Thank you, Governor Rendell :)

...for once again declaring National Pollinator Week in Pennsylvania!! :)

PA Pollinator Week

I was a little sad that my timing this year didn't work for me to attend any events, but am still extremely happy that he was so accommodating and recognizes the importance of all pollinators!

(And by the way, check it out- pollinator.org got a makeover!)

Art in honor of NATIONAL POLLINATOR WEEK! and a story.

 

 This one is done! Except not signed yet in this photo.

I've been working on my caterpillar triptych a lot the last couple of days and managed to finish this one about an hour ago!

Last night I worked on the little flower buds while watching "The Wedding Singer." I hadn't seen that movie in YEARS and it's such a good one! I was so thrilled to find it on (and they even showed it twice in a row)!

The paintings are also a great distraction from obsessing over house hunting / endless thoughts of decor and my imagination running wild / realizing that packing suuhhh-hucks and I need to just go buy a bunch of packing tape already and stop putting it off (but I hate to leave paintings halfway done for weeks/months on end..........)


 Um...  I guess from that paragraph you can tell how scatterbrained I am at the moment.

So scatterbrained this whole week, in fact, that I missed an allergy-shot appointment on Wednesday so I had to reschedule. They fit me in this morning at 9, and of course I was running late (I was trying to finish up the black on the caterpillar!). I wasn't speeding or going crazy because of running late, just feeling frazzled.

I accidentally went through a left-turn-yield-on-green light, following the car in front of me, not paying as much attention as I should have been- I totally admit. I guess one plus side is it wasn't like I just ran through it in the middle of the green-light cycle, that would probably have been worse. But then again had no one been in front of me, I would probably have paid a lot more attention to what was going on in the intersection. Since I ran through it when it must have *just*changed, the cars across from me hadn't started moving yet. But wouldn't you know it, right in front was a cop who saw me and honked at me and then pulled me over.

I was so embarrassed.

I never do things like that. I HATE when people run red lights, hell, I am all for red-light photo enforcement. I'm sure since I followed the person in front of me, it looked like I was saying "SCREW YOOOUUU!" to the folks across whose light had just changed to green.

So the cop asks me if I know what I did. I responded with "I thought I still had a green arrow.... but I guess I didn't."

"NOOOOO!... you DIDN'T and you almost took off the front of my car!"

Ok... that was an exaggeration because if I had looked up when he honked and seen his car thisclose to me, I may have literally peed in my pants. Instead I looked up and my first reaction was annoyance... not panic.

I get that what I did looked like a dick move, but both cops were standing there by my car and kind of making wise-cracks the whole time. They were really laying in to me, and I deserved it, I know, but it seemed like it was getting to be a bit much. I was on the verge of tears, and stuff like that doesn't make me cry. Why were they treating me like this??

It dawned on me later that maybe... it was because of.... my car. (Is that like pulling the race card? I don't know.)

They saw the obnoxious fluorescent color, tinted windows, and I'm sure assumed I was just some young punk who habitually drives like an @$$hole. All I needed was a big loud muffler. I am pretty sure that they saw the car and formed an opinion instantly and jumped at the chance to rip apart one of those drivers.

I don't blame them. I would love to do the same.

But I still wasn't a fan of feeling judged. Maybe they would have treated me the same if I had been driving a station wagon or minivan. I have my doubts.

Hydrant Hysteria: Finished!

I'm done!

I'M DONE!
IIIIIIIII'M DOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!

I am sooooo happy to be finished with it!

I think I get so excited about finishing an art project because I sit there and nit-pick every. Single. Little. Detail. and won't stop until I'm pleased with it. I very rarely call something done unless I'm 100% satisfied with it (which is why my paintings take so long). So when I call something done, it means I'm happy! :)
And I finished it before my vacation. What a relief! I still have to clear coat it, but I think I will do that after I get back- maybe touch it up if it needs it, too.

You can see the entire photo set from Hydrant Hysteria here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthasartstudio/sets/72157619272137811/

Today was the last day I worked on it. I went out for a couple of hours at lunch and was able to finish it up.

Unfortunately I had my very first negative comment about it today, too (unless you count the guy who was telling me I should have painted all the chains the same color so it was symmetrical. Symmetry.... barrrrrf).

Some grouchy nasty woman walked by and commented loudly to the people she was with:
"I WONDER HOW MUCH OF OUR TAX MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON THAT."

I sat up, sort of in shock, then yelled back, "I'm not getting paid for this!!"

She didn't look back, and maybe she didn't hear me- She was most likely too busy looking for something else to b!#@h about. I'm pretty sure that complaining consumes most of her energy. What bothered me the most about it, and ruined a good part of my day, was her all-too-obvious implication that whatever was being spent wasn't worth it. So the art of everyone else involved in the project is worthless.
Thanks. Thanks a lot.

