The life and times of

me and John James Audubon.

Of course there is no comparison, but at this moment, my life and curating an exhibit based on his work is foremost in my head. I love birds, I love to see them flying and I love their little quirky walk. Since last July, I guess I have seen up close more birds than at any other time in my life, now that I frequent the lake where birds of many varieties, (mostly water birds) are in abundance But I can't say that I like using them as the subject of my art. So when I was asked to curate an exhibit based on his bird drawings and his life, I had to think long and hard about how I was going to depict one or more of his beloved subjects while staying true to my graphic style of working. So here is what I have done to complete two pieces that need to be done by June. This one untitled so far measures about 38" w x 42".

The one pictured standing on his head below measures 44" w x 32" L. The first one is on cotton, the one below on silk. I plan to start quilting the second one this afternoon.

You can see I continue to paint my long stemmed abstract flowers. There is something really soothing to soul in their creation. But the real fun comes when I start quilting them heavily and adding ink for shading. This one with several others I have completed will go with me to Virginia Beach next month as class samples for the class I am teaching there at the 54/40 Quilt Guild's bi-annual retreat.

What's happening on the condo rehab?

For one I am not moving. Why? I have the contractor from HE double L.

He put in the wrong flooring for one. Laminate instead of the wood flooring I wanted. He is using the cheapest materials he can find. When I ask for wood bead board he put in pressed board with a random width look that I did not want. When I told him to take it down, he hasn't. He put in the wrong ceiling fans. Not the ones I gave him both pictures and the stock numbers for. The ceiling fan in the room I was going to use as my studio space has no light attachment. NO LIGHT..... DUH!!! and yes he knew that room was suppose to function as a studio. He painted it white for GOD sake. The bathroom light fixture was placed off center from the sink. Just about everything he has touched will have to be re done if I want to live there. So I am not going to move there. I am going to put it on the market and sell it and look for something else. A place that will need minimal adjustments to make it functional for me.

In the mean time I will carry on where I am. After all my lease here isn't up until the end of September and I do love where I am. Having the condo wouldn't have given me a better life,just a different way of living it.