Vaccine…where are you? I’m ready!

Well here it is a new year, and we are still, (not technically in Tennessee) locked down again. But for the high amount of cases in Tennessee (Knoxville led the nation in cases in December) I haven’t posted since October because, well because November and December Sucked! Not much going on around these parts. We had a lot of construction on the house, which being one hundred this year, needed it. We had the house painted and built a deck, and to finish off the year David, my husband, had knee surgery in December. All is good but but life is dull as dirt. I am ready for shows. But right now, many are dropping like flies again. I am again in the Temple Beth El Show in St. Petersburg but it is virtual this year. I’m not holding my breath for virtual shows anymore, but if only one of them is going to be successful the Temple Show will be the one. This is my third year and people know and like my work there. I am scheduled for two shows in February, one in Bonita Springs on February 6th and 7th and ArtiGras in Palm Beach, February 13th and 14th. Right now I’m hoping someone gets the organization of vaccines together because so far-it’s been slap dash at best and seems to be bogged down in bureaucracy. I know I would feel a whole hell of a lot better traveling if I had one. Gasparilla already has been postponed and with the current surge, the two shows I posted might also go the way of the Dodo. I’m back in the studio after playing nursemaid and ready to get back on the road. I’ll keep you posted. Happy New Year 2021 To all of you. So glad 2020 is over., May this next year be healthy for all and may we never have another year like last. Amen!!!!!

Ah, What the Hell.....

Well, it’s the last day of the dog days of August and I, along with most of the rest of the country is living in an alternative universe. I am glad I am able to stay home and be semi-retired instead of heading out to school somewhere. You might not know this, but most of my life I was an art teacher in public, Montessori, private and international schools. Thirty-two years to be exact. I still get excited in August anticipating the beginning of a new school year. I guess that never really goes away. This year, I’m glad I’m not there. I don’t know how they are doing it. I wear a mask for two hours and I can’t wait to come home and take it off ( I wear it, believe me), but I am always exhausted and have a headache. I can’t imagine having one on for 10 hours a day. Yea, no school day was ever 8 hours unless you were a crappy teacher. So, I’m glad that part of my life is done.

But damn, I miss shows. I think it’s because I have done over 30 new pieces and nobody has seen them. That’s the part of the equation I’m not sure I even was fully aware that I needed so much. It’s just as important. You do it - to have someone you view it…it completes the circle and Dang, nobody has seen any of mine. Well, my husband David has, but he says everything looks good so I don’t yell at him…so I have no idea what I am doing anymore - I just keep having to do it. The work is changing a lot, at least I think it is. An influx of color and freshness that I really am liking but I hope I’m on the right track.

I did a painting called “Epiphany”, about Ascyplus, the father of Medicine, which I felt was an ode to all those going through Covid and in Health Care Professionals in the trenches. There are stitches, genetic markers and lots of clues all through it. It was a good way for me to work through my mom’s death, which still feels like it didn’t happen. No closure is a horrible thing to deal with, not seeing a loved one before or after death, does a number on you. This painting helped me get through it. The title is from a song on T.Swift’s new album. I know, I know, don’t hate….but this song off the “Folklore” album is a force of nature. It opened me up and it was the first time I could cry about what happened. It’s awful that your mom dies and you don’t cry-but it felt so-so far away. This song was a turning point and finally, let the waterworks flow… I won’t forget this painting because of it.

I have some new work up on my website under the 2020 portfolio and if you are interested in any, just email me and I can give you prices. I will get the rest up soon…all are framed but for some reason for me, the work is more important than the frame and thus never gets in the slide… so I can send a pix of what the total package looks like if needed.

I am in six coming virtual shows this Fall. I really don’t have a lot of hope for any of them. Sorry to be so negative, but I haven’t sold one thing from any of the virtual shows so far. I’ll do it anyway and hope for the best. Gives me something to wok on and keep busy along with my other 500 projects. Here’s the list and dates:

St. James Court Oct. 2-4 and through to December

Kentuck Oct. 10 through December.

Artsclamation Around October 20th but not sure yet.

Covington. November 10 through December

Piedmont November 20 through December

Temple Beth El January- not sure about dates yet

I hope I get to see most of you next year…. I hope shows resume next year. I hope Covid is a thing of the past next year. I hope we are all here next year. I miss all you guys.

Love and take care of yourselves.

marge

• damn…am I this depressed?

June, 27 update.

Writing to let you know that The Dogwood Show rescheduled for August 7 to 9 is now rescheduled for September 11 to 13. It seems like all of the shows are realizing we are hitting higher than usual numbers and going into a possible second wave. It will be interesting to see if any shows end up happening this Fall. I would be surprised if they happen at all. Fingers crossed.

