Wedding Summary

Well, here we are, back in Burbank. Mark is back to work, and I am organizing life and home. Mark and I were both so busy before we left for the East Coast that the apt was left in chaos. Kato is so happy that we are back. He follows us around like a skinny furry shadow.
The wedding was absolutely gorgeous! A spectacle! So many people, even strangers, said that 'it was the most beautiful wedding they had ever seen.' I was giddy and so excited! I couldn't eat a darn thing for days before, and for me that is unheard of. Mark was (and is) so handsome. He is all I saw during the ceremony. I made my entrance from a loud, beat-up pick up truck, and then was escorted by my Father and Step-Father. Marks Mom, Marion and Sis, Holly performed two songs for us. And my bestest friends, Christy and Sherie both read a poem. And we stole the Handfasting ritual from Christy's wedding, which we agreed was super cool. We literally tied the knot! My friend, Katherine, played the hammered dulcimer, and my friend, Ted, painted the ceremony while it was happening!! Mark got his wish!
My good friends Frank and Muffy supplied the flower girl and ringbearer, their daughter, Jorgie, and son, Arlo. Cute beyond words!
Humpback whales spouted behind us during the ceremony, which could only mean good luck! I had been going to Monhegan for 8 years, and never saw one whale! They were waiting for my wedding, of course!
Then a magnificent thunderstorm, worthy of Tolkein, blasted through after the ceremony, while we were dining! Again, could only mean good luck!
So, I love, love, love being a wife, being married, having a husband, and saying,'Oh, well, my husband works on Family Guy,' 'Let me ask my husband', 'This is my husband, Mark.' Hee-hee.
Much more to come, and soon I should have a link to more photos!

We're Married!

We just arrived back in Burbank, and we are exhausted. When I can see past the piles of mail, I will post all about our magical wedding adventure.

Next Week, Monhegan!

This time next week I will be on Monhegan. And this weekend I have the pleasure of watching my Best Friend in the Whole Wide World get married. Good times!

Clouseau

Clouseau still gets this imploring look. "Please love me!"

Necklace

I went for my second fitting to the wonderful seamstress, Lady Jane, who Christy told me about, and there was the most perfect necklace for my wedding dress. And I might even wear it again!

Oh, Boy!!

Here is the new weather forecast for Burbank, and I am so excited because there is an 80 degree day and it has (oh, boy!) RAIN!!! That is so exciting to me.

New Favorite Kitty Pic

This is my new favorite picture of Cato and Clouseau. Cato is so expressive. And Clouseau is in one of his usual spots, by the water dish, guarding it as if it was treasure. Right after I shot this, Cato came over and bit the camera lens. I took a picture of it, but you can't tell what it is.
Notice the chewed up Q-tips on the floor? That is Cato's new obsession. He found the box of Q-tips one day, mananged to fish out one, and ran away with it in his mouth like he had just found the most amazing thing EVER. He cried for more when he chewed the last one to bits. It was so fun to watch him try to get the Q-tips out from the flap in the package. Best cat toy.

more paintings

Here is a sampling of some more traffic paintings. These are both around the corner from my apt. It has been so hot lately that I haven't been painting as much as I would like, and it is taking a toll on me. Besides not liking the heat, I feel down from not painting everyday. I have to do some studio painting instead; do larger versions of the best plein air paintings I have.
I have updated my website, click here to check it out. There are now Florida and LA paintings on there. More to come!

Cato in a Clouseau Pose

Here is Cato in a pose usually done by Clouseau. Cato seems to love the heat because he goes to the one UN-air conditioned room in the house, lays down on the down comforter, and sleeps there every day. And on the very hot days, he strikes this pose as if to absorb more heat onto his skinny little body.

new sketch

This is my sketch from last night's group. The model was terrific, and had on this whole costume of pantaloons, a corset, bows, and vintage shoes. I would have swore she was from Victorian times! I tried a drawing of vine charcoal on some cream drawing paper first, but that was not working, so I went back to my tried and true method. I am very habit forming when it comes to materials. I like to work with very specific things. If for some reason I use different brushes, paints, charcoal, etc than I am used to, it's like I am completely lost. It's like asking a musician to perform with someone elses instrument, I guess.
I had to work quickly on this sketch because I used up time on my first attempt. Hence, I drew the face very simply, and I like the result.

weather forecast

Here
is the 10 day forecast for Burbank, which is exactly like the past five 10 day forecasts, and will be just like the next five 10 day forecasts. It's freakin' HOT and I am getting bored and tired of sweating.

