A Quick Post During the Holidays

Where does the time go? Christmas came and went and everything's back to normal. Our holidays were really fun and we spent a lot of time with family members. And somehow I cooked dinner for 12 people with just a few hours notice. There was chicken with potatoes and carrots, wild rice, mac and cheese, steamed broccoli with mozzerella cheese, and yummy dinner rolls. For dessert there was a large Christmas tree sugar cookie. I was definitely wearing my domestic goddess crown that day!

Here's to a grand holiday and an even better 2008!

Cupcakes and Soup

I've been miserable and sick with a bad cold all weekend. I feel like I've wasted so much time sleeping and sneezing. Sunday I decided I had to do something worthwhile so I spent two hours in the kitchen making Roasted Garlic Soup with Parmesan Cheese. The recipe has been in my favorites for such a long time, and I considered it a challenge.

It turned out wonderfully. And unfortunately, like most of the reviews said, FARTELICIOUS, so make sure to take plenty of Beano before eating this soup.

On Monday I make plenty of cupcakes. 24 small ones for Maz's Dance class Christmas party.

And 6 King-size cupcakes just for the heck of it. I used Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix with Classic Vanilla frosting and little blue sprinkles. They're so delish!

Nummy Foods

I've been obsessed with cooking and baking lately. It probably has something to do with getting a new stove to replace the 40 year old monster that half worked. It's a flat cooktop with built-in timer, clock, and fancy! Whoo! It's less than 5 years old. We got it from a friend that upgraded and needed to get rid of their other stove. We bought it for 75 bucks. Hells yeah.

I've been working from Vegan with a Vengeance. So far I've made the Roasted Brussel Sprouts w/ Garlic & Lemon Gem Cupcakes.

My first time trying brussel sprouts. OMG sooooo good. I almost ate the whole batch (6 servings) all on my own!

& yummy yummy! I probably should've let them bake a few minutes more since they were a bit squishy. Oh well, they're still fabulous!

Day Thirty - Small Finale

A Haiku, Missed One Day

For NaBloPoMo
I blogged a total of twen-
ty nine posts. I tried.

Day Twenty Nine

I'm so tired today that I almost didn't blog. It was a busy busy day and my feet are killing me! I'm going to bed early. Maybe I'll post a big finale blog tomorrow? Let's hope!

Day Twenty Eight

Three new additions to our DVD collections. They were on sale at Ingles for 5 dollars each and we definitely couldn't pass that up! What great movies!

Day Twenty Seven

My new phone came in today! I like to take advantage of the new-every-two deal at Verizon and upgrade asap. It's so tiny and cute and it holds so much music. I'm so excited about it, it's crazy. :)

Day Twenty Six

I'm a sucker for new foods, especially drinks and teas so when I heard about Yerba Mate on this morning's Today show I had to have it and try it.

From the Today Show Website: Yerba mate is a South American holly that’s brewed as a tea. In such countries as Paraguay and Argentina, it’s as common as coffee is to Westerners. Health claims include stress reduction, appetite control and easing of allergy symptoms, and it’s loaded with antioxidants.A 2004 study conducted at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana found that mate’s high antioxidant content promotes cell survival better than red wine or green tea. Mate also contains caffeine; xanthine alkaloids (including a mood elevator and muscle relaxant found in chocolate); and B vitamins.

Unfortunately, it's only found at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Krogers, Fred Meyers and this small town only has a Wal-mart, Ingles, and Piggly Wiggly. I did end up scouring the aisles of Ingles and came across the bottled Yerba Mate. I haven't tried it yet since I bought it in the afternoon and I didn't want to stay up half the night if it was a really good energy drink. I'm looking forward to trying it tomorrow morning!

When I'm visiting my parents I'll have to remember to stop by Kroger's in their town to see if they stock the teabags.

Day Twenty Five

I love owls.

