"Hopping" Hearts Happy Honeys!

Valentine's Day revelers abound out and about for the ArtHop in Redding Saturday night! Troy and Adam have out done themselves, and I bet just about exhausted themselves in the meantime! Whew,what a fun and entertaining venue the monthly HOP has brought out here for locals as well as a few tourists even! I overheard at the "Vintage" a couple that had made their way from Chico just to check it out, another young man here visiting from Sacramento and a wonderful woman that traveled in all the way from San Diego! Okay, so maybe she was visiting her sister here but they chose to Hop for their entertainment of the evening! Wow! I believe that Redding is a natural resource for artists and should be an artists "Mecca" as it is!

I made my way through as best I could at several places, however, I was unfortunately stricken down fairly early and actually didn't get to all the places I had on my list! Phil Fountain was at the top of my list over at the Infinate Designs and I didn't make it over there because it was supposed to be the last place I was going to go, but I ended up at the NVAL for my last stop and had to head home! Bummer!

I did manage to fall into another one of those little hole-in-the-wall places in downtown called the 501 Club! I have to say I discovered a couple of really awesome metal sculptures done by a pair of "unknown" (?) artists, one of which I spoke with at the bar named Michael, (Bartender). I tried to take some pictures but I am afraid that (sigh) once again, they did not come out!  If you are at all interested in seeing them I am sure you would be welcome to walk right in and look at them for yourself! Michael stated that the other artist involved was no longer interested in producing anything, What a SHAME!

I am making a habit out of finding these places, I might say on purpose! I love to look at things that others sometimes do not see and see it from a different perspective!

I did get into "Carnegie's" to see Luke Lucas for his show and demonstration/participation installation in the galleria! Luke is such a fine artist! His work has a deep character to it that draws you in!  Then, what kid can resist a shot at his "Paint Free" Exhibit?  Always a hit!  I would love to see him travel around to some of the schools with his show, the arts suffer in the schools so much in these hard times!  You go Luke!

Also KUDOS to the proprietor of Carnegie's, JULIE, for the Sculpture/Mural on the wall in the main room! WOW! I would love to get another chance at taking a couple of pictures there, because of course, once again, my pictures SUCK!

I talked with artist Celeste White for a minute while I scoped out the really awesome interactive art installation at Board Mart, I love her "Assemblage" pieces!  I want her to join my group on Yahoo!  I'll have to send her a link! :0

As a final tribute, Big Kudos to the ladies manning the doors and floors at the NVAL, Bless them as it was wet and lonely!  Especially after the packed house they had last month!

Slam Buckra Pulls One Off For Pio Loco!

Woo-Hoo!  I finally got out to see Slam out on the town!  Part of my new philosophy of "stop thinking about it and do it"!  It was really great, we sat upstairs on the balcony overlooking the stage, drank too many margaritas and had a blast!  I tried to get some video, and I did manage some pieces, but I look like I might be a little tipsy while I'm doing it!  LOL!

Cultural Cruise Clips

It was a lot of fun to get out on the town for the annual "Cruise".  I of course headed out early to catch my favorite Dyna-duo "Still Married" kicking off the bash at the city hall.  I did arrive early enough to recieve the autographed picture and CD that Erin was wonderful enough to give me as well as say hello in person!   She even let me prattle on a little! YAYA!  Then Erin even sang my favorite "Possum In The Hen House", Not on the CD, maybe on their NEXT!  As we explored the art on the 2nd floor of the beautiful City Hall, Erins voice was resonating so beautifully that I had to stand up there to listen for awhile.  The extra acoustics really brings out her voice!  We stayed long enough to enjoy Nick Ciampi as well as Steve and Diana before heading out to try and catch some other venues!

We hit Turtle Bay, and even though the Geckos were fantastic, there was not too much art, I'm not sure why though?  There was only a couple of pieces but from Bay area artists?  No local artists could supply anything for them?

