laud

Yoshimasa Tsuchiya “Unicorn”
woodcarving, polychrome, crystal

This week I learned from Fragmented Fascinations that a group of Unicorns is referred to as a Blessing. Let me say that one more time: A Blessing. This might be common knowledge, so please disregard if this magical news is pffft to you. I clearly know nothing about anything.
Unbeknown, the unicorn world has other effing adorable group names.
If you see one unicorn with another it is called a dualcorn, followed by a tricorn, et cetera. If there are too many to count it can be referred to as a multicorn.

links: holiday edition

☃
sled greeting card; goldteeth

• furoshiki wrapping
• peeking tree cat
• you better not cry
  
• the post office is murderous
• love these hung stockings
  
• i want trophy cupcakes
• real holiday style
  
• bahahahaha humbug
• flocked & frocked
• big ol' awww
• tweees
  
• I haven't gained my obligatory end of year 4lbs yet
  
• that white scalloped dress is perfect for dancing
• eek, it's holi day chihua hua time zomg
  
• nerdy domino holiday video
  

★

christophe kutner; via knight cat

I've been known to drink one too many cocktails, laugh loudly and get comfy with my shoes on your couch. I'm ready for the holidays!

put on a happy face

Still staying positive!

source: love it or leave it; punks git cut

I've been a bit quiet lately due to the fact that my computer died and life is getting in the way of my normal routines. I am a creature of habit & routine so this sudden shift is slightly unsettling. For non jinxing reasons I will not bring up what's been getting in the way of my habitual interneting. All I'm going to say is that I am working on being considerably more optimistic about life. I'm nurturing a "YES I CAN" attitude for once. With this new forced outlook I have begun using some really random expressions and euphemisms. I actually said" gilding the lily" the other day. Really.

gild ¹(gld)tr.v. gild·ed or gilt (glt), gild·ing, gilds

To give an often deceptively attractive or improved appearance to.

Idiom: gild the lily

1. To adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful.

2. To make superfluous additions to what is already complete.

If you're not accustomed to hearing random idioms on a daily basis like I am (2birds1stone, in the fold, turning a new leaf, play it by ear), you can always check out the Euphemism Generator. Although I have to warn you, these damn things have a way of sneaking into your lexicon.

This unique and colorful custom is referred to as

paddling the brakes.

Guess what I've been doing? That's right --

titillating the biscuits.

Needless to say, I promptly began

cancelling the perpetual flesh polka

till death

Get ready Parker, you're coming with me.

A queen's pet gazelle was readied for eternity with the same lavish care as a member of the royal family. In fine, blue-trimmed bandages and a custom-made wooden coffin, it accompanied its owner to the grave in about 945 B.C.- animal mummies; National Geographic

blindly optimistic

Oscar Cueto
Untitled (Brujeria/Witchcraft) 11, 2008
gouache on paper; 11 5/8" x 16 1/2"

Be blindly optimistic for once in your life.

thank you

Robb Putnam, Mongrel (detail); 2008

fabric, plastic, leather, vinyl, thread glue, acrylic medium and mixed mediums, 63” x 17” x 14”

A sincere thank you to everyone who sent Parker well wishes today.
I don't think she can withstand much more doggy trauma. She's so fragile that an allergic reaction to a bug bite caused her tiny face to swell up like a balloon. I kinda feel like a major dipshit for overreacting this morning and rushing to the vet instead of googling that shit. Had I done so I would have just spent $10 on over the counter benadryl versus spending much much more at the animal clinic. This is a clear cut sign that I'm going to be one of those parents isn't it?

Erin McKenny: Balsam 4/30
I robbed the woods; acrylic on pinecone

A portion of the following poem by Emily Dickinson:

I robbed the Woods

I robbed the Woods –
The trusting Woods.
The unsuspecting Trees Brought out their Burs and mosses
My fantasy to please.
I scanned their trinkets curious – I grasped – I bore away –
What will the solemn Hemlock –
What will the Oak tree say?


I need some woods to rob. We've actually been hunting for pine cones lately. Miami's manicured palm trees have muscled out all the natural pines. I would never commit the sin of stepping into a craft store for decorative pine cones when I know they're lying on the ground somewhere for free. Can one of my sweet followers please mail me some natural Christmasy accents?