Day Twenty Four

Day Twenty Three

moar funny pictures

Day Twenty Two

I always think of my grandpa a lot around this time of year. He's been gone for eight years now and I miss him a lot, still. I am thankful to have had him in my life, if even for a short time.

Day Twenty One

If you haven't noticed, I have a thing for lists. So here's my day: woke up, breakfast, started laundry, read and finished Wonder Boys, drank lots of tea, hugged the kiddo many times, shopped at Walmart, got new much-needed pan, got photos developed at RiteAid, mailed some things, updated the MySpace profile, prepared a new and healthy meal for the family, goodbye to husband for the night, took kiddo to dance class, flipped through the newest issue of Nylon and yesterday's local newspaper, gave kiddo a bath, tea, watched Top Model, put kiddo to bed, more tea, updated my ticket stub notebook, made a necklace with a new charm, loaded the dishwasher and watched Project Runway, folded a load of laundry, update the blog, answer a few emails, make tomorrow's to-do list, go to bed.

Day Twenty

I've had christmas songs stuck in my head all day!

Day Nineteen

Deskshot.

Day Eighteen

Maz has the whole week off of school for Thanksgiving holidays. I'm so excited to sleep in for an entire week. I'm already making a list of things I need to do:
- Reply to all emails.
- Mail some things.
- Make a Christmas list for my parents.
- Stock the pantry better.
- Read, read, read.
- Make some art?
- Take Maz to dance practice, the library, and some place to find a toy cheetah.
- Set up the gift shop at work.
- Laundry!
- Got through my wardrobe and donate what I don't wear. Same for Maz's stuff.
- Beat Paper Mario? :)
- & enjoy Thanksgiving!

Day Seventeen

Most recent book purchases:

Vegan With a Vengence by Isa Chandra Moskowitz - The Dr. suggested that the hubs go on a low-fat diet so I was looking for good-for-you cookbooks and came across this one. Vegan foods facinate me!

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July - Seems like a neat read.

Elliot Erwitt's Handbook & About Looking by John Berger - For my photographic studies.

This is Actually My Party by Lauren Child - For the kiddo.

Day Sixteen

Tomorrow's To-Do list.

Day Fifteen

Etsy Buy Handmade momentofstars

Day Fourteen

How excited am I for the new season of Project Runway? OH VERY!

Day Thirteen

Day Twelve

Our small town is lucky enough to have a tiny theatre that showed Across the Universe this weekend. I loved it so much. It was so amazing and beautiful and inspiring!

Day Eleven

Sadness. I forgot to post yesterday. :(

Day Nine

Doodle from yesterday while I was at work.

Day Eight

http://aquadotsrecall.com/

Maz just got AquaDots for her birthday in August. She loves them and I'm saddened to hear about the new recall. I've filled out the form for new dots, let's hope they come soon.

Day Seven

List of six things that have made me happy lately:

1. Feeling like making art again - Yes. And it's nice. Now I just have to find the time to make some art.
2. The holidays - I love buying gifts for people. Also, the holidays mean the end of the year is almost here. I love the first of the new year.
3. Marking off things on my to-do list - I love getting things done. And I like feeling like I haven't wasted the day.
4. Paying bills - I really do like paying bills, I like having enough money to pay bills, and it's another thing marked off my to-do list.
5. Daniel coming home soon - He's been in Wisco for two days so far but it seems so much longer! It'll be great to see him tomorrow night. Let's hope the plane isn't delayed!
6. Nintendo GameCube - I've been playing Paper Mario & The Thousand Year Door a lot lately and I love it. I didn't think I'd like it when I started playing it but now I'm totally hooked. I love how it's kinda hard but not too hard that you just give up. It's also very pleasing to the eyes. I love bright colors and cute characters. This weekend I'm hosting a Donkey Konga party! Hooray GameCube.

