Bringing Home Frankie

"I can scarcely wait til tomorrow

when a new life begins for me,

as it does each day,

as it does each day.

Stanley Kunitz

 

 

When I read this poem I am always reminded of the day I brought Frankie home. Nine years ago I came face to face with an ex-puppy mill mutt on death row. Status: unadoptable.  She was shaking with fear, barking hysterically, and aggressive with other dogs. I took her home anyways. Partly because she was cute and mostly because she sat on my feet and convinced me she was my soul mate.

 

 

Every day I massaged her tense body and told her that I would be good to her and she would be good to me. Nine years later I wouldn't dream of going to my studio without her. She has kept me company all these years and worked tirelessly as my muse and model for dozens of paintings.

 

 

"Party Girl"

9" x 9"

mixed media on wood

$85

 



 



An Introverted Garden: Spring

I spent a lovely morning having coffee with my mom and a mutual friend of ours when the conversation turned toward health: physical, mental, and spiritual. We all agreed that we spend too much time on information overload. We write blogs, we read blogs, we research everything we need to know, and a lot of stuff we don't, on the Internet and pin thousands of images we just can't stand to lose track of. I was exhausted just talking about it.

When I got home I headed straight out to my garden for the day. I was all alone except for my Frankie Dog, and I usually let her do all the talking. She doesn't say much except the odd, "Rub my belly, would ya?" What I love about my garden is how well it suits my personality. Just as the Japanese Maples are making tentative unfurlings of their leaves, hoping winter is over, I too am tentatively putting down my knitting needles and checking the temperature outside. Don't rush me, I always think. I'm not ready yet.

 

And then by mid April, something wonderful happens. My equally shy Japanese Anenome Nemerosa decide to show up. Like me, they don't stay for long. Just when the party is getting started, they will recede for the year, leaving behind the raucous laughter of the livelier party goers; the bold hot pink peonies, the cobalt blue hydrangeas and the drunken table top dancing dahlias. I will forgive my Anemone Nemerosa for leaving early, the same way my friends forgive me. We are introverts. And when I see them again next spring I'll tell them they were worth the wait.

 

 

 Mounds of my beloved Japanese Anenome Nemerosa

spread beneath several varieties of Japanese Maples throughout my garden.

 

 

 

I'm always looking for a quiet place to sit,

 

 

 

and my favorite garden helpers are usually taking a break in the shade.

 

 

 

A Feast for Crow

If the moon smiled,

She would resemble you.

You leave the same impression

of something beautiful but annihilating.

 

Sylvia Plath

 

 

"A Feast for Crow"

16" x 16" framed

acrylic on canvas

 

$310

 

 



The Trigonometry Lesson

I never quite know what to say when people ask me where I get all my ideas from. I mean, where do you get yours from? But this week the answer really hit me. I totally rely on a combination of my imagination, a reference photo of a model and something I really need to say. This past week I've had a concussion and there were only headaches; no inspirational messages or bursting imagination. And I still needed to do the work! All I could do was paint from a reference photo. I snapped a fun photo of my son's cat Tuxedo, sitting on Matty's trigonometry homework and distracting him from the drudgery ahead.

 

"The Trigonometry Lesson"

18" x 24"

acrylic on board

 

$450

 

The original photo.

 

 

 

 

Tuxedo has an insane amount of super long white whiskers.

Runner

 

"Runner with His New Crown"

12" x 36"

acrylic and paper on canvas

 

$435

Ten years ago I was driving home from a friend's house in Otter Point when I happened across a field of Indian Runner Ducks. I fell in love so hard; often driving by and sitting outside the field watching them for hours. I forced my husband to accompany me once and he barely humored me as he sat there, unmoved, muttering something about not getting any freaking ducks. Years passed and prized Japanese Maples took over my yard as I eventually stopped thinking about owning Indian Runner Ducks.

Then, a couple of summers ago I was taking my young friend Julia to the beach with my kids. She hopped in my car, opened her back pack and out popped "Cricket". I spent that summer duck sitting at the beach. Cricket made a lot of friends and became a minor local celebrity. I still don't own an Indian Runner Duck, but I can dream can't I?

 

Matty and Cricket

 

 

The vagina Warrior

 

 

"The Vagina Warrior"

18" x 24"

$450

 

She let go.

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

She didn’t read a book on how to let go.

She didn’t search the scriptures.

She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.

She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go.

She didn’t journal about it.

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.

She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

She didn’t call the prayer line.

She didn’t utter one word.

She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.

There was no applause or congratulations.

No one thanked her or praised her.

No one noticed a thing.

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.

There was no struggle.

It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.

It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

~ Rev. Safire Rose

 

The Coolest Tech Assistant in The World.

Like a bad Kevin Bacon public service announcement (you'll never know the comfort of parachute pants, people!), I recently moped about my house lamenting post 1980's technology. No more yellow pages and rotary dial phones. It's all about web pages, blogging, facebooking, tweeting, and pinning. I had tried to build my own website a few years back and I just couldn't get the "techy thingy things" to work.

Enter my 13 year old son. Within minutes he was in my studio taking reference shots and a couple of hours later he had a working website running. It was amazing to watch him pull all the elements together. He took the time to re-create a virtual representation of my studio in blender render. When you visit my new web site it feels like you just walked into my studio, saw a painting on the wall and said, "Show me more like that!" You can visit me on my blog, follow me on Pinterest, stalk me on facebook and tweet to your heart's content. Go ahead! Mason and I would love to know what you think. And the new website is even mobile friendly.

http://www.angelamenziesart.com

When Mason isn't bailing his mom out, he's creating some pretty fantastic art himself.