Looking back at 2009

I wanted to capture the year in pics... but of course that would be an impossible project... So here are some that bring back happy memories for me.

Hydroharvestfarms.com

If you are in the Tampa Bay, FL area... now is a great time to pick strawberries. And if you don't want to pick them... you can just go there and buy them.... prepicked.

1101 Shell Point Rd E
Ruskin, FL 33570
813.645-6574

Today we did... what has become a Zee family tradition... picked strawberries during winter break. Then I made jam. I only made four batches of jam so it seems to me that we should of picked more... We'll see how long these batches last. The problem is Ted... he'll wipe out a whole jar in one setting... slathering it on his toast as a special feast. Can I complain? No, of course not. It's my duty to make the jam and his to eat it. It's so much better then even the best jams you can buy at the store. But perhaps I am partial. Yes, I think I am.

I'm exhausted. Just want to chill... not have to worry about mail art or art or kids or messy sticky kitchen floor... Now, who stepped on grapes and just left them? Wasn't me. Yeah, yeah... that's what they all say. Sticky mess... Jam making is almost totally cleaned up.... just a few lids to put away... for next time. And all the empty jars that the kids were using as drinking glasses are all filled up again with the red concoction. (you know after they were washed and boiled)

Secret Admission #3

Secret admission #3

I like rich, chocolately, Ovaltine with lowfat milk.

The Ovaltine man is ok. I'm not too hip on him.

Just give me the chocolate powder and leave the man out of this.

this morning's tsuff.

sewing on printed silk.
mail art, photo montage...
It's not done yet...
phase one.
And will eventually mail it out.
To one lucky recipient.

Did you know that people get annoyed with receiving my mail art?
Yes, it's true.
My mail art is a burden.
I have to find new addresses.
New people to bother.

What am I saying? I have more addresses than I can fulfil.

60 degrees warm enough to go to the beach...

sun warmed my back.
crumbcakes ran barefoot.
mini watercolor fantasy
bikini vs. sweater, cap and scarf, jeans, socks, tennis shoes... all meant to keep that heat in.
We landed on the moon...
You come too?
desert before dinner.
Mom, Aunt, Artist, Maid.
Today all.
Beaming day.
And my scarf smells like beach.

mail art heading out...

I just
I just don't
I just don't know what to say anymore.

Lost in a sea of stamps and chores

Dark curtain is closing
I don't want to go back there.
I want to save myself
Misery's hand is so warm
Like fresh blood from a wound

This pressure on my heart
that forces tears
Takes my affectation

And leaves
nothing.

Blue skies are coming and I know that it's hard.

December 23, 2009

First of all I want to say thank you to my four fans. You mean so much to me... my faithful and loyal readers. I'm saying that tongue-in-cheek. I am still writing this as my dear diary. So if you read it pretend like you are, in fact, reading my diary... so you should probably be a little embarrassed and never bring up what you read here...


Today in the car, my Moo moo and I were heading to the local grocery store... The "Point" was playing on the radio... it's the station that plays the best of 80s, 90s and today... It happens to be Crumbcake #1's favorite radio station. Today's daily dose of memory was Guns and Roses, "Every Rose Has it's Thorn." That song takes me right back to high school. And to that girl. She sat behind me in History class. She cheated off of my quizzes... on a weekly basis. She was the prettiest girl in the school and a cheerleader. She was nice enough. I always felt bad when she cheated off of me because history is not my strong point. One Monday I came to school and the grief counselors were present. There was a car accident and she wasn't wearing her seat belt. And how fast a young life can come to a grinding, crashing hault. It was a convertible car and her body flew out on impact. Gory, gory details that don't need repeating. The whole memory of her... brought back with a song. The school had a memorial service... and that song was played. The things you don't think about... until the trigger brings you right back.

Xtra whipped cream please...

When you are down and out just remember that Abalcabal loves you.
Ha!

