Drapery, studio preparations, nature

A busy week in Artlandia!

Work continues on the life-scale drapery block...

As we can see, Max has been carefully observing Mo and Mini and learning how to be an excellent feline assistant. Since I now have 3 feline helpers, I'm not sure the former monikers of "Feline Assistant, Sr." and "Feline Assistant, Jr." really apply anymore - maybe "Feline Assistant, Sr." and "Junior 1" and "Junior 2"?   Hmmmmm.

There isn't as much new art work as usual this week in part because I spent a chunk of time working on the studio itself.  With 2 young kitties, it has become urgent to put into place some studio modifications I've been thinking about to get collage parts and colleges in process off the floor and onto the walls.
In preparation, I patched, sanded, primed, and painted the largest wall in the studio. 

after

before

Mo was such a helper while I worked on the wall,
and it was exhausting. (Also, notice how the fuzzy ball
that used to be tethered to the cat tree is now missing
leaving only a piece of black string, haha). 

While I was working on tasks that have been on the "to do" list for a while, I also took advantage of the few cooler days after the heat wave to go ahead and mulch the small strip of grass at the side of the house (Mini watched from her perch in the window the whole time I worked.) 

before

after

The heat has been hard on Honey, and I took her on a nice adventure to get ice cream and swim in her favorite spot. When we got home, she got a good brushing...

I especially like this one because it looks like she's walking on water, haha.

O My - sooo much shedding! I was worried she'd be bald,
but she's still her fluffy, beautiful self
(though hopefully, cooler and more comfortable now :) ). 

I got some beautiful landscape shots while Honey swam:

And also this one, that I really like, from when we were walking at dusk. 

Also, last, but not least, the garden is in high gear and I think everything survived the heat wave (whew!)