Wish List

I am love, love, loving this bag that I found on Etsy by DrikaB. Not sure if I should splurge or not, but I am in love with it!

Hope you had a fantastic weekend! It's a short week at least, which makes Monday at bit more tolerable.

Go Birdie Go

Go Birdie Go, 6x6

Booth Nazi

Not only was the River Festival a great experience and an all around fun weekend, but it was also a tremendous success.

First things first, I got the greatest surprise on Saturday morning when I'm talking to my family as we sat outside my booth and from behind a tree walks Moe! Moe!? "What are you doing here? What are you doing here? What are you doing here?," I said in disbelief. Apparently she decided a few weeks ago that she would both surprise her parents and me with a surprise appearance in Salina. I was in shock. I think I may still be in shock.


Moe was a great sport and sat with us behind the booth until about 7 p.m. that evening. Being in Chicago, she had never been able to see me at an art fair. This time, she got up close and personal view of me in action. I hope you enjoyed it, Moe. You will never know how much it meant to me that you were there!!

The festival was great. It always is. We ate great food and we saw lots of friends, young and old. The festival is a virtual reunion for families from Salina. It truly is remarkable.

I did do fairly well. I sold nearly half of what I brought and confirmed three custom orders already. There was also an article in the paper about me. Funny that I can't find the archive link for it though.

My dad helped me set up the tent on Thursday night. As much as he didn't understand why I hang everything the night before the show for placement and then take it all back down and pack it away in boxes only to put it back up the very next morning, he helped me out anyway. There is a method to my madness, I assured him.

On Friday morning, my mom helped me out. She helped me place the packed up pieces back on the wall, roll up the sidewall, sat with me for a several hours, but she also got me an assortment of tulips for my booth. I had to get on her a few times for the placement of her chair while she was on duty. I went away for a brief break to come back and see her sitting in the director's chair INSIDE the booth, BLOCKING THE ART. You can't it INSIDE the booth, I told her. You can sit in front of the booth about 15 feet out or about 3 feet behind, but not inside the booth. And, really, not within a three foot perimeter of the booth. It intimidates the customers. This all took plenty of explaining. At one point she moved the chair right up next to the front of the booth and the photographer from the Salina Journal assumed she was the artist since she was sitting SO CLOSE to the booth and took HER picture to accompany the article that was written about Me. The poor photographer went back to the Journal and sent the photo to the reporter only to find out that the person that the reporter interviewed was ME and the person that the photographer shot was MY MOM. Poor guy had to come back. Neither photo accompanied the article after all. Long story short, my mom now calls me the booth Nazi. I appreciated all of her help and support, nevertheless. Love you, mom.

One last tidbit about the festival is the great music that they have. Everyone needs to go to iTunes and check out Black Violin. I cannot wait for our next dinner party to kick their tunes. My mom and Dave weren't fans, but Chris and I listened to our two new cds all the way back to KC. They are two violinists that play hip hop covers. I am a semi-closeted hip hop fan and hearing Kanye and Timbaland violin-style was the greatest. Seriously. Check them out. Now. iTunes. Black Violin. Click on Dirty Orchestra.

Off to the River Festival

Fly, 8x8

I'll see some of you in Salina, otherwise have a great weekend!

Guide, 8x8

No Weakness, 12x12 (right)

Those I Hold True

This is two scan of one 12x12 titled Those I Hold True. The top is the left side and the bottom is the scan of the right side. Oh, how I long ofr a larger flatbed scanner. Splitting the image in half does it no justice.

Another word about the past

In The Know: Our Troops In Iraq

This clip is relevant considering the post about the past. Ha! LOVE it.

On hating the past

In one passing moment several years back, I revealed to Ivy that I hated the past. I can't recall what we were talking about , but I felt it was really quite normal to hate the past. Or so I thought.

This statement was met with howls of laughter and after a little bit of searching myself, I came to the conclusion that I really didn't like the past at all. At least anything earlier than World War II. I hated history in school. I can't recall with any sort of working knowledge the time periods that are so important to our nation's history. I hated my history teacher. She taught us to take tests and then purge everything that we had learned.

I'm not a big fan of historical costumed characters. Civil War Reenactors. Renaissance Festival. Dungeons and Dragons. Pirates. It's not limited to characters, though. I had no desire to see those Dead Sea Scrolls when they came to Kansas City. I'm not a fan of history museums. Really, I have no desire to see Rome. And Washington D.C.? Meh.

So, my friends latched on to my "hatred of the past phenomenon" and bring it up whenever they have the desire to creep me out. Little did I know what I was getting myself into when Lisa and I stumbled upon Old Shawnee Days when we went to visit Kerri on Saturday. The word "Old" in the name of the event should have been my first indication. But just past the spinning rides and funnel cakes, lurked those creatures of the past. Lisa took my camera and captured it best.




Funny thing about hating the past is that my artwork almost all stems from antique papers, vintage photos and, well, just about anything from the past. Go figure.

Oh, and by the way, I could really do without the future, too.