We headed straight over to the North Valley Art League to watch the Awards for the 25th Annual National Art Show!  Wow, what a great idea to combine the two events!  Unfortunately, I think they may have been ill prepared for just how great of an idea it was!  Maybe next year someone could come up with a microphone?  The HUGE crowd was totally unable to hear anything and there was even some angry people at the back of the crowd.  I have to say though... THE ART! WOW,wow,wow!  More on that later!

The one place I was totally stoked about was going out to the Shasta College Art Center, I thought they had a show by the instructors going on.  I was wrong, way wrong!  So wrong I will not even go on about it other than to say.."Who Was IN CHARGE of that?" OMG, I'll probably never go back there again, it was VERY disappointing is the nicest thing I can say!  Is there only one artist out at that place?  Did they not have enough time to prepare something, someone, anything else?

I do not want to end on a bad note so I will say that we had a great time overall and it brings me to a new level of appreciation for the level of effort that people do put into making these events happen for us!

Redding Art Hop- Awesome Night Out!

Well, I stayed true to my NYR#3, (Don’t just think about it, DO IT!), and went out last night on the "Art Hop" perpetuated by Troy Hawkman and Friends! What a fantastic time I had! I’m sure many would echo my sentiments, as it was crowded at every stop along the way! What a great crowd too, joyful families, cheerful hosts, friends met friend and greetings galore! Did I forget to mention the art? Oh there was plenty of that too! LOL!!

I started out the evening by setting out straight over to see my fellow bloggers from reddingblog.com, “Still Married” setting up to kick off the Hop with some great tunes over at the "Backyard Destinations". I had intended to get there early enough to get their autograph and a personal picture to add to my file! But alas, I got held up at the last second and was late arriving. I did try to get up to meet them but was only on time for the introduction of their first set! Dagnabbitt! Then, I could not figure out how to operate my camera! What a kink! I did run into Troy and Adam as well as many other great local notables. I spoke briefly with the hostess of the evening, Thank you Lisa and James for the lovely spread of edibles! The featured artist, Barbara Enochian, had some really striking pieces on display but I did not get a chance to meet the artist because I was too busy trying to pay attention to Erin and Craig delivering a couple of their great songs!

I went from there on over to "Sues Java Cafe" were I ran into a cool artist "Mike" that had some great pieces on display there.  He has a great toon hand that reminded me of Tim Burtons stuff!  He spoke of book he is working on illustrating and I am sure he'll be up and coming quite soon there after!

I strolled into "Fabrics, Etc" because it was finally an excuse for me to go look through their goodies!  I met with the hostesses, Sherry and Barbara and discussed some of the lovely Home Decore they had in the store as well as the brilliant artwork there provided by Sandy Howell, one of the most spectacular hands in the northstate!  She has such vibrant colors!

I stopped by to see what they had to offer at the "Medical Home Professionals" and was delighted to see Sandy Howell showing some reall beatiful work. My favorite was a stunning piece called "Hum Bug" that perfectly captured the moment that a hummingbird snatched itself a juicy little bug!  It was like seeing it for yourself! And the "goodies" were pretty snazzy too!  I think they were homemade!

I was dying to explore the art work on display at the Cascade Theater, but unfortunately I could not make it up the stairs.  I did have a great conversation about the theater and some of it's life with "Ruthie", a volunteer for the theater!  I wanted to stay for the dance presentation, but I had to leave before they started.

I tried to get into the "Vintage" but it was packed to the rim and I figured I would press on because there was still plenty to see!  I always wanted to, so I stopped into the "Clover Club" just to see what they had going on in there.  I had my self a little B&B with a nice little conversation with "Bill" the keep about a mutual favorite" Slam Buckra"!  I LOVE SLAM!  He is on my list of autographs for 2009!

Some of the most interesting works was by Jeremy Sawtelle at the Posh-Mama Boutique, his large pieces are done with Kool-Aid and Coffee!  Wow, super cool!  You have to see it, stop by!

All night long I was following around a couple of great photographers and finally felt compelled to at least introduce myself, so, shout out to Chris and Jessica from Hanna Gallery, check them out,(they blog too)!  I know who to turn to for great pictures at least!

