Has THIS ever happened to you???

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I'm fairly certain this happens to me daily.

 

Vote, Canada! ...or something...

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Know what makes this cartoon funnier/sadder? The Canadians know more about our presidential candidates and the policies they espouse than we do. And we sure know nothing about theirs.

Quick!!! Name 3 Canadian... er... um... do they have presidents or prime ministers???

SEE???? (Answer: prime ministers. And the current one is likely about to be voted out for an abundance of reasons, not least of which is his close association with the Bush Administration.)

Don't whine to me about that. There's still time to get more educated about our issues and the facts about our candidates. Less than three weeks to go til we get our chance at the slots in the booths!!

While we're at it, it's a good idea to get to know our global neighbors. The most immediate ones would be Russia (some of us can see them from our houses...), North and South Korea, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, and Cuba.

Hmm. Was that a longer list than you expected? We're really not so isolated.

And the world continues to shrink.

 

Yo Ho Ho! It's a Pirate's Lexicon For Me!!

Doug Savage is a very VERY funny man. CLICK to see more!!

All week it's been pirates, in honor of today being International Talk Like a Pirate Day. What -- you didn't know? Well, slap on some striped knee socks and swab the deck, yeh scurvy bilge rat!!

 

Remains of the Day

I drew this picture of the barn 5 years ago. All the Demolition Crew got to sign the mat today.

Something else that's cool? As long as the picture was out of the frame, I took advantage of the chance to 'correct' my name. Instead of the 'rjop' initials that applied to me at the time of creating the drawing, I was able to sign it as 'rjogarcia', a far happier name. The 'p' was for my ex-husband's surname, with which I remained saddled after my divorce.

My name is Rebecca Joy Oerkfitz Garcia. I am thrilled to have 'Principe' deleted from my name. I hated it. And I don't use the word "hate" lightly. Particularly, ESPECIALLY, when there are humans associated with that particular "4-letter" word.

I'll always be an Oerkfitz (my maiden name) and a Kopsell (my mother's maiden name), and I absolutely LOVE, and am proud to be, a Garcia. (I still can't believe how lucky I am!!!) (I wish my level of happiness for everyone getting married. Or WHATEVER venture. Really. It's amazing when you find your soulmate/calling.) It is such a blessing to be rid of unnecessary chains, such as unwelcome names/people/commitments. Marrying one is marrying ALL. 'Nuff sed.

It's far better to have both kept my birth name, and to have a married name with which I may be proud, and with which I may make them proud, too. I have a good heritage of my own. I have married into a family which has been blessed with abundances of inherited pride, from the Philippines and from Rural America, the same as my roots. How God has blessed me.

 

He WANTS A Portrait

Iconic Bob. He's jealous of Laura's father for his portrait in her kitchen. I guess this means we're going to more of his bike races, to get the right shot! (Cuz this ain't it! *grin*)

HOW Many Crafting Days Until Christmas?????

Well, I guess I'd better get busy. The countdown has begun.

Tag! I'm "It"! 7 Random Things About Me

A few days ago, I got 'tagged' for a meme by Leandra, another artist participating in National Blog Posting Month. I looked at her blog. Beautiful drawings and paintings! I recommend checking out her site! Be sure to leave a friendly comment!

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, a meme is:

n. A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.

And it's a cool meme, so I'm going to play. Here goes! Read along; the rules I followed will be at the end (per the rules), and then I have to find 7 more people's blogs to tag. Like Leandra did with her list, I will make mine as art-specific as I can.

1. I never took any art classes until my second year of college. I was all science and music and English lit, until my archaeology degree required a drawing class. That one tiny 3 tiny credit requirement, during which I executed one drawing of my ski jacket under the influence of one bottle of Bailey's. It changed my life. There's not a type of art I've tried that I don't love. Well, it didn't take the whole bottle.

2. According to my husband, I collect art supplies. That's how he sees it, anyway.

3. What I really collect is old textile equipment. Contact me if you have any submissions! I'd love a drum carder. (shameless, really...)

4. I like the late, great Bob Ross. I secretly imagine "happy little (ANYTHINGS)" all over everything I draw.

5. In art school, we were indoctrinated to disdain Monet. (It's mostly a knee-jerk reflex against having prints of famous art by dead famous people, the originals of which you could never truly hope to afford OR pry off the museum walls where they actually are exhibited, rather than real, original art by not-yet-famous people, whose art is actually in a realistic pricepoint. Support the Arts!) But when I paint and draw using color, I can't help but think, "What Would Claude Do?" And then I do it.

