City Hall Show Reception Was A Fantastical Whirlwind!!

Herky-Jerky

 First off, I have to say how blown away I was at how many of my FaceBook Friends came!  Whoop-Whoop!  Wow*Wow*Wow!  I cannot even begin to name all the names because I know for a fact that I missed a few as I looked up and just caught a glimpse of someone in the fray without getting a chance to take heed of them!  I feel really bad about that, so, if you are reading this and I was unable to acknowledge you, please accept my apologies! I was just a little overwhelmed a couple of times, I was not able to keep up!  I am not complaining by any means, I was having a blast, but I did not mean to shirk anyone!

I had several highlights of the evening, friends from afar, (Humbolt), old friends, new friends and even my personal Super Hero Nuero Surgeon Dr. Page!  YAY!  It just so happens that the picture they chose to put in the brochure"Herky-Jerky", was the sister painting to the one that I painted for and gave to her when I left her care, called "Fiet De Exis"!  I actually liked the painting I had done for her, so I decided I wanted to do one for myself using the same ideas!  Then when I finished it, I decided that it perfectly brought to visionary life the feeling (Herky-Jerky) of my unusual condition of Myoclonic Dystonia! 

I was even given gifts!  How could I go wrong!  Blessings from far away, lots of local friends and My Favorite Local Folk singers Craig and Erin Friedman are "Still Married", with Erin bringing me some lovely goodies and belting out a few wonderful tunes! Of course, from my perch up on the 3rd floor I could really barely hear anything, but I caught wind a few times!  I did get to hear the "Pine Dogz", Steve and Diana Willis, when I managed to get away for a few minutes to catch some of those great nibbles they had out for the refreshments!! 

My 'BGB' Guy Haley, a notoriously famous local muralist and fellow FB fiend, I mean friend, came by to harass me and snap a few shots!  At least he didn't show up in full on body paint!  Cause I was half scared he might!  We should do a publicity shot of that huh?!!  ")  I had such a wonderful time, saw so many great people, got to talk about my art for hours, to people that LISTENED and handed out almost 200 Gallery Cards!  I felt like I was famous or something! :)

WooHoo!

City Hall Reception A Wink Away! AARRGGHHHH!!!

I know that the pieces have been hanging all week, but now I have to go stand NEXT to them and show my face!  I couldn't even go to the last show I had my (1) painting hung in because I felt out of place, so now the terror of having 12 of them, right there, all up in the public face and all, really has the bats a'flappin!  Time to "Soldier up", I can take it!

Of course, first sign of someone about to light a torch... I am sooo outta there....

Redding City Hall Artist's Reception During Cultural Cruise!

City Hall Show Looms Large! EEEEKKKK!!!

As the day is nearly upon me to show up for the installation of the largest collection ever assembled of my Artwork I am terrified beyond belief!

I have to keep reminding myself that even if they hate it they will not burn me at the stake! ( I believe they made it illegal to assault entertainers!)

I'm beginning to question the wisdom of using my real name!  Should I have a pseudo?  Dammit I Say!

The sheer adventure of preparing myself and my children, oh, I mean paintings has been a whole new set of challenges!  Before, when I had one or two paintings to put in a show or enter it was only a moderate question as to the framing.  Now multiplying that times 12!  I am nearly ragged beating my brain to do what I have never done before!  Frame, frame, frame!

Last night as I was ready to collapse from all of it, I had to giggle as I was unable to stop myself from quoting one of my favorite lines from a Goldie Hawn Classic "Overboard",  "BluB-BluB-BLub-blUBB-BluuB--Blubb-blub-blluubb...."

Favorite Doesn't Always Mean The "Nicest", Just Favored!

I was contemplating a quip from my Hunny, in his usual way of telling me he loves me he says "When we get rich I am going to buy you all new kitchen stuff!  Things that actually MATCH!!"  He often curses my propensity to like things that are not considered "Uniform"!  I of course am always eager to give him my response of how much I love my miss-matched life and it doesn't matter if I have co-ordinated utensils or not, they are all my FAVORITES!!  I have been accumulating the CRAP in my kitchen for over 20 years!  I use almost everything in this picture on a VERY regular basis!

In fact, this picture is featuring a very unique point of view! If you will notice, almost everything in this picture is DIRTY!!  Yep, right out of my kitchen sink!!  As I decided to take a picture of all my favorite "Kitchen Essentials", I noticed something ironically funny, almost everything I find ESSENTIAL and would rescue if I had a chance to be forewarned of pending doom, was already dirty and waiting to be cleaned!  I pulled very few things out of the drawer for this modeling session!

Included here is the Butcher Block that I rolled down the road on the sidewalk to get it home.  We were living on post, Fort Ord, when I bought it from a soldier relocating overseas.  He really hated to get rid of it, but they had already made their weight, things had to go... I bought it for $10 but let them use it right up to the day they left!  I have been rolling it around with me ever since 1990, several different homes even!  Yet every time, it seems to have the perfect place to FIT right in!

Nearly every piece on this table has a story, just the way I like my inanimate objects!  I should tell you my story about a towel sometime...  :)

What Goes Up, Must Come Down! KaBlammm!

I was feeling my oats when I stopped by to see a friend of mine, anxious to tell him about my recent glory moments!  He does not compute, so I know I will surprise him and am feeling pretty audacious too!  I have known this man for close to 30 years.  I will say that most of our experience together has been on a professional level, but we have had a longstanding friendship too!

As I chat and carry on I finally tell him about being accepted as one of the Artist's to display at City Hall next year and he is astonished!  While he congratulates me he is communicating his surprise as he did not really know I was an Artist!  He knew that I had gone to College and taken Art courses and had been involved with Art when I lived in Monterey, but since he only knew me through work, my art had escaped him!  I explained to him that I have been getting back to my Art because of my disabilities and that I have been trying to realign my life while recouping!

As we shared a glass of wine, I diligently dug my photos out of my purse and started showing him some of my works!  As he looked at the pictures I saw amazement and awe on his face and became absolutely animated as I began to explain some of the different techniques and drawn out processes I would go through for each piece!  I was eating it up, he seemed like he was genuinely interested as he scrutinized closely a couple of the pictures, then as he looks up at me he has a strange look and he forces a little "laugh".  "You mean you did this shit on PURPOSE?" "You had a 'plan' for this?"  "I thought it was like you just threw the paint and that's where it landed!"

PPPPPHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!  I am soooooo deflated...........
maybe I can get my cat to walk on a couple of canvases for me......

I Am So Honored! I Was Picked To Display My Art In The Redding City Hall!!

WooHoo!  My head may inflate to the size if a blimp and My Hunny will have to Pop it to keep me from floating away!!  I am so excited, nervous and actually a little freaked out!!  It actually became official because I received my "Media and Artist Information" Packet! I believe I am positively giddy!!  :)