You might think I go around every day looking like one of my Luon St. Pierre pieces "Woman in her Drawers." Which I have added many treasures to…
But, the news of that day is… I actually love to run around outside looking like this.
I know. Who knew?? Well, the truth is. If you had told me 7 years ago that I would be ditching my 200+ shoes. Leaving them to rest at my in town home, never to be used, well…. I would have argued the opposite. I mean, leave my sparkly shoes behind, and actually opt to spend most of my time in a hot muggy dirty country world??
Actually, it happened so gradually I didn’t even notice it. Between the little gallery, my studio, and my own living quarters here, I have not minded one ounce of leaving the girls behind. I mean, the truth is, I can go visit them and take them out on the town any time I’d like, so how can I be sad?? Although, I can’t lie, I have a few select pairs with me…
Anyhow, let’s take a little outdoors tour of what I have been up to while we have had glorious rain. Did I tell you, I even spotted a bit of moss here and there??? MOSS! I love it!!!
Tarantula…
Frog…
Rain Puddles…
Snakes…
Collecting Frogs. Don’t worry, I put them back…
Green on the normally brown ground…
Birds Feasting on Prickly Pears…
Beautiful Skies…
Rainbows…
So, you see why I love it here? Okay Okay, some of the critters were not so pretty. But, I like them all the same…
My exotic souvenir from the wonderful, darling and talented, Elizabeth Bunsen of Be…Dream…Play… enforced how you can live in the woods, desert, toolies, and still be glamourous…. I mean, feathers, bottle caps, Pinecones… Didn’t you know they are all used by woodland creatures to make lovely jewelry and gowns???
Thank you my wonderful EB!!! I love it all! What a fun exotic treat indeed!!!
Now, I must go back to the studio and "Crrrack that whip…" Oh, and perhaps I should put those tables away… See you!! xxo
PS: Hehehe, I am still giggling about this… But, no I am not a hair dresser in the real world. Everyone asks me that though. I just kinda figured it out… Also, my dear friend Bennette Martinez, owner of Jabez, in Tucson, Arizona, is my hairdresser (since I was 13). I just pay attention to what she does 😉 And, sometimes, if I decide I want bright red hair, and happen to do it myself, she doesn’t mind spending all night taking me back to dark blonde…That is, after lots of tears on my part…
heh a perfectly wonderful hair stylist…
hee, hee! you love the shoes too! i will never let the hubby know just HOW many shoes i have! (what is your ‘real’ job? i thought the art was your real job!)
Hasn’t all the wet been amazing? We’ve had flash flood warnings for days on end now…and there is green popping up everywhere! Loving the tarantula…didn’t know they lived in holes though (why didn’t I know that?) and the snake was really amazing! I just have quite a few waterlogged squirrels staggering around lately…
Wow! What a nature walk! Please stay away from that snake and tarantula! Yikes, gives me the creeps! But what loveliness, skies, rainbows and greenness! So glad you are feeling better!
You live in a little bit of paradise (if you ignore the tarantulas, snakes and scorpions, that is) and the photos are lovely. The birds feasting on prickly pears reminds me of a beautiful long-ago early evening in Tucson. And EB is her usual creative self with those exotic offerings. Like you, I have lots of beautiful shoes. They don’t get worn nearly often enough these days, as I’m spending more time writing than going out. xoxoxo
Your magical world of nature is perfectly lovely…..I can easily understand how you could abandon shoes for such a life!
I live in my flip flops almost year round….and I really do love shoes….I just hardly ever wear them! We have lizards and snakes and all sorts of outside friends here, too ( no tarantulas, however….I’m rather thankful for that, actually….lovely as they are….I’m still quite a spider-coward!) I did make friends with a nice mouse last week who made a little nest right next to our front window ( under a large, dried leaf)!:)
no, no no…I screamed out when I saw the tarantula hole….
I thought it would hop out and get you!!!
All those shoes!
Vanessa,
The shoes are divine! But the wildlife even better. Maybe you could put a fanciful twist on a teaparty for your little friends. The frog would look great dressed to kill!
