Art of the Firebird

One of my passions is animal rescue, particularly feline rescue. Since March, 2005 I have devoted my volunteer efforts to Good Mews Animal Foundation in Marietta. Currently I serve on the Friday morning Clean and Feed crew, working with a small team to do exactly what the title states -- clean the shelter and feed the residents. I work as an adoption counselor at least one weekend day each month, helping our cats find their "forever home" with the persons of their dreams.

As part of the "Kitty Buddy" program, I work closely with a specific cat or two to help them interact well with humans and other cats to improve their chances for adoption. My first Kitty Buddy was Emily, a little calico who was dumped at the GM back door in early January, 2006. When we found her, she was terrified and wild, completely unsocialized. After a lot of care and work and love, she became a cute, playful, feisty grown girl who found her forever home in Spring, 2007. Then I took on Mary, a feral kitten who found her way to Good Mews along with her brothers Peter and Paul. For some weeks I was just about the only person who could touch her or do anything with her. She came around, though, and once she got into the kitten room she was soon adopted along with her new best friend Emerson. Currently I've buddied up with Allen, a big, shy brown tabby who I've tried to spend time with since he came to Good Mews, but now I'm starting to really work with him in earnest.

Here are some recent writings of mine -- some for school, some extracted from emails to friends, some just their own thing.

On Spirituality

Art and Art History Papers

• The Life and Works of Käthe Kollwitz
• A comparison of Northern and Southern Renaissance characteristics.
• A comparison of Renaissance and Baroque painting, focusing on Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Peter Paul Rubens' The Straw Hat.
• A discussion of the nude female figure in art.
• Romanticism
• Impressionism
• Cézanne and Seurat
• Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity

Poetry

• Truth
• Elements
• Moving On

Travel Stories

• My view of Asheville

• Visits to Penland School of Crafts
  • Summer, 1996
  • Summer, 2000

   

In collaboration with my dad, my stepmother Gale, my grandmother, and various and sundry other folks, I'm compiling the family genealogy. So far we're a very Southeastern family, with the lines in Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia. Both Dad's lines and Mother's lines go back to eastern NC and southeast VA in the colonial days, so I'm just waiting to find out that I am my own cousin!

The following shows the names I am primarily interested in at present, along with definite or probable locations for those families. Names in red indicate my maternal lines; names in blue my paternal lines (the one name in purple appears on both sides).

If you have any interest in these family names in these locations, please feel free to contact me for more specific information.

The Traveling Playlist

Though my tastes in music are eclectic, to say the least, I do have my favorites artists and albums. Here are some of my favorites to drive along with or to torch to:

• Alison Brown, Look Left -- funky banjo music
• Capercaillie, Get Out (Green Linnet Records) -- funked-up Celtic rock (but I always skip over two of the songs)
• Dead Can Dance, Spiritchaser -- great for mysterious night driving
• Aretha Franklin, Aretha's Best -- ya gotta have Aretha!
• Nanci Griffith, Flyer -- good sing-along music
• Eileen Ivers, Wild Blue -- "On Horseback" is a song I ALWAYS associate with driving fast on the highway
• Laura Love, The Laura Love Collection (Putumayo Music) -- scream along to "I'm a Givin' Way"
• Kathy Mattea, Love Travels -- especially "457 Rocket" (yes, fast cars CAN belong to women) and "All Roads to the River"
• Joni Mitchell, Miles of Aisles -- mellow out a bit
• Willie Nelson, Stardust -- definitely NOT your redneck cousin's Willie Nelson, this one is a nostalgia trip
• Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time -- especially good for those times when you need your best girlfriend along to talk about men
• Boz Scaggs, Silk Degrees -- the closest I ever came to disco in the 70s ::giggle::
• 10,000 Maniacs, MTV Live Unplugged -- didn't care that much for their studio work but this one is incredible
• Tina Turner, All the Best -- ya gotta have Tina, too!
• Gretchen Wilson, Here for the Party -- yep, I'm a Redneck Woman just like Gretchen at times.
• Wolfstone, Seven -- SCREAMING fiddle and pipe-based Scottish rock. "Psycho Woman" is another great driving song.
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• Trisha Yearwood , Thinking About You -- yeah, draw that line and watch this All-American Girl blow RIGHT past
• Women's Work (Putumayo Music ) -- more sing-along stuff, especially Toshi Reagon's "Just Enough"
• Women of the World Celtic II (Putumayo Music) -- are you getting the feeling that I like modern-day Celtic music?
• Songs of the Siren, vol. 1 -- This was a Starbuck's (yeah, the coffee folks) collection; if you find a used copy GRAB IT.

My taste in reading is just as varied and eclectic as my music. I find that I choose fiction based on the people portrayed within. I don't care how well-written the text is, how carefully crafted the plot, how exquisite the setting -- if I don't find myself caring about the people in the book within the first couple of dozen pages, then I don't finish the book. For non-fiction, it's how useful the information is and how true it rings. If it doesn't speak to me, forget it.

Magazines

Magazines tend to fit my attention span a little too well. I can pick one up, read one article, and put it down if need be. So I read a number of magazines regularly:

• Bead Unique, my favorite all-around beading magazine, with unusual projects and always something about lampworking.
• Utne Reader lets me keep up with the alternative point of view.
• Southern Living keeps me informed about my region, gives me travel, gardening, and decorating tips, and provides fabulous recipes should I feel like cooking.
• O -- the Oprah Magazine and Real Simple fill my need for semi-mindless fluff-reading. Great for bedtime or the bathroom. I just try not to get too covetous over all the expensive goodies showcased within.
• Inspired House shows me homes I'd actually like to LIVE in, as opposed to silly showplaces. I also make sure I get Fine Homebuilding's Annual Issue on Houses each year. Note: Taunton quit publishing Inspired House last year, boo hiss!
• I don't quilt, but I often read Quilting Arts for the eye candy, and for the inspiration. Wow! Then the same folks came out with Cloth Paper Scissors, and DOUBLE WOW! Two of my three passions, cloth and paper, in one place! Both magazines not only pop visually, they offer practical instruction too!

'Zines

'Zines get their own special area because they ARE special. You won't find most of them on the local newsstand. They usually aren't all glossy and pretty. They are filled with character, packed with content, created with passion, and arrive on your doorstep erratically. They come and they go. Most of the 'zines I enjoy are art-related, particularly collage and altered art. These are some that I have particularly enjoyed -- use Google to find them, and others like them

• Dog Eared 'Zine
• Erraticus
• Material
• Creative Chaos
• Art Echoes
• Artitude
• Invoke Arts
• Observation
• In(ner) Question