Judy. Judy. Ju - oops, Annette.

Later today, I'll be taking a break from sorting and shifting things in the studio in preparation for moving in day over the weekend. I'll be meeting some members of my high school class ('59) for an evening of fun at the annual Cutting Horse Futurity -- an event which to some is exciting and to others is like watching the grass grow. We will be guests of a classmate who is director of the event and knowing Pete we can expect some fun. Maybe I'll make a report!



Today's photo is from the barbecue in the fall when Classes of the 50s gathered on a sun-swept hillside. Judy in the purple and gold t-shirt was a part of the committee, Judy in the purple western shirt was hostess and I have a tiny bit of purple mixed with blue in my scarf. The booklet under my arm includes my painting on the inside back cover

The three of us were friends in 8th grade and I introduced the first Judy to her future hubby in 10th grade. With the three of us there tonight, I think we will have a great time. What do you think?

Creative Seduction

Some lovely photos from Martha Marshall on her blog reminded me of an afternoon visit I made to the Castleberry Hill District in Atlanta last month. I spent all my (very short) time at the open studio of Jerry Maschinot. Photographs on this site show a little of his work.

His studio shows evidence of longevity -- leftover bits and pieces, works from old series, flotsam and jetsam from producing, showing and selling his work, a string of lights from a forgotten party, ribbons from awards both major and minor. His photographs and his pottery reflect his interest in surface and design. Both prove the technical ability which he has developed to create very personal statements. His creative energy fills the space.

I prowled around until I found some photos which struck my fancy. I selected a couple and browsed through a little more of the studio.

Then I spotted an unusual pot which I loved immediately.
No price!

I asked if it was an old series or a new direction. How could I not buy a piece which the artist had held onto for several years . . . and then decided he couldn't keep everything . . . and just put it on the shelf for an unsuspecting buyer to love?!

Aargh! I am so easily seduced by color and texture and shape. Once it was broccoli.

I think this is better.

Seeing Once More

Since I had a few requests in comments and in emails for larger images of my previous morning photos, I have reposted "Unexpected Seeing" and changed the photos to individual shots which should enlarge a little more.

Today we have RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! and no, I didn't go out to get more drippy shots. But, just in case you don't have enough fog/rain morning photos, I added these new ones from my early attempts.


We are at Moving Day minus five, so blog entries may be a little quirky this week and next. We'll see!

Condensed Art

Well, Alyson at ArtBizBlog has touched on another museum which I have recently visited -- the Columbia (SC)Museum of Art. Unlike my unhurried visit to The High Museum, this time was quick, fun, an almost "don't stop to look or we won't see it all."

Lucy's Mamma had an appointment nearby, so I took Lucy to her first museum. We saw the pictures of babies in some beautiful paintings and, like Alyson, paused a long time before the Botticelli. We saw a photography show with pictures of a baby from a father's point of view. We saw Frank Lloyd Wright's furniture, but did not take time to read the words -- Lucy liked the interesting lamps. We saw some sculpture -- Lucy blew a kiss to a sculpture of a sad man -- and slabs of glass and antique silver tea sets. We stopped near a window for a snack, examined the elevator buttons and learned about the water fountain. Also, like Alyson, we were distracted by a group of volunteers in a sunlit gallery who were making table decorations for an evening event -- flowers and sparklies.

We were there about an hour and our stroller hardly stopped rolling. I noticed things I had not seen before as I 'curated' a show of things I thought a 16 month old would enjoy. In the past, I would have spent my one hour really looking at a few things, but this was a great way to revisit a familiar place.

I hope Lucy and I get to go again. Maybe they will let us have tea with one of their 'good' ones.

High Art

Yesterday, Alyson Stanfield wrote in her ArtBiz Blog at http://www.artbizblog.com/2007/01/in_atlanta.html about visiting the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. She mentioned that it was her third visit to a museum which had been designed by Richard Meier; she did not mention the 2005 addition by Renzo Piano which more than doubled the size of the Museum and added more space for exhibitions and visitor amenities. She mentioned the exhibition by Morris Louis and Elsworth Kelly and described being in the room with Louis's veils as a sense "--simultaneously--of being at the bottom of a canyon, at the foot of waterfalls, or in a room full of Medieval tapestries;" she did not mention the much touted LouvreAtlanta Exhibition. Did she choose not to mention the soaring architecture or the block-buster exhibition because she was unimpressed? I wonder.