Number Six - Sick Day

Yesterday we took our little girl to the doctor's office to get her checked out. She's had a cough for a few days then developed a congested nose then Sunday night she had an earache. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and sent us on our way.
Today we let her go to school and two hours later the nurse calls and asks me to pick her up. Mazzy threw up in class. Thank goodness we live close-by because I was there in less than ten minutes. Now Maz is sleeping on the couch. Grandma helped out by quickly buying Gatorade, crackers, sherbert, and soup and dropping them off. I do hope she starts feeling better soon. She hasn't been able to keep any liquids down. My poor, poor baby.
On top of all this, my husband left this morning on his first business trip. He'll be gone until Thursday night. I miss him a whole lot.
So today will be spent taking care of the kiddo and making sure she stays hydrated, calling the dr.'s office for advice, keeping things from smelling like vomit, and reading.

Number Five

Some of my favorite magazines:

• Domino
• Blueprint
• Bitch
• Utne
• Nylon
• JPG
• Juxtapoz
• ISM

Number Four

I'm sleepy and don't feel like posting much today so this is what you get: a LOLhamster. Better entry tomorrow.

Number Three

http://www.zine-a-polooza.info/

Number Two

What I did today: Dropped off the kiddo at school, came home and fell asleep watching Maury, did laundry, took a shower, put away dishes, visited my boss, then got caught up in a America's Next Top Model Marathon, picked up the kiddo, went out to eat, made a house payment, got a haircut, then update the blog.
Tonight: getting caught up on laundry, then maybe attending a late Halloween party?

National Blog Posting Month

Visit NaBloPoMo

So, I've signed up to do National Blog Posting Month. I've always liked the idea of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) but couldn't make myself write a novel in a month. I tried a few years back and gave up on day three. But blogging...I think I can swing that. Like the site says, all I have to do is post every day in November. Let's see if I can do it.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!

This is the first piece of art I've made in weeks. It's nice to get down to the studio and punch out something new. I created this critter for the Monster Mash Halloween Contest. This little creature is a Hamigon. I wanted to mix something that was cute and adorable (hamster) with something super-dangerous (dragon) then just threw in a unicorn for good measure. It's a nice, pretty lino block print. I do love printing! I should do it more often.

Some Foreign Flower

Last week we saw the Shins play in Atlanta. It was a fabulous show and the opening band didn't suck at all! During their encore they played a cover of Pink Floyd's Breathe. Can't beat that!

These past few weeks have been stressful, full of health and personal challenges and hopefully we've gotten past the worst part. I need to get back to taking care of myself and my creative side. I need to stop procrastinating and stop being unmotivated. I can't sit back and wait for inspiration to strike. I have to go out and make it happen.

Hello Tuesday.

Oh boy. I've been busy. And lazy. Busy and lazy. I've finally found some downtime this week to get caught up on housework, laundry, and of course, blogging. Let's see, what should I talk about first?

Interpol - We saw Interpol at the Tabernacle in ATL on Friday, September 22nd. The opening band sucked and even got some "booooo"s from the crowd. Interpol was perfect that night and played an amazing show. They've earned a spot on my favorite bands list. I got a few pictures with my cameraphone but they're all crap. I'm always afraid to bring my digital camera into shows. I'd hate for something to happen to it.

SlowExposures - The SlowExposures exhibit went very well. I got many compliments on my photo and even sold a print! How exciting! I was hoping to sell the whole framed piece, oh well. Now I have a huge framed photo of a cornfield to hang in my home. :)

Workshop - The Dave Anderson Workshop was very good to me. It helped me realize that I need to figure out a focus for my photography (haha, a pun!) and go for it. I need to step out of my comfort zone and take chances. Stop being so safe and pretty. So lately I've been doing a lot of reading on photography and trying to learn all I can about the photography I want to do. Let's hope this leads to something good!

Oh yeah, the photo at the top of this post is taken with my Holga. I took it off the shelf for the first time in years and took some shots in Atlanta. I don't think it's the best photo but it's an interesting one and I do love the light leaks.

