I'm not even going to go into all the details about what's happened since September, which is when I last updated... I'll just do the Quickie Bullet Points Update.
Worked Cleveland, which I totally dug. (I think that's where I was at my last update.)
Fled Cleveland just as winter set in, and came home for Thanksgiving.
Fled Tennessee just as winter set in, and headed to Florida.
Enjoyed a month of sunshine and warmth down south, then headed back to Tennessee for the holidaze.
Made the decision to no longer travel for work, and am now going to be home full-time, except for trips that *I* want to take.
Caught the H3N2 flu, got laid up in bed for 2 weeks... THEN had the pleasure of it morphing into pneumonia, which I'm still dealing with. I've managed to stay out of the hospital thusfar, but it's been tiring.
So, yup... that's the sum of it! Now that I'm home, I hope to keep up with the blogosphere a bit better.... for one thing, I hope to have things to share in said blogosphere. I haven't done anything art-related in almost six months, but just today I started getting the studio back to a functioning space again.
Finding unfinished projects, some of them upwards of two or three years old.
Ideas for paintings running through my head.
Ideas for dolls, as well.
Listening to new(ish) music (Cold Specks)... life is feeling pretty good right now, really, all things considered, pneumonia or no pneumonia. Of course, that could be me trying to distract myself from the fact that Charlie left for St Peterburg this morning, and I won't see him until he comes home in 2-3 weeks. I'm a little jealous that he's in Florida, where it's warm, and I'm home, where it's not warm... even though it's nice to be home. I have another doctor apointment tomorrow, and then a follow-up the next week, so I'm here, like it or not.
Oh yeah! We also built a new outhouse for ourselves! (well, by "we," I mean Charlie, Dashboard, and JB built it.... I supervised)
"Our downfall was, it was so beautiful. For us, who had replaced religion, family, society, ethics with Beauty, who saw ourselves as in the service of Beauty, no warnings were understood, no traps anticipated. To go down, in the service of That — that was the ultimate grace.” (Diane di Prima)
Okay, let's clear one thing up, first: If you expect me to be punctual, even with something as simple as a random drawing, please allow me to disabuse you of the notion! I'm the worst at procratinating/getting distracted.
We have a very good friend who's in town, Nandra (that'd be her in the green in the middle, with the pre-party crew), who turned 50, and who is moving to Dublin, so we had to have a combo bday/going away party for her. And then recuperate from said party.
I even broke out my Hooker Heels for the dancing. You can't tell in the pic, but they're 1) tall, and 2) spikey. I suffered more the next day from those than from any imbibing, I believe. It's been a while since I danced for hours (okay, until sunrise) in heels. Ouch. I remember why it happens infrequently!
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
Sad to see her go, as she's been a part of our lives for 15+ years now, but I'm happy she decided on Dublin instead of Tokyo (her other option) as I see trips to Ireland in our future! While Tokyo would be interesting, Ireland holds a lot more appeal for me.
Anyways, the winners are (insert drum roll here)...
If y'all will drop me an email with your info, I'll get those in the mail to you!
(judahsleep@gmail.com)
It looks like we're gearing up for another scorching summer here. Last year we broke all kinds of records, and given that it's in the mid-90's this week (norm is mid-80's), it's not boding well. On the plus side, it means lots of mid-day time spent inside, where I can be in the studio.
There may also be some dancing around to Roisin at some point. (minus heels) It feels like that kind of day.
Okay, so Amy wants us to toot our own horns on these posts, but I have to tell the truth. I have no horn to toot. See, when I was about 8 or 9, I joined band class. I'm not sure why, even, besides maybe to get out of P.E. I didn't have any particular interest in music... at that point, I hadn't even bought my first cassette. (I was 12 when that happened, and it was Janet Jackson's Control, followed by Petshop Boys' Please, which probably should have been a tip-off to my parents about my orientation)
Anyways, so I decided I was going to play the clarinet. I quickly discovered that there were some things almost as bad as being forced to play football in the south Texas sun. Namely, trying to produce something akin to music from a clarinet. After months of never moving from the shameful Last Chair, and irritating every cat within hearing-range, I "accidentally" dropped my horn case in the middle of the road on the way home from school, and never looked back.
