dogs. yes.

Dogs make life great. They really do. Think about it. When you come home from work/school/whatever, they are ALWAYS happy to see you. Tails wagging, tongue flopping, rear wiggling (in Myrtle's case), bounding up and down, they just make you feel l-o-v-e-d. As Norah Jones says in her dilemma over men and dogs (she chose the dog):

"I chose you, because you’re sweet and you give me lots of lovin’ and you eat meat.."

Yep, pretty much (sorry Dave). Sometimes Myrtle's little mannerisms make me think she was human in another life. But my spiritual oddities aside, their genuine souls and uncanny ability to love unconditionally make it impossible to be in a bad mood. Pretty sure liking dogs is a requirement to be my friend. Just sayin'. Lucky me, I've got friends with some pretty dang cute canines. Even luckier, I've gotten some pretty dang cute shots lately:

Miss Myrtle

Lenny

Eloise

Edna

Stella

Lucy

Drover

 Segen

...and Myrt again. You're lucky I narrowed it down to just two of her mug shots.

Cheers,

SK

new year, old me.

I read something today that said "if you love something, it never goes out of style." True that. I also feel that if you love something, a little part of it will always stay with you. In my case, the same could be said for all things art and design. We had a brief falling out circa 2007-2009, but our love has rekindled with full force. The root of our disagreement was "selling out," making art for others, scheduling time for creativity...yadah yadah yah (oh the sob stories of the tortured artist). I wanted to rebel from commercial art. So I did. But I couldn't stay away. It hunted me down and said "you love me, remember?" Well, that and my dearest mother provided me with a fabulous new camera. Dusting off my shooting finger (hadn't been in a dark room since high school), along with a little good ol' fashioned self (re)discovery, I realized I'd been running away from a life that was a part of me. I LOVE ART. I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY. I LOVE DESIGN.  Oh my. That feels goo-ood.


I recently spent two whole weeks exploring the Pacific NW with two of my favorite people on this here planet. Among the fabulous food, architecture, culture, etc., we did some serious down and dirty museum hopping. Brilliant textile shows, photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson...swoon) and modern art to the max. The big one though, was a whopping 12 galleries of Picasso's work. 


This further unveiled my great appreciation for the life I turned my back on for two years. Picasso was one of the first artists to be recognized for work that expressed what he felt, not some perfect rendition of 'reality.' Referring to Picasso's brilliance, Andre Salon raved: 

"Art will at last be fused with life, not that we have at last ceased to try to make life fuse with art." 

His work left me reeling with awe. To get close enough to the work of someone who was so revolutionary, seeing his pencil lines, brush strokes and stray bristles stuck in the paint was so beautifully inspiring.


Picasso, along with zillions of other artists, showed the world that art is an expression of your soul, not some unattainable pedestal of perfection. He once told a critic that: 

"Painting is stronger than me, it makes me do what it wants."

So let your art do what it wants. It's begging you. Check out the latest edition of Rue Magazine (http://www.ruemag.com/), too. It's a smashing ode to all things art and design.

Cheers,
SK