Before & After

It snowed here in south TX on Dec. 11! Amazing as never before have I seen 5 inches here. The holidays have been busy as friends arrive for visitation, organizational parties to attend with huge amounts of mirth! 

My friend , Gail Lackey honored me with a gift that arrived today . It's her small album of ghosties which I adore. 

Victoria sneaked her puss in here where she does not belong . She didn't see the snow or get involved in the festivities of the season. More is forth coming.

Still in recovery mode

Here it is into another MONTH with everyday filled with workers & work of one nature or another. My furnace had to be replaced with a brand new unit totally. At 17 yrs. old & numerous repairs to exchangers or replacements it had lived long enough. Hopefully the new one will fare better than the old. One garage roof has been torn off & replaced with a new one. Solar screens have been created & installed once again. Skirting has been mended. Next more roofs to be mended or replaced. I'm saving the big fence til last as the tree is holding it in place. Thank goodness for it. This has been one expensive hurricane for me. My savings has shrunk too much for a new car purchase. I don't fore see saving enough in 2009. So goes life!

Maybe I can play tomorrow for a few hours. Quilt festival set up is next week & the dolls must be packed & ready to roll. No Gypsy entry ready this year. Maybe next yr. I won't be able to attend Quilt festival to shop as I have in the past years. Boo hoo! Just get to go on Sunday to pick up the dolls from exhibit. Boo hoo ,boo hoo. 

After Ike

Here it is a week later. Ike came in like Gang Busters rattling all the trees in his path. The trees here are 100 yr. old oak, pine, 60+ yr. old pecan,Cedar, live oak, and maple. He uprooted the oldest & biggest pecan tree ,laid it down in the dry way crushing a security light & pole. Today I checked the security lamp bulb which was still in tactbut the housing was flattened. Can u imagine? It has been many days of cutting up the downed trees & getting them to the side of the road for county pick up. There is other damage but that will be taken care of in time. 

The water in the pictures of the previous post rose above the equipment ,then flooded the road called Market street Rd. The water then backed up onto I-10 ,flooding it & stranding several vehicles. This is one block from my house. The water rose to my corner & Mkt. St. was impassable on Sat. Pumps opened one lane so interstate traffic could be diverted to our small new bridge over that flooded bayou & park shown below.

It was hot as the power went off Fri. nite @ 9:15. The rest of the area went black at 11. There has not been power since then for others around me. I was w/o for 5 days. Praise Be when it came on as my feet touched the cool floor @ 6:41 a.m. Thurs.

It is so hard to keep track of time as each day was worrisome w/o any type of communications with the world outside my house. Those were the longest days of my life which I do not want to repeat. Food in the freezers spoiled & have been tossed. I cooked what I could on my gas stove.

More later.....

Eve of Hurricane IKE

I'm staying & not evacuating. I walked down the road to our county park that empties into the Houston ship channel & San Jacinto River. Both are right around the short bend. What is so remarkable is this flooding occurring before a storm & NO RAIN.We moved here in 1940 . I built my house in 1991 to be next door to my mother. I can remember when this small bayou was only a stream .U could jump across it then. Now the little stream is a small bayou .U can see the silt that has been pushed up next to the rail. To the right & down to the striped pole is part of the parking lot.

Latest doings NOT

Here it is into Sept. & more gulf storms brewing. My van was side swiped over a week ago just before the holiday. Seems events like this always occur on a holiday weekend. Hopefully it will be back with me sometime this Wed. Not getting doll work done has been eating at my muse who wants to play DOLLS. I have tried to work on retreat homework & seem not to be making much progress. The head I have made is all cloth as I want an Asian Elf in Kimono as my rod puppet. If the paperclay one that we create at Lone Star is not what I envision then this one is ready!

Last Saturday

This is from last Saturday at the reception. It was held at The CENTER for ARTS & SCIENCES . The juried show was presented by the Brazosport Art League. I felt quite honored to win this award there. Three TAODA artists also entered. Joyce took second place, Janet took an honorable mention. Third place went to jewelry. 

