Summer Soundtrack

Can't say how much I really love their music. Feel like they are the official soundtrack to my summer.

Love these guys. Truly. 

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2012/07/live-from-hangout-the-revivalists-1.html

4th Annual Beef Jerky Reunion!

Getting goofy at sunset

Southernmost Mansion day

Paddle boarding Toni!

Home

Ah, the fourth annual meeting of the beef jerky society! Toni Baloney comes down for a day and a half and we make the most of it.

This summer has been jam packed with good stuff. 

And the best part... its all been here. Just normal everyday life in Key West. I cannot imagine what an actual vacation is going to feel like when I go. 

The last week has made me realize two things. I have some really great people around me and secondly I love my life. 

You really get a good appreciation for this little quirky place we all call home with a visitor gets to town. Their comments about how much they love this place open your eyes to the goodness that exists all around you. I've been feeling that way a lot lately and Toni's visit was just further confirmation.

Toni, my BFF. We had the best time just sitting around making stupid comments on facebook while she posted our pictures. I call it Penny and Toni 2.0 cause we used to do the same things sitting in her living room in Denver except back then it involved VH1.

Got to get her out and about one night and then pool and paddle boarding the next. A well rounded water day with friends from the restaurant and beyond.

Did a little more wakeboarding yesterday followed up by a burlesque show at night. Great way to finish up a pretty awesome couple of days off. 

Handing Out the Bugs

In the midst of all this fun, I had been working on getting my artwork up and out. Well, last week I got my official business cards.

When I actually worked in the corporate world, it was such a big deal to finally get your own business cards. These days I realize I don't need a title and can be whatever the hell I want with the click of a button. 

I just handed off the first stack to the local store my artwork is up in. When I started thinking of what I wanted it to look like all I could think of are fireflies.

They have a lot of meaning for me. First off, I love them. Second they sort of represent my grandmother who taught me to paint. 

She used to watch me catch them in our yard and would ask me to bring one over. When I did, she took  it, threw it on the ground and smushed it with her foot.

In my horrified state, she just said: "See the pretty light?" And there would be a neon yellow trail glowing on the sidewalk where her wheelchair bound foot could reach it. 

"Grandma Nooooo!!" I'd usually shriek. Then she'd give an evil cackle and tell me to go get another one. I'd have to decide whether or not she would do it again. The answer to that question, was yes.

Such a wicked sense of humor even at her old age. She was simply the best. So I figured, what better way to let people know who I am. 

Lets hand out some lightning bugs.

Been trying to figure out if I need to buy photoshop for better color correction. Started thinking about it after seeing the printed coloring of the logo. Ironically it looks like the color of the smushed bug trail Grandma made.

Senorita Penelope is in tribute to my trip over to Spain, visiting for the first time, the other side of my family. Its when I started to see that the kind of life I wanted was possible. Its also when I changed my  name to Penelope since Penny in Spanish sounds a lot like the word for penis. 

I've always wanted to have an alter ego, thanks to some business cards now I do.

Website and more paintings to come but I need to stop having so much fun first.

Wakeboarding Tuesday

Wait, those aren't Reeboks.

Up and running. 

Weeee!

My arms feel like jello so this is going to be a short one. Tuesday was awesome.

Got to go up to Keys Cable Park in Marathon and learn how to wakeboard. Great guys running it and really fun time. They control the cable via joystick. 

I even tried the small ramp behind me. The landing was a little "rough" but going up it was crazy good. 

Paddle board tours and working at the restaurant should be very interesting tomorrow.

It was worth it.

In Love! (part 2)

The other big love of the weekend. Merkin the Iguana! 

This guy has been coming by the Lazy Dog shack looking for treats. Kelly fed it a plum the other day and I left some watermelon rinds for him.

Sure enough, he chowed down. We're going to feed him everyday! Yay!

Good music and iguanas. It was a fun weekend.

In Love!

Great band playing at the Green Parrot this weekend. The Revivalists. Got chills listening to them sing the whole time. This is the lead singer.

The guy behind us is the sax player. Gotta love a good photobomb!

My girlfriends pushed me to go ask for a picture and I'm glad they did. In the process, I was a total nerd. Saw he had a tip bucket before this whole thing went down and tried to pull out some cash. Realized later it was three dollars and his look when I threw it in was priceless. 

Oh well, I bought a CD to make up for it. Hot damn! Their cover of the Stones tune "Its Just a Shot Away" at the end was unreal. If you have a chance to see them I highly recommend it. Band from NOLA and bad ass performers.

Sea Grapes

I finally figured out what leaves these are.

Sea Grapes. I love them even more with the name.

Was looking forward to boating today but am glad the rain cancelled it instead. This week was exhausting people stuff. Needy, crazy people stuff. Summertime visitors are starting to get on everyone's nerves. 

Seeing the Revivalists at the Parrot helped. So did resting up and just chilling.

This week in summer has been the strangest so far. Hoping the next week is better.  

You don't bite, do you?

While having a bit of dinner before seeing a movie, I had a tourist pull up a seat next to me asking: "You don't bite do you?"

"Actually I do." I responded as I kept eating.

Apparently this kind of answer gets you free drinks. I had no idea and will always plan on saying yes from now on whenever I am asked that question. 

It was either that or the description I gave of the book I had in front of me after he asked what I was reading:

"Well, its about a post apocalyptic world where the families of rebels have to offer their kids up for a game where they all kill each other and there can only be one winner. Yeah, its kinda dark but really good."

Not too sure but my free beer was quite tasty.

Guess we'll see how I can scare the new pottery class next week. I really love days off.

Sitting Still

Lightning Bug - Acrylic on Wood

Sometimes you start something, put it down and it sits. And sits. and sits.

You stare at it, knowing something is missing but you can't put your finger on what exactly that is. 

Then suddenly one day... its time. You pick it up and it all makes sense. You know where to go and it flows so easily.

It happens with paintings all the time. I have several waiting to be finished but something needs to happen first. Love how that works. 

I'm seeing that pattern in normal life too. Stillness is hard but necessary. It all comes out perfectly in the end, no matter how you view it in the present. 

Back to Bugs

It was only a matter of time...Back to bugs!! Beetle started on canvas with acrylic. Loving the canvas and liquid Golden Acrylics.

Poinciana in bloom all over the island. Its hard not to paint them.

Peek a boo!

My American Beauty moment. Cars going past were wondering who the retarded girl was taking pictures at puddles. Those leaves are so damn luminous its hard not to stop. Especially when they stand out in gray muck.

The bigger picture. 

Really enjoying the down time. Finding things to paint and working on the website which has become really fun especially now I have a decent scanner. But as it always happens to get on a roll... marketing comes a calling. 

Got a nice reference to possibly write an advertorial for ArtNews. And right before I was asked to write some biographies for the kids at work. I had two days to write 5 biographies and selling intro for the dudes. 


Glad to know that stuff comes back just like riding a bike cause I busted it out pretty quick. Felt good about it but not sure I want to deviate from the art right now. This always seems to come up. 

Why not both, I say? I know where my heart lies. Who knows maybe it'll happen this time with a dash of travel writing. But to be honest all I care about right now are...Bugs.

On a side note, how I did not discover the Radiohead channel on Pandora before today astounds me. Its the perfect music to paint bugs to.