Simply Art-Rageous

Last week it was incredibly frustrating to discover that “Simply Art-Rageous” had been “hacked.”  Hidden lines of code had been inserted into several pages, and while this didn’t change the outward content of the site, those using search engines to look for all manner of pornographic material could easily wind up here.

After manually removing the code from the pages, updating the WordPress software (which supposedly has better security) and going through more steps than were probably necessary, the pages and coding are again what they were intended to be.

I’ve currently disabled search engines’ ability to find this site (though it will take a while for that to stop) and although that may mean fewer visitors, at least I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that those who DO visit aren’t looking for something that’s most definitely not here.

My little Honey-girl lost her battle with heart failure and was helped to the Bridge a little before midnight last night. Before we left the house for our last ride together in the car, I watched in amazement as the cats tried to bring forth another miracle healing of their canine friend. But this time it wasn’t meant to be….

Her spirit was peacefully released from her exhausted, spent body at the emergency clinic where she was first taken in February 2003. As I told the wonderfully compassionate vet last night, while we never have enough time with our beloved companions, I’m grateful that Honey and I had “bonus” time together after the accident that nearly claimed her life five years ago.

So thank you, Honey, for being a kind and tolerant member of a household run by cats, and for sharing your bed — and your life — with us all.

Thank you for being my friend and constant companion — my “velcro dog” — for fourteen fast, fleeting years.

I hope you’ve found your doggy-friend, Spotty, whose spirit also left this earth at the age of fourteen in August 2006, and I also hope you’ve found my Dad. He loved you, too, you know.

Run free, run strong and take delight in what you discover on this part of your journey. But wait for me, Honeybear, and remember that you’ll always be my baby girl.

I have one old, small dog — Honey — and six (sometimes seven) indoor cats: Kian, Kai, Aja, Cirrus, Riley, Niko (and Simon, the grandcat). For the most part, Honey and the cats get along pretty well and there are no particular “conflicts of interests.”

Recently I’ve started limiting Honey’s access to some areas of the house by using baby gates, and I’ve been putting puppy pee pads on the kitchen floor. As she’s gotten older, it’s harder for her to wait to go “out,” and my schedule this year just doesn’t often allow me to come home during the day.

Good dog that she is, Honey has figured out what the pads are for.

You probably know the type of pads I’m talking about. They have an absorbent, white top side with a blue, plastic-backed bottom side. A SLICK blue, plastic-backed bottom side…. A slick, blue, plastic-backed bottom side that, when pounced upon at just the right angle by a running cat, will allow the pad to slide across a linoleum kitchen floor an incredible distance, with amazing speed.

I believe it was Aja who first discovered the boogie board sporting potential of the pads and now I frequently have three or four other cats who have added indoor surfing to their repertoire of athletic skills. The others watch and cheer them on.

So far I have no pictures or videos of them “hanging 18″ (thanks for coining this term, Crystal!) and — fortunately — the cats seem to be discriminating about their choice of pads, only using those in pristine condition.

Unfortunately, this means that the 2 or 3 pads that I put down for Honey’s use are sometimes bunched up next to the refrigerator, table or kitchen cabinets by the time I get home.

And on days when apparently “Surf’s up, dude!” there’s often a small “virtual ocean” in the middle of the floor…..

Hmmmm…. Ocean… Surfing… And SAND! Yep, I get to play in the “sand” (while cleaning litter boxes), too!

So it would seem that my lovely furkids have simply provided a way for me to have a fabulous beach vacation every single day without leaving the comfort of my own home!

Hey, it’s all in the attitude.

While January 1 may mark the beginning of the official New Year, I think most teachers tend to think of the first day of school as being a more significant start to a new year. I’ve been back at school for several weeks now (first in meetings and then in class) and it’s been one of the wilder, woolier starts to the new school year that I can remember!

And I thought that having 5 “preps” was a good idea, why? Again I realize that I missed my true calling in life as a “plate spinner“!

I teach Art 1, Art 2, Advanced Art (3-4), Honors Art and Graphic Design/Yearbook. I have at least a couple of different levels in each period, as well as a mix of kids in grades 8-12. I also have a lot of international students, with five different nationalities represented in one of my smaller classes! Picture a one-room school house and you kind of have the idea. Each level has a different curriculum, with different projects, lectures, homework assignments, etc. Trying to figure out what to do each day with any given group makes planning the invasion of Normandy seem simple in comparison!