Craziness

Have you ever seen the end of the rainbow? You know with a pot of gold and a smiling little leprechaun? I was driving home from a meeting late last week after a crazy rainstorm. Suddenly a rainbow appeared. I get all giddy like a little girl. I will go so far as to call my sister or Chris to see if they can also see the rainbow. Seeing that Chris was in Omaha, I doubted he could share in my wonderment. So, being the prepared blogger that I am, I pulled my camera from my purse while driving along I-635 over I-35 and captured the true end of a rainbow. It literally ended on the road just in front of my car. Pure craziness. There was no pot of gold.

Weekend

Infinity, 6x6

A relaxing weekend for once. Met Ward, Lisa and Reid at Blue Moose Friday night. Chris joined us later after driving back from a week in Omaha and Ft. Collins. Cleaned the house. Shopped for some new summer clothes. Visited Kerri at Old Shawnee Days. Laughed at fake settlers doing fake surgery on a fake injured soldier with fake blood. Continued to hate the past. Date night with Chris at Capital Grille. Volunteered at Dog-n-Jog. Ate breakfast on the patio. Watched my pole beans grow. Took my own dog for a jog. Watched Workout on Bravo. Worked on some stuff for the River Festival. Blogged. Night. Night.

Like a Dream, 6x6

Another one bites the dust

Cross the first of three shows off the list. The Prairie Village Art Fair wrapped up today. It was a fun weekend because my mom came to town to watch Ellie while Em helped me set up. Just when I was checking my cheat sheet of tent directions, Nick shows up and literally had the tent together in no time - and he wasn't looking at the cheat sheet. I guess he is going to the Army and has probably set up a tent or two. You should see him fold the sidewalls. Talk about neat! Anyway, I'm sure my mom would have loved to be a fly on the wall watching the three of her kids laugh and sweat together.

And, man, it was hot! And humid. It was in the 90s nearly all weekend. I know that I complained about the long winter, but did summer have to come blazing in like this? Thank goodness my spot had a shade tree, which was a little bit scarce. My mother-in-law bought me a fan and it helped a little bit, but the patrons surely felt like they were baking in my tent.

Because of the weather, many artists were blaming their little amount of sales on sluggish, overheated patrons. So, I guess I will have to agree. My experience this year was NOT bad, but it was NOT awesome. I got lots of smiles, comments on great work, two thumbs up, had to make a mad dash to Kinko's for more business cards Sunday morning, but not a TON of buyers. That's OK though. The show really doesn't end for me when the tent is all neatly folded and placed in its proper Rubbermaid box. I had lots of questions about commissions, which is wonderful. I also had two gallery owners inquire about my work as well as a cute little shop in Brookside, where the owner thought my work may look great for sale in her dressing rooms. So, cross your fingers for some good things to come my way.

All in all, I did have a wonderful weekend, especially with family and friends stopping by. I don't think a 30 minute period went by where I didn't see or talk to someone we knew. I saw two girls from my high school as well as George Brett and one of the designers that used to be on Extreme Home Makeover. Also, my booth was two booths down from two wonderful artists from New Mexico that I've fallen in love with from my days at the Plaza Art Fair. (We visited them at the end of the show on their tricked out rock star bus that gets 4.5 miles per gallon of diesel fuel resulting in $2,000 worth of gas for their round trip to Kansas! Insanity!). I also enjoyed refilling my water bottle every hour with water from a hose, seeing my glass neighbors' crack every time he bent down to wrap up a piece for a customer and then watching the customer's faces as they then witnessed the crack for the first time, drinking skinny iced vanilla lattes twice a day, bringing an illegal cooler filled with wine and beer for friends and chatting with my husband because we just never seem to make the time to sit side by side for 9 hours on a Saturday and people watch.

It's almost here

Twilight, 6x6

Unload begins at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. The car is packed and ready to go. Thank goodness for great moms (who is driving in from out of town tomorrow morning and is promising my sister to not disturb her one bit and has threatened to "sleep on top of the covers") and sisters who are helping me set up. It's nearly impossible for someone to do on their own, especially if there is any hint of wind. Although the wind might feel nice as it's supposed to be 91. Yikes.


Booth number 13 if you are in the Perfect Village this weekend.

Big White Dress, wood panel, 6x6

Girly Girl, 6x6

Longing, 12x12 (edges are cut off in the scan)

Starlight

If You Wish

If You Wish, 8x8

The Pressure is on

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day. Despite the wedding in Manhattan, I sure got a lot accomplished in just a few uninterrupted days. At this point, I have about 95 pieces to take to the Prairie Village Art Show this weekend. It really has been amazing to see how much I could get done when the pressure is on.


I'll continue to update the blog with new pieces that I will bring to the show this weekend.

Double Stars, 8x8

My Cup Runneth Over, 8x8

When it rains, it pours

No, I don't mean those massive thunderstorms that woke me up at 5 this morning. It's good news...again. I've been accepted into the Prairie Village Art Show. I was on the wait list and a spot opened up for me on Thursday night. I had to do some serious thinking about it as I have the River Festival in mid-June, just two weeks after the Prairie Village Show.

I surveyed my inventory and I have more than 85 pieces. I think I can swing it. Chris was good enough to give me the "out" and skip out on a rehearsal dinner in Manhattan tonight, giving me an extra day to work. I am joining him for the wedding tomorrow, but the extra day will be great. (By the way, I sure am tired of sleeping in hotels. This will be the third weekend in a row.)
I'll have a weekend in between PV and River Festival where I really hope to crank out a few more pieces. Ah stress. Gotta love it.

Good news

My inbox brought me good news a few days ago...I was accepted into the Hidden Glen Arts Festival at Cedar Creek here in Kansas City. It's September 13 & 14. Looking forward to a fun fall show.

Dog The Bounty Hunter

We just returned from another weekend away. This weekend we were in Oklahoma City for my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and Em and I were on the "B Team" as readers. We did pretty well and I didn't flub up any of the words, but I did miss my cue to walk to the podium and the minister had to summon me up there. Oops.

I'm too tired to write or post much, so I thought I would post this old picture of Chris as Dog the Bounty Hunter from Halloween a few years ago. I was going through old photos on my laptop and came across this one and chuckled to myself. That night, Dog's "bear spray" weapon consisted of Captain Morgan.

He did it!

Nick graduated from Montana State University in Bozeman. Don't get me wrong, he's a great student. As a matter of fact, I'm 99% sure he has a better GPA than I ever did. However, we were not at all surprised that Nick invited the entire family to Bozeman, only to find out that he might not actually graduate due to a final he was to take on Friday morning in a class in which his grade was already borderline. My mom was not at all happy and had already threatened to not attend a "second" graduation.

He took the essay test while we dined on free bagels and microwave Jimmy Dean sausage sandwiches at the Fairfield Inn. After he finished, we decided to head to Yellowstone. It was snowing. Yes, in the middle of May. The temperature was 31. The drive to Yellowstone was beautiful, but I can only imagine it on a sunny day!

The highlight could have been the fact that we saw tons and tons of buffalo (including two babies), but I think the entire family would agree that when we pulled over to the side of the road to see some elk and Nick rolled down the window in the car in front of us and smiled his big huge smile and said that he passed. He would graduate.

At two separate ceremonies, I learned so much about my brother and became more proud of him than I could have ever thought possible. Nick was commissioned as a ROTC cadet and is now an officer in the Army as a second lieutenant. Major General Jackman, a two star General, spoke at a dinner on Friday as well as the commissioning ceremony on Saturday afternoon. He was so inspirational. We watched what I thought was an Army recruitment video that I swear nearly motivated me to enlist. There were slide shows that recounted all that the cadets had accomplished over the last few years as well as pictures of them as little kids. When did that little blond boy grow up to be a real, live MAN? As he sat in the front of the room in his new Army uniform, it affirmed to me that Nick is in the right place and I couldn't think of anyone better to represent our country.

This is the first picture I took once we arrived at the Billings airport. This life-sized horse made out of beans greets all visitors at the baggage claim.

Ellie enjoys Nick's bachelor pad including the bean bag chair made for two.

Dad got his first taste of Guitar Hero. I think he's going to try out for Salina's favorite band, The Blades. Seriously, he played this by himself while everyone else went outside and tossed the football around.
I protected Ellie from the football and took lots of pictures of her.

A GIGANTIC crow that puts the Newton house crows to utter shame. This one actually hopped and I almost mistook it for a black kangaroo.

One of the baby buffaloes.
And another.
This one almost ran into the side of Nick's car.

Dad and Nick at Plonk, a very cool little wine bar on Main Street that my dad kept talking about.
We joined him at Plonk, but Em kept to the High Life.

That's R.J. Cain in the plaid shirt. My dad met him as a flyfishing guide years and years ago. Every time he went back to Bozeman, he would look R.J. up for a guide. Nick lost touch with him and they didn't speak during all of the time Nick was in Bozeman. Strangely, he was at the last bar we went to on Friday night. Too bad that his poor date couldn't stand the fishing stories and took off.
Nick and Ellie.
Dad and Ellie looking at ducks on campus.

Big Sky Country

We are heading to Bozeman, Montana at the crack of dawn to witness my brother, Nick, graduate from Montana State University. There are plans for fly-fishing and a float trip, but the weather is looking a little bit chilly. THat's fine with me though because I'm really looking forward to a little get away. It should be fun to have the family together and to see Nick one more time before he heads to Fort Lewis in Washington.

Check next week for lots of pictures (maybe this time I will actually photograph people).

I hate to disappoint...

I did not end up making it to Sparks for the annual flea market afterall. I got ditched...well one friend was sick and one friend had to work on a school project, so they had legit excuses. Chris, being the saint that he is, offered to go with me late Friday ight when he could sense my disappointment. It wasn't the junk I was really excited about as much as it was the sickeningly sweet lemonade that was calling my name. There's another market in September! Anyone?