I have a secret admission to make... Last night we watched "The Rocker" with Rainn WIlson... and I really liked it. I hope you don't think less of me now. Maybe I just need some comic relief.
Last week was difficult but I"m certain that this week will be better.
I sold the Green Goddess painting... my green portrait of Lulu. I think it's at the bottom of this blog. If you scroll down, down some more.... ok... there! Ted will be working again all week away from home... this has become my new life. And we are all adjusting to it. We are becoming a well-oiled machine without Ted around... on schedule... He was home today and took the kids with him to the grocery store.... since I kinda get tired of grocery shopping--I was so thankful that he went. I did make a list though. While they were gone... I went by and visited my friend Hugo Porcaro... he is an outsider artist who is just awesome! He wanted to trade one of his paintings for one of mine! I love trading--the barter! So we traded and I have a cat tea party hanging in my living room... painted on a glass window! I really wanted to buy a really nice piece of watercolor paper but that place isn't open on Sundays... I did get some fimo clay for the kids.. cause they do wonderful things with it... especially Ben and I have two weeks with crumbcakes!

I stopped by a yardsale today... secret admission #2 I LOVE YARDSALES. A while back the cakes wanted to buy a little Shilling accordion. I think it was $20-$30. And I thought it was cute but said, "No." Well today I found an almost brand new one for $3. The teenage girl was happy to get the three dollars and the cakes are having a grand time playing it. Everything I want I can find at a yardsale. It's just a year or two later then when I first wanted it... *chuckles to her self...* I think the exception is shoes. Still, I believe that God supplies my every need and if I really needed a pair of shoes I think they would come to me... one way or another.

Well... two new crumbcakes are playing in my yard... a two year old and a four year old. That is outrageous... who lets there two and four year olds play in a stranger's yard down the street?? But in this neighborhood... I have aquired extra kids for many, many a year... especially in the spring when I pass out citrus and in the summer when I hand out cookies and popsicles... Ok... gotta go watch wee ones... cause someone has got to be responsible.

Truth

Sometimes I could just cry
But that is what you would be expecting a
mom of three crumbcakes to do
you'd expect her to fall apart
Art was never meant for mothers...
Maybe not even for women
It's a boys club
You can cry about it
Or you can just keep trying
Your one hope is that history:
the collective group think tank
will recognize how much you did
how much you accomplished
How you opened your soul and poured out your heart
At that time... the dermestid beetles
will be devouring my bones.

Artpool Gallery and the ABC 123 show!

Here is my latest work that is at the Artpool gallery. Check them out here--www.artpoolrules.com

PHOTOS BY MARINA WILLIAMS!

Visual Aids benefit art show

Here is my piece sent off to the big Apple!

My latest pursuits... Arthouse Sketchbook Project 2009

the Spiral

My world has been turned upside down...
life and art as I have known it...
may be a lot different in the future...
it feels like drowning right now.
Like I am breathing water and pretending to be a fish.
Cough it out and try it again.
Prepare the resume.
My head is pounding.
I could of almost tasted my dream.
Burned on the stove, oven, fireplace, bonfire, too close to the sun.
Hot molten lava slipping down my spine.
Stand up straight, never mind the wreckage.

December 11, 2009

Two of my doll are pictured in an article about Sarah E. Condon and her Eclipse Gallery. See the article HERENot the dolls posted above... kind of confusing I know... keep reading...


I've been a busy girl lately... Come see me tomorrow night at the Artpool gallery! I'm looking forward to seeing Geri X too. This will be her farewell concert as she is moving north!! She is playing at the State Theater this Saturday night... one of my favorite grundgy places... especially the balcony...

One more week of school and then the kids will have a two week break! What to do?? I have exciting news... the picture above is a hint. :-)

I won't bore you with the details of my life... but I'm still chugging along.

Artpool Gallery and the ABC 123 show!

For anyone interested I have small paintings, jewelry, zines and this and that at the Artpool gallery in St. Petersburg, FL. Also this weekend starts a new show... ABC 123. I'll have three pieces in that show! Come Saturday night to the opening!!

