We collect little trinkets on the beach near our house. I have collected quite the zoo of little plastic animals (probably from the kids down the street who leave them in the sand and then they wash over to the house here) but also nice little chips of ceramic fancy plates, the standard mussel shells and crab claws, driftwood worn smooth by the waves, rocks with holes, one-legged baby dolls, weird gear things that probably fell off of a boat, etc, etc. We recently found an oyster shell, and it stunk really bad but it looks cool. So now these treasures are bottled up yet easily viewed. Yay!

When we adopted Beppo 2 months ago he was a poor little malnourished, mangey 7 month-old orphan dog. (see photo below.) And we thought he was cute even then. Now, he’s gained some weight, grown some really soft lovely fur, and is happier and healthier then ever! We take turns squeezing him (lovingly of course) because he is too adorable to even know how to deal with. If I had to sum up Beppo’s personality in three words they would be; persistant, affectionate, and mischevious. The two dogs are best friends and don’t leave each others side for a second. It makes all those fun and trying (3am-type) puppy-rearing experiences worth it.

We’re in our second storm in the past 4 days, but honestly, it’s really beautiful. I’ll let you know if I still think it’s beautiful after the drive in to work tomorrow! We got our tree this weekend, and put the lights and ornaments on today. It’s smells amazing and makes me so happy to have a tree! The dogs both have handmade stockings, now on to ours! I have to admit, I haven’t even shopped for one Christmas gift yet. Nor have I sent out a Christmas card. It’s been a really busy time these past few weeks, but somehow it will all come together in time for the holiday. I just really want to avoid the frenzy and stress, seeing as though there is enough going on with two puppies, a new job/commute/car, and two winter storms in 4 days. Whew! Tomorrow we are celebrating a birthday for Salvi! Then it’s time to focus on the week left before Christmas. I love this wintery weather though!

We’re in the middle of a snow storm (6″ of snow already, another 6″ to come by the evening) and it is absolutely beautiful! And I love my new job! Really love it! More, later!

The dog is getting huge. He must be 60 or 70 lbs, and he’s only 7 months old. He sounds like a horse when he gallops by on the beach. But he is so sweet and loveable, a gentle giant. We played with him in the backyard today, a cool but sunny fall day. The crazy dog is still swimming in the water, it’s Fall! The water is freezing!

Interesting art installation spotted on the way to the subway in Queens, while in NYC.

Having the grey hairs dyed and getting my bangs trimmed… ahh nothing beats a trip to the hair salon!

Drinking pumpkin beer and eating sweet potato french fries. Yum!

These gorgeous mosaics at the Madonna Statue here in the Boston-area.

Getting excited about some new sketches that will contain elements in future drawings. I absolutely love the prelimnary sketch phase of all designing, you sit down and start out with so much hope and potential, and little by little refine down to what really works. It feels like playing! I have some new stuff in the works, I am going to be doing some pen/ink/marker/gouache (paint) drawings on beautiful heavy paper. Trying to plan in adding some color to my usual tonal drawings.

And decorating the store windows at Utrecht for Halloween. Boo! It’s great working with creative people, we just feed off of each other for ideas, inspiration and techniques. Happy Friday!

We found this old solid wood dresser on the street. When the guy in the house saw us looking at it he came out and helped us load it into the car. He said it had been in his basement forever. It’s old, and well made, better than any plywood crap equivalent. We talked about painting it, but something about it’s aged state makes me like it just the way it is. I love those handles!

And my friend, Sarah Ressler, did these fantastic bird paintings. I bought 3 to hang in the living room. They have great lace patterns underneath the birds, I just love them! It’s so nice to work around creative people, very inspiring. They all help to demystify alot of the elements and tools in artmaking, taking some of the fear out of trying things I haven’t done before. I think my artmaking will get a boost from this!

My beautiful boy Cowboy, is turning 6 months old on September 8th. He is so amazing, and did I mention beautiful? It has been so much fun to raise him from just 2 months old until now… When I get ready for work in the morning he sits next to my closet while I decide what to wear, and let’s out a little whimper, sad because I am leaving him. Today, one of my days off, after taking him out in the morning I decided to head back to bed to lay back down. He jumped up and hung out with me, something he hasn’t done before. I thought the bed was too high for him, but I guess if he really wants to he can jump up high. Anyway, enough gushing. Well one more thing. Another dog owner we run into at the park said the most perfect thing, he said “Cowboy doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.” He doesn’t. He’s so nice, so eager, so happy, so loyal, and so beautiful. I can’t imagine life without him! Happy Birthday Cowboy!

We’ve been enjoying some things from our garden, some hot peppers and basil. Now it’s time for eggplant, and they look beautiful! Their color and shape is just amazing. I hope our squash makes it to fall harvest time! I’ve been a little lax on watering them!

My little angel Cowboy is graduating from puppy school this week! I cannot believe It’s been over 6 weeks since we brought him home! He is now 4 months old. He has doubled in size, and I love every little bit about him. He is such a smart, beautiful and happy little guy. He sleeps the whole night through on his pillow next to the bed, without a peep or an accident. He loves meeting every person and dog he encounters on his walks, he’s friendly and everyone remarks on his beautiful color and happy disposition. He is completely potty trained. This past week he grew most of his new adult teeth on top, still waiting for the little needles to be pushed out on the bottom! His confidence has been really growing lately with more interaction with other big dogs. So along with the Puggle, Chihuahua and Shitzu (all under 10 pounds!) next Thursday he officially graduates from puppy school.