Rose hips from a Truro beach… though they look like cherry tomatoes… either way it’s about summer. 
Gold Star Studios design is a state of mind
Rose Hips
Koi
I have a zen dog. Everyday (almost) Gaiter insists on visiting our local Koi pond. As you can see the fish are hardly coy, but rather greet him like an old friend. If I didn’t have work to do Gaiter would keep me there all day, he staring into their fish eyes, me making up nicknames for my zen dog. A small sampling; puddle belly, bub dubbins, pajama pants, pajama butt, shnugal flop, punker doodle, punkey lama, punker twoee, sniffer doodle, bubs, bubkins, bubber, fat duggins, gubbins, shenukas khan, snuckledorf, puggle thorp and lastly his probable favorite, spirit bear. I started wondering why on earth I feel so compelled to do this name calling with such a zen creature and realized that it’s a tradition handed down from my mother. Growing up she always had a sweet quiver of endearing names for my younger brother who, in his cuteness, completely deserved them. So in my nicknaming madness I think the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Edward Gorey
I have always admired Edward Gorey’s macabre, surreal and nonsensical musings and illustrations. On a recent visit to the Granary Burial Ground in Boston I was reminded of him and think he must have visited there too…
interview
Photo: Robert Castagna
I was interviewed and photographed for the Boston Art Life blog by photographer Robert Castagna. Both Robert and his wife Ksenia Mack (pictured above) are true nurturers of creative lifestyles. I took guitar lessons for many years with Ksenia, and I loved them, she can coax even the shyest person to sing and play. It opened up a whole new channel of expression for me, and though I am not a person who would ever want to ‘play out’ I have so enjoyed the practice as a way to explore voice, to relax and to ground myself. Kinda like a musical yoga ;)
