Where Have I Been?!?!?!?

I apologize to my fans, friends, family and followers! I have been so tied up and busy, getting ready for my show in NYC (and working and marching against The Orange Menace and experiencing the vagaries of life like fighting off a cold) that I haven't posted in over a week! Yikes! I try and keep up with myself and report back on all the weird and wonderful happenings here at the BauHaus Chicken Coop...
Anyway, not for the first time, Tilda Swinton is making a surprise guest appearance. Sort of like the  squishy package of taco sauce that followed us on a trip across country (don't ask!) Tilda is an inexplicable feature in our life.

Thought I was kidding, right? I think our strange obsession with all things Tilda started simply because Bob and I agreed that she's just plain strange. You will recall that she showed up taped to a milk carton a couple of years ago and now regularly pops up in unexpected situations. For a while, she was stalking Bob- hence the Xmas greeting. This particular incarnation- with the super elongated neck and decidedly alien presentation- has kept us busy for over a month now.*

Oh well; I guess it's good clean fun and a pleasant distraction from all those other pressing issues... like getting ready for my show!
Auuuuugggh! I am down to the hardest part of show preparation: doing outreach and press releases and all the stuff that really matters. I'm utterly confident in the work itself; it looks great! But the bringing together of all the details involved in marketing is intense. I don't want to do this show and just have a big fizzle. I am fortunate that the gallery is actually commercial, a business and not a non-profit (which are great but they don't typically worry too much about whether anything sells or not!) which means they're doing a lot of this for me- like getting the pieces photographed professionally. But what I need is some one like Tilda's publicity person to get my name out there front and center. Tilda help me!

*And just as Tilda vanished and Bob informed me that she was "resting up", I discovered her mounted on a glass vase shaped like a head in a cupboard downstairs. So she's still active!

Household Chaos!

Anyone who has visited our house knows that you enter through a hallway that can only be described as chaotic. Euphemistically, we think of it as our "mud room", the "puppy airlock" or even "another spot on the to-do list". Well, all of this changed this past week.
You will remember that Bob and I picked up a slew of cabinets that were being removed from JoAnn and Eric's house. How could you forget? I posted the excitement of offloading and schlepping in the dark and cold and snow... eventually all those cabinets wound up in a large stack in our living room. (We also had the pleasure of dining with JoAnn and Eric while their kitchen was transitioning. They had a large stack of large boxes and an interruption in "normal" life but it resembled ours so we felt right at home.)
Last week was so cold that Bob was unable to get his studio warmed up so he set to work and started to restore/instill order in our hallway.

We moved everything out: horse food, coats, seeds, old cabinets and shelves, boots, paint, drying vegetables, cleaning supplies, vases, etc etc.. This in itself took quite a while as there was more there than you'd think. We marveled at how much bigger the hallway really was under all that accumulation of stuff. Some of it got moved to the downstairs bathroom.

Temporarily, this made using the bathroom entertaining. Fortunately, Bob made quick work of the reconfiguration of the cabinets and within two days, we had a much more efficient and orderly hall.

Eventually, there will be shoji screens covering the shelves- much like the upstairs closet that Bob constructed for me. But in the meantime? What an improvement! The hall feels much wider and there are places to put all that stuff. It was a lot of measuring and puzzling for Bob to figure out just how to best assemble the cabinets but he did a great job. It's amazing how a project like this can transform a part f your house. I can't wait for Phase II.

Really Big Show

I'm excited getting ready for my really big show! I've been sewing and twisting and shaping and stuffing... my fingers are cracked and bleeding (I'll spare you any documentation of that!) and I am my own sweat shop. Some one should complain to management!
But it's all coming together; I have a February 9th opening and I'm just finishing up details on backings and hangers. I sure hope at least a few people come to my show (I'm pretty sure they will...)
But secretly? I could use a little less "raw material". Everyday, this administration (we know who I'm talking about) lets loose with another spurt of bizarre of profane invective. Shithole countries indeed! Bob and I would be packing up the Dog and Pony Show and moving to... Norway? except that I have a really big show approaching and hell! We need to stay and fight the good fight! Art as activism!
By the way, the name of my show is "Complicity Loves Company". I thought that was catchy but also it's true. And I can think of more than a few complicit individuals that should be going down in flames soon enough. A friend just sent us "Fire and Fury" so I know what we'll be digging into later today. As one pundit remarked, "If one tenth of this book is true, we're in trouble". And let's face it: we've already heard many of these stories before.
BUT we can thank our lucky charms that the weather broke as my studio is once again inhabitable. the sub-zero temperatures had me cowering in the living room, wearing a hat and gloves while stitching away like a modern day Betsy Ross. With temperatures in the 40's, 50's and today (maybe?) almost 60 (!!!), it's foggy and balmy and I can complete my masterpieces. You should see the one that's up on my wall, awaiting the finishing dingle berries! OMG!! (This is a tease to get you to look at my next posting). Stay tuned...

