More LA Zoo art crawl

This really was fun and you can see I am really rusty at this.

Where did that month go...

..ah yes I know... we moved half of what we own all around. Jill has moved into the green room...as we call it...which means relocating the computer and also making room in the studio for her. She has as many art supplies as I do ...almost. In the middle of packing everything up...hers and mine... I had to get ready for another round at Dinosaur Caves Art in the Park




and celebrate Susan's birthday with a fun trip to Farmer's Market in LA. Last time I was there was when we took LE to the Ice Capades in I think 1973. We got to see Susan's brand new granddaughter, Paige.




She is so sweet.

We finished off the day with an explosion of food at the Cheesecake Factory in Sherman Oaks.





Last week I had a fun play day at Penny's amazing house before our ATC get together. I love those ATC's! Sat. Jill and I met up with my buddy from Opie and Linda's Pto. Vallarta class and headed for the LA Zoo for a sketch crawl. My first. So many talented artists. Such a fun day.



We stopped off at the Black Angus in Topanga for steaks on the way back.



Mother's day we did one of my favorite things....work in the garden. Earl was my "mule" for the day and did my "bidding". Which means we pulled weeds and found our box turtle, Skipper Dee, survived the winter again and cleaned up his domain.

Dobbys from the students

I was so blown away with what came out of my first ArtFest class. I could not have asked for a better experience.

We had the April Reveal

From a packet of about 20 things...mostly the same..we created the most amazing and different things you could imagine.












What a fun day.

ArtFest 2006

I am back from ArtFest and it was a really great time. LE, Colleen and I did the road trip thing, making it to Yreka the first night. Had a fantastic breakfast in Ashland, ORE. at the Morninglory. Some great truck stop lunches and made it to LE's Seattle house not long after dark.

The next day we saw some of Seattle and Ballard. A "life time dream" was fulfilled by going to Archie MacFee's! Around the corner from LE's is Maxine's, a really amazing shop and the other direction is Snappy Dragon....reported as the best Chinese food in Seattle. I have no reason to dispute that. We ate there twice on this visit.


The next day off to Port Townsend as LE worked on her amazing trades in the car on the way. We took the Edmonds ferry but tried to follow the other ferry direction...I don't advise it. But we did manage a quick stop in Poulsbo. We met up with our other house mates, Carol, Susan and Mary, at dinner. We loved our house ...as soon as we got over lugging everything upstairs.

Carol, LE and I had Keith LoBue's class Thurs. and we all learned a lot...including Keith is adorable in a kilt. Carol and I had Lynne Perella Fri. and even though I was worried things would never dry in time...they did and it was a great class. I wish I could stay in touch with every student in there. They were all so amazing.

Vendor night went really well with great sales and great contacts that made us all very happy. LE was a great help. I love her so much. So glad she was able to come.

Happy Spring

IMG_1743
Originally uploaded by art nest.

I love this little family.

Art Fest is rushing up on me

I got Teesha's latest Art and Life...another winner. This issue I was one of the ones asked to answer the questions.....my favorite answers were for the pedigree question...de Meng's pedigree: hunter and gatherer....I loved it. Anyway ...since my blog is listed there I better clean up my act and get something of interest on here. I will start with some more self portraits.

I am almost done

I have been working on lots of project that are due end of the month. ATC fatbook for ARtFest, altered photos fatbook, Claudine's self portrait journal...all done! Of course now I have new projects. Mary is helping us make clocks like she makes. I have mine started. I think it needs Barbie arms and legs. If they don't look right I will maybe paper mache some.
And I started a challege that I read about on 52 projects. I gathered 11 sets of about 15 elements (page from a book, plastic monkey colored paper etc.) for everyone to make an art piece. No rules basically. They can add to or use one to all of the elements. Due to be revealed in April.

Now in the non art area. I went to see the California Bike Tour go by about 2 miles from my house. It was pretty spectacular.
LE and Jon found an apartment in Playa Vista and she is packing.
Donn is done at ATK and should be packing but he and Jill have gone to a race in Hisperia that a friend is in. He is due to leave for Mt. Shasta on Mon. So this is their last weekend together. Going to be tough.
Back to art...I have to do some major work at Sissy's restaurant in Lompoc then dive into Dobby making for ArtFest.

This is what I made for Mary

It was a fun day on top of the mountain.

the cupcakes

Mary

Mary's House

We had a cupcake Valentines birthday bash at Mary's that was so much fun. Among the many wonderful gifts was a hooked picture of me pillow Mary made that is amazing. Cindy made me a stool that could not be more perfect for my kitchen.
Mary and I made fabric cupcakes and real ones too. We all exchanged ATC Valentines and had a wonderful lunch. A perfect day.

