It's that time of year again. Shocktoberfest. For those of you newer to this blog, you may not be aware that my husband decided three years ago to subject me to a horror movie every night for the thirty days leading up to Halloween. Thirty days and not thirty-one you might ask? My birthday is October 1 and I demanded to have that night off from being scared. I don't even want to explain why or how this happened, it just did. And now, it's a tradition that I can't get out of (except when I manage to plan social events on a few evenings here and there which are always viewed with suspicion by John). This 'tradition' has even spread to some of our friends and family. Insanity. So how does a girl keep her sanity? I drink and I eat candy and I complain- a lot. I also have immersed myself in a fabulous book about Liz Taylor and Richard Burton and their tempestuous love affairs and marriages. It's a wonderful distraction during this difficult time.
It hasn't been all bad though. Some films I've really enjoyed like William Castle's 'Strait-Jacket' starring Joan Crawford, and an Australian film called The Reef which involves a great white shark and is unfortunately sort of based on a true story. I ate my weight in candy that night. I also had to watch a Norwegian film called 'Troll Hunter' which is exactly what it sounds like- trolls +hunting= nonsense.
Fortunately it will all be over in a week, and then I can concentrate on getting my figure back and finding a good marriage counselor.
October 23, 2011 | Filed in: Random
It's been a 'Mister Toad's Wild Ride' of a month here at Janet Hill Studio. One of the good things that happened was a lovely little email from Katie over at Matchbook Magazine for a feature article. I've been a big fan of the magazine since it launched at the beginning of the year and almost fell off my chair when I received her email. The only problem was that I would have to be photographed and I'm not exactly photogenic. Fortunately the very patient and lovely Sherry Smith from Keepsake Photography showed up at my door and worked her magic in spite of my constant fussing and motor-mouth chatter and I think the results were excellent. It's a great issue and I can't wait to sit down tonight with a cup of tea and read it from cover to cover. And the cover- isn't it fabulous?!
And while I'm tooting my own horn, I should also mention that I had the pleasure of working with Tiffany & Co recently on some promotional imagery for them. It was a great experience and I hope to have some images to share of the work in the near future.
Alrighty, it's now time to get my head out of the clouds and back to work!
October 3, 2011 | Filed in: Janet Hill,Paintings,Press,Random
In the blink of an eye our mini vacation is over. Sigh. However, it was pretty perfect and I'm completely in love with Skaneateles, NY. We happened upon this village/town a few years ago on route to Cape Cod. It was the end of October and we blew into town in the middle of a snow storm. The weather was so dismal that we really didn't take much time to look around and just wanted to check into our room and grab something to eat. We did notice that we were someplace quite special though and knew that we would have to return to explore a little more. Perhaps part of it was the Sherwood Inn (where we stayed this time as well). It's a pretty old hotel by North American standards- I believe about 200 years old and it's loaded with charm and character.
We spent much of our time eating and walking and gazing out onto the beautiful lake which is the only lake that I've seen that I've actually wanted to swim in as it's clear and I have a fear of ' lake monsters'. I'm already making plans to return next year to explore some of the Finger Lakes' wineries, to eat more of the amazing donuts from the Skaneateles bakery, and to whine in John's ear about wanting to buy one of those beautiful homes with the big wraparound verandahs.
August 19, 2011 | Filed in: Random
It's that special time of year again...my second most dreaded time of year aside from 'Shocktoberfest' which is John's 'Birthday Week'. Yes, I have a husband who has a 'birthday week'. I think I've complained about this before in previous posts, but just in case anyone has forgotten, John's 'birthday week' is a time honored tradition of torture for me. Something happens to this 42 year old man and he reverts back to being a little boy. There's cake, there's pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, milkshakes and soft serve ice cream. Every night it's a different fast food that I have to treat him to and listen as he plans his next meal. It's so strange. Fortunately he loves Indian food, so at least we get to upgrade tonight to a nice restaurant.
In some ways I shouldn't complain as he doesn't demand gifts- although, he doesn't shy away from them either. This year I decided to give him a 'bonus gift' in exchange for a non-fast food evening (didn't work). I designed a 'Monster Lobster' poster. This needs explaining doesn't it? While most couples discuss their plans for the day over breakfast, John and I has a weirdo tradition of making up plots for fake movies. Monster Lobster is the result of this. Basically it's about a small New England town that is terrorized by these giant lobster monsters. True, it's a total cliche but there are dance numbers in it- even the giant lobsters get down. There's a lot of 'science' and a hero 'Brave Skipper Bo' who saves the day. Fascinating.
Anyway, he appears to quite like his gift (I framed it and everything) but now it appears that this will become part of the tradition of 'Birthday Week'. A new movie poster every year. Sheesh, what have I done?
July 22, 2011 | Filed in: Random
I thought I would give an update in regards to our crazy Canada Post situation. It appears that the other night Canada Post locked all of it's workers out in response to the Canada Post union's rotating 24 hour strikes across the country. What this means is that we have no mail system at the moment. As you can imagine this is a terrible thing to happen to small businesses (like mine) who really rely on Canada Post since courier services like UPS are too expensive for shipping small items like prints and most couriers do not insure fine art like original oil paintings. Some items are stuck in the system as they were mailed out before we had knowledge of this, other orders we are holding until this is resolved. Fortunately, it appears that our government is drafting legislation that will allow Canada Post workers to get back to work. However, it will likely take a week before this happens. In short, I sort of feel like the turtle that John and I almost ran over the other day: Slow, cumbersome, and a little ticked off.
We are still accepting orders but have to hold them until next week. We can of course ship out UPS but will have to adjust shipping charges to reflect the price difference. I will likely have some new original work ready by the end of the week and will list it as usual on etsy. By the time they dry this shipping nightmare should be over.
There is some good news though! It appears that the book cover that I did for Molly Birnbaum's book 'Season To Taste' was in the New York Times. They did a feature about Molly and her amazing story about regaining her sense of smell after the accident. True, it wasn't exactly a feature about the book cover, but it was pretty exciting to see it alongside the article. I'm clinging to the small positives right now.
June 16, 2011 | Filed in: Press,Random