On another note:

I am offering private encaustic lessons for anyone who might be interested in learning at my studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. With the curve flat for selling artwork and people with time on their hands, I thought I would go back to what I do best. I have worked in encaustic for 14 years and have taught at Arrowmont, 4 times in the last 8 years and at Penland, Touchstone and at various other venues around the country. I was also a high school art teacher for 32 years before having a full time studio practice, so I can pretty much teach everything related or not to encaustic. I have a fully functioning encaustic studio and will supply all materials for your instruction. You will even have a place to stay with your own bathroom in my house and all meals and alcoholic refreshments will be provided. The cost for a weekend workshop is 700 dollars, all inclusive, and I think you would probably learn more in two days individually than you might otherwise. This way we can keep the virus down and learn something exciting and new. If you are a couple, or best friends and don’t mind sleeping together in a queen size bed, I will take two people together. If there are two- I will discount each person 100 dollars. I hope that is enough incentive. I would love to fill the next month up with lots of learning, great camaraderie and lots of fun. Yes, fun is a big part of it. Please contact me on this site.

June 6th 2020

I wrote this on Facebook this week…. This week, probably one of the most incredible weeks in the history of this country. I think it says all I need to say…Except I will never be done learning and changing and helping this cause, which has been “national wrong” for far too long.

Last night in my dream,  A stormtrooper type was coming to my house with a semi-automatic weapon. I locked the doors but the kids (they were little) walked over and undid the chain on the door. The guy came in and shot me in the face. I woke up. This was at 3 am. It totally freaked me out and I couldn't get back to sleep. I thought about how African American's probably have dreams like this on a regular basis and my white privileged ass doesn't, and I just kept going over in my head how awful all of this is and for so long. Our country is rife with racism, and  I and every white person who thought we were not racist, just turned a blind eye for way too long to something we should have dealt with.....and this makes us all culpable. If you haven't seen me marching with you in unity it's because I had to have a COVID19 test and couldn't get out until it came back-no worries it was negative but it took me out of commission for a week. I was there in spirit all the way and reading "Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi. I recommend it...time to educate ourselves.

It's already June.....how did that happen?

I hope all of you are well and that you have gotten through this crazy period of isolation with your health and sanity intact. I know I am not alone with feeling this time is so weird, so different than anything I have ever witnessed before. I can roll with the punches but the punches for me have been difficult. My Mom died last month, May 7th, and I couldn’t go up to New Jersey for any funeral. There was no funeral, no closure, and well, it was pretty hard. Two days before she died, My Mother- in- Law died. The week before that, my 17-year-old beloved cat died. I don’t think I have ever been in such a dark place. I was so sad and it’s funny but when something like this happens and you have no recourse but to sit there and do nothing….you do nothing….really nothing. No art, no exercising, no nothing. I just couldn’t pick myself up. Then I decided I had to do something positive and I started to put in a raised vegetable garden. I didn’t do it myself, David did a lot of the heavy stuff, but then I did another garden with flowers and then another and another. It was cathartic. I haven’t had time with shows to do anything like that since my kids were little, and it was so good. It brought me out of my blue funk and helped me get back on my feet. Putting your hands in dirt and watching things grow is life-affirming…and I needed life-affirming. I’m back, making art (27 new pieces so far since March), and also I keep buying plants, which I think I might have a mini addiction to. Hopefully, the shows will come back and we can get back to doing what we do best. Most have been canceled and scheduled for next year.

The shows that are still on the docket are as follows….let hope they stay that way…

August 7. 8. 9th, Dogwood Arts Festival, Atlanta, Ga. Booth 27

Sept. 4, 5, 6, 7th, Arts Beats and Eats, Royal Oaks, Michigan

Sept. 18, 19, 20th, Brookside, St. Louis,

Sept. 25, 26, 27th, Carmel Arts Festival, Indiana

October, 2, 3, 4th, St James Court, 4th St. Section, Louisville, Ky.

Nov. 20, 21, 22nd, Piedmont Guild Show,

December 3, 4, 5. 6th, One of A Kind, Chicago

Haven’t heard from Woodlawn, Kentuck, Artclectic, River Arts Fest, Great Gulfcoast, Covington, Winterfair, Columbus…I’ll amend this when I know more.

Let’s hope they actually happen. See you there.

We Are All Wonder Women....

It’s the 21st of March and two of my shows have been cancelled and probably a lot more will fall like dominos. This is a scary time and if your business revolves around selling art, it’s scarier than ever. Nobody wants to buy art when we don’t know where the next paycheck is coming from. I get it. But this is a call out to anyone who might have the discretionary income to help out artists’ in any capacity they can. I know I need it, others do too.

