Pug Salad

It was one of those weeks when the earth beneath you crumbles just enough to start an avalanche, when it's hard in the end to recognize the ground on which you stand. Rather than give in to it, I've been trying to remain rooted. I found two things help me do so -- creating and playing. I did both today when creating this shot of Waffles. There seems to be a campaign on Facebook to counteract some of the tragic images of abused and homeless dogs with happy images of our beloved canines. Not in protest, but instead to remember why we love them in the first place. A fellow blogger offered this challenge on Facebook, assigning words to those who accepted to take a picture of their dog that somehow represented this word. The first word "Smooch" seemed easy enough so I signed up. So did many others. They received easy dog words such as "sit" and "stay." I received "salad!"

I have to admit at first I was dismayed, but no more than Waffles when I tried to stuff her in the salad bowl, yet, the word was the perfect challenge in taking my mind off the worry around me and transforming this energy into something creative and good. I drove to the next town over and visited the local craft store where I purchased this pink presentation board and markers to create my bistro background, stopped at the grocery store last night for some lettuce, and raided the fridge for the salad dressing. The wine? Pug wine, of course. And, yes, there is such a thing.

I have a few outtakes from the shoot -- Waffles, bored between shots, and our assistant, Alfie, surveying the scene for the best camera angle and to make sure the light was right. Actually, I think she may have just wanted a taste of that wine.

In the end, the pugs once again seemed perplexed by my actions, but happy that I was spending time with them and I was happy to disappear into their world and turn my troubles into pug salad! Thank you Garth Riley for your assignment after all.

Outtakes:

Pug Figure Skating

The girls and I have been enjoying the Olympic Figure Skating. They are curled up beside me on the sofa with Olympic dreams of their own. For my roly poly little wonders to don a pair of skates, it would truly be a dream.

*Please note that this sketch is available for sale in the Gallery section of this blog.

Healing with Art

A lot of people I know -- some with whom I have close ties -- have been dealing with cancer lately. That's why it was an extra special honor to have two of my photographs -- Man's Best Friend and Girls with Lenore -- chosen to be a part of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center's Healing with Art show. Today was the reception and it was a wonderful event. Patients, artists, staff, doctors and friends and family all mingled together to not only view the artwork and hear us talk about our work, but also to listen to patients read poetry and prose about their experience. Some of it was poignant, some painful, and some humorous and direct. Many participating shared their personal reasons for being there -- friends and family who had survived and suffered from cancer -- everyone expressed their belief in the healing power of art. There was a warm and beautiful spirit to the gathering. I felt particularly supported having not only my parents in attendance, but my photography instructor, Jim Block and his wife Jann. It means a lot to have the support of a teacher especially one that launched you in a direction you never expected to take. I made a number of contacts, connected with another former instructor, Carla Kimball, who also has work in the show, and was especially proud to hear from a fellow artist that a patient had grabbed her hand and led her over, squealing in delight, to view one of my "dog" photos.  It is a small bit of joy to share with people undergoing such pain, but still I am happy to provide it.

Writing Projects

I haven't been blogging much lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. I had three articles due by New Year's -- one on real estate sales, one on Rutland Regional Medical Center and one on the things we do for our pets. Each is either finished or almost so. I also had my friend Joan's (Waffles' breeders) annual Christmas letter to get out to all the people who had received puppies from her over the years and I've been working on a short story. Inspired by my work last year with the Hubbard Hall Writers' Project, I decided I needed to get some of my own writing projects out of my head and down on paper. The story isn't done yet and on the face of it isn't the most cheerful of subjects -- about a man who runs a pet crematorium -- but I think it has soul. I hope it will be one of many dog-focused stories and expect the follow-ups to be about happier themes. In the meantime, I have begun exploring the option of turning some of my photo collages into Kindle covers, I hear there's a market for them and many people have commented that my collages already remind them of book covers. My first attempt will be a collage to go along with the dog story, but I needed a Labrador model. I'm hoping to still take some more photos of some other friends dogs in the next couple of weeks to get a variety of shots to use, but one of my friends from my photography classes offered me the opportunity to take a picture of her brother's dog, Abby, who is a partial Lab. Today, I visited my friends house and got a number of shots to use for the collage in addition to this pretty portrait. I think she enjoyed modeling. When the collage and story are done I will let you all know.

Art is Everywhere

Today was one of those days. I woke up with a rare event – a little spare time on my hands. I thought of going Christmas shopping or to a matinee. Then, I realized I could use the time to change over my old dresser for my new. This task is a lot more challenging then it sounds. First, my old dresser is an antique with narrow drawers that don’t hold much and when they do are too stuffed to shut. Hence, the need for a new dresser. Also, my large screen television, DVD player and cable box all sit on top of the dresser with wires spread to and fro across the room. In order to move the dresser I needed to move all this, unplug the machines from the wires and rewire everything to get it to work. My brother, an IT specialist who does a lot of wiring, suggested taping the wires to the wall. I thought it was a great idea, so I labeled them and taped them up. Then I kind of lost my mind. Moving the TV and the dresser proved more challenging than I thought and I realized that in order to tidy everything up it was going to be an all day job. I was getting pretty discouraged when I looked up at the wall and noticed the above picture. A mask sits on the wall behind my television and now that I had moved the TV I could see the mask amidst the wires. It looked like a strange art display. I hurried to find a camera to take the picture, but I had buried those beneath the clothes I had removed from the dresser drawers. My iphone was handy, however, and I took this interesting photo. A midst all the hectic hustle and bustle it made me smile. I was able to find beauty and art  in the wires and the clutter. Art is everywhere.

