Art Show at the Polly Wogg...

Last weekend I took part in an art show/fair at the Polly Wogg Gallery in Hudson, FL.  Lots of fun, but Saturday was cold and windy, and the tent threatened to blow away.  Sunday was a lot warmer and gloriously sunny.  Delicious food by Chef Audry and a great local rock band played.  I took a couple of pictures of my things.  I don't usually do art shows, but this was close to home, and I had a few things I really wanted to sell--spring cleaning and all that.  Sorting through my art I felt compelled to clean my studio.  Yay, it's so much better.  A thrift store is going to get some blank canvases that I will never use. 

Can't wait 'til spring!  The violets are out--the first flower of the season.  I posted pictures of those last spring, so I won't repeat myself. :)  We had severe thunderstorms here today, and a couple of small tornadoes touched down locally.  The trees were dancing with happiness, celebrating the good soaking! 

 

Patricia Ritter fellow artist and friend, and Jerry Cowling, story teller extraordinaire!

 

Susan Wolding, owner of the Polly Wogg, and Patricia.

 

All shells!  By next door artist, Caroline.  These shell creations are amazing!!

SKETCHBOOK CHALLENGE

Helloooo, another cold day in FL.  I think global warming is a hoax....  Anyway, if you look in the sidebar of my blog there's a button for the Sketchbook Challenge.  Lots of fun, and there's a prompt for every month.  January is "Highly Prized."  I added two entries to the Flickr group.  There are some prizes and things, and I like that blog where the artists post about the challenge.  Great artists abound!  The entries can be in any media, and you can upload as many sketches as you like.

So, what is greatly prized in my life....??  DUH!

I added some cut out kittens when I didn't feel like sketching any longer.  Then I noticed that I had spelled "prized" wrong and had to fix that.  You don't have to put those words on the sketches, but I kind of liked it.

Heart is in the air!

I guess Valentine's Day is one of those days...."eat-massive-amounts-of-chocolate" days, but we can also remind ourselves about focusing on heart related things like LOVE!  Or "lurve" or "luv" ...  Beloved thing that has many names that basically mean the same thing.  I think of a great big heart that encompasses our entire planet where people will lay down arms and instead make a joint effort to make sure everyone has enough to eat, a decent place to live, and clothes on their backs.  It could be easily accomplished if our attention wasn't focused on "this is my border" or "I want to control your oil/money/minerals/diamonds."  I would think it's time to grow out of this disease of "mine and yours" and focus on what is best for all.  What affects people in Africa affects us here in the U.S.  Time for humankind to grow up, don't you think?  I visualize a world where there is peace and people are happy, sharing their hearts with others!

Anyway, on a lighter note, I have been thinking "hearts" lately, and came up with some mixed media wall art with my ubiquitous polymer clay tiles.  I posted one on etsy which sold in 20 minutes!  I was so shocked I almost fell over!  :)  I made another one and posted that as well, and I'm working on another.  Running out of puffy hearts to use, though.  They are actually Christmas ornaments that I sanded and covered with strips of paperback books, and then painted and embellished with uplifting words.

The trees are dancing in the windy yard.  They are so happy it rained!  The cat wasn't too happy, but he could at least sit on the porch to prevent any water drops from touching his precious fur...  :)

1-1-11

Inevitably a new year!  All those ones.  Welcome to 2011 and happy new year to all of you my blogger friends.  You inspire me daily, and I get excited when I find someone new to follow.  Today was a quiet day.  I played with my cat Bailey whose favorite game is "hide the cat in the bag."

He likes to hang out inside the bag, only parts of him sticking out.  A gentle poke with my toe on his hip makes him crazy as he scrambles to turn around in the bag to swat at me.  Usually my toe is long gone by then.  :)  He knows that... the crackling sound of the bag is what's music to his ears, go figure.  He also has a catnip ball that he loves, and if you toss that into the bag with him, he gets lively.  Mostly though, he's a super laid-back dude, like the Dude, minus the dope... :)

I made veggie soup for dinner with black-eyed peas.  Yummy, and I loved the colors!

 

It had red cabbage, onions, celery, garlic, parsley, balck-eyed peas, olive oil, and seasoning.

Then I finished a shadow box project that I've had sitting around for such a long time it had a 1/4" of dust on it.  I used an old hook rack that I painted and distressed, then filled with meaningful words and symbols.  Hearts are close to my heart, and also anything natural, like the outdoors.  I had glued on some bought eggs in the nest of Spanish Moss, but they were too big so I had to make some polymer clay eggs that I painted robin's egg blue with brown spatters. 

Happiness is NOW, look within for peace and love. (Rather than the outside where it doesn't exist.)

 I had a red plastic heart that I covered with paper from a paperback I wrote myself then glued inspirational words like "live your bliss" and "choose joy."  It is a choice, either we decide to dig for that good feeling inside or we spend the day being negative.  Gratitude is a good path toward feeling joy!  The twigs are from outside where there is no shortage of those! :)

 Nature has a thing or two to teach us, so I like to include natural elements to honor that.  I'm grateful that I live in the midst of glorious nature!

The whole piece is about 16" inches long and 8" high.  Lots of fun to make!

Bailey now fell asleep next to me.  He's dreaming and twitching.  I wonder what he thinks he's catching...  He was not happy during the fireworks last night.  It sounded like they were setting off bombs in the neighborhood...

Do you know what you want to accomplish this year?  On a physical level I'm sure what I want.  I know what I love to do-art and writing.  On a spiritual level, I want to follow my Inner Voice more closely and also find the bliss in every situation.  I don't want to waste any more time on letting things "happen" to me, or to wallow in pity parties, or dwell on the horrendous things we do to each other and Nature.  If I can be an inspiration for upliftment, I'm one less problem in this world!  So, I wish all of that for you too, savoring living in the moment and looking toward things that uplift you and make you happy!  Happy people make good choices that are good for everyone.  Happy people spread the happy bug around!  You know what I mean! ;-D

I wish you a GREAT creative year!