Self isolation is not a problem for me. I have been self isolating since January, that’s what artists do to get the creative juices flowing. I truly don’t know many artists that aren’t isolationists. But I am also an extrovert in the sense that I go to shows and talk for three days and by the time I get home I am ready for the isolation. That 2nd part has disappeared. So, I find myself going slower than usual and not getting as much done. I do have to say that since coming back from the Temple Beth El Show at the end of January, I have completed over 21 paintings in many different sizes. I have been productive. But stress is a fickle mistress and like all of us, she works on your psyche to make you nuts and feeling hopeless. I am a good soldier. I haven’t gone out much and realize the importance of staying away from people. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning last night feeling like I was going to be sick to my stomach. You know that crappy feeling before you vomit where your whole body is ill. Well, I immediately thought I might have the virus. I was way off base. It was COVID19 paranoia at best, and I has just probably eaten something that didn’t agree. But, suffice to say, that was not a normal person’s reaction…..I imagined the worse and that is not good.

I think we all need to be Amazon women at this time. Fighters of this invisible foe. Majestic warriors. If they could cut off their left breast so they could shoot an arrow better…than I should be able to stay in my dang house….It’s not even a fair trade…I’m going to give it my best shot.

Love to you all, take care….sending good thoughts for a good outcome.

Too many dark days….

It’s towards the end of February and I am sick of rain and snow. Actually, I am sick of gloom. I am ready for flowers to bloom and warmer weather so I can plant the raised beds. I have done everything in my power to procrastinate about making art lately. I painted my bedroom, I have made too many deserts that I shouldn’t eat and I have watched Netflix’s way too much lately. I haven’t been too unproductive, I have 5 new pieces in the works but without a show until The middle of April, I’m like that old song… I have too much time on my hands. I really don’t think I would make a very good retired person. I’m too antsy and can’t sit for long. I’m a little feckless right now and I should enjoy it, go with the flow but I am just not built that way. Anywho… Suffice to say I am ready to get back on the road. I had the money to go on an overseas trip but my 17 year old cat Tweezer got lymphoma and before I could realize what I had gotten myself into with chemo and all that it entails…the trip was toast. And to be honest, Tweeze is more than a cat after 17 years together and I wouldn’t have gone anyway. If, by chance, you need any new work for your home, check out my website and touch base. Until then, I’ll be in my studio…. and researching and reading. Just finished “Parallel Myths” by J.F. Berlein, it was really good… oh, and also watching the new Outlander. I’ve got to cover all my bases. Ha! See you down the road, hopefully on a nice sunny day. One can dream.

The Long Ride Home

It’s the 28th of January and we, David and I, are coming back from doing two shows in the Tampa/St Petersburg area. These are the only two Florida shows I’m doing this winter as I am really looking forward to a few months of studio time before the Spring season starts up. It was a wonderful holiday, but I have been sick for a month with whatever this crud is that everyone has, (don’t worry, it’s not the new one going around). After my recent 2nd round of antibiotics, I’m much improved. Funny, with all the shows I do, and the thousands of people I meet, I haven’t been sick in the last 8 years. I guess you can’t dodge that bullet forever. Not bad odds though. The first show in Tampa was Sunfest. We had beautiful weather but a show at any high end mall, even the Shops at Wiregrass, which is right up there with the best of them, is just not my market. I did reasonably well and I won a major prize, with a very nice monitery award, which was a nice plus. We then went to St. Pete’s where we had to deliver my work to Temple Beth El on Monday for their show which would open that next weekend. There is, of course a percentage that the Temple takes from the sales, but they do all the hard labor, which gives you a full week to tool around the area in between. Vaycay on the Gulf is a fine trade off in my mind. We stayed at a lovely Air b&b and honestly, you can’t run out of things to do in St. Petersburg. It is an art Mecca. This is a remarkable transformation for a tiny beach town that ten years ago decide to turn itself around completely. There are 192 fabulous murals in the city and one art district after another. Fab museums, great restaurants and incredibly cool people. It was a bit chilly for Florida last week,( they called it their winter) but compared to the 19 degrees it was in Knoxville, 45 degrees didn’t seem so bad. So, my recommendations for places to eat ( if you are in the area) are 4th Street Fish-their blackened fish was incredible and everything was very fresh. Anyplace on Central Ave, especially the outside Cuban sandwich shop ( you will know it by the long line outside snaking down the sidewalk) and of course the fabulous gelato shop on Beach Ave. You can’t go wrong. Honestly, if it wasn’t so far from every show, I would consider moving there…..just wishing for now. The Temple Beth El Show is in its 47th year. It is a BEAST in the best way. Incredible art by 122 artists, run like a fine violin by the nicest women and men, who vollenteer each year to make this a wonderful show. I wish I could specifically thank each member but suffice to say mucho thank you to the team of Nan, Ann, and Jan who found me two years ago in Park City, Utah. It was a terrific show and I sold 6 major pieces, which makes it possible for me to stay home and paint for the next two months. I love them and all the knowledgeable and interesting people who talked to me this last weekend, I have already heard from some of you and I truly want to keep in touch. If you need me, hit me up…. I’ll be in my studio with my headphones on listening to either a podcast or Lizzo, Joni MitchelL or some weird German trans…. I’m open minded like that….But no worries-I’ll get back to you. See you later Alligator!

Happy New Year! 2020....It's On...

