I saw a miracle yesterday...

Meet Sam.

He is our 5 month old full blood lab puppy. His registered name is Samuel VelvetEars.

Yesterday, my niece came over to visit. We were leaving to run an errand, and sure enough, right in front of the children she backed over my dog. With a Jeep Cherokee. He took the full wieght of it to his upper shoulders and chest. She rolled all the way over him, I could feel it from inside the truck, crushing him.

As the screaming started I ran to him, and both his front legs seemed broken , he cried out every time he tried to move instinctively. Chest to the ground, I was sure he would die. We put him in the truck and rushed to the vet as fast as we could. The shock kicked in and his breathing was horribly labored. I sobbed all the way there.

My niece, you could tell, was just horrified by what she had done. I knew it wasn't really her fault, but... she had just ran over my dog!

So, we get to the vet, and the doctor starts checking him out. He asks all about the accident. And then tells me. "He's fine!"

I was like ' What?' How could that be? He just got smashed by a Jeep Cherokee!

He tells me that this dog does not have a single broken bone, and other than the soreness, he was perfectly fine. I couldn't believe it.

He gave him a pain shot and sent us home!

I am sitting here watching him play now and all I can think is 'Damn! That is one lucky dog!'

What every hallway should look like

The entrance into a noblemans' tomb.

Utterly fantastic.

Hey Ally!

I originally wrote this on the comments section of your post. But, I thought maybe I should bring it here so we can clarify and learn something.



You know what I don't get about Chinese art?

The lions.

For one, how did a lion come to be such a significant symbol in China, was there lions there at one time?

I mean I can get why lions were important to African art, or even Native American, because we have the mountain lion. But how did China develop a nitch for them?

Are they only a symbol of power or were there literally lions in China and that is how they came to exist in Chinese art of all eras...?

And why, why, why, do they always distort them, like they are half dragon...?

I never understood the lion as related by the Chinese.


Can you expand on this point Ally?

Because Nudes Make Artists Happy!

Picasso

The Bullfight

Speaking of Pompeii...

Like most people, whenever I see the ruins of Pompeii, when I study their art, I always, without fail, try to imagine what it must of looked like whole. What did it look like when the paint was still fresh and clean ?

Well, someone went and built a villa in Germany, of all places, and now we know what it would have looked like..... Link here

It reminds me of Pompeii

The portrait I posted before of 'Morena' remined me of this portrait from Pompeii. They have the same facial expression. Almost the same face.

One of the best I've ever seen...

This portrait has the name 'Morena' as the file name. No idea where I got it from or any of the info that goes with it.

But it is simply beautiful, and highly skilled. All in all this is one of the prettiest portraits I have ever seen. Perfectly balanced color, a face so hauntingly beautiful any more added to the background would have ruined the quiet peace of her.

I am not sure about the rest of you, but I think she is perfect. Whomever has this portrait must be vey very proud of it.

I would be.

My big canvases are DONE!

These are very big stretched canvases. My eyes, fingers, and shoulder hurts.

I am going to take a nap.

Enjoy!





Petra Sunrise


Nakht and family, 8th dynasty, hunting scene. Inspired by his tomb drawings.

Turtles for Obama Art

Buddhist Art from SoCal

As promised a few weeks ago, I made my pilgrimage to Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, this morning. Hsi Lai means "coming to the West," and is run by a progressive Taiwan-based Buddhist denomination, to educate the American public about Buddhist beliefs.

I was a bit apprehensive about visiting this temple as a transwoman, but people seem to be very okay with my presence. After all, Kwan Yin is trans too!

A Buddha head at the entrance.

Kwan Yin riding a dragon.

Eighteen figurines important to Chinese Buddhism - arhats, they are called.

You may see this figure often at Chinese restaurants.
He is the Maitreya Buddha, or Happy Buddha.
He gives you lots of happiness and good luck (or Number 8's).

The Kwan Yin garden, populated by Kwan Yin's assistants.

Kwan Yin herself on top of her garden.

This one's for our Turtle. Found at Kwan Yin garden.

Replica of a terra cotta horse carriage, based on those found in Xi'an.

The temple bell, showing the temple name in Chinese.

The main hall has these three Buddhas: Amidabha, Sakyamuni (the main Buddha), and Medicine Buddha, left to right. I couldn't take pictures of the real thing, due to temple regulations.

The temple courtyard.

A white marble guardian lion, one of two in the courtyard.
In the back on the staircase, a similar but painted lion is visible, one of four.

Enjoy! And next time you visit Los Angeles, make sure to visit this temple.

I just bought this

I want one!

Beautiful Season

I told ya I had 5 kids!

But it is very rare to get them all in one place, at one time.

Painted Feathers

Blogger actually let me log on again!

For some reason my account was not being nice, and after like a week I kinda gave up.

But, I want yall to know, I love the posts you put up, even if I could not comment on them for a minute.

And Ally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Let's party!

New poster looks familiar

Popping in to say Hi

Hello people

I know I've been very quiet here lately, but I will have some stuff to upload soon.

In a week or so, to mark Buddha's birthday (and my own), I will visit a large Buddhist temple in my area - Hsi Lai Temple - and take some photos to share here.

Hsi Lai became infamous for an Al Gore fundraiser that took place there in 1996 (and the reason why the media keeps describing Gore as a puppet of the Chinese). It was pretty tame compared to all the Bush-Moon fundraisers, however.

Keep your fingers crossed, kids! (And Turtle - you'll love my Kwan Yin pics!)

nice mural