And we're off

The Prairie Village Art Show starts tomorrow. I'm ready, but nervous. I've been working so hard to get ready and I wonder how many hours I've really put in to it. I just hope that it is all worth it in the end.

Emily, Ben and my mom surprised me with my very own artist/directors chair. It's very fancy...white with a reddish canvas seat and back. Oh la la. And Chris...I mentioned that I wanted a pedestal to place a vase of flowers, business cards and a mailing list notebook. The next thing I know, he's built one for me. This is the same guy who tried to build a patio set out of 2x4's. The chairs weighed 110 pounds each. I must say he did a very fine job on the pedestal table.

For those of you in the Kansas City area, my connections (aka friends) have paid off and I'm going to have a live television interview on NBC's Kansas City Live on Friday morning. The shot should be at 10:10 or 10:40 a.m. Check it out and watch me make a complete fool of myself. Fun times!

Here's a little glimpse of the preparations...I will try to document the weekend and post next week!



Here are two photos of two of my three 16x20s. The photos don't do them justice and there is no time to scan them at the camera shop. So...you get the idea.



Stop by if you're in the neighborhood. Booth #34 across from Mr. Goodcents! Friday 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A Busy Weekend

I had all weekend to get ready for the Prairie Village Art Show. No plans other than Corporate Challenge Volleyball pool play in which our team took first place...no big deal. The Director of Accounting stepped on the back of my ankle within the first two minutes of the game and she severely twisted her ankle leaving her on the sideline for the remainder of the afternoon. I admit that I was playing a little bit out of my area, but I also think she had on crappy Reeboks that wouldn't protect an ankle if you stepped on anything wrong, not to mention the most competitive volleyball player in Corporate Challenge.


For fear that I would have no pictures to take over the weekend, I snapped this shot when Chris and I headed to Johnny's to eat and drink on the patio. There was a Backyard Burger napkin stuck in the grill of my car, but Chris thought it looked like my car went to the bathroom and walked out with toilet paper on its foot.



Sunday was another beautiful day. We took Annie to the D-O-G-P-A-R-K. We have to spell it or she FREAKS! She instantly gets a foamy mouth because she gets nervous, which is proceeded by diarrhea. And I mean diarrhea every five minutes. Not only is it embarrassing, but then she starts scooting on the ground. That's about the time when Chris and I stop claiming her. She had a ball regardless.

I finished this piece last week. It's a 12x12, but since my scanner is so small I've only scanned the middle of it. It's called Prayer for a Little Home. I like the neutrals and blues because I rarely work with blue. I was happy with the way it turned out.

But not as happy as the roll I went on when I woke up on Saturday morning. I have to admit that on Friday, I actually googled "How to paint with acrylics". OK...maybe if I was going to be submitting work for an art fair, you'd think I might have an inkling about how to paint with acrylics, but NO. I learned a little bit about washes and glazes and some other stuff online. On Saturday morning, I got up and thought, I'm just going to go for it and not worry about ruining canvases and wasting time. So started a new technique and I;m sure there is a name for it, but I don't know what it is. This is the outcome...

The piece above is a 12x12 as well, so only about 10x12 is represented in the scan.

This is an 8x8 with Baby Bird stamped on it. I guess I had Thea in mind when I did this.

This is a 6x6 that I did last week st to get back in the groove again. It is simple, but I like ended up liking the simplicity of it.

I'm certainly not very good at drawing and now we all know that I don't really know how to paint. So I cheated and cut out the silhouette of a couple and then traced around the outline. I kind of liked it.

The grand total now stand at 52. I wanted 100 pieces, then I decided 80 would suffice and now I think that 60 sounds like the perfect number.

Miss Bigglesworth

For any of you that miss Moe, Eric and Kee as much as I do, Moe has a new blog all about their life and times in The Windy City. Catch up with the Chi-town folks by clicking here. I'll post a link on the sidebar for your reading pleasure.

This picture of Kee made my day.

A bit of everything

I haven't had a chance to update the blog in a week or more, so this one will be lengthy...

A couple of new pieces. These are a little different and a bit out of the ordinary for me, but I've been trying to break out of my shell a bit...

A quick trip to Salina for a family reunion and the Gerry Neustrom Young Artist Challenge - an annual high school art competition for students across the state named after my grandmother.



I've been lucky to spend some time with all of the babies in my life...Connor, Thea and Campbell.


A day trip to Sparks, Kansas for a flea market. Population: 9. My "city" friends weren't quite sure what to think, but I'm pretty sure they'll want to go again next year. Check out Mr. Marbles and the Home Kooked Vittles. We stopped in a small Kansas town (aka Methville) for gas and the world's scariest trip to gas station bathroom.







Jo and Aaron wedding reception was a blast. Who stole my camera and got a little snap happy while taking candids of all of the husbands? Hmmm...