Well, It’s another new year and we start all over again. Every year goes faster and I just keep trying to dig my heels in and keep that locomotive “time” from making headway down the tracks. Unfortunately, I’m no John Henry and I guess I’ll just hang on to the caboose and head to wherever life takes me while I can. December was a crazy month, I had my last show on the 6th at Winterfair in Columbus and won an Award of Excellence, which was a nice surprise. Then we hustled back to KTown and headed out to Cali to visit my son, Griffin and his girlfriend Nereida in Venice Beach. We had a fabulous time there for five days visiting the Broad Museum, the Getty and taking in the great Christmas lights around L.A. If you ever get out there around the Holidays, you have to get to Woodland Heights. I have never seen better Christmas house displays. It was amazing. Every house within about three miles was lit up to the nines. There were food trucks and marching bands and people selling light-up toys and the Best, and I mean the Best house decorations I have ever seen…It was Magical. We also walked the canals one night in Venice and they were lit up incredibly too. Can you tell I love Christmas? Gotta say, it’s my favorite Holiday and when I got home I had two days to put up the tree and get ready for my baby girl, Keegan, to come home from Germany. I got it done somehow and when Keeg’s came through the door she was happy to be home. Having Keeg’s home is like having my air supply back. We are really close and well, Germany isn’t a car ride away. I won’t bore you with all the details but we had a great time going to movies (Star Wars and Little Women) and Dillon had his annual party with a Star Wars theme this year. I would like to say that I stayed and did Karaoke, but David and I were coming down with a bug and we crashed out early. I did hear that Keegs got up and rapped Dr. Dre by M&M…which is no small feat and she mush have had a few drinks in her to be able to do that. Christmas day was wonderful and although Griff wasn’t here (sad) this year, we still had a full house for dinner with Dillon and Taylor, Keegan and Mindy (her best friend who always brings the lottery scratch-offs) and Dawson and Michael, Griff’s friends from Webb. Honestly, they are with us every year and those three have been family for a long, long time. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them. That and our annual game of Cards Against Humanity. David made a fabulous feast and Keeg’s made a Chocolate Peanutbutter cake and Panatone Bread Pudding and I made a mess out of an apple pie and Michael made a great Sweet Potato pie. We didn’t hurt for the sweets..that’s for sure. It was a great night. Two days later Keegs and I flew up to New Jersey to go see my Mom the day before Keeg’s was to fly back to Germany. By that time both of us were sick as dogs but we went anyway. it was a sad day, as my 103-year-old Ma is going downhill fast and even though she is still knew us, she is losing touch with reality and is in a lot of pain and It breaks my heart. Anyone who knows my Ma knows she was a force of nature for all her life and drove until she was 99 and until a year ago lived in her own apartment. I am so glad Keegan and I got up to see her, but it wasn’t easy and I hate living so far away. We then visited with my sister Bonnie and made our way back to the Airport and stayed at the Marriot. My flight went out early and Keegs slept in and left later in the day. I came back to plans for a New Year’s Party we were throwing, but by that time I had burned the candle at both ends and was so sick, I couldn’t get out of bed. So as not to get everyone else sick…I canceled the party. I hated to do it but honestly, everyone should thank me for not giving them this crud I had. It was awful. There is always next year! So, here it is 2020 and I hope your New Year was a bit better than mine. My January schedule is to head down to St. Petersburg at the end of the month for the Suncoast Festival and the Temple Beth-El Art Show the next week. I did the Temple Beth El Show last year and it was a wonderful venue. If you are down that way, I recommend it, it is a first-class exhibit with many nationally-known artists. Suncoast? It’s my first time so I have no idea about that one. Just looking to warm weather and some chillaxin’ time on the Florida Coast. If you are down in that area, I would love to see you…After that, I am in the studio for 2 and 1/2 months with the next show in the middle of April in Atlanta. I am so psyched to have that much studio time and if you know anything about me you know that studio time is akin to my love of Christmas….! It’s right up there. Can’t wait! Again. Happy New Year and I hope this year gives you the studio time ( or your equivalent) that you deserve and everything on your wish list. 2020 WooHoo!!!! A new decade… Just go a little slower, please.

Heading to the Home Stretch

I am just back from the Piedmont Craftsman Fair and it was a beautiful show. Those people put on a class act and the work, venue and organization were beyond most shows expertise. I was a provisional member, since it was my first year, so not sure if I will be admitted to the guild or not. Those things I leave up to the art gods….no control there.

I have one more show to go. I can’t believe it. I’ve done 9 shows since September and I am ready to put my feet up. Unfortunately, I will be hustling’ until next Thursday because I am so low on inventory that I need to make some mid-size pieces for Columbus. Oh, yea, The final show is Winterfair Columbus and it’s kind of a monster. It’s at a fairground but there are over 300 artists…maybe more. Somehow we all get set-up without wrecking cars and killing each other but I’ll be damned if I know how. It’s a fun show to exhibit at, since I know so many of the artist’s there and so many people come back year after year to see me. At some shows you develop a following and it’s always a pleasure to see familiar faces. This show is like that. I have had my day of rest so tomorrow I’m back int the studio kicking it in gear.

