March 27, 2008
Latest Finished Art & A Really Gross Puss Ball
I'll start with the art first so those of you who are easily grossed out can bail out before the puss ball description. It's the least I can do. Really. I had done the background purple wash and the sketch on the canvas at the beginning of December but couldn't do more on this piece b/c I was so sick w/the newest little one. So I picked it up again yesterday and finished it last night. I thought I wouldn't want to revisit this bird after I finished Exalt (I was so sick of it!), but after doing the Labor piece I wanted to do this little guy before I hit the belly in the tub again. And I really enjoyed it.
I've got to get better at taking pictures of my work. One's too dark and the other's too washed out.
I just think this is the cutest little birdie!
Here are details in order clockwise: top left, top right, bottom right, bottom left. I enjoyed playing around with the lines and dots. Andy says it looks like the robin's on some alien planet. It's a happy, bright alien planet.
And now on to the puss. Last night I realized Bela our cat hat a huge swollen spot on his forehead between his ear and his eye. It was the size of a golf ball and was bruised and cut and had a little bit of puss coming out of a spot. It looked like it needed draining so I held Bela and gave the ball a little squeeze. Holy cow. I have never seen so much puss in my life. And that stuff SMELLED! I had to wash my hands about six times before the smell went mostly away. I wish I'd worn rubber gloves. Andy and I ended up squeezing the puss out for a while, revealing a good sized hole in his head - about the same diameter as a pen or pencil. He'd been gotten good and I'm not sure when. I could have sworn the spot wasn't there earlier when I'd snuggled with him, but I must be wrong cause there's no way that could have gotten that bad in a matter of a few hours. We medicated it and debated whether to get stitches or not. We ended up getting out the medical super glue and trying to seal the hole. Probably not a good idea, but it does look better this morning so hopefully we didn't do any worse damage. I'm gonna call the neighbor today and see how his cat fared. Bela always seems to win so I'm guessing neighbor cat's not in great shape. Sorry I didn't get any pre-puss pushing pictures maybe you'll be lucky enough for me to get some pics of the puncture today.
Great job on the bird again! I do like your birds, they have a personality that's really enjoyable. I like your details in the background. The only "tip" I could give is to get some contrasting colors to that purple in there. Yellow or orange. But I like the monochrome look too. So yeah, GREAT JOBBY JOB!!
And the best time to take pics of your artwork is outside, on an bright yet overcast day. I like to use my wood floor as a background, but a nice swatch of black fabric comes in mighty handy too.
Ok, the puss story did gross me out and I'm soooo glad you didn't have pictures. I saw the word "Smelled" in all caps and I literally pinched my nose closed as I read the rest. EWWWWWW. Nasty things mixed up with pet hair turns my stomach. But Bela is your true first baby so you gotta take care of his boo-boos too. And the medical super glue thing made me laugh. oh man that's so gross!
Posted by: katiek at March 27, 2008 03:56 PMthe painting is really cool. For some reason, some of the details remind me of Hildegard von Bingen's artwork.
I couldn't really read the cat story. A few key words were enough to gross me out. :-P
Posted by: Jeannette at March 27, 2008 04:27 PMThanks, Katie-Kate. Those big purple blanks were starting to bug me a little as today progressed. I think I might add some large bubbles of color in there. We'll see what tonight brings.
Jeannette, I understand skipping the story. That's why I gave the warning. :)
Posted by: lynnp at March 27, 2008 04:53 PMLove your bird - very nice! I'm enjoying your artwork very much:) The second part of this post for some reason I could not stop reading though I was horrified. You see, I have a list of words people are not allowed to say around me and the P word is on it:) But I do like what a cool, real, brave girl you are and that you will talk candidly about politics, the P word, leg-hair and so on. I remember when I lived in Colorado I was going to do this post on underarm hair and take a picture because I don't shave at all - only wax in the Summer. The husband, he thinks it's cool, but I asked my sisters if I should post it and they were grossed out. Hardly anything grosses out Kelly but since she was I figured I definitely shouldn't write that entry:)
Posted by: Gypsy at March 27, 2008 05:19 PMYour birds are my favorite. I love birds. What I'd like you to try sometime maybe is a bluebird. They're glorious in their coloring.
As much as I enjoy your art I really miss your horse stories. Have you considered maybe writing AND illustrating children's stories? You love both and you're gifted in both areas. Maybe something to pray about. (NO I repeat NO pus stories for the kiddies tho...) I love you! You continue to be a fascinating, gifted person and I'm grateful the Lord blessed me with you. I'm really grateful you use your gifts to honor Him. Well done!
Posted by: Mom at March 28, 2008 06:16 AMFor what it's worth, your artwork is beautiful AND I loved your cat story. It grossed me out in the most pleasant way possible (which includes laughter). I hope your cat heals easily... One of my cats had to have a drain put in after a cat fight--and boy was that gross.
Posted by: RT at March 28, 2008 04:13 PMI LOVE smelly puss-ball stories!!!!!
Posted by: kristin at April 3, 2008 03:12 PM