nanke's stuff

It's been too long since I've posted - things have been pretty busy around here. Most recently, we discovered we've become the home for yellow jackets and another kind of wasp. Now I don't mind the bees and things, as long as they stay in their place - which is outside!! Last week I started seeing (and killing) bees in our kitchen. At first just one or two a day, but by Friday, I was killing several of them a day. Then I discovered the floor of the furnace room in the basement littered with their little yellow jacket bodies, and several of them hovering around inside the window. Time to call the exterminator!
It took several phone calls: "sorry, mam, we only kill mammals", "sorry, mam, we can't come for a couple of days", "sorry mam, we don't go out as far as you live". You'd think that exterminators would do a great business out here in Hooterville where all the critters live, but nooo. Finally this morning I found a nice man who would come out today! Yea!!! They're called Maples Exterminators, for anyone who lives in Livingston County, Michigan (they go to other counties, too). So, as the nice man in his space suit was outside spraying the dickens out of the little buggers, I stayed in the studio playing. I could hear the buzzing in the walls - it was a bit disconcerting, but I kept at it, working on a mixed media page in my journal. I had to go to the window in the guest room and watch from time to time, but I was afraid he would look up and be startled to find me staring at him and fall off his ladder, poison and all. He went around the house and ended up spraying 3 separate places outside and then came in to spray in the furnace room. He said it could take up to a week for all the bees to die ... I'm betting they'll be gone before then.
So, here is what I did while he worked. I like parts of it, and parts of it I don't like at all, but all things considered, it's a wonder I got it finished!


P.S. I just noticed that I spelled the name of the plant wrong .... it's Caladium!

Well, these are the first ATCs for the Canadian swap that I'm planning to participate in. As I mentioned before, I'm going to try to use different techniques on each one of them (I have to send in 9). The bird is done with watercolor pencils with a wee bit of ink on the wisps of the plant. The "Peace Is Possible" card has a background made of paper towel painted with Lumiere paint, a postage stamp, words typed on my really old manual typewriter, and a bird image cut from an old greeting card. And the last card has a chalk background with a stamp that has been colored in with colored pencils (my apologies - I haven't recorded where Any of my stamps came from, but I will start doing that), stamped words, and a small charm glued in the corner.

I don't know what I'm going to do next - maybe a few different transfer methods. Suggestions are always welcome!

Today it's hot and humid, the sky is gray, and it's threatening to rain. The wind is blowing so hard I can't sit out on the porch .... even Abby the dog wants to stay inside. But here inside, it feels really good. It's cool, smells like the banana bread I made this morning, dinner will be easy (salad with leftover steak in it, smothered in homemade blue cheese dressing and really good, crusty bread which I didn't make), and the house is more or less in order. I don't even have to iron anything to wear for my day at the Health Dept. tomorrow! I talked on the phone with my son Andrew, who will be coming over Saturday with his wonderful, fun wife Carrie, to cook dinner for us. "Us" being Michael and I, Ben, Sarah, and super-baby Clyde. What more could a woman want?
So, as I sat with my trusty Micron Pens, I found myself doing a whimsical nothing that just begged to be colored in with a variety of watercolor pencils. What a great day!

Well, I did another wee painting of the same subject, only this time I used a heavier hand with the pencils and crayons. The two paintings are very different - interestingly they seem to be paintings at different times of the day. I think I like the lighter version better until I look at the darker one again. I guess it doesn't have to be one or the other - it's ok to be ok with both of them! I'd love to hear your thoughts about them. I clearly have a lot to learn about this medium.