Bye Bye Deep Freeze

Yup! We had minus 11 degrees on Sunday morning. I am not one to advocate spending a whole lot of time opining about the weather, but Holy Cow!! It was majorly nasty cold.
I am supporting the theory that "brain freeze" prohibited me from accomplishing anything brilliant in this last week, unlike certain "stable geniuses" who are, like, really smart. Don't get me started...
I worked on my pieces for my ONE-PERSON SHOW in NEW YORK (bragging rights!) in the living room (my previous studio if you recall) because attempting to heat my studio was ludicrous. It just takes all day and becomes a waste of wood. The work looks good and let's be thankful that I was doing finish up hemming and edging and not requiring myself to make aesthetic decisions of great import. So many details to complete!
But today is supposed to be almost 40. I find it hard to believe after that protracted sub-zero spell we endured; even the 17 degrees it is outside right now feels relatively balmy. Robin and I took our first walk in over a week. That's almost unheard of in this household! But Robin doesn't have a big dense coat of fur like Jules or Frank the Dog; she's silky and isn't partial to the cold. In fact, she was eager to retreat to the office upstairs and curl up in a tight ball.
How Maggie the Mexican Pony survives is anyone's guess. She had icicles on her eyelashes on Sunday. But her winter coat is tremendous (she looks like a stuffed animal) and she has her high neck ultra thick super arctic horsey blanket on and she was happy (well, maybe not happy) to stand around outside (despite free access 24/7 to her nice stall. To each his/her own!
I know it's winter and we should be grateful that some of the insects that plague us will be in shorter supply comes spring and summer, but I'm craving sunshine and warmth. The furnace has been coming on too often and I'm seeing dollar signs flying up the chimney. I am also hoping for good weather to install my show, not to mention for my opening. I have a mark to make on the art world. Winter weather be damned!

Deja Vu All Over Again

As Bob and I struggled to lift tons of kitchen cabinets off of our pickup truck and onto the frozen tundra that is our current New England state of affairs, it occurred to us that we had done this before. Like seven years ago when we moved in: history does repeat itself.*

This is how we came to this particular episode in our lives. We have been bemoaning the state of our kitchen, especially the sink area. The particle board around the sink is soaked and exploding, the plastic sink is stained and nasty beyond description. Here, you see for yourself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH! Awful! And that's after a good cleaning. (Those stains just don't come out anymore and the faucet is all chipped and it's beyond redeemable!) So when friends- who thankfully live close by (in another modern house)- offered their old(er) cabinets because they're in the midst of a kitchen re-do, we said "yes".

Let's just mention that poor Bob had to make three trips to pick up all those cabinets and it got colder and darker as we offloaded. Then we had to maneuver them all into the house. By default, they all wound up in the living room as it was the only available "free space". It's a good thing we celebrated Xmas last week!

These cabinets are in much better shape than ours but it will be a bit of a Chinese puzzle trying to fit them into our kitchen and its configuration. But hey! We're always up for a challenge.
In all honesty, if the only area we redo is the sink (and maybe replace some of our obnoxious cabinet doors which fold out in this wonky and deadly way), I'll be happy.

This area. That stupid dishwasher is going as we haven't even used it once and we just store dishes in it. And under that sink... I'm not even posting a picture of that! It's been leaking through the back of the sink for a while and there's some sort of leak from the pipes underneath. So tackling this area will solve several dilemmas.
Bob did take all the cabinets and counters and drawers, not only as a favor to the friends (thanks Joanne and Eric!) for thinking of us, but because he wasn't sure what part went with which piece.

