Art and the other...

The opening of Rachel Salomon's work at SQFT already feels like it was ages ago...but in fact it was just last Saturday night.

Rachel installed a wallpaper/fabric pattern she designed on one entire wall of the gallery, and then hung a series of etchings. Everyone was just blown away by the installation, (bravo Rachel and her boyfriend James,) and really drawn in by the narratives in Rachel's etchings.

The other side of the gallery featured large paintings that were blown up versions of the wallpaper/fabric pattern. Their size and vibrancy of the colors made them really powerful, and I loved all of Rachel's little trees. I'm going to take some more detailed shots of the etchings and her smaller paintings the next time I'm down at the gallery, but for now you can check out photos from the opening on the gallery's flickr site right here.

In other news, cake + pie has gone into serious flea control mode. It seems that the menagerie, despite receiving diligent flea control treatments once a month, has fleas! We have been bathing, treating, vacuuming, spraying, cleaning, doing endless laundry, and throwing things away...on the bright side our house is probably the cleanest it's ever been. On the downside I think Oscar & Cooper are a little traumatized by it all, as am I. This is my first Nashville summer with pets...and boy am I ever going to be doing my research about better prevention for next summer. If any of you who live in warmer parts of the world have tips on what you do to make sure fleas don't darken your doorway, please share! I am most interested in any natural or organic methods. We were using Frontline, (which crapped out on us,) and now Advantage because Advantix is poisonous to cats, (why on earth would a company make a flea treatment for dogs that is poisonous to cats, I ask you?) I am really concerned about the chemicals on and near the pets, so if anyone has found a natural method of eliminating this problem, I will be in your debt!

Tomorrow is another busy day, so for now I will say goodnight. Hopefully I'll be posting more frequently very soon, in the meantime, be well friends! 

Comments

[caitlin]

Rachel Salomon's installation looks a m a z i n g.
I hope Oskie and Coopie feel better.

[Felicia]

Heres what you do to get rid of fleas. Plug in a nightlight on a low outlet on the wall. Set a shallow pan, such as a pie :) pan, under it that has been filled with some water and a few drops of liquid soap swirled around. The fleas are attracted to the light and when they jump they drown in the soapy water.

[jesse]

we had the same problem this year in Texas - the fleas have been exceptionally bad here - and like you this was my first encounter (lots of laundry, lots of vacuuming, and baths!) we used frontline every 3 weeks and the exterminator gave us a flower based spray that seemed to really knock it out. we also gave the dog apple cider vinegar in her water which is supposed to affect the skin & blood the same way the meds do but organically. you can find a good concentration by using google - i just made sure the water didn't smell too strong.

good luck!