Halloween

Candis had here party here last night, with karioke and cake and kids. Today I partied at Nancy's with the Wackos. Tonite was party time downstairs with kids old friends and all the trick or treaters. I babysat their dogs during the festivities, which included people sitting in the "electric chair" for a shockingly good time! And costumes and trick or treat, etc. a fun time of year. Here are a few pics.

Skelly dolls on a branch

Jump over to Jackie's blog and see what she did with her skelly dolls. Great idea Jackie.

Halloween painting

I bought this painting from Dolly Sellars, a Stockton artist that I admire. Isn't it great? Dolly retains copyright to this, so please respect that.

Two for the Lodi show

These are the two I've reworked to enter.

Davinci revisited

Today I'm entering in the Lodi Community Art Center Small Works Invitational Show which will run from Nov. 4th to Dec. 29th. Small works is defined in this case as no 2 dimensional works to exceed 80 Sq inches - 8 x 10 or 6 x 12. No limit to size of frame or mat. They will be entered in the mixed media category, as they combine painting and collage. All works must be for sale, and if sold, the gallery takes a 30% commission. Pricing is always a sticky spot for artists. How do you set a value on your work? My thinking is - how much will I miss having this? That's what it's worth to me? But, what might it be worth to someone else? Someone with cash? LOL From the shows I've been in this year, it appears that the art market, as the rest of the economy, is not healthy. Very few sales at the shows, and most in the lower end of prices.

Skeleton Paper dolls

This is the pattern I used to make the skeleton paper dolls, although any old skeleton would work. You are welcome to use them for your personal art - but not to sell on CDs or digital mediums. Here's another one of the finished skellydolls.

Jr. High Chorale concert

Candis was in the concert tonite, dressed as a witch. The string orchestra played first, then the chorale sang their pieces, and finally the band played four rousing numbers. It's a very warm evening, the day has been perfectly still - which is very strange for California's central valleys. Tomorrow we are expecting a wind storm. I'm glad the concert was tonite, so they had a good turnout.

After the concert, the neighbor had his three boston terriers playing on the lawn, so I let my three out and we had a dog park in the neighborhood. I think they'll all be sleeping good tonite.

You know in art, how we often use repetitive images. Sometimes we change the sizes or color. I was reminded of this with his three dogs. One is older, and bigger. Then there is a middle size one a year old, and then the new little puppy only a couple months old. With their distinctive black and white coloring - they make quite a picture. Maybe one day I'll do a painting for them - with the dogs in a row. Hmmmm.....

Mixed Media girls make skelly dolls

I adapted the pattern to fit the same clothes as the Zelda paper dolls, thinking they could share the closet. The gals at Mixed Media group did a bang up job of designing their new wardrobes. Here are some pics from yesterday's meeting.

Holiday Ahead - Halloween

Time to dig out the decorations and spread them around where the dogs can't get to them. Here are the girls in their new scarves Rosemary gave them.

Book Arts Exhibit - mission accomplished

Book Arts Jam is over for another year. It was fantastic! So many creative people, each one passionate about their particular form of art. And the people who came to view everything were very engaged, asked a million questions, and shared some about what they do and are working on. I'll post more to the other blog tomorrow, including some pictures.

Would I do it again? Hmmmmm.... Maybe I'm getting too old for this venue. I think perhaps next year I may want to do a one hour presentation or demonstration - but as much as I loved all the interaction today, I barely had time to eat a bite now and then and take a deep breath. It was very much like being on stage all day performing. Granted, someone could do this show without this attitude, but this is me. I was living on adrenalin all day and I"ll sleep like a baby tonite. This was one of my long time goals, and now I've done it - I've shared my work with several hundred people face to face that I would not have met without being there. Well worth it all. Now for some dinner a shower and to bed early.

Belated birthday

I know, it's over for another year, but I forgot to post the picture of the adorable swag Char made for me. It's hanging on my headboard. Here's a pic. Thanks, Char.

Storm warnings

It was announced on the news several days in advance, thank goodness. We had the winterizing projects done in the nick of time. The winds blew and blew - and the rain poured down for hours on end. Californians are hoping this will be a wet winter. We need the rain. Walking the dogs in the rain is a rare event, but it was the only way I could get them out and about. The wind was howling so loudly I could hardly hear myself think. And leaves and small branches were blowing along the road past us, which really confused Lulu, thinking they were something alive. Needless to say we didn't go far. At home, we had one flood area on the patio that needs to be addressed. My brother and his wife had a new drain put into an area at his house that had flooding by the back door. I'll have to check and see if it handled the amount of rain that came down. We need to do something to drain this away. I've got grandsons, I've got shovels, we can buy rocks. Hmmmmm......

