Steve Seeley.

Steve Seeley's paintings have intrigued me since I was first introduced to his work three years ago at the Packer Schopf gallery in Chicago. His mixed media paintings incorporate animals as stand-ins for humans; weaving a narrative that is equal parts pop culture and nature. My good friend, Arius, once said,

"Jane, if primates didn't evolve into human beings I think we would have evolved from bears." Omnivorous, bipedal at times, intelligent...the bears in Seeley's work remind me of what would have happened if bears did evolve to the humanoid level. Dogs, deer, gorillas, mandrills, and birds all play equally complicated roles and come together to create a universe I wouldn't mind hanging out in for awhile. Steve and i are showing together at the South Bend Museum of Art in Indiana. The Show is titled, Fauna and was curated by Jason Lahr. Check out http://www.artseverywhere.com/event/detail/38407

Check Steve's work at:

http://www.thedelicatematter.com/

Check out my work at

http://www.janeryder.com/

tooth chip.

The first time I chipped my tooth was on a sugar daddy lolipop. I was at P.F Chang's. It was horrible and I never wanted it to happen again. Also, the food at P.F Chang's was horrible. The whole event was terrible and then the dreams began. Dreams, every night, about

1. spitting out teeth
2. eating my teeth
3. pulling out my own teeth and spitting them into my hand.
4. teeth falling out in chunks.
5. the dog sniffing my tooth chunks.

Ugh. Need I say more? Everyone worries about their teeth because they make us look good and we need them to chew...and live when it comes down to it. A tooth infection could kill you. Cavities hurt, root canals are worst and don't get me started on the wisdom teeth...I call them caveman teeth.

I chipped my front tooth today while biting tape. I'm an idiot. a total idiot. The chip is sharp but at least it's small. Still, its big enough to ruin my day.

This is a snow goose migration Rishika and I witnessed in Nebraska. The geese come in an all white color phase and blueish color phase. Early explorers thougt they were two different species but they ain't. As you can see, not only do I spook mule deer, I spooked these geese right out of the water. The sounds they made could have ruptured my eardrums. I'm glad I saw them. I'm even glad I heard them. Its funny how all these photos are of creatures running (or flying) away from me.

mule deer.

These are the mule deer does that Rish and I spooked In Idaho. As a midwesterner, I'd never seen this many deer in a group before. Whitetail tend to be more solitary and that's what we have in Illinois and Iowa. Muledeer are a western animal and the females hang out in large groups. Am I boring you?

elk

I love traveling. I love seeing the animals hang out by the side of the road. These photographs of Elk were taken by Rishika "Rizzle" Murthy. She is very talented and I'm going to showcase the photographs she took while we traveled across the country last Spring.

Goodbye cattle.

*I just ended my career as a dairy farmer. I enjoyed the job like a fat kid enjoys cheetos...however, it takes money to feed a fat kid and I wasn't paying the bills with my milk money. Even though those baby cows loved me, love won't pay the bills either.

But my career as a dairy farmer ended on an interesting note. I've heard of mutant cows being born in Cher-noble (spelled fo-net-ick-cul-ey) after nuclear disaster...but not in lovely Iowa. I heard that a mutant cow was delivered by c-section the night before my shift and that the mutant was still in the straw. So I popped over to take a look.

The mama just stood there and looked at me. She had a three foot long scar down her side that looked like a zipper. And next to her was a calf with a fully developed head, grarled and awkward front legs that hooked like a cane, and after the pelvic area began the cow stopped developing. It was just tiny, ridgid bones with some skin covering them.

It was very haunting. I didn't take a picture out because of that.

*I work at the farm again...feeding cows and cleaning afterbirth, and I love it. 10-10-2009