Dolls for Critique

This is in Las Vegas, NV in July when we went for the third stage of artist membership into ODACA. My fat belly wasn't part of the critique,thank goodness. The three were happy to be there and my fat face shows my happiness in being accepted. This image isn't the greatest but I wanted to share it as Joyce Patterson, ODACA, was kind enough to do the photography. 

Onward to create some new figures. I finished one and it is with three others in a juried show in Brazosport, The Center for Arts & Sciences. The reception is Aug. 23 at which time awards are presented. I'm not expecting any but will enjoy being there. My philosophy regarding competitions is "It's an honor to be juried in as there are hundreds of entries, so being selected is honorable since those selections are limited in number and quality."My doll friends, Joyce Patterson and Janet Bodin also have entries there so we will cheer one another on being present. 

That Time again

Not getting much done since getting back from Vegas lights & baubles! House painters have been dragging along slowly thus finding more work that needs attention. Too bad the dolls can't do it! LOL 

Today I added my friend Marsha Krohn's blog. Be sure & visit it to see two of her latest dolls that she took to Vegas for her third stage into ODACA. 

Have a sunny day!

AFTERMATH of a special LIFE event

HOLA!

We are home again from Las Vegas & the final stage of ODACA 's standards committee. Yes, we TAODA artists that had applied & suffered the long processes can howl with victory ! Now it was a fantastic journey with a goal for us to attain the recognition & status of such a prestigious doll organization. Proud peacocks are crowing & on cloud 9.

The luncheon was a delight with an excellent program, delicious food,favors, drawings, and a souvenir doll created by Maryanne Oldenberg. Wow! Then table favors were given & a centerpiece doll by Deanne Hogan was won. I didn't win any but drooled anyway. 

The sales room was crowded by UFDC attendees , ODACA members , and the public.Great learning experience & interesting people present who collect dolls.As a new ODACA artist I can truthfully say that I'm looking forward to next year already. The drawback was having to miss NIADA & seeing more of Vegas other than casinos. Those one arm bandits are not a personal favorite for eye candy!  

VEGAS here we come!

This time next week we will embark upon this trail to new venues & journey into new art doll directions. The figures are packed & ready to embark if their carrier can get her feet to moving. Are we excited to be seeing the bright lights of Vegas after many years of hibernating in another world? Last visit was at the TROPICANA which was wonderful & fascinating. This trip it will be at the BALLY's & hope it will be comparable in comfort. 

We're coming out of our shell & its' so hard to do that when shooting for new horizons at our age. 

VEGAS here we come!

New Elf

This is "NOT ME". Do u believe him?

Wanna Dance?

New Gourd !

Pics that have been slow

Time to show these:This is my ribbon fae. She works in a thread & ribbon shop when no one else is present. The ribbons don't always cooperate as she gets confused while cutting & winding them onto their spools. 

Fourth of July

No fireworks for me! I did finish a new fae .As usual a pic is needed but get distracted & then forget to do that task. I'll trot over to Art Haus & do that soon. Have packed some for the trip to Vegas but am still debating which & how many? Keeping my fingers & toes crossed makes it difficult to do chores & such....so bear with me as I amble along. 

summer already

Rains on most late afternoons or evenings but need more to close the ever widening cracks in the ground. Finished some characters to take along to Vegas next month. Photos are in the camera & need to be uploaded to PC. Lazy me , yes & no. Sometimes I forget how to do this. : )

Two are in the gallery of juried works in The Alliance Center in Clear Lake. At least they are admired by those who visit there. The next show has a theme,"WATER" so entries will probably be overflowing!

Lone Star Art Guild Convention

It was held at Humble Civic Center in Humble ,TX on May 24th. Only previous winners from JURIED sanctioned shows were eligible for this exhibit. I had five entries so was very happy to just be a part of the show. There were many fantastic & fabulous works of art : paintings, cast sculptures, collages, pastels, our art dolls (only Joyce Patterson & me) . We went to the luncheon where the food was serve yourself thru table # calling as they were over 300 participants. The food was good & satisfying. There were drawings, raffles, special awards, and laughter. Afterwards we were allowed into the exhibit to see the other ribbon awards that were juried by two jurors. Surprise for me : An honorable mention ribbon bigger than "Gourd Lifer". He was delighted. We had many who admired the ART DOLLS. I also had two in another category playing with the bronze cast boys. It was an honor to be in that category & no ribbon was expected or received. 