After that show we are going to visit my youngest son and his girlfriend, Griff and Nereida in Marina del Rey, Cali. It’s not a long trip but since they aren’t coming home this year, we decided to head out there… After that, Keegs comes home for Christmas from Germany. BTW, she has a major exhibition in Berlin this coming weekend that she has been working on for over a year. Send up some good thoughts for her. She has the talent, the work ethic, the connections, now all she needs that elusive element-luck. Hoping she kicks ass. Please forgive me for bragging a little, but I am a pretty proud mama bear.

Christmas is on the back burner for now….wish I could clone myself…life would be a bit easier… Have a wonderful Holiday if I don’t post again until after. So grateful to have this life on the road. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of it. To wonderful patrons to good friends to helpful show organizers and to cool folks met along the way. Thank you a million. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

2 Shows Back to Back…

Torrential rains…. so bad we could hardly see out the front car window. We are on our way to the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival on the soggiest day of the year. Stopped off in Birmingham to drop off “Circe” to a patron and got back on the road to head to Montgomery, Alabama. I have never been to that town before and wanted to visit the Civil Right Museum and see the memorial to all the lynching victims. It has to be extremely powerful and since this is the town that Reverend Martin Luther King did much of his work from and where so many important events of the civil rights movement took place. I feel that it is an important pilgrimage. The rain has slowed us up though and we might not be there in time. We will do what we can… We will be in Montgomery tonight so we might get up early and check it all out in the morning. The Great Gulf Coast is in Pensacola and we are sharing an Airb&b with Lisa and the weather is looking good so I hope everything goes well…David thinks something is going on with our breaks and the back tire is smoking… just what we need….jeeze. The joys of doing shows. Hope it’s nothing. After that David and I are doing a bit of R&R and heading to Gulf Shores for a few days and then New Orleans for a few and ending up in Covington Louisiana for the Three Bridges Arts Festival… one of my favorite shows. After a year of too many shows… this I think we deserve. Plus finally the construction is over on our house and we can wind down a bit. I’m looking forward to it… 2 more shows to go after this and after the 6th of December I get to put my feet up and binge watch all the shows I have missed this year. Can’t Wait!!!!

We Are In The Thick Of It....

OCTOBER 19, 2019

Well, first, sorry I haven’t been posting but I did post but Squarespace reconfigured their site and poof…they are gone into the stratosphere. So here I am half way into this fall show season and having to backtrack to tell you about heat has been happening.

October started with St. James and it was great. I was not sure if I could even attend with all this sickness junk, (not what I would call it but let’s keep this clean) that has been happening. I have been on a low res diet for over 3.5 weeks. I have lost almost 20 lbs and that I am not sad about. I am thrilled. What I am not too thrilled about is the lack of energy that being on a low res diet ( saltine crackers and white baked potatoes) causes. I have spent a lot of time in bed and that is no fun. I did though make it to St. James. It was a beautiful weekend and I was next to Roxy and Dan and right down from Karen and Paul. I didn’t have enough energy to go out at night and have dinner and drinks, but I made it through. And low and behold I got the second-highest award there. The Chairman’s award was an incredibly nice surprise. When you win Best of Show the year before, you don’t expect to win again. You don’t. So I was a bit dumbfounded. They came in with a monster ribbon and a film crew and asked a ton of questions I muddled through…since I was so shocked. It was crazy and nice and really appreciated. They seem to like me there, yea, they like me (my best Sally Field imitation) . I was a happy camper.

Last week was Kentuck. Kentuck is really my favorite show of the year. Who wooda thought little old Tuscaloosa, Alabama would be such a hotbed of art? Well, it is and they bring the crowds. It is such a fun show to do and I love all the people that show there with me. We stayed in a beautiful cabin on the lake with Lisa Norris, who’s patron gave us this treat for no cost. It was lovely. The weather was great until Sunday night when the heavens unloaded and it rained closing up. Actually, now that I think of it- the same thing happened at St. James. Beautiful weekend until Sunday afternoon deluge. When that happens there is a lot of extra work later drying everything out before the mildew sets in and we have a mess on our hands. I love this life but man, I really hate it when it rains closing up. It was a decent weekend, not the best I have ever done there but a few days later some really wonderful sales came through and it became one of my best Kentuck’s ever.

This week is a freebie and I am working non-stop to get ready for three important shows in a row coming up. This week is Artclamation where I am the featured artist. I don’t usually do indoor shows because of the setup but it’s nice to do a show for charity (Covenant Health) and it certainly is nice to be able to sleep in my own bed this weekend. BTW, watch me on TV channel 9 on Wednesday afternoon to promote the show. It’s a Friday night gala and a Saturday open to the public show. I did this show back in 2007 ( or somewhere around there) but haven’t done it in a long time. It should be fun.