Boldly Going Where No Man Has Gone Before...

Tonight we went to the Science center's Sci-Fi and Night sky evening. Saw new pictures of the center of our galaxy--I believe they call it the "Galactic Center." The pictures were generated by the Hubble, the Chandra and the Spitzer. Afterwords we had a discussion about black holes... Time does not exist in a black hole. Yeah, try to wrap your head around that concept... I love science geek nights... they make me think about words like... Paschen Alpha, "light echos from a super nova," "star forming regions," the comet Homes, the blue that is O2 and the red that is H, Star clusters and super novas... Ahh, to be a part of different world of thought for at least one night. Pretty neat to think of the awesomeness of God and the unlimited expanse of His creation. It is mind expanding. Then on the way home Art Bell was talking about the expanse of the human brain--more powerful and complicated than any computer... and that YOUR brain makes all the human technology seems like rocks... Yeah--that Iphone you have--it's just a pebble compared to what is between your ears. Combining these two ideas--the expanse of God's creation and the incredible human potential... a door that only God Himself can open. He will be the bridge that connects our world to the future. There is so much we don't understand. We also had a discussion about string theory... and now the new thing to be talking about is membrane theory... totally invisible but watch out if membranes collide!! "M theory." I won't pretend to understand any of that but it still peaks my interest.

January 2010-- 400th Anniversary of Galileo ...discovers Jupiter's moons,
July 2010-- 400th Anniversary of Galileo first observes Saturn's rings
December 2010-- 400th Anniversary of Galileo confirming Venus' phases.

Some dates to put on your calendar! Space... the final frontier...

I'll be making some groovy mail art out of the NASA photo/postcards I picked up tonight...
(I picked up a map at the GIS event and I told the guy I was going to make a piece of mail art out of it... he wasn't pleased.) Hopefully NASA will be better sports...I mean we are twitter pals and all...

After the power point we had the sci-fi portion of the evening... we saw the new Star Trek movie--projected on to the side of the building. We sat with all the kids and my mom and watched it. It was the first time for her... we saw it in the theater a while back. I love that young Spock and the young Captain Kirk... so reminiscent of my childhood... watching all the old episodes with my Dad. I think I've seen almost all of the old series. Never got into the next generation stuff or whatever that was... but liked the old school, "set your lasers to stun." Anyway it was a fun family evening... The only thing that could of better is if it would of been a clear night and we could of seen something through the telescope at the Planetarium on site!

November 19, 2009

You know I wonder how far this shoe is going to drop.

Things to be happy about:

I'm not pregnant.
Obama is putting off my mammogram until I'm 50! Yeah, more years to wait until seeing a doctor!!
There are no hurricanes heading towards my house.
Currently still have a house.
The children are healthy!
Food in the fridge!
People may just like the ABALCABAL zine!
Possibility to make money on Sunday.
Marina at Artpool sold some of my stuff and made me some dough.
Good sex is free. (thanks for this afternoon honey)
Still have internet service.
**A little patience and this is all going to be okay. Right?

Once Upon a time

Jeanne-Claude, 74, American artist and resident of New York City, died suddenly November 18, 2009 as a result of of complications due to a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Christo is deeply saddened by the passing of his wife, partner and collaborator and is committed to honor the promise they made to each other many years ago: The art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude will continue.

Christo is dedicated to completing their current works in progress: Over The River, Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado, and The Mastaba, Project for the United Arab Emirates, as Jeanne-Claude would wish.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in Paris, France in November, 1958, sharing the same date of birth and have worked together for 51 years creating temporary works of art.

It is Jeanne-Claude's wish that her body be donated to scientific research.

A memorial will be announced at a later date. Christo requests that flowers not be sent. Memorial gifts may be made to the charity of your choice.

Novemnber 17, 2009

I was going to watch panscan tonight but I couldn't get it to work... tried everything... oh well.

