(Probably) The Last Post of The Year!

Good riddance to 2019! Only a couple of days left and what have we got? Pink sky at morning! And I mean PINK! And now there does appear to be a weather advisory. (The funny thing is that recently several friends have posted images (un-photoshopped) of pink skies... wonder if it's a Climate Crisis occurrence?
Anyway, out with the old! What a miserable year. I can assure you one man in particular is responsible and I will not utter his name; suffice it to say, I hope he's swept out of office soon!
This year did have good to recommend it: Both Bob and I were in several great art shows, we both created a slew of new work, Bob (with the help of our good friend Joe) replaced the sink in the kitchen, we got our front door open, and we located a handsome beau for Robin the Good. And we are in (relatively) good health. Not too much to complain about on the home front.
And it looks like 2020 will begin on an upbeat note. I just found out that I was accepted in a show at The Ely House Center for Contemporary Art (in New Haven) and the curator, Sharon Butler is an interesting artist and art blogger (check out her blog Two Coats of Paint). the funny thing about this show is that it opens in like two weeks! Talk about starting the year off with a bang! (Don't worry: the work's already done.)
I also am plugging along on a new book project, "A Pot To Piss In: What's an Artist Urn?" and I do mean plugging along. I felt I had to reinvigorate my collage muscles after a long break. I wound up collating and finishing a batch of horse collages that I started years ago. The resulting "Rita Valley's Horsin' Around" is funny and charming. (Hey! This is a way better title than my original idea, "My Medium-Sized Horsies". That was (obviously) playing off "My Little Pony" but it was too lugubrious for even me, not to mention Roz Chast printed a some-what similar cartoon title in The New Yorker recently. Great minds think alike!)

That's the title page! Very exciting! I complied a dummy version and hope to get it printed and bound soon. Stay tuned!
And can we please all set our minds to work to make 2020 a more hopeful, compassionate year???

And Yet Another Puppy Post!

Robin lost two teeth today! She has a goofy gap-toothed grin as her two front lower baby teeth fell out. She probably swallowed them. But teething is a way serious issue for little dogs: wake up and let the chewing begin! Here's another action shot:

Yes, that's an actual, untouched photo of her mouth in action. But just when you exclaim, "What were we thinking?" and decide that little Robin was pick of the litter at Satan's Puppy Mill, she falls asleep on your stomach and has delicate puppy dreams and is all warm and squishy..

That all occurs in the space of three minutes. It does keep you on your toes. (Of course, an entire blog entry and inquiry could easily be devoted to considering just what a puppy dreams about. Robin has been alive a grand total of fifteen or sixteen weeks and would not seem to have a huge range of life experiences. But dream she does: howling and twitching and eyes rolling wildly. Curious!) But she is a grade a student when it comes to house training. Not one accident yesterday at all!
But I have a vet appointment today for puppy booster shots and an ear check (seems to be shaking her head and rubbing her ears). I realized that with the exception of the harrowing eight hour odyssey that she endured on her Pennsylvania to Connecticut adventure, she has no car experience. So I bundled her into the car, thinking to drive around the block and prepare her for Thursday's excursion. No sooner had I rounded the first bend than I thought, "Gee, she's awfully quiet" and I glanced into the rear view mirror to see her nose becoming visibly longer and pointier and well, greener (no mean trick for a black puppy!) and her tongue came out and she drooled prodigiously and the next thing I knew her lunch was on the seat along side her. Poor little Robin! We'll see how she fares today on a half hour journey...
But despite the puppy preoccupation, she's a good kid and has been helpful while I clean up the garden. She likes carrying sticks around and has done a fine job of jumping on the piles of leaves I've raked. She's been really good in my studio, too, where there is no end of excitement and danger. Bob and I are both preparing for a show upcoming at The Trailer Box Project in Danbury. I think Bob's pretty much on top of things, but I lost a month when mourning Jules and have a bit of catching up to do. (Mostly sewing backings on pieces and tweaking a book I hope to complete). Thank the stars that Robin has been mostly cooperative!