my love for you.

Happy New Year.

Ok, I said that I would be back this week with posts, well...I lied. I'm sorry about that. I know you all understand, what with the holidays and all. I know you hear me barking, big dog and you'll let it slide cause you're good like that.

I hope you all have a lovely and safe New Year's. Thank you all so much for continually coming by the blog, leaving comments, sending me emails and your overall encouragement. I can not begin to explain what it means to me. This blog would not exist the way it does with out your continued support. Thank you.

Let's put 2009 to bed and start 2010 off right. Here's to a new decade; full of creative energy, new and old friendships, better mistakes and above all love. This will be our year, friends.

**above print by Mike Monteiro at 20x200.

Happy Holidays!

I just gleaned this image from Anno Domini's  latest show Fresh Produce. I love the folkloric vibe this piece by Binho Martins gives off. I especially love how it says 'Free'. I think it perfectly captures the spirited season right now. It's been a bit of a long Fall and I am delighted the holidays are here. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful and truly loving holiday season. I will see you all next Monday with visions of sugar plums only for you. LOVE.

p.s. Don't forget to leave a comment on the stellar give-a-way above! Don't tell anyone...but I hope you win!

Shelley Reed.

Shelley Reed's incredible oil paintings pay a sort of homage to such masters as Gillis d'Hondecoeter, Jean Baptiste Charles Claudot , Alexandre-François Desportes and Gérard de Lairesse. She uses art history literally as her muse. Her larger pieces are epic being as large as six and a half feet tall to five feet wide. I am blown away by the depth and beauty within her work. Absolutely stunning.

"What You're Doing To Me Now - I Want Done Forever."

I just received this beautiful print from Mark Warren Jacques. It couldn't come at a better time. I love everything about it, the name, the colors, the moons, the symbolism. I know exactly where I am going to put it. You can get a copy for yourself or someone you love here. Also, check out this great video of Mark talking about art and skating:

Beth Cavener Stitcher.

Wow, was what came out of my mouth when I first saw Beth Cavener Stitcher's arresting sculptures. My friend Dagan had sent me an email asking me if I was familiar with her work, attaching a link for me to peruse. Scrolling through her years of work I felt like I had let myself down in some way not knowing about Beth's work. Mind you my friend had followed up his first question with: "because you should be if you aren't." Ugh, I know!

Initially when I look at work, I gauge how quickly my mind starts to wander as I take a piece in. I really pay attention to my visceral reaction. Beth's work sent my mind into emotional overdrive. I had so many questions, ideas, thoughts. I was simply blown away. I am absolutely taken with how she translates human emotion through the animals she creates. Exploring body language as a metaphor, she portrays her animal subjects as 'human psychological portraits':

"The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality" 

The piece above, A Second Kind Of Lonliness, is probably one my favorites of Beth's. Every eight seconds a breath is released from the goat's mouth and the pinwheel spins. SO many levels of awesome.