by Susan Lobb Porter | Life |
And that means BLISS. And the BLISS LIST.
Oh, what a lovely list of bliss this week. It was my birthday, you see, as trillions GAZILLIONS of my not-so-nearest but definitely DEAREST best friends EVER posted greetings on my Facebook wall. Ah, I am still basking in the luuuuuuuuv, my sweetums. Positively glowing. In fact I’m glowing so much we don’t even need the lights on tonight.
Now that’s bliss.
And so is this. Portebella ‘burger’ with roasted red pepper, melted cheese. Brie? Brie? I do not recall but IT WAS DELICIOUS. Beyond delicious. It was BLISS ON A BUN. And the salad dressing was some sort of garlic attack in the most goodly of ways.
And of course there was puppy love. There is always puppy love on my list. Count on it. This week the puppy really is a puppy. Just a baby.
Awwwww…Look at that fat little belly. Soft little puppy hair. PUPPY BREATH! Don’t you just want to pick him up and kiss him! And kiss him! And kiss him!!! And snuggle him against your shoulder and KISS his little head and make silly little sing song noises like a completely besotted fool.
Don’t you?
There is NOTHING that brings your blood pressure down better than a puppy. Especially a sleepy puppy. Nothing.
My co-workers and I are lining up to love on the newest perk at work…BUBBA. Not to be confused with the late, great Bubba mine. Who was the best dog ever, RIP. May baby Bub grow into the next best dog ever.
Speaking of work…ta ta…a collaborative painting by two of my favorite students. Two of my absolute favorite people who just happen to have Down Syndrome. This photograph doesn’t begin to do the painting justice. Layers and layers of jewel tone glazes make the underpainting POP. And it’s for sale. The artists get 60% of the profits. The rest goes towards purchasing new supplies for the Neighborhood Center of the Arts. You can read all about this place here. And if you’re interested let me know.
And if you could see these guys paint…oh man, it’s even better than puppy breath. And how do you top that??? They LOVE to paint. They LIVE to paint. Totally focused, totally into it. No inner critic on their shoulders. They just PAINT. And smile and laugh and sing and dance.
And what would a week be without chocolate? This week’s yummiest bliss is the. most. DECADENT. brownie. EVER!!! It’s baked in the local co-op, in their own little bakery. And oh my, I cannot eat more than a smidgen at a time. It’s that rich. I had about a quarter of it over two days and gave the rest away to three other people. And it’s only maybe three inches square, total.
It’s. That. Rich. Which bears repeating…so I did.
Those are all good things. Happy feeling making things. But the thing that came beyond all that, beyond even puppy breath and chocolate, the thing that sent the Bliss-O-Meter over the top—
ahhh… the absolute KNOWING that this space, this studio-in-the-making, is the right place at the right time of my life.
I’d love to hear from you. What rocked your world this week? What made you smile? Share it in the comments section below. We all want to know.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Life |
This morning I stood on the concrete slab, surrounded by the ‘bones’ of my new studio.
Ahhhhhhhh… It is a GOOD space. Finished or not, the energy is THERE. The creative vibe.
I could feel it from the tip of my head to the soles of my feet. Like a humm.
My little creative chapel in the woods.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Mr. Spouse, Porterosa |
Mr. Spouse builds things. If his attention wanders when I’m talking to him I know he’s calculating the price of lumber or how many sacks of cement he needs the next day. And no, this is not what he does for a living. This is what he does to relax.
Which is fine by me. Especially since his latest project is my new studio. Here are the photos from this weekend–because this is a weekend only project. As long as the La Nina keeps messing with our winter the building will continue. I expect the snow and rain will come eventually, it snowed well into May last year and even a few flurries in June–but if it can hold off just a couple more weeks until he can get it dried in…ah, bliss.
This is taken from where the door will be. The wall on the left faces north and will have no windows. There will be skylights. The wall straight ahead will have two large windows with a counter running the length of the wall. It faces east. The wall to the right will also have a counter. The windows will take up the entire wall. It faces south.
This is the view from the windows on the east wall. The two brown buildings are the hay shed and the barn, more of Mr. Spouse’s handiwork. As is the green building which is his workshop. Or as Missy B says, “Grandpa’s house”.
I’ll be able to look out at the horses while I work. I don’t know where they were when I took the photo, somewhere out there but not in sight of the camera.
This is the view to the south. Umm…I see a garden here someday. Maybe a patch of lavender, a level little patio with a small table and chairs. I will put that idea out into the universe and see what happens. The universe in this case being Mr. Spouse because his other vice is building stone walls. We have a lot of stone walls around here. Matter of fact, the studio will have a stone facade.
This is what you’ll see when you step out the door and look straight up. This is facing west.
So that’s how studio-to-be progressed this week. I worked in Studio Grande today but nothing is ready to show. Maybe tomorrow.
Now I’m going to settle into the comfy chair and read the first draft of my friend Mitzi’s novel. A nice way to spend a Sunday evening.
There will be dogs involved.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Beloved Beasties, Dogs |
Busy day. Productive day in Studio Grande. Six works-in-progress. YAY!!!
Comfy chair time. Nachos. TeeVee. Settled back to write my post. Post pics of the W-I-P. Then Sophie got involved.
She wasn’t impressed. Told me she could do better. Said she was way cuter than pictures of half assed finished art work. Which she is.
But she’s not a writer. She’s a napper, just like Ingrid. (Read about Ingrid here).
When she woke up she decided to eat her words.
Then she went back to sleep.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art |
Heavy on the carbs tonight and now I’m nodding off to Z-Land. Or maybe it was the yoga with weights DVD I did this evening, which happens to be my new favorite workout. Comes with cool little weights and a foam prop and it’s even on sale. No one is paying me to say this either, just my thighs. Which are screaming, by the way.
Or maybe I’m tired because I was in cleaning mode all day. Got half the studio done, the room where I make my boards and paint. Thought that was the most logical place to start since I had boards to make. And plaster. And/or gesso. The boring-but-gots-to-be-done prep work before painting.
Normal people reading this are probably thinking what the —? It’ just a bunch of unArt. There’s nothing there but white stuff. Please, don’t think of it that way. Think of it as…possibilities. As masterpieces waiting to happen. And then raise your hand, jump up and down and say, “Oh! Oh! I WANT one of those when it’s done!!!”
And FYI, Art Peeps? There’s MORE of these in the wax room! But I’m not going to show you the wax room right now because it’s such a mess. It will be cleaned tomorrow, so I can get down to business with Judy Wise’s new encaustic class.
One more photo before I trundle off to bed.
More magic waiting to happen.
