Eulogy For A Jeep

Ah, we sustained one accident too many, Her Jeepness and I. Today I got the word that she has been declared a total loss and I went to see her one last time in order to remove my personal possessions and my tag. I almost didn't recognize her since she had been taken apart in order to determine her damages. Poor girl. Her death was not very dignified.

We've been together for 11 years and covered more than 158,000 miles together. And the experiences we had are numerous. We've been as far north as upstate New York, as far west as Ohio, as far east as Delaware and as far south as Florida. She has born the tags of three different states and transported 3 different family dogs. She also transported many Amish neighbors all over the southeastern Pennsylvania countryside and was my conveyance the night I hurriedly drove my Amish neighbor to the midwife just in time to deliver her baby, and we drove Papa, Mama and baby home again an hour later.

I was always meticulous with Her Jeepness' care. I religiously had her serviced every 3,000 miles and repaired whenever there was an incident. The first time was when an angry man in Baltimore keyed the back of her (while I was sitting in her with my son and his friends). Of course, there was the "big yellow taxi" incident and the time I rear ended that woman when she suddenly stopped in front of me and I had to replace the "bull bar."

I'll never forget the time my son was borrowing her and parked her on a bridge in one of the worst neighborhoods in Baltimore (in fact they filmed "The Wire" in this neighborhood) and someone unsuccessfully tried to steal her catalytic converter. She was a mess until we got her repaired.

I have filled her cargo area with everything from freshly picked cabbages straight from the field, art equipment for exhibits and boxes for numerous moves. And the sand she has carried has been plenty when my favorite place to visit was Cape Henlopen State Park.

Her Jeepness has served as the venue for many a moveable feast as I've consumed countless fast food meals, apples, ice cream cones and granola bars within her.

11 years is a long time and it's always hard to say good-bye to a good friend. But now it's time to move on. New automotive experiences await!

Just Call Me Crash

"The Rental Car" enhanced digital photo

Before I moved to Savannah, my last traffic accident was in 1996. Since moving here two years ago, I've had three. This last one may cause me to say good-bye to "her Jeepness." We've been together for 11 years and more than 158,000 miles. Because she's a Grand Cherokee and because I kept her in such great shape, she still looked good and drove well. However, a month ago, someone in a commercial van slammed into the back of me and shoved me into the vehicle in front of me. At first glance, only my front and rear bumpers appeared to be cracked; but, I noticed that the doors were not closing like they should. At second glance, it was discovered that my frame was bent. Ahhh. I don't like that at all. For the past 12 days, her Jeepness has been at the body shop, taken all apart and awaiting the insurance appraiser to come for another look. Preliminary repair estimates are in excess of $8,000. The book value of my vehicle? Well 11 years old and over 150,000 miles? I'm sure you're getting the picture.

Meanwhile, for the past 12 days, I've been driving this nifty little 2015 Hyundai Accent hatchback, courtesy of the insurance company of the man who hit me, and I've been enjoying it. It's very different for me since I've driven SUV's since 1990 (well with the exception of a mini-van for a few years). I'm enjoying the ease of parking and the good gas mileage. Even Wishes seems to like it. 

I don't know what my automotive future looks like, but right now I'm having fun imagining it.

Change Is In The Wind

Digitally altered pastel, "Little Elk Creek"

"My friends from high school

Married their high school boyfriends

Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes

Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow

No I, I could never follow"*

Those lyrics have never described me; ever. And it seems as though at the ripe old age of 58 I'm still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Everything is exciting; everything presents an adventure. Once again, change is in the wind. It is too early now to reveal what, where or how, but it's a comin'!

*Lyrics from "The Long Way Around" by Dixie Chicks

Another New T-Shirt For T-Shirt Season!

One new T-shirt just wasn't enough; I decided to design a second one. "Dreams Come True On the River" is a saying of personal significance to me and I thought my sailboat collage was the perfect illustration. So here is T-shirt #2!

T-shirt can be purchased at shop crabulous!

And here is an "up close" look at the image:

Rainy Day People

So, my good friend and sister artist, Susan Amadio, presented me with the Facebook challenge of posting three pieces of artwork for five consecutive days on Facebook. Having been fairly prolific, it wasn't difficult for me to find enough artwork for the challenge. What was difficult was determining which were my best 15 pieces and I wanted to make it something of a retrospective so that it covered my entire career as an artist. 

I think it's good for every artist to go through their entire inventory list every once in awhile to see how they've evolved over time. I have copies of all the 700+ pieces I've created since I began painting in 1996. (Well, there may be a few I didn't save for posterity.)

One of the collage images I proffered for the challenge received such positive response that I decided to use it to create art prints and T-shirts. So, here it is. What was originally entitled Rainy Day, I've now re-titled as Rainy Day People. (Yes, a la Gordon Lightfoot, of whom I've always been a fan.)

"Rainy Day People" can be purchased as a print on archival paper or on canvas at Society 6.

Or it can be purchased as a T-shirt in a variety of styles (for women only) at "shop crabulous!"

This Is Where I Live

This is where I live. I have fountains and palm trees and ancient live oaks dripping with Spanish moss and warm night breezes even in March. I'm very fortunate. I'm very blessed.

Bringing Up Puppy

"Wishes" - Enhanced digital photo

I recently received an email from a good friend of mine who mentioned the fact that I hadn't posted anything in my blog lately. I was shocked to realize that she was right! I don't know how it happened that I stopped posting. I was also shocked to realize that people actually read my blog! :D

Well, as most of you know who follow me on FB, I'm busy raising a puppy and I may as well have wished a new baby upon myself! Well, OK, it's not quite THAT bad, but almost.

Wishes (short for Aloysius) takes a lot of my time and is quite a handful. At four months he's 24 pounds and full of curiosity and mayhem. He's also very vocal and makes his feelings known. He grumbles and curses and barks and scolds. He can be quite demanding. I've discovered that the only way I can eat my dinner in peace is to park the vacuum cleaner by my side at the table. I've begun to call her Vicki. Wishes becomes silent and skulks off to a corner whenever Vicki is present for dinner. 

Since the completion of all his puppy shots, we began puppy school yesterday. It's clear that he won't be the star of the class, but it's not for lack of intelligence. He's just overly curious and maybe has a little ADD, too. The instructor asked me, quite loudly, in the middle of class, why was my dog behind my chair and not in front of it like the rest of the dogs. Was he shy? Well, Wishes is far from shy, but I couldn't really answer her question. Turns out he noticed a bunch of dogs in crates behind a screen and was trying to check them out. None of the rest of the puppies had noticed them. 

So what am I supposed to be doing with my time??? Creating websites. I'm so thankful for my guinea pig, Susan Amadio, and excited about nearing the completion of her site so I can add it to my portfolio. Working on it keeps my skills fresh and because I love her artwork I find the project extremely rewarding. I'm also supposed to be soliciting new business. HELP!

I joined the local Chamber of Commerce and have participated in a couple of their events and I've been brainstorming about other ways to drum up business, but it's not easy. If any of you have any ideas, I'm all ears and feel free to post your ideas in the comments.

In the meantime, I'll be working at the Christmas shop two days a week. That's right! Back at the Christmas shop. And Wishes gets to come to work with me. Maybe he'll bark at the customers until they buy. 

So, that's some of the latest. Creating artwork is but a dream right now. Kind of sad. That's what I'd truly like to be doing for a living.

Anyway, I promise to post more regularly.