Holy Crap! I'm genetically Catholic!

I just realized the other day that I am actually genetically Catholic. When I was very small, my parents could just say "I'm disappointed in you" and I would cry and fall right into line. I have always wanted to please people and feel so bad and guilty if I am out of line. How do you explain the fact that I have felt guilty since birth? I am genetically Catholic.

"Domesticity"

Just call me Betty f@#%ing Crocker....

I like to do domestic things, I just hate the feeling of obligation that women are made to feel in keeping up a home. For example, I hate it when my husband wants to know what I'm making him for lunch - you can make yourself a sandwich..... you're a big boy now....

This lady is probably drinking a martini to wash down her xanax so she can make it through the rest of her day without slapping anyone.

Watercolor and graphite on coldpress paper

DEER Plushie

I am obsessed with plush monsters! This one from post on etsy is so cool. I would put it in my new baby's bed - the graphic nature of it would be really captivating for her right now.


http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5031541

The audacity of fictional fiction

I finally read my Rolling Stone from November 2007, and it contained a story about the author JT LeRoy, a person dreamt up by the mental illness of Laura Albert. She sells this alter ego of hers to celebrities, literary giants, the public. Everyone. She has random people dress up as the fictional street hustler/messed up kid - everyone from street kids to friends. Everybody got their turn being JT. The story is so long and sordid. You'd just have to read it, because it is so convaluded it is almost impossible to relate without going into all of the details.

Long story short, I could relate to Albert. Not in the mental illness and sexual abuse sense, but in the fact that she compartmentalizes and sells it. I have so many different parts of me, and they don't always seem to mesh. But I won't be paying homeless kids to play me for public appearences, thanks.

Albert and her friend Savanah, whom she hired to play JT (I am shocked people thought she was a he - Albert calls it the "emporer's new clothes" effect).

Plushies

Original Sale

Lots of originals officially going on sale on my etsy site -- www.theoleanderblack.etsy.com

A quiet Halloween

Winston dressed up as the dreaded Dogula of myth and legend.....



...... and sacked out early.



This is Olaf, the deformed pumpkin. He stands on his side, is covered in warts, and was shocked that someone took him home and carved him up. Poor Olaf...

"The Hive Queen"

Don't think she can't take care of herself or her hive.

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD

Some pictures I'm loving right now

I have to do something cool w/ these two-----





Brandon and I -----


Some pretty vintage perfume bottles that were my Grandma's ----

"I Can't Afford To Be Lazy"

The end of the year is coming, the air is getting cooler, the leaves are falling off the trees, and I really need to get my nest ready for the winter....

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD


Inspiration:



The White Stripes - Little Acorns

[When problems overwhelm us and sadness smothers us, where do we find the will and the courage to continue?
Well, the answer may come in the caring voice of a friend a chance encounter with a book or from a personal faith.
For Janet, help came from her faith but it also came from a squirrel.
Shortly after her divorce, Janet lost her father, then she lost her job. She had mounting money problems. But Janet not only survived, she worked her way out of despondency and now she says life is good again.
How could this happen? She told me that late, one autumn day when she was at her lowest, she watched a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter one at a time he would take them to the nest and she thought if that squirrel can take care of himself with the harsh winter coming on so can I.
Once I broke my problems into small pieces I was able to carry them, just like those acorns, one at a time.]



There was even a squirrel in my watercolor palette.

"Goldfish Mermaid"

As she swam through the swirling water, she met a school of shining goldfish. Their eyes were wide and their bellies were big, and they met her with a calm air about them.

"I have been swimming alone for so long now. Can I join your trio? I can see, we were all made to be together" she said.

watercolor, graphite, paper

original - 9" x 12"
$175 USD





My favorite goldfish is a Moor - with the big, buggy eyes. "The Lonely Mermaid" has been my most popular print, so I decided to do another mermaid painting. Why not throw in my favorite goldfish? Of course, I did take some artistic liscence in the coloration....

"A Chance Encounter"

A little fairy met a large snail traveling across the forest floor.

The fairy said to the snail, "I have a simple question to ask you: Why are we here? I'm only asking you, Mr. Snail, because you always seem to crawl along with indecipherable purpose, and you seem indifferent to the goings on around you. This is surely a sign of enlightenment."

Of course, the snail only looked at her with detached curiosity before moving on with meandering purpose, leaving a glistening trail behind him.

Watercolor on paper.

original - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
$95 USD



The sketch... The snail in the painting was just a flash of inspiration while painting and was added spontaneously. After I painted it in, I had another flash and knew what their conversation would be! Serendipity.