After that, I am headed to Great Gulfcoast on the first of November to exhibit in Pensacola Fla. Lisa and I have an Air b&b condo for a long weekend and I am really looking forward to it. In between, we are slowly going to make our way to Orange Beach and New Orleans, a little R&R before we head to the Three Rivers show in Covington, La. that next weekend. I need some sunshine and the beach. It’s been a difficult Fall, I’ve pushed through but I am still not feeling great. I don’t like when my body doesn’t obey me….I have shit to do….I am busy…how dare it throws a wrench in my plans. Famous last words, huh. Happy to be on the road, with David and thankful to Harriet for being my favorite house sitter.

Fall Season Starts Now/2019

It should have started last week…The car was packed and we were ready to head toward St. Louis to a show in the town of Mt Vernon at a nice Art Center there. Unfortunately, things took a left turn. I’d been having some weird symptoms for a few weeks, with one being particularly bad and I went in to see my Doc that next day… two hours later I was having a CatScan. I have a case of Ischemic Colitis, (yea, I had to look it up too.). Apparently the arteries that connect to the large colon are blocked and the colon is dying. I had to go strait to bed and start taking a blood thinner hopefully to unblock them and for the colon to heal, Oh, and go on a liquid diet. Thus, no show. So again, hit up the Doc this week and he was reluctant to let me go to Chicago this week but heck, I’m going stir crazy. I’m headed up there with a ton of paperwork so that if I have another attack I can head to the emergency room and I’m still on the liquid diet but I’m on my way. So much for living on the edge. I’ve lost 18 lbs already….the only good thing about this whole mess. Hopefully, Lakeview Arts Festival will be worth it. I think it’s I am in booth 106, but I’m not sure. All the artwork is there-lots of new pieces and the start of a new series… I worked my tail off in August and I’m excited to show you what i’ve been up to. Lately, I guess I’m a touch preoccupied. Just a lot going on. I’ll rally and I can’t wait to see everyone. I might get be a bit “hangry” though… so don’t take it personal. Ha!

It’s hot, it’s July and I’m on my way to Geneva ( not Switzerland), Illinois.

Well, July has been a shit show. Sorry for my foul language but that’s just the truth of it. A tree fell on our house last January… and there is still a tarp on the house. They are still working on the roof and the laundry room and it feels like it will never be completed. Then last Friday, We had torrential rain in Tennessee, up from that hurricane that passed through New Orleans the week before. Guess what? The tarp blew off the house, so all of a sudden there was a pool of water on the floor of my living room, I couldn’t figure it out… I thought maybe a cat peed, (not something I am too fond of either). Then I went into my dining room. Water flooding down the walls -6” on the floors in their and the bathroom and the walk through room( it’s a big old house)… torrents, awful. We are throwing every towel we have on the floor and it’s doing nothing. David calls the contractor and he comes out with new tarps and covers the roof. Serve pro comes with 6 Hugh machines to suck out the water and try to dry the wood. I can’t hear myself think for 5 days…..then they pull out the ceiling in those 3 rooms. Now we have to see if it’s a new claim or if the contractor takes responsibility for the damage. We need new walls, new ceilings and new floors including all the damage to artwork, furniture and rugs. Every piece of furniture is laying all over the house and I feel totally discombobulated. It’s amazing that I am ready for this show in Geneva this weekend. I’ve been off for a month, with the last show in Des Moines being exceptional…. When a show is good it kind of propels you to come home and dive back into the studio. I did just that. 13 new pieces and 96 new smalls later…, I think I am ready. I am in booth 50 at the Geneva Arts Festival. It’s this Saturday the 27th, 10 till 6 and Sunday the 28th, 10 till 5. A high end show, all originals, on the list of the top ten shows on art fair reviews. So hopefully, they might like me. Let’s hope.

Spring shows almost over.... July looks like a welcome respite.

I find I write this blog on the road mostly. Sitting in the passenger seat of a car for 8 to 12 hours any given day, you kinda run out of things to do. Not that I mean this is an “afterthought “ kind of thing-it’s not, but, yes, sometimes it is. It’s Wednesday and we are headed to the Des Moines Arts Festival. Never been to Iowa. Now North Dakota will be the last continental state I haven’t been to. I haven’t been to Alaska or Hawaii, but they are on the bucket list... not so sure about North Dakota. This show is a three day slog from 11 to 10 pm each day. But Sly ( not really Sly, because he’s dead) but the Family Stone will perform. I can go for a little “we are family”, might be fun! My booth is GS14 and I have no idea where that is, but since i’m up from the waitlist, it’s probably in the back 40 somewhere. I thought I was headed to Berlin so I cancelled Boston Mills and low and behold at the last minute Des Moines called, and Keegs nixed me coming anyway. So here I go, headed to Iowa. This show is the last show of a ten show run that I started in April. I am happy to be getting a break in July and August. I do have one show (Geneva) at the end of July near Chicago, but other than that I’m free as a bird. Can’t wait to get back in my studio and make some new art. If anyone is interested in stopping by my studio, this will be a good time, just leave me a message. I will be heading up to Jersey to visit my Ma and I think my best friend and college roommate will come with me. Karen spent one glorious summer back in 1970 waitressing with me at the beach in Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea. I was a home town girl but Karen being from Duck Town , Tennessee, had a better accent and made tons of tips compared to me. Back then being from the South was like being from Tanzania... pretty exotic.  We have been trying to get back there to revisit our glory days for quite a while now and I think we are going to finally make it happen. I need it and there is nothing better that a girlfriend trip. Well, send up some good thoughts for me for this show. It’s a beautiful day and I am ready to take the bull by the horns, I guess that’s a pretty good description since i’m headed to the big prairie of Iowa. See you there....(possibly?). 