Whee! Exciting Weekend Ahead

Life's been busy and I haven't had much time to blog or even doodle in my notebook. Well, I take that back, on my downtime I'm way too lazy to pick up a pen and draw. Sometimes I'd much rather sit on the couch and watch an America's Next Top Model marathon.
The doodle you see up there is of Devendra Banhart. Check out his Myspace Music page. It's really great stuff.

This weekend is bound to be a great one. It's SlowExposures weekend! Also, I won a scholarship to attend the Dave Anderson workshop. I was totally stoked & grateful to hear that I got it, otherwise I wouldn't be able to go. It looks like Dave and I will get along just fine. His aesthetic is very much like what I want to go for. I'm soooo excited! And worried and scared. But still excited. Yay!

And and and...We're going to see Interpol tonight!

Sunday Atlanta Trip

Yesterday I planned a trip to Atlanta with the family so we can all view the Annie Leibovitz exhibit at the High Museum of Art. Sadly, once we got there I was overwhelmed by the amount of people there. I did not want to be in a crowded museum, how can you be inspired like that? So we got back on the road, got lost, and found our way to the Georgia Aquarium. We were excited to see that the aquarium closed at 7 instead of 5. Daniel and I split up and I stood in the cash ticket line and he stood in the credit card ticket line. I was the lucky one to get the tickets! Hooray! The aquarium trip made us go over budget but it was totally worth it!

I love the aquarium! I was totally excited about the jelly fish. Luckily, the crowd thinned out a bit and we were able to stare at the jelly fish for a long while.
Daniel thinks the second photo would be a great album cover.




My favorite part has to be the Beluga Whales! I also love love love the seahorses but was unable to get a decent picture of them. I'd love to draw one.
The day didn't go exactly as planned but it was still a nice day. It's been awhile since we've done anything as a family, besides lounge around the house, and it was good to spend time with each other and give Mazzy a beautiful experience.

Moo Cards & Zines!

I got the new Zine World last week! I spent most of last Sunday reading through it and highlighting the zines that sounded interesting to me. The next day, while I was writing notes to zine-makers I was interrupted by the mailman. He dropped off a birthday parcel for Mazzy and a small package for me from across the seas. I was happy to see my new Moo cards! They're so amazing and small. The printing is stellar! I can't say enough good things!

I've spent these past two-three days setting up the new exhibit at the local gallery where I work. It's the West Central Georgia Shutterbug photography group and you can see photos of the exhibit here on their blog. I still have a few things to do on my list for the exhibit, I hope everything goes well and there's a grand turn-out for the reception on Thursday.

More Moleskine!

I'm kinda proud of myself, I'm drawing a little almost everyday! I love love love moleskine notebooks and micron pens!

I haven't been drawing as much as I would like. Mazzy and I have the "crud of the week" and we've been zapped of all energy. Hopefully next week we'll be better and more energetic.

The Case of the Missing Hamster

Princess Peach Kibble (a name that both my daughter and I came up with) went missing yesterday. I was upset and worried, we didn't know how long she had been out since we were busy and out of the house most of the day. I do remember her being on her wheel the night before. The husband and I scoured the top floor of the house, finding traces of the hamster here and there: chewed up bags of treats next to the cage, and chewed up pieces of the carpet in the office corners. We spent the evening walking around and looking down hoping to catch a glimpse of the little critter.

This morning before Daniel got in the shower he woke me up and said he found the hamster. She was in the bathtub! How she got in there, I don't know and probably will never know. The bottom of the tub was covered in little, bloody hamster footprints and Peach was completely spazzed out. I scoop her in a large cup and place her back in her cage, making sure the hole she got out of was secure.

Later I pick her up and inspect her body. I'm worried about what caused the blood. I found only a little cut on the tip of her tail. I'm keeping a close eye on her for the next few days. I'm also worried that she may die. The bottom of the shower liner was chewed up and I'm afraid Peach ingested some of the plastic or long strands of carpet.

