cat behavior

Going through backlogue of pictures still. I found these pics, which I love. The middle pic is of Cato and Clouseau watching a fig beetle on the window screen. You can't see, but the fig beetle is this Egyptian scarab looking beetle with irridescent green body. It was just so cool looking! But the kitties had other plans for the beetle, I'm sure!
The bottom pic is of Cato drinking out of his favorite cup, when it's low, he will shove his head down to get the drink. Clouseau closely watched this behavior, but has failed to mimic it. He will now push over any cup holding liquid, which has changed our habits considerably. Every once in a while we will accidentally leave a cup somewhere, and hear a 'splash'. Of course Clouseau has distanced himself from the scene of the crime by the time we run into the room.
Cat behavior is just fascinating, sometimes predictable, and always entertaining. Their sleeping positions, how they chat to the birds out the window, how they lick eachothers head and clean the other's ears.
Heck, I love Mark so much, but I would never clean his ear goblins with my tongue. I do like to lick his face, though.

no photoshop

My photoshop program has a little quirk, and I haven't been able to post any new photos. All photos of my artwork need to be cropped, adjusted, etc. and all photos of me need to be airbrushed, etc. So it will be old photos for a while. When I do get photoshop fixed there will be a backlog of paintings to show you!
So for now, here is a mish mash of old photos.
One is of my very good friend Sherie, her adorable nephew, Daemion, and me a couple of Christmases ago. Sherie is the kind of person you meet once in a lifetime, if you're that lucky. The kind of person who reminds you of how good you want to be.
Another pic is of me next to the VW Bug that was our family car when I was little. I remember falling asleep in the back of that car.
And the third is of my wacky kitties. Big surprise. They love the changing of the bedsheets. They go nuts.

outdoor wedding

Does anyone have any ideas about how to spruce up an outdoor wedding? I didn't want to go get a book with the same old ideas. I would love to use ideas given by my brilliant, creative friends!! Mind you, I have barely any money, but would like to have a little fun. I posted this picture because I thought, 'Oh, no. I don't want it to be THAT drab! I know that I am an artist, but I fail when it comes to decorating ideas.
The ceremony will be in front of the Island Inn on Monhegan, with about 15 invited guests. There will be many more spectators, though. I will have chairs, and I was thinking of putting some flowers and ribbon on the chairs. Mark and I will be standing on the stairs to the porch during the ceremony. I plan to have flowers on the stairs. I would like to have something above us, but not an arch kind of thing. Any ideas?!
I just want it to be as romantic visually as I will be emotionally!

hormones

I don't know what is happening, but my hormones decided to attack me. I did nothing to provoke them. I won't go into details, except to say that Mark woke me up last night cuz I was crying in my sleep. As I was waking, I realized I was dreaming of Cosmo, my beloved late pet. He died a year and a half ago, and I still cry all the time. But it is worse when I am emotional to begin with. So I am posting one of my favorite pictures of him. He loved Christmas and wrapping paper especially.

Nature

Tonite I watched an episode of Nature on TV about the animal rescue in New Orleans after Katrina. I was sobbing the entire time. To anyone who has a pet and knows that level of emotional attachment(that level where you miss them when you are at work and are brought to tears by looking at their sweet faces), the stories in this episode are so wrenching. They are like surrogate children. So, I was speechless and appalled when they said that evacuees were NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE THEIR PETS. WHAT?? That amounts to 250,000 pets that were forced to endure the storm, defenseless, alone, and terrified. Not to mention the trauma to the pet owners who were forced to leave them. The show stated that the Humane Society and SPCA rescued only 15,000 out of that number. But thank goodness for their efforts.
If the National Guard came to my house and told me I would have to leave my kitties to the fate of a hurricane, they would have had a problem. A big problem. I mean look at those amazing lumps of furry, warm, goofy goodness. I am suffocating them with even more hugs tonite.

Cato's Detox

We have cut Cato off from catnip. Cold Turkey. He is not adjusting very well. We started noticing these tweaked glances and strange behaviors. We tried soothing him with games and telling him that the trembling and night sweats will subside. But we still needed to restrain him a couple of times when he was pleading to go to the local pet store for a fix (bottom photo). Most days, he just hides in my canvas bag in the kitchen. If anyone knows of any catnip-methidone clinics, let me know. In the meantime, Cato will be fine as long as he thinks the oregano is the real thing.

Young Joy

When I was in Florida, my Father gave me some old photos of my sis and me to scan. Here are two of my favorites. Check out my Luke Skywalker sweater and my pout. I have no idea how old, maybe 5 or 6. I think I was so pouty because my Mom cut my hair because I got tree sap or gum in it. Anyway, I usually never smiled for pictures, that's why I posted the other one. I love the shirt in that one too. My Mom might have even made that one. She made a lot of my clothes back then because the military base had limited shopping.

some new art

Here is another one of the highway paintings I have been doing. It's only 6"X8". And the sketch from last Wednesday night.

Catch-up

How long does it take Joy to catch up with everything after a trip away? A very, very long time, it seems. Right after returning from my amazing trip to Florida, Marc and Marianna came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. We had a fabulous time. My Mark and his best friend, Marc, are too hilarious together. Always playing gags, pretending to be gay, and quoting funny movies.
Marc and Marianna were celebrating their wedding anniversary, so we took them to Yamashiro in Hollywood. Amazing place! It has a breathtaking view of the city and gorgeous Japanese decor.
We also took them to Huntington Gardens, which has Japanese gardenswith a real tea house, a huge rose garden, and a bonsai garden.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Cato & Clouseau

Here is a fun photo of a young, svelt Clouseau and Cato on my art table. Clouseau was bathing, and Cato was daydreaming. Or Clouseau was doing some yoga, and Cato was bored.

Last of Florida

Here are the rest of the paintings from Florida. Pretty soon they will be on the website, along with other new paintings.
The portrait is of my host, the generous, gracious Richard Carrell. He and his equally generous, gracious wife, Judy housed me while I was there painting. The cottage is the childhood summer home of Judy. I painted that picture (and the portrait) as gifts for them.
I hope all these Florida paintings prove to show my experience there. A little pain, much sweat and hard work, and much celebration. I was taught so much by my fellow artists and by the wonderful folks I met there.