Art in Progress: Corta

 

This is Corta- she owns the same people as Dorie, the dog I posted a couple of days ago. Corta is also painted on the 6x6 canvas.

Art in Progress: Dorie

This is Dorie, a dog I painted on a 6x6 canvas which is much smaller that the canvas I usually buy. It is a challenge to get this much detail on such a small canvas but I can manage it for a close-up of a pet. This size canvas is $40 & makes a great gift- it is very easy to mail. As always, 20% of each commission fee will be donated to Out of the Woods Animal Rescue.

Art in Progress: Hercules

20% of each Meow Bark Art pet portrait commission is donated to Out of the Woods Animal Rescue of Arkansas.

Art in Progress: Bonnie & Clyde

When I was asked to paint cats named Bonnie & Clyde, I thought it was pretty funny. How could I not have an appreciation for creative cat names when I have cats named Ron Burgundy & Veronica Corningstone? You can see more pet portraits here. Pet portraits  begin at $75 (for one pet).

Art in Progress: Bon Vue

There is a little magic in this place; Santa Rosa Beach, Florida... and even a little more in this house, Bon Vue.(How can there not be magic in a place with a beach that looks like sugar?) That might explain why the clouds accidentally turned orange in my painting and the palm trees sprouted some especially colorful fronds. Oops. 

Bon Vue is available as a vacation rental & I love going here with my whole family. Santa Rosa Beach, Florida has quiet beaches & unobstructed views thanks to a city ordinance banning highrise buildings. It looks a bit like something out of a movie. It is 15-20 minutes from Destin if you want to go into town for shopping or entertainment. I also love Grayton Beach, which is a quirky little town about 10 minutes away on 30A.

Art in Progress: Randi

Pet portrait commissions begin at $75 for an 8x10 of one pet. 20% of all commission fees are donated to Out of the Woods animal rescue in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Art in Progress: Toby

Pet portrait commissions begin at $75 for an 8x10 of one pet. 20% of all commission fees are donated to Out of the Woods animal rescue in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Art in Progress: Buster

Pet portrait commissions begin at $75 for an 8x10 of one pet. 20% of all commission fees are donated to Out of the Woods animal rescue in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Time Machine: Confessions of a New Parent... the one about fake fainting.

I recently decided to show out a little and cook something different- a recipe from my youth that I had not yet tried on the boys. This is not something that generally goes well, so it doesn't happen often. By "doesn't go well" I mean there is often some sort of "sit-in" at the kitchen table with a 10 year old playing stare out with a plate of food like a 3 year old with a chip on his shoulder. So I don't make new things often... not because my kids are spoiled or always (or ever) get their way, but mainly because I'm not interested in putting in the effort if I'm not going to get a reasonable amount of positive reinforcement. Who's acting like a toddler now?

Anyway, I made broccoli and cheese soup using a recipe my mom used to make, figuring at least the 2 adults in the house would like it. Surprisingly, everyone liked it- loved it actually. All 3 boys even had seconds. This was such a shock to me that I want old-school and threw it back to 2012... I fake fainted, falling out of my chair  and landing in the floor. The kids howled with laughter and I was reminded of the content of the following post, originally written in 2013. Enjoy...

It began innocently enough. Like most other ill-fated ideas; with absolutely no thought wasted on possible long term implications. In the early weeks of suddenly parenting three children with fully-formed personalities, when one of the boys did something well, one of us would fake fainting. Soap opera style.  Back of hand across the forehead, swoon, fall out on the floor. The complete & utter chaos that descended upon our house the moment the boys arrived spontaneously rendered us incapable of foresight. Or maybe things were just so bad in the beginning we couldn’t imagine enough good choices being made to cause multiple fake fainting spells in a week more or less a day.

I can’t blame the entirety of the problem on the boys; it is exacerbated by the fact that they have a parent with an underutilized degree in theatre. I’m assuming they devote entire semesters to the art of fainting, although not much time is spent on how to avoid injury. Trust me, I have seen the bruises.

Seven months into this adventure the behavior issues have dissipated to the point that recently there were four adult fainting spells in one night. One of the boys does something great & looks our way expectantly. We eye each other wearily. “Are you going to take this one?” Flop. Off the couch, onto the floor.

Honestly, things were so difficult in the beginning that I might have considered setting myself on fire while tap dancing & singing the star spangled banner if it had elicited the desired behavior. However, in hindsight (stupid, stupid know-it-all hindsight) we should have considered a few things prior to the first swoon.

Fake fainting is tiring. More specifically, the getting up part is tiring. I’m middle-aged. I wake up before the sun comes up. If I fall down, I want to stay there. But you can’t, not with three little boys. There is some genetic predisposition I have noticed with boys, something that makes an otherwise normal adult suddenly look like a trampoline when found napping on the floor. Or maybe they just realize that you are suddenly vulnerable in one of those “separate the weak one from the herd” wild kingdom situations.

Fake fainting can be inconvenient. Like when I am walking up the stairs in the front door & down the two stairs into the living room with my arms full of groceries & my nine year old runs up to me waving a social studies test in my face shouting “YOU ARE GOING TO PASS OUT WHEN YOU SEE THIS!!” And I did. And it hurt.  You try to fake faint off a landing while holding a gallon of milk in each hand. Go on, I’ll wait. And by the way, who builds a house with stairs up into the house & then immediately back down into the living room? A masochistic builder with a chip on his shoulder & no kids, that’s who.

Also, how much longer do we have before one of them do something amazing & faint-worthy in public? It’s honestly a ticking time bomb when you think about it. Will it happen at my office? At the gas station? The post office? How long until I end up flat on my back staring at the fluorescent lights in Target?

And finally, what if one of us ever actually really faints? Will the ambulance driver find it odd that there are three little boys squealing with delight while hopping around an unconscious adult & trying to decide who gets the first turn on the trampoline?