Right now she's sleeping, as most hamsters do during the day. I hear her drink from her water bottle every once in awhile. I'm sure she's exhausted from her time out in the real world.

Early Friday Morning

Two more scans from the new moleskine.

I don't have much to say today. So I'm going to list some links that I've been enjoying this morning. I've also been enjoying Irish Breakfast tea. Yum!

• Design Your Life: Some Advice from Design is Mine
• New artwork on the Penelope Illustration blog.
• Lots of lol cats at the I Can Has a Cheezburger? blog.
• Who loves Kat Von D as much as I do? I'm so happy for L.A. Ink.
• & I joined Good Reads.com and added a ton of books. My to-read list is huge!

Moleskine Update

I've been crazy busy lately planning my daughter's fifth birthday, cleaning house, reading, being lazy, and complaining about the weather. And I started a new sketch noteboook. I finally broke in my unused, pretty black moleskine. It's so perfect. I would like 10 of them for Christmas, please. Here's some scans:

Heat Wave

This weekend was spent staying indoors out of this crazy heat. My little girl and I created invitations for her upcoming birthday party. She drew pictures on cardstock and I printed the details onto color paper then folded and stapled them together. I'm so proud of her willingness to create and do things on her own. She's such a great little girl.
Friday afternoon she told me a little story from her school day: Her teacher asked if she was an artist and she replies with, "YES!" How amazing!
Now, I'm thinking about Girl Scouts. There's sign-ups this week and Mazzy is interested. Maybe?

Deep Under the Sea

Here's a video featuring the puppets I made for the local production of The Little Mermaid. I created 4 yellow fish, 4 purple seahorses, 4 orange starfish, and 2 very large octopusses all out of foamcore and neon paint. They looked so great on stage!

Two for Three, Now

When we took a roadtrip to Alabama I had a deadline looming over my head. I wanted to enter a nearby photography show but had no good photos to enter; the deadline was the day after we planned on coming home. The theme of the show is "Photos of the Rural South" and I figure, hell, I'm going to Alabama, what's more "Rural South" than Alabama?

One afternoon we pile in the car and Amber leads us to one of the oldest towns in Alabama and a large cornfield. I take the photo above and proclaim, "I think I got my money shot!" I had to get on my hands and knees to get this perspective and I'm glad I did. I caught word the other day that I've been juried into the show. I got the official letter yesterday. SlowExposures! Here I come!

The letter says: 106 Photographers entered more than 600 photographs for this year's show. The jurors selected 81. So the odds were tough. And I'm a little bit in shock, I really can't believe I got in even though when I mailed off my entry I'm like, yeah, I'm going to totally get in.

It's Been Awhile

Artwise, I've been busy working on commissions and my work's production of The Little Mermaid. I painted a picture of a gal's two fluffly dogs and it came out wonderfully. I procrastinated in giving it to her and when I did I realized I didn't get a picture of it. Damnit. But she loved it and that's what matters. For The Little Mermaid I made 12 large foamcore puppets, at least 2' x 3', that were painted to glow under blacklight. I didn't get photos of them either because they don't look too great under natural light. You can see paintbrush strokes and scratches and so on. When I saw TLM Friday night I was amazed at how awesome they looked. I'm going back next Friday to video them in action. Seriously, you have to see it.

Above you'll see TLM drawing I did to be placed on the postcard, poster, program, and billboard. That's right, billboard. I still have to get a photo of that. I designed the postcard too and it turned out great. I've been getting lots of compliments about the drawing and one person even suggested that I attend the Art Institute of Atl. I said thanks, but I can't right now, maybe when my girl's older. I'd much rather go to Savannah College of Art. So, we'll see...

Been a Great July So Far

I painted this nice octopus on the side window of my work to advertize the upcoming production of The Little Mermaid. We've already gotten a few calls about it so it's already a success. Hurrah!

