Que?

Apparently someone (or two someones) somewhere in the world HATES Avi. How this is even possible I do not know. Perhaps they are cat people.

Why do I draw these Avi pictures in the first place? Some of you might think, "hey, this used to be an art blog and I used to like to look at her sketches and paintings, but now all that's here are these stupid dog pictures." True, although the blog has not changed. My time restraints, however, have. Now I'm a "workin' stiff." I work from 8:30 am to 5 pm, with a little too much time spent before and after on the commute. By the time I get home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of my computer and paint something. My creative expression, what is left after pouring myself into my design work every day, is now manifest in my costuming projects.

So why do I draw these silly Avi pictures? Throughout the day I need little breaks. Sometimes it's just to look at something new for awhile, and sometimes it's to sketch something that doesn't have to be precise or rendered. It must also be very quick - I don't have liberty to spend any more than about 10 minutes on a doodle, or else I'd be a very bad employee indeed. These elements, combined with missing my puppy daily, lead to these "less-than-brilliant," always ridiculous scribbles of a dog nobody here has ever met. I spent 4 years at SJSU trying to be precise, rendered, "brilliant" and devoid of ridiculousness, so that's just about enough of that drudgery.

By all means, if you love Avi and like the silly drawings of her, let me know by using the poll at right. If you hate Avi, follow Thumper's advice: "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," and mosey on to the next blog, por favor.

Avi StringBean

Did you guys see the fabulous poll to the right? Check it out, and let Avlar know how much you love (or revile) her!

Avi the Carpet Crawler

Avi has a couple odd and vastly amusing behaviors. One is that she likes to hide her chewbone in whatever lump of fabric - blanket, t-shirt, my $15/yd silk - happens to be laying around on the carpet, and then "finds it" again. This involves pulling the blanket (lets say) every which way, stringing it across the floor, locating the lump that is the blanket-covered bone, sandwiching it between her puppypaws, and then chewing it....through the blanket. If, on occassion, she finds the bone and it is exposed, she might toss it in the air a couple times before hiding it again.

Sometimes she places the bone on the bed covers, lays down next to it, and proceeds to toss her head into the covers, in what appears to an attempt to knock the bone away from her. However, when the bone does indeed go flying from the bed, she looks after it as if to ask "why did it run away?" A moment spent waiting listlessly for it to return, and she decides to go after it herself. Rinse and repeat.

It, of course, is not always the bone. The Minkus loves to play hide and seek as well, and takes on a whole life of it's own, to Avi. I sometimes think they play together all day long, and hold great philosophical conversations as she gnaws lovingly on its stuffed little foot.

As for the drawing, she's never fully in this position, but she does push herself across the floor, head and shoulders down, in what looks like the best method of itch-scratching ever devised by canine or human alike.

The Real McAvioy

There is an actual dog that goes with all these little drawings I've been doing. Scientific name is Canis Avis. She is a source of never-ending inspiration, cuddles, and love-ups! Despite her uncannily photogenic puppy-features, sometimes she just doesn't have the patience to sit there and look achingly cute while I take a snap, especially when there are birds to be stalked or The Minkus looking at her from across the room. And so I give you Avi of the Penetrating SnarkyPup Glare.