Abstract painter, playwright, storyteller, online person. Xingcat everywhere, including MetaFilter. Buy my original abstract art at https://xingcat.bigcartel.com/
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I am so very excited that my work, "Trashed Heart," which I donated for sale at a local art association, is the second-highest bid after opening day. I've never sold anything in a gallery setting before, so this would be a terrific opportunity to show that my art has value to that audience.
I would buy an abandoned mall and turn it into a place where I could live, do art, and let lots of small creative businesses do their thing without the need for rent.
This popped up as a suggestion on my YouTube page, and it's 1000% my kind of thing. Just taking scraps and going with the flow and making an architectural and artistic masterpiece on the fly. youtu.be/O4KbpeP1Lmo?...
Gorgeous! Mom grows "dinner plate dahlias," which are HUGE. They're such a stunning flower.
We're moving our moving things in a moving way.
I've been painting abstracts for a few years, and have been trying to make flower abstracts lately. This is fantastic inspiration. Just gorgeous.
Okay, this look has caused me to double-take in a way I generally don't with my internet pals. Whew!
I managed to snag another of my beloved rusty brake shields in the parking lot of the Burlington Players the other day. The rest of these rusty metal things and other detritus has been collected over my walks during the month of August. All will be incorporated into artworks soon.
I whipped up a quick "flagstone" patio (it is too bright, but I need it to dry completely before applying a dark wash over the top) for a stage set I'm dressing and played around with Christmas ornaments for upcoming holiday fairs. A good day of painting.
It's like all the Squid Games media that came out, saying, "This amazing critique of capitalism is brutal, thought-provoking, and NOW A RIDE AT SIX FLAGS!!!"
That is gorgeous!
If you see this, quote post your cat art š± #catsofbsky #acrylicpainting #art
This makes me think of your Dad, LOL.
That would be amazing! Message me about what you'd charge for that. I think having a Hoodsie cup on my desk for change and stuff would be terrific.
OMG, that's fantastic! Is the cup a cardboard Hoodsie cup or is it a ceramic cup that looks like a Hoodsie? Because I NEED THAT CUP if it's the latter!
I donated a very large work of mine (the one on the left, it's called "Trashed Heart") to my art association's fundraiser auction. I'm hoping it sells for anything at all, but mostly, I love seeing my work hung among other accomplished artists' works.
Yeah, I have such a sweet tooth and love breads and carbs a lot, which is probably much less easily gotten over as I've gotten older.
Yeah, maybe set some rules that say that the door closed in the office/bedroom means, "I need to be alone for a bit"?
Another reason I wish we were geographically closer...we could be loser buddies!
I'd say make physical spaces where it's well established that's where any of you can retreat to just get away without any explanation. Like, have a coffee machine and a microwave set up in her room, or put a desk in a larger closet or something? Just someplace that's a "cone of silence."
I love the fact that, with every year that passes, the glitches and odd aspect ratio and static makes less and less sense to people who never had any experience with VHS tapes, and yet, it's all still so important to the found footage genre.
Like, I've watched several, "I got this guy to a smaller size in 90s days" videos, and I'm all, "Yeah, when I was 27 like the subject of this one, I just had to take the stairs and stop drinking soda," and now I'm counting macros? MACROS?
I hadn't realized how much emphasis on ALL THE PROTEIN is being touted now. I'm paying attention, because I know muscle mass tends to diminish as we age, and I've been in AARP for 7 years now.
(TW: weight stuff.) I've gained about 20 pounds in a year, mostly from doing theater (bad eating times) so I'm trying to drop some. Every "reducing your body size thru diet and exercise" thing online is for people in their 20s-30s, which, I have to tell you, is MUCH easier than in your late 50s.
Heh, that's the line in the play! "Too much vinegar," for the one with the big pile still on the plate.
I'm at the "gluing individual peas and pieces of coleslaw" portion of prop making. This is the second show that's coming up where I've made and glued fake food to things. I'm developing a niche!
Painting drop! The BIG Rocking Chair, Austinburg, OH.
Did I manage to find another beautifully rusted brake shield on our travels? Yes. Have I carried a dirty, rusted piece of metal around Cleveland? Also yes.