I was going to be a better blogger

....but I guess I need to try harder.
To catch up alittle...I have had a month of birthday celebrations and festivities. After the Bacara Spa Day and movie with Earl and Jill, I got packed up for Art and Soul in Monterey. After a stop in Cambria at the Paper omelet and Birds of a Feather then a stop at the Elephant Seals in San Simeon, we drove to Big Sur where we met up with Pepa, Penny, Mary, Maren and Barbara. And we didn't even plan it. It was amazing weather with huge waves that we could hear pounding from our beds. Roomies Colleen and Mary were so much fun. We laughed way into the night. We could have had more roomates....the raccoons were ready to come in for a visit.

My latest self portrait

This one is for Lynn Whipple's journal. She is such an amazing artist. I have worshiped her from afar for so long. Now I will actually have a page done by her and she will see my work. So exciting.

Now it is Jan 2006

It is so hard to believe that it is half way through Jan. I have been so busy and it is going to get worse. Carol and I are teaching 2 journal classes. I have more work at Sissy's. Mary and I are planning a fun Valentines birthday party ...for ourselves and the "Call Girls". Time to sign up for Dinosaur Caves Sunday in the Park. Artist Guild of Santa Ynez Valley is getting busy. I am taking Karen Brody's Collage class again. 2 fat books due Feb 28th. Art And Soul Feb 5-9. I have my resale tax to do before the end on Jan....get that shoe box out. I have Lynn Whipple's journal to pass on. Looking into another spot at the antique mall in Los Alamos......and ARTFEST! ...and I would love to get to San Simeon to see the elephant seals. They are so amazing!
At a personal level both my girs at having a tough time with possibly a tougher time ahead.
I will end this with my funky birds of a feather fat book page.

Christmas in Monterey

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for Christmas Eve. Then went to Redding to pick up Jill on the 26th. She needed a ride home from her in-laws. Donn had more time off. The aquarium was amazing. The jellyfish were my favorite.

and here is the old married folks

Jill and Donn enjoyed Seattle and the celebration.

and more

Here they are the next day with their Kranse Cake.

more wedding picture...because I love to look at them

This is the water ceremony that LE and Jon thought up and was very beautiful.

More wedding picture...because I love to look at them

I was such a fun and sentimental ceremony in LE and Jon's new house. This is my favorite photo.

Day of the Dead

This was a great time to be in Mexico and this time I experienced the holiday by being in the cemetery in Pto. V. and by building an ofrenda in Pozo. My pictures at the cemetery are not that good but the experience was wonderful. Some families sang to their departed loved ones, brought flowers and candles and sat by the graves for a little visit. I felt lucky to be able to be there. At the ofrenda we built in Pozo, we all brought reminders of our own departed.

Hacienda Mosaico

This was so different from Pozo. We embellished a board book and made a copper pendant with Opie and Linda O'Brien here in Pto Viarta, Mexico. ...Had to go in the pool everyday at lunch to cool down. Such a beautiful and relaxing spot to create art.

This is the Pozo workshop

Found objects assemblage workshop in Mineral de Pozo, Mexico with Michael de Meng, Oct. 05.

Now to make plans for next year

Well I am not a big resolution person but I do get a sense of having a clean slate... kinda thing...The coming year I am going to focus on art by starting out "forcing" myself to get some work done. Then I am going to try and stay home more and not take off so much...except for Art and Soul and Artfest of course. .....And use up the supplies I have. I have this weird thing that I need to go get more supplies...like that will magically get the job done. I do get inspired while looking at what is new out there etc. But I have enough supplies to start my own art store I think. I am teaching and co-teaching this coming year and I have a big job lined up in Jan. But I am debating if I should take any classes. I get more done that way but I have to travel so much and lose precious time. I am still not decided.
I will share some Mexico picture with you now

The fastest year ever

This has been a really fun packed year. Earl's birthday cruise, LE on Jon's wedding, lots of car shows for Earl and art workshops for me. The only bad thing was I got really sick, a respiratory thing that I am still having some problems with. Nov. was the Queen of arts benefit art show at our house for 29 artists. We raised $1,100. for Domestic Violence Solutions. Then this month, a wedding reception here for my family to meet Jon. Colleen cooked a spectacular meal for all with great appetizer too. Susan made the most beautiful and delicious cake. Everyone said that I could not have better friends and I definitely agree!