So yeah, no horns here.
That's okay, though, I discovered my talents lay in other areas.
Oh, I should introduce myself, I suppose, since I don't know a lot of the folks coming to this lil' partay. I'm Judah, and I tend to make goofy faces when taking pictures, as evidenced below.
I can't help it, it just happens.
I live on 67 acres in the backwoods of Tennessee (as in it's 45 minutes to the nearest city) with my partner of 15 years, Charlie, and our dog Ajakx Einstein. (A.K.A. "World's Smartest Dog")
We're in the process of building our home entirely by hand, which is both rewarding and sometimes frustrating.
All righty, intros are done, so on with the (non)horn-tooting!
I like animals a lot. Like, a LOT a lot. Our home is full of them, most of them rescues of one sort or another. There's Coco the conure, Larry the lizard, the aforementioned Ajakx, the cats Una and Decimal Decimator, and numerous fish. Those are just the regulars. I also work with several no-kill shelters, so the number of dogs can range from 1 to 10 (or more). It feels really swell to take in an abused, neglected, dog that's scared of people or angry, and work with them until they turn into big, slobbery, love-givers.
I LOVELOVELOVE comic books. They make me happy. I've read them since I was a little kid, and I think they help me maintain some of my kid-ness. Which anyone who knows me can tell you, I've maintained a lot of. I like that about myself.
My favorite book is Uncanny X-Men, and my two favorite characters are Rogue and Storm, pictured above. (and no, Rogue isn't a big meanie, she'd been possessed, obviously... duh) As a kid, I SOOOO desperately wanted either a white stripe or a white mohawk. As an adult, I frequently have a white mohawk.
Anyways, I "blame" comics for my love of art. They're what made me first pick up a pencil and start drawing.
I spend a lot of my time in the gardens that surround our home. If I'm not reading or making art, I'm in the garden, oftentimes taking pictures of the stuff there. Like my outdoor reading spot.
Or the bugs that reside in the garden, of which there are plenty.
I make art of all sorts. I'm a little A.D.D. in that regard, which I think is both a good thing and a not-so-good thing, but mostly a good thing.
"Art dolls" are a particular love, and one I return to time and again.
I also paint. I used to paint a lot, but took a break for many years, mainly because I travel for work, and have just started getting back into it the last couple of years.
I play in the ever-popular "found object" mixed media realms as well. It gives me a reason to pick up rusty things off the ground and pile them up in drawers.
I sew... though my skills in that area are minimal and mostly self-taught.
Some day I'll learn the finer details, but probably not any time soon!
Right now, I'm working on a series of mixed media (in the most literal sense... they consist of collage, sewn elements, wood, metal, paint, ink and other stuff) pieces called "But is it Art" playing with that tired old argument about "art vs pornography." See, I'm also sex-positive. I hate that our culture has created such shame and disgust around the most natural of acts. Much like breathing, eating, shitting, and dying, it's the one thing that everyone does. Or most everyone. I think.
I hope.
I like that one of my "missions" in life is to get people to stop feeling guilty about their bodies. Whatever their shape or size, whatever you do or don't do with it, it's an amazing, beautiful thing... celebrate it!
These are still WIPs... eventually they'll be sewn onto fabric or canvas and altered even further.
I like that I encourage others to make art, and not to judge themselves or belittle themselves. We're ALL artists. Each and every single one of us. It doesn't matter if "all" you can draw is a stick figure... you're still an artist!
All righty, that's all for now... off to meet some of the other folks in this lil' partay!
Everyone enjoy the start of their weekend! That's an order from Ms Jackson.
Oh! And the giveaways! Just leave a comment, and on monday I'll do a drawing for the winners of a shrine, and a little 4x4 painting! (see previous post for an example of the shrine... it won't be that exact one, but one made just for you... you can even send me a theme if you want! Or leave it up to me, your choice!)
Oh #2! If you just happened to stop by here and *aren't* one of the party-goers, stop by Amy's blog to check out the fun she's put together! http://butterscape.blogspot.com/