6. Though my degree is a Bachelor of Fine Arts, I have been gainfully employed more years using my science background than my art degree, even though I never finished that part of my degree. I am a legitimate naturalist, though.

7. Hands are a pain in the (ahem) ANKLE to draw. I therefore tend to avoid drawing people. Yep. That's the main reason.

So that's my list of random, odd things about me. They are all true! I hope you enjoyed them. I will add 7 blogs in tomorrow's post. I have to get this posted before midnight.

The guidelines as provided by Leandra:

* Link to the person that tagged you and post these rules on your blog.
* Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
* Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
* Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

More tomorrow!

Phew... Blog EVERY Day???

Ok. Today, it's a bit of a stretch to come up with something to say. This NaBloPoMo challenge is... um... (ahem) CHALLENGING.

Guess I'll blog about not having anything to say.

Except that's not strictly accurate. There are some wonderful things I'm just now very encouraged about--my creative life is just booming. I'm thinking about the projects I have ahead of me, and not just because it's the Christmas rush time. I have a tapestry I've started (see a post a few days earlier for the thread assortment), there are new Inchies to be made for my Art For Cures group, and now some new projects branching out from that group that are not inch-square in format, and (per Professor Cintron) there's always the daily drawing.

No, not like the Lotto. Professor Cintron said probably a million times that if you want to be an artist, you must do two things: draw every day, and draw from life. So I have been trying to do just that.

Let me tell you, it is just as challenging to try to keep up with that as trying to keep up with writing something everyday.

So having said it, perhaps I'd better scan and post some of my drawings... if at least to give me something to blog about!

Celebrate Life

Every single day is a gift.

J Jump Joyful

"J Jump Joyful" was one of my favorite Sesame Street songs when I was very little. It fit me then (my middle name is Joy) and it fits me RIGHT NOW, hence this composition! Silk bobbins and my hand-carved stamp help me express in color and gesture my joy:

the pathology on my breast lump came back benign.

I cannot begin to express in words my relief or gratitude.

I'm going to start a new tapestry to celebrate. I'll use these threads.

Having scheduled my follow-up appointment with my surgeon, the next pressing engagement I must arrange (I'm not usually this formal but the occasion kinda needs some sort of ceremony) is the donation of my hair!

I have been planning to donate my hair for months, it's quite long now. How marvelous that I get to give it to someone else! (How much better it would be if the world could be rid of cancer and alopecia, perhaps there would no longer be a need for hair donations.) I did worry it would have to be made into my own wig. May my donation be a blessing to warm and cool and crown another.

Breast Cancer Inchies - details

Breast Cancer Inchies - details
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

As promised: some Woman As Goddess Inchies, in inch square pieces. Here you can see fragments of Wonder Woman, the Venus of Willendorf, and another paleolithic Venus figure that I just love and ended up carving into a rubber stamp. I guess it's technically a vinyl stamp; I used a vinyl eraser. One of the Venus figures I have drawn over and over, too. Cup-and-ring designs from northwestern Europe sites are common in my doodles, and were an appropriate addition to this theme.

The eventual combination of everyone's Inchies will result in a unique artwork that will be auctioned to benefit the Komen Foundation. This is why the color pink was chosen.

I am proud to have participated, and I am honored to have my work combined with that of my fellow Art For Cures companions.

Breast Cancer Inchies

Breast Cancer Inchies
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

I recently joined a group called Art For Cures. What we do is create as community works of art, which are auctioned off for various charities. In this community creation, we are producing "Inchies", multiples of collages that are inches in scale. One person compiles them all into one unified THING. It's pretty cool. Shown here are my "Inchies" as I finished them as a drawing/collage, then the big picture is once I cut them up (that was hard to start doing!!), and finally, a detail of the uncut image. I'll try to blog later using some of the individual pieces.

This month the theme is "Woman As Goddess", the action is against Breast Cancer, and the charity that will benefit from the auction is the Komen Foundation. I took the challenge in a Paleolithic direction, although you can see one of my pulp heroines figures rather prominently too. I felt the need of some pseudo-Amazonian strength. Don't we all.

Now I just need a good battle cry. Today's the day I have my lumpectomy. Yesterday I finished my inchies. I really feel like I can kick just about *anything* in the ankle...