⫘⫘Gold Ticket & A Pup Cup⫘⫘
Hi, friends! New friends, old friends, frenemies, come on in and pull up a seat! Find an especially cozy one! How has everyone been? Are we hanging in there? Listen, the sun is starting to shine again. The earth is brimming with brand new life and, as the foggy winter blues clear, a new positive energy is shifting. I love when it stays lighter later. I love when it’s warmer in the evening and you can hear the insects and birds singing late into the evening. I miss them in the quiet of the winter.
I was able to finish my “Butterfly-Finned Sharky” 11×14” acrylic painting yesterday and I’m SO excited to share it with you! I think it looks fabulous! I will be applying this piece to an exhibition in Rhode Island this Friday and will know next month on this piece. After this piece, I am taking a small pause on artwork to work on a few personal projects that are for my husband’s birthday (which always sneaks up in the beginning of May). I will be painting him an accurate mini Detroit Lions helmet figurine that was 3D printed AND I’m going to engrave a memorial garden stone for our Sammi and her corner (which is this summer’s project.) I ALSO grabbed an assload of mulch and will be getting down and dirty for Earth day tomorrow! After I spread the mulch, my front flower beds will be totally ready for this season! Then I get to hit the greenhouse… and greenhouse day is up there with Christmas. >ᴗ< Our favorite is Countryside Greenhouse in Allendale, MI. I HIGHLY recommend checking them out if you live in the area and haven’t already. They are Disney World for plant people!
Pictured above: (1) Newest painting all finished (2) Ozzy enjoying a pup cup (3) August better watch out for me ˶•̀ ᎑-˶ (4) We got our nails did while visiting my folks, mine is GLOW IN THE DARK ORANGE. It doesn’t actually glow… unless you have a black light! (The cover photo is the golden ticket for my pet portrait! I’m donating an 8×10” pet portrait to the silent auction at our Arts Council fundraiser next month and this is the ticket that the winner gets in order to redeem the painting!)
This year, a goal of mine has been to make more in-person connections. It has been really difficult for me, honestly, my entire adult life to make/keep friends. I know a lot of people have that same issue and it SUCKS, right? How did this happen to us? Our lives are busy as hell. We have families, jobs, responsibilities, etc., and if we have to actively work at keeping friendships strong… they will most likely take the back-burner. Because we don’t need ANOTHER thing to work at. BUT making friends means trying to be a better friend… which actually scares the shit out of me. Even in school, I was always the reliant friend that was there when you needed someone. It took me WAY too long to realize that it was never mutual. Since I’ve moved on from cough multiple cough toxic friendships, I’ve wondered if there is something about me and the way I approach a relationship that subsequently turns me into a doormat. Because of this, I’ve been really wary to go above and beyond for people I consider friends or even people I love. But I don’t want to be the person afraid of connections and I DEFINITELY want to have more people to do fun shit with.
Phhewww, on another note. Nova’s new bird, poor Aviana, must have had something wrong with her from the pet store… She passed away last night after acting really strangely all weekend. We kind of thought she was brooding/in heat. Then last night, she could not even stand up properly and could not keep her eyes open. We HOPED she was just exhausted from behaving oddly. But after checking on her in the night, she had passed quickly. I ALSO want it known that PetSmart makes you bring in the animal carcass to get the warranty which I think is archaic af… and also traumatizing to my poor 10 year old daughter. She wanted to bury her next to her other bird. ☹ She now has a new one, his name is Cleo, and I’m not showing him to you just in case I am jinxing anything. Keep your fingers crossed, y’all! And behave yourself this week. A friendly reminder NOT TO MOW YOUR LAW YET. Just heckin’ take it easy!! Sit back. Relax. Let those early pollinators get those early flowers!
xxx- Kanda ✩₊˚.⋆☾𓃦
