Serpent in the Garden

Capt. America and Clawdia are quite intrigued by a black snake that came out to enjoy a little sunshine. It was still a bit chilly out, so he was stuck in first gear. The cats checked him out carefully, but kept a safe distance. I was more concerned for the snake actually. A puncture wound could kill him and I like having black snakes around...they kill mice. Happy Easter to all God's creatures, 4 footed, 2 footed and no footed.

Clawdia and the Captain with a black snake

2nd Friday Art Walk

Preparing a panel of Ganesha

For the 2nd Friday Art Walk on April 11, the gallery hosted a reception for the Orange County Artists Guild. They will have many of their works on display all month. During the reception, some of us were enlisted to help prepare panels depicting Ganesha, the Hindu elephant headed god. The panels will be displayed at the Hindu Temple in Cary, of which our gracious landlady, Mrs. Goli, is a member. I did the chalk drawings for 3 panels and later some other artists went over the lines in gold fabric paint. I hope to get a picture of the finished product at some point.

Of note: I have several new works on display at the gallery this month. There is a landscape in gouache that I am particularly proud of. I priced it rather high because I am not ready to part with it yet. Of course, if someone else falls totally in love with it and throws a pile of money at me--I am sure I will find the strength to let it go. I'm just sayin' is all...

Birthday!

Baby Girl is 26 today

My grandsons

Jon, Lila, Hannah and Calvin

Boy, that takes a little getting used to! I'm not sure what I'm going to be called....granny, grandma, nanna...I kind of like Gangy or Gangie (pronounced gang ghee with 2 hard Gs) which is what the matriarch of the Bluth family is called on "Arrested Development." I, or course, will not be a malevolent, evil grandmother. I will be awesome cool granny. Actually, the grandkids tend to name their grandmothers. Jon called my parents Nana and Dada. Malcolm called Mike's parents Mem and Daddy's Daddy. And those are the names that stuck.

It's Everyone

Lila, Jon, Malcolm, Mikey, Me, Hannah and Calvin

We were able to coordinate schedules and get together for dinner at Kipos in Chapel Hill. An excellent Greek restaurant, by the way. The weather was crappy...we had more freezing rain. Seems like ice/sleet is a weekly occurrence now. But, nevertheless, it was wonderful to see everyone. Malcolm made the Dean's List. As he says, he is "crushing" it in school. Lila has 10 weeks to go until the BIG DAY. They haven't decided on a name yet. Too bad it's a boy or I would be lobbying for "Anna." Hannah has about 14 weeks to go. This little boy will be named James, which is just so sweet. My niece is on the cover of the Princeton magazine this month. She grew up when I wasn't paying attention. Also heard that 2 of my second cousins in Japan will be having babies this year. The last of the my mother's generation has passed on--so all her sisters and their husbands are now gone. But there will be 4 new additions to the next generation this year. Life goes on.

Self Portrait

Portrait of the Artist as a piece of Art. 

And now for something completely different. I've been experimenting a little bit with mixed media. I have 4 pieces on display at the Weaver Street Market at Southern Village during the month of March. I needed to have some sort of bio to go with them, so I made a mixed media thing of myself. The paintings are on my other website and on my Facebook page.

This particular piece is acrylic, gouache, ink and gel pen on art board with some collage stuff going on. That bit of netting came off a bag of oranges or onions or something. I'm trying to be very "green" and do some recycling. And I'm also going for the creative use of found objects. It's a lot of fun. 

Other pieces are always on view at the Chapel Hill Art Gallery. 

This is so exciting. After 50 years I'm just now getting this art thing together. So, my advice to everyone is--hang in there. You just never know where life will take you. 

Snow Day

February 12, 2014. SNOW!!