Reentry?

Testing, testing(is this thing on?)...came out of the woodwork to have a look around Blogger after almost four(busy) years. Dipping my toes in the water here again. Feel a little rusty navigating the posting process. Could also be that I am now a "50-something". Would need to update that in my profile. Just updated my profile photo--looks like my hair is shorter than it was, and my nose has grown larger. ;-)

Easter Past

Monday morning-grey and foggy again.
But yesterday, Easter Sunday was absolutely perfect in every way.
Warm sun(it got hot!),
everything in bloom(saw my first dandelions pushing through a crack in a sidewalk),
the sound of what seemed like EVERYONE in the neighborhood outside all day long.
I took a drive down to Westerly again, to deliver the paintings I am entering in an art show(will find out Thursday if they are accepted or not--fingers crossed!).
The image above is a favorite of the bunch of photos I took in Westerly's Wilcox Park--my daughter(looking like a Von Trapp girl in that dress) in among the blossoms.

More later.....

Old Hippie in the Rain....

I saw this man--long grey, frizzy hair and scruffy grey beard,

wearing a forest green toque and John Lennon glasses,

plodding along in the cold rain today as I drove down a street near my daughter's school(had just dropped her off at noon for her 7 hour rehearsal).

He wasn't really wearing any rain gear other than a blue windbreaker jacket and heavy work boots and the knit cap. He seemed resigned to being thoroughly drenched since he wasn't exactly hurrying along the sidewalk,

just walking with a grim determination as the raindrops pelted him.

As soon as I saw him, I wanted to write a poem about "The Old Hippie In The Rain".

Then, just after I passed him, The Cure's "Inbetween Days" came on the car radio and the lyrics,

Yesterday I Got So Old I Felt Like I Could Die

Yesterday I Got So Old It Made Me Want To Cry

And now, ten hours later , I still remember that and I've tried to draw from what I remembered, what he looked like (instead of a poem).

Framed Thirteen

acrylic and ink on canvas, Tina Fanning

For this week's Thursday Thirteen(go here to participate and read other blogger's "13's"),
thirteen things I have framed this week(at the frame shop).

1.) The painting at the very top is mine and I was able to frame it in a cast-off "floater" frame(the frame is very basic and actually doesn't cover any of the image) that was being thrown out because of a banged up corner. A few dabs of brown wood marker, and I have a frame for free(a perk of working in a frame shop). I am entering this(with two other paintings) into a show this weekend. This one is kind of the "throw-away" one of the bunch (kind of cartoony, so who knows what the art association will think of it), so not expecting that it will be accepted, but ya never know....


2. ) A Low Anthem CD Release Party poster, framed in a simple black frame




3.) Vintage 1974 poster in a black metal frame(I would say 75% of the frames we use are...black)





4.) And...yet another black frame, but a blue-black distressed style, with an added silver "enhancer" that I thought perfect for this painting(that the customer found on e-Bay for next to nothing--he collects circus art)
and had to hunt down from a warehouse in L.A.(according to the frame supplier, we got the very last stick of this moulding).



5.) Isn't this lady of long ago just gorgeous? She reminds me of Madonna...




6.) Have framed this one a few times...




Detail from Australian aboriginal art....

7.) Here's the whole thing(tried to show the frame--which I thought echoed the cross-hatching details in the painting). This one was unusual in that we see and frame a lot of aboriginal art from Australia(seems everyone has been to Australia but me!), but this one has a "cross-hatched" technique and the majority have a "dot" technique.

8.) A detail from an 1895 map of the area

9.) Lilacs oil painting by George Furbish

10.) Detail of painting(of the North Lighthouse on Block Island) by Burl Dawson(another local artist whose art we show and sell).

Didn't get to get photos of these:

11.) A boring poster for an event at the U.R.I. College of Business to discuss the state's public employee's pension crisis...framed in a ...you guessed it!--black frame.

12.) another a picture, which I was about to take a photo of because it turned out so well(if I say so myself)--a watercolor of Japanese Maple leaves on a branch with a striking blue grey mat and black and red bamboo frame. Just as I was getting it out to photograph, the owner of the art walked in the door to pay for it and take it home.
That was a satisfying job--a really good design that I and the customer were equally happy with.

13. A moldy old photo print of Mount Washington that I *think* the customer paid too much for in a junk shop, probably thinking it was worth something(just because something is old does not mean it is more valuable). He liked it enough to re-frame it(in a weathered driftwood-y frame) and we got a framing job out of it, so everyone was happy.

Alphabetized

image: stockxchange

A

AGE?
48 ...and marching towards 49..!


B

WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Mr. F


WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY?
October 22


C

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY?
Goetz's Caramel Cremes


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?
shades of orange


D

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BREED OF DOG?
I have a soft spot for beagles, whippets, greyhounds, Boston terriers, German Shorthaired Pointers


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DESSERT?
Key Lime Pie



E

WHAT IS YOUR ETHNICITY?
This American "mutt" is a mix of French-Canadian, Greek, and German heritage


F

WHAT DO YOU FEAR MOST?
something bad happening to or losing my husband and/or child


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER?
lilies , especially tiger lilies


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FRUIT?
a perfectly ripe red or black plum


G

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE GAMES?
Board/card games like Pictionary, Taboo, and Apples To Apples



WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF GUM?
Big Red


H

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOCKEY TEAM?
Boston Bruins, I suppose, but I am not really into hockey (Mr. F watches the Bruins so the games are on TV and on a LOT lately because of the Stanley Cup play-off's)


WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Brown

I

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Pistachio


J

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JELLY BEAN FLAVOR?
the red kind--cherry


WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE JUNK FOOD PLACE?
Where? Somewhere on the other side of town, so no one can see me go into one of those places . Oh, the shame .
Seriously, I say I don't like "junk food" like McDonalds and Burger King and if I weaken and eat burger from there I fel like crap for the next 24 hours (even seeing the so-called food on the TV commercials disgusts me), but when I am traveling, I have to have a Mickey D's breakfast sandwich for the road and their coffee(their coffee is actually really good). That sandwich will sit in your stomach like a hard lump for the rest of the day, and you'll have to drink water all day, too, but it is pretty tasty.


