from trees. Some sunlight finally started hitting the little garden plot and the peony looked like it would actually bloom. But the blossoms died before the sunlight could hit them. Over the winter and through the early spring of this year, enough branches were taken off and some sunlight has finally hit the the little peony plant. Then came rain - a lot of it. It rained pretty steady in mid-April for nine straight days. The peony was literally growing before my eyes. I saw the bud develop and finally, today two large blooms were open. They were so full and heavy that I had to tie a few branches of the plant to support it. I cut off the blooms and put them in water. Another bloom will be opening tomorrow. The fragrance is heavenly. What a determined plant!

Art Creations Friday - Challenge 24

This week's image was a little more difficult to work with. It was an older photo, with dirt on it. The photo had become monochromatic. I changed some of the color options while still keeping the faded look. I then added elements of fun and color.