Here is one of my favorite pics in the world because 1. it has Boo in it, and 2. because it has snow in it. I miss snow so much! Especially now! Oh, powdery or slushy, the kind with the crust on top, the kind that is perma-frosted to the sidewalk, the kind that swirls around in the wind and tingles your cheek, the big fluffy kind that falls so lazy and soft, the kind that glows under the moonlight. Sigh.

I miss you Boo.

Clouseau and Weak Moments

I am having a small meltdown, but I will be okay.

It all started when we had to rearrange the closets because of Clouseau. Clouseau has been 'communicating' his dislike of the litter box situation by peeing on the bathroom floor. At least it is not on the laundry basket anymore. (I hear all you cat non-lovers' comments.) Cats are very good communicators. Clouseau certainly got his point across. So now there are two uncoverd litter boxes (two cat households are supposed to have three, but we could not think of a third spot), one each in a seperate closet. One has clay sand and one has pine pellets. We are fastidious, nay, obsessive about cleaning out the poopies from the box at least three times a day. We change and disinfect the box every 4-5 days. So WHY does Clouseau still complain?? Kitties like to be so clean, and are very particular about their bathroom habits. We had been using a single covered box in the bathroom. Convenient, just scoop and flush. But nooooo, not good enough.

So we took all the sheets, towels, and coats out of the closets and decided to give away some old stuff. I tried on some old clothes to see if I still liked them enough. Most of them didn't zip or button up. So in my fragile hormonal state, this is apocalyptic. To make it worse, I weigh myself. WHY do I do this? I guess the same reason I press on a bruise to feel the dull pain, and then press again. For the past two weeks I have worked out over an hour a day, six days a week, eating nothing but salads and fish. I count every gram of fat, protein, and carb. Before that it was working out five days a week and eating salads, fish, and brown rice. It seems as a result, I have gained three pounds. And in all I have gained six pounds since March. I don't know why. I eat nothing that tastes good, nothing I actually WANT to eat, dammit. I am so, so tired of seeing super-thin people and wanting to look like them, and never being able to without fasting. It seems so easy for so many people, but not possible for me.

So woe is me, poor me, waah, waah, waah. And I pray that I will either miraculously lose all excess body fat, or miraculously not care anymore.

Cato says good morning

new drawings (caution: nudity)

Here are the drawings I have done in the Los Feliz drawing group. Both models were great and exuded energy.
That is the most important thing for me. If someone is sitting for a portrait or for figure sketching, there is an energy that I pick up from them. And if that energy is good, I am so psyched and hope the drawing conveys that energy flow.

new paintings

Well, my friends, forgive me for not posting in so very long!
I have been overwhelmed with wedding plans, painting, and running, etc. Oh, yeah, and working. And I just got used to having one less responsibility. Here are some new works I have done. These scenes are all within walking distance of my apartment, as are most of the traffic paintings I have posted. I wanted to paint the carwash, but couldn't find an angle that I liked until I saw this one. I wanted to paint it as the sun went down and their red neon sign turned on.
I painted another while standing on the on-ramp, and almost got a ticket. I guess pedestrians are not allowed on on-ramps. You have been warned.
The other is a view at the entrance to the ramp. The signs have since fallen down, and have not been fixed in over a month.

cat behavior

Going through backlogue of pictures still. I found these pics, which I love. The middle pic is of Cato and Clouseau watching a fig beetle on the window screen. You can't see, but the fig beetle is this Egyptian scarab looking beetle with irridescent green body. It was just so cool looking! But the kitties had other plans for the beetle, I'm sure!
The bottom pic is of Cato drinking out of his favorite cup, when it's low, he will shove his head down to get the drink. Clouseau closely watched this behavior, but has failed to mimic it. He will now push over any cup holding liquid, which has changed our habits considerably. Every once in a while we will accidentally leave a cup somewhere, and hear a 'splash'. Of course Clouseau has distanced himself from the scene of the crime by the time we run into the room.
Cat behavior is just fascinating, sometimes predictable, and always entertaining. Their sleeping positions, how they chat to the birds out the window, how they lick eachothers head and clean the other's ears.
Heck, I love Mark so much, but I would never clean his ear goblins with my tongue. I do like to lick his face, though.

no photoshop

My photoshop program has a little quirk, and I haven't been able to post any new photos. All photos of my artwork need to be cropped, adjusted, etc. and all photos of me need to be airbrushed, etc. So it will be old photos for a while. When I do get photoshop fixed there will be a backlog of paintings to show you!
So for now, here is a mish mash of old photos.
One is of my very good friend Sherie, her adorable nephew, Daemion, and me a couple of Christmases ago. Sherie is the kind of person you meet once in a lifetime, if you're that lucky. The kind of person who reminds you of how good you want to be.
Another pic is of me next to the VW Bug that was our family car when I was little. I remember falling asleep in the back of that car.
And the third is of my wacky kitties. Big surprise. They love the changing of the bedsheets. They go nuts.