Miami is a difficult place to live sometimes. It can be sunny and warm nearly all year round but it's difficult to adapt to the lack of seasons. Once you've experienced a shift of seasons you begin to long for spring, fall and early winter. (I'm not going to complain too much because bike ridding along the beach boardwalk in 75 degree January weather is divine.) Yesterday I did have momentary longing for New England though. Christmas still seems a little forced down here. No matter what people do it will never feel * excuse this cringe moment* like a Thomas Kinkade painting. Even with the world's largest Christmas Theme park, Miami doesn't cut it. When I spotted this piece by Erin McKenny I was immediately reminded of the brainstorming session me and my bf just had. We're hunting for of few pine cones to complete the centerpiece he's been working on. Its a little crazy to me that we can't find pine cones easily. I miss being able to step outside and be surrounded by trees and wilderness. On the other hand, I'm sure there's someone yearning to find a sand dollar or seashell right outside their home.

fondness

Does this scene feel familiar to you?
This is basically what my entire weekend looked like:

Kate Pfeiffer Distractions 2009

Acrylic, graphite & charcoal on paper;18" X 24"

Laura Meyers You All Look the Same to Me, 2008

Oil paint, oil pastels, collage on canvas; 61 x 68 inches

❝ All I want is what I... I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share.❞

Dear Santa Claus,
How have you been? Did you have a nice summer? How is your wife? I have been extra good this year, so I have a long list of presents that I want...Please note the size and color of each item, and send as many as possible. If it seems too complicated, make it easy on yourself: just send money. How about tens and twenties?

-Sally Brown
excerpt from A Charlie Brown Christmas

I like many of you, I hate to sound so wanty... there are so many sites dedicated to lusting after this and that. I totally fall victim to this obsessive favorite-ing and bookmarking of stuff. I loved ESB's ten things to do instead of shopping post. The hoards of gift guides are making me ill lately. I find that too often when I browse for gifts I end up falling for crap that I feel I must have. Goddamn my needy characteristics. It's not like I plan on only giving homemade or charity gifts this year but I will make an effort to be less consumer and brandfocused this season.

skin.

Transitioning from animal to human.

I fell for Ariana Page Russell's work this past weekend. I love the idea of skin as language and blushing as fashion. I am someone who wears my emotions on my skin. Unfortunately I can't disguise my intense anger during staff meetings. My rosacea causes my face to be a frustration meter. Ariana's work discusses her relationship with her body, emotional vulnerability and fashion. Aside from relevant, I find her works to be beautiful and elegant.
Skin series:

Dressing collection:

"...adorning myself with a longer lasting, intentional blush. Rather than being frustrated by my skin's transparency, I claim it by dressing up in the crimson hues that reveal my vulnerability."

Artist Statement:

A body is an index of passing time. Skin protects us as it shows shifting bones, bruising, muscles loosening and tightening, and freckles and wrinkles forming. I am interested in this as a transient fashion of skin, including the revealing way a blush decorates one’s cheek, freckles form constellations on an arm, or hair creates sheen on skin’s matte surface.
My skin is very sensitive and I blush easily. I have dermatographia, a condition in which one’s immune system releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the hypersensitive skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw on my skin with just enough time to photograph the results. Even though I can direct this ephemeral response by drawing on it, the reaction is involuntary, much like the uncontrollable nature of a blush.
I also make wallpaper and collage with photographs of my skin cut into decorative designs, then attached to the wall or onto board. Sometimes I use these collages to decorate my skin by scanning the patterns and turning them into temporary tattoos. Then I place the tattoos back on my body as an additional layer for the fashion of skin. The tattoos are red and pink shades of sensitivity so I can adorn myself with a longer lasting, intentional welt or blush. Rather than being frustrated by my skin’s transparency, I claim it by dressing up in the crimson hues that reveal my vulnerability. Some of the tattoos also go on the wall or window after they’ve made contact with my body, leaving traces of cells and hair, and holding a record of skin’s map.
I am investigating where one surface ends and another begins, the bloom of adornment, and how shifting exteriors reveal as they conceal.

Sadly, I can relate.

neckface

The Berkley print winner is:

carlee fernandez; friends series

Congrats Sherri, Random.org picked you!

Great Haikus:


LURVE animals clothed
Berkley's in particular
would keep for myself

christmas comes, chilly
goat chews on blue bolo tie
those prints must be mine

in winter, art soothes
bat is rockin my damn world
me, he must be mine

Ray Cabarga, The Smulkulites