Painting drop! Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland OH.
Thank you so much! The joy is in the making, but I do love the acknowledgement.
I won a couple of awards tonight for the work I did on "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: the Musical." I am very firmly on a non-competitive stance when it comes to theater, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flattered to win two separate awards for the things I build.
Last night, I hung out with a friend and we did a little bit of casual painting. I like this little winter landscape, even though itās very loose and I used random colors.
Art drop! A little winter scene in Newburyport, MA.
Dropped off my āTrashed Heartā to Newburyport Art Association for their annual auction, and am working a shift here, meeting other artists dropping off their work today.
I swear, I have the only cats in the world who are SCARED of Churru. They will eat it, if I squeeze it into their dishes, but if it's in the little tube? DANGER! DANGER!
If you see this, post your art with clouds! āļø
Oh, wow! That looks delicious.
OMG, how did I miss this? It's so piggy cute!!!!
I am back at the Providence Flea today from 11-3! Stop by and get some art!!
Playing around with some small studies using the idea of the Northern Lights in winter. These will be in my ālittle artā area at the Providence Flea tomorrow, 8/17, in Providence, RI!
It's GORGEOUS!
My @chloecumming.bsky.social puffin artwork arrived, and it is so much more vibrant and beautiful than the online photo even showed. I shall frame it and put it in a place of honor on my walls.
Available for purchase: xingcat.bigcartel.com/product/mete...
"Meteor Strike." Acrylic and spray paint on repurposed canvas. 13.5"x10.5"x3."
Easy. Friday the 13th. I turn in my notice for camp counselor and work at the gas station down the road.
A very tiny study for an idea I have. I was thinking about a bonfire, but this hits me more like a meteor strike. Going to attempt something like this on a larger scale tomorrow.
Gorgeous!!
This past week has been spent concentrating on theater props and running a show for friends of mine, so I took a little time to make a purely alien, abstract, textured, colorful, shiny piece. I like it, even if it doesn't have a particular buyer in mind.
Back in the early 90s, I managed a Godiva mall store, and my district manager showed us all a photo of her wedding day, where the piano player at the ceremony was the pastor's daughter, a very young Tori Amos. I have literally no reason to tell this story except I think it's neat.
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Thanks so much! Itās a simple design, but roots are fun to paint.
The play is set in a graveyard, so the boxes are shaped like coffins and have fake grass and tiny bouquets inside.
Some wee little boxes I painted and added some detail inside for an original play I stage managed, to give to the actors as opening night gifts. They liked them.
Humidity, but make it FASHION.
I am not a doctor, and I am not YOUR doctor, but as someone who is Of An Age, I have experienced Overnight Body Hurt Syndrome several times.
See, I thought of Charo.
I bought one of those Pillow Cubes years ago, and it changed my sleep entirely. I doubted it forever, but one change in sleeping position can do wonders.
A beautiful episode about a couple who wanted nothing more than to be with one another, even while stranded at sea: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
I've been watching Chris Stuckmann reviews forever, and always enjoyed his YouTube content, and I knew he was working on Shelby Oaks, and it's ridiculous to be proud of someone I don't know, but good for him...a theatrical release! youtu.be/uIptaJR3v08?...
It always blows my mind, being able to hold a published book by someone I actually know!
Congratulations to Suzanne Palmer @zanzjan.bsky.social on her newest upcoming novel, "Ode to the Half-Broken." Back in our UMSFS (UMass Science Fiction Society) days, who'd have thought that you'd have enough novels to fill a section of the library? reactormag.com/cover-reveal...
Ooh! Love the colors!!
I love the author making up women writing in and then getting mad at how badly theyāre acting.
This weekās @ifbookspod.bsky.social is about Heās Just Not That Into You is fun and snappy, and also hints that Peter might never have watched a magician? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
This week's flea market went fairly well! A decent number of sales, though the items were fairly lower-priced (expected, but I do need to put something in the $20 range that feels a bit more substantial, I think). Taking less inventory with me worked out. Everyone was very nice, too!
This market has been pretty good with sales, but very nice with compliments on my art, especially the moons and planets I make with found rusted objects. If youād like a moon of your own, theyāre available on my site: xingcat.bigcartel.com/category/moo...
