Robin's content... :)

I've been painting up a storm lately and I'm frustrated that I can't post all of my images on Windows Live Spaces. The site's code of conduct doesn't permit me to post artwork with nude figures which comprises the majority of my work. You can read my story here if you're interested or go to the homepage of my new blog at robintroy.typepad.com to see my latest work.

I also ported over some of my old Spaces blog entries that dealt with fine art. As I dug back into my old Spaces posts, I noticed that there are some missing images. Some are missing because I was told to delete them but others seem to have vanished from Spaces' servers due to a technical glitch. You get what you pay for, folks.

See you at typepad.
RT

J and I headed into this weekend thinking that we were going to need to be nursed back into health by my 17 and 8 year old kids. We felt like we were coming down with something vile but felt fine by Sunday. That ended up being a great day. In the morning, Elliot and I headed out for our weekend ritual. (Pix above.) At the end of our hike, he and I raced back to the house. As far as he knew it was a game (that made my heart feel like it was going to burst!!) but it was really because his sister had called me from a gas station -- her car was on e and she needed some $ on her debit card. Oy!

Later J and I took our first scooter ride of 2008. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHhh..... gad! that is so much fun! It was a beautiful, sunny, crisp day. We headed toward downtown Bellevue and found some twisty-turny roads with skylines in one direction, and water views in the other. Gorgeous. Stumbled upon some parks that I want to go back to with E (if I can find them again.) Those rich people know how to build their parks! The thing about tooling around on two wheels: you are completely immersed in the environment. I smelled flowers. Flowers! Spring is near. And there were a ton of people out walking and they were ALL smiling. (I love when folks on the street talk to me -- "that looks like fun!" is a common comment.) It's impossible to feel anything but happy when you're driving a Vespa. (Trust me: Flush your Prozac and buy a scooter or motorcycle instead.)

We topped off the evening off with a lovely dinner: beef stroganoff with asparagus, rosemary bread and red wine. Lovely, yes -- but it wasn't without drama. A potholder caught fire while I was browning the beef. Flames, back door thrust open, once trusted but now reviled implement hurled into the cold darkness... this *is* excitement in the 'burbs, my friend! Whew!

(And the Google search hits keep coming...)

I'm only a few hours in to this painting so its pretty rough but I like where its going:

The background needs to change dramatically. The figures and bike are coming along nicely and will just keep getting more refined.

I made more progress on my ribbon painting on Saturday. I could work on this for an eternity but I think I'll clean up the edges, add some more depth to some colors and then abandon it so that I can move on to the next incarnation. I'd like to tackle another one but make a change in my approach. I am going to start the next one with no under-drawing. Instead of planning out the design in advance, I'd like to see what emerges if I paint one ribbon at a time and see where it takes me. It's riskier but could have a bigger pay off (such is life, eh?)

When it's complete I'll write about the inspiration for the piece and the reason I am pursuing this particular exploration.

Hopefully I'll have another start of a painting to post later today. I'm starting a new piece as an assignment for a painting class I'm taking. I have been studying with Barbara Fugate for some time now and she offered me and another long time student some additional mentorship. She is giving us assignments to work on outside of class and will be giving us feedback along the way. Today's assignment: "What is Red?" Stay tuned...

I'm taking a tip from Jim's crossword blog and using a title for this entry that is sure to increase my hits on Google! It's not all a ruse. Read on...

I've been a little concerned about my weight lately, so in addition to working out, I added a long walk to my routine every Saturday morning. It's great to get out and hike the local trails with my dogs. On the weekends that my son is with me, he is always enthusiastic to join me. Our conversations seem to be more meaningful when we're outside with fewer distractions. It's the perfect time to get to know him even more deeply and reflect back what I learn. We laugh a lot. We pause often to listen to the relative silence of nature together: a stream, a bird or nothing at all.

I always bring my camera. I really think cameras should be required equipment for Zen practitioners. Forget mediation pillows, nothing keeps me in the moment more than having my camera slung over my shoulder. It heightens my awareness of my surroundings, fine tunes my eyes and engages that place in my brain that is wired to seek and find.

Without my camera (and especially on walks when I am alone) I have a hard time not plotting, planning, worrying, regretting, yearning and dreaming. That last one is probably okay but the others can really bring me down. When I find myself being drawn into those dark places, it's such an uplifting feeling to snap myself out of it and start the visual hunt again.

For me this is the perfect weight loss plan: long walks in search of beauty. I could call it the "Best Weight Loss Plan in Many Easy Steps." 

I am making good progress on two paintings. The one below is unfolding at home -- acrylic on canvas, dark jewel tones in the background with warm orange and yellow tints on the ribbons in the foreground. The white that you see is bare canvas. I hope to have this finished in a week. I'll post a better quality photo of the final piece -- the shot below is pretty bad.

I'm working on another painting in the studio -- oil on canvas, a nude seated with her legs and arms crisscrossed and angular. Using a similar palette as the one above: orange, blues, yellow-greens. This painting will take a month to complete.

Today I took an early morning walk with my son and the dogs...

E found some ice to slide around on...

I found some ice to take photos of...