But really, it’s going quite well. Really. Largely due to the fact that I have some wonderfully awesome kids!
My Art 1 students recently completed a “pre-instructional” project, in which they had to design a “movie poster” about their life. The “Your Life as a Movie” project (or a variation) is something I’ve done in past years. It’s a good way to get the Art 1s up and running while I get the other levels engaged in projects. After the posters were completed, students studied and critiqued them.

Now, after a week of instruction in things such as brain function and creativity, value scales, shading techniques, practice in blind contour drawing, drawing games, etc., the Art 1s are ready to start on their first “real” projects. They’ll be doing still life arrangements as contour drawings and then as “careful observation” drawings (which start out as contour drawings and then include shading and shadows).

My Art 2 students started with a project I’ve also done before — “Light Capturing Cut Paper Designs”. These are really fascinating. Here are two views of one of the finished pieces:

The Art 2 kids are now working with charcoal. They’ll also be doing still life arrangements. First they’ll do a drawing featuring “classic” still life objects, such as fruits, cylinders, etc., and then they’ll develop their own compositions in charcoal by bringing in objects of their choice to arrange and draw.

My Advanced Art students are working on projects using Art Nouveau as a theme. I did this several years ago and will be doing some of the same projects, as well as some new ones. Their first project involved doing “etched glass” designs on vases. Instead of actually etching the glass (I tried that once with a chemical etching product and was so paranoid about the potential danger that I didn’t want to try it again!) they used a thin translucent film that they cut and applied to the vases. The vases are difficult to work with, due to the rounded shapes, and they WILL be doing this later when I’ve managed to round up enough glass and mirrors for them. WAY cool and the results were awesome! (I want to try this, too!)

They’re now doing preliminary sketches in preparation for ink drawings:

My Honors student (just one) is working on a watercolor project. Yep, blame it on the muse, Lily!

Students in my Graphic Design/Yearbook class are finally getting to play with the Art Department’s new toys (a computer, scanner, printer, card reader, and graphics tablet) and they’re doing a lot of brainstorming about layout, what to include, who will be responsible for what, etc.

So it’s busy in all directions at school. I’ll update my website when I have more pictures from recent projects taken and organized.

When I come home in the evenings I’ve been just as busy. Most nights I’m grading homework or working on plans for the next day in class, plus I’m still “kitten-sitting” a few days a week for my grandcat, Simon. This boy has GROWN!

Picture Dennis the Menace. Picture Dennis the Menace on speed. He doesn’t eat ALL the time (try telling that to Riley) but it’s about the only time that I can get a picture of him. Little cat in motion. Constantly!

In retrospect, I wish I’d let him interact with my cats sooner because he’s definitely lacking in cat social skills. (This is frequently a problem with kittens who are “onlies” or who have been separated from their moms too soon.) I chose to keep him confined to one room for perhaps longer than necessary simply because I was afraid he would get hurt if he had the run of the house. He knows no fear and has no discretion — or common sense! He’s definitely a wild man and I’m hoping that he’ll settle down at least a little once he’s been “tutored.” (And to that, I say the sooner the better!)

So that’s at least SOME of what’s been happening in my little corner of the world for the last month or so. There’s simply not enough bandwidth available to cover the REST of the story!

Life is busy. WAY busy. Simon the grandcat is doing well — I’ll post some new pics of him when I can.

Now that the apple trees here are heavy with fruit, it’s quite common to see deer in the yard, especially early in the morning and late at night. One very large one is the most frequent visitor:

On the night of August 2nd when I was leaving the house to go let some friends’ dog out, I was greeted by glowing eyes under one of the apple trees. I’m assuming it was the same deer, returning for a late night snack.

This was just the start of an evening of “glowing eyes” and I’m glad I had my camera with me!

After I drove to their house and let their dog out and back in, I looked around for the canned cat food to set out on the patio table for the feral cats they feed. I looked out on the patio and there was one black and white kitty sitting on the table beside a bowl full of dry cat food, but apparently when the regular petsitter was there earlier, she’d misunderstood this part of the directions….

The container with the canned cat food was on the ground near the patio and there were a bunch of black and white “kitties” eating out of it!

I wish I could have gotten better pictures, but staying inside and shooting through the patio door seemed to make far more sense to me than opening the door to get even closer. (Hey, I’m not THAT eager to be a wildlife photographer!)

I never realized there were so many variations on skunk “apparel.” One was almost solid black with a white “toupee” and another one was almost solid white with black legs. Another had the most feathery, elegant tail and the rest (I counted at least 5!) were also very individually marked.

As soon as I showed these pictures to my oldest son, he quipped, “I smell a blog entry” — and so he did!