āDistance makes the hot get stronger,ā is a saying for a reason!
Thatās terrifying. Iām so sorry.
A much leaner, more open tent this show at the Providence Flea. Iāve already had a good number of people walk through, which is hopeful.
It's kind of a museum, but also a store? The Cabbage Patch....mansion? in Georgia, which is WILD and CREEPY and very, very fun, but also disturbing.
I bid you strength in your battle with the pickle worm!
My god, 44 years ago today. I don't know if there's anything that captured the American teenage psyche so instantly as the launch of MTV. They had about 5 music videos that rotated forever, totally earnest VJs you got to know, and you'd watch it for HOURS. youtu.be/oVrEzH9gkZk?...
I beg of men who wish to bed a lady...find exactly ONE THING ladies like that you can like too and do that and learn to talk about it and you shall henceforth not be "lonely" for much longer. Be nice and take interest....it's not that complex.
Ew, yes. He's scrubbed out of my memory whenever I can accomplish that.
Are PUAs still a thing? I thought they died off in a big explosion of feathered hats and goggles.
I think that was the rule for our presentations back when I made PowerPoint slides for a bunch of consultants at the big consulting agency.
Listening to straight guys discussing "hydration ratios" was one of the hardest parts of the whole pandemic. (Not really, but sort of.)
I Knit On Your Grave
Iām not sure if these acrylic paint junk hearts are fabulous or āHome Goods clearance aisle,ā but I kind of love them.
Chloe's art is weird and colorful and inventive and gorgeous and you should buy some.
As seems to happen when I make stock for an upcoming fair, someone asked how to buy my newest work, so here's a listing for the Night Sky paintings I've made recently. xingcat.bigcartel.com/product/fram...
Aw, poor Cheech!
One of my friends was in another Boston band called Mistle Thrush (I met her just past the 90s, so after she toured) so I have no excuse to forget any women-led 90s Boston-area alterna band ever, LOL. youtu.be/BTiXmK2lCmo?...
An album I used to have on endless repeat (being a good 90s rock station customer) was Tribeās āAbort,ā which I seem to have memory holed since I went from CD to digital. youtu.be/cbvOqgR8eS0?...
Isn't that just "Kevin Can F**k Himself"?
Got my @nikostratis.com T-shirt today, so an obligatory terrible selfie in it. Though I think girls may have invented England, as well (obligatory Dad joke).
Karolina Zebrowska's old time advice columnist is the best thing about today. youtu.be/fjb9JYHfsls?...
Oh, wow! SUPER FAMOUS!
One thing I'm starting to learn is that art doesn't need to be groundbreaking or technically impressive to make people feel something. The biggest seller at my last event were little frames like these with simple nightscapes/landscapes in them, so I'm making more, and they're really growing on me.
OMG! That's magical.
I took a course in fashion merchandising, which was really fun. At the time (the late 80s), one rule was that the only area of the country that sold clothes in Kelly green was New England, because it was associated with St. Patrickās Day and, weirdly, old money.
The hardest part of most bulbs, I find, is getting your hand into the right place, if it's a bit tight. Otherwise, pretty easy.
Back in the 80s when the Thompson Twins were big, I dyed my hair bright red, like Tom Bailey had at the beginning. I had to use Kool Aid, because we didn't have great hair dye in my area.
Very blurry video in the theater's basement of me showing the props person how it works.
When asked to make a bird whose head can be ripped off and blood can spurt out of the neck, start with an ear syringe! Add some foam and sew a cute little bird with a head (styrofoam ball under the head for stability), then you can add liquid, pop off the head, and voila!
Many years ago when @travelswithbrindle.bsky.social and I collaborated on a video for a Tom Lehrer song. Memories! BRAINS!!
Aww! The zombie! Such a fun time!!
This is so long and thin that getting a good photo is proving difficult. I love the idea of a garden dissembling into abstract colors. This is a good first attempt.
If you have an older man in your life who had a partner for a long time and lost them, the speed with which the available pool of partners find him and make themselves known can be pretty amazing, especially if those partners are widowed women of about the same age. Let new love happen!
Attack toy! Attack....self!