I'm up really really early ( or really really late! ) in preparation for my trip to Michigan. I visit every summer and this time I'm flying. Alone. Oh my goodness I'm so excited and scared. I can't even sleep.

Be back sometime next week!

Sweet Home Alabama

We just came home from a two day trip to Alabama to visit a friend that'll be moving much farther away soon. I just love summer roadtrips, don't you? We visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, had a free dinner at Applebee's (we mentioned the lack of service to the manager and he gave us the meal for free), and wandered around a cornfield taking photos. I mean, what else is there to do in Alabama, right? :)

Daniel took the photo above and also took this great shot of our Mazzy.

I've entered a photo contest about the Rural South and thought it was a great idea to crawl into the cornfield and take the photo below. I'll find out in August if I've made it or not.

Speaking of Mazzy and photo contests, how about you vote for my photo to be published in the next issue of JPG magazine. It's a wonderful, inspiring magazine and I would love to be a part of it!

Latest Works

"Sunflower"
16" x 20" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

"Chris"
16" x 20" oil on gallery wrapped canvas

The Sunflower painting was auctioned off at a Summer Solstice gathering for the local arts council. It's now hanging in a friend's bathroom.

Chris's painting was blogged about a few entries ago and I just now got around to taking a good photo of it. It's still sitting in my studio, waiting for Chris to take it home.

I've been keeping low key these past few days. Last week at art camp definitely took a toll on me and I've been relaxing ever since. I read a novel in a few days and have consumed my fair share of coffee and tea. I'm just taking it slow, taking it easy. Tomorrow I'm headed to my dad's house for the weekend. When I come back home I have one day off then I work one day, then on Wednesday we're leaving for a small roadtrip to north Alabama. We're visiting my best friend before she moves to Texas in July. Next I'll work all of the first week in July. The second week I'll work on fish puppets for a local The Little Mermaid production. The third weekend I'm hopping a plane to visit family in Michigan. Busy busy busy little bumblebee. Next thing I know my daughter will be attending her first day of kindergarten!

Notes. For me.

My latest to-do list. Maybe you're interested too?

- Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990 – 2005 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. One of the most celebrated photographers of our time, Annie Leibovitz has made witty, powerful images documenting American popular culture since the early 1970s. Born in Westport, Connecticut, in 1947, Leibovitz had her first photographs published by Rolling Stone in 1970. She became the magazine's chief photographer in 1973, and ten years later began working for Vanity Fair, and then Vogue, creating a legendary body of work. In addition to her magazine work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express, Gap, Givenchy, The Sopranos and the Milk Board. A retrospective of her work from the years 1970 to 1990 was presented at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the International Center of Photography in New York. (LOVE LOVE LOVE her work. I have to see this soon!) Through September 9, 2007.

- Frida y Diego: photographs of their life together This exhibition is a rare collection of art photographs by several of the most significant photographers of the time, such as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Nikolas Muray, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Guillermo Kahlo. Exhibition labels and text are in English and Spanish. (This is a must-see for me too!) Through August 28, 2007.

- SlowExposures - A Juried Exhibition Celebrating Photography of the Rural South Successful work will capture those qualities that unmistakably call to mind the rural south’s unique history and relationship to the land. This is a juried photography exhibition with two categories.
• Images of the Rural South
• Images of West Central Georgia
Photographers are invited to submit up to four (4) entries in each category. A panel of jurors will choose work from submitted entries on the basis of creative excellence and interpretation of the show’s theme. Deadline for submissions: June 30th. (coming up soon! I'm going to Alabama soon so I'll be able to take pictures there.)