Hope you are feeling better.
~Blue
i was forced to leave all my shoes behind when my toes got numb…i can’t cover them or i fall down…i can only wear open-toed birkenstocks now…good thing i live in sunny florida…i do venture out on cool calfornia evenings in a furry pair of boots i had to have…usuing my cane…blessings, rebecca
LOL. Another blog treat. I love shoes, but for everyday use I end up with the most outworn ones you can imagine 🙂
Send me your address and I will be happy to send you soemthing from far away Norway…
LUON…great, great stuff!! I love their website…thanks for that!
Isn’t it amazing…all the creatures coming up out of the ground…the waters summoning them.
You are a lucky girl to get this eb lovin and wonderous creations!
I always dye my own hair. Once, I even got offered a job at a really ritzy hair salon in Chicago.
Love all the creatures, but sorry it takes such heat and humidity to bring them out. But at least it gives you someone to play with!
Love the shoes you left behind… but tarantulas and snakes… ugghhh don’t know if I’d like that .. where I live in Canada we have some spiders (much much smaller than a trantula) and I get the shivers!!Snakes.. if they don’t bite are ok.. I guess.
PS.I love your art work!! It is amazing!!
hee hee. i still have a soft spot for shoes… and yours look like a good collection! i’m a flip flop girl too – so i totally get the conversion!
have fun w/ the frogs!
Good grief! look at all those shoes!! haha I seriously have 3 pairs of shoes. now, purses on the other hand, thats another story……yes! Bat for Lashes are soooo good. Cara Winter, I will definitely check her out!
I also had to leave all my shoes (fewer than 200 pairs though!) behind when I came to Marrakech – but yet I *still* keep buying more and have them sent to my parents to that I will have them when we move to England! After all, how is any girl supposed to resist purple satin heels with amethyst rhinestones from Lulu Guinness on ebay? Really? But for now I stride around in Birkenstocks and I’m sure my feet are very grateful.
What a gorgeous blog! I will certainly be coming back!
Sarah
some of the creatures not very pretty!!!! egads! that tarantula and snake nearly stopped my heart!!! defibulator someone!!
i’m sorry, but i could never live near snakes and spider of that calibre! i’m a total wimp when it comes to not so pretty creatures,btw, was poor froggy in the tarantula pit/hole???
loved the shoe and jewels though!
Oo! I feel as if ! just watched an episode of Nature channel! Wheee! I love all the snakes , toads and spidies! I wish I lived in the country now! I miss it all! Love the shoes! I have a few sparklies myself! WEll…get back to the Drawing board ,gal and let’s see what magic appears!!!
What great wildlife! Love the rain, send some here!(Oregon is not as wet as every one thinks, well the summer isn’t anyway.) SHOES! Heaven! What wonderful gifts!
Moss?? I’m mad about Moss!!
Hey, I have that outfit you’re wearing. It’s my uniform.
Ugh… that snake freaks me out… they always do. Eeeeeek! Eeeeeek for the tarantula too! Lovely pictorial of your world there. As always, I love snippets like this from your wonderland there!
xo,
Karen Beth 🙂
Well I have a different take on this….I don’t do well with spiders and snakes therefore I’d be wearing wellies or heavy boots. I’d be the one stomping and waving a stick in front of me. Some nature girl, huh? I mean I like the country and all….just not fond of creepy crawlies. BUT to have a studio with vistas and a space to call yours and still another place to go in town – that IS paradise. As for the shoes….I have so many that merely take up space…I’m a sandal/flipflop and barefeet gal now. (EXCEPT if there are tarantulas about)HA!
XOXOXO
p.s. the other day a gal in Anthropologie was wearing THE most fab shoes, actually from the 30’s and they’d never been worn. I wanted THOSE!
shoes, shoes, shoes,
am I in some Marie Antoinette
movie set??????????
love shoes – love yous too
xox – eb
now – truth be told – I love seeing that rusty bottle cap on your lovely wrist
xox – eb
So everywhere I visit….there you are. I thought I’d have a little visit. What do i see almost immediately…..feet in flipflops. I just posted something similar…..Great minds think alike. Nice to meet you!!!
