ArtPact #19

(Originally published on May 14, 2007).

Yup - after many months of scraping what to post as an ArtPact, I am suddenly on a creativity spree.

Is it the spring that's sprung?

Is it the fact that after all the stress and lack of time, I decided to make time and put my art at the top of the priority list, while I can?

Or is it actually time pressure? I mean, next Tuesday I am leaving for 3 weeks in the Promised Land, and I only have so many days to be in my studio, of which I am making the most!!

On Sunday, I created another wonderful collage (which I cannot post here, as it's a surprise for someone in the holy land). But, in between collaging my self-portrait and that surprise, I kept feeling that it really is unfair that I neglected my favorite man... you see, it's been over 8 long months since The JohnnyB got the last page for his personal calendar, and this project got shamefully and shamelessly abandoned.

So, today, I made the page for May... May 2006, mind you, as he never got his May page (I know, I am lame!). Since I am hooked on collage now, and my studio is all covered with painted tissue papers, screwed-up brushes, paints, stamping tools and gloss medium (the latter is used for adhering the tissue paper to the surface on which I am collaging, and is then used to keep me busy trying to peel it off every part of my body) - I made a collage of him. Poor The JohnnyB, he got really allergic to something in the air since last weekend, consumed his Claritin pill every morning, and spent most of this weekend alternating between being miserable, cranky and napping.

"Spring Napping", Collage on matboard, 5.5"x7.5"

Now, on that calendar, each painting/sketch/collage is accompanied by a proper calendar page, with photos of the monthly theme. As this collage was drying in the sun (it was 4:30pm when I was done!!!), I sat at our nice shiny desktop, in order to create the calendar page, with the very same software I always used for that fun purpose.

It was then that I got a nice reminder that we now have Windows Vista, whose greatest hobby is to crash for no reason. That's actually not quite accurate; it's not that Windows Vista itself is crashing. Just certain applications.

Like the new and improved(?) Windows Mail (what used to be the highly stable Outlook Express), that now crashes at least 4-5 times a day, just 'cause it can, and I keep forgetting to save the Emails I compose after every 2-3 sentences, which enriches our usually-quiet neighborhood with loud juicy multilingual curses. OK, so I got used to this. But today, as I was trying to create the calendar page using the previously reliable MS "Picture It!" software, it kept crashing, as if we have Windows Vista or something - Ah, wait, we do have this delightful new product, lucky us!!!

I was way too pissed to go do it on the laptop, so - dear The JohnnyB, the full calendar page of the month of May '06 will wait, perhaps until I am back from Israel, or perhaps until Vista is stable (Ha!!! I kill me!!!).

Hasta la vista, Vista!

ArtPact #8

(Originally published on January 14, 2007).

The past week was, well, rough.
Emotionally, computerally, bureaucratically - you name it.

And, as much as I was determined to not let it all stop me from painting - it did. Big time.
I guess I have not yet reached the level of discipline that will force me to paint no matter what..
Which is why I'll never make millions as an artist, and thus depend on your generous clicks.

And yet - for those of you who do await to wash your eyes with some line, shape and color, here is something I did last year, for The JohnnyB's birthday.
It was his 40th, thus big, thus needed a special gift, thus I was paralyzed with no ideas.

Since I do not work, I felt weird to buy him something fancy and expensive (plus - I had no idea of anything expensive that would make him really happy), and so, I decided to do something that is more personal.
A calendar.

Yeah, I know - it sounds so lame, Eh?

Wait!

It was the ultimate ego trip: a calendar that's all about him.
Each month he got a pack that had a calendar page with pictures of him, a small gift and a little sketch/drawing/painting made by yours truly, all around a certain theme.


And so, January was dedicated to The JohnnyB's number one hobby:
beer brewing.
Here you can see him rolling the carboy, with the beer sizzling inside
(or whatever it is that beer does in its pre-fermenting stage).

The gift that went with it was a voice-recorder bottle opener, on which I have recorded one of The JohnnyB's favorite sentences on TV.

Very nice, symbolic gift, if I may...

However, in his eternal talent, the JohnnyB erased the recording before even hearing it...

February was about another favorite thing: smoking...
The JohnnyB somewhat resented that particular theme.
But hey, if a person smokes almost a pack of cigarettes a day, well, it deserves to be documented.

The gift that accompanied it was a cigarette lighter, shaped - and sounding - like a fire extinguisher. Very cool, and very relevant.

March was all about yet another one of The JohnnyB's famous hobbies, which is best described as causing bloggable disasters under the excuse of being a mighty handyman.
This particular one is dedicated to CherkyB, by the way and by the artist.

The little loving gift of that month was this T-shirt - which he never, ever wore, as an insulted protest.



But I compensated for it in April, with a cheery green sketch of him gardening, another thing he loves to do.

Due to the lack of success with the previous gifts, I simply went for a DVD from Netflix: The Constant Gardener. Real good movie, only not quite as pastoral as the name may suggest...

Then I came to a halt, following a traumatic visit to my homeland.


I only managed to get back to the calendar in July, in fond reminisce of our incredible vacation in the cook Islands, three years ago.
Here, The JohnnyB is happily tubing, being towed by the boat.
Minutes later, the joy turned into hysteria, as his hands were getting tired and he almost got launched into space, but the artist chose to portray the more pleasant moments of this ordeal.
For that month, the gift was a trip to Angel Island... can you tell I was starting to run out of ideas?
August was easy - our wedding.
We made it through almost four and a half years already - major achievement, Eh?

Gift?
What gift?

The joy of having me as a wife was enough, I blissfully figured out, and skipped the gift for that month...

(I strongly suggest you do not comment on this one, The JohnnyB. Tread v-e-r-y carefully here!).

Now, if you've paid attention, you'll notice that I still owe the JohnnyB six more months on this calendar...
Good thing the first one due is in May!

And now, The JohnnyB's birthday is about to happen again: 10 days to go!!!
But, worry not, fair readers.
I already have a gift for him.
I think he's gonna like it.
A LOT!

And yes, I kinda stalled on this ArtPact.
Some may claim I cheated, even, as I did not post something I did this week.

Ah well... Sue me!