31 and having fun

Ragdoll Hearts

On the side, I make things. Here is an order of heart pendants for a bridal shower.

My new packaging is paper bags with a stamped message

http://www.ragdollhearts.com/

Jeff Koons : Cat and Poodle

Cat, marble 18 x 14 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches, 45.7 x 36.8 x 21 cm Edition of 3 plus AP 1991

 

Poodle, polychromed wood 23 x 39 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches 58.4 x 100.3 x 52.1 cm Edition of 3 plus AP 1991

I'm a little embarrassed that I am just now discovering Jeff Koons. Although, that is part of the reason why I am in school...to be introduced to new things and learn about them. He has a lifetime of work. While I don't love everything, I do appreciate his balls to try new things and ability to think outside of the box.

http://www.jeffkoons.com/

laughing and singing in the rain

It's the middle of my first semester at school in like a million years. I am beyond tired.
Musicals. My secret happy place.

smile

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri 1845 by George Caleb Bingham

 

"One of Bingham's most famous paintings, this work is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Painted around 1845 in the style called luminism by some historians of American art, it was originally entitled, French-Trader, Half-breed Son. The American Art Union thought the title potentially controversial and renamed it when it was first exhibited. It reflected the reality of fur traders' common marriages with Native American women; in Canada the Métis ethnic group formed as a result. The painting is haunting for its evocation of an era in American history—note, in particular, the liberty cap worn by the older man. The animal in the boat is widely accepted as a bear cub and not a cat."

Octagon House - Two Rock

On a drive through the countryside of Petaluma, Annie and I got lost and stumbled upon The Octagon House built in 1857 by Charles Blackburn. Come to find there are still several octagon houses all over the United States, 54 in California. This one in particular looked a little run down and spooky, but still neat. I am fascinated with architecture and historical facts. I totally dorked out on the internet about it. I found it quite interesting.

"Orson S. Fowler, a Yankee individualist and progressive social thinker, published The Octagon House: A Home for All in 1848.  In it he presented the advantages of an eight-sided house, including inexpensive construction costs and an abundance of windows useful for light and air circulation.  In New England, Fowler’s ideas and progressive thinking were adopted by numerous homeowners".

Two Rock. Octagon house. The house was built about 1857 by Charles Blackburn, who came west in 1852 in the same wagon train as Silas and Nancy Martin. A diary suggests the Martin's lived in the house by 1857. Evelyn McClure relates the following information:

He was born in Kentucky but moved to Illinois at age 4. He learned the harness making trade. He served as justice of the peace in Iowa and California. He served a term in the CA State Legislature from 1867 and in 1882. A charter member of the Grange and Odd Fellows and a deacon of the Presbyterian Church. He established a dairy herd on 326 acres in Two Rock in 1853. Silas married Nancy Cameron of Illinois. they had 4 daughters and 2 sons. Silas Martin died in 1894. The house stood vacant for a about a 20 year period, but miraculously was not badly vandalized, and was then occupied by Harold Martin, a great grandson of Silas Martin, in 1946.

Two story, with a large cupola, the house no longer has the porch which extended entirely around it. There is a spiral staircase to the second floor from a circular hallway in the center of the house.

According to information supply by Carolyn Winters, a great great granddaughter of Silas Martin, and who lived in the house starting in 1946, the seventh generation of Martins is living in the house today.

http://www.octagon.bobanna.com/CA.html

Also found a family photo of the Blackburns. Charles is the second feller from the left, backrow. He built this house with his own hands. Kind of amazing and creepy. The internet is crazy futuristic dude.

my friend Annie

http://gagagate.blogspot.com/2011/03/constant-state-of-gratitude.html

yes

http://oddfuture.com/

today i turned 4