funky

I sure do love this time of year & I'm recently tres obsessed with the lowly dandy lion ;-)

I know we can make it
If we wanna, yes we can can

Pointer Sisters

yes you can, can
yes I can, can
yes I can, can

a go-go

dandy lion No. 5 - 12 x 15 (detail) coffee stain, collage, gouache & ink - Susan Black
zinnia No. 6 - 5 x 7 coffee stain, collage, gouache & ink - Susan Black
dandy lion No. 4 - 5 x 7 coffee stain, collage, gouache & ink - Susan Black


New in my etsy shop We're (Missy D, Oliver + I ) having a collage-a-go-go !! Uh Huh !!

Off to hang bedding & sheets on the line (sighing), plant a few cheery orange pansies and then back to the teak topped desk for more mad, crazed collage-ing & drawing. I can't stop myself.

Such a good thing ;-)

& pour les scale of new big (12 x 15) size collage (it doesn't really look that big to me now ?!? )
my trusted associate Mr. I. M. Handsome (Oliver) pardon les blur & fuzzy focus -

lovin' lately

from sunny, summery yesterday, pardon the lily beetle porn, could not resist their bold redness

• reading this lovely book - As Always, Julia - letters between Julia Child & Avis DeVoto
• last night's movie presentation (also from the library) - 5 stars from the Black Street critics
• extreme mint herbal toothpaste (makes me brush waaayyy longer)
• pina colada smoothies for breakfast with pc greek yogurt & pineapple juice
• foggy grey weather I love it - shhhhhhhh (I'm alone on this one)
• puttering in the garden, making a small (weeding, thinning, pulling) dent in the vastness of tangle that is les terracotta gardens while that darn Prince does the big transforming, the A team
• already planning my next trip to Halifax - suffering Mlou + the city withdrawal - big time
• happy to be back roaming around this little village, camera in tow, with my best gal Missy D
• falling asleep watching hockey playoffs tucked snug into the nest of down & flannel
• having the windows wide open & feeling once again that we live in a big brick tree house
• collage-a-go-go ... & I do mean go go here at the TTD* ... the dandy lion my latest obsession
• yummy - potato salad, stir fry of spinach, asparagus + broccoli with barbecued chicken

killer (easy) bbq sauce

zest and juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup molasses (honey, maple syrup, brown sugar)
a ton of garlic minced (4 big fat cloves or to taste)
a big slop of dijon (2-3 tbsp or to taste)
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
hot sauce (if you're so inclined)
1/2 a small onion finely minced (or a large shallot if you have them)
a handful of minced fresh cilantro
a handful of chopped chives

Marinate 4 large chicken breasts in the sauce refrigerated turning occasionally for several hours (minimum 30 minutes). Reserve most of the sauce and bring to a boil adding orange juice to thin as necessary. Reduce by half. Serve spooned on cooked chicken breasts & garnish with more chopped cilantro, chives and/or sliced green onion. Sweet & delicious !

just be

collage drawings 5 x 7 - dandy zinnia + just be - Susan Black - available now in la shop

do what you can
with what you have
where you are

Theodore Roosevelt

just be ... & just be OK with the be-ing ...
an ongoing project of mine

+ working on a few 5 x7 smaller collage drawings & getting ready to go big 18 x 24 - woo hoo !
happy weekend to all !!

believing

part deux - twenty more snippets of a fantastic four days of friendship

I wouldn't have seen it
If I hadn't believed it.

Marshall McLuhan

This quote recited to me by MLou my first night in Halifax
& the moral of that story ... believe in everything

believe in yourself, believe you can, believe you will, believe.

believe - in - it - all ... why not ?

Hello & thank you also to Lauchie (Mary Lou's long time other half) for the fantastic visit in your lovely home. I know he's checking in from Thailand, to see someone else's view of his home.

and the Christina Martin song currently stuck in my head + happily so

more f words

100 photos taken, edited down to 43, 25 here today, 18 more tomorrow - a la f words part deux

more f words - four days in the city with best friend MLou at her house in the beautiful woods
fantastic + fabulous, friendship, forwarding, food, fun, feeling, freedom ...

highlights - Dee Dee's Ice cream (mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone for me), Halifax Farmer's Market radishes, olive bread, samosas, tabouli + stopping to say hello + introduce myself (& 29 Black Street) to Alice in Paris loves Art +Tea, Crystal Crescent Beach - dogs, the Sambro lighthouse, granite slopes, white sand + ocean - real ocean, ceramic artists Lucky Rabbit Pottery's art opening at Mount St. Vincent's Gallery, a great hair cut at an Aveda salon, art supply shopping, used book stores, Pete's (be still my friggin' heart + pocket book this place makes me twitch - big time), a yummy cheeseburger at Brooklyn Warehouse (an amazing menu), endless fantastic food prepared and eaten in, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, walks on wooded paths with Missy J, daily reports from les Gang's protector & provider Missy D wasn't at all happy about my absence & tres thrilled to see her Mama again, Mr. Mr. Oliver too).

and a non stop a go go chat-a-thon - fantastic ongoing stimulating, inspiring, comforting, loving conversation. I was missed (which was lovely) & I am blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Merci Mlou ;-)