Never a dull moment...

On Wednesday, my daughter Keegan crashed her bike in Berlin, Germany, while going to work. Germany has designated bike lanes all over the city, but she hit a pot hole apparently, and flew over the handlebars into a busy city street. She was lucky a car didn’t hit her. But she did sustain some injuries that sent her to the hospital in an ambulance. She fractured her shoulder and hit her head pretty hard. She looks like she went ten rounds with Mike Tyson. I didn’t know faces could swell that much. I’m not sure she didn’t break some bones in there also because she is having a hard time opening her mouth and has a spectacular shiner. They didn’t check for that so when she goes back to the doc early next week they will check, I’m sure. Apparently it was an incredibly painful injury and Keegs, who doesn’t mince curse words when things go wrong, (it’s a family thing , I think) let fly quite a few. Luckily, people came to her rescue and her boyfriend, Robin, was at the hospital in less than 20 minutes. I am eternally grateful. That was two days ago. I contemplated going over to Berlin, but she said she and Robin had it covered and in small apartment confines, I wondered if I would just be another stressor. Hard choices. I’m on my way to Talbott Street Arts Festival right now in Indy and worried she needs me more than she realizes. Our kids grow up and    become self sufficient, as we hoped but when thing like this happen, they revert for us to being our babies again. This is our world as we know it today. Families are all over the map. I remember when growing up that my grandparents and aunts and uncles were a mere car ride, but no more. When I went to college a very long time ago in the South from New Jersey, I saw that my parents let me have my space, it’s probably why I am such an avid traveler like my daughter Keegan. I also remember a horrible car wreck during that time where I was in the hospital with concussion and a broken jaw. My mom didn’t come and I really needed her, if just for moral support.... I’m wondering if my daughter is feeling this way. It kind of haunts me. It’s not like going on a car ride anymore. This is the dilemma that many of us have these days and it is what it is. That doesn’t make it any less hard. So if you see me at the show in Indianapolis this weekend, I might be a bit preoccupied. Don’t hold it against me. My booth is 114. 

“ Oh Elizabeth.... I’m comin’ to ya”

The “Elizabeth in question is the hallowed halls of Old Town, Chicago. Number one show in the country. I’m on my way as I write this, hoping, it will be worth the trip. It’s been a weird year so far and I could use a really good show. I’m in booth 180 and I hope you will come out this weekend. Times are, 10 until 5 each day. When I post that you should come out, I mean to say hello, there are so many former students and friends that have migrated to this fabulous city and I would just love to say hello and ask how life is. Of course, if you are in the market to buy art, I have come here to oblige. I have so much new work and it’s a bitch to carry back home and if l can go home lighter, that would be fantastic. On another front, last weekend Griff, my youngest son, flew in from LA for a friends wedding. It was nice to have a visit from him. I had seen him at Xmas, so it was worth cancelling a show. It wasn’t a long visit but it was one where I realized that some things never change. First, if you know Griff, you know he is one of the funniest people on the planet. He is my only child that can still make me wet my pants from belly laughing. I know, tmi, sorry. Underneath is one of the kindest and humblest souls. It’s sad really, even family has to re-acclimate to each other. All those years together and it takes at least 3 days to transition this new, adult, busy person to the heart I know. Then they leave. Life sometimes is hard. You give your kids wings -they fly away and although you wouldn’t have it any other way, it hurts. And every time you see them... they get farther (mentally and physically) away. It really sucks. 4 days in and Griff was who I know him to be and then boom...gone. I miss him already. This mobile world is isolating. It makes strangers of all of us. Skype helps but not enough. I wish my kids lived closer, but that will never happen. I am so proud of them, they are living their dream...and I wouldn’t change any of that, but damn, it is fucking hard. Sorry for this post, I just miss my kids. Anyway, a beautiful weekend is ahead and hope to see you at Old Town! 

I’d be great minus my lower back....

Two weeks. Two trips to DC. 8 lovely hours in the van. 8 hours back.  I hate my back. 