I have to give a big set of KUDOS out to Nicole Gullixson for having some cool work out for her first show!  WOOHOO!  Nathans Anthem's Body Piercing And Tattoo's sure picked a winner!  Nice, and she is still in High school folks!  Wow, I see some great stuff coming from her.  My favorite was "Urban Sunset", I heard Troy likes that one too!  LOL!

I ended the evening strolling through the Arts Council displays of Encaustics and even met with two of the wonderful artists that produced most of the works I saw!  Ann Kinkade and Rodney Thompson were there and were very informative about there work and trials!  Great finish to a long evening for me!

Second Round Of Art Festival To Check On My Ducks!

I have to hurry up and get down to see if my duck is going to get Plucked!  WooHoo!
Also, I voted on Raette Meredith's Glorious painting "Just Around The Bend" and I want to see if it wins!
I did manage to pull a sorry representation of one of my pieces out at the last second but it did not make me feel too good because it was a last second make do!  The gentleman that was supposed to be making my frame never came through and I had to creatively find a way to cover all my mounting holes and it ended up looking like a craft project instead of a painting!  Oh well!
Sorry no pictures, I am down to dial up and just glad to be able to ramble!  LOL

Go cheer for a duck!

Slam Fan Hopping Mad...

...as a hatter that is, I heard Slam Buckra was at the Vintage last night for the "ART HOP" and I had to miss out! AARRGGHHH...

Here is one of my favorites, from his own original pieces!  Paint that is, his music is a whole other beast, too cool!  I do not know the title on this, but I really LOVE these colors and the expession of his execution!  Self Portrait?  LOL!

Oh well! I hope they had a "bloozy" great time, (maybe even a boozy one too)! LOL!

I was otherwise indisposed and unable to get over there at all! It was awful because I just knew I was missing out on the hottest spot on the HOP! Okay, so maybe I am a little partial, but I do think his music is pretty awesome and really would have loved to be over there sucking down a couple of fine cocktails while chilling to his groove!

Listen to his stuff, www.slambuckra.com and then buy a CD, SUPPORT OUR LOCAL ARTISTS!

Missed out catching the "fire Dolls" too, but I hear they will be appearing again September 20th at the Redding Convention Center during the Redding Tattoo Show!

The Art Hop was a blast last night, just tons of people out having a great time, seeing some fantastic art, visiting friends and tossing back some cool (okay maybe hot) snacks to boot! There were at least three times as many visitors than the Hop before so I know the word is spreading fast! By the next one we should really be jumping!

I did get to meet one of the other local artists that always draws my eye, Kaydee Duckworth!  Her work is really striking!  I was very happy to finally meet her, I have been oogling her stuff out for a really LONG time, find some at a local gallery and check it out!  I would put a link here, but I could not find one!  BooHoo!

 I know Rayette Meredith was doing a demonstration over at Westside Florist, I wish I could have stopped by!  I am going to have to find a way to get out and do a little "Hopping" of my own on the next one!  I did have fun though just visiting as they came through where I sat!  Next one, I'm out and about! 

I sure hope Slam is roaming around somewhere too!

The Next 2nd Saturday Art Hop Is Just A Few Days Away!

I am positively excited about all the great participants for the Art Hops!  What great fun! 

One of my personal favorites, Raette Meredith will be over at Westside Florists shop doing a demonstration!  Wow!  That should be awesome so I hope there are a lot of visitors there.

I think we have some real momentum now and it will be getting more and more exciting as the word spreads and more people jump onboard!  I would love to see some local "celebs" out making the rounds and do some glad handing to help pump up the community involvement! 

Also, just around the corner, is the TurtleBay Art & Craft fair in Caldwell Park.  September 27th & 28th!  Just in time to buy some really unique and original gifts for those special people on your Christmas list!This years festivities will be very exciting and the display will be spectacular!  I can hardly wait!

Summer '08

This is one of my pictures I really liked from this years "Jest Playin" file!