Out front, a large branch came down behind my car in the driveway - I was lucky it did not hit the car. Having such a heavy rain and gusty winds while the leaves are still on the trees was a problem all over the central valley. Lots of places are without power; trees down on roads, and flooding on some of the major highways.

I celebrated the storm by making a big crock pot of beans, with a little chili and some chicken tossed in. I had fresh tomatoes to use in the sauce, the house smelled so warm and cozy. And by late afternoon it was ready and so was I. It tasted just as good as it smelled, and I have left overs for a few days, plus some for the freezer. I hope you all fared well too.

Is winter here?

It is the most blustery day!

I was checking emails and art groups I belong to on the web and found a lovely Halloween treat site. This photo is a sample from http://sweetbfolkart.blogspot.com where you will find a huge buffet of sweet treats with a Halloween flair. I have my eye on the pumpkin pie! So you'll have to pick something else. It gives me ideas of what I could make for the Halloween party I'm going to. Hmmmmm.....

Work day in the country - getting ready for winter

Winter is on the way. That's what it says on the news. Heavy rains are expected in a couple days, so it was time to winterize the trailer. Everything from pulling in the sliders, to wrapping the lawn swing, to putting out rat and ant poison. Nothing like coming back in the Spring, or a quick trip during the winter to find you've had uninvited guests. Let's just call it an ounce of prevention. I made my usual stop at the Red Apple Farm for a treat - a fresh peach and a chocolate chip cookie. Normally I'd buy a pie, but I wasn't meeting anyone to share it with on this trip.

Changed the bedding and couch and chair covers to the winter look too. Looks cosy and warm. In fact the day was perfect while I was there. Warm and bright. As sunny and clear as possible. Perfectly delightful. I gave away the TV and VCR/DVD players today. I never use them. I'd rather use the space they take up for books and art supplies. I'm tickled pink with the new space - and getting rid of something that was totally wasted on me. I have my radio and books there - and now am able to get the public radio stations really well.

Since I didn't take the dogs today - I took the winding roads that make Nikki car sick. I had not driven them for awhile and it was interesting to see the changes - new houses, new roads, etc.

Tomorrow is the day to winterize the house, the deck and the patio. These things HAVE to be done before the first rain. As much as I dread the grey winter, curling up with a book on a rainy evening is something very special. I guess I can adjust my attitude again!!! I have to remind myself of the good things about winter, cause goodness knows I hate being cold - and I hate not seeing the sun every day. Think sunshine. Think warm. Gotta keep working on it.

My birthday

What better way to celebrate a birthday than going to the beach for a few days. Rosemary and I car pooled, and we went first to Split Pea Anderson's for brunch. Then on across Pacheco Pass to Morgan Hill where I had a short but very nice visit with my brother, his wife, and mother in law while Rosemary visited friends nearby. Then on to the beach house where we met up with Sally and Nancy. On Saturday my friend and fellow artist Virginia came by for a visit, and she brought me a darling "quilty" with little birds she painted on it by hand. I was so surprised, and of course delighted. We mostly hung around the house for the couple days, but we managed to get in some art gallery browsing, and to the Santa Cruz wharf for my birthday dinner of Charbroiled Salmon. Yummmmm..... I had an immediate attraction to the driver of the car next to us - I think it was the dark hair. Do you think maybe I'm hanging around at the dog park too much? LOL Later, back at the house my friends treated me with a very rich dark chocolate cake from Gayles bakery in Capitola and wonderful presents. One of the pictures here is the quiltie made by Virginia, with one made by Rosemary. What wonderful additions to my collection. I wont' list all the other goodies I got - you'll be so jealous! LOL Our final hurrah was brunch at Zelda's at Capitola beach. Sitting out in the sunshine with the seagulls to end the trip. I have a really good life and am grateful every day.

Zelda Paper Dolls

I invited three friends to the beach house where we sat around and made paper dolls, based on the ones shown in Lynne Perrella's book "Beyond Paper Dolls". The article was written by artist/designer Michelle Ward. They were so appealing, we just had to do our own versions. Armed with all kinds of papers, fabrics, beads, angelina, ribbons, yarn, etc. This is what we did.

Nikki's first anniversary

My little darling Nikki has been here for a year now. And what a change in her little life. A new home, a steady diet, lots of love and play, snuggles, a best friend (Buddy), and an adopted little sister (Lulu). Here's what her life looks like now. A little playtime at the park, trying to make a new friend - and a tug of war with Lulu.