Happy Birthday to Me!

Here I am, shilling for generic beans on my birthday but NOT in violation of any ethics clauses! You always suspected that Ivanka and I had plenty of things in common...
So, yes, it is my 64th birthday and thanks to Climate Change, it's almost impossible to consider doing anything besides hunkering down in the bedroom bunker with the air conditioning at full tilt. And thanks to COVID 19, I wouldn't want to venture out to a plague-infested restaurant anyway. Better to stay put in these times of strife!

Here's our un-retouched proof of the climate crisis: no wonder I'm melting!! Over 100 degrees and it's not even afternoon. I still recall Mommy telling the story of how Daddy tried to take her out to dinner while she/they were "expecting" me. Mommy told of how I was late (I didn't want to come out into this cruel world- I must have known how shoddily artists were treated!) and her ankles were so swollen she couldn't get her nice, strappy sandals on. She was pretty miserable; such a happy memory!
So happy birthday to me! Not all is awful as I've already had many nice wishes for best returns of the day and there's an evil, store bought birthday cake with, yes!, FROSTING!!

 And Bob's creating a magical garden gate for me and I bought a bunch of marked-down plants at a nursery the other day, and I've been to see the ponies recently so I can't complain.

(Yes, my lower leg should be further back but probably no one but me and my riding instructor would notice that!) That's Candy the Quarter Pony. See? I even get pony rides for my birthday. Now onto that cake and ice cream and party hats...

Work in Progress

As promised, this posting will be about art. First, I must commend myself that I am now on blog posting #502! Congratulations to me! I am pretty amazed at my capacity to keep blogging away (although my suspicion is that it has something to do with not being able to shut up...). Anyway, when I started out with BobnRita's House Party, I didn't really worry/wonder about where it would go. And hell: there's no end in sight!
So the hideousness of the current administration continues to offer plenty of raw material for me to embellish into works of art.The above offering is a case in point. I was channeling The First Daughter as she answered the inquiries of a newscaster who had asked whether she was "complicit" with her father. Not understanding the meaning of the word, she had concurred that she was indeed "complicit". (She thought it simply implied her being in accord with The Orange Menace's activities and not being a criminal accomplice.) Anyway, I was inspired to create a piece, ripe with epaulets and plenty of gold and fringe (a friend suggested that it smacked of The Dallas Cheerleaders, and all the rethuglican tackiness that recommends!) Another friend said that the white twinkly stars made her think of advertising for laundry soap or toothpaste. That's on target because I wanted to allude to the overly white teeth of the First family. The stars and letters are made of very thick, very white vinyl.
This piece has been kicking my butt as I attempted to render a slightly 3D padding of the letters (I tried several methods before hitting on thin foam as is used for cushions) and the edges had to be sewed three times to hem the front, attach front to back and finally secure the fringe (which felt like a mile and a half!). It finally is all coming together.
Also, you can see that I Photoshopped in a semblance of the elaborate (gold painted, of course) metal hanger that I am employing Bob to construct for me. I want it to suggest the gold plated toilet paper holders that reside at Trump Towers; you know, a Versailles meets Las Vegas vibe. I hope I'm succeeding hansomely!