These are the ones we're pretty sure we can't use: triangular corner cabinets and odd floating islands. But this is a small price to pay for things we were considering purchasing from Ikea or Home Depot. It may take a while, but I can't wait for our new kitchen! Oh, and warmer weather...

*No kidding! I just realized that January 3rd IS the anniversary of our closing! And it is going on our seventh year here; time does fly and history does repeat itself.

An Xmas Post

Xmas was celebrated today (December 28th) with my family. Things got off to a rocky start as the reports of ultra cold weather to come threatened to derail our festivities. After the inevitable testy phone calls, emails and smoke billowing from both of my ears, rapprochement was achieved and- cold weather be damned!- Christmas happened.
I think this year was more heavily laden with emotional and familial baggage because it is the first one since Mommy's death. Holidays are always fraught events; this is nothing if not the perennial cliche. My family certainly comes up with it's own exotic expressions of stress, sisterly hierarchies, issues of control etc etc. You get the picture.
I guess I'm lucky in that differences of opinion and questions of rationality versus emotionalism appear insurmountable and yet (mostly) seem to be overcome once we're in each others company. Then we have a good time. I suppose food and wine solve many squabbles...
We cleaned, we cooked, my family arrived. Indeed, they were brave and doughty souls to bundle up in parkas and boots and scarves and gloves and confront the arctic chill. I applaud their heartiness as it is Siberian out there, what with single digit temperatures and bracing wind chill. But our house was warm and the tree was lit up, well... like a Christmas tree.
The food was stellar. We ate so much that Bob and I skipped dinner altogether and I woke up after midnight full of energy and rarin' to go. (Go where you might ask, as it is 1:30 and something like 3 degrees outside? I know this last bit in reality as Lil' Robin the Good just decided that she needed to relieve herself. It really is cold!) Highlights of food included guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, roast pork, sweet potato casserole, cranberry relish (I could eat the whole bowl myself!),squash, brownies, peach pie, several bottles of wine.... and slightly musty tasting green beans.
The green beans sparked a new tradition. They were passed around, tossed, balanced, fondled and generally employed as entertainment. Worthy of the Schmenge Christmas! (Google that on YouTube if the reference escapes you.)
All in all, it was a nice day. We don't exchange Xmas presents anymore- thank god!- so at least that source of stress is eliminated. (Although Bob and I did give my brother in law John his birthday gifts, distinguished this year with a black and red motif.) Lots of food, bright sunlight (despite cold), a tree harvested from the side of our driveway, politics with everyone on the same side of the aisle; it was a good time.

A Dead Squirrel for the Holidays

Happy Holidays! And no, that's not a dead squirrel; that's Burned Santa. Remember him? As a real innovation, Bob added lights to Burned Santa's interior... you could even say he glows.

Here's the other side. Bob was trying to keep up with the honored tradition of putting lights our for Xmas. I like the effect: sort of Xmas in Hell.
Anyway, I went to get wood for my studio wood stove the other day and as I  picked up a couple of logs, I saw this fluffy grey thing. At first I thought Bob had left a glove on the wood pile. But it was a squirrel and it was most emphatically dead.

After assessing that it wasn't "playing opossum", I took this picture, wondered idly how it died- old age? log fell on it? scared to death by Robin chasing it? who knows. But it didn't have any obvious evidence of foul play, like blood or bite marks on it. I told Bob and he disposed of it as I was rushing off to work or something and forgot to get rid of it.
But it gets weirder as the next day, I was walking by Maggie's barn and I saw this:

Another dead squirrel! Now we had a mystery on our hands! At first I suspected it was the same squirrel and an animal had found the first squirrel carcass and carried to to the barn but on closer examination, it was clearly another corpse, as it's tail was bushier and it's position was different. It was kind of creepy because how often do you find dead animals just sort of laying around? Was there a rash of squirrels suddenly falling out of trees, an outbreak of squirrel plague or do we have a group of elderly squirrels ready to depart this mortal coil all at once? I guess we'll never know what killed them but it was definitely strange to see two dead ones within two days.
Let me know if anyone spots further squirrel die off and I'll post something more Christmas-y like our tree later this week.