- About Face is a juried exhibition of photographs depicting the diversity of human relationships. The theme focuses on and emphasizes the non- traditional pairing of people who develop relationships such as mixed race, mixed gender, old and young, mentor and student, mixed faith,and person and pet. Images will be judged for adherence to the theme, originality, impact, and technical quality. The exhibition will take place October 6-27, 2007 at A Novel Experience, a unique bookstore in Zebulon, GA. For more information, please email aboutfaceentry@yahoo.com. Deadline: August 29, 2007 Fee: $15 for three images

- "EYE OF THE BEHOLDER - PHOTOGRAPHER’S WORKSHOP with David Anderson This intensive two-day workshop will focus on the craft of photographic composition and visual continuity within a narrative project. We will focus on the graphic and emotional elements that make for a compelling image as well as the keys to making a cohesive body of work. Working with both the obvious and unstated elements present in a scene, we will explore methods by which a photographer can harness these tools into a successful body of work. Style, content, composition and sequencing will all be discussed. We will also explore methods of defining what a sense of place means and will use the unique countryside and people of rural Georgia as our inspiration. Dave will also review portfolios of participants’ work. This will not be a technical class, and all participants should be completely familiar and comfortable with their camera systems. (A $400 workshop! Thankfully there's a chance to win a scholarship: http://www.enercomusa.com/pdf/Scholarshipapp.pdf)

- 2007 Juried Photography, in conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival(Link to a .pdf!) Applications are now available for the 2007 Juried Photography Show. Best of Show winner receives purchase award and a solo feature show opportunity in the Arts Clayton Gallery in 2008. Other cash awards are available. The deadline for entries is August 18, 2007.

- JPG Magazine Has anyone seen this magazine? It's crazy great. JPG Magazine is for people who love imagemaking without attitude. It's about the kind of photography you get when you love the moment more than the camera. It's for photographers who, like us, have found themselves online, sharing their work, and would like to see that work in print.

Exhausted, In a Good Way

Last Thursday I was asked to teach at a week-long Art Camp for elementary school kids. I was apprehensive at first. I've never taught a class before and I'm a quite shy person but I said yes. I had exactly two and a half days to prepare for this experience. And I'll admit when that first class came in, I was terrified!

Thankfully, I have helpers in each class that are great with the kids. Each day has been fun and interesting. Most of the kids are wonderful and really, this has been a good time. It's only halfway through the week and I'm completely exhausted! From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I see about 120 kids. There's about 15-18 in each 35 minute session with an hour for lunch. I'm grateful to have worked with the director of the camp to come up with lessons each day. So far we've used different artistic mediums, talked about different artists, and painted like Jackson Pollock. Tomorrow we'll be collaging like Henry Matisse. Then on Friday the kids will put on a production for their parents. Hooray for Art Camp!

Here's a picture of what my kitchen table looked like on Monday afternoon. I was getting ready for my "A for Apple" lesson. The students used different mediums to draw the same apple. I'm happy to say that most of them had lots of fun with it.

Smoke & Art

Yesterday we drove to Fort Valley, Georgia to hang my newest work at the C.W. Pettigrew Farm and Community Life Center at Fort Valley State University. Due to the wildfires almost 200 miles away in southern Georgia , the usually scenic ride was very smokey.

We could barely see a mile ahead of us. We spent most of the ride hoping for a nice, small hurricane to come and drench the poor, dry south. I wanted to stop by a strawberry field to pick berries & take photos but we decided it was too smokey to be outside.

Well, we finally made it to Fort Valley & to my surprise the Center was ENORMOUS! I only had 17 medium to small pieces, so there was no way I was to fill the space. The lady who helped me was very nice and cheerful and I'm very grateful for this opportunity but I've definitely learned my lesson to visit the space before agreeing to hang my work!

I really did the best I could & you know, my work looked great when I hung it all up so I didn't feel too bad.

I could've easily put 50 pieces in that space!

This has definitely been a learning experience and I do feel inspired to keep on keeping on as an artist. Next, I'd like to display my work in Athens, Georgia. Or maybe even the big, big city of Atlanta!