I'm exhausted anyway... spent the day with lots of crumbcakes. I volunteered to go on a field trip with cookie crumb number dos and had a lovely time... came back to the school and finished the day off with cookie crumb number tres... So I've been geo tracking and teaching sunshine math all in one long day. Exhausted I am. It was a day of no art unless you count me teaching probability to first graders as art... I think it just might be... I don't like probability... in the sense that I want to win by a slim chance... I think that's the angle I'm generally playing...

This Sunday I'll be at Studio 620 peddling my wares... get them now cause when they are gone... I'm not making any more! What I have left I will randomly send all over the world. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it... or straight to the shredder... It just seems like the right thing to do. ha ha. (insert evil laugh here)

Have a good night... panscan free due to technical difficulties...

My mail box runneth over...

I really can't begin to tell you about the neat things that have been delivered to my home in the past week or so... Today, for example, I received my first Fluxbox in the mail. Crumbcake #3 took a video of me opening it. She did a pretty good job and I'm uploading it to Youtube right now! Keith Buchholz sent me my first fluxbox! You never forget your first fluxbox. I don't think I will.

Last Friday I rec'd a small package in the mail from Bill Evertson. I met Bill in the mail last year... you might remember he made that fantastic mailart piece for chromatophore--the copper mesh envelope? This package contained a hand made stamp... with an octopus on it! It's simply amazing! The neat part is that it was totally unexpected! Thank you so much Bill for thinking of me!

I got a deck of cards in the mail from Artchix studio. They sell all sorts of cute things to make artist trading cards or whatever your crafty heart desires. My ATC from about a year ago, I think... is on one of the cards so they sent me a free deck! I'm the Ace of clubs... www.artchixstudio.com

I received a giant tube in the mail too of recent times. It was filled with x-tra large photocopies of Henry Darger's art. This was from Rain Rien Nevermind. We had been conversing about Darger on facebook... one thing led to another and I got a nice package in the mail... I painted over the Darger image and added my own words and mailed a piece back to Rain. I'm guessing its not what he had in mind. I often don't play the game correctly... Photo is of what I sent!

Today I also received a little gift of some special treats from Good Mail Day. Good Mail Day is a wonderful book written by Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler. I was a participant in the book... they used a piece of my mail art in it so they sent a little thank you package... it included: the patch that is pictured here... one of a hundred--a limited supply, a zine about making the book and other official book documents. Very classy ladies! Thank you!

blue skys smiling at me

I've been working feverishly on the abalcabal zine. Last night I assembled... today I addressed envelopes and decorated the envelopes. Tommy did some rubber stamping and drawing on each envelope previously... but I felt like I had to add a few more things... I did not want them to look naked. After all, issue #1 has to set a precedent or something. I wanted it to be super special... but like all my zines... they just may end up special and the super left out... The ABALCABAL zine was born from the birth pangs of death. That is... the A Book About Death show that took place September 10, 2009 in New York City... The show was Matthew Rose's invention that drew about 500 participants. Each participant sent in 500 postcards about death. Every postcard had to say, "A Book About Death." Then at the show you could take the postcards that you wanted to pick up. For me the best part about the show was the people I met. Some I had passed in the mail but others were brand new acquaintances... others were only people I found while googling, "Ray Johnson." Now they all lived and breathed and moved. They did the dance of death and opened doors to friendship and possibilities. Meeting artists of similar minds was very gratifying to me. It made me feel --not so alone--in this world. To be truthful people in general don't understand mail art or care about it at all. Me, on the other hand... I pretty much breath for it. I'll never forget Keith Buchholz saying, "Jennifer Zoellner"--and it rolled off his tongue like he KNEW who I was... like he couldn't believe that it was me! And he did know who I was... our postcards had passed each other via the postal hands that delivered them. New York City and the Abad weekend left me wanting more... left me not wanting for it to end... so I emailed a group of abaders and invited them to take part in a zine about our lives. 19 artists participated in Abalcabal Zine #1. Tomorrow I am mailing. The work itself is fantastic... and like any zine... it's a labor of love.