Spreading Sunshine

“Oh Amy Look! Look at that one! She’s so cute!” An older woman around my friend Joan’s age squealed at her McDonald’s coworker. “Look Amy! A black pug!”

“There’s another in my back seat,” I offered.

“Oh Amy, Look! There’s another one!” She squealed again as if she had discovered Alfie for herself instead of me telling her.  “Look, Amy, it’s a fawn.”

“Ohhhh, look! They’re so cute! Mary!”

“Oh, that one is so cute!” The older woman says pointing at Waffles!

“They are so cute!” The two women exclaimed.

This was my encounter when I took the pugs through the McDonald’s drive thru the other day. An hour later we were walking in downtown Randolph when a woman in an old car, shaking from the volume of the music on the radio, rolled down her window and squealed at us. “They’re so cute!”

I had to smile. Dogs have a way of bringing people closer, encouraging conversation among strangers. Pugs have a way of spreading unadulterated joy!

The Rooster

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

It’s easy to want to kill the neighbor’s rooster

Who crows at the first fleck of light, tilting his red-combed head

Back in delight and letting out his piercing caw, not once but

Over and over and over again

Until morning flowers and darkness becomes a forgotten thing.

It is easy cocooned in my shroud of infinite night, shades drawn,

The room a catacomb of grey, to formulate murderous schemes

I’ll shut you up, I think, my blade gleaming and sharpened against the

jagged edges of imagination.

I’ll slice your throat until vermilion blood – the color of your magnificent comb –

flows as freely as your raucous caws, I think,

rolling over into a dainty clutch of golden light

How did you get in? I wonder as it tickles my cheek good morning

Good morning, the rooster echoes.

Who keeps a rooster in the middle of town, this is no farm,

I grumble, admittedly defiant

The rooster croons greetings to the day with unrepentant glee

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

it hollers, who knows what today might bring

Such promise –

Nobody likes a Pollyanna, I wanna shout,

envisioning lopping off his head before lifting

my own to the encroaching yellow light.

My cocoon successfully breached, I rise

Cock-a-doodle doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Good Morning goes his refrain

And, as I wrestle out of bed, my feet

smacking a speckle of sun on the wooden floor, suddenly,

His Majesty, the Red-Combed Maestro ceases

his sublime song.

New Art Project

My student has been making headway on his book and so I have to work on creating some more illustrations to go along with it. We meet next week for our monthly workshop and I need to present something to him. Hoping to do one or two more in the days ahead. This student is working on a children's fantasy set in a hospital. The book explores a number of themes -- healing, death, and the unseen workers -- nurses, buildings and ground, volunteers that help comfort a patient. This illustration accompanies a chapter on the main character's arrival at the hospital. Her chauffeur is an unique character. I drew a couple of i-pad sketches for my student on a lark and he liked them enough that he asked me to make more for his book. He has been working on it awhile and is nearing completion.

And, this is the way a day ends...

We sit on a sofa, scattered markers on our laps. The television blasts an episode of Breaking Bad. My brother, in his easy chair, works on his computer. The baby monitor broadcasts my niece’s sweet snores. My sister-in-law Gretchin and I doodle on paper with pens purchased at the craft store an hour before. Morning mail for Ellie. Gretchin has established a tradition, creating a mailbox for Ellie to receive doodles and letters from Mommy each morning. I prepare to join in. I draw my picture of my pugs – first, Alfie and then Waffles, leaving the important message: “Good Morning Ellie, Bee (her name for me) Loves You!” “Hi Ellie, Waffles and Alfie Love You!” She will find them when she awakens and crumple them in her toddler’s tiny hands. The images probably have a short half-life when a toddler’s concerned, but the message, I hope, lasts a lifetime: We love you Ellie. That is the message on which to end each day and begin another anew. It keeps us cuddled on the sofa well passed midnight, drafting these small testaments. Maybe we’ll remember to tell you about your mail someday or maybe we’ll forget – the memory mixing with so many others over time. The specifics won’t really matter, just the hope we plant here: May all your days end and begin with this much love.

Blues and Reds

I did well at the Tunbridge Fair and while I managed to remain cool enough when we approached Floral Hall for Joan to say, “you’re mighty calm. You don’t even seem excited to find out how you did,” I was pretty eager to learn. The photo entries in particular were plentiful so it took some time to find all my shots, but I was happy to have received two blue ribbons – one for my black-and-white entry of Joan’s two old “guard dogs” TarBaby and blind Puddleglum and one for my picture of Alfie gently pawing Waffles face as they playfully battle over a rose petal. This won a blue in the color other category. My picture of Gretchin lifting Ellie into the sky won a red ribbon in the color portrait category.

As for my artwork – my pencil sketch of Lorelei scored a blue, while my mixed media work of Joan snuggling a puppy and my ipad drawing of me and my guardian angel pugs both received red.  It was fun to see all the work of others. There were some great dog shots.