Did you say moss?! No! I loooove moss!
Hey, yes, I can see why you love it there…
So does your sister wear your shoes when you’re not looking? Heh heh
I’m not diggin those frogs and snakes but I’ll still be back to visit (and purchase!)
Do you have any snakeskin shoes???
; )
Donna
You mean you don’t dress like one of the Luon St. Pierre pieces? I’ll help myself to several pairs of your fabulous shoes, thank you. I don’t think I would ever get used to the tarantula, frogs and snakes…keep them away when I visit okay? 🙂
I can see why you love it there and I do so love getting these glimpses into your world. I would hate living with those frogs and snakes though, tarantulas I could cope with, but frogs no way!
What an amazing place you live in Miss Vanessa. We had a rain the other night and it’s been really muggy. When we get a good rain, the froggers come out and land in the window wells… C takes them out and sends them hopping on their way.. only to have them hop down again… I wish they were a bit smarter. 🙁
I find as long as I can look at all my goodies I’m OK ! Darliong EB sending you amazing treasures from nature!
I completely forgot to mention the treasures from the amazing eb…..isn’t she just the best? Mail love….always a good thing!
XOXOXO
I love to go outside and get messy and look like that too! It’s good to connect to the earth sometimes – makes you feel ‘alive’ and a part of everything, you know?
Your world looks like a lovely paradise – though I can’t say I’m too fond of the spiders and toads – I have a morbid fear of toads, but the toads here are incredibly ugly and disastrous to our environment – go look up cane toads on google if you don’t believe me. *shudders* I can’t even look at a picture of one without freaking out! Haha.
I’ve loved catching up on your blog – it’s always beautiful here. 🙂
i like the filthy desert feet the best. Seems like the right thing to do, in my opinion – getting messy IS glamorous!
And think of all the glorious hot baths you can find excuse to indulge in after a dance in the desert rain.
and i wish we had snakes here.
the closest we get to them is watching those poor buggers in tanks at the local exotic pet store. bad news:(
xxx
I like the way you do “sick”, nice hanky a little dessert. I curl up on the couch and hack and cough for days and don’t have style like you do.
Love your art work and the collage type paintings, they make me want to create something. Good art always does that.
: ) Bren
http://benzy55.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Who needs shoes when nature spreads her bountiful wonders at your feet! 🙂 Vanessa, I’ve just nominated you as one of my Rockin’ Girl Bloggers 🙂
i just found myself yesterday wishing for a pair of flat comfortable shoes. me, the girl who swore she would never go anywhere but the beach in flip flops and the gym in tennis shoes. ugh. is this what hitting the mid thirties does to people. i am thinking about building a beautiful shrine in my closet to all of my beautiful shoes i so seldomly wear…
it’s simple — a closet full of shoes and exotic wearables is one kind of natural woman, and getting one’s hands and feet right into the substance of things is another — and lucky us, both can be the basis of artistic expression! glad you’re having fun!!
I love your cute little feet!
I love the frog crawling out the hole. Did he eat the tarantula, bc that would have been fun to watch. I love Baby and all her glory. What a champion of a dog. You do have cute little feet, haha!
Testing
The older I get, the more I gravitate towards nature and away from the glamor that big city living brought me (hence the move from NYC to Portland). Yes, fabulous shoes and things that sparkle are wonderful, but the feeling of coming across frogs in holes, snakes slithering along past you, wild birds, beautiful vegetation – that feeling can’t be matched.
First off, I love the Woman in her Drawers piece. The colours! The baubles! Fantastic!
Second, I was so inspired by your photos, I wa determined to go out in nature and take the same kind of shots this afternoon so I rounded up a girlfriend and we planned to go to the beach. We ended up shopping instead. Heh.
I did it creatively. Does that make it any better??