It made me realize why so many people have asked me if I'm getting paid to paint the hydrant. Maybe they're concerned about their tax dollars... Ohhhh noooooooooo! I had to explain that it is a volunteer project and really we're just doing it for fun, but it was a juried project, there is also a contest involved, and it's part of a downtown beautification project.

"Like the cows?"
Yes, like the cows.
"And the kites?"
........I have no idea what you're talking about, but yes, probably?


And now.... Hydrant Hysteria by the numbers! Fun!

Number of job offers: 1
Number of times I was asked if I "gotta boyfriend" (no comments made about the hydrant whatsoever): 25.
Number of times someone asked me out for pizza then less than 30 seconds later asked me for a dollar: 1 (I guess I would have been paying for pizza, too!)
Number of times someone wanted me to get in his car with him and go have coffee, then proceeded to run over the curb after I laughed at him: 1
Number of times a grumpy hag ruined my morning: 1
Number of times people honked and waved and screamed out compliments like "Looks nice!": 12
Number of times people stopped and told me the hydrant looked really nice/beautiful/cute/pretty: I lost track. Seriously. Some people were so enthusiastic about it! It felt awesome. Take that, crappy lady.
Number of times random tourists took my picture while painting: 7
Number of times a guy from The Patriot News stopped to take my picture while painting: 1
Number of car accidents I witnessed: 1 (no one was hurt)
Number of times a bird pooped on me while painting: 0! Woohoo!
Number of times a bird pooped on the hydrant: 1. Booooo.
Number of spiders currently living in the hydrant: 3, ewwwww.
Number of spiders I squished: 0. Heeyyy, I'm nice you guys!!!
Number of days a lady who sounds sort of like an old, sick cat was singing across the street from me: 3
Number of hours she sang on those days: WAY too many
Number of times I contemplated going over and suggesting she audition for American Idol: 17 (but I didn't, again because of the nice thing)
Total number of days the hydrant took to complete: 6


Don't forget that next week is National Pollinator Week! Me finishing my hydrant in time for it was no coincidence.

www.pollinator.org

Hydrant Hysteria: Weekend #1

Big sunflower in the front
Originally uploaded by samanthasartstudio

I know, I know, I've been horrible about keeping up lately.
I've been getting the bugs done so late at night, and haven't given any updates on the fire hydrant painting!

I painted all day on Saturday, and also some this morning. I reached a point where I had to run out and buy a color, but of course, I couldn't find it anywhere and wasted a whole bunch of time driving around to different stores who said they had what I needed- and guess what? They didn't.

But I did manage to upload a bunch of the pictures to Flickr and added some descriptions! Here's the link to the set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthasartstudio/sets/72157619272137811/

2 Happy Things!

On Saturday, I went to get our mail and found a large, stiff envelope with my name on it.
From the Pennsylvania Governor's Office.
"Oh, crap! Now what? What did I do this time?"
I was totally afraid I had messed something up horrifically on my taxes and really didn't want to know what was in this very, very official looking envelope. Ugh.

So I opened it first, to get it over with.
Imagine my pleasant surprise to find an official letter from Governor Rendell proclaiming Pennsylvania's participation in
National Pollinator Week (June 22-28)!


This is the first time I've ever gotten something like this in the mail, so as you can imagine, it made me extremely giddy. I was so excited that I had to take a picture of it (sitting here, with the other mail, hehe). Check out that gold seal and everything!

Fancy!

A few months ago, www.Pollinator.org sent out an action request to members, asking us to write to our state governors and ask them for a state Pollinator Week Proclamation. Pennsylvania participated last year, so I had faith that Governor Rendell would be in favor of it in 2009, too. But apparently for a state to have an official Proclamation, there has to be a request for it. I didn't know that.
Another happy surprise to me yesterday was that I was checking up on some of the blogs I'm following, and one of those is The Speckled Pear. Beautiful blog, done by a graphic designer who has done a lot of remarkable backgrounds for others' blogs and offers some eye-catching and intricate Etsy Shop banner designs (check this one out, I love it: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23534282) in her store. As a graphic artist myself, can't imagine the time spent creating some of them.

But anyway, the surprise came when I was scrolling through her blog, checking out her 10 Featured Etsy Shops for the month of June. I remembered her posting that she was looking for shops to feature, and as I scrolled through the Chosen Ones, I was in a state of awe. Beautiful items, tons of talent, and perfect photography in these shops. I thought "Of course, of course, she's got the best of the best here. No way would she have featured my shop in this, but this certainly gives me something to aspire to- these folks are amazing!" As I scrolled down, imagine my complete shock when, staring back at me, were thumbnails of my art. From my store. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I am really humbled at being seen next to these other shops.

Please hop over to The Speckled Pear and check out her blog and the featured shops at the bottom of her blog... You will thank me later! :)