We bought our house today. Actually, the bank bought our house and we agreed to pay the bank for thirty years. But the bank won't live in this sweet old house painted first in 1917, with a big backyard, and an attic made to be a studio and a stunning dining room (see below because I simply need to brag today). We get to live there. Just a few short weeks of painting and packing and we'll be in before the snow we hope.



It's funny but all of these years of working at non-profits not making a profit and spending all my extra money on paper and paint and living in metro Atlanta where we couldn't even afford a falling down crack shack, had me thinking we couldn't own a home. We can. We do. Well, again, the bank does. But our mortage payment is going to be 17 dollars more than the rent we've paid for about 5 years in several different places.

I have a whole attic with heat and light and plenty of outlets to be my studio and I intend to use it like mad.
All of this makes me want to draw my house.

Thanks everyone for your support and kind words and wishes and the truth be told, some of the dolls are for free and trade so e-mail me an address and between packing and painting and moving and whatnot, I'll get one out to you.

take care,
Rachael

Mr. Simple.

Joe (but he's naked!)

And the Sad Sack.

 

These are just a small sample of my paper dolls. They're coming with me to the new house. Tomorrow we sign on the dotted lines and buy our first (maybe only?) house. It's swell and I'm happy.

Have a good one,

Rachael

Me and my paper dolls have been busy with the constantinterruptions of a day job, some school, and a head cold. The next week is promising, though. We'll buy our first house this week. It's big, comfortable, hardwood floors and leded glass, a room of windows off the bedroom, good space to garden in, room to grow and a nice neighborhood. I'm going to paint in the attic, my husband wants to brew beer in the basement. It's perfect and in a couple of days we sign a bunch of papers, sell our souls to the bank and they give us some keys. We're excited.

Amid my cold this week, I got obsessed again by clay. I'd blow my nose a billion times and then pick up a copy of Ceramics Monthly. I dragged my sniffly self in to work on Tuesday mostly so I could stick around for my clay class where my only goal was to throw a closed form and then cut it open so I could have a vessel and lid. Folks who teach ceramics effortlessly throw perfect forms. I throw lumpy messes that center one minute and falter the next. In the same sort of way that I couldn't breathe right all week, couldn't formthoughts too well, made plenty of tactical errors...I couldn't (or simply didn't) get the clay to behave. I opened too early and I moved my elbow away from my body too much.

But no, I don't think I'll be putting a wheel in my basement, I'm just excited to have a basement. And yep, we're hoping it's a fireproof house.

See ya.
take care,
Rachael

Gray Sundays are perfect for cooking (chili and spaghetti squash and cookies) and moving stuff around (as close as I get to cleaning) and reading and looking up old things online.

a very old bowl and another one

a very old doll

an old ape vase

Lapita pottery
I'm still making scraps of paper into dolls, inching closer to our new house, preparing for nesting and trying not to get too run down from busy work. Learning, growing, looking, thinking, nothing to be sorry about, much to be thankful for.
take care,
Rachael

My old friend's great project with her old friend is at my favorite museum in Upstate New York (and alma mater), tomorrow! With more warning I could have shouted louder but for some reason I looked and so, I highly encourage my dad and my sister in law's sister and all Uticans (or anybody close) to check it out tomorrow...But if you can't be there (like me, I hafta work), check out the website and keep track of Renee and Tiffany's tough girl projects....

have fun,
Rachael