Saturday, October 30

Cool! Good news!

So, I got the email that I was accepted into the exhibit "Broadsides" (see Oct 5) at Atelier6000 Gallery (Bend, Oregon) Soon, I think they'll post all the exhibit pieces on their website.

That's a nice thing, after spending all day working like dogs, emptying and cleaning out our fish pond....which was full of muddy sludge. We are now exhausted and making homemade pesto, and I'm basking in the delight of being part of a new book arts exhibit.

Friday, October 8

The Beach is Perfect! A random Friday in October...

We had a planned trip to south Texas to celebrate my Mom's 85th birthday, but a couple of chores convinced us to take an extra day and spend a day on the beach at South Padre Island. What a PERFECT time to visit! The weather was warm and sunny, the water was cool, the crowds were gone, it was just a wonderful day and a half. Thank goodness we decided to go - it's the most relaxing place to be!

Oh yes, and the birthday celebration was nice, it was a good excuse for the entire family to get together. We don't do that often enough.

Tuesday, October 5

Just sent my submission for the "Broadsides" exhibition


Well, I finally got it finished, and it's in the mail. No, not a check, but my submitted entry for a juried show entitled "Broadsides". Initially I had to look it up, just to determine what qualifies as a "Broadside". As best I can tell,it's more or less a poster,usually fairly small, typically printed on a letterpress.... more common in past times ... The prospectus states that

"“Broadsides,” a juried exhibition of text and image, mixed media and two-dimensional works open to artists of all ages. Broadsides: text and image works printed by hand or letterpress or with calligraphy technique."

So, using a quote by Michael Pollan (author of: 'In Defense of Food', 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', 'The Botany of Desire' and 'Food Rules') I created a simple broadside, and earlier today I sent it off to (hopefully) become a part of the exhibit. Here's a look at my piece.

Saturday, September 18

Rainy Days at the Beach

We are spending a few days at the beach in September. It's necessary, since we are here for the annual Homeowners Meeting, but we're also here to have the last "beach time" of this summer season - the one that's currently ending with multiple days of rain. Although it would be easy to think that the rain is spoiling our trip, surprisingly the rain has not been a problem at all. These days of constant but light rain, more than a sprinkle, with occasional downpours, have created the kind of days that you can sit on a balcony with a good book, interspersed with lots and lots of naps. I had totally forgotten how relaxing it is to just spend the entire day drinking pots of coffee, reading and sleeping the day away.

I would not have chosen this weather, but I am not sorry at all that it has worked out this way. Maybe that's the real definition of a serendipity.

Saturday, July 10

Change

If you want to change your life, you actually have to CHANGE something. Seems pretty darn obvious, but it took me by surprise when I was reading a blog this morning. Guess that's my sign: get off the train going nowhere, and figure out what small change I can make TODAY.

By the way, this is actually old news, I can remember my therapist (years ago) reminding me, "crazy is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome".

Okay - I guess I'm off to figure out how to embrace change . . .

Thursday, July 1

Wow. This summer has flown past

I never even wrote anything about my vacation. It was nice, but was NOT the quiet, contemplative, sitting-on-the-balcony-reading type of vacation that I could see in my mind's eye. And, as soon as I got back home, we got busy with yet more "busy" ness. I REALLY need to figure out how to get out of this rut.

Monday, June 21

Back from Alaska

Back home from our vacation and I'm busier than ever.

Tuesday, May 11

Strange Days


Things have been really strange around here. A couple of weeks ago I was moving some boxes of art supplies when I tripped, lost my balance and fell down - - - hard. I fell onto an old, dirty metal box. It wasn't rusty, but still, it was covered in old dirt and dust. I didn't even realize at first how badly I was hurt... it was a few hours later that the swelling really got going, and later still that I noticed the blood. There wasn't much blood, at least not on the outside. The bruising was horrendous, and even now, two and a half weeks later, its' still huge and purple. My doctor called it a hematoma. Whatever, it hurt like hell and it's huge. HUGE. Covers nearly all my thigh and upper leg. But, all in all, I'm healing and I didn't die, so life goes on.

Then, of course we're trying to get ready for a nice vacation - to Alaska. With 3 other couples, Boto and I are taking our first cruise, the "Glacier" cruise, the inside passage from Anchorage to Vancouver. We both think it will be great fun. We will spend the first two days on a train trip to Denali National Park, then return to Anchorage to begin the cruise. I just finished up my handmade Travel Journal, and exciting roll-up fabric covered journal - I really want to start writing in it today, but I really have to wait for the "journey"!

For our anniversary last month, Boto got me an iPod Touch -which is becoming the most fun for me. I'm still learning how to use it, and only have a couple of apps downloaded, but it looks like that will change soon, now that it's getting more familiar to me.

Then today, I got a phone call from a close friend who apparently was overdoing some serious housecleaning and blew out a knee. She tried calling me to take her to the hospital, but I wasn't at home, so she had to catch a ride with the ambulance. I still don't know the diagnosis or the resulting treatment (other than the pain pills, she definitely got some heavy duty pain pills).... so I'm waiting to hear how she'll recover and recuperate.

I have a fool's errand upcoming this weekend, I have to travel to our beach condo.... I wish I hadn't set things up this way, but I didn't think about what I was doing - I have renters about to check out and I have a few things that need to be done before the next renters check in, and this is the only time I can get to the condo to take care of those details. So, only a week before we leave on vacation, I have to spend this upcoming weekend making a 14-hour drive to spend 2 hours on a few small chores. I'm hoping to get enough done here at home before I have to leave.

Wednesday, April 21

Wow, it sure seems lately like it's "all work and no play". We are planning a vacation in about a month, and I really am looking forward to the "vacate" part. I want to sit in a chair with a book (and maybe a cappuccino) and just veg out.

Seriously. work is way overrated.

Thursday, January 7

Okay, it's the New Year

In fact, we are a week into the new year, and I haven't even made any resolutions, much less kept them! I do, however, have some plans for art. I am in the middle of making a mosaic "orb", a sphere that was perhaps intended to be a christmas decoration, that is, in the class I took - but for me it's an opportunity to begin to use my desire to bring the feel of the beach into my objects. . . so I made this glass and tile mosaic, and then added seashells for a touch of the ocean. It's not finished, I started it in a class and went to all the classes, but held off on the very last part as I got overly busy with Holiday activities and traveling. But I'll be at home at last in a few days and finishing up the grouting of the mosaic is high on my list.

Oh, and also pretty high on my list is getting our passports renewed, in advance of a trip in May. We're taking a cruise along the Alaskan coastline - Glaciers and all. But I think that everything about Passports take longer than they used to, so I want to get that started ASAP....

My life in a nutshell- fighting my desire to get back into the studio versus spending time traveling and seeing the world with new eyes, and a more open-minded viewpoint. It's all the same really, isn't it? Growing up, learning new things, learning how very little we really know, and how much we can learn from other cultures.... and figuring out how to express all this visually.

All the best for this new year to all who are reading this !!