Untitled 288

Untitled 288.  Pastel.  Approx. 4" x 4".   Purchase information: jala [at] jalapfaff [dot com]

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Long time no blog, I know. I haven't literally disappeared--just been kind of exhausted running around trying to deal with stuff, make ends meet and keep me and my animolecules afloat. So far, we're all still here. Have you missed us?

No time to paint lately, either. The pastel above is from a couple of months ago.

Relatedly, I decided not to participate in Open Studios this October. It was a hard decision and makes me sad, but this year I just don't have the funds to apply or to participate (two different fees), or the physical and mental energy to do all the work that's involved in getting ready for, and actually doing, those two weekends. 

I'll try to remember to send out an announcement about it in the fall, so that anyone who was planning on visiting will know I won't be in it. 

I'm always happy to make appointments for people to come look at my art anytime, though, so please let me know if you'd like to.
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The only bad thing about the cat bed is that they're in it so often, they don't cuddle with me as much now! 

 The size difference with my cats always amazes me. Gadjo and Rumi each weigh about eight pounds. They're both still underweight--by one pound (Gadjo) and two pounds (Rumi)--but at least they haven't been losing any more lately.

Fennec--and this is a major accomplishment--is a little below 18 pounds. His heaviest (19.6? pounds) was when he turned 1 year old and I took him for his one-year checkup. The vet hadn't seen him since he was 12 weeks old, and her jaw practically dropped to the floor. For a while, Fennec's head looked too small for his body. It's starting to be more in proportion now.

What can I say, Fennec is a monster. I have to remember to bend my knees when I have to pick him up (and I never pick him up just for fun, the way I do with the other two). When I have to trim his claws, it's a full-body contact sport. It's like wrestling a puma. He would've given Steve Irwin a run for his money. (Fennec is truly a very passive, mellow, sweet cat...except when you try to mess with his raptor-sized talons.)

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Gorgeous Easter eggs, no? 

I saw these at a friend's house and remarked on the wonderful, rich, deep colors. She said (and I love this--both for her ingenuity and because this is such a Boulder anecdote) she had everything prepared to dye the eggs, but then realized she was out of vinegar. 

...So she used imported Italian balsamic. Those were some sophisticated, expensive Easter eggs!

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 252 and 253

Untitled 252.  Pastel.  5" x 7"  Sold.

Untitled 253.  Pastel.  5" x 7".  Sold.

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OPEN STUDIOS BOULDER 2013: This Saturday and Sunday from 12-6 pm each day. This is the final weekend.

I am studio #15 on the map this year. Please stop by for a visit!

For more information: openartsboulder.org/openstudios

The Open Studios art exhibit in the main Boulder Public Library survived the flood (yay!) and there is one piece there from each artist (over a hundred) from now until Open Studios is over.  

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The mighty hunter (of crumpled paper balls) takes an afternoon rest between forays, secure in his knowledge that he is camouflaged.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 250

Untitled 250.  Pastel.  9" x 12."  Purchase information: jala[at]jalapfaff.com

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OPEN STUDIOS BOULDER 2013: This Saturday and Sunday from 12-6 pm each day. This is the final weekend.

I am studio #15 on the map this year. Please stop by for a visit!

For more information: openartsboulder.org/openstudios

The Open Studios art exhibit in the main Boulder Public Library survived the flood (yay!) and there is one piece there from each artist (over a hundred) from now until Open Studios is over.  

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Things that make you go "Awwwww..."  From the archives:

A sleeping baby Gadjo! Furry little lima bean!

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 249 --and-- Open Studios announcement

Untitled 249.  Pastel.  9" x 12."  Purchase information: jala[at]jalapfaff.com

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Oh, what a crowded couch...

And a quick video of Rumi getting moral support from his big brother, Mojito.   Mojito--the dog!--is providing moral support by way of being super tolerant while Rumi rubs against his head over and over. 

Rumi needed moral support because he had to go to the emergency vet this week. (Terribly expensive, ugh.) But he is doing better so far and seems to be on the mend now. He has developed struvite crystals in his urinary tract and they have been causing him a lot of trouble and pain.

(From what I can tell, the video won't play on iphone. It also appears to be running by itself, in a loop. I didn't tell it to do that!)

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OPEN STUDIOS BOULDER 2013: This Saturday and Sunday, and also the following Saturday and Sunday (total four days), from 12-6 pm each day. 

I am studio #15 on the map this year. Please stop by for a visit!

For more information: openartsboulder.org/openstudios

The Open Studios art exhibit in the main Boulder Public Library survived the flood (yay!) and there is one piece there from each artist (over a hundred) from now until Open Studios is over.  The library reception is Friday evening, Oct. 4.

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More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 48

Untitled 48, Oil on canvas, 16" x 16".  

For purchase information, please email me: jala{at}jalapfaff{.com}.

This is another of my slightly older oil paintings.

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 My friend Tom is hanging in there. Still no visitors allowed at the hospital though. Thinking good thoughts for him.
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During the second weekend of Open Studios, Fennec was guarding the framed pastels.

And Rumi slept on the heater vent while visitors discussed the paintings, e.g., "...the one to the left of the kitty."

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 46

Untitled 46, Oil on linen, 8" x 10".  Framed in black wood floating frame.

For purchase information, please email me: jala{at}jalapfaff{.com}.

This is another of my slightly older oil paintings.

I enjoyed doing Open Studios again, although I do feel disappointed about the fact that being in Gunbarrel brought me only about 1/4 as many visitors as I used to get in Boulder. I really wish I could afford to rent studio space in Boulder.

A big thank you to all those of you who came to visit!

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Mojito has been acting weird since the beginning of Open Studios. I don't know if it's just because he doesn't like the change in routine that happened for four days (including someone else walking him, as a favor to me), and/or all the paintings stacked around the room, and/or the fact that all the paintings stacked around the room made the kitties even more insane than usual (because they thought it was a great new jungle gym). 

Mojito has always been a very sensitive dog, so I'm hoping it was just a rough period for him psychologically, and that he'll be back to normal soon. If he's not, I'll take him to the vet to make sure there's nothing physical wrong that I can't see.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 45

Untitled 45, Oil on linen, 18" x 36".

For purchase information, please email me: jala{at}jalapfaff{.com}.

Pulling out paintings for Open Studios, I realized I have some slightly older oil paintings that, one way or another, never made it onto the blog. This is one.

And a reminder: this weekend is your last chance to come visit for Boulder Open Studios 2012!

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I watched as Fennec came and sat right on top of a sleeping Gadjo. By the time I got the camera, Gadjo was attempting to escape, his back end still all squished out flat under Fennec's bulk.

By the way, I wanted to share that Rumi is doing better lately. For the first time, he has put on a few ounces instead of continuing to lose! I hadn't wanted to say anything until now, because although he has been feeling a bit more "solid" to me lately, I was afraid it was just wishful thinking that he felt a little heavier. I had bought a cat scale, but until today (when I brought him to the vet for a reweigh), I didn't know if the scale I got was accurate. 

I am really hoping that this means he'll continue to improve and that it's the single-protein diet that's finally making a difference (the assumption would be that he has IBD). Cancer is still possible, but fortunately, it's looking less and less likely that it could be FIP! Rumi, thank you for being a fighter. I'm grateful every day that you're up to your usual crazy, often obnoxious antics, and for the love you and your little best buddy share.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

This weekend is the last Open Studios 'till next year!

Well the first weekend of Open Studios has come and gone. I didn't get as many visitors out here in Gunbarrel as I used to get in north Boulder, but it wasn't bad. 

Please come by for a visit this coming weekend, your last chance for Boulder Open Studios 2012!

Here's a couple of photos of Fennec as strangers were filling the apartment. You can see how utterly terrified he was:

Noise and strangers tromping in all day... Fennec slept through it all. He was literally in the middle of the room like this, in a kitty coma, all through both days. He didn't even open his eyes when strangers came in, sat down on the sofa next to him, and rubbed his tummy. He just purred a bit, smiled, and curled up his feets to show his contentment.

(As you may have guessed, Rumi was the ambassador/Master of Ceremonies of Open Studios at my apartment, Mojito was the announcer, Fennec found it all to be one big lullaby, and Gadjo hid under the bed.)

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Last Wednesday the weather forecasters were actually spot-on, and it dropped fifty degrees or so in a few hours, to the point where I had to find the box containing my parka, wool hat, mittens, etc. It snowed. It was realllllly cold for about four or five days.

So, Wednesday, I turned on the thermostat for the first time since I moved in here in June and...nothing. No heat. Nada.

I have very bad karma for these things. The heat anywhere I'm living always malfunctions when I'm home alone, and it usually also happens at night or on a weekend, when you can't get someone to come take a look at it.

Two space heaters to the rescue. (I got someone out here late Friday afternoon and they fixed the furnace problem. Today is the first day the temperature outside got back to normal.) The kitties baked themselves near the space heaters pretty much full-time:

...And also practiced group warmth.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Finally, fall is here / Kitties as criminals

...and it is beautiful.

A reminder: Boulder Open Studios 2012 starts this weekend! 

Also, the show (one piece from each of the 100+ Boulder Open Studios 2012 artists) is now up at the Boulder Public Main Library, on the Canyon side. This Friday is the big reception, from 6 - 8pm, public welcome. The show stays up through Oct.14.
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What's going on here?:

Oh, it's just a new Rumi sleep position. Looks comfortable, no?

(He stayed that way for about two hours, sound asleep.)

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The perpetrator (one of a suspected duo with multiple previous convictions) returns to the scene of a middle-of-the-night crime...

Seriously, I love my kitties so much...but Gadjo + Rumi + a small apartment really is like living with a band of wild monkeys most of the time.

(Fennec isn't destructive. Mostly because he's generally a really laid-back dude, but maybe also because he's so big he can't jump up onto places and knock things down. Rumi and Gadjo are like circus acrobats on amphetamines during the majority of their waking hours...and then angelic little cherubs when asleep.)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Open Studios is the first two weekends in October

If you'll be in the Boulder area the first two weekends of October, please come by for a visit during Boulder Open Studios 2012. 

I've moved, and am now located in the Gunbarrel area of Boulder. See the Open Studios map and/or website for info.

Fennec looks forward to it.

Something about how Gadjo's little tippy-tail is turned up here just kills me.

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Untitled 163

Pastel on UArt, approx. 4" x 5".

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Don't forget, if you're in Boulder please come visit my studio this weekend or next for Open Studios.

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments on my previous post. I'm loving seeing some of the recent pastels framed and up as a group! I sold a few things today but, surprisingly to me, none of those.

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The love between these two just kills me.

And speaking of killing, I really wish Rumi wouldn't sleep like this. It's very disturbing to walk by the couch and see this:

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In India, at the weavers' cooperative. $115.00 - Untitled 163 (Ready to Frame) More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Night moon

Pastel on Sennelier LaCarte, approx. 4" x 9".

Been a while since I did a moon. This is called "Night Moon"--redundant title? Not really, because the last couple of moons I did were Day Moons. Oh, and there was a Solstice Eclipse one too.

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I love the special bond between Rumi and Gadjo. From the moment they met, they were two peas in a pod. And they still are.

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In India, at the weaving cooperative.

Don't forget, these next two weekends are Open Studios here in Boulder. Come visit me if you're in town. I'm Studio #92 this year.

This Friday night is the reception at the Boulder Public Library, 6 -8 pm--see one piece from each of the 129 participating artists.

$115.00 - Night moon (Ready to Frame)

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com

Open Studios Boulder Fall 2010 coverage

My back to the camera here, talking to two of the visitors. I love the skeptical look on that woman's face!...wonder what I was saying to cause that. On the left of the photo is my friend Paul Lander, getting some doggy love.

Jazzy took his art-guarding duties quite seriously. Perhaps we could rent him out to some of the major museums? He seemed especially serious about guarding the blue paintings.

Rumi and Miss Lemon taking a break, worn out from their greeting duties.

Below, a quick vid The Husband made while I was explaining oil + cold wax technique to some visitors. We even had Bonnie Luria doing a virtual tour via Skype.

(P.S. Does anyone know why when perfectly clear videos are put onto Blogger, they get all grainy and fuzzy?)

And below is the official Boulder TV22's video covering the opening night, where each artist had one piece on display at the Boulder Public Library. You can see a lot of different artists' work here. I'm in it briefly at 00:16, 00:36, and in a still just before the credits. This is about five minutes long.

I had a great time during Open Studios and I hope to participate again next year.

bv22.org

bv22.org/archive?vid=218