No photos from last night...
J and I got together with friends to celebrate M's birthday. It was a surprise party at an Irish pub (and he actually was surprised!) Alas, we couldn't stay very long -- we had a babysitter to relieve -- but it reminded us of all the people we need to reconnect with. I'm looking forward to that. :-)

I am jumping on the band wagon to add to the 5,810,000 blog entries on the web that contain the words "New Year's Resolution" in them. Like so many other fellow bloggers, I am resolving to keep up with my blog this year. Last year I primarily wrote about plays Jim and I saw but I think I'll expand the entries to contain more "day in the life of" vignettes. I also plan on taking more photos and creating more sketches this year which I will share from time to time. I have other resolutions: no more sugar in my coffee, take more hikes with the dogs/kids, get back to painting, find an ongoing volunteer opportunity and take a power-woman-all-for-me trip alone (to some place I have yet to figure out.)

2008 is going to be a great year. Elliot is starting at a new private school that his Dad and I feel very good about. We think that the school's teaching style is well suited for him and that he'll really excel there. I'm learning that I need to be a little tougher with Elliot than comes naturally but I have been adapting and he seems to be responding well. Shay is in research mode for costuming work that she will be doing for Redmond High School Drama's production of Midsummer Night's Dream. It should be an exciting project for her and a good portfolio builder. Jim and I are settling in quite nicely. He and I are very different in many ways but our differences compliment each other well. We're learning a lot and I feel really good about where we're heading.

As I think ahead I can't help but look back. In 2007 I reached a new, very satisfying level in my artistic pursuits. For perhaps the first time, the paint brush became an extension of my arm, I mixed colors intuitively, and the things I imagined in my mind's eye would appear on canvas roughly the way I wanted them to. Another highlight of 2007 was when Jim whisked me off to Europe. We saw old and new sights, fantastic art and ate yummy, yummy food. The best part was learning that Jim and I travel well together which is a pretty good gauge for any relationship. That trip marked an important turning point. Shortly afterward we met each other's families in far off locations and celebrated his 50th birthday with an un-surprise party that was moving and entertaining all at once. In the fall, I shifted gears in my career and left a Project Management position with a design studio (fun, crazy, salesy, intense work) and took software design contract back at the big M working with a team who is full of funny, smart people. (How many teams eat lunch together everyday? It is such a great group - I really lucked out.)

Now that I feel caught up, here is a brief entry about New Year's Eve:

Jim and I saw the Seattle Symphony perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and it was absolutely lovely. Gorgeous singer's voices filled the hall. It was the perfect way to ring in a new year that promises to be full of much joy.

When the musical “Young Frankenstein” opened at the Paramount, it was a foregone conclusion that we go because the movie “Young Frankenstein" is my all time favorite film. We went this past Friday night and by intermission I was feeling disappointed. Musical numbers went on too long; locker-room jokes were belabored and far from clever.  It just wasn’t the rollicking fun ride I expected. However I might be the only “Young Frankenstein” fan who thought so. The audience was so enamored with the original characters and material that they went crazy with whoops and laughter – even at times for the mere act of a performer walking onto the stage.

I think these audience members were able to do something that I couldn’t. They transposed Gene Wilder and Teri Garr’s original performances on top of the less talented comedic actors in front of us. The actors who played Igor and Frau Blucher embodied the original characters very well but the doctor and Inga made me wish that I was at home watching my DVD. I wouldn’t have minded if the characters had deviated a great deal from the ones in the film but these close but no cigar performances were simply frustrating.

The show really picked up and redeemed itself in the second act. The much anticipated “Putting on the Ritz” number was the absolute highlight of the show. It was an extended version of the original with over the top, funny choreography that was absolutely delightful.  The quintessential Brooks’ make ‘em groan puns were reined in during the second half of the show and even the sexual innuendos seemed more subtle and consequently funnier.  In the end I enjoyed the show and was glad to have gone. I hope that there are plans to tighten up the first act to do justice to a very entertaining classic film.

“If you're blue
and you don't know
where to go to
why don't you go
where fashion sits...
PUUUDM OM DA REETZ…!”

“Every appearance in nature corresponds to some state of the mind, and that state of the mind can only be described by presenting that natural appearance as its picture. An enraged man is a lion, a cunning man is a fox, a firm man is a rock, a learned man is a torch. A lamb is innocence; a snake is subtle spite; flowers express to us the delicate affections. Light and darkness are our familiar expression for knowledge and ignorance; and heat for love. Visible distance behind and before us, is respectively our image of memory and hope.”

So I wonder what the meaning of mushrooms is."

Read the full blog entry here along with some of his lovely photos of mushrooms:
http://frankwinters.wordpress.com/2007/06/13/the-meaning-of-mushrooms/

I like the first photo -- the 'shrooms look like a couple Hobbit homes nestled in a wee forest.
There's also another set that looks like they reside on another planet. Nifty!

Hugo thought about his father's description of the automation. "Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason?" he asked Isabelle. "They are built to make you laugh, like the (wind-up) mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do."

Isabelle picked up the mouse, wound it again, and set it down.

"Maybe it's the same with people," Hugo continues. "If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken."