What’s New

After mom died in 1997, my sisters put me in charge of the family photos. These, along with ‘memories in bits and pieces’ were organized and filed ten years ago. Yesterday doing homework for the Library of Memories class, knee deep in memorabilia, ephemera, photos and personal memories, I came upon the following card in the dad folder.

Inside the card..

My dad was nine years old in 1942. That is not his handwriting. I wondered about the significance of the card. Why was it saved? Who sent it? I shared the card and my questions with our friends Kevin and Melissa as we feasted on Chinese take-out. They suggested it was an art project with assistance from a teacher. That would explain the handwriting. Palmer method, for sure. A light bulb went on! Could dad have drawn the picture? Quickly I retrieved two wood burnings by dad…

It’s a barn and farm implements with mountains and pine trees in the background. The scan isn’t great, but look at the style. Look at the trees. Look at the snow on the trees. Look at the snow on the ground.

Here’s a piece he titled…

This was done looking out the bay window in the kitchen of the farm house, the house where my sister Lori now lives. Notice the two cats sleeping in the window. Look at the trees, cottonwoods instead of pines. Look at the snow on the ground.

Katy, Kevin and Melissa’s daughter is also an artist. She’s been asked to illustrate a book. There was no question in their minds that the three pieces were done by the same person. And that a talented nine-year old could easily draw with skill.

What do you think? 

Okay…might as well warn you. Today I’ve got a few errands to run, including picking up my new glasses complete with a new prescription (yeah! maybe I’ll be able to once again see each and every hair on those poodles’ feet!!) and stopping by one of the local vet clinics to finish brushing out Sophie the cat (she greatly resisted our efforts in the shop last Cat Day). But, this weekend I’m basically at home, which means catch up and computer time. Melissa, remember several weeks when you returned from a weekend of shows only to find I’d been really busy with the blog? I expect this weekend will be much the same. More bits and pieces!

There’s no Lhasa Apso art yet, but the new AKC Art Online Gallery is worth a peek.

AKC Art Gallery Now Online
Hunting dogs ! Lap dogs! Prissy dogs! We love them all. At last, the AKC has opened its amazing collection of canine paintings to public view. The AKC Collection is available at AKCGallery.com. The collection is composed of some of the finest canine and sporting art in the world. They are all limited edition reproductions that add warmth and richness to every room. They are available in small and large sizes and each one is hand-embellished by an artist making them truly one-of-a-kind. So whether it’s hounds or toys you adore — visit AKCGallery.com today.

The sky is blue, with the promise of becoming even bluer this morning. It belies the sense of foreboding, running like an underground current through the house. Chris met for a conference with the many people that will be involved in her surgery, her quest to buy herself some more time, some more quality life. The recovery period from this type of brain surgery is from 6 weeks to a year. A year! Whew! She has already beaten the very bleak odds surrounding Inflammatory Breast Cancer. 30% survive the first year. She has entered her fifth year. Last weekend she told me that she’s okay; she’s led a great life with a wonderful husband and family, had a successful business she enjoyed and has traveled the world. What more could one want from life, she commented. She lives her life now buying time…time for family, friends and more travel. Additionally, she wants to show how to be dignified during the process. This, she achieved from the beginning of her battle. She is an inspiration for those around her, including people she’s met in the past five years going through a similar process. She truly is My Hero. And I hope this surgery leaves her with dignity.

A rather bizarre intro to the following prints. You can probably expect more over the next few weeks…  :-(  So, let’s turn my frown upside down!

 
Mad Whine Party by Mark Durham

The Beach by Marie Mason

The model is Man Ray, William Wegman’s first Weimaraner. When May Ray died in 1982, his obituary appeared in newspapers around the world.

Vickie just sent this to me and I had to share! It’s an entry (sold) in the Wurstminister Dog Show.  The Wurst Gallery puts on quite a show! Artists were invited to reserve a dog breed on a first come, first served basis. The only requirement was that the artist attempt to capture the look and spirit of their chosen breed in their own unique way. Laura Park is the artist and this is a link to her little part of cyberspace.

It’s my favorite time of day, the time when I am the most creative, the time of day the words flow out of me. I am a solitary writer. Rick is an interactive reader. Since our computers are nearly side by side in the library, after he’s up checking the latest news, it’s more difficult to write. To give you an idea, a tour of the library..

As you enter the front door of our very small home - 1200 square feet to be exact - here’s the view on the left..

The above open doorway is four feet wide and showcases the floor to ceiling shelves, both open and behind cabinet doors. Entering the room, opposite the doorway is a french door which opens to the deck extending around 3 sides of our home.

Continuing in a counter-clockwise motion (just as Tibetan Bons circle stupas while praying), the fourth wall is comprised of our computer stations.

The room looks much cozier now. These photos were taken right after the room was finished. Rick no longer sits on a kitchen chair. His office chair, while not antique like mine, is similar. There’s a leather reading chair in the right hand corner next to the french door. The shelves are full to the brim. The computer equipment has changed and grown. Looking out the french door, I see the 4-Runner (the vehicle I should have purchased when Rick exchanged it for his large-bed Toyota Tundra), Suzanne without her silver hub-cabs purchased on her 200,000 mile birthday and, farthest, a teen-age boy’s rendition of Ota Toyota The Rubber Queen. Ota, parked under the Rough Road sign (no, I didn’t ask where it came from..didn’t want to know) still sports roll bars topped with off-road lights. You can bet a doll’s arm was still hanging out of a heater vent on the dash! And echos of Beastie Boys and Nine Inch Nails! Those were racier days for Ota. She’s now a refined city girl, getting lots of beauty rest.

I made a page about this entire scenario for a book I gave Nate for his 21st birthday. The library had been Nate’s room. Within five days of dropping Nate off in Tucson at the University of Arizona, we had his room gutted, temporarily organized as the office and Rick started building the cabinets. Sacrilege! We had discussed this with Nate for months. He never objected. I remember phoning him to talk about it one last time (probably as Rick was ripping up that awful lime green shag carpet!) to make sure it was okay. In no uncertain terms he said, “mom, I don’t live there anymore!” Alrighty then!

A few weeks later Nate phoned us to tell us about something he’d just read. In preparation for family weekend, UA had given information and guidelines to students. Rule #3: Most important to remember is your parents probably miss you as much as you miss them. While you get to move into a new space they have to deal with a huge gaping hole where your bedroom used to be….unless they fill said hole with a new office in which case they will never realize the psychological damage they have done.

Nate thought that was very funny.

Once again, I started out with this entry simply to let you know I worked on the website yesterday. I’ve rewritten the homepage and am working on updating the intros into each main section. Put the Pen to the Paper is undergoing a complete renovation. This morning, laying in bed, deciding if I should try to fall back asleep, the words started pouring out. I know what I want to write on the Veterinary page! Up I got, put on the coffee, started preparing the dog food, came in here to post Katy’s completed painting of Panchen and next thing…I’m writing about Libraries and Beastie Boys!

HERE”S BLIND TRAVELIN’ SILVER DOG BY KATY WIDGER

Have you been to Katy’s? If you haven’t, you must! That link will take you to her main page - Katy Widger - paintings in oil and paintings in hand-dyed fabirc. From there you go to Katy’s various areas of interest, learn about her goat products, her books and, most importantly, more about her. In her Raindance Journal, she writes from her heart so beautifully.

I took this photo National Specialty week 2007 in Oregon, as the early morning sun filtered through the window. It captured Sadie’s essence. Sweet. Light.

Created before I knew anything about depth of field, composition or capturing the subject, it’s one of those photos that works…for precisely those reasons. Depth of Field. Composition. Capturing the subject. The website is designed around a color palette of black, white and red. I wanted to use this photo in a prominent place, so I changed it to black and white and designed the What’s New blog header, which you see at the top of this page.

Not long after Sadie went to live with Katy and Ken, Katy asked, “Would you mind sending me a copy of that beautiful Sadie pic that you use as a banner for the blog? A large size, about 1024 x 768 pixels, if you have it that size.   I want to paint her.  And, having had a chance to become acquainted with  her sweet, quiet, dignified temperament, that photo, indeed, captures her essence so well!”

See more of Katy’s art.

Last night Rick, Nate and I saw the Blue Man Group perform. An experimental musical theatre troup, they bill themselves as a creative organization dedicated to creating exciting and innovative work in a wide variety of media. Founded in 1987 by a trio of friends, identical in their blue-painted skin, skullcaps and black clothing, the trio soon became a fixture of the New York underground performance art scene thanks to their regular appearances in Central Park, followed by shows at noted East Village spaces including Dixon Place, Performance Space 122 and the Wooster Group’s Performing Garage. Equal parts play, concert, and sketch routine, the Blue Man Group combines sight gags, physical stunts and audience participation. They don’t talk. They don’t sing. We saw the How To Be a Megastar Tour 2.0.  It was great fun, appropriate for all ages. If you’ve seen them on TV -pbs, I think - then you have an idea of what they’re about, from percussion to social commentary.

This is photo of drumming, accented by water from the drum top and lights.

 This show was backed by an eight piece rock band, including 3 drummer with different sets playing simultaneously. Maybe that’s usual or maybe it’s because the show spoofed rock bands. The Blue Men play….interesting instruments, like PVC pipes.

And this bizarre instrument..

Vickie originally introduced me to Jeff Leedy’s work; several can be found gracing information pages on the website. She shared his latest newsletter, which indicates his work will now be in a gallery in Breckenridge. Check it out to see several more pieces, along with more information.

ART ON A WHIM

featuring

ART THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH®.

“Teasing Medusa’s Hair”