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE JUICE?
Cranberry, or maybe pineapple juice because you can make French Martinis with it


K

HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU HAVE/WANT?
This is how it worked out for me and Mr. F....one(and she is a good one)

L

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
In the biggest little state in the union, baby! ;-) In a very small house(with quite possibly the smallest bathroom in the whole USA)


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LETTER OF THE ALPHABET?
I have always been partial to the letter L...lovely, letters, lemon drops, la..la..la(wasn't there a Sesame Street bit with Bert and Ernie singing about the letter L and Ernie would say nice L words like lollipop and lilting and then Bert would sing about "lumps" in his oatmeal?

Yes, there is--thanks, YouTube!).

M

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MONTH?
October

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?
Just one? Hmmmm...Ones I have watched over and over are..Jaws, The Sound Of Music, A Little Romance, North By Northwest, Chocolat, The Fisher King, Spinal Tap, Next Stop Wonderland, PeeWee's Big Adventure(yes, really!)

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE MUSCIAL GROUP/ARTIST?
Again--there is no way I can choose just one--see my profile for musical favorites(okay, I'll give you three--Van Morrison, The Clash, Guster to start..)


N

FAVORITE NUMBER?
I gravitate to the numeral "5". I like to write it, I *think* of it as my lucky number, I grew up in a family of five, and a few years I found out that in numerology, I am a..."5".


WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
Tina Sabine


O

ARE YOU AN ONLY CHILD?
No..an Oldest out of three, and often felt like the Odd one


P

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO PAMPER YOURSELF?
Well, being a LIbra, I am very good about making sure to pamper myself
A soak in a hot bubble bath
buy myself a bouquet of flowers
buy myself a new book after a good look around a bookstore


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
pepperoni


Q


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE(s )?
"The most important thing, darling, is to live a fabulous life. As long as it's fabulous, I don t care how long it is." ~ Freddie Mercury

"I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering..." ~ Steven Wright

R

WHAT DO YOU READ?
Everything...I can't go a day without reading something--magazines, cookbooks for pleasure, mysteries, biographies, memoirs, novels,(no Kindle yet, though), and blogs, of course.


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
Spain --delicious Spanish cuisine and attentive Spanish waiters

S

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SNACK?
nuts and seeds(almonds and toasted pumpkin seeds are good)


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SANDWICH?
Tuna on Toast or a well-made hot pastrami on rye (I don't really like most cold sandwiches)


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOP?
Currently, a local consignment/resale shop called Chameleons-- I can spend 50.00 and walk out with Burberry trousers, a perfect-fitting pair of J. Crew skinny jeans, and a pair of fun dangly earrings.

T

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
Right now--Modern Family (scroll down.... scroll...all the way down--I am having some HTML Troubles...



WHO IS/WAS YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER ?
Miss. Beers, my third grade teacher. She was young and beautiful--she wore mini skirts and had long blond hair she wore tied back with a scarf. She picked me(!) to play Princess Tigerlily in the "Peter Plan" play we did as a class(my first ever play), and read from "The Secret Garden" to us every day after lunch. She also read from "House At Pooh Corner" and encouraged us to write our own poems, inspired by A.A. Milne. She also had a temper and didn't put up with any nonsense, and would slap a yardstick down on the desk of anyone who was not paying attention--never happened to me, though.

U

WHAT KIND OF UNDERWEAR DO YOU HAVE?
the very comfortable kind


WHAT BRAND OF UNDERWEAR DO YOU WEAR?
Whatever is on the rack at Marshall's or Kohl's (and is both sexy looking and comfortable)


V

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VEHICLE?
one that starts right up, and that takes the least amount of fuel to get me from point "a" to point "b"


WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE VEGGIE?
Beets


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VEGGIE?
Tomato


WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION?
Northeast Kingdom , Vermont


W

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK?
Tuesdays(have this day off), Fridays are good, too


WHAT IS YOUR KIND OF WEATHER?
sunny, puffy white clouds, light breeze--around 75*F

WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE WRITERS?
Again--see my profile, as it is hard to pick just one (okay, I'll give you three--Jane Gardam , Howard Frank Mosher, Joanne Harris

X

WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS HAVE AN X?
Some of these questions are xceedingly silly(your favorite kind of gum? favorite letter of the alphabet? And yet, I found an answer to them all....)

Y

WHAT YEAR DID YOU TURN 21?
1983


WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR?
anytime it is warm enough to be outside without three layers and hats and mittens on

Z

WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN

Libra (but my chart is heavy on the Scorpio, too, so there is some serious seething, bubbling and boiling going on beneath my polite and diplomatic facade..heh...heh...)

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ZOO ANIMAL?
Well, I never thought I had a favorite "zoo" animal, but the giraffes are cool and I like to watch the otters (I have not been to a zoo in years and years...I think I need to watch some otters soon)

There. I did it. And thank you, if you read all the way to end of this. Please, if anyone one wants to do this , try it on your own blog. I know--it is very junior high(the underwear questions, for example), but a fun time-waster.
C'mon, you know you wanna do it..