Fun Filled Weekend!

I spent a good part of Friday night it in the hot tub - Just Chillin'. I have to do that when the time arises, with Art of the Carolinas and all of her details pulling at my brain constantly! Just relaxed at home for the evening. We got up Saturday morning and loaded the car with all of our purple stuff and headed to Greenville for the ECU game. ECU vs. UCF. We had fun tailgaiting as usual with our friends. Lots of good food and cold beer. The Pirates ended up winning, but it really wasn't a "sweet win". Whatever. We'll take it! Stopped at the local store and picked up a couple cases of ECU purple and gold Bud Light for future games.
Pretty cool.

I photographed it against a traditional Bud Light, so you could really see the color. JP, wanna come over for a cold one? You have to wear something purple, and I'll share!

After the game, we visited Joe's Mom, Marge and spent some time with her. After lunch the next day, we were heading out of town back to Raleigh, when we saw this huge horse sculpture in the back of a pick up truck sitting outside of a shop:

So we turned around and stopped at this guy's shop. It's called the Hobbyhorse Workshop and Gallery at 811 Dickinson Ave in Greenville. The owner/artist/collector/sculptor, Jonathan Bowling, just happened to be there on a Sunday afternoon putting the final touches on this horse before heading to Port St. Lucie, FL. He showed us all around and boy, was it cool! That guy had all kinds of crazy stuff in his building and all over the backyard. Here are some of the photos I took.

What a great find! We really enjoyed stumbling upon this wonderful artist. He's from Kentucky and was a graduate student at ECU. Jonathan Bowling. Check out his Web site. He collects all kinds of random items, then assembles them together to make a statement. Awesome work! Thanks Jonathan! I bought a couple of fish to remember this afternoon...

So, after arriving home at 3pm on Sunday, I still needed to get some studio time in, so off I went to paint. Joe was a good boy and cut the grass, then payed the bills. I was still playing in the studio! I love my days off. Here are a few projects I started:

These are some more of my little "myPods" in the very beginning stages.

These are 24 x 36 paintings in the very beginning stages. Just textured with gesso, then I added the reds on the bottom this morning before work.

Here is a detail of the texture:

Let's see where these take me!

All Kinds of Stuff Coming up!

The next couple of months are going to be absolutely crazy!
Let's see: the show at Capital Bank, work on my entry for the Alchemy show at VAE, NC State Fair entries, judge a show in Sanford, ECU football, Hurricanes hockey, Art of the Carolinas, um, need I say more?
Busy, busy, busy!
Apparently I like it that way.
Oh, plus F.A.B. tonight at Jerry's and CMMAG Charm Swap in early October.
I was thinking this morning about hiring a maid...

My Day Off (Monday)

Well, I actually got alot of stuff done yesterday for the most part. I'm working on goodie bags for my Art of the Carolinas Instructors and I wanted to give them a little personal touch. I painted and decorated the tags with their names on them, which took a good long time, but it was so nice and relaxing. I like working on something that involves people. This gave me an opportunity to think about each of my artists as I was creating their personal tag. These instructors that teach at the show are oh so talented! We are very fortunate to have them right here in our own backyard each year, so I hope you take advantage of the fact that Raleigh will be filled with overflowing creativity in November at Art of the Carolinas!

Let's see, next I photographed and sized some new (and old) paintings that I noticed were not up on my Web site! Sometimes I'm just so busy getting the paintings done for a particular show or competition, that I forget to document them and get them up for others to enjoy and see what I've been up to. I just sent these to Joe (he maintains our site) yesterday, so I'm hoping he can take a break from all the football madness and update for me!
I gathered my paintings for Nicole Kennedy's Gallery. I'm part of a Music Show at Capital Bank. I'll be bringing 10 paintings to her today to take down there. Once I have the details on the show, I'll post them here.
I also went ahead and signed up for the NC State Fair competion. The deadline to have your money in is September 25th, so get on it!
Lastly, I sewed an apron! It's all my sister's fault for this recently revived addiction. My sister Cindy owns an upholstery and quilt shop in Key West, called The Seam Shoppe. When she was in town this summer, we had all kinds of projects going! I got her interested in painting and offering workshops and she got me back into sewing and a little bit of quilting. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...I need another project like I need a hole in the head! As you may know, Joe and I recently built and moved into our new studio in our backyard. During the move, I unearthed SO MANY projects that I had sort of forgotten about, so now I have about 12 things going all the time! It's all good, though. I just turn the music on and go! Oh, the apron turned out great! The only problem is that the pattern is made for a flat chested, skinny, short person...
Hmmm. Guess I'll need to make some adjustments to that pattern!
Another project arises...
Life is pretty darn good!

My First Collage

I've been an artist most of my life, but didn't start painting until I began working at Jerry's Artarama in 2000. I found myself surrounded with new tools, talent and the urge to create hit me almost every day. My most influential artist in the beginning was Ann Baldwin. I had seen her work on her Web site and it definitely spoke to me. The colors, the content and the process. I flew to Pasadena for one of her workshops and then I really knew I had finally found a way to express myself and my desire to collage and paint had just begun. I learned new ways to incorporate all of those photos I had been both taking and collecting over the years into a canvas painting that told a story. The first collage I did was of my mom. I love my mom. She passed away in 1998 and there is not a day that passes that I don't miss her or think of her or laugh or get a big grin on my face because of her. Now I know how much she knew. She was just a delightful woman! She never insisted on you learning from her, but she always knew that you had to learn things in your own time. I think she enjoyed just sitting back and watching the revolation and cheering you on as you moved to the next level. She was such a kind soul, but a rascal too. She loved life and loved to laugh. She loved my dad with all of her being and when he died early on at the age of 55, we all thought my mom was going to fall apart. That was in 1981. Well instead, my mom all of a sudden blossomed into this butterfly. Actually, I really think she just took the back seat while my dad was alive to support him in his dreams and career. Smart woman. So anyway, the first collage I did was of my mom. I have this great picture of her as a very young girl. like maybe 5 or so with her doll, I had wedding photos of my parents, I incorporated music in there too, because I remember as a kid music being a big part of our lives. This painting is a result of new techniques I learned in Ann Baldwin's workshop.

Rambling

I hear all this talk of an artist's block. Blah, blah, blah. The first thing we must realize is that we are all different. We are just little individuals trying to make it in this hectic world. We want to fit in, yet be unique. Well, hello to Conflict #1. I think I have always felt like an outsider wanting to fit in with the in crowd. Maybe we all feel that way until we are comfortable in our own skin. I like my own skin actually and have learned over the years to embrace my individuality. I love that creative spirit that likes to shout out at me very now and then. I think we have to learn to be quiet enough to listen to that voice! I think it is the voice of wisdom. Like an old soul that has taken up residence in our most inner thoughts - The voice of knowledge and experience or sometimes that voice of pure and utter enthusiasm for life. The voice of reason. Sometimes it is the voice of reflection and contemplation. The voice of thanksgiving and love. I like to think of mind, body and soul. We need to nurture each of these areas throughout our busy lives and strive for that balance that brings peace. Peace is good. So remember to listen! Sometimes in the hectic chaos of our days, we forget to focus on what really matters. So take time to be thankful and thoughtful of yourself and others.