outdoor wedding

Does anyone have any ideas about how to spruce up an outdoor wedding? I didn't want to go get a book with the same old ideas. I would love to use ideas given by my brilliant, creative friends!! Mind you, I have barely any money, but would like to have a little fun. I posted this picture because I thought, 'Oh, no. I don't want it to be THAT drab! I know that I am an artist, but I fail when it comes to decorating ideas.
The ceremony will be in front of the Island Inn on Monhegan, with about 15 invited guests. There will be many more spectators, though. I will have chairs, and I was thinking of putting some flowers and ribbon on the chairs. Mark and I will be standing on the stairs to the porch during the ceremony. I plan to have flowers on the stairs. I would like to have something above us, but not an arch kind of thing. Any ideas?!
I just want it to be as romantic visually as I will be emotionally!

hormones

I don't know what is happening, but my hormones decided to attack me. I did nothing to provoke them. I won't go into details, except to say that Mark woke me up last night cuz I was crying in my sleep. As I was waking, I realized I was dreaming of Cosmo, my beloved late pet. He died a year and a half ago, and I still cry all the time. But it is worse when I am emotional to begin with. So I am posting one of my favorite pictures of him. He loved Christmas and wrapping paper especially.

Nature

Tonite I watched an episode of Nature on TV about the animal rescue in New Orleans after Katrina. I was sobbing the entire time. To anyone who has a pet and knows that level of emotional attachment(that level where you miss them when you are at work and are brought to tears by looking at their sweet faces), the stories in this episode are so wrenching. They are like surrogate children. So, I was speechless and appalled when they said that evacuees were NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR PETS. WHAT?? That amounts to 250,000 pets that were forced to endure the storm, defenseless, alone, and terrified. Not to mention the trauma to the pet owners who were forced to leave them. The show stated that the Humane Society and SPCA rescued only 15,000 out of that number. But thank goodness for their efforts.
If the National Guard came to my house and told me I would have to leave my kitties to the fate of a hurricane, they would have had a problem. A big problem. I mean look at those amazing lumps of furry, warm, goofy goodness. I am suffocating them with even more hugs tonite.

Cato's Detox

We have cut Cato off from catnip. Cold Turkey. He is not adjusting very well. We started noticing these tweaked glances and strange behaviors. We tried soothing him with games and telling him that the trembling and night sweats will subside. But we still needed to restrain him a couple of times when he was pleading to go to the local pet store for a fix (bottom photo). Most days, he just hides in my canvas bag in the kitchen. If anyone knows of any catnip-methidone clinics, let me know. In the meantime, Cato will be fine as long as he thinks the oregano is the real thing.

Young Joy

When I was in Florida, my Father gave me some old photos of my sis and me to scan. Here are two of my favorites. Check out my Luke Skywalker sweater and my pout. I have no idea how old, maybe 5 or 6. I think I was so pouty because my Mom cut my hair because I got tree sap or gum in it. Anyway, I usually never smiled for pictures, that's why I posted the other one. I love the shirt in that one too. My Mom might have even made that one. She made a lot of my clothes back then because the military base had limited shopping.

some new art

Here is another one of the highway paintings I have been doing. It's only 6"X8". And the sketch from last Wednesday night.

Catch-up

How long does it take Joy to catch up with everything after a trip away? A very, very long time, it seems. Right after returning from my amazing trip to Florida, Marc and Marianna came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. We had a fabulous time. My Mark and his best friend, Marc, are too hilarious together. Always playing gags, pretending to be gay, and quoting funny movies.
Marc and Marianna were celebrating their wedding anniversary, so we took them to Yamashiro in Hollywood. Amazing place! It has a breathtaking view of the city and gorgeous Japanese decor.
We also took them to Huntington Gardens, which has Japanese gardenswith a real tea house, a huge rose garden, and a bonsai garden.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Cato & Clouseau

Here is a fun photo of a young, svelt Clouseau and Cato on my art table. Clouseau was bathing, and Cato was daydreaming. Or Clouseau was doing some yoga, and Cato was bored.

Last of Florida

Here are the rest of the paintings from Florida. Pretty soon they will be on the website, along with other new paintings.
The portrait is of my host, the generous, gracious Richard Carrell. He and his equally generous, gracious wife, Judy housed me while I was there painting. The cottage is the childhood summer home of Judy. I painted that picture (and the portrait) as gifts for them.
I hope all these Florida paintings prove to show my experience there. A little pain, much sweat and hard work, and much celebration. I was taught so much by my fellow artists and by the wonderful folks I met there.