Two friends came to view all & take me to supper at the OUTBACK. It was a wonderful day! 

Time Flies

This one needs something ???? any suggestions ?The title of this one is "It's enough to curl your TOES!"

The elf clown satisfies my inner muse. "OOPSIE " is the title.

Rainy Day May 5

Slow start as it poured buckets of rain today. After lunch I went to Art Haus to work awhile. Making slow progress on several but getting close to a final embellishment on one. It has a lot of hand sewing . Hopefully the rest turns out well. It started as an elf clown but I couldn't make bright colors work for costuming so got the idea of a B&W color scheme but that back fired on me. 

I'm also working on a gourd figure here at kitchen table as I have better lighting. Some days at Art Haus it seems I can't see to work especially black on black . I lose my thread & needle fast. Sculptying in paint room hasn't been going well so back to kitchen table here at home. Legs are shaping well even tho it's slow drying clay it does well with the gourd & doesn't separate like polyclay does when baked on the gourd.

Got some new books:

1. The crafting of Narnia, the Art, Creatures, and Weapons from the WETA workshop

2. Action Anatomy for gamers, animators and digital artists. 

3. Modeling the figure in Clay

These are for reference as I read & study each which promotes progress in my ability to sculpt figures. One I have read thru partially as it reminds me of what Richard Creager taught us when sculpturing legs , torso, arms, layering muscles etc. Good review for me to study again & remember that trip to Arizona via car. Studying anatomy is an element that all critics look at when jurying a figure...... what works versus what doesn't when changing the rules as an artist often does. 

Last weekend

Last weekend was our automata workshop with NIADA artist Kathy Walmsely. It was wonderful & inspiring even though I have not finished mine as yet. It was very tiring with driving in the traffic on Friday. That along with a sleepless night took a mighty toll. 

The highlight was the fabulous birthday dinner & party arranged by my adopted daughters: Susan, Mary, Neva, and Trudi. They had this gathering at an Italian place nearby. They ordered PIZZA which I had never had at a birthday party. Mary baked a cake with the tallest, skinniest candle I've seen. Yep, managed to blow it out. : ) They had me wear this funny hat shaped like a cake with candles on top. It was hilariously funny as it was too small for my big head.LOL... 

There were cards & gifts, all of which overwhelmed me with their "generosity and love". What a warm surprise which brought forth tears of joy . I can never repay those involved for making my 75th day so memorable. 

Fabulous News!!!!!

Guess me insides are a bursting & hope that this doesn't burst my bubble of delight by posting it here! A letter arrived in a plain brown envelope like a paper sack brown which I happen to love! In this plain brown wrapper was a letter that invited me to attend the third & last stage of full artist membership in ODACA. WOWeeee ! U know at first it really didn't sink in but now after several days the impact has suddenly hit home base in this crazy noggin! Yes, I'm honored , excited, and wondering how I can manage the days til July 26 without having a heart attack!  : )

 Also am working on my latest gallery offering for the Artful Corner. They desire a Gourd figure so have it almost ready.... due next week. 

Then there is this 3 day workshop ahead starting Fri. EEEK ! Am I ready ? Hardly & yes , who knows? Is that confusing? Ok ,Ok, will post a pic soon if I remember how to get it into this machine!

Fantastic Day!

April 5th was one of those days filled to the brim. It started with a broken wrist here for "Dreamer" as he was in his suitcase to go to Art at the GALVEZ. "Devious" stepped in & took his place. We arrived about 10:30 without any other mishaps. The registration went smoothly but GAL had goofed & ran out of tables for the categories so they were one category short but didnot affect what I registered for.Powers in charge opted to lump D with F which made an impressive TAODA showing.

Since our help was not needed Joyce P. and I opted to kill a little time til presentation of awards. I wasn't expecting any at this show since these characters had been there before without any ribbons bestowed on them. They were chatting with the other entries when we left to drive & explore the seawall changes. OH MY GOSH! Hard to imagine what used to be there as I remember walking under Murdocks, using the bath houses when a child.