In October, I wrote about my visit with my daughter to The High and LouvreAtlanta. http://bushstrokes.blogspot.com/2006/10/enlightening-conversation.html
I wrote that I was disappointed in the exhibition from the Louvre and the adjacent collections while my daughter simply enjoyed the opportunity to see the sketches, paintings and sculptures. I wonder if I should have done as Alyson did and simply not mentioned it.

However. I promised to return for a more thorough viewing. I did. And I approached it with fresher eyes. Alone and with a full day to browse. I started once again with the 30 or so busts; I am still in awe. I viewed all the art from the Louvre, spending a good bit of time with each piece and even listening to ALL the audio explanations. I enjoyed a number of small pieces, but I am still underwhelmed

I wandered through the gift shop and through several floors of the permanent collections. I stopped to visit the 'Hiney' Gallery (my name for a restroom where the black marble floors are so shiny there are clear reflections of bottoms in the stalls.) As I lunched on a lovely mushroom bisque and a veggie wrap in the ground floor café, I thought about what I might see next. Then, I decided to save the other exhibitions for another day.

Unexpected Seeing

In November, around the time of my birthday, daughter Susan gave me a lovely new digital camera which has so many things to learn and I have been so excited to have a new toy.

So I planned an early morning trip to catch the sunrise among the peach groves of South Carolina.I drove about 30 miles and spent my time photographing . . . a rain-soaked countryside. Oh, well.











I left home early on another day and made the drive under a beautiful morning sky. Nearing my destination, I realized that visibility was decreasing and, when I arrived at the peach groves, I was dismayed to discover them socked in with fog. Strike two on photographing the perfect sunrise.

So much for getting out the door at 'O dark thirty!' (which in case you don't know is pretty early.)

Since those two disappointing mornings, I have played with these images which fill my camera -- editing, deleting, cropping.

I have discovered that I didn't need a perfect sunrise to capture the mystery of the morning.

I just needed to be ready to see the unexpected.

Message from the UPS guy

Last week, I heard the sound of a horn and looked out to see a UPS truck. I went out to see what was being delivered. Hum. Apparently, nothing! The driver was just sitting there. He shouted out the door, "Unless you want to be a redneck, you can take your decorations down now!" It's one of the fun things of living in an urban neighborhood -- people notice stuff!

I explained that son-in-law was not able to be home at Christmas, that he would not be home next year, and that everything was left up until he could be home to celebrate "Christmas." The guy in the brown suit, acting like the guy in the red suit, said, "Well, in that case, you can leave everything up as long as you'd like."

Today, we'll do a little present opening and have a special family dinner. Lucy will get to show her daddy where she hung her stocking and introduce him to her nutcracker friends who line the stairs.

Tomorrow, I will pack everything away and begin to look at some goals and ideas which might get me in the studio.

And I'm sure the UPS guy will continue to keep an eye out for us through this next long year.

Making Space

"Ex-c-cuse Me! I'm moving to Puddin's House."

We are rearranging space to make room for Lucy and her Mamma to come and live with us while her Daddy is in Afghanistan. Since there will be another little one in June, we decided that three of our downstairs rooms -- the office/guest room, the den, and my studio -- would be the best space for them.

It is strange to pack away the space I claimed when I moved in this house 15 years ago:
--"my studio" even when I have had secondary studios in other places;
--"my studio" even when I have not painted for a while (as most of last year);
--"my studio" even when I tackled projects other than painting.

I hope to carve out some space to paint in an upstairs workroom or on a nearby porch and will find a place to write in my sitting room. But, in this new arrangement, I suspect it will not be a matter of making space; I suspect it will be a matter of making time.

Stay Tuned

Dear Reader, I apologize for the empty days and offer thanks to those who wrote to ask why. Things have been going on and I hope I am now back on schedule with some photos, some sketches, a BioGem or two and some random thoughts. I'll do my best.

If you get an update message and there's nothing new in the January entries, don't panic. It's probably just because of some kind of edit or old entry. I am tweaking the blog with labels and such. I have some unposted blog entries which were caught in the crash of the old computer and the installation of a new and wonderful one. I am still climbing the learning curve for it and for my birthday/Christmas fabulous digital camera. I've done a little house stuff -- doncha' love the new color in this bathroom? I celebrated my 65th birthday this year and I have been trying to decide what I want to do when I grow up . . . . or if . . . .