There, it’s out for the public to hear. If you know me, I’m pretty upbeat and the original adventure junky but all this sit down travel is creating an unfortunate consequence. No position is comfortable and my lower back makes me grumpy. Take the occasional stop for gas and restroom break, (many restroom breaks). I get out of the van and can’t stand up strait for the next two minutes. Literally bent over like an old arthritic grandma. I am presently much more sympathetic to old arthritic grandma’s... I feel their pain and it sucks. What is this? I work out and except for road travel, I eat right. There is no earthly way to eat right on the road but that’s another post entirely. I shouldn’t have to put up with this yet. I’m only 68. Is this the first thing to go? Will my knees go next? Then my eyes? I’m mad at my body. Two years ago I did most shows solo and now I am happy to have my roadie, David with me. He, poor guy, has to put up with my grumpy back problem which makes me guilty and feel bad. But hey, that’s marriage-so enough said. Anyway. This weekend I’m driving this far back up to Reston, Virginia to be in the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.  It’s an impressive show and I’m in booth 820. It’s going to be a sunny, warm weekend and an excellent time. I will be strait up ready to see you all. Strait up! Promise.

Sometimes the bear bites you......

I usually preview a show but as I’m driving home from Rockville Maryland today, I’m here to give you the inside scoop on what it’s like when a show takes a nose dive. I applied to this show thinking it was similar to Bethesda, which I didn’t get juried into this year and Northern Virginia at Reston, which I did. It wasn’t. Last week I posted on “Art Girls” when I had a suspicion that this show might not be what it’s cracked up to be. The director, a seasoned show promoter who I thought was in charge of Bethesda also, so what could go wrong? Come to find out she left Bethesda last year to focus on Rockville. She was great though, in terms of organization. She runs a tight ship. Not sure advertising was part of that ship though... but it could have been the weather. The show started at 11am each day and went to 5pm, Unfortunately, we pulled the short straw and had to set up at 4am. We had driven up that day from Knoxville (7 hours), and we were tired already. Luckily, we got to pair this trip with visiting my older brother Bob, and his wife, Susan, which with my busy schedule I get to see far too infrequently. So it was great to visit. Emma, my niece came over with her new husband Jake and it was a great dinner and visit. Bleary eyed, David and I thought we would throw the tent up then come back later to set up. But when we got in the groove we just kept going and set up everything. We came back to Bob’s house around 8:30ish and took a fast shower then headed right back. It was misting rain but by 12 it had cleared up and was overcast but warm. The crowds... where were the crowds? We also realized we were on an offshoot road from the Main Street and people missed us entirely. It was not looking good. The biggest thing though was that there was no interest from the people there. Not too many packages walking by and nobody selling much of anything. The two guys on either side of me, a photographer and a wood “cutting board” artist did zip all weekend and many more besides. I made a whopping 400 dollars, with nothing going off the wall and the only thing saving me, my funny smalls. It was disappointing. It was also puzzling since it was a high end upscale town with lots of expensive looking apartment complexes where I usually do very well. The next day, Sunday, started with a hard cold rain that never let up. All I can say is thank god there was a Starbucks across the street because that’s all I did all day was drink hot coffee to try to stay warm. It was awful and nobody was there. As an artist I knew this was a possibility but DC is a big area and I was hoping all week that the rain might miss us. No such luck. We were suppose to go till 5pm but they shut the show at 4 because it was getting worse( not sure that was even possible). Lots of artists left early. I kinda wish I had too, but I’m too much of a coward. I should have. Broke down in the pouring rain and hit the awning with one of the pro-panel poles and about 4gallons of water fell on top of my head, ( as if I wasn’t wet enough), Yea, it was funny.... for about a minute until it wasn’t because it was also so darn cold outside. I think I’ll remember in the future not to do that again. Overall thoughts: Shows are fickle things and just because the last show was great doesn’t mean the next one will be. It’s sort of like the Kentucky Derby this weekend, just because you win, doesn’t mean you really win. There are just too many invariables. So doing shows, is akin to a betting situation sometimes. I knew it, I knew I was going to a bad show last week when I put it out online. I just didn’t trust my instincts. But if you don’t take chances, you never know do you? And, you never grow. So, money is tight for the next two weeks and then David and I will hopefully bite the bear back in Reston, Va. In between, if anyone needs a painting-ha! Let me know. 

Here We Go Again!

I’m finally out of the studio and back in the rink. Ready to perform a triple axel and a double toe loop. Maybe throw in a Salkow for good measure. 4Bridges starts today and we are driving down now as I write. After disappearing into the studio for the last two months, abet a fast trip to DC for a wedding,  I am so ready to come back to civilization. I have over 34 new pieces, and I have got to say that even with a constant studio practice, I have never been this productive. I can’t wait for you all to see the new work. I am in booth 105 and I’ll be there tonight for the patron party and tomorrow from 10 til 6 each day this weekend. I’ve tied on my skates and I can’t wait to see you all!