Joyce & I opted to eat lunch at Guido's .That wonderful eatery with the blue crab on the roof. The lunch was absolutely devine with much laughter from us as we ate, chatted & viewed the surf. Joyce saw heads bobbing in the distance. For the life of me I never saw any heads but surely they were there??? This was the most enjoyable lunch I have ever experienced as we spent a couple of hours digesting our morsels & thoughts. Thanks to Joyce as she treated me to this as my 75th celebration of life! What a wonderful gift!The very best is eating with friends as this is a life gift that does not compare with anything else in the world. Again, many thanks.

Return to the GALVEZ and awards. Marsha greeted me at the door with a hug & CONGRATULATIONS! WHAT is this? Unbelievable! Ambling to the back where the entries are all grinning & leering at me I spot the ribbons. Joyce has a green which in reality would have been a third, Marsha's new E.J TAYLOR influence a red, then here's Hamadryad with a blue with First, & "DEVIOUS" wickedly playing with another blue for BEST OF CATEGORY. I think he must have had a high time playing jokes while we were gone. OH , yes, at the awards I received cash for Devious which will be his & others taxi fare costs.LOL

The juror critiqued the sculptures last with glowing remarks , hopefully with insights on what makes a sculpture inviting to the eye. Personality characterized along with elements of design?

About 5 , we were finally ready to pack. Next stop TEXAS CITY. 3 characters there were hob nobbing with the viewers, musicians, and food attendees. I met old art friends and was introduced to many new art patrons. Food was available but I was still stuffed from lunch so consumed sparingly of all. Competition is stiff as they only have 4 divisions. Sculpture is mostly fired arts. "Suspicious of Mischief" was happy watching the band , food, and John Campbell . CASH Awards presentation began about 8:30. Two of my friends received cash in our shared category so we were all happy to receive ours. Suspicious received a gorgeous third place ribbon earning top dollars.

Finally , time to make tracks home. Tired from the day but very happy & slept soundly . Today, have filled out the entry form for those two to be added to the Lone Star Art Guild Convention in May. That is now 5 entries.

This week the kids in TX CITY will come home. Art League in Baytown has their spring show also so will juggle time to help & register 4 more different characters from the fantasy community in the Art Haus. They say they are ready . We'll let u know how they behave by next weekend.

I've been tagged

This is new for me to be tagged except when as a child we played TAG, YOU'RE IT. The requirement here is we are supposed to tell 5 things about ourselves thus:

1.I Love to laugh & joke .

2.I 'm not a youngster in age but in spirit think I can do almost anything if I try which may be a downfall. Still have great aspirations for life.

3.Art in any medium is my love & being creative.

4.Next priority in my life is NATURE & being outdoors as I don't function well restricted to  a cave.

5. I DREAM,Imagine wildly,create as my muse dictates, learn new things often, renew the spirits, and compete artistically.I'm not obssessive with the competitiveness but do it as a means of reviving the art spirits.

Latest happenings that I forgot

Last weekend was an art show so I entered three. Victoria, Suspicious of Mischief, and Gourd Lifer. Two of these are pictured on this page below. First Second, and Third place in Professional division. Haven't taken a pic of them so maybe later.

Sprung Forward

Another season has passed me while flitting about with the March winds that arrived in late Feb. Think I flew out of the landscape cause for the life of me I can't seem to get to blog as one should!

Pictured here is moi & her ex student & ex co worker! Gee, how many times does a teacher get to teach a child ,then see that child grown & eventually work with that child? Well I feel fortunate for having" influenced" her so much that she remains a friend thru all these years. Over 30 yrs. ago , a safe estimate but probably more. She's retired now as well . Two years to be exact. I put in 37 years & she put in 31. Amazing isn't it?

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

Another year has ended & new beginnings sprout with renewed energies. Latest development is entries to open Juried show in GALVESTON. This one hopefully makes the cut.U probably can't tell much due to the size pictured here. She is "VICTORIA" ,stands 29" tall . Her costuming is all velvet, venice laces, all which are hand dyed with a brush. Hair is mohair. Head & hands are full sculpted paperclay(TM).