Ria Vanden Eynde: Artists Who paint themselves... A place to email your self portrait...

Here is a portrait of my friend Ria. It can be found on Deborah Ross's website ARTISTS PAINT THEMSELVES. Ria Vanden Eynde is a wonderful painter, mailartist, and friend. She was recently interviewed and featured on W-Woman Globally. Check it out! Her work is beautiful and she is a beautiful soul. I hope you enjoy learning something about her.

Deborah Ross is interested in having mail artists email her their self portraits. So if you've painted yourself and mailed it she may post your work on her blog.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO

Email me, Deborah Ross, a jpg image which is clear and cropped. Include your name, email, website or blog address, size, title, medium and a little background on your work.
My email is debrossart@mac.com

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Don't forget the UR Toy Story Mail art call!
see www.jenniferzoe.blogspot.com

I've been behind with everything... I've been sending out a lot of mail art but not advertising for my mail art call at all... I did much more last year... much more work... so I'm behind now...

I'm on a roll... with the bad news... it's been frustrating at least... depressing at worst. Nothing I can tell you about. I'm ready to melt into the sunset. I would like to become a blurr of color and then a dark abyss sinking into the sea.

Tommy is back to being homeschooled. We have seven to ten days until the Virtual school kicks in... I've done all my parts to get him signed up. Middle school had my head spinning right from day one. So I'm glad that stress is over. And I already know what to expect from homeschool. I know that I'm going to have to be tougher on him and really watch over him like a hawk. It shouldn't be too hard as my sewing room and the computer room are one. Obviously I can't just sit and watch him and do nothing... ha.

One of my best friends has h1n1 and they are in a high risk category. I'm so freaked out... I cried over it. And I prayed that God would see this person through... Can't even begin to imagine loosing this person.

And that's the news that I can share...

I just want to say that I am thankful for the fledgling network of friends that is beginning to form in the shape of Abalcabal. Bill Wilson gave me a "maybe in 9 days" about participating. He's really busy right now. I was grateful that he wrote back. He said he liked the paddle that I sent him--it's the one I titled, "Ode to May Wilson." I believe that I posted a pic of it here previously. Cecil is the last one who said they were sending. I may just send out the zine when I get his piece. And if Mr. Wilson does send something--it can go in the February issue... It will give us all something more to look forward to...

Some good news--we plan on going Panning for gold for thanksgiving. Isn't that just the funniest thing ever? I love panning for gold, also liked hunting for diamonds in the open face diamond mind in Arkansas. I just dig that kind of thing... It must be my super focused obsessive nature. Couple that with my desire to win... This is my parent's idea. It should be so much fun... They have a very nice camper so we won't be roughing-it too much... I really don't like sleeping in a tent--we did that last year when we took all 5 crumbcakes camping in the Keys... John Pennekamp state park. The snorkelling was awesome... but sleeping in the girls tent on an air mattress was a bit uncomfy for me. My favorite camping experience is when Ted and I went to Key West and then took a boat to the Dry Tortugas National Park. That was an experience never to be forgot... the snorkelling was amazing there... the water was crystal clear and teeming with ocean life... including some squid that kept changing colors as I chased them up and back near the fort wall. I borrowed my dad's underwater digital camera so I kept trying to get good shots of them. And I did get a few. We saw a giant lobster who made his home in the fort wall... The Dry Tortugas is the only place where you can snorkel a reef and only be in about 4 ft of water. The reef has attached itself to the walls of the fort's moat. So when you snorkel you are actually snorkelling around the fort wall. Watch out for the Portuguese Man-O-War... there are quite a few around and the tentacles stretch out and are almost invisible... did you know that sea turtles eat them? The top part of the man-o-war looks like a ziploc bag--even a similar blue color... they even look plastic... it's no wonder why sea turtles accidently eat floating plastic bags...

Well that trip down memory lane was a nice diversion... I feel a little better already...

Oh--Andy who has the blog--my real wall... wrote some very nice things about my most recent mail art to him. Thank you Andy!