Tag, You're It!

As mentioned earlier, I've been tagged, so I'm gonna let out 7 things about myself that you don't yet know about. This should be fun...

How To:
1.List seven random facts/habits about yourself
2.Choose another seven bloggers to tag and list their names in your blog
3.Leave your seven tagged bloggers comments to notify them of their tagging and to direct them to your blog for tag instructions.

Here we go:

1) I have super thick, curly hair. When I was young, I was convinced that I had straight hair and brushed all the waves and curls out every day to force it to be straight. The result? A long, thick, frizzy mess. When I look at pictures of myself from back then, I find it terribly embarrassing. It wasn't until I was in high school that the little light bulb went on and I realized that whoa, my hair was curly. I've been living with it and loving it ever since.

2) I collect many things but one of my favorites is my collection of autographs. I have a nice binder filled with them and it's always fun to flip through it. I've since stopped, as I have too many other interests. Most of the ones I have are from, I kid you not, Star Wars actors and production artists (yes, Star Wars will always have a special place in my heart). And I even have one from Peter Jackson, from many many years ago--I had written him a long letter about my dream of doing art for films and he actually wrote me back a very inspiring letter about WETA. It's really neat.

3) One of my greatest phobias is a complicated fear of water depth. It's weird... I'm not necessarily afraid of deep water, I'm afraid of objects that poke up from the seafloor (or poke down from the water surface) and visually give me an idea as to how deep it is. I have no problem swimming in the middle of the ocean (and have done this many times despite the cold Pacific) but if there's a piling right there? No freakin' way. Swimming next to pilings scares the living bejesus out of me. It's all rather odd because my dad used to live on a sailboat and I lived a good portion of my childhood on boats, yet there ya go. Another interesting note? My brother has the exact same phobia as me.

4) My career dream is to work in the creative art department at a movie studio--drawing, painting and sculpting my ideas for their latest films. I've always worshipped Industrial Light & Magic.

5) I don't really like ice cream.

6) I have an odd love/fascination for the common slug. Perhaps because everyone hates them and thinks they're slimy and gross. I think they're utterly adorable and have been known to pick them up (despite the looks of ghastly horror I often get).

7) I'm a very shy person and don't make friends easily. Although I'm very nice and friendly, it takes me a while to really get to know someone and feel comfortable enough to trust them. I really wish I were more outgoing.

Okay! There you are. Now I'm supposed to pick 7 other bloggers to tag... Here's my list:

mellowbeing
sweetestpea

estasketch

Studiobenben

Pavoreal

littleputbooks

Emily Gross

And now I'm off to do a bit of painting and varnish some walrus charms...

More Spring Cleaning Finds

More random spring cleaning findings. I love stumbling across things that I've completely forgotten about. This time, I've completely reorganized my computer area. My four boxes of books that had been hanging out in the garage for over a year now are currently empty of their contents and all the books are sitting pretty above me. I mixed in a bunch of smallish clay figurines I had made many moons ago and the effect is a colorful bit of eclectic chaos. Me likey very much.

Anywho, I next moved onto the ever-so-daunting task of cleaning out my computer files (yes, even computers need a dose of spring cleaning). Once I got going, it was actually quite fun. I found a folder of files containing all sorts of odds 'n ends for my grad school application I sent out a year ago (ended up not going, but I'm actually seriously debating whether or not I should apply again and go through with it...). The top scan you see is of a page of real quickie kitty and doggy poses I sketched out a good deal ago. I just love looking at old sketches!

Below you'll find a sculpture I did in college based on a character sketch I made up on a whim. Her name is Agatha and she lives in the year 2121, hence her futuristic, protective copper dress (complete with old, patina screws and joints). She's also blind and relies on her trusty dog (a robodog, of course!) to help her get around.

Kinda goofy and fun but I really love her. She's about 5" tall and is completely made of clay, which was then painted. She can actually stand up on her own, since I built her a nice armature, but due to her *cough* rather rotundness, she's very prone to keeling over. One of these days I need to get her stationed down on a stable base or something.

Also, I've been tagged by Marmee Craft to divulge 7 deep, dark secrets about myself, but I've gotta think about this for a day or two (the pressure! oh, the pressure!).

Good days ahead for everyone, I hope! :)

Awwwwww....

I was going through boxes of photos today, doing a little spring cleaning, and came across this black and white photo I took of my pomeranian, Caramel, a few years ago. She's such a goofball, but certainly knows how to be cute.

Ye Couch Hath Arrived

Ooh! I'm so diggin' it too! Please mind my silly photo--I rarely take pictures of myself as I always feel so awkward. Yes, the couch was quite the blow to my credit card and yes, the pattern makes your eyes bulge with all the optical illusion-ness but oh how I love it so. It's not too soft (a *huge* couch pet peeve of mine--give me a hard couch over one that sucks me into its darkest bowels any day) and the dark walnut wood legs are the perfect match--I'm very glad I spent the extra moohlah to get the wooden legs. The only thing I have to worry about are my two white kitties (see Snowflake, aka "the queen", below--she's turning 16 this year). Both have outgrown their furniture scratching phase, thank god, but still love to hang out on the furniture. I guess this means it's time to get a throw or something to ward off cat hair. On the plus side though, unlike some of my other furniture, the fabric on this couch seems to coexist nicely with the cat hair--meaning I can easily get it off with a lint brush. And in this house, that means a lot.

I've been painting up a storm today too. I suppose the typical Northwest spring days (pouring cats and dogs one minute, sun breaks the next) get me in the creative spirit. Currently working on another sea critter painting--this time of deep sea tube worms. Oh what a nerd am I. I worked on a nicely painted polka dot background for it last week only to come to the realization when I was done that, no, it just would not do. That's the worst feeling. Two hours of painting, all down the tube. So, today I repainted the background and am so happy I did--it looks way better.

Also bought a couple books recently--"The Walmart Effect" and "Brave New World" (my favorite book, but alas, I've never owned a copy). Can't wait to dig into 'em!

Here's to a happy, creative, and exciting weekend for all!

Mr. Nautilus Says "Why, Hello!"

The finished nautilus painting! I'm very pleased (very difficult to see all the details in this pic--I'm hoping to eventually get prints done of these so that I won't be the only nerd with some nautilus art on my walls). Ya know, there just ain't enough nautilus artwork out there. I was telling some folks at work about my sea critter painting series I've been working on and how this past week I've been painting up a nautilus. I got the oddest looks. "Nautilus? Just what the hell is that?" Sigh. Needless to say, a long nature lecture took place that same day between me and my coworkers. I am proud to inform you all that they are now more than educated on all things cephalopod.

On the movie front, I just received Adaptation in the mail and will be watching it with glee tonight (I love this movie--is there some reason why I don't own it yet?). And I just found out that Pan's Labyrinth will be available on dvd next month! Waves of excitement!

Tomorrow I'll be attending the local farmer's market and then will work a late shift at the ceramic studio. But Sunday is lookin' mighty fine for a nice painting and general art day. I can't wait!

Thank you guys for the sweet comments on the pirate update. I'm convinced that pirates will never go out of style (and